A week passed in the blink of an eye, and the news of the mysterious man's assassination of Dumbledore spread like wildfire through the wizarding community.
A feeling of panic settled over them.
The Dark Lord seems unstoppable, and some pessimistic wizards are close to despair that the British wizarding world has lost hope!
However, the new Acting Minister, Pierce, was not discouraged by this, and in a moment of crisis, he showed great courage, announcing on the day of Dumbledore's funeral that Voldemort was wanted by the Ministry of Magic, and sending out Aurors to hunt him down at all costs.
Any wizard who provided information about Lord Voldemort received a handsome bonus.
However, as many feared, Pierce's strong-arm approach soon drew the Dark Lord's wrath.
A week after Dumbledore's funeral, Lord Voldemort himself led a large group of Death Eaters in an attack on Gringotts, which he claimed to be impregnable.
Fortunately, the Ministry of Magic's Aurors arrived in time to prevent the Dark Lord's plot from succeeding, and once again managed to put Voldemort on the spot, capturing a dozen Death Eaters before they could escape.
As for the outcome of the battle, Pierce was, of course, very impressed, proclaiming the Ministry's victory over You-Know-Who.
These days, the Daily Prophet is also sending messages to wizards and witches in Britain, trying to show them that the Dark Lord is not invincible if they stick together!
Under this bombardment of propaganda, the Ministry's efforts were quickly met with support, and Piers, taking advantage of Gringotts' lack of staff, forced some Ministry officials to temporarily replace the vacancies in order to keep Gringotts running.
Not only that, but the twenty Aurors Pierce had brought with him were also stationed at Gringotts to take care of the day-to-day security in case the Mysteries attacked again.
With this combination of skills and the threat posed by Lord Voldemort, the Ministry was able to gain more and more power, passing a number of centralised legislation.
It can be said that no Minister has ever had so much power.
Fortunately, Pierce was not blinded by the power he had. The magical mark on his arm constantly reminded him of where he was, so after settling Gringotts, Pierce immediately rushed to the safe house in Knockturn Alley to meet Ivan.
Pierce placed a box on the table in front of him and continued, "Sir Harls, I have what you asked for…"
"As per your request, I had someone from the Department of Mysteries create an Isolation Box in advance and put it inside as soon as it was found. No one touched it during that time."
Ivan nodded. "Very good. You were right to be cautious, Pierce! This is a Dark Magic object made by You-Know-Who himself, and it is very dangerous…" Ivan gently waved his wand to undo the protective wand placed on the glove compartment, and a simple golden trophy appeared before him.
After thousands of years of weathering, this Hufflepuff relic was still beautiful, and the golden cup was carved with all kinds of beautiful magical runes that shone brightly in the midday sun.
Ivan didn't reach out to touch it. He just admired it for a while…
While he was waiting, Pierce thought to himself that Ivan Hals was using You-Know-Who's name to get his hands on this precious magical object.
As he was thinking this, Ivan's wand lit up with a grey flame.
Pierce felt his heart skip a beat. Before he could react, the Hufflepuff Cup on the table trembled violently as if it had sensed a threat. An endless black fog poured out of the cup, enveloping the entire room.
Pierce was shocked by the sudden change. He frantically pulled his wand out, only to find that he could see nothing but the black fog.
As if by magic, the strange black fog revealed what Pierce most desired, giving him the urge to destroy the place and even kill Ivan Hals.
Kill him and I will be the true Minister for Magic… just kill him!
Pierce's malice grew, but before he could act, a piercing scream filled the room. The thick black fog began to clear, and in about five seconds the room was back to normal, as if everything that had happened was an illusion.
Pearce stood frozen for a moment, trying to process what had just happened, and then he remembered the thought that had come to his mind, and he shuddered. He looked at the Hufflepuff Cup with fear.
"Sir Harls, that was…" Pierce began cautiously.
"Evidently, Lord Voldemort placed a powerful Dark Charm on this thing to draw out the worst in a person…" Ivan explained without mentioning the Horcrux, then took the wand back.
On the wooden table in front of him, Hufflepuff's golden cup had a burned hole in it, and the exquisite magical inscriptions on it were extremely dim.
Yvonne put the golden cup away in the cupboard, feeling sorry for it. Maybe she could fix it in the future.
On the other hand, Pierce was in a state of fear. Fortunately, he had some control over himself and was not completely bewitched. Otherwise, the consequences would have been disastrous!
What Pierce did not know, however, was that his every move and thought were clear to Ivan, who simply did not care.
After all, he had seen the ability of a Horcrux to affect one's emotions. In addition, the acting Minister had been suppressed by him for so long, so it was impossible for him to not have any thoughts.
However, anyone with half a brain would be able to see that rebelling against him would only lead to death, as high-ranking Ministry officials were now on their own, and the best hitters were in the hands of Fran. Without him, Pierce, the so-called acting Minister, would be left with no one to command him.
Not to mention, after Dumbledore's death, Ivan became the most powerful wizard in the wizarding world!
He alone could match an army of wizards, which was why Ivan was content to let an outsider like Pierce take over…