Chapter 160

Murphy stripped the invisibility cloak off Barty Crouch Jr. and casually cast a Petrification Curse on him—the ordinary version.

Then, he helped Old Barty Crouch up, sat him in a chair, and personally patted the footprints he had kicked onto him.

A kind smile appeared on Murphy's face, as if he weren't the one who had just beaten the old man opposite him to a pulp.

"Mr. Barty Crouch, the Ministry of Magic is changing leadership this year. Do you want to be Minister?"

"What?!"

Old Barty was stunned.

He had thought Murphy was going to make some humiliating demands, but when he spoke, it was actually this?

"Why?"

And, "How is that possible?"

His reputation had hit rock bottom; let alone being Minister, he couldn't even keep his current position.

Murphy looked down at him. "Since I can make you fall, I can naturally make you climb back up."

"..."

Coming from a young man in his twenties, if it were anyone else, Old Barty would have scoffed, but having personally experienced the other man's methods and being beaten to the point of having no power to fight back, he knew the other man wasn't exaggerating in the slightest.

Involuntarily, a glimmer of hope quietly sprouted in his heart.

Perhaps, could I really touch that position?

"Ho, how to do it?"

"First, hurry up and withdraw that damn wanted notice for me."

"Second, go and apologize to me."

"But..."

Old Barty hesitated. It wasn't that he was hesitating about whether to withdraw the wanted notice; since he had already been completely defeated by the other man, the wanted notice would be withdrawn anyway. When he grabbed Murphy's leg just now, he already knew this would be the result.

But, to apologize—wouldn't that be admitting he was wrong?

At this time, admitting his own problems—wouldn't he be pointed at by thousands of people?

Murphy wouldn't just be fooling him, would he?

"Heh," Murphy rolled his eyes. He didn't need Legilimency to know the other man's thoughts. "Do you have any idea what kind of situation you're in right now?"

"If I wanted to finish you off, would I need to waste my breath here with you? Do you believe that by tomorrow morning, your impeachment letters could fill Minister Millicent's mailbox?"

Barty Crouch was stunned for a moment, then sighed.

Yes, and now as long as Murphy took Barty Crouch Jr. away, he would be on the trial stand tomorrow and eating Azkaban's special lunch the day after.

If Murphy wanted to destroy him, there was indeed no need to waste any breath on him.

"I understand, I will apologize."

Murphy nodded. "Not just to me, but also apologize to Sirius Black, to the injured Aurors, and apologize for the werewolf problem you didn't handle well before."

"This... fine."

Murphy wasn't deliberately humiliating him, explaining: "The Aurors' reputation is beyond saving now; it's time for a complete overhaul. If you are stubborn at this time, you will only be drowned by public opinion."

"But, standing up, shifting the blame to historical legacy issues, and then proposing a solution, there is still hope to save your own reputation."

"The core of it is to separate yourself from the Aurors."

"In other words, push out a scapegoat."

"Gawain Robards is a fool; let him take all the blame."

Barty Crouch nodded. During the Nameless Crisis, he had done exactly this, but this time, relying on just one scapegoat probably wouldn't be enough.

He raised this question.

Murphy said: "Gawain Robards is just a reckoning for historical issues, but how to solve the problem is what people want to see. Therefore, you must come up with a powerful reform plan and action."

"First, reduce the power of the Aurors," Murphy said. "The wizarding war is over, the Aurors no longer have a need to exist, and excessive power will only cause panic. Therefore, reducing the power of the Aurors is imperative."

"There are no Death Eaters outside now, so where are there so many dark wizards for the Aurors to capture? And isn't the Law Enforcement Squad always very busy and short-handed?"

"Let the Aurors do some serious law enforcement work, or help with disaster management, let them interact more with ordinary people, and don't always be so arrogant."

"What do you think?"

Barty Crouch understood that as long as he nodded, from now on, the profession of Auror might exist in name only.

Hunting dark wizards wasn't a job that could be done from nine to five. If they were too bound by red tape, they wouldn't be able to deal with those cunning dark wizards at all.

But doing this might indeed help stabilize public opinion, which would increase his chances of winning.

"I think... it's possible."

Murphy looked at him with a smile. "Very good."

"Second, introduce a supervision mechanism."

"Power without supervision breeds corruption," Murphy said. "Introduce a third-party supervisory body to supervise the work of the Aurors and the Law Enforcement Squad."

Barty Crouch was a bit puzzled. "How do you plan to do that?"

"The Wizengamot must be completely separated from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and then incorporate the Watchers into the system as a subordinate executive agency of the Wizengamot to review the performance of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Barty Crouch was stunned for a while, then understood. He looked at the young man in front of him with awe. "Then, who will lead the Watchers?"

"The Watchers should be an independent, self-governing organization. It is responsible to all wizards in Britain, and its leader is naturally elected by the Watchers themselves."

"But as a subordinate agency of the Wizengamot, its supervisory results will be directly submitted to the Wizengamot for trial, which can ensure both independence and legitimacy."

Saying it's elected by the Watchers themselves—would the Watchers elect anyone other than you?

Even if it's not you, it must be your puppet.

With this organization, the Aurors and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement would belong to Murphy from now on.

"Fine, anything else?"

If he could become Minister of Magic, what did it matter to him whose name the Department of Magical Law Enforcement bore?

However, what he didn't know was that Murphy didn't intend for the Watchers' supervisory power to stop at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Since they could supervise the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, why couldn't they supervise other departments?

And when the Watchers could supervise all departments and all members of the Ministry of Magic.

The Ministry of Magic would become a horse tied by the reins of the Watchers.

But to complete this step, he needed a Minister of Magic to push it forward.

And Old Barty, who had the absolute leverage of Barty Crouch Jr. in his hands, was the most suitable candidate.

"Third, you need to produce some practical results immediately to prove the effectiveness of the reform plan."

"Coincidentally, I have a list of several Death Eaters here. Capture them, and I will make them talk."

Murphy said, handing over a piece of paper, on which was written: "The Carrow siblings, Yaxley, Avery..."

Behind the werewolf attacks, there was an eighty percent chance that these Death Eaters were involved.

Since he had to find someone to operate on, why not find his enemies?

(End of chapter)