Chapter 190

"Albus Dumbledore! Are you planning to make an enemy of the Ministry of Magic!!"

"No, no, no, Cornelius, you've misunderstood. I just feel that my student needs to be treated fairly."

The Ministry of Magic Atrium.

In this magnificent hall, there was a huge golden fountain statue.

It was sculpted with a collective statue of a wizard, a witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf; it seemed to be called something like the Magical Brothers Fountain.

At this moment, the fountain was surrounded by Aurors holding wands, their faces full of vigilance and fear.

On the periphery, there were countless wizards watching the excitement, whether they were Ministry of Magic staff, wizards here for business, or even reporters who didn't mind the trouble.

At the center of their encirclement were Dumbledore, and John and Hermione behind him.

The Auror Jielier, whom John had controlled, and David and Mike from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes were also there.

Oh right, there was also a Dementor trapped inside a Patronus shield.

Dumbledore stood in front of them, calm and composed as if he were just taking a walk after a meal, without any tension from being surrounded.

Instead, the Aurors surrounding them each wore a troubled expression.

Just a short while ago.

A person who was arrogant beyond measure appeared at the Ministry of Magic.

That's right, that was John.

The genius youth who had shone brilliantly in the Daily Prophet last year.

He appeared in the Ministry of Magic Atrium escorting three Ministry of Magic staff members, with a trapped Dementor floating beside him.

It immediately caused a commotion throughout the Ministry of Magic.

He stood directly on the fountain in the Atrium, loudly criticizing the incompetence of the Ministry of Magic.

He said the Ministry of Magic allowed Dementors to roam in Muggle communities and even attack his family.

This kind of statement didn't need to be verified for truth, because the Dementor was right there.

It immediately ignited the Ministry of Magic.

Whether it was a Dementor appearing in the Muggle world to attack people, or that genius John openly challenging the Ministry of Magic, these were all big news.

Reporters who randomly refreshed at the Ministry of Magic seized the opportunity, constantly surrounding John to ask questions and snapping photos of the Dementor.

Minister for Magic Fudge also arrived with Aurors after quite a while, intending to suppress John first.

However, before he could give the order, Dumbledore appeared.

And so, the current situation arose.

Fudge, hiding among a group of Aurors, had a face ashen with rage, and could only shout from behind: "Dumbledore! This is an open provocation to the authority of the Ministry of Magic!"

"Cornelius." Dumbledore slowly raised a hand, and the Aurors retreated in fear.

"I have advised you many times to do what is right, not just what is easy."

Dumbledore's voice was not loud, but it echoed in the hall like the tolling of a bell.

"But your current actions will only push the wizarding world into deeper fear and lies."

"A Dementor appeared in a Muggle community; this in itself is proof of the Ministry of Magic's dereliction of duty. Not only do you not investigate the dereliction, but you instead punish the young wizard who repelled the Dementor."

"I truly cannot approve of this conduct of yours, Cornelius."

Listening to Dumbledore say these educational words in public, Fudge's face turned from ashen to purple, the veins on his forehead throbbing.

He certainly knew why the Dementors appeared in the Muggle world; although it wasn't his idea, it was implemented with his tacit approval.

Originally, he only wanted the Dementors to force Harry Potter to use magic, so he could use the violation to expel him from Hogwarts.

But his subordinates just had to add this genius youth who had shone brilliantly in the Triwizard Tournament as well.

He didn't think much of it at the time and gave his tacit approval.

Anyway, as long as the Dementors were repelled by them and no evidence was left behind, they could accuse Harry and John at will.

But he never expected that this guy John would actually pack up the Dementor and bring it to the Ministry of Magic.

One must know that Dementors had always been under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Magic.

And in this situation, it was simply an open slap in the face to the Ministry of Magic.

One could imagine how tomorrow's newspaper headlines would smear him.

The Ministry of Magic was not his world; his political rivals were eyeing every moment he made a mistake.

Now that such a major accident had occurred, leading to a Dementor losing control and invading a Muggle community, and even having an underage wizard expose it in public.

Could it be that he had to tell the public...

"Could it be that you are going to tell the public that John specifically ran to Azkaban to catch a Dementor to frame your Ministry of Magic?"

Dumbledore's words rang out at the right time, and Fudge's face twisted abruptly, as if he had been poked in a vital spot.

"No, no matter what! John Merrick attacking Ministry of Magic public officials is an indisputable fact!"

Fudge knew he couldn't gain any advantage on the Dementor matter, so he changed the subject.

"Public officials?"

"Minister, actually, on the way here, I already heard this public official confess everything."

"Would you like to reconsider his status? For example, changing him to an outsourced position or something; that might be better for you, oh."

John, who had been silent behind Dumbledore, spoke up at this time.

John didn't say what he had confessed, but upon hearing this, Fudge's breathing hitched, and his gaze swept frantically toward the Auror Jielier, whom John had controlled.

Jielier also lowered his head, not daring to look into Fudge's eyes.

On the way here just now, John had already forced him to say everything he knew.

Although he didn't know who had ordered the Dementor attack on them, at least he knew that the Dementors' deployment had been authorized by some high-level official in the Ministry of Magic.

And he had been temporarily assigned to go there to clean up the aftermath and cover up the fact that Dementors had appeared.

Even Dumbledore didn't know these things, but he didn't say them out immediately.

As the saying goes, leave a line of retreat in everything you do, so you can meet again in the future.

John was giving Fudge a way out; he only needed Fudge to drop the accusations of illegal spellcasting and attacking public officials, without needing to tear his face off with him.

Because even if they tore their faces off, this little matter wouldn't be enough to pull Fudge down from his position.

It would only lead to all sorts of counterattacks from Fudge, which would only bring unnecessary trouble to him, or to the Order of the Phoenix.

Dumbledore also understood John's intention of stopping at the right point and gave John an approving look.

Then he looked at Fudge, who had an ugly expression, and knowing that one more fire was needed, he continued to pressure Fudge.

"Cornelius, just a short while ago, another one of my students was also attacked by a Dementor, and was similarly accused by you."

"Now, they are also on their way here."

"What I want to say is, if there were only one attack incident, it might be an accident, but two attack incidents happened one after another..."

"Do you think this is a coincidence?"

As he spoke, Dumbledore walked forward slowly, the hem of his robes dragging lightly across the floor.

None of the Aurors dared to block him, and could only retreat repeatedly.

And Fudge, who was at the center of Dumbledore's pressure, was sweating profusely, and could only watch as Dumbledore walked up to him step by step, looking into those deep blue eyes behind his half-moon spectacles.

"Then, Minister," Dumbledore looked down at Fudge, switching to a more official honorific, his voice low and clear.

"Would you like to explain why Dementors under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Magic would appear in Muggle neighborhoods one after another? Or perhaps—"

He paused slightly, his presence rising bit by bit, his gaze like torches looking into Fudge's eyes.

"The Ministry of Magic no longer has the ability to manage that group of monsters?"

The air seemed to freeze, and Fudge swallowed hard as he looked at Dumbledore.

He understood that there were only two paths left before him now.

One, admit the Ministry of Magic's dereliction of duty, and publicly admit that the deployment of Dementors was without proper procedure.

Perhaps this could calm the current situation, but it would deal a fatal blow to his reputation and status, and might even lead to people digging up that this matter had something to do with him.

At that point, it wouldn't be as simple as stepping down to let a better person take over.

Two... would be to shift the blame to what he had refused to admit all along—Voldemort's resurrection, the return of the Death Eaters.