bioinnovel Chapter 384 An Unsettling Calm
Chapter 384 An Unsettling Calm
Chapter 384 An Unsettling Calm
With Voldemort's resurgence, Hogwarts has become exceptionally busy.
Dumbledore and Belvina were openly and secretly preparing for war, while Voldemort remained completely silent.
Voldemort, who had started afresh, seemed to have suddenly lost his ambition. He not only did not make a grand announcement of his return, but he also did not regroup his Death Eaters.
If it weren't for the clearly visible Dark Marks on Snape and Karkaroff's arms, and if the scene from that day with Little Hangleton weren't so vivid in her mind, Belvina would have wondered if she was hallucinating.
After thirteen years of hiding and being reborn, even if he didn't want to avenge his past humiliations and hold his head high, he should at least want to complete the unfinished business he had left behind. But what about Voldemort?
Without any news or action, Voldemort seemed to have vanished into thin air, as if he had abandoned his previous career and found a good place to enjoy his retirement.
Of course, Belvina knew that this cunning septuagenarian, Deng, wouldn't give up so easily; the more silent he was now, the more it showed that he had grand ambitions.
As far as Belvina knows, Tom Riddle had already amassed a group of devoted followers during his student days, but he was not in a hurry to achieve his goal until the 1970s when he reappeared in front of the world as "Voldemort".
From then on, a nightmare descended upon the British wizarding community. Every week, bad news came: someone died, someone went missing, someone was tortured—the whole society was in chaos, and wizards lived in constant fear.
Both Voldemort and Voldemort have disappeared for many years before, but this time he chose to keep a low profile and not leave any trace.
Could it be that Voldemort has learned from his previous mistake and is not planning to openly declare war on the Ministry of Magic this time?
If that were the case, Belvina would be even more troubled, because it would just be in the hands of certain people in the department, especially Cornelius Fudge.
For the past few days, Hogwarts has been actively preparing for battle, while Voldemort has been holding back. What have the Ministry of Magic and Minister Fudge been doing?
Although it was hard to believe, Belvina had to admit that Cornelius Fudge's years as Minister of Magic had not been in vain; he had improved a lot since he was the Deputy Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters.
In just a few days, Minister Fudge managed to suppress the discordant voices coming from the Department of Law Enforcement, and he temporarily persuaded Amelia Borns and Rufus Scrimgeour.
When confronted by Burns and Scrimgeour, Cornelius Fudge's behavior was not only not the opposite of his behavior at Hogwarts, but rather like that of two completely different people.
Fudge not only admitted that Voldemort might have resurfaced, but also stated that he would lead the Ministry of Magic to fight against him to the end.
However, when Ms. Burns asked Fudge to make the matter public, he vehemently opposed it, and his attitude was even more vehement.
According to Cornelius Fudge, today's peace and prosperity are hard-won, and once the horrifying truth about Voldemort is revealed, everything painstakingly built up over the past thirteen years will vanish in an instant.
Fudge's concerns are not unfounded. Once the public learns the truth, it will inevitably trigger widespread panic, with everyone feeling insecure, and the chaos of thirteen years ago will be repeated.
Therefore, rather than revealing the truth and causing chaos in society, it is better to conceal the truth for the time being and proceed gradually.
Cornelius Fudge believed that the Ministry of Magic should keep the truth from the public while secretly searching for Voldemort and preventing his resurgence.
Thus, Ms. Burns and Scrimgeour were temporarily persuaded. They decided to cooperate with Fudge's policy and, while ensuring the stability of wizarding society, secretly hunt down Voldemort.
So the Aurors, the Strikers, and the Law Enforcers were dispatched to search every corner of England, determined to find Bertha Jorkins, who was plotting to overthrow the Ministry of Magic!
That's right, it's not a search for Voldemort across the entire island, but a search for Bertha Jorkins across the entire island.
Apart from a few Aurors in charge of the work, most people thought they were looking for Bertha Jorkins.
Cornelius Fudge classified the report on Little Hangleton's incident as top secret, and all staff members of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters who handled the matter were also strictly required to keep it confidential.
After this series of actions, Bertha Jorkins was still listed as missing in the Ministry of Magic's records, rather than dead. As a "missing" woman, Jorkins became one of the main culprits in the Crouch case.
Poor Bertha Jorkins, she was first ruined by Crouch the Elder’s Oblivion Curse, then tricked by Crouch the Younger more than ten years later, then afflicted by the Imperius Curse, and finally tragically perished in Fiendfire.
Even after being reduced to ashes, Bertha Jorkins' tragic fate was not over. She perished in the fire and was accused by Cornelius Fudge of plotting to overthrow the government, becoming an accomplice to Crouch and his son.
Pitiful, tragic, lamentable—the life of Bertha Jorkins was beyond description.
After Belvina, who was at Hogwarts, figured out Fudge's series of actions, she had a very strange feeling: her son had finally grown up.
Although Cornelius Fudge covered up the truth and even went so far as to slander the deceased Bertha Jorkins, his actions were not without reason.
After all, someone once said: A nation is not about good or evil, but about order or chaos.
In order to maintain social stability and avoid causing public panic, Connelly Fudge chose to cover up the truth; he chose to lie to the public.
Compared to Fudge's denial and avoidance at Hogwarts, how can this not be considered growth?
However, although Cornelius Fudge has improved, he hasn't improved much.
It is easy to tell the first lie, but it takes countless lies to cover up the flaws in the first lie.
The truth can be hidden for a while, but not forever; the truth will eventually come out.
If even the slightest leak of information were to occur, the credibility and authority of the Ministry of Magic would be questioned, or even completely destroyed.
Even if the Ministry of Magic is an impenetrable fortress, it will still explode the moment Voldemort stops pretending and reveals his true colors.
In other words, while Fudge and the Ministry of Magic under his rule temporarily maintained social stability, they planted a much bigger hidden danger, a bomb that could shatter Fudge to pieces.
However, the British wizarding community will enjoy a period of peace and tranquility before this incredibly powerful bomb detonates completely.
In the midst of this eerie peace, time flew by, and before we knew it, it was May.
More than a month has passed since Voldemort was reborn, and the most dangerous dark wizard in history remains silent and has not taken any action.
The Ministry of Magic's search across the entire island continues, with Aurors, Strikers, and Law Enforcement Teams scouring the island but finding no trace of Bertha Jorkins.
Bertha Jorkins was burned to ashes long ago, leaving no trace of her remains; it would be strange if she could be found.
As for Voldemort, even when he was a wandering spirit, the Ministry of Magic couldn't find him; now that he has regained his magic, it's even less likely they can find him.
During this time, Dumbledore met with Cornelius Fudge again, and the two discussed Voldemort's matter once more, but the meeting ended badly, just like before.
According to Dumbledore, the Ministry of Magic should immediately relieve Azkaban of his duties, freeing him from the Dementors' control. At the same time, the Ministry should also take necessary measures against the likes of Lucius Malfoy.
Cornelius Fudge strongly disagreed, believing that Dumbledore wasn't trying to fight Voldemort, but rather to take the opportunity to kill him, the Minister of Magic.
The first step was to abolish the Dementors. This was only considered by Edridge Diggory when he was a minister in the 18th century. However, with Minister Diggory's death from dragonpox in 1747, the matter of abolishing the Dementors was left unresolved.
Since Edridge Diggory, no minister has considered removing the Dementors or replacing Azkaban.
Cornelius Fudge certainly wouldn't do what previous secretaries hadn't dared to do, and more importantly, he had no intention of abolishing the Dementors.
In Cornelius Fudge's view, Dementors are loyal to the Ministry of Magic; they are reliable and trustworthy.
Even a large part of the public believes that Azkaban must be handed over to the Dementors so that everyone can sleep peacefully.
Furthermore, Cornelius Fudge wouldn't dare take any necessary measures against Lucius Malfoy and others either. Just look at the names Dumbledore mentioned: Malfoy, Avery, Nott, Goyle, Crabbe—
These people were Death Eaters in Dumbledore's eyes, but in Fudge's eyes they were perfectly good citizens, pure-blood wizards with wizarding dignity.
Most importantly, Lucius Malfoy and the others had already been declared innocent by the Ministry of Magic; they were not Death Eaters.
Cornelius Fudge believed that Dumbledore's actions were not aimed at fighting Voldemort, but rather at killing him, the Minister of Magic.
Unable to reach an agreement on the Dementors' issue, and also unable to reach a consensus on the issues concerning Malfoy and the others, Dumbledore and Fudge had another big argument, and the two parted ways completely.
But what's strange is that although Cornelius Fudge believed Dumbledore was plotting to seize power, he didn't take any action against Dumbledore. He didn't attack or smear him; he did nothing.
And so, Hogwarts entered the summer term in a calm and peaceful manner.
At the start of the summer semester, the names of Crouch and his son disappeared from the Daily Prophet, and Crouch and Jorkins were no longer the subject of students' conversations.
In this summer term without Quidditch matches, the only thing that could pique the interest of the entire school was the Triwizard Tournament.
The idea of reviving the Three Kingdoms tournament was proposed by Connelly Fudge.
Perhaps it was because Karkaroff returned safely, perhaps it was because Voldemort had not yet shown up, or perhaps it was to maintain a facade of peace.
In short, the three-way competition was able to continue, except that the third event was moved from the originally scheduled June 24th to early June.
With the match time moved up, Belvina, who was in charge of the Triwizard Tournament, had to change her schedule accordingly and gather the four warriors ahead of time.
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