bioinnovel Chapter 398 Unstable Situation
Chapter 398 Unstable Situation
Chapter 398 Unstable Situation
In the summer of 1995, Connelly Fudge experienced both pain and joy.
The pain stemmed from Voldemort's resurgence, while the joy came from the partial success achieved in suppressing Dumbledore.
On the night of the Hogwarts year-end party, Dumbledore revealed the truth in front of the entire school: Voldemort had returned.
Dumbledore's act of revealing the truth crossed Cornelius Fudge's line. He viewed Dumbledore's statement as a provocation against the Ministry of Magic and a declaration of war against him personally.
From that day on, the Ministry of Magic, led by Fudge, began to target Dumbledore in every way possible, ostracizing, suppressing, and smearing him—it can be said that they used every means possible to do so.
As a first step, Cornelius Fudge publicly denied Dumbledore's statement.
As Minister of Magic, Fudge publicly declared that Vander had never returned and that Dumbledore's statements and actions were deliberately designed to create trouble.
In an instant, the public, who had been panicked by the “return of Voldemort,” was immediately reassured. They preferred to believe the Ministry of Magic’s statement that everything was peaceful rather than the bad news coming from Hogwarts.
Even Cornelius Fudge himself did not expect that he would so easily defuse Dumbledore's "sneak attack," and incidentally push Dumbledore to the opposite side of the public, making Dumbledore the target of everyone's criticism.
The next step was to launch a comprehensive smear campaign against Albus Dumbledore.
Under Cornelius Fudge's instigation and coercion, mainstream media outlets, including The Daily Prophet and Wizarding Weekly, began to attack Dumbledore.
For nearly a month, Dumbledore became a regular feature in newspapers and magazines, his name appearing frequently, and his dark past was once again brought to the public eye.
His father died in prison for attacking Muggles, his mother was born a Muggle, his sister was unable to attend Hogwarts, and his brother abused magic on goats—all these past experiences became weapons used against Dumbledore.
In addition, the fact that Gilderoy Lockhart was hired as a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts was also brought up.
After being attacked by various newspapers and magazines, Dumbledore is no longer the great wizard he once was in the public eye; he is now just a senile old man who deliberately stirs up trouble.
In the third step, Cornelius Fudge began to further weaken Dumbledore's influence, keeping him away from the Ministry of Magic.
To this end, Cornelius Fudge, together with some pure-blood wizarding families and some Ministry of Magic officials, successfully drove Dumbledore out of Wizengamor.
Fudge then manipulated a vote within the Ministry of Magic, causing Dumbledore to lose his position in the International Confederation of Wizards and become unable to continue serving as its president.
In less than a month, Dumbledore's reputation and influence plummeted. Some said he was old and incapable, others said he was a senile old madman, and still others said he was a schemer who deliberately stirred up trouble.
In conclusion, in the struggle between the minister and the headmaster, Minister Cornelius Fudge won one victory after another, while Headmaster Albus Dumbledore suffered a series of defeats.
Despite achieving a partial victory in the "battle between the two leaders," Connelly Fudge's happiness didn't last long, as a whole host of messy things awaited him in the department.
The manhunt for Bertha Jorkins has been going on for months, drawing complaints from Aurors, strikers, and law enforcement officers. They need reassurance from the department, but more importantly, they need a reasonable explanation.
However, Cornelius Fudge could not provide a reasonable explanation. If he revealed the truth to his staff, not only would his previous efforts to suppress and smear Dumbledore be in vain, but Fudge would also lose his seat.
One lie leads to countless more lies to cover it up.
In order to maintain social stability and secure his position as minister, Connelly Fudge chose to lie.
Now, the price of lying has come. Connelly Fudge is in a precarious situation and can only use a series of lies to cover up the initial one.
Besides the fact that his lies could be exposed at any moment, there was another person in the Ministry of Magic who made Cornelius Fudge feel very troubled—Amelia Borns.
The Burns family is a very famous and influential family in the British wizarding community, producing many talented individuals.
During Voldemort's last reign, the Burns family was at the forefront of the fight against him and paid a heavy price.
Born into such a heroic and valiant family, Amelia Bornes was naturally not a child of privilege. She was fair, honest, exceptionally talented, and always dedicated to fighting against darkness.
From the day Voldemort returned, Ms. Burns was prepared to fight back, and even if she died at the hands of the Death Eaters like her brother Edgar, she would never back down.
For months, the department staff would always run into Ms. Burns near the minister's office; she was either blocking the minister's door or on her way to block the minister's door.
However, Ms. Burns' persistence failed to sway Connelly Fudge, and instead made the minister even more wary of her.
Because Amelia Bornes is the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, she is usually regarded as the successor to the Minister of Magic.
Even Dumbledore, far away in Scotland, was a thorn in Fudge's side, and Mrs. Burns, right under his nose, naturally couldn't escape the minister's suspicion.
Under the minister's suspicion, and after repeated evasive responses and excuses, Amelia Borns, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, gave up.
She didn't give up her will to fight Voldemort, but rather she gave up all her illusions about Minister Cornelius Fudge.
For the past month, department staff have stopped seeing Ms. Burns near the minister's office.
While Cornelius Fudge was suppressing Dumbledore, Ms. Burns secretly gathered her strength and made preparations to overthrow the Minister of Magic.
Since you, Cornelius Fudge, are unwilling to admit your mistakes and are incapable of leading the Ministry of Magic in the fight against Voldemort, then let someone with the ability and determination take over!
Compared to Ms. Burns, who was preparing a coup, Belvina Black, also a female director of the Ministry of Magic, seemed much more docile and obedient, making it difficult to tell whose side she was on.
In this summer of relentless heat, Belvina, who had returned to the Ministry of Magic, removed the "Deputy" from her title and officially became the Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation.
After being promoted from deputy to full-fledged, Belvina seemed determined to dedicate her life to the cause of international magical cooperation.
Since taking office, Belvina has been either in meetings or on her way to meetings.
She redefined trade standards, established product specifications, and even personally oversaw matters such as the thickness of the crucible bottom.
It could be said that Belvina Black, the director of the International Magical Cooperation Department, has a more demanding and busy schedule than anyone else in the department.
It was as if Belvina was possessed by the spirit of the deceased Barty Crouch.
Roll them all up!
Under the leadership of the rolled-up Belvina, the efficiency of the International Department of Magical Cooperation has soared, far surpassing that of the past.
However, even though Belvina was curled up like a squid on a hot plate with her schedule packed to the brim, she still managed to squeeze in time for meetings with Wizengamo and the International Federation of Wizards.
During a routine meeting of Wizengamor, Wizengamor expelled their chief wizard, casting her vote in favor of expelling Albus Dumbledore.
At the regular meeting of the International Federation of Wizarding Societies, she also voted in favor, and President Albus Dumbledore was removed from office.
Although Belvina's vote was not enough to determine the outcome, it conveyed her attitude to the outside world.
In addition, whenever someone asked Belvina what she thought of Dumbledore, she would either look at the person with a smile or change the subject immediately, never mentioning Albus Dumbledore.
It seems that Belvina, who was once highly regarded by Dumbledore, has severed ties with him.
It seems that Belvina is loyal to Cornelius Fudge, otherwise she wouldn't act like a lackey.
Is this really true?
That noon, Belvina walked out of the International Magic Cooperation Department after finishing a meeting.
The sign from last summer still hangs in the corridor directly opposite the golden elevator: Ludo Bagman is not allowed to enter.
Belvina stood next to the sign, having changed back into her favorite long dress. Her long, black hair was pulled back, giving her an elegant and capable look.
However, Belvina, who had become the head of the department, did not seem happy; her beautiful face had an unapproachable look on it.
Just then, the elevator clattered to the fifth floor, and the gate opened with a whoosh.
Inside and outside the door, Ms. Burns and Belvina stared at each other.
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