bioinnovel Chapter 400 Forming Allies
Chapter 400 Forming Allies
Chapter 400 Forming Allies
In front of Ms. Burns, Belvina slurped down her sandwich and gulped down a mouthful of chilled orange juice.
She took out a handkerchief and wiped her mouth before saying to Ms. Burns, "Amelia, we should be more worried about the Ministry of Magic than Hogwarts and Professor Dumbledore."
During Voldemort's last reign, the Ministry of Magic was so thoroughly infiltrated that Voldemort would know even if the Minister changed his underwear immediately.
Death Eaters, pure-blood wizards, and those controlled by the Imperius Curse formed a vast intelligence network that successfully turned the Ministry of Magic into a "transparent" government.
Belvina continued, "Although the Dark Lord is currently holding back and no one knows what he is planning, the Ministry of Magic will definitely be the first to be affected once he makes a move."
"The Ministry of Magic must not fall under any circumstances," Ms. Burns said solemnly. "If the Ministry of Magic is destroyed, the entire country will become a plaything in the hands of the Mystic. Wizards, Muggles, everyone will become lambs to the slaughter."
Ms. Burns picked up her coffee, and although it was a little cold, she gently blew on it.
With the Wizarding Wars restarted, the Ministry of Magic is in a dangerous situation, yet Cornelius Fudge continues to act like a clown, doing things that hurt his friends and please his enemies.
Ms. Burns continued, "Infiltration, assassination, Imperius—even with all the protection, we are not safe."
The Ministry of Magic's protective measures for high-ranking officials may be able to keep out Death Eaters, but they cannot keep out Voldemort.
“Our minister doesn’t realize any of this,” Belvina said. “He’s foolishly and ignorantly convinced that power politics can bring down a powerful wizard.”
Ms. Burns shook her head helplessly. No one could persuade Cornelius Fudge now; he was blinded by power and his mind was clouded by desire.
"Why did you choose to support Fudge in the first place?" Ms. Burns suddenly asked. "Was it because he was easy to manipulate?"
"I suppose so," Belvina nodded. "Back then, Connelly was quite intelligent; at least he knew his limitations and acted humbly. But now..."
"Fudge now believes he's the only one fit for the ministership, that no one can do it better than him," Ms. Burns interjected. "However, I didn't expect you to praise his intelligence."
Belvina smiled and said, "Connelly is actually quite clever at times. For example, his choice to keep the Dark Lord's return a secret from the public wasn't actually wrong."
"It wasn't exactly wrong, but he shouldn't have continued to delay when the search was making no progress," Ms. Burns said. "Ultimately, he was just trying to keep his job."
Ms. Burns suddenly remembered something else, and she continued, "I think our minister is a lot like the king in 'The Rabbit and the Magic Tree Stump'."
"The Rabbit and the Magic Tree Stump" is a short story in "The Tales of Beedle the Bard".
The king in the story is a fool. He is first tricked by a cunning charlatan, and later he is punished by the righteous witch Babbitt.
Ms. Burns compared Cornelius Fudge to the king in the story, implying both that Fudge was foolish and that he was being completely fooled.
"You're not trying to say that I'm just a con artist working for Cornelius, are you?" Belvina said with a smile. "Con artists don't have a good ending; he was imprisoned in the dungeon by the king."
"Aren't you just playing Fudge for a fool?" Ms. Burns retorted with a laugh. "If he knew what you were thinking, you'd be in a much worse state than the conman in the story."
Despite the harsh words, Amelia Bones genuinely cared about Belvina.
Belvina appears to be following Connelly Fudge, but in reality, she is prepared to betray Fudge at any time, which is tantamount to playing with fire.
“I’m not one of Connelly’s con artists; he has other con artists around him,” Belvina said. “You should remember Umbridge, right? Connelly’s been trying to promote her again recently.”
“Of course I remember Umbridge,” Ms. Burns said with disgust. “However, she probably won’t get promoted. I sent her to the Department of Magical Creature Control.”
"It's not the centaur's office, is it?" Belvina asked. "If it's the centaur's office, wouldn't it be even worse than the maintenance department!"
Ms. Burns nodded and said, "That's right, Umbridge is now an employee of the Centaur Office."
Belvina felt a surge of respect; Amelia Borns was far more ruthless than her.
Back then, Belvina simply kicked Umbridge to the Magical Repair and Maintenance Department, but unexpectedly, Ms. Burns actually put her directly into the centaur office to retire!
Amelia Borns is a ruthless person.
In the Ministry of Magic's reception room, two female directors sat together chatting about this and that, almost going from old men to married women.
As they chatted, the two talked about the Ministry of Magic, then Hogwarts, and back again, also mentioning the detestable Umbridge.
Belvina finished the last sip of chilled orange juice in her glass, then took out her pocket watch to check the time.
After returning to the Ministry of Magic, she worked as the Scroll King in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Her schedule was packed, and she didn't have much time to chat anymore.
At that moment, Ms. Burns's eyes suddenly became incredibly sincere, as if she were about to propose to Belvina.
She said, "Belvina, do you remember what we talked about outside the courtroom a year ago?"
At that time, Sirius had just been exonerated, and Ms. Burns expressed her willingness to form an alliance with Belvina outside the courtroom.
Amelia Borns continued, "I want to confirm this with you again. Are we, you and me, still in the same trench?"
If Cornelius Fudge was smart, he focused solely on suppressing Dumbledore, who had no interest in the ministerial position, while ignoring the far more deadly Voldemort.
While Cornell Fudge might seem brainless, he knew how to use the Belvina brand to pit her against Ms. Burns, creating a system where the two female directors checked and balanced each other.
However, Fudge overlooked a crucial point: the two female directors had already reached a verbal agreement in secret. Their alliance might not be strong, but it would never allow Fudge to get what he wanted.
Today, Amelia Bones came to Belvina to put their verbal agreement into practice and solidify their alliance.
"Amelia, although we have different ways of doing things, I'm pretty sure we're in the same trench."
From the very beginning, Belvina had guessed Ms. Burns' true intentions.
He was genuinely worried about Dumbledore and Hogwarts, and he was also genuinely concerned about Belvina, but what was more important was gaining her support.
Cornelius Fudge has served as Minister of Magic for many years, and the power gathered under his command is no longer what it used to be.
Recently, because he has been targeting and suppressing Dumbledore, he has been automatically matched with many teammates, which has made Fudge even more powerful.
To overthrow the current Cornelius Fudge, Ms. Burns alone is not enough; she cannot contend with Fudge and those behind him.
This is also why Belvina chose to take a roundabout approach to counter the ambush. A direct confrontation would not be very likely to succeed, while flipping the table was her last resort, which she could not easily play.
If the Ministry of Magic were to be destroyed by accident, and the wizarding government were to fall apart, that would be a great loss.
After all, even if the Ministry of Magic is in a bad state, it is still much better than anarchy.
"Amelia, you know I'm not interested in the ministerial position," Belvina continued. "The ministerial retirement benefits, however, are more to my liking."
Although she didn't say it directly, her attitude was clear: she had no intention of competing with Amelia Borns for the ministerial position.
With Dumbledore leading the Order of the Phoenix and Ms. Burns taking the lead at the Ministry of Magic, both sides have a leader and are partners, which is a good arrangement.
"However, whatever you want to do, my advice is to do it as soon as possible," Belvina continued. "The longer it drags on, the worse it will be for us. Connelly is not the real enemy."
Even if Belvina and Ms. Burns take no action, Cornelius Fudge won't last long. His lies will be exposed sooner or later, and he and his allies will disintegrate.
However, the longer Cornelius Fudge holds out, the more disadvantageous the war against Voldemort will become, and he may even lose the initiative completely.
Therefore, whether it's overthrowing Fudge head-on or assassinating him indirectly, the action must be swift and decisive.
"Alright, I should go now." Belvina took out her pocket watch again. "I have a meeting later."
"Is it another crucible thickness issue?" Ms. Burns joked, looking much more relaxed after confirming Belvina's attitude and stance.
"No, the meeting was about the quality standards for dragon droppings," Belvina said dejectedly. "Recently, a lot of low-quality products have appeared on the market, some of which are not even dragon droppings at all."
"Thank you for your hard work," Ms. Burns said sincerely. "Yes, thank you for your hard work."
>