bioinnovel Chapter 409 Fudge on the Verge of Collapse
Chapter 409 Fudge on the Verge of Collapse
Chapter 409 Fudge on the Verge of Collapse
On this sunny afternoon, Belvina leisurely enjoyed her afternoon tea.
Cornelius Fudge sat across from him, looking somewhat distracted, the ice puck in his glass slowly melting.
Before entering the office, Fudge had prepared a thousand words; he had too many questions to ask Belvina.
But when Fudge walked into the office, when he sat down opposite Belvina, all those words and questions became useless.
After a long period of silence, Cornelius Fudge, unable to maintain the stalemate any longer, finally broke the silence.
He said, "You look like you have a good appetite."
The porcelain plate holding the tea and snacks had three tiers, and Belvina had already eaten half of it.
"Because it tastes really good, do you want to try it?" Belvina said. "It's said that eating helps relieve stress."
As she spoke, Belvina picked up a pastry and handed it over, but Cornelius Fudge did not reach out to take it.
"You didn't drink a drop of the Flame Whiskey, and you didn't like the tea or snacks either. Are you worried that I'm poisoning you, Minister?" Belvina smiled nonchalantly.
Then she put the rejected snack into her mouth.
Cornelius Fudge gave a slightly embarrassed laugh; he was indeed on guard against someone poisoning him.
If it weren't for the circumstances, Fudge would never have wanted to be alone with Belvina; he feared he would be controlled.
It could be said that Cornelius Fudge used all his cunning to guard against his own people, while ignoring those who truly wanted to scheme and plot.
Seeing that Belvina was starting to rave about the tea and snacks again, Fudge had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue talking.
He asked, "Have you seen that new 'Moonlight Newspaper' that came out these past couple of days?"
"Of course I've read it," Belvina said. "Rita Skeeter's writing is still so captivating, making you want to keep reading and thinking."
She took out a handkerchief and wiped her hands, then said, "By the way, Sirius Black is the investor in this newspaper. Does the minister know about this?"
"You should be the real investor, shouldn't you?" Cornelius Fudge looked up and stared at Belvina.
"No, the investor was Sirius Black. Since he cleared his name, he has inherited most of the family fortune. I don't have that much money to run a newspaper."
This is a statement that is half true and half false. 92 Diagon Alley is owned by Sirius Black, according to the *Moon Journal*.
He was also the financier; Belvina was at best someone who offered advice.
"What exactly do you want to do!" Cornelius Fudge asked, gripping his wine glass tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.
"Minister, that's the question I should be asking you," Belvina said, tossing aside her handkerchief. "Minister, what exactly do you want to do?"
Cornelius Fudge was taken aback. Was there anything wrong with what he had done? He was maintaining peace and stability in the wizarding community, and he was protecting his position. What was wrong with that?
"Suppress Dumbledore, reduce Dumbledore's influence—what are you trying to do, Minister?" Belvina continued. "Dropping people from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, infiltrating it, trying to sideline Burns—what exactly are you trying to do, Minister!"
Cornelius Fudge's face turned pale and then red, speechless at Belvina's questioning.
"You did all this just for that chair under your ass!" Belvina continued. "Have you ever thought about how long you could sit in that chair without Dumbledore and Burns?!"
"Enough!" Cornelius Forgeten, stung by the revelation, stood up abruptly. "Dumbledore wants my position, Burns wants to be minister, they both want to oust me!"
Belvina looked up at Fudge and said, "Borns wants to be minister. How many people in the entire Ministry of Magic don't want to be minister? How many don't want to be the leader of a nation's wizarding community?"
Everyone in the Ministry of Magic dreams of becoming Minister!
If the Ministry of Magic were to suppress anyone who wanted to become minister, it would have become an empty shell long ago.
"For months, every time Burns went to see you, she was either turned away by you or stopped outside by the Minister's office. Besides ousting you, what other way does she have to stop the Ministry of Magic from continuing its decay?"
As Belvina spoke, she stood up, looking Fudge straight in the eye, putting immense pressure on him.
"Degenerate? I must be drunk to hear that." Cornelius Fudge took a few steps back. "The Ministry of Magic is thriving under my leadership, and Diagon Alley is prosperous and stable. How dare you call it decadent!"
"That's the funniest joke I've heard lately," Belvina said. "Has the minister forgotten the Quidditch World Cup riots?"
Cornelius Fudge turned pale, and he argued, "It was just a small group of people causing trouble!"
"Do troublemakers use the Killing Curse?" Belvina stepped forward. "They wear Death Eater clothes, torture Muggles for amusement, and use the Unforgivable Curse on Ministry officials. And you're telling me they're just causing trouble?"
Cornelius Fudge, his face ashen, took two steps back, speechless once again at Belvina's question.
"And Barty Crouch Jr."
Cornelius Fudge immediately interrupted Belvina, saying, "That was old Crouch's misconduct and favoritism; it's all Barty Crouch's fault!"
"Fine, even if it's all Barty Crouch's fault, the Minister hasn't forgotten the Dark Mark on Karkaroff's arm, has he?" Belvina stepped forward again, pressing closer.
"Enough!" Cornelius Fudge shook his head repeatedly, backing away again. "Are you going to tell me again that the Mystic is back? But where is he? Aside from that damn, ugly mark, tell me where the Mystic is right now!"
For months, Voldemort had remained completely hidden, and apart from the Dark Mark on Karkaroff's arm, there was no other evidence to suggest that he had truly returned.
No one disappeared without a trace, no one died without a cause, and the wizarding community remained peaceful and stable as usual.
"What, is the minister now planning to completely deny the fact that Voldemort has returned?" Belvina said. "It's okay to lie to others, but don't lie to yourself."
Cornelius Fudge's eyes widened; he was terrified by the name "Voldemort."
“I can tell you one more thing: Fenrir Greyback is back,” Belvina continued. “Yes, the werewolf that the ministry has wanted for years. He’s gathering his old followers and rebuilding his werewolf army.”
This is terrible news. Although Fenrir Greyback is not a Death Eater and is not even qualified to be branded with the Dark Mark, Greyback's crimes are even more heinous than those of the Death Eaters.
Greyback was notorious for his fondness for attacking children, taking it upon himself to bite and infect as many people as possible, and he even considered ruling wizarding society.
"Minister, why do you think Greyback dared to show himself, and why did he dare to regroup the werewolves?" Belvina continued, "If the world were truly peaceful and stable, if Voldemort hadn't returned, how could a lowly, filthy werewolf like Greyback dare to show himself and summon an army!"
Belvina pressed forward relentlessly, while Cornelius Fudge retreated step by step.
The cruel, bloody truth is gradually revealed, shattering Cornelius Fudge's illusory dream bit by bit.
Cornelius Fudge managed to maintain his last shred of dignity, shouting, "Do you think only you are right, that you are correct, that I am the one who is right, that I am the one who has maintained social stability?!"
"How long can your stability last without addressing the real problems?" Belvina said. "Until Voldemort makes a public appearance, or until the Death Eaters storm the Ministry of Magic?"
Cornelius Fudge staggered backward as if he had been punched, until his body crashed into the wall, leaving him nowhere to go.
"Malfoy, Yaxley, Avery, Nott—should I continue?" Belvina's voice wasn't loud, but every syllable was firm and resounding.
She continued, "These people, these pure-blood wizards who fawn over you, which one of them hasn't been prosecuted by the Ministry of Magic for being a Death Eater?"
"They've all been declared innocent!" Cornelius Fudge's struggle grew increasingly feeble. "The Malfoys are a very old family, generously donating to good causes—and Avery, Nott, they're all innocent."
"Isn't Lestrange old enough? All three of them are in Azkaban. Isn't Rozier old enough? Both father and son are Death Eaters. The riots on the night of the World Cup final were organized by the Malfoys, who generously donated to the good cause. The one who cast the Killing Curse on me was Lucius Malfoy!"
Belvina didn't come forward again, but every word she said pierced Cornelius Fudge's heart.
She continued, "Voldemort's banner was pure-blood, and his confidants were all supporters of pure-blood supremacy. They were your favorite pure-bloods."
Cornelius Fudge leaned limply against the wall, unable to think of any words to refute Belvina.
The vast majority of those who were branded by Voldemort to become Death Eaters were pure-blood wizards, each with purer blood and nobler origins.
If all the so-called pure-blood families were branded as Death Eaters and imprisoned in Azkaban, apart from a few families like Abbott, Longbottom, and McMillan, the rest of them would likely be wrongly killed, but certainly not wrongly implicated.
Belvina stood still and continued, "Those people you're close to, those people you trust, you could see the Dark Mark on their left arms if you just rolled up their sleeves, but you didn't dare do that. You only dared to bully Albus Dumbledore because you knew Dumbledore wouldn't kill you like Voldemort did!"
"You're talking nonsense!" Words could hardly express Cornelius Fudge's anger at that moment.
"You are angry, Cornelius, because I have spoken your mind, because I have exposed your cowardly behavior. You allow yourself to be manipulated by the Death Eaters, attacking and suppressing Dumbledore, because only in this way can you sleep soundly, only in this way can you have the illusion that you are capable of continuing to lead the Ministry of Magic!"
Cornelius Fudge's body slowly slid down the snow-white wall.
"If Albus Dumbledore wanted to be a minister, he would have been the one the year he defeated Grindelwald. It wasn't Mohn's turn, nor Taft's, and certainly not Cornelius Fudge's turn decades later!"
The current Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, sat dejectedly on the ground, his head hanging low, looking like a child who had made a mistake and was at a loss.