Seeing that everyone present had reached a consensus, Jamison's mood improved greatly: the task Lord Slytherin had given him was now one step closer to success.
When the policy of a Minister for Magic was openly questioned and then overturned, it meant his political career was nearing its end. It showed his prestige had fallen to a pitiful level, and the discontent against him had piled up too much.
By then, Jamison wouldn't need to do anything. Those who were ambitious for the Minister's position would naturally come forward to contact him, and he could simply set his price.
This was the advantage of pure-blood families—they could remain seated like fishermen on the shore, slowly accumulating wealth, status, and reputation for their family. Before they stepped onto the stage to seize the Minister's chair, they would hardly ever be the losers.
Oh, no—that wasn't entirely true.
He still needed to do one thing: report his progress properly to Lord Slytherin, so as not to leave him waiting anxiously.
Jamison thought it was only because the Lord was unwilling to reveal his identity. If one day he exposed who he truly was, then dismissing Fudge would be nothing more than a matter of a single word.
After successfully rallying a group of people with enough influence, Jamison decided to bring them to confront Fudge and force him to repeal the bill authorizing Dementors to be stationed outside Hogwarts.
As for how Sirius was to be captured—that wasn't their concern. They only wanted to make sure no Dementors ever appeared near Hogwarts again.
Fudge quickly rushed to Hogwarts and was met at the school gates by Dumbledore, who had been waiting for him for quite some time.
"Albus, this really was an accident." The flames of anger flickering in Dumbledore's eyes startled Fudge, and he instinctively began to defend himself.
After speaking, he suddenly realized: no students had been hurt, so what was he so nervous about?
Fudge's mood quickly calmed down. As a seasoned Minister for Magic, he had already thought of a solution on his way here.
First, appease Dumbledore and settle matters with Hogwarts, then go on to placate those clueless parents outside—his principle was to downplay the big issues and smooth over the small ones.
The two key points of this solution were: first, Hogwarts must not make a fuss; second, the parents must not band together too soon.
Fudge was now working hard on the first point. So even though he inwardly disagreed, he still kept his posture low, repeatedly apologizing to Dumbledore and putting on a fearful, humble appearance.
He knew Dumbledore was old, and the elderly were always easier to fool.
Sure enough, the flames of anger in Dumbledore's eyes gradually died down. He told Fudge that Dementors must no longer appear near Hogwarts.
Fudge blinked. That wouldn't do—without Dementors guarding the place, who would capture Sirius Black? He only wanted to catch the number one Azkaban escapee and bring him back as soon as possible.
He didn't actually care much about Harry's safety. The reason he insisted on stationing Dementors around Hogwarts was simply because this was the place where Black was most likely to appear.
"May I take a look by the Black Lake first? I heard they were buried underground, and then sunk to the bottom of the lake?" Fudge did not directly answer Dumbledore's request but instead diverted the topic.
"Of course, I was also very surprised something like this happened." Dumbledore stepped aside, inviting Fudge into Hogwarts.
"You're the Headmaster—don't you know what happened?" Hearing that Dumbledore was also "surprised," Fudge couldn't help but feel a bit stunned.
Is Dumbledore lying to me? The thought flashed through his mind.
He's extremely dissatisfied with my sending Dementors here, so even if he could have driven them away with a Patronus Charm, he deliberately chose instead to activate the school's defensive magic and seal all the Dementors away…
To be fair, this seemed like a rather reasonable explanation in Fudge's eyes.
"Hogwarts is a school with a thousand years of history, filled with countless mechanisms and enchantments. Even as Headmaster, I cannot fully grasp all its secrets. Even if the four Founders were resurrected, they would certainly find the current castle extremely unfamiliar—why, in fact, one morning I had to relieve myself and…"
Fudge patiently listened as Dumbledore recounted his "curious incident" of holding in his bladder while searching for a lavatory.
By the time they reached the Black Lake, Fudge couldn't hold back any longer and cried out eagerly: "Is it there? I see it—the outline of the Black Lake looks a little different from how I remembered!"
Dumbledore nodded, leading Fudge to the lake's edge, and told him that the hundred Dementors were now at the bottom of the lake.
Fudge glanced at the dark, bottomless waters and swallowed hard.
A lake that looked calm on the surface yet gave no glimpse of its depths—such a sight could most easily provoke fear in one's heart.
He couldn't shake the thought that there might be some kind of monster lurking at the bottom—and in this case, he wasn't wrong. There were indeed one hundred Dementors down there.
While Fudge and Dumbledore were chatting by the Black Lake, Rhys and Helga were also idly talking inside the castle.
"Old snake, you haven't lost much of your edge! That large-scale freezing rain of yours—I was so envious watching it!" Helga leaned against the window, savoring the damp air outside, her mouth full of praise for Salazar's domain.
Not long after that day's Quidditch match ended, the rain had grown even heavier, as though the sky had been split open. But after a full day and night of torrential downpour, the stretch of continuous rainy weeks finally gave way to clear skies.
"You're just the same. The power of the earth—truly awe-inspiring. If I'm not mistaken, if you wanted to, you could reshape the terrain around Hogwarts right now, couldn't you?" Rhys also laid on the compliments, showering his old friend with flattery.
Helga nodded. If she wished, she really could alter the geography surrounding Hogwarts.
"I'm thinking of placing Hogwarts atop a mountain several thousand meters high—a sheer, steep ring-shaped peak, with Hogwarts built in the center and the Black Lake at the base of the ring…" Rhys's eyes lit up, his enthusiasm rising. He felt that although the current terrain of Hogwarts was good, there was still room for further improvement.
Helga looked at him as if he had gone mad.
"You could go down to the basement and ask Rowena to sculpt one for you. But in reality, please be a bit more sensible. If you really built it that high, the students would be gasping for air just from running between classes." Helga mercilessly teased her old friend.
"Wait… who's that beside Dumbledore?" Her gaze casually swept over the Black Lake outside, and then she caught sight of Dumbledore and Fudge together.
Rhys looked closely: wasn't that Fudge?
"That man is Fudge? The one who stationed Dementors near Hogwarts?" Helga narrowed her eyes. "Very good… he actually dares to step into Hogwarts?"
Rhys glanced at Helga, deciding he absolutely had to hold his old friend back—she mustn't go and beat up the current Minister for Magic right in front of Dumbledore.
If she really had to fight, then at least she needed to cover her face.
It wasn't out of fear of him—but because they still wanted to live a peaceful life at Hogwarts.
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