Fudge had thought he had already reached the limit of bad luck, but what happened next still took him by surprise.
The step beside the one that had vanished also disappeared.
The plump Fudge actually felt a bit more comfortable—at least he wasn't being painfully squeezed anymore. But when the third step disappeared, panic set in.
"D-Dumbledore—! AAaa—"
Before Dumbledore could react, Fudge fell through the gaping hole formed by the missing steps.
"—Aa..?" Fortunately, another staircase rotated into place below and caught him. Otherwise, that fall would have left him with shattered bones.
Even so, being caught like that still left Fudge dizzy and disoriented. He felt as if every bone in his body had snapped, and he lay sprawled on the stairs for a long while before recovering.
During that time, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the staircase beneath him also disappeared. But the pain in his body was so overwhelming that he lost all will to move.
If the stairs vanish again, so be it! After this string of disasters, Fudge had slipped into a state of resignation, ready to give up. Yet it seemed his luck had finally turned, because this staircase stayed intact until Dumbledore arrived.
Reaching Fudge's side, Dumbledore wasted no time in shielding him and pulling him back to safety.
Dumbledore did not much like Fudge, but the man was still the Minister for Magic—he couldn't very well watch the sitting Minister fall to his death inside Hogwarts Castle.
"This has never happened before." Dumbledore frowned slightly as he looked at the staircase where the step had suddenly vanished.
This was very wrong. Ever since Fudge had stepped into Hogwarts, his misfortune had gone far beyond the normal scope of bad luck.
This was more like…
A curse!
Dumbledore thought of those Defence Against the Dark Arts professors who had tried to teach for a second year. Once they decided to stay on, they would encounter all kinds of misfortunes.
But even among those cursed professors, what Fudge had gone through today was enough to put him among the especially unlucky ones.
What Dumbledore and Fudge did not know was that the reason his misfortune hadn't gone further wasn't because his luck had turned, but because someone had shown mercy.
"All right, the Minister for Magic can't very well die inside Hogwarts Castle." From afar, Rhys pressed down on Helga's arm, stopping her from making any more stairs vanish.
"He's getting off too easily!" Helga said angrily. "Just suffering this little bit and that's it?"
"Of course not." Rhys certainly didn't think Fudge had "gotten through it." To suffer only this little was far too lenient. Still, he wasn't as furious as Helga, because Jamison Henry Greengrass had already begun taking action.
For a political creature like Fudge, if forced to choose between misfortune and downfall, he would without hesitation choose misfortune.
Helped to a safe platform by Dumbledore, Fudge wore a miserable expression as he asked him what on earth was happening, and why he was so unlucky today.
Dumbledore thought for a moment, then could only reply in a humorous tone: "It seems Hogwarts Castle isn't very welcoming to you today."
Fudge immediately cracked under the pressure, shouting loudly: "But I'm also a graduate of Hogwarts!"
Dumbledore didn't want to respond—You're a graduate of Hogwarts, yet you surround it with Dementors? If the four Founders knew, they'd expel you posthumously.
Rhys had never regretted inventing voice-transmitting magic as much as he did now. When Fudge's words—"I'm also a graduate of Hogwarts"—reached their ears, both he and Helga were truly enraged.
A great chandelier came crashing straight down toward Fudge's head.
If not for Dumbledore's sharp reflexes, Fudge really would have died there today.
Fudge: "…"
Dumbledore: "…"
"I think it would be best if you said a little less," Dumbledore advised with heartfelt sincerity.
Fudge nodded blankly.
A chandelier falling because its screws had worn loose with age wasn't impossible, but the probability was close to zero. Fudge was now truly frightened.
Following behind Dumbledore, Fudge carefully and nervously made his way to the West Tower. But just as he climbed the suspended ladder leading to the Divination classroom, the ladder snapped…
The fall onto his backside hardly fazed Fudge anymore—he had grown used to it. Climbing back to his feet, he repaired the ladder with a Mending Charm, then slowly made his way into the Divination classroom.
After hearing Fudge's request, Professor Trelawney was stunned: This Minister is far too unlucky!
She cautiously performed a divination for him, and this time she truly did see "ominous signs" in the omen.
When the conclusion of "ill-fortune" emerged, Trelawney even felt an urge to cry—for years, in order to build her reputation, she had liked to deliver "death prophecies" to others. Yet after all this time, she had finally encountered someone whose omen genuinely bore the mark of death!
Professor Trelawney used every ounce of her ability to give Fudge a thorough and detailed interpretation of what she saw in the signs.
By the time she finished, Fudge's expression had turned as black as a scorched cauldron.
"Then… what should I do to avoid these disasters?" Fudge interrupted, feeling that if he listened any longer he'd be hearing the prophecy of his total demise.
Trelawney: ???
"I only do the divining—I don't know how to stop it. Perhaps if you left the castle, it might be a little better?"
Fudge was so infuriated by Trelawney's words that his vision went black.
If I'd known, wouldn't it have been better to go straight back to the Ministry?!
Why did I go through so much trouble to come here for your divination? Do you even know how much I've suffered on the way here? ಥ_ಥ
He really didn't want to say another word, and even considered directly asking Dumbledore to lend him a broomstick so he could fly out through the window. But given his luck today, Fudge simply didn't dare.
In the end, though his heart was filled with ten thousand unwilling thoughts, Fudge could only retrace his steps back the way he had come.
When he finally stepped out of Hogwarts Castle once more and bathed in the sunlight, Fudge felt as if he had narrowly survived a calamity.
"Albus, I'll head back to the Ministry first. If there's anything, we can correspond by owl post…" Fudge cast a fearful glance at the castle behind him. In his eyes, the school he had once known as his alma mater had now transformed into a terrifying lair. He never wanted to step inside again.
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes. In the end, Fudge had still not directly answered whether or not he would continue to station Dementors outside Hogwarts.
Just then, a handsome owl flew down before him, delivering a letter into his hands.
Dumbledore opened it, and his face immediately showed surprise.
"What is it?" Fudge asked nosily.
Dumbledore gave him a strange look, then told him that a great many parents were waiting for him outside the school.
Fudge: ??!
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