Yesterday, Mr. Barty Crouch was brutally attacked at his home, and the culprit subsequently cast a Black Magic Mark near Crouch Manor and used Polyjuice Potion to transform into Mr. Barty Crouch to raid the Ministry of Magic. He successfully escaped despite being pursued and intercepted by multiple Aurors. Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge was enraged upon learning of this incident and immediately convened a meeting overnight, stating that this extremely heinous event in the history of the magic world would be investigated thoroughly.
This case is suspected to be the work of remaining Death Eaters, but according to Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office, the culprit in this incident is Albus Dumbledore.
His words were so convincing that this reporter had to re-evaluate the relationship between Dumbledore and the Death Eaters, as well as the true role Dumbledore played in the war against You-Know-Who.
Furthermore, regarding the reasons for Dumbledore's attack on Mr. Barty Crouch and his invasion of the Ministry of Magic, an inside source revealed that Dumbledore and a suspected Death Eater were engaging in unspeakable acts when they were discovered by Mr. Crouch's house-elf. This led to the brutal attack on Crouch Manor, and Dumbledore's invasion of the Ministry of Magic was to search the Department of Mysteries for a way to make him last longer during certain unspeakable acts.
As Dumbledore is currently uncontactable, the Ministry of Magic is actively searching for his whereabouts and is calling on the public to provide any information regarding Dumbledore's location.
This reporter will continue to follow up on the true facts of this incident. — Rita Skeeter
The next morning, Miss Lord Voldemort brought Tom the latest issue of The Daily Prophet. Reading the front-page article, freshly published after working overtime last night, Tom felt that this would definitely become the most discussed topic in the Wizarding World this year.
Didn't you see the faces of some of the Professors at the teacher's table who got the newspaper? Professor McGonagall even slapped it down hard after reading it and angrily cursed, "Utter nonsense."
As Tom had predicted, the article in The Daily Prophet spread rapidly, causing an uproar in the magic world.
Given Dumbledore's good image in the magic world for so many years, most people did not believe it and even accused Rita Skeeter of talking nonsense. However, some conspiracy theorists believed that Dumbledore's actions must have a deeper meaning. But the most speechless thing was that some idle people, based on this report, fabricated a lot of sensational literature about Dumbledore, which quickly became popular in the magic world.
In any case, the originally highly respected Principal Dumbledore became a hot topic once again, it's just... well... being infamous is still being famous.
Unfortunately, Dumbledore, who was still being led on a wild goose chase by Tom's nonsense to find Horcruxes, was completely unaware of everything happening in the magic world at this time.
When Dumbledore and Grindelwald returned to Hogwarts a few days later, looking travel-worn, Professor McGonagall immediately came up to them, hesitant to speak: "Albus, you..."
However, before Professor McGonagall could finish her sentence, Tonks, who had been waiting for several days at Hogwarts, received the news and came over with the Aurors.
Grindelwald thought his Lockhart disguise had been exposed and that the Aurors were there to arrest him. His right hand was already on his wand, ready to act immediately if anything seemed amiss.
But Tonks and the other Aurors didn't even look at him, walking straight to Dumbledore: "Albus Dumbledore, in light of your actions attacking Crouch Manor and invading the Ministry of Magic a few days ago, we hope you will come with us for questioning."
"?"
What attack on Crouch Manor, what invasion of the Ministry of Magic? Looking at the Aurors pointing their wands at him, Dumbledore felt that he had only been out for two days, and how had things turned out like this? Where were they taking him?
Seeing Dumbledore remain silent, Tonks thought he was about to resist and immediately became very nervous, saying in a blustering tone, "Professor Dumbledore, don't think about resisting. You can't escape. Just come with us. If there's any injustice, we will definitely give you justice."
Dumbledore was still a bit confused after hearing Tonks' words, completely unsure of what had happened. Just then, a small hand kindly offered Dumbledore a copy of The Daily Prophet.
He numbly took the newspaper, looking at Tom, who had rushed over with a smiling face. Dumbledore was 100% certain that nothing good would come of this.
After reading the report, Dumbledore was filled with mixed emotions for a moment, not knowing what to say.
Framing, scapegoating, and how could they slander a centenarian like him like this? It was simply insane and inhumane.
And Dumbledore immediately looked at Tom Riddle, whom he believed to be the instigator of this matter. He saw Tom, while the Aurors' attention was on him, mouth to him, "Do you like this belated Christmas gift, Professor?"
It really was you, Tom. Dumbledore felt his head starting to ache again, and this time, even his fists were clenching. Unfortunately, Dumbledore still hadn't figured out exactly what had happened, let alone had any evidence to accuse Tom. Seeing Grindelwald about to confront the Aurors, he had no choice but to say, "I'll go with you."
After speaking, he gave Grindelwald a reassuring look, telling him not to act yet.
After Dumbledore was taken away by the Aurors, when Tom and Grindelwald were alone, Grindelwald picked up the newspaper Dumbledore had left behind and began to read it. As he read, his expression grew very grim.
After finishing, he crumpled the newspaper into a ball and glared at Tom: "You did this, didn't you?" His tone was full of certainty.
Tom admitted generously and nonchalantly, "So what if I did? There's no evidence anyway. Besides, with Professor Dumbledore's influence in the magic world, it's just a trip to the Ministry of Magic. He'll definitely be fine in the end. Even if the worst happens, don't you still have you? After all, who in the world is more skilled at breaking people out of the Ministry of Magic than you?"
Grindelwald, however, seemed not to have heard Tom's words at all, advancing step by step towards him, as if he might directly engage him in a real-life fight the next second.
That aura, fully displaying the demeanor of the Dark Lord who once swept across Europe, even Tom was affected by his aura and couldn't help but take half a step back.
"Let's get this straight, if you want to fight, I'm in, but can we change the venue first? I'm afraid I'll tear Hogwarts down here."
But Grindelwald just looked at Tom coldly, the chilling intent in his eyes making Tom shiver. After a moment of silence, Grindelwald slowly spoke, "May I ask, Tom Riddle, who exactly was that suspected Death Eater engaging in unspeakable acts with Albus?"
"Ah?!!!"
Grindelwald, you've missed the point!