After Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge finished his speech in the Hogwarts Great Hall, he could be said to be in high spirits and full of ambition.
However, no one expected that just as he was striding confidently toward the future with his chest held high, he would trip and fall on the steps.
Because it happened so suddenly, most people didn't react and just stood there stunned.
At the critical moment, a figure rushed over with lightning speed like a bell ringing, extending a pair of strong and powerful hands to help Fudge up.
It was Percy Weasley.
From the moment Fudge entered the Great Hall, Percy's gaze had been firmly locked on him.
So, when he saw Fudge fall, he was able to react immediately.
However, Percy didn't notice that although Fudge stood up with the momentum, he frowned slightly.
How should I put it?
Although falling was somewhat unexpected, he wasn't that old, and being in good health, as long as he stood up with a smile, he could pretend nothing had happened.
But someone had to make this scene.
He hadn't come alone today.
To do good publicity work, media departments from the magical world, including the Daily Prophet, had also come.
Fudge knew these reporters' nature too well. These guys were quick as lightning, always wanting to make big news.
He was certain that tomorrow his fall would make the headlines.
On the other hand, something hard on this student's chest also made Fudge's ribs ache.
However, he ultimately couldn't quibble with a student about these things, so after stabilizing, he had to thank him.
"Uh—thank you, this student. Wait, are you Arthur Weasley's—"
At this moment, Fudge noticed Percy's signature red hair and his face that bore some resemblance to Arthur Weasley, and couldn't help asking.
"Minister, I'm Weasley, Percy Weasley, current Head Boy of Hogwarts, and Arthur Weasley is my father!"
Upon hearing that this student was actually Arthur Weasley's son, he immediately pushed Percy's arm away subtly.
Percy, however, didn't realize the change in attitude. When he heard the Minister of Magic actively ask about his relationship with his father, he trembled with excitement.
After introducing himself and his father, he even bowed deeply to Fudge.
Because he bent over so low, his glasses nearly fell to the ground. But at this moment, he didn't feel embarrassed at all and continued.
"Minister, thank you for taking care of my father. He often mentions you at home.
He says it's precisely because of your wise leadership that the magical world has maintained peace and stability these years."
"Hahaha!"
Hearing Percy's words, Fudge laughed and patted his shoulder. "Did Arthur really say that?"
"Absolutely!"
"Excellent—excellent—by the way, you just said you're Head Boy?"
"Yes!"
Percy puffed out his chest, trying hard to display his Head Boy badge to Fudge, and was overjoyed that Fudge could remember his position.
Fudge looked at the badge that had just hit him and frowned.
"I see, so you should know all the students at Hogwarts well?"
"Of course, assisting professors in managing students is the Head Boy's bounden duty!"
"Very good, then could you help me find Harry?"
"Ah?"
"Harry Potter, the boy who survived the Dark Lord. Don't you know?"
Seeing Fudge frown, Percy quickly said.
"I know, of course I know!
In fact, Harry and I are quite familiar—he's always been very respectful of me—"
"Then please bring him over!"
"Uh—yes, yes."
Percy had been somewhat happy at first.
The Minister of Magic personally assigning him a task—this was giving him responsibility!
However, upon hearing that he was being asked to find Harry, his mood wasn't so good anymore.
But thinking about it again, this clearly showed the Minister's trust in him—otherwise why wouldn't he ask someone else to find Harry?
So, he was determined to handle this matter stunningly!
To be fair, Percy was capable.
Although the Great Hall was crowded and chaotic at the moment, he still quickly located Harry precisely in the crowd and grabbed him.
"Harry, come with me quickly!"
Harry was discussing Mycroft's matter with Sherlock when Percy suddenly grabbed him, leaving him confused.
Ron and Ginny looked curiously at their third oldest brother. "Percy, what happened?"
"The Minister wants to see Harry!"
Percy said with an envious look.
"The Minister? You mean—Cornelius Fudge?"
"How can you address the Minister by name directly!"
Percy first rebuked him, then said, "Forget it, there's no time to explain—come with me quickly, we can't keep the Minister waiting!"
"Is he sick?"
Watching the helpless Harry being pulled away by Percy, Ron's eyes widened in amazement, and he couldn't help complaining to his nearby friends.
"People who don't know better would think he's not a Hogwarts student but a Ministry of Magic employee!"
Ginny was also somewhat helpless. "Percy said that after he graduates next year, he plans to go to the Ministry of Magic."
"Even if he really becomes a Ministry employee, it wouldn't be like this!" Ron said with disgust. "Even my dad isn't like him!"
Listening to Ron and Ginny's complaints, Hermione was somewhat puzzled. "But why would Minister Fudge want to see Harry? Didn't Professor McGonagall say they didn't tell the Ministry the real inside story?"
"Who knows?" Ron shrugged with both hands spread. "But looking at Percy just now, even if you asked him, he wouldn't say—that's just the kind of person he is."
"To be precise, even if he wanted to say, he couldn't."
Sherlock looked at Harry, who had been pulled to Fudge's side by Percy, and shook his head. "Because he himself doesn't know either."
Just as Sherlock said, Percy didn't know why Fudge wanted to see Harry.
So, after he brought Harry to Fudge's side, he stood nearby watching the two intently.
"Hello, Harry, we meet again!"
"Uh—hello, Minister."
Unlike the excited Percy, Harry only felt awkward when he saw Fudge.
Although he and Fudge did know each other from before—before school started, Fudge had specifically come to Sherlock's home to tell Sherlock and him not to leave easily.
At that time, Harry thought Fudge was somewhat pompous but generally a good person.
But this incident made his attitude toward Fudge take a sharp turn for the worse.
To maintain so-called authority, even after Sherlock had already caught Peter Pettigrew, Fudge refused to acknowledge reality and was unwilling to give Sirius justice.
Sherlock usually loved to complain about Scotland Yard, but in Harry's view, this Ministry of Magic couldn't even compare to Scotland Yard!
Although with the forceful intervention of the Holmes brothers, the final result was good, asking Harry to pretend nothing had happened was too difficult for him.
Seeming to notice Harry's cold attitude, Fudge also felt somewhat awkward.
He knew Harry Potter's special status and knew that Dumbledore would most likely tell him about the Ministry's first decision.
If he had known early on that the Muggle Prime Minister would intervene with such a firm attitude, why would he have done that before?
But fortunately, it wasn't too late now.
So regardless of Harry's expression, he still shamelessly held Harry's hand like an uncle facing his nephew and began asking about his well-being.
Percy kept giving Harry meaningful looks.
Harry knew he wanted him to respond to Fudge's enthusiasm.
This made Harry even more embarrassed, he really couldn't do it.
Harry was a broad-minded person. As long as it wasn't a blood feud like killing his father, he could forgive.
But what Fudge did was actually related to the vengeance for killing his father.
"I've heard the whole story from Headmaster Dumbledore."
Fudge finally let go of Harry's hand and looked into Harry's green eyes.
"Harry, your eyes really are exactly like your mother's. To tell you the truth, this whole affair has kept us frantically busy. I originally thought—well, never mind. But now the truth is out, and you're safe. That's what's most important."
Saying this, Fudge felt a bit hot, so he took off his pinstriped cloak.
Percy immediately took it and stood at attention, waiting for Fudge's praise.
Unfortunately, after handing the cloak to Percy, Fudge never looked at him again.
His eyes were only on Harry, and the more he looked, the more pleased he seemed.
Percy: 口_口
"Since the matter is over, you can return to Privet Drive for Christmas and Easter holidays."
Hearing Fudge mention this, Harry finally broke his silence.
"But my friends and I have already registered to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas."
"Situations change, Harry. Of course, if you want to stay at Hogwarts, that's fine too. I can communicate with the school about that but what I want to say is—"
Fudge lowered his voice and glanced at Percy nearby.
The latter also looked at him sincerely but made no move.
Fudge frowned. Seeing him still standing there, he had to speak up.
"Weasley, could you give us a moment? I have something I want to discuss with Harry alone."
"Uh—yes, yes, Minister!"
Percy agreed and immediately walked aside.
He folded his arms across his chest, looking around vigilantly, as if afraid someone might come over.
However, when he saw Fudge treating Harry with the attitude of an old friend, Percy couldn't help casting envious and jealous glances at Harry.
Fudge still paid no attention to Percy and said to Harry.
"Well, we don't have Black's whereabouts yet.
Harry, you know me—actually, I've always believed Mr. Black was innocent.
Your parents chose him to be their best man and made him your godfather. How could such a person be a criminal?
You may not believe it, but when I went to inspect Azkaban this year, I even met with Black!
At that time, he was a key custody target, with Dementors guarding his door.
Even so, after discovering clues about that case twelve years ago, I overcame difficulties and managed to talk with him once.
You may not know how terrible Dementors are—"
'Oh, but I do,' Harry said silently in his heart.
"Harry, your godfather is truly a remarkable man!
Most Azkaban prisoners sit in the darkness talking to themselves, without normal consciousness.
But he was very rational and even asked me for a newspaper, saying he wanted to do crossword puzzles.
It was at that moment I decided to cooperate with him.
Next, we had frank exchanges, fully exchanged views on this case, and decided to let him out—of course, the official story was an escape, which was also to paralyze Pettigrew—"
'I don't believe you for a second!'
Listening to Fudge's grandiose words, Harry just felt it was noise.
If he hadn't heard Professor McGonagall talk about this before, plus heard Sherlock's analysis of Fudge, he might still believe it.
But now, Harry just looked at Fudge puzzledly, not understanding what he really wanted to say.
Fudge also realized he was rambling, so he quickly ended the nonsense and stated his real intention.
"Harry, what I want to say is, if Black comes to find you, you must urge him to come to the Ministry of Magic as soon as possible to turn himself in."
"Turn himself in? But Minister, you just said you believed he's always been innocent."
"Ahem, what I meant was, have him come to the Ministry of Magic to explain the situation as soon as possible."
Not expecting Harry to so keenly catch the flaw in that sentence, Fudge felt somewhat embarrassed and said rather unnaturally.
"For various reasons, he may still temporarily not want to return to the Ministry of Magic.
But as your godfather, he should listen to your advice. Think about it—we have an Order of Merlin medal waiting for him to claim!
Of course, if when he comes to find you, you could inform the Ministry of Magic immediately, that would be even better."
Hearing this, Harry finally understood what this Minister of Magic meant.
Although the Ministry had publicly claimed that Sirius's actions were conducted under Ministry direction, the truth obviously wasn't so.
This inevitably made Fudge worry that Sirius would go around talking.
Once Sirius really said something, the Ministry would truly become a joke.
There were always some people who couldn't wait to expose the Ministry's dirty deeds.
For this reason, Fudge was desperate to bring Sirius in.
It was just that from the previous situation, the Ministry simply didn't have the ability to catch Sirius.
In the end, he could only pin his hopes on himself, Sirius's godson.
Besides showing that the Ministry was truly useless, it also showed that Fudge was now desperately grasping at straws.
This made Harry find it somewhat amusing. "Minister, in other words—you've known the truth all along, right?"
"Ah—of course!"
Fudge's old face reddened, but he quickly puffed out his chest and said earnestly.
"Harry, you know me—"
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