In the small greenhouse at Hogwarts, Ciel had returned from Sprout Island. There were still two or three days before the next storm. The lightning rod construction also needed time. With Troll Priest Sirius there, he felt at ease.
Now, his gaze fell inside the greenhouse, and satisfaction appeared on his face. Compared to before, the current greenhouse was undoubtedly much more spacious. After all, during this period, he hadn't been idle. The various plans he'd set were proceeding smoothly.
But when his eyes fell on a certain area of the greenhouse, his brow furrowed slightly.
That was where he stored those Patronus tree seeds, especially the seed covered in cracks, soaked in Sacred Tree Potion. However, now he'd completely exhausted his Sacred Tree Potion materials. The potion soaking that seed had become so diluted it was almost like clear water, with nearly zero sacred magic power.
Without Sacred Tree Potion nourishment, obviously, that seed's transformation speed was slowing infinitely. At this rate, the peculiar seed he'd worked so hard to cultivate through countless Patronus Charms might "die in the womb" due to insufficient potion supply.
He frowned deeper. Checking the mailbox again, he found still no reply from the Ministry of Magic.
Several days had passed. No matter how low the Ministry's efficiency, it should be time to handle this, right? Now there wasn't even a single reply. The attitude was self-evident. They wanted to give him the runaround, perhaps planning to drag it out like this.
If it were a different young wizard without experience handling such matters, they might really let the Ministry drag this to nothing. But he, after all, wasn't a real eleven-year-old wizard.
After confirming the Ministry no longer planned to promptly pay him for this batch of Sacred Tree Potion, his eyes flashed with coldness.
His previous life's experience had taught him a principle: when your interests are harmed, you must immediately make a fuss. The more you can cause trouble, the more "shameless" you are, the better you can protect your interests.
Those who suffer losses are often those who think things can be solved according to rules, procedures, contracts. They just wait patiently. The consequence of not making noise or trouble, of being quiet and dutiful, is that interests originally belonging to you get nibbled away bit by bit.
It sounds somewhat ironic, but this is indeed fact. He'd already suffered such losses in his previous life. Not to mention this time it concerned his planting.
Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately went to Professor Sprout's office, sprinkled Floo Powder in the fireplace.
Then, in the blazing green flames, a dizzy sensation came. The next moment, his figure appeared in a VIP reception room at the Ministry of Magic.
After all, he came through the passage from the Hufflepuff Head's office. The Ministry naturally wouldn't place the entrance for such high-level passages in the dingy reception hall, but had special rooms with dedicated attendants.
Just as he recovered from the dizzy sensation, a crisp voice came: "Welcome, respected Sprout... Ciel? How are you coming from this entrance? Isn't Professor Sprout with you?"
Hearing this voice, he was also stunned. He looked at the figure before him. Pink hair, delicate face. It was clearly Tonks, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.
After a moment, he asked with some surprise: "Didn't you become a full Auror? Why aren't you hunting dark wizards but still doing reception work?"
Speaking of this, Tonks's face also showed some gloom.
Unlike the students at Hogwarts who had their memories modified and the general public who were kept in the dark, as an Auror, she naturally knew the truth of the Forbidden Forest trial incident.
"Who could've thought the hero who solved the disappearance case was actually the mastermind behind it." She shook her head bitterly. "Ridiculous that we kept following Quirrell's advice then. Looking back now, we were completely played by that bastard."
"Since then, Minister Fudge has been furious with us, claiming the Auror system's been corrupt too long and urgently needs personnel reform, injecting fresh blood and motivation. Until the reform's complete, we can only rotate duties."
Hearing this, his eyes showed some surprise. Obviously, Fudge was making moves against the Auror Office. And this target was naturally not rookie Aurors like Tonks. Fudge's target was probably Auror Office Head Scrimgeour.
In the original story, this was a rather tough wizard with good abilities. After Fudge stepped down, Scrimgeour took over as Minister of Magic. In a sense, this also proved Scrimgeour's reputation and abilities were quite good, so being viewed as a threat by Fudge and using this opportunity to suppress him while inserting more of his own people into the Auror system was quite normal.
This also made him sigh with emotion. This Minister Fudge really put all his skill points into political struggle.
Fudge should be quite clear about what happened at Hogwarts, even receiving reports about Voldemort possessing Quirrell. But obviously, Fudge simply didn't believe this, or chose not to believe it, turning a deaf ear and acting like it never happened.
After all, Voldemort had been repelled again and might not return for another ten or twenty years. Without Voldemort, the magical world would be peaceful and stable, perfect for Fudge to make his mark.
But if news that Voldemort was still alive became public, undoubtedly the entire magical world would fall into panic. Compared to Fudge, a minister who rose through the bureaucratic system, most likely the public would call for an official from the Auror system to serve as minister, as this would give them a sufficient sense of security.
Then Fudge would face big trouble. The current reorganisation of Aurors should also be for this reason.
He felt increasingly emotional. In the original story, Fudge's various actions were undoubtedly clownish, but in fact, anyone who could sit in the Minister of Magic position among a crowd of shrewd officials – how could there be real fools?
While the original focused on the saviour's life at Hogwarts, Fudge's operations of consolidating power and suppressing dissidents at the Ministry probably never stopped. Only this way could he have Dementors enter Hogwarts in the third year, tantamount to challenging Dumbledore.
Moreover, at the point when Voldemort returned, he could even oppose the authority of Dumbledore and saviour Harry Potter, forcibly suppressing the matter and portraying Dumbledore as an ambitious schemer.
These political tactics were indeed beyond ordinary people's reach.
But after a moment of emotion, he no longer concerned himself with these matters. Fudge could suppress dissidents all he wanted and engage in power struggles all he liked. Even if Fudge rode on Dumbledore's neck, for him it would just be watching the excitement, irrelevant to him.
But Fudge shouldn't have promised him resources then delayed delivery, interfering with his tree planting. Then he would care very much!
Thoughts flashing through his mind, he came back to his senses. Tonks also curiously asked him: "Ciel, why did you come to the Ministry, and through Hogwarts's passage? Isn't Hogwarts on summer vacation now?"
Facing Tonks's question, he shook his head: "Is Minister Fudge here? Help me report. I have very important business with him."
Tonks paused, nodded without asking why: "Wait here a moment. I'll report to Minister Fudge."
She then hurried away from the reception room.
But after a while, Tonks returned with her face alternating between pale and flushed, looking somewhat dazed, Fudge's stern rebuke still echoing in her mind:
"I sent you to the reception room, not to be a messenger. Receive those who might cause trouble. Don't you know what this means? It seems Auror training still has many gaps. When Aurors enforce law, is it always fighting and killing? Don't you know how to solve problems without wands? Sigh, how exactly is Director Scrimgeour training you Aurors...? Handle this yourself; I'm busy every day. If I had to receive everyone who comes, I really wouldn't get anything else done!"
Looking at him still waiting there, Tonks showed guilt on her face. She couldn't even handle such a small matter for him. Really...
But before she could speak, he already understood: "Did Minister Fudge say he's very busy? Then scold you and tell you to find a way to handle this, that he has no time?"
Tonks paused, instinctively asking: "How did you know?"
He chuckled. He'd seen this routine plenty in his previous life.
Fudge really was cunning, especially having Tonks, this Hufflepuff graduate who'd interacted with him before, handle reception. Probably hoping he would be too embarrassed to press the issue and then let it slide.
If it slid by this time, next time he asked for resources, the Ministry would have even more reason not to give them.
Exhaling softly, his eyes flashed coldly. He didn't ask Tonks to take him to find Fudge again, but asked her: "Besides the Auror Office, which other departments in the Ministry are experiencing so-called personnel reforms?"
Tonks paused, somewhat unclear why he asked this, but still answered: "The Department of Magical Law Enforcement too."
He raised an eyebrow. He still had impressions of this department, especially current Department Head Amelia. This talented witch was also Hufflepuff-born. And coincidentally, she was Susan Bones's aunt!
In a sense, whether through house origin or his relationship with Susan, Director Amelia could barely be considered "one of his own".
Now, besides the Auror department, Amelia's Department of Magical Law Enforcement was also being targeted by Fudge. Enforcement and judicial departments are simultaneously undergoing personnel changes by Fudge. This was quite a big move.
If this continued, before long, both department leaders would be completely sidelined by Fudge, with actual power in his people's hands. Fudge's actual control over the Ministry would have a qualitative leap.
Though not mentioned in the original story, from Fudge's ability to arrange Dementors entering Hogwarts in third year, by then he must have completed actual control of these two departments. Currently, due to Quirrell's incident, Fudge might complete this step even earlier than in the original.
He narrowed his eyes. Already owing him debt and not repaying, if Fudge continued like this, he might completely tear up the contract. This old schemer.
Originally he'd had a decent impression of him. After all, he really did give him benefits. But now he pulled this stunt. Seems he can't let Fudge get too carried away. Politicians are all bridge-burning types!
Next moment, he said to Tonks: "First take me to the Auror Office, then to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
Tonks looked confused. Didn't he have business with Minister Fudge? Why go to these two departments now?
Then she saw him wave his wand, transforming a handkerchief into a huge banner with eye-catching red text:
"Black-hearted Ministry violates contracts, owes eleven-year-old wizard supplies, and academic research loses everything!"
"The Ministry knows the law but breaks it and has no contractual spirit!"
"Strictly investigate Ministry internal corruption, return Ministry to brightness, can't let Minister Fudge bear false accusations!"
"Make Minister Fudge great again!"
When Tonks saw him raise the banner, she was completely dumbfounded: "No... ??? Ciel, what are you trying to do?!"
He grinned: "Tonks, isn't what I want to do obvious? To protect Minister Fudge's reputation, to prevent this respectable elder from bearing false accusations, I need to petition."
Tonks was speechless, feeling this world was too absurd: "No... Then... what do I do?"
He looked at her strangely: "Tonks, of course you need to stop me. The louder you stop me, the bigger the commotion, the better."
Before Tonks could react, the next second he was carrying the banner out of the reception room, his face full of righteous indignation and urgent desire to defend beloved Minister Fudge.
Behind him came Tonks's anxious blocking voice: "No! You can't go there!"
He shouted loudly: "Nothing can stop me! I'm Minister Fudge's most loyal supporter. How could Minister Fudge do something like owing young wizards potions and resources? Someone must have ulterior motives, deceiving Minister Fudge. He's not that kind of person!"
"Let me through; I want to clear Minister Fudge's name; I want to wash away his grievances. Those splashing dirty water on Minister Fudge must all be investigated thoroughly!"
"Let me through!"
All along the way, he waved his banner, wandering around the Ministry. Ministry employees who passed by and saw this scene all looked like they'd seen ghosts.
Regardless of faction, none could figure out the situation. What was this? Was it Minister Fudge's arrangement? Or the Auror Office fighting back? Or some other situation?
Employees already sensing undercurrents in the Ministry didn't want to stick their necks out. No one dared get involved in the big shots' struggles.
Just like this, under Tonks's loud "blocking", he kept approaching the Auror Office.
Meanwhile, in the Auror Office, Scrimgeour looked grim, his face full of suppressed anger. He really couldn't understand. In reports from Hogwarts by Dumbledore and several Heads of House, all clearly mentioned that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was still alive, even parasitising Quirrell's body, causing great chaos at Hogwarts.
Now the Dark Lord was repelled again. Shouldn't the Ministry search vigorously to completely eliminate this threat?
But Fudge insisted none of this was real, instead using this opportunity to heavily strike the Auror department, rotating carefully selected Aurors while inserting Fudge's own people.
Such actions truly made Scrimgeour extremely angry. In magical duelling, Scrimgeour could beat Fudge in eighteen different ways, but in political struggle, though Scrimgeour wasn't completely naive, facing prepared Fudge, he still felt powerless, seeing no way to break the deadlock.
Just as Scrimgeour's mood hit rock bottom, already sensing that his carefully cultivated Aurors might suffer from political struggle, with many young Aurors potentially wasting their precious growth period for improving strength and gaining experience on meaningless personnel fights, while he was powerless, even eventually sidelined...
Just then, Scrimgeour heard commotion outside. He frowned tightly: "What's that noise?"
Especially hearing Fudge's name constantly in the commotion, Scrimgeour felt even more depressed. Was this another wave of Fudge's offensive? This old schemer, so eager to sideline him and get Aurors' voices in his hands?
But moments later, when Scrimgeour's sharp hearing caught the childish calls from outside, even having seen countless storms in his lifetime, he couldn't help being stunned: "What... what's going on?"
But quickly, Scrimgeour keenly realised. Perhaps his chance to break the deadlock had come.
He immediately left the Auror Office, then saw Ciel with righteous indignation, waving his banner continuously.
A brilliant light flashed in his eyes: "What's happening?!"
Seeing Scrimgeour emerge, Ciel's eyes also flashed strangely. He put the banner down and immediately began his complaint:
"Are you the Auror boss? Responsible for catching bad guys, those dark wizards, fraudsters, and embezzlers, right?"
Scrimgeour's eyes flickered: "Child, that's right, this is the Auror Office. We specialise in dealing with those conscienceless fellows, those bad guys."
He immediately shouted: "Then there are bad guys in the Ministry. Why don't you arrest them?!"
Scrimgeour's eyes instantly burst with light: "What bad guys are in the Ministry? How do you, a child, know this?"
He said with righteous indignation: "How do I not know?! Minister Fudge clearly promised me and even signed a magical contract with me under Headmaster Dumbledore's witness, promising to supply my Herbology research resources. But now I've written letters for three days without any response. When I tried to find Minister Fudge to ask what's wrong, I was even turned away!"
"Isn't this obvious? There are bad guys in the Ministry; poor Minister Fudge has been sidelined. They want Minister Fudge to bear the dishonest reputation of breaking contracts. Maybe the resources that should go to me have already been embezzled, but this embezzlement hat will fall on Minister Fudge's head."
"How can I watch Minister Fudge be framed like this by those with ulterior motives? Investigate! I demand an investigation! Until we find out who's sidelining Minister Fudge, who wants Minister Fudge to bear infamy, I won't leave!"
Scrimgeour's face twitched. If not for his strong self-control, he'd really be laughing out loud now.
Good. Excellent!
Just worrying about being suppressed by Fudge, only able to watch helplessly as power rightfully his was being sidelined by Fudge. Now, the opportunity had come!
Scrimgeour's face showed iron-like determination, his expression serious: "Someone framing and trapping the Minister of Magic? Internal personnel embezzling large amounts of supplies? Merlin above, scandal. This is a huge scandal. Undoubtedly, we must investigate thoroughly."
"The Auror Office doesn't just deal with dark wizards. We won't let any of these bad guys escape!"
Just as Scrimgeour spoke righteously, hurried footsteps came from another direction.
An urgent female voice rang out: "Maintaining magical world judicial justice, judging embezzlers, fraudsters, and those morally corrupt slanderers. This is also our Department of Magical Law Enforcement's duty."
"We can't watch Minister Fudge's reputation be slandered either. I think this requires joint law enforcement."
He turned to look. The speaking lady's features vaguely resembled Susan's. Plus this statement. She must be Department of Magical Law Enforcement Director Amelia.
He'd originally planned to visit the Department of Magical Law Enforcement later, but unexpectedly Amelia heard the commotion and came herself.
Worthy of being a high official. Though from the most honest house, her keen perception was extraordinary. But this was good too. He'd done what he needed to. Now was the big shots' showtime.
No matter how they fought, he had only one goal. Sacred Tree Potion! Resources! His resources!
At this moment, Amelia's gaze fell on Tonks beside him, who seemed to be "blocking" but was actually adding fuel to the fire.
This girl was a newly promoted Auror, right? Wait, could this be Scrimgeour's arrangement? Hiss. Master move.
Amelia's gaze became uncertain.
Similarly, Scrimgeour's eyes were now moving between Amelia and him. If he remembered correctly, Amelia's niece Susan was in Hufflepuff this year, in the same grade as him.
Could this be Amelia's arrangement? Hiss. Master move.
Their gazes met in mid-air, both feeling wary, sensing each other's unfathomable depth.
But moments later, both understood tacitly. Both were already pressured by Fudge to near suffocation. Now he had handed them hope to break the deadlock.
If they didn't cooperate now, these two department heads really deserved to be sidelined as puppets.
At this time, in the Minister's office, Fudge was in high spirits, feeling quite triumphant. Before long, both the Auror Office and Department of Magical Law Enforcement would operate according to his will. His authority would surpass dozens of previous Ministers.
Even his long-held desire to undermine Dumbledore's threat was stirring again.
His gaze fell on a corner of the office where a suppressed letter lay. Ciel's letter.
A thousand bottles of Sacred Tree Potion honestly wasn't much for the wealthy Ministry. Previously, Fudge would have approved it, but now... Though the incident hadn't leaked to the public, nothing stays secret forever.
Such a big incident at Hogwarts meant Dumbledore's authority was indeed declining. This made Fudge think he could test further, slightly overstepping to gauge Dumbledore's reaction.
Though he didn't dare go too far yet, like using saviour Harry Potter as a test, testing through Ciel, who had some connection to Dumbledore but wasn't that close, was worth trying.
Fudge's eyes flashed with cunning: "Dumbledore, what will your response be?"
His lips curved into a smile. This moment truly gave him the feeling of standing at power's pinnacle.
But then Fudge frowned, hearing commotion and urgent knocking at his office door.
When Fudge irritably opened the door, he saw his pale aide and the two heavyweight Ministry figures, Scrimgeour and Amelia.
For a moment, Fudge even had the absurd thought that Scrimgeour and Amelia, pushed too hard by him, had come with wands to eliminate him.
However, soon, when Fudge saw Ciel's banner and heard his delighted call upon seeing him:
"Minister Fudge! Great, you haven't been hurt by bad guys, have you? I was so worried about you, Minister Fudge. You're such a good person; how could you break our contract? You must have been sidelined by bad guys."
"So good to see you again, Director Scrimgeour, and Director Amelia will surely maintain Ministry justice!"
Scrimgeour and Amelia looked at him with subtle expressions, as if telling Fudge, 'Now we've caught you.'
Fudge stood there completely dazed, mouth agape.
He seemed to finally understand something. Fudge gasped heavily, thoughts racing. Was this Scrimgeour's scheme? Or Amelia's? No, it wouldn't be them. They didn't have such sophistication. If they had such methods, would they have been pressured to this extent by him?
Then who could it be...
Moments later, a name that made Fudge gasp appeared in his mind:
"Dumbledore..." "It must be him secretly orchestrating all this! Using the kind boy Ciel Sprout, then exploiting Scrimgeour and Amelia's situation, forcing them to find reasons to unite against me."
"Throughout this process, Dumbledore never even appeared. He completely calculated human nature into his plans?"
"Hiss... What a ruthless White Lord!"
In an instant, the somewhat overconfident Fudge felt like he'd been completely clubbed, sobering up.
Right now, he didn't yet have the qualifications to match wits with Dumbledore. Plus the Scrimgeour-Amelia alliance. This would be enough trouble for him.
The three's gazes clashed invisibly, seeming to flash with blade light and sword shadows.
That evening, in the small greenhouse, recalling the day's events, he couldn't help sighing:
"Tsk. Not one person found me suspicious? They all thought I was being used? Kids really do have high credibility ratings."
As for what happened between Fudge, Scrimgeour, and Amelia afterward, he didn't know. He'd already been dismissed by Fudge with an excuse.
But he didn't care about Ministry power struggles. After all...
Currently, boxes of Sacred Tree Potion had been delivered to the greenhouse. His resources. Fudge had made them up immediately. Even before he returned to Hogwarts, these supplies had been expedited over.
Moreover, the quantity wasn't just the thousand bottles he'd requested. Fudge directly allocated fifteen hundred bottles!
Looking at the full boxes, he showed satisfaction: "So you still need to make a fuss. The bigger the fuss, the faster the compensation comes."
"This should be enough for that Patronus tree seed's transformation."
Then his thoughts withdrew from all Ministry matters. For him, no scheming was more important than planting trees.
Taking a deep breath, he took out bottle after bottle of Sacred Tree Potion, pouring them into the dried reagent bottles.
The next moment, the unprecedented abundant potion supply made that crack-covered seed, like a starved glutton, begin frantically absorbing sacred magic from the Sacred Tree Potion at an even faster rate than before.
One bottle of Sacred Tree Potion could be completely absorbed in just one or two seconds, becoming clear water! You know, one bottle's cost was nearly ten Galleons. In a short time, this seed had swallowed hundreds of Galleons!
He clicked his tongue. Describing this seed as money-devouring wasn't excessive.
Fortunately, he'd caught a big fish this time. For the Ministry behemoth, such resources were just pocket change. Ten or hundred times more wouldn't matter.
Then he didn't blink, pouring bottle after bottle of Sacred Tree Potion.
One hundred bottles, two hundred bottles, three hundred bottles... The seed's cracks began healing one by one.
But later, the larger cracks needed more Sacred Tree Potion.
Five hundred bottles. Six hundred bottles. Seven hundred bottles.
Resources that would stun countless wizards poured in, yet one long crack still remained unhealed on the seed.
He raised an eyebrow. At this rate, the original thousand bottles he'd requested might really not be enough. Fortunately, Fudge gave fifteen hundred bottles.
He gritted his teeth, pouring another five hundred bottles of Sacred Tree Potion.
Finally, after his countless Patronus Charm castings plus these twelve hundred bottles of Sacred Tree Potion worth over ten thousand Galleons, this seed that had first cracked then healed now showed complete transformation.
Crisscrossing silver traces appeared on the seed like spider web patterns, looking like a hollow-carved silver artwork. Beautiful beyond words.
But his gaze couldn't spare attention for the seed's beautiful lustre, instead focusing completely on the reward information floating above it.
The information that had been in transformation, flickering unstably, finally began blazing with light, its text gradually becoming clear.
As the reward information's glow slowly stabilised, his eyes showed anticipation. After such great effort, what level would this cultivated seed reach?
Diamond level was certain, but was there any possibility of Epic level? If so, that would be hugely profitable.
So far, except for the World Tree root and Fire God seed, two mythical plants, the highest reward he'd seen was the Epic-level Whomping Willow.
Cultivating the Whomping Willow was a project even countless Herbology masters couldn't solve, showing its difficulty.
Though he'd luckily succeeded in grafting Whomping Willow branches using Shadow Thorn, that was just a small part of the first step. The distance to successfully cultivating Whomping Willow and gaining rewards was still vast.
As for other ancient Epic plants, most had activity far below their peak periods, making cultivation even more difficult than Whomping Willow branches. He currently couldn't even think about it.
If this seed could be catalysed to the Epic level, its strong activity would not only greatly reduce cultivation difficulty but also be crucial. He could mass-produce using Patronus tree seeds!
Mass-producible Epic seeds were absolutely priceless resources. Even for him, they might be more precious than mythical seeds with sky-high cultivation difficulty.
Currently, the reward information's lustre has become increasingly condensed.
Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold. These stages almost flashed by.
Soon, Platinum light also flickered past, replaced by Diamond radiance.
At this step, he already felt it wasn't a loss. After all, original Patronus trees, even enhanced by Dumbledore's Patronus Charm, weren't Diamond level. Yet he could mass-produce Diamond seeds using his uncontrollable Patronus Charm.
This already showed his Patronus Charm's power.
But as Diamond's pure light grew increasingly bright, his heartbeat kept accelerating.
As time passed second by second, the pure light reached its peak.
Then, a trace of purple light emerged.
His breathing paused. Epic-level lustre!
Moments later, an even more surprising scene occurred. Within the purple light, another strange lustre appeared.
He widened his eyes: "This is... Legendary light?!"