Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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"I'm sorry, Albus, I didn't expect them to do something so rude."
In the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, Fudge fiddled with his top hat. "I warned them beforehand, but as you know, the Aurors have been busy for months because of that Winged Devil, so sometimes they can be a little impulsive."
"I understand what you mean, Cornelius," Dumbledore said calmly. "But I trust Hagrid. He definitely doesn't have a Winged Devil."
"Yes, I personally trust Hagrid too."
Fudge turned his head away, avoiding Dumbledore's eyes. "But you have to understand me. He has a criminal record, and we received a report, so the Ministry of Magic had to investigate—it's also for the students' safety."
"That's why I didn't stop you from investigating Hagrid, and even Minerva only intervened when you tried to forcibly take Hagrid away."
Dumbledore crossed his arms, fingers resting on his chin, and said slowly, "I can assure you that you can bring witnesses to Hogwarts to identify Hagrid anytime, now or in the future. We have an excellent Potions Professor here who can easily determine if he's lying.
If you can't get away, you can write a letter, and I will personally take Hagrid to the Ministry of Magic to confront him."
"There's no need for that, Albus," Fudge said awkwardly. "I completely trust you, and the investigation into Hagrid is already complete.
There's no trace of any Winged Devils in his room, that's beyond doubt."
"Thank you for your trust, Cornelius," Dumbledore said gently. "I didn't expect you to come to Hogwarts personally for this matter."
"Oh, it's nothing, Albus." Fudge took a sip of his tea. "It was our mistake, and it's only right that I come. I just hope Minerva isn't too angry.
But speaking of winged devils, something suddenly came to mind."
"Oh?" Dumbledore slightly raised his eyelids, looking quite interested.
"It's like this,"
Fudge unconsciously straightened his collar. "Recently, people in the Ministry of Magic have been trying to smear me using the Winged Devil incident, saying I'm inefficient.
They also think my decision to return those magical creatures was wrong, that I shouldn't have transferred Newt and Chris away for so long.
Even other countries' Ministries of Magic have written to me, saying I shouldn't have sent Newt to their countries."
"But Albus, I just wanted to express how important this matter was; my intentions were good."
"I completely understand how you feel," Dumbledore nodded. "Sometimes, not being understood is very distressing."
"I knew you would understand me." Fudge took another sip of his tea. "The most common thing I hear every day is criticism, which makes it impossible for me to even do my normal work. If it weren't for this, I would definitely have written to you in advance when the Aurors came to Hogwarts."
Dumbledore's eyes flickered, and he stared at Fudge without saying a word.
"If it were you," Fudge asked casually, "how would you handle this kind of trouble…"
No one knew what Fudge and Dumbledore said in the Headmaster's office, but many saw him leave Hogwarts with a stern face.
Clearly, he wasn't very satisfied with the conversation.
After Fudge left, Hagrid carried a large barrel of single malt whiskey to Professor Oren, had a good drink with him, and gave him a large bag of rock bread as a thank you for speaking up.
This led to Kyle feeling that Professor Oren's speech was a little slurred during Defense Against the Dark Arts class the next day.
"I was trying out a new spell,"
Professor Oren explained, "but there was a slight mishap, and I suffered some minor injuries, nothing serious."
Well, Kyle was quite curious about what kind of spell could break a tooth.
The Reducto spell?
And Professor McGonagall's behavior in Transfiguration class was also a bit puzzling.
First, she inexplicably tapped Kyle with her wand while checking homework, then asked a very simple question.
After Kyle answered correctly, she unusually gave Hufflepuff a full twenty points.
This excited the other young wizards, who initially thought Professor McGonagall had been provoked and wanted to support a house to compete with Slytherin for the House Cup.
However, they quickly realized they were mistaken.
Professor McGonagall was still the same Professor McGonagall, serious and fair, showing no favoritism towards any house.
This large bonus only happened once, and in third-year Transfiguration class, she deducted ten points from Hufflepuff for a homework error.
The reason behind this was probably only known to Kyle.
When he was chatting among the young wizards, he noticed Professor McGonagall glancing at him several times, intentionally or unintentionally.
Although Kyle deliberately altered his voice, it only fooled the Ministry of Magic and the surrounding young wizards.
Professor McGonagall wasn't so easily fooled.
However, judging from her actions, Professor McGonagall didn't seem to intend to pursue the matter.
Furthermore, Kyle planted the roots of the Devil's Snare in the Room of Requirement, right next to the Moonbeast's burrow, in a completely sunless spot.
After two weeks of careful tending, the small root had grown into a new Devil's Snare, even sprouting tendrils as thick as a finger.
Kyle simply poked the tendrils, and they immediately wrapped around his wrist.
Because the tendrils were still too young and weak, being wrapped around them felt like a massage, quite comfortable.
Kyle played with the Devil's Snare like a toy for a while before letting it go.
The Moonbeasts nearby had completely adapted to their environment and slept peacefully in their respective burrows.
The White Dew and Rue were also growing well; if used as food, they would be enough to feed the Moonbeasts for several months.
Recently, Kyle had been thinking about improving their diet and was planning to get some Bubotubers.
A whole Bubotuber, mixed with leaves of white sage, rue, and other plants, crushed and rolled into small balls, was the Moonbeasts' favorite food.
However, there was nowhere to buy Bubotubers in Hogsmeade, and he couldn't find an opportunity to get them in the school greenhouse. Kyle could only wait until the holidays to go to Diagon Alley... and probably get some from Newt.
The Biting Cabbage was also almost ripe, its row of teeth as sharp as razors.
Kyle found a rock and threw it at it.
The hard bluestone crunched like chickpeas in the Biting Cabbage's mouth.
Kyle was already looking forward to the Devil Snare growing up, and then it and the Biting Cabbage would be a perfect combination of control and damage...
hehehehe.
[End of the chapter]