Kayson sat somewhat bored on the sofa in the corner of the office, picking at his fingernails, listening as he picked, until the effects of the Veritaserum completely wore off before he lifted his eyelids.
"Are we free to go home now?"
Dumbledore shook his head, "We still need to restore Sirius's rightful honor and innocence."
"That's Fudge's problem..." Kayson said, then noticed Dumbledore staring at him.
"You're not going to make me go find Fudge, are you? He really wouldn't hide an Avada bomb in his office to murder me, would he?"
"He wouldn't dare," Snape said succinctly.
"No, I think it's better to discuss things on our home turf. Let's call Fudge here," Kayson suggested.
"That works too, if you're really afraid Fudge will ambush you with an axe-wielding guard in his office, Severus?"
"My Potion is still brewing."
Dumbledore looked at Sirius again, shaking his head helplessly. Christmas had this one drawback: too few people available.
Ultimately, he decided to go find Fudge himself, and to avoid irritating Fudge's fragile nerves, he even made an appointment beforehand, very properly.
"I've never seen you so polite," Kayson quipped.
"I used to be a gentleman," Dumbledore said, pulling out a blank parchment from a drawer and picking up a quill to write.
The atmosphere in the office was a little strange. Kayson sat on the sofa, Dumbledore and Snape occupied two chairs, three-quarters of Gryffindor were burying their heads in a cabinet, and Peter Pettigrew lay on the carpet, like a dead dog, with only the rise and fall of his chest visible.
Sirius stood there alone; he couldn't find a place to sit, as this place was too small compared to Kayson's office.
Soon, Harry and the others pulled their heads back from the basin. Kayson looked at Snape, then at Dumbledore, seeing this scene.
He never liked overly emotional scenes. Fortunately, Snape shared his sentiment, and the two naturally left the Headmaster's office.
"How long do you think it'll take them to finish crying?" Kayson asked, sitting on the steps.
"I don't know." Snape shook his head. If Kayson disliked emotional scenes because he had a lot of internal drama and was easily affected, then Snape disliked them due to an innate repulsion, which could also be called jealousy.
It was a hatred like that of darkness for light.
"I'm going back to brew my Potion," Snape said, then left the stairwell.
Kayson helplessly sat there for a long... long... long time...
He wondered when Fudge would arrive. He could help scare him while he was here, after all, Dumbledore was still too proper.
For example, with Karkaroff, Dumbledore insisted on waiting until he truly arrived on Hogwarts's soil before acting, rather than directly eliminating him with a curse from a thousand miles away.
But then again, perhaps not. He never liked treating others as fools; maybe this was a persona Dumbledore set for himself.
Not long after, Kayson didn't know what Dumbledore used to send the letter to Fudge, but he had only picked nine of his ten fingernails when he saw a panting figure at the bottom of the stairwell, followed by a large crowd of people.
He stood up and returned to Dumbledore's office. At this moment, Harry and Sirius could be described as a loving father and son, sitting together like true father and son.
"Fudge and his people are here," Kayson said.
"Behind you?"
He nodded.
"I thought you'd bring him in," Dumbledore said, standing up and walking to the door, slowly pulling it open.
"Long time no see."
Although Dumbledore and Fudge could already be considered estranged after Kayson chopped off Fudge's arm and Dumbledore chose to stand behind Kayson, as their positions had already diverged.
But similarly, Fudge also understood one thing: this was, after all, the magic world, where the power of an individual could sometimes be stronger than the power of a group—for example, Dumbledore, Grindelwald, You-Know-Who, and that damned Kaisen Heath.
He had previously thought Dumbledore was just an old man with empty prestige, but reality had taught him a harsh lesson.
However, he still had one advantage: as a reasonably competent politician, he could easily abandon his pride, self-esteem, and even his character. Just like at this moment, he spread his arms—one of which was an Alchemy mechanical arm—a brilliant smile on his face: "Long time no see, Albus!"
Dumbledore showed a subtle smile. In this regard, Fudge was indeed stronger than other politicians, because Fudge was truly shameless; he had no normal person's bottom line. As long as you were truly above him, he could abandon everything and act wholeheartedly according to your will.
Just like now: "I think I made it clear in my letter." Dumbledore cordially led Fudge into the office, and then Fudge saw Sirius sprawled on the sofa and a person lying on the floor who looked exactly like Peter Pettigrew.
"In fact, I only told you half. We did find Sirius, but we also found Peter Pettigrew, and a truth that had been buried for a long time," Dumbledore smiled.
"Could you be clearer?" Fudge asked, puzzled.
"Perhaps you can just look at their memories."
Dumbledore said.
"Mm-hmm, Veritaserum works too," Sirius said calmly.
"Before that, what I want to know is... Is he Peter Pettigrew?" Fudge asked.
"Apparently so, but all of this shouldn't come from me; you can ask him yourself." Dumbledore pointed to the Pensieve not far away, then took out two doses of Veritaserum from his pocket and handed them to Fudge, letting him choose.
Fudge thought for a moment, then handed one bottle to the still relatively normal, at least conscious, Sirius. Sirius took the Veritaserum and drank it in one gulp.
"Then I ask you...."
Kayson remained seated on the sofa, watching with Harry and the others as Fudge asked Sirius a series of questions, then asked Peter Pettigrew a series of questions.
Finally, after he got all the answers, he looked at Dumbledore: "...This... I need to explain to you, this is not just a matter of right and wrong; this is a political issue."
"So?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
Request for gifts
Finally, a new year begins. Laoxing wishes all dear readers a new year [reader fills in the blank here].
Please forgive me for not being very good at saying blessings, but you should all feel my blessings for you.
And finally, Laoxing is here to wish you all a Happy New Year! Ahem, well... red envelopes, gifts, and the like can all be given to Laoxing!!!
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