"This is a political issue. Barty Crouch was the one who sentenced Sirius Black. If it were anyone else, I could easily help Mr. Black overturn his case, but Barty Crouch was my competitor for Minister back then, and he lost."
"So what does that mean?" Harry quietly asked Sirius, who rolled his eyes and looked back at Kayson: "So what does that mean?"
Kayson gave them a helpless look, thinking to himself that they didn't even know this. He would definitely mock them mercilessly after Fudge left.
Then, he continued to pick at his fingers with his head down, but his ears were perked up, waiting for Fudge to say something.
"So what does that mean?" Ron finally asked directly.
"What?" Fudge looked at Ron.
"Why can't you help overturn Sirius's case just because Barty Crouch sentenced him?"
"Because I competed with him for Minister before, and he already lost to me once. If I were to bring up his past mistakes now, I would give people the impression of being vengeful and relentless, which would not be beneficial for my re-election," Fudge explained.
Everyone in the office seemed to believe this reason, except for Ron, who still acted as the spokesperson for everyone present: "But you let Dementors into Hogwarts and even had an arm cut off. In that case... you wouldn't be able to get re-elected anyway, would you?"
Fudge's expression was a bit awkward. After a long time, he finally spoke: "I see your red hair... Are you from the Weasley family? Arthur Weasley's son?"
Ron was about to answer when Kayson subtly kicked him, which finally pulled him out of his flow of wanting to "chop" Fudge. He realized that his father still had to work under him.
Then he had a flash of inspiration: "I'm a child of the Decour family, Rosen Decour."
Kayson was a bit confused. How had he never heard of the surname Decour at Hogwarts?
In fact, it would be strange if he had heard of it. Decour was an opponent of Ron's father, Arthur Weasley, for a promotion... and currently had no children.
"Oh... yes, thank you for reminding me, Mr. Decour. I must say, you don't resemble your father much... Wait a minute..." Fudge said, then suddenly paused and looked at Ron's red hair. He certainly knew Decour, but he hadn't really paid attention to whether he had children, after all, he was the Minister of magic, not the head of intelligence.
However, he did know Decour's wife because Mrs. Decour was also an employee of the Ministry of Magic, and back when they were clerks at the grassroots level, they happened to be in the same group as Arthur Weasley.
Hiss....
Poor Mr. Decour.
Far away at the Ministry of Magic, the loving Decour couple had no idea that their reputation had been harmed, while the culprit, Mr. Ron, was hiding in the shadows, his achievements concealed, and began to cackle sinisterly.
He was already envisioning his father being promoted and getting a raise, lifting him high above his head, kicking Percy and punching the twins. Bill and Charlie were not even worth mentioning, Ginny...
Not Ginny, she was still the Weasley family's little princess.
Unlike Ron's daydream, the atmosphere in the office remained strange. Although Fudge, after Ron's relentless prodding, finally agreed to Dumbledore's request, he also pulled out his insidious little scheme.
"I want you to help me get re-elected as the next Minister of magic," Fudge looked at Dumbledore seriously.
Kayson in the corner pouted helplessly: "I see the magical world of England is doomed!"
This was Kayson's limited edition, Kayson the Fourth.
Fudge's mouth twitched uncontrollably. Finally, he awkwardly stood up: "Of course, this is just a business deal, and you have the right to refuse." With that, he got up to leave.
Sirius shrugged, as for him, it was merely a matter of being a dog for a few more years, staying in Kayson's office for a few more years, and then asking the next Minister of magic for help after Fudge stepped down.
But Kayson was different. Living under the same roof with someone who was ostensibly a dog but actually a grown man required immense courage, especially since this was England.
Moreover, he was waiting to put up a sign outside his office that read "Sirius Black and dogs not allowed." He couldn't wait for several years.
Soon, his clever mind started working: "Why don't we just deal with Fudge right here? That way, we won't have to wait years for Fudge to step down, just a few days."
Fudge, who was only pretending to leave, turned back in confusion, looking at Kayson.
After all, although this bushy-browed man had cut off his arm, objectively speaking, he still greatly admired such an act of not fearing power for the safety of Little Wizardss, as he too had been young once.
But this very person was openly suggesting to "deal with" him right here. Was this right?
Even more frustrating was that Dumbledore did not refuse immediately, but instead lowered his eyelids as if in thought.
"... I need time," he finally said helplessly.
"That's it, I knew you would be our most sincere friend," Dumbledore said with a joyful smile.
"What about the re-election as Minister...?" Fudge asked.
Dumbledore lowered his eyelids. It wasn't that he wanted to refuse, but he remembered his conversation with Lucius Malfoy yesterday.
Lucius Malfoy was definitely the most senior Death Eater, and he maintained contact with most Death Eaters, including those in Azkaban. Moreover, given the current situation, instinctively speaking, there was no family in the entire magical world more talented than the House of Malfoy.
Since even Malfoy had a premonition that the magical world was about to become turbulent, combined with the series of troubling events since Harry's enrollment, it was foreseeable that the future would indeed be turbulent.
He still remembered a prophecy Grindelwald had given him before.
He had only said one word at the time: "Storm is brewing."
"I remember there's a regulation in the Ministry of Magic that states when the magical world faces a major crisis, such as during wartime, the Minister of magic automatically gets re-elected?" Dumbledore said.
"There is such a regulation, but it's more likely that I'll be driven out by the public, and then they'll replace me with a more radical Minister, especially since this so-called re-election system has hardly ever been properly used," Fudge said with a bitter face.
"That's simple, why don't you just become radical?"
"That would be easy, but where would I find a war for the magical world?"
Dumbledore smiled without speaking.
Fudge's face was as unpleasant as if he had eaten something foul: "This crisis needs me to find it myself... right?"
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