William of course knows Dumbledore's plan, and also understands the old man's "kind intentions" and why he has them. The old man clearly doesn't believe that William can firmly "defeat" Voldemort, so he decided to use old methods to have himself seated in William's place.
William knows this is a good approach, but... he is not the type of person who sees trash in the house and thinks about waiting for a big cleanup to deal with it all.
The termite nest buried deep inside the house is indeed difficult to completely eradicate, so it's essential to find the right opportunity to uproot it——
"Rest assured, things are still under control at the moment."
William paused, interrupting Old Bee's wild thoughts.
"Are those goblins also under control?"
Dumbledore hesitated a bit as he held his teacup, but eventually took a second sip of tea—if this concoction could even still be called tea, it was just that Professor Meow had been strictly following medical advice lately, using every means possible to control his sugar intake, so recently Old Bee felt like his taste buds had gone bland——
"Those guys? Oh, they're just a simple blinding technique crafted by Helbo, didn't you see them vanish afterward..."
"Don't fool me, William."
Dumbledore pursed his lips and sighed, very self-controlled he pushed the empty teacup aside, "I don't believe Helbo's blinding technique could be that strong." As he spoke, the old man lightly pointed his wand in the direction of the bookshelves, and in an instant, those wooden racks turned around, revealing a goblin clad in heavy armor, clawing furiously.
"Wow… you captured one."
Seeing the goblin tied to a wooden pole, its mouth sealed, William blinked a bit surprised.
"Evidently, seeing is wiser than hearing..."
Dumbledore nodded in satisfaction, as that was the reaction William had predicted, but then the boy sitting across the table suddenly stood up, "Wait! Dumbledore! This is illegal detention! It's well known that goblins, vampires, and even hags have rights... okay, they're not Helbo's blinding technique."
Under Dumbledore's intense gaze of pale blue eyes, William sat back down and sighed.
"So, you had your dragon capture these guys, and then what do you plan to do?" Dumbledore squinted, awaiting William's answer—he knew that the blinding technique was just an excuse; William had captured all those goblins and trolls before leaving. Fortunately, when he saw a goblin appear, he asked Professor Sprout for help in capturing one——
Otherwise, if William had insisted, this matter might really have been dead without proof, unresolved.
After William left, the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic swiftly took over the Forbidden Forest protection and kept the students safe. But ten minutes later, the Auror who entered the Forbidden Forest to inspect returned, having found not a single goblin, not even the ordinary trolls living in the river regions——
"Uh, nothing, just wanted to see if that bastard Lanlock was truly still alive——"
"William, as you just said, these guys have rights."
Dumbledore paused, "Although the Ministry of Magic claims those goblins were merely performing actors temporarily, Gringotts obviously won't accept that statement, they believe it's wizards tarnishing the image of goblins and are pressuring the Ministry of Magic to hand over those goblins—they're putting pressure on the Minister, if you can help solve this trouble, I can assure you the accusation against you will be withdrawn——"
Yes, Dumbledore brought this matter up entirely because he learned that Fudge was being pressured by Gringotts, and he thought it might be an opportunity to solve the public opinion issue surrounding William.
Before things get out of hand——
However, no, Fudge wouldn't.
Either offend the greatest White Lord in history, the terminator of two Dark Lords, the Alchemy Master who discovered twelve uses for Fire Dragon Blood, one of Hogwarts' most popular headmasters, the chairman of the International Confederation of Wizards, recipient of the Order of Merlin First Class, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot Albus Dumbledore? (There's not enough room here for so many titles)
Or offend an ordinary seventh-year Hogwarts student William Richard?
In the eyes of the Minister, this requires no choice at all.
William pressed his brows in distress, he had his uses for those goblins, though it might be... cough, cough, those goblins may well prefer being locked in Azkaban and kissing Dementors rather than that? Clearly, such things can't be explained in detail to Dumbledore, a benevolent, stubborn old man who loves every living being…
"...Wait, Dumbledore?"
After thinking for a while, William interrupted Dumbledore, who was incessantly offering earnest advice, "Those goblins from Gringotts want us to hand over those goblins?" William blinked, thinking he had found the key to diverting Dumbledore's attention.
"…"
Dumbledore paused, looking at William's eyes, considering the implied line of thought William had revealed, he quickly grasped the point, "The accusation... is very serious." The old man paused, "Moreover, they haven't taken substantial actions..."
"Pressuring the Minister of Magic? Isn't that considered substantial action?"
William promptly asked, the key he thought of was quite simple, if Gringotts' little creatures got those goblins, it would mean they legally obtained an army, even if the army is openly a bunch of prisoners, still..." Goblin Rebellions have happened twice in history, that doesn't mean there won't be a third——"
"...Alright, you make a fair point."
Dumbledore fell into contemplation, he had been focusing on establishing William as a banner previously, causing him to overlook many things.
Gringotts had begun pressuring Fudge two hours ago, certainly, this decision was made after those old goblins discussed it, and so far, less than ten hours have passed since those goblins attacked the champions, the goblins were able to make this decision so quickly, it was very abnormal——
"Perhaps, inside the goblins, another Lanlock has appeared... or Rockland? Who knows?"
William was quite willing to exaggerate the severity of the situation, watching Old Bee's stern expression, he quickly capitalized on it, "With black wizards lurking, if goblins were to seize the opportunity to rebel—Dumbledore, this is racial diplomacy, as the president of the International Confederation of Wizards, this is your job——"
"But..."
"No buts, I'll resolve the public opinion issue, it won't interfere with your plans—television as a means of propaganda is still in my hands."
After a round of swift teamwork, Dumbledore's attention was successfully diverted by William. Although the goblin rebellion sounds like a mere story from history books, Dumbledore personally lived through those dark times in his youth, Lanlock's way of operating wasn't much better than Voldemort's—he killed wizards more fiercely than William ever did.
So, the decline in the Magic Realm's talent has absolutely nothing to do with William! (This line was definitely not written under the protagonist's wand at the author's throat)
After repeatedly assuring William that he had a plan, Dumbledore finally felt half-relieved, according to William's recent speculations, he might become quite busy in the upcoming period. At that reasonable time, hopefully, Dumbledore will focus on further establishing his positive image...
"Alright, now for one last matter——"
William nodded, successfully moving on from the recent topic, now he needed to think of a new topic to prevent Old Dumble from secretly reviewing it in his sleep. "I've previously received Severus' transmission—Barty Crouch, what's going on with him?"
"Crouch... he's dead."
"I think I know about that."
"Alright, here's the situation."
Dumbledore shifted his thoughts away from the potentially occurring goblin rebellion, pausing, "Before this project began, Severus received a summon from the Dark Lord——"