Lucien frowned briefly before relaxing again. The move tonight had been somewhat impulsive, but fortunately, the outcome had been excellent. He was certain that everything he had said would spread across Britain before dawn.
With the support of the British wizarding public, even if Dumbledore wanted to move against him, he would never be able to do so openly. Compared to Voldemort, Dumbledore still possessed a moral bottom line that he refused to cross.
His gaze swept past the four Heads of House standing behind Dumbledore.
Snape remained expressionless as always, though the corners of his mouth carried the faintest trace of mockery. Professor Flitwick, who possessed goblin blood himself, appeared conflicted after hearing Lucien's speech and lowered his head helplessly.
Professor McGonagall's emerald eyes, however, contained emotions too complicated to describe.
She had lived through Grindelwald's era. As one of Dumbledore's closest friends, she knew better than anyone how much effort Dumbledore had spent defeating Gellert Grindelwald.
And now, another Grindelwald was rising before her eyes—one even more brilliant than the first.
Yet at the same time, he was still one of her proudest students.
That contradiction left her feelings toward Lucien painfully complicated.
Compared to McGonagall, Professor Sprout looked far less troubled. She simply smiled warmly, pride written plainly across her face. She held no prejudice toward the Grindelwald name. To her, Lucien was merely an outstanding student.
"Everyone," Lucien said as he turned toward the gathered witches and wizards inside the Ministry atrium, "we are not here for violence. All we seek is fairness and justice."
As he spoke, he cast Cornelius Fudge a subtle look, signalling him to make his position clear.
Fudge still felt somewhat guilty. Instinctively, he almost turned to look at Dumbledore for guidance. Only after hearing two soft coughs from Lucien did he force himself to steady his nerves.
He cleared his throat and addressed the crowd.
"Due to Mr. Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office, abusing his authority, illegally using prohibited potions, and unlawfully imprisoning Mr. Grindelwald…"
"The Ministry of Magic has decided to temporarily suspend Rufus Scrimgeour from all duties pending formal trial proceedings."
The moment those words fell, cheers erupted throughout the atrium.
"Well done!"
"That's exactly what should happen!"
"The Ministry's finally done something right for once!"
Hearing the roaring approval around him, Fudge could not help showing a pleased smile.
Since becoming Minister for Magic, this was the first time he had ever received such overwhelming public support.
At that moment, he finally realised Lucien had been right all along.
By handling the matter this way, he could smoothly seize control of the Auror Office. Once that happened, his authority within the Ministry would increase dramatically.
And when he completely controlled the Ministry…
Would he still need to remain under Dumbledore's influence like before?
Impossible.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Fudge continued enthusiastically, "now that you have all seen Mr. Grindelwald safely, I ask that everyone please return home."
"It won't be long before Mr. Grindelwald is able to return to Hogwarts and continue his studies."
The gathered witches and wizards hesitated as they looked toward Lucien.
"Minister Fudge is right," Lucien said with a gentle smile. "The Ministry still has work to do."
"So many resources and officials have already been mobilised because of me. In the end, ordinary witches and wizards will be the ones inconvenienced."
"Thank you all for coming here tonight to support me. If there are any further developments, I'll inform everyone through the Saints' shop in Diagon Alley and through the newspapers."
"Now please, everyone, head home."
With Lucien personally reassuring them, the crowd finally began to disperse.
Wizards throughout the atrium used every possible means to leave the Ministry. Quite a few even approached Lucien directly, introducing themselves and asking after his condition in hopes of leaving a favourable impression.
The Saints currently possessed enormous influence throughout Britain. Countless people desperately wanted to join their organisation but had no way in.
Now that they finally had a chance to speak with one of the Saints' leaders directly, none of them intended to miss the opportunity.
Naturally, Lucien understood exactly what they were thinking.
He greeted each person politely with a calm smile, effortlessly winning favour with a few casual words.
Meanwhile, Fudge—the Minister for Magic himself—stood awkwardly at the side, almost completely ignored.
Only after the last wizard finally departed did he let out a relieved breath.
Soon afterward, Dumbledore led the Hogwarts professors over slowly.
Mrs Weasley hurried straight to Lucien's side and carefully examined him from head to toe.
"My poor child," she said distressedly. "You've suffered terribly."
"That Scrimgeour locked you away, and now you still have to clean up the mess he caused."
"You're coming with me to St Mungo's first. We can discuss everything else later."
Fudge clearly looked like he wanted to say something, but Mrs Weasley immediately cut him off before he had the chance.
Lucien could only smile helplessly.
Even he found it difficult to resist Mrs Weasley's fierce determination.
In the end, he nodded obediently.
After thanking everyone who had come to support him tonight, Lucien left the Ministry alongside Mrs Weasley.
.....
After Lucien's departure, the witches and wizards who had achieved their goal gradually left the Ministry as well.
Only Dumbledore remained behind.
Together with Fudge, he headed toward the Minister's office to discuss Scrimgeour's upcoming trial.
As Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Dumbledore's involvement was unavoidable in the trial of a high-ranking Ministry official like Scrimgeour.
Truthfully, Dumbledore had never held a particularly good impression of Scrimgeour. However, he also understood that the man had always fought dark wizards relentlessly.
In the future war against Voldemort, people like Scrimgeour would undoubtedly stand on the front lines.
Unfortunately, the crimes committed tonight were undeniable.
That left them no choice but to discuss possible solutions with Fudge.
At the very least, perhaps they could reduce the sentence enough for Scrimgeour to leave Azkaban before Voldemort's return.
"Cornelius," Dumbledore asked quietly after taking a seat, weariness visible in his aged eyes, "what are your thoughts regarding Scrimgeour's situation?"
Fudge shook his head heavily.
"Too many people witnessed everything tonight. Even the Ministry staff already know about it. There's no way to suppress this."
Thinking Dumbledore wanted to excuse Scrimgeour entirely, Fudge spoke bluntly.
"I understand," Dumbledore replied softly, "but you also know how many dark wizards Scrimgeour has captured over the years."
"Perhaps… we should give him another chance."
Dumbledore himself felt deeply troubled.
If only a handful of people had known about the matter, he still would have possessed room to negotiate with Lucien. Offering certain concessions in exchange for dropping the charges might not have been impossible.
But now?
Scrimgeour's actions were effectively public knowledge.
By tomorrow morning, every wizard in Britain would know that the Head of the Auror Office had attempted to use Veritaserum on an eleven-year-old student.
Defending him openly now would mean opposing public opinion throughout magical Britain.
Even so, Dumbledore still possessed some room to manoeuvre.
After all, Scrimgeour's achievements in combating dark wizards over the years were undeniable. With Dumbledore personally speaking on his behalf, even if punishment could not be avoided entirely, the sentence might still be reduced significantly.
More importantly, many influential pure-blood families had already crossed paths with Lucien tonight.
And Scrimgeour's actions had thoroughly violated their bottom line.
Now that they had an opportunity to bring him down, they would never willingly let it pass.
That meant Dumbledore's final hope rested with Fudge.
If Fudge was willing to quietly lessen the severity of the charges and overlook certain pieces of evidence…
Then perhaps Scrimgeour could recover far sooner than expected.
But Fudge's next sentence completely caught him off guard.
"Professor Dumbledore," Fudge said slowly, "I'm afraid I can't help you with this."
....
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