A friendly day at Hogwarts

Chapter 287 Fudge’s Thoughts

With Wormtail reappearing after 12 years, even Fudge had to re-examine this old case, although he still refused to admit that the Ministry of Magic would make such a serious mistake.

"I must remind you, Mr. Lockhart." He said solemnly, "Your statement is not only a guess, but also an unfounded accusation and slander against the Ministry of Magic. If you cannot produce substantive evidence, I am afraid that There will be serious consequences.”

Fudge's tone sounded a little serious, and his slightly warning words carried the aura of someone in a high position.

However, Lockhart didn't seem to care and kept talking to himself, which seemed a bit neither humble nor overbearing.

"As I said, Mr. Minister," he smiled at Fudge, "at first, this was just a small guess driven by curiosity, until more and more details and coincidences emerged."

"Details and coincidences?" Mrs. Bones raised her eyebrows and said, "There is indeed something unreasonable about this matter. You might as well explain it in detail. Also, why do you say that Pettigrew is an unregistered person?" Animagus?"

Lockhart nodded: "In that case, let's talk about this first. As far as I know, on the day Black was arrested, when the strikers and Aurors of the reconnaissance team arrived, there was only a huge The pit, as well as Peter Pettigrew's blood-stained robe and part of the fragment, a finger to be precise..."

He stretched out his right hand and bent his index finger slightly.

Fudge interrupted impatiently: "We have known about the situation you mentioned more than ten years ago. In fact, I was one of the first people to rush to the scene. What you need to explain now is about Ah The problem with Nemagus.”

"Of course, Mr. Minister. Let's ignore the robes that were not damaged in the explosion and Peter Pettigrew himself who has now reappeared. Let's talk about this coincidence about the Animagus."

Lockhart maintained a polite tone and expression as he continued.

"Speaking of this coincidence, I have to thank Mr. Ollivander Jr., who provided me with a very important information. As we all know, what Peter Pettigrew left behind was not a complete corpse, but There was only one broken finger. And little Mr. Ollivander happened to mention something unusual to me during a casual conversation."

He tapped Glenn on the shoulder again.

"According to him, his friend Ron Weasley had a pet rat that happened to be missing a finger. The strange thing is that under normal circumstances, the lifespan of a pet rat is no more than two or three years, but this one An unusual mouse has been living in Mr. Weasley's house for more than ten years..."

Lockhart was interrupted again, but this time it was Dumbledore who spoke.

"I must make it clear, Gilderoy, as I told you just now, there is no need to doubt Arthur Weasley's position."

"Of course, Principal Dumbledore!" Lockhart smiled and nodded, "These are just coincidences that help me clarify my thoughts. As a shady mouse, hiding as a pet in a wizard's family is undoubtedly a spy. The best choice.”

Glenn smiled secretly in his heart. It seemed that the old fox and Lockhart had already prepared a script and were subtly pushing Lockhart to Fudge's side.

Lockhart turned to Fudge again and said: "Although these unusual details are inconspicuous, they just give me enough reason to be suspicious. Maybe Peter Pettigrew did not lose his life, but used the Animagus' Ability to fake death and escape.”

"It does make some sense," Fudge pinched his eyebrows, "but there are still many doubts about this matter, and it cannot be explained clearly by just relying on assumptions and guesses."

"Of course!" Lockhart nodded. "After we have a clear logical hypothesis, the next step is the rigorous verification stage. During this process, Mr. Ollivander Jr. gave me a lot of help. In fact, in I am not the only one who has doubts about this matter. Of course, it also includes the arrest process today. Without the help of Mr. Ollivander, even I would not be able to easily catch this cunning mouse. "

Seeing Fudge and Mrs. Bones looking at him, Glenn nodded slightly and started his performance step by step.

Although it is not easy at all to play against the actor, he is just a supporting role today. As long as he responds correctly according to Lockhart's words, it will not reveal his flaws.

In fact, when he heard this, Fudge had already accepted the identity reversal of Padfoot and Wormtail, and continuing to listen to Lockhart's reasoning process was just a process.His attention has gradually begun to shift to planning for the future.

First of all, if you want to continue to conceal the entire unjust case, although you can do so with the Ministry of Magic's ability to control public opinion, the effort and reward are not proportional.

Both Dumbledore and Lockhart have huge reputations in the wizarding world, not to mention the influence of the Ollivander family.Even if the matter can be calmed down, it will still have a big impact on the reputation of the Ministry of Magic and Fudge himself.

In other words, it's just not worth it.

Then what he has to consider next is how to ensure that he will not be implicated as much as possible after the case is overturned.

"In this case, I have roughly understood this matter." Fudge pondered for a moment and said calmly.

Upon hearing this and the change in his expression, Lockhart quickly reacted, changed the subject, and stopped elaborating on his reasoning process.

"In fact, although this is an unjust case, it is an opportunity to improve the reputation of the Ministry of Magic. In the final analysis, this was just a small mistake back then."

He winked at Fudge, glanced slightly in Crouch's direction, and said with a smile.

With Fudge's shrewdness, he easily understood the meaning of this look.He understood immediately that Lockhart meant for him to put the blame on Crouch alone.But he didn't quite understand the so-called opportunity.

"Improving the reputation of the Ministry of Magic? I don't quite understand what you mean."

Lockhart stopped speaking in official terms and said directly: "As we all know, since the establishment of Azkaban, no one has successfully escaped from prison, so we might as well make a fuss about Black's escape from prison."

"You mean to make the public think that we deliberately let Black escape from the Dementors?" Fudge was stunned for a moment and quickly reacted.

"Yes, Mr. Minister." Lockhart nodded, "We can announce it to the public. After Black escaped from prison, the Ministry of Magic still continued to investigate the case. It did not use thunderous means until it had obtained definite evidence. , and caught the real culprit in one fell swoop. As for Mr. Black, if we can give him enough compensation, I believe he won’t have trouble with us, right?”