“Yeah, I know it sounds stupid,” Hermione sighed, “but Mum asks me to send back at least two letters a month, so it’s hard for me to come up with a proper excuse, and this is not your divination class assignment- ”
“How come I didn’t know about this? You’ve never borrowed Harry’s Hedwig or my pig.” Ron asked.
“Because I used the school’s communal owl – don’t interrupt!” Hermione stopped at the common room door, “Well – you know, we’re both less famous than Harry’s pinky – and I easily found the newsletter that only mentioned Harry’s name and sent it home.”
Harry’s face suddenly flushed with embarrassment.
Ron glared at her and said resentfully, “Thanks for the reminder, your analogy was great.”
“The problem is, I don’t know what to do now.” Hermione said helplessly, “Maybe ask Professor McGonagall to cancel-”
“Don’t!” Harry said busily, “You’d better be honest with them, I don’t think they’d want to miss such a important event in your life.”
Ron agreed with Harry. “Think about it, if they find out that their daughter participated in a dangerous event with an extremely high mortality rate next year from the Flourish & Blotts bookshop clerk … they’ll absolutely hunt you down to the ends of the earth, or at least they’ll send a Howler.”
“Oh, they won’t.” Hermione said in a relaxed tone, “At best they will threaten me that they will never help me straighten my teeth in my life.”
In the portrait at the door, Violet, who had come over as a guest, whispered in the fat lady’s ear, “Do Gryffindors always talk like that?”
“I’m just a portrait.” The Fat Lady said with a shrug.
“Banana fried dough.” Hermione’s face flushed slightly, “The password is banana fried dough.”
“My favourite.” The Fat Lady said with a smile as the portrait moved away in front of them, and as they walked inside they could still hear the Fat Lady talking to her best friend, “Gryffindor students are quite nice, except being a bit of a sideshow …”
As they entered the common room, Ron said disgruntled, “Is she talking about herself? You guys should really ask how she sings opera like nobody’s business, er, better not – she wrote about me in opera too.”
Harry couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Ron had sneaked into classroom seven to get an invitation card for the reserve champion spot, something that the Fat Lady had written into her new opera.
Fred and George had commented on the song afterward, as they stated that the Fat Lady had the literary tendency to exaggerate the truth – if the main character hadn’t been their brother, they would have thought it was an adventure during King Arthur’s youth.
Sitting in her chair, Hermione flipped out of her textbook, but she couldn’t focus a bit. Before lights out, she finally made the decision, “You guys are right, I’ll write home tomorrow.”
…
Felix flipped through the newspaper of the day, today’s front-page headline being ” Trouble! The Minister of Magic is in the Swirl of Public Opinion”.
“The current Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, continues to dominate public attention since the bribery scandal broke earlier this month. It’s an open secret that Fudge circles around several pureblood families, and he has more than once flaunted his personal friendships with those ancient families, as he relied on their elaborate network of connections and influence to secure his authority.
Fudge has repeatedly reaffirmed that he does not use his power for personal gain.
‘I did receive some generous donations, and they were used for wonderful causes! I can show you all the proofs, you have no idea how much effort I had put into the Quidditch World Cup and the Tournament of Champions!’
But when the reporter asked what he had done, excluding the contributions of the former Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Mr. Barty Crouch Sr., and the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, Mr. Ludo Bagman, Minister Fudge dodged the question.
Five months after the appearance of the Dark Mark, the Ministry of Magic has not produced much convincing evidence other than a wanted notice for a man who is already dead plastered all over Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, which begs the question, is our Minister really fit to be in that position? Is he half as capable as he boasts?
The reporter then interviewed several people, whose opinions seemed to represent a certain trend.
Xenophilius Lovegood, editor-in-chief of The Quibbler magazine, declared that our minister possessed a secret army made up entirely of black leopards – they are said to be a flame sprite, behemoths covered in a fire that can burn everything to the ground. An army that would play an important role in critical moments, and of course it doesn’t rule out the possibility of him using them to deal with his rivals in secret.
Professor Griselda Marchbanks, head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority, said that Fudge was acting like Dumbledore’s tail during his first years in office, ‘and of course, he totally went to the Purebloods side once his authority was firmly established.’
Tiberius Ogden, the Wizengamot member, doesn’t seem to have a high opinion about Cornelius Fudge either. He was more than happily called minister ”Lucky Fudge” on the grounds that the man with the highest popularity to take over as Minister of Magic at the time had a scandal about his family being Death Eaters suddenly break out. But when this combined with Mr. Lovegood’s testimony, perhaps Fudge does seem to have more than one secret army.
Also, the imprisonment of the former head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation looks extremely suspicious; reporters found out that he was initially sentenced to a lifetime in prison, and no one knows if this was a crackdown on his political enemies, but a few days ago Wizengamot secretly arraigned Barty Crouch Sr. and changed the sentence to three years for using his power for personal gain and abuse of public authority.”
…
“What a load of bollocks!” Fudge said angrily in his office, gritting his teeth as he read out the names above, “Lovegood, Marchbanks, and Ogden, very good …”
“Minister,” Umbridge said in a mushy tone, squinting her flabby eyes, “the words of these clowns will not budge you at all, they have no proof!” She said with a smirk, “On the contrary, you can hold them accountable.”
“What can I do? The mouth is on them-” Fudge’s expression was hesitant.
“Wouldn’t it be easy to pick on them, especially Marchbanks and Ogden, who both work in the Ministry of Magic, if we just slightly-” Umbridge suddenly shut up, her wide, toad-like pie face turned toward the door, as she said in a soft voice “Yaxley? You seem like a different person after returning from leave, you should have knocked first.”
“I’m sorry, Minister.” Yaxley said, without a trace of apology on his face, “I was in a hurry to deliver a document, a list of escorts for the third task of the tournament, which Scrimgeour and Ms. Bones have already signed, it’s just short of yours.” He slowly walked up and placed the document in his hand on the table, his eyes glanced at the silent pair.
Slowly withdrawing his arm, he stood up straight and said, “You know, I happened to overhear your conversation.”
Fudge’s eyes went wide.
“I’m your man, Minister,” Yaxley said immediately and soothingly.
“You’re my man?” Fudge repeated, staring across the table with probing eyes as he pulled out his quill and signed the document without looking at it. “Dolores has a point; you seem to have changed for good; normally you wouldn’t say such things.”
Yaxley shrugged. “The situation is changed, Minister. I stood neutral before, but … I thought about it quite a bit during the two days I was on leave, and I think it’s time to make a choice.”
“You are doing this because of Felix Hap–”
“More than that, Minister,” Yaxley said, “more than just because of him. This isn’t personal, it’s a confrontation between two different camps – purebloods and non-purebloods – and I smell a showdown ahead, and Hap is playing the role of a vicious pawn, and if nothing is done, maybe we’ll all disappear in a matter of years.” He became exceptionally talkative today, “as one of the twenty-eight pureblood families, although the Yaxley family fallen, but the heritage of pureblood is never about wealth, it is all about the ancient magic contract … to this day, the Yaxley family receives an annual distribution, although the amount is few, but I can walk through the door of any pureblood family with that contract.”
“Wait! The Gringotts should count as one, right?” Fudge said slowly, “I’ve read some information that at the time when we were fighting the goblins most intensely, both sides lost a lot of money, so some families brought the peace talk, from which the goblins also gained a special status.”
Yaxley smiled and did not speak.
“Which families stand behind you?” Fudge asked, suddenly interested, because of the previous explosions, a third of the families close to him had left him, and his insecurity reached its peak when he lost the support of these people.
“It doesn’t matter.” Yaxley said mysteriously, but now Fudge didn’t dare to underestimate him. The names of one family after another flashed through Fudge’s mind, especially the few with the most aggressive attitudes toward muggles, who, despite their heavy losses in the last war, would still be considered a powerful force when united.
“Who are you targeting?” Fudge asked.
Yaxley’s expression was somewhat startled. “Come on,” Fudge said impatiently, “don’t claim you don’t have conditions.”
Yaxley broke into a smile.
“Honourable Minister Fudge, have you ever played wizard chess?” He said softly, “The most annoying piece on the board is the pawn that touches the opponent’s border; it will rise to become a knight, a bishop, a rook, or even … a rampaging queen.”
“No!” Fudge shouted, “You don’t know how offensive he is, and Dumbledore surely will defend him–”
“Then use the most justifiable reason,” Yaxley said, looking at Fudge, “Don’t forget, Minister, you represent the order of the British wizarding community, and even Dumbledore will be at your mercy if the reason is good enough.”
“Justifiable reason.” Fudge pondered and handed him the signed document.
…
“Still need to find a good reason to get Fudge out of office.” Felix sighed and put away the paper. He knew very well that the previous approach could at best disgust Fudge and make his public rating even lower, while ‘Future World’ company could use this opportunity to get out of trouble.
But if he wanted to let Fudge step down in a short time, he would not be able to do so unless Voldemort had a party at the entrance of the Ministry of Magic. Or he kills him in his home.
But if he really did it, Dumbledore would be the first one who would stand against him. Everything he has now will all become invalid, the professorship, the Order of Merlin, the membership of the Wizengamot, the ‘Future World’ company, and the people he knows …
“What’s the best way to get rid of him once and for all?” Felix pondered, he and Fudge shared a surprisingly common sentiment, both afraid that hitting the tiger would harm them back.
At that moment, there is a knock on the door. “Come in.” Felix said as the door opened and a furry head poked out from outside.
“Hi, Professor,” Hermione flashed in.
“You want to borrow Mr. Nicolas Flamel’s data on time-turner?” After hearing Hermione explain her reason for coming, Felix asked with interest, “Why?”
“Oh, uh–” Hermione looked at him hesitantly.
Felix smirked and let several plates of fruit preserves fly out of the far cupboard and land on the small table, “Have you made up your reason?”
Hermione sat down on the couch in a very deflated manner.
“It’s like this, the time-turner that Valen gave me for Christmas – the one that’s broken – might … probably … have a chance of being fixed, and I want to get it operational and try it out.”
Felix looked at her in surprise.
“So, you found the time energy?”
“Time energy? What’s that?” Hermione’s eyes widened and her heart leaped with excitement; she certainly would hear a new term every time she came to the professor’s place.
“I named it myself,” Felix said, “Well, Mr. Nicolas Flamel’s notes inspired me, to be exact.” He paraphrased.
“The Time-Turner carries unique energy hidden in each grain of sand in the hourglass, the time-turner just serves as the most sophisticated container for it. This is the conclusion ‘I’ came up with after repeatedly disassembling and attempting to repair it. Unfortunately, I have no way to verify it, perhaps the answer to the question will be found in the Department of Mysteries at the British Ministry of Magic …”
“Wait! The Department of Mysteries?” Hermione exclaimed in surprise, “I’ve heard that name before, at … the Quidditch World Cup camp, Mr. Weasley mentioned those who work there known as Unspeakables.”
Felix nodded approvingly.
“So the time energy is stored in the Department of Mysteries?” Hermione asked.
“I’m not sure, Miss Granger.” Felix said, “The Department of Mysteries is the most secretive department in the entire Ministry of Magic, and Mr. Nicolas Flamel had spent quite a bit of time – probably longer than a normal person’s lifetime – searching for the secrets of time. But he was missing the most crucial thing of all, and that is time itself.”
Hermione felt herself enveloped in a solemn atmosphere, and her voice couldn’t help but soften, “I used to time travel many times, in the third grade.”
“The maximum time one can travel back without incurring serious damage to both the traveller and time itself is five hours, which requires the use of a magic charm known as the ‘Hour-Reversal Charm’ – this is the information Mr. Nicolas Flamel obtained, but both him or me personally, have serious doubts about their claim, because it implies a stable technology for manufacturing time-turner. While plenty of facts prove that the total number of time-turner is getting fewer and fewer …”
“Then why do they still-”
“Distribute it to students?” Felix asked with a smile.
Hermione nodded lightly.
“I guess it’s probably because it has little use for them, and they need the data from the students who used the time-turner to do minimal research with it.” He stood up and walked into the inner room, before exiting a moment later. Felix held a copy of a scroll-like journal in his hand, “These are some of the cases Nicolas had collected, trying to change time in a wild way can backfire, and once the energy that protects you is gone, the results are often not that pretty.”
“Eloise Mintumble used the time-turner to go back five centuries before her era, in the middle of which a serious error occurred. It was only when the energy in the turner was depleted that she was ejected from time. But her body suffered severe damage, and she died not long afterward in St. Mungo’s. This was not the first experiment conducted by the Ministry of Magic, but it was the last, and since then all related experiments have been discontinued.”
“She was from the Ministry of Magic?” Hermione asked pointedly.
“The Unspeakable, I guess.” Felix said, “In addition to the effects on herself, the disruption of time spread to the outside world, and she severely altered the course of some people’s lives, turning them into people who were never born. Also – in the next few days after she was ejected, the first Tuesday lasted for two and a half days, while Thursday lasted only four hours … The Ministry of Magic had to fool the world with an asteroid that never existed in history and they paid a huge price to do that. ”
Hermione’s expression is one of astonishment. “I read in a book that a rare celestial phenomenon occurred at the end of the nineteenth century, which not only caused a polar day with subsequent heavy rainstorms, it also induced a large number of people to have a brief misalignment of their sense of time and malfunction of their appliances …”
Felix shrugged, “Fortunately, technology wasn’t really advanced in those days, and it was rainy … I suspect that the Ministry of Magic was responsible for that rain too.”
Hermione felt that her perception somewhat turned upside down.
“So, why do you think you have the possibility of repairing the time-turner?”
“Harry possessed an hourglass obtained from Valen, which came from the altar where the Herpo the Foul hid his Horcruxes …”
“Valen?”
At that moment, Valen came out of the bedroom, and heard someone call her, so she looked up quizzically, “Kee?”
————
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