Great British Weightlifting Champion

There was no way she would celebrate after the match; at least, Veratia didn't have time to stay and party. She had a lot of business to attend to personally.

After all, he is the Minister for Magic of a country, and he cannot afford to waste his time entirely on personal matters.

But after the banquet ended and the Great Hall was gradually emptied, before Dumbledore could even say anything to persuade Veratia to stay, he saw Professor McGonagall storming over, followed by Minister for Magic Fudge.

Seeing the Minister for Magic arrive at Hogwarts, the students decided to stay and watch the drama unfold.

"Dumbledore!" Fudge swept a sinister glance over the surrounding crowd. "Let's talk in private!"

The students sighed in disappointment, Dumbledore turned around and called out to Harry.

"I'll go check what's going on," Harry reassured Cassandra. "It looks like something unexpected has happened."

"Hmm," Cassandra nodded.

Harry followed Dumbledore and the others to a side room.

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold as soon as I entered the room.

"What's going on?" Dumbledore swept his gaze sternly around, looking at Fudge, then at Professor McGonagall. "Why are you in the Great Hall? Minerva, you surprise me—I told you to watch over Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch Jr.—"There's no need to watch over him anymore, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. " The Minister made sure of that!"

Professor McGonagall had never acted so impulsively before. In Harry's memory, she had always been a composed and elegant lady.

But now her cheeks were flushed with anger, her hands were clenched into fists, and she was trembling with rage.

"We told Mr. Fudge that we discovered the Death Eater were responsible for tonight's events," Snape said in a low, slow voice. "He seemed to feel that his personal safety was also in danger, so he insisted on summoning a Dementor to accompany him into the castle—and then, he brought the Dementor into the office where Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch Jr. was."

"I told him you wouldn't agree, Dumbledore!" Professor McGonagall said angrily. "I told him you wouldn't allow the Dementor to set foot in the castle again, but—"

"My dear Lady!" Fudge roared, his current furious state one Harry had never seen before. "As Minister for Magic, my power is limitless—I have the authority to decide whether or not to bring a bodyguard! Because I am meeting someone who may be very dangerous—"

But Professor McGonagall's voice drowned out Fudge's words.

"That guy—that guy walked into the office," she pointed at Fudge, trembling and screaming, "and lunged at Crouch— and—and—"

Professor McGonagall frantically searched for words to describe what had just happened; it was probably that the Dementor had given Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch. a fatal kiss.

It sucked Little Crouch his mouth, leaving Little Crouch in a state worse than death, or as Muggle would say, a "vegetative state."

"According to various accounts, he deserved it!" Fudge said aggressively. "He appears to have caused the deaths of several people!"

"But he can't testify now, Cornelius," Dumbledore said, staring intently at Fudge as if seeing right through him for the first time. "He can't provide evidence of why he killed those people."

"Why did he kill them? Hey, isn't it obvious!" Fudge exclaimed angrily. "He's a wandering madman! From what Minerva and Severus told me, he seems to think he's doing everything according to the Dark Lord's will!"

"Voldemort did indeed give orders to him before, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "The deaths of those people were merely a byproduct of Voldemort's plan to rise again—a plan that succeeded, Voldemort has indeed returned."

Fudge was horrified, as if someone had hit him hard in the face.

He blinked, dazed, and stared blankly at Dumbledore, seemingly unable to fully believe what he had just heard.

After a while, he seemed to have recovered and began to speak haltingly, his eyes still fixed on Dumbledore.

"The Dark Lord —returned? Impossible! Absolutely impossible! The Dark Lord is long dead! He died fourteen years ago in Godric's Hollow! Don't joke with me, Dumbledore —or do you have some ulterior motive?"

As he said this, Fudge looked at Veratia, who was standing prettily not far away, and also glanced at Sirius was sitting on a stool leisurely reading a newspaper.

Perhaps Dumbledore is planning to team up with that Grindelwald woman and try to seize his position Minister for Magic?

"Ha, I've long heard that there was an ambiguous relationship between Dumbledore and Gellert from the Grindelwald family."

It seems they intend to support his granddaughter? Or perhaps they plan to use Grindelwald's power to overthrow him and become Minister for Magic themselves?

Fudge became increasingly convinced of this possibility. After a long internal struggle, he was Dumbledore wanted to seize power and become Minister for Magic himself.

But he completely forgot that Fudge's success today was entirely due to Dumbledore's support.

If Dumbledore wanted to be Minister for Magic, he could have done it long ago; he wouldn't have needed to go through all this trouble.

It takes such a big detour.

If Dumbledore had stepped forward and taken on the responsibility of Minister for Magic after Voldemort's first downfall, Fudge would have been out of the picture.

At that time, Dumbledore's prestige was at its zenith, and he was the only person Voldemort feared.

"Minerva and Severus have undoubtedly told you," Dumbledore, his eyes fixed intently on Fudge. "We heard Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch.'s confession. Under the influence of Truth Serum, he told us how he was secretly taken out of Azkaban, how Voldemort learned from Bertha Jorkins that he was still alive, and how he rescued him from his father to use him to cause trouble for Harry. And let me tell you, the plan succeeded. Little Crouch. has helped Voldemort make his comeback."

"Listen to me, Dumbledore," Fudge said, a faint smile appearing on his face. "This, this can't be! You—you can't really believe this— the Dark Lord— is back? Don't be ridiculous, don't be ridiculous. Needless to say, Little Crouch. may think he's following the Dark Lord's orders—but how can you take the words of such a madman seriously, Dumbledore— "

"Tonight, when Harry touched the Triwizard Cup, he was sent straight to Voldemort," Dumbledore said firmly. "He witnessed Voldemort's return firsthand. You might as well come to my office, and I will explain everything to you—if you want the details, I also witnessed Voldemort's return. You might as well look at my memories?"

Harry suddenly noticed a small beetle not far away. It looked inconspicuous, but Harry just saw it.

It's Ms. Skeeter. Rita Skeeter. It seems that Veratia's invisible little hand is about to exert its power.

"Enough, Dumbledore!" Fudge began to grow impatient. "You're spreading alarmist rumors—to conclude that the Dark Lord has returned based solely on a single statement from Potter, a mere Potter, and the ravings of that madman? This is irresponsible towards the British wizarding world! Please forgive me for not accepting it!"

Dumbledore sighed; he suddenly felt a little tired.

As the saying goes, you can't wake someone who's pretending to be asleep. Dumbledore knew Fudge all too well. The news of Voldemort's return would undoubtedly deal a huge blow to his reputation, so he would never admit it.

He hasn't had enough of being Minister for Magic yet.

However, he still wanted to make one last effort.

"Listen to me, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "I know this is hard to accept, but Voldemort created many Horcrux, which is why he was able to escape death."

"Ha.."

Fudge glared at Dumbledore, then turned to look at Veratia.

"I understand, I understand, Dumbledore —I understand why you've tried again and again to force me to admit Voldemort's return. I just don't understand what good it does you to spread this news, cause public panic, and keep everyone in a state of constant fear. It turns out there are Germans instigating this!"

"Germans?" Dumbledore, clearly not expecting Fudge to say such a thing.

However, Fudge no longer cared about any of that. He coldly said, "Since its establishment, the Greater German Ministry of Magic, under Ms. Grindelwald, has swallowed up several countries. It seems that Czechoslovakia and Denmark are no longer enough to satisfy your appetite. The next target is Britain, isn't it? No wonder you chose to study in Britain; you've been colluding with Dumbledore!"

Upon hearing this, Veratia ignored him.

It's just a mad dog biting randomly; taking it seriously is a losing proposition.

This is extremely undignified; to openly criticize the head of another country's Ministry of Magic in front of them—

But Fudge didn't care. As long as he could keep his position Minister for Magic, what did losing a little dignity matter?

Since we can't refute the news of Voldemort's return, let's take advantage of the Britain wizards' resistance to the Greater German Ministry of Magic!

Using the pretense of a foreign power can indeed divert public attention and focus it on the false news that "the Greater German Ministry of Magic is attempting to swallow up Britain."

Moreover, there are many Muggle-born wizard in the Magical World who know Muggle history.

There were such stories during World War II, which would undoubtedly remind them of those bad days. In fact, many wizards also participated in World War II and fought against the Xiu Li Society.

"He's probably really crazy," Veratia whispered to Harry, her words full of disdain for Fudge.

How could such an insect sit in the position of Minister of British Ministry of Magic?

"What a joke of the year Cornelius!" Dumbledore sighed, giving up on trying to persuade Fudge. "It's the truth, believe it or not, it's there. If Voldemort really does return, then the British wizarding world— "

"What a fact! But Dumbledore, don't forget! I am the Minister for Magic of Britain, not you!" Fudge said with a sneer. "Don't forget, I hold the reins of the Four Countries and Fifty-Nine Counties of Britain on my shoulders. It's none of your business how the British wizarding world is behaving!"

Harry leaned closer and whispered in Veratia's ear, "It seems Minister Fudge is quite the weightlifter; he can actually carry such a heavy Britain..."

Veratia lowered her head and smiled faintly. She knew that Fudge's political and biological life was already on a countdown.

However, as the Minister of Greater German Ministry of Magic, Veratia certainly wouldn't take action against Fudge. This would be an awkward situation, and if word got out, it would be like mud falling into his crotch.

All she needs to do now is stand by and watch the show, just like what that book I read a while ago said, "He who does many unjust things will surely fall by himself. Just wait and see."

After saying that, Fudge stormed off in a huff, leaving a room full of people standing there.

"It seems Fudge is determined not to believe it." Dumbledore rubbed his temples, looking utterly exhausted. "I truly never imagined he would be this kind of person, such a heartless, power-hungry fool!"

"Perhaps this is a good thing," Sirius said from the side. "We should always look at both sides of things, the good and the bad..."

"You stupid dog," Snape slowly interrupted Sirius, "Do you really think the return of the Dark Lord is a good thing? Or has the dreary life in Azkaban ruined your brain, making you think you're Death Eater too?"

"Oh, Snivellus!" Sirius retorted. "I don't know if I'm Death Eater Death Eater, but you definitely are!"

"Alright," Veratia said, trying to calm things down. "Let's not talk about it anymore—I don't think Fudge will let this go so easily. He'll definitely try everything he can to suppress the opposition in Britain in order to maintain his fragile rule."

"What will he do?" Harry asked curiously.

"I don't know," Veratia answered bluntly. "I'm sorry, I can't interfere in this matter. After all, it's an internal affair of your British Ministry of Magic. In my opinion, Fudge is trying to stir up Populist Ideology in the British wizarding world and make me a target of 'foreign forces' in order to counter his so-called ' Dumbledore wants to seize power' idea that he's competing with. If I get involved, then I'll just give him a pretext to criticize me."

Mr. Bagman had been listening for a long time, and finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Does he really think Dumbledore wants his position as Minister for Magic? Oh, Merlin's white hair, are there really people in this world who are as stupid as pigs?"