The morning sun still rose over the horizon. People waking from their dreams knew nothing of the string of major events that had happened the night before. As usual, they ate breakfast while browsing the Daily Prophet delivered by Owl Post, only to be hit with explosive news without the slightest mental preparation: Scrimgeour had resigned as Minister of Magic.
This jaw-dropping news appeared prominently on the Daily Prophet's front page.
No one knew why Scrimgeour had resigned, but this was certainly not normal.
While the entire magical world was still dumbfounded, word quickly spread that Pius Thicknesse had succeeded him as the New Minister.
People gradually realized what had happened, but no one dared step forward.
The coup had been almost completely silent, without causing the slightest ripple.
Perhaps that was because Voldemort had not declared himself the usurper, instead hiding behind the scenes and controlling the Ministry of Magic.
It was a remarkably wise move.
Even though Voldemort was not sitting in the Minister's Office, everyone tacitly accepted that he was the new Minister of Magic. As for Thicknesse, he was merely a puppet used to handle daily affairs.
There was another advantage to doing things this way: it was less likely to provoke open resistance from the entire British magical world, nor would it cause international disputes.
Of course, after Voldemort took control of the Ministry of Magic, he did more than simply install a puppet. He also reached out toward Hogwarts. Snape's appointment as Hogwarts' headmaster was now only missing a formal document.
As for who had killed Dumbledore, that blame naturally fell upon the famous Harry Potter. As the number-one undesirable, his bounty had reached ten thousand Galleons.
Of course, Harry was not alone. He was far from the only person with a bounty on