Fudge is a Good Minister

Kyle paused in his steps and turned to look at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore simply stood there calmly until Harry and the others had all left before speaking, "Don't worry, Black, there won't be Dementor here, and you don't need to maintain your Animagus all the time."

"I'm sorry, Headmaster." Black, now back to his original form, stood there like a student who had done something wrong, and said softly, "I just haven't figured out how to face you yet."

Looking at his ragged clothes and sunken eyes, Dumbledore felt a moment of disorientation.

But in the end, he said nothing, only waved his hand.

A table suddenly appeared in front of Black, piled high with steaks, bread, and roasted potatoes.

"I think you need this right now... Don't be shy, just eat it."

Black's throat bobbed, and he reached out and grabbed a piece of bread.

He seemed to be trying to maintain his composure, but whether it was because he was too hungry or hadn't eaten a proper meal in a long time, he ate faster and faster, and in less than a few minutes he was wolfing down his food.

Dumbledore didn't pay any attention to these things. He simply added some more bread and Pumpkin Juice, then walked over to Peter in the cage, bent down, and looked at him carefully.

Peter was awake and huddled in his cage, shivering.

"Another Animagus disguised as a pet," Dumbledore said leisurely. "Looks like we need to do a thorough check on the students' pets... I'm curious, Kyle, what do you think his purpose is?"

"He probably wants to know what's going on in the Wizarding World," Kyle said after a moment's thought. "Being in a wizarding family means you'll always get news about Tom first."

"I haven't heard that name in a long time. I almost thought you were talking about the owner of the Leaky Cauldron." Dumbledore smiled.

He then continued, "But Peter probably didn't expect that someone would actually use Mandrake leaves to make pet tonics... To be honest, even I was surprised by your generosity when I heard the news."

"For a friend..." Kyle said, "It's just a few leaves, I can afford it."

"Don't worry... I'll make it up to you!" Black said, his mouth bulging, his words muffled. "The cost of those tonics... I'll cover it all."

Black was very confident.

He has nothing but gold. He could eat it all, let alone a few Mandrake leaves.

Kyle raised an eyebrow. It would be good to have someone reimburse him, but now was not the right time to talk about that.

He looked at Dumbledore and asked, "Professor, what do you intend to do?"

"No rush, I need to confirm one thing first."

As he spoke, Dumbledore kept his eyes on Peter. After a moment's thought, he took out his wand.

As the blue light from the Elder Wand shone on Peter, the mouse visibly grew larger... but returned to its original size after a moment.

Seeing that Dumbledore couldn't turn him back, Peter lay listlessly in the cage, seemingly in utter despair.

"Oh!" Dumbledore somewhat surprised, but he didn't say anything. He simply turned his wand around, placed the tip against Peter's head, and gently flicked it...

A wisp of silver was drawn out by the magic wand.

Dumbledore strode to a stone basin in the corner and placed the memory from his wand inside.

Silver light swirled within the Pensieve, Dumbledore rested his fingers on Pensieve, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Before long, Dumbledore's originally calm expression gradually turned ugly.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the room grew increasingly oppressive. Sirius felt as if there were hundreds of Dementor around him, and unconsciously put down the bone he had long since gnawed clean, barely daring to breathe.

Fawkes jumped onto Kyle's shoulder and let out a soft call.

"Thank you... I'm fine."

Kyle scratched the feathers on Fawkes's neck and took out some herbs to feed it.

Time passed little by little.

After about ten minutes, Dumbledore, having reviewed the memories, reopened his eyes.

He glanced expressionlessly in the direction of the cage, and in that single glance, Peter immediately let out a sharp cry and began banging his head against the cage, as if trying to escape.

Even after it knocked itself unconscious, the cage remained intact... That's for sure; to prevent it from escaping, Kyle had made an iron cage, only covered with a layer of wood on the outside.

Dumbledore took a deep breath and said softly, "I saw it all... including how he betrayed you and how he framed you... You've been waiting for this day for a long time, haven't you..."

Sirius clenched his fists tightly, his chest heaving violently. He rubbed his bloodshot eyes and let out a series of low sobs... The sobs grew louder and louder until he could no longer suppress them and began to wail.

Despite the loud crying, the portraits in the Headmaster's Office remained unawakened; their eyes were closed, as if they were asleep.

Does a portrait need to sleep?

Kyle stared at them and soon noticed that one of the portraits had quietly opened its eyes—it was Phineas Black, the most unpopular headmaster in history.

After noticing Kyle's gaze, he simply stopped pretending, opened his eyes, and shouted loudly.

"I told you before, the House of Black would never do something so despicable!"

"Bullshit!" The bearded wizard showed him no mercy, immediately revealing the truth. "You've always considered Sirius a disgrace to the family, and you even said you wanted to expel him from the family!"

"I...I didn't say that!" Phineas retorted, his neck stiff. "You're slandering me! You're slandering me!"

"Oh, I testify, you did say that," said a fat wizard who loved a good spectacle. "You also said that there would never be a place for him in the House of Black ..."

"I can testify too..."

"I've heard that too, tsk tsk..."

Seeing his dark past being dug up one by one, Phineas roared in exasperation, "Nonsense! You're all talking nonsense! I never said that!"

However, faced with so many school principals, his excuses seemed rather weak.

"It's all that damned Peter Pettigrew's fault, that despicable, shameless bastard..."

Finally, Phineas abruptly changed the subject, turning to Dumbledore and saying, "Albus, you can't stand idly by; you have to find a way to clear Sirius! If you don't, I'll keep nagging you every day so you can't work..."

"Phineas, when did I say I would stand idly by?" Dumbledore's smile returned.

Sirius looked up too. "You're really willing to help me?"

"Of course I will help you, that's for sure," Dumbledore said. "But the question is, how?"

He tapped his fingers on the table. "Although it's not nice to say it like this, the misjudgment of you was, after all, a dereliction of duty on the part of the Ministry of Magic. Moreover, Peter was a recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class, for twelve years. Now that we've suddenly realized we were wrong, it will be a disgrace to the Ministry of Magic."

They will probably find it hard to accept this.

Sirius's excitement gradually faded.

He had only thought that sending Peter away would reveal the truth, but he hadn't considered the connection to the Ministry of Magic.

Yes, those people value their reputation above all else. Do they really care whether they're innocent or not?

Sirius began to feel uneasy...

"Professor, I think you're all overthinking it."

At this moment, Kyle suddenly laughed and said, "The current Minister for Magic, Mr. Fudge, is competent and fair. I believe he will definitely be willing to clear Sirius's name."