Before School Starts

It wasn't until the following night that Kyle learned why Chris had rushed back to the Ministry of Magic that very night.

Simply put, the department is severely understaffed. The Department of International Magical Cooperation is simply not enough. Anyone who can breathe has been called back to help.

The same goes for Mr. Weasley.

For a whole week, they left before dawn and didn't return until late at night.

So Kyle has been eating at the Weasley family these past few days, and every time he goes there, he hears Fred and George making sarcastic remarks.

Because of the incident where Kyle and Cedric conspired to stuff them into the box, the two of them have been doing this ever since they returned from the camp.

Cedric escaped unharmed because the Burrow.

Finally, Kyle couldn't take it anymore and promised to take them for a walk in the box after school started, which finally brought a few days of peace and quiet.

During this time, something else happened: Percy and Mrs. Weasley had a big argument.

The reason was that Rita Skeeter published another article, claiming that Mr. Weasley, in order to curry favor with the headmaster of Beauxbatons, only cared about a few France students and stood by and watched as more than a dozen wizards were killed without doing anything.

Of course, anyone with a discerning eye could tell that this was made up, but Percy believed it anyway. He even complained about Mr. Weasley's unwise actions during breakfast, and also brought Bill and Charlie along.

Mrs. Weasley was furious and had a huge argument with him. Charlie even gave him a demonstration of what it meant to be a dragon breeder.

Percy fled to the Ministry of Magic before even finishing his meal, sporting bruises under his eyes.

"Ignore him," Bill said to Harry and the others. "Rita Skeeter never writes anything good about anyone; she's best at twisting the truth, but a lot of brainless people believe her."

Before he knew it, it was the last day of the holiday, and Sirius and Lupin still hadn't sent him any letters.

In the morning, Kyle went to 12 Grimmauld Place, but it was empty, House-elf weren't there either.

Furthermore, there has been no news from the Ministry of Magic.

Clearly, Sirius's retrial has been put on hold.

The aftermath of the Quidditch World Cup hasn't been resolved yet, and Fudge doesn't seem inclined to take action against Crouch at this time.

This is understandable, though, as the Ministry of Magic is in complete disarray, with a large number of Howler being delivered to the Office of Department of International Magical Cooperation almost every day.

If Crouch hadn't drawn public anger, letters complaining about security issues at the Quidditch World Cup and demanding compensation would likely have been sent to his Minister's Office.

Fudge didn't want to spend most of his time dealing with those Howler every day.

By the time Kyle returned to Ottery St. Catchpole, it was almost noon.

Chris returned briefly, then hurriedly left with Charlie. He had received a mission to go to Romania immediately. Upon learning this, Charlie decided to use a Portkey for free, as he only had one day left on his vacation. Using the Ministry of Magic's Portkey would save him a lot of time on the road.

Mr. Weasley waited until very late before dragging his tired body back, looking utterly exhausted.

"Things are getting out of control." He sat in an armchair by the fireplace, listlessly fiddling with the crumpled cauliflower on his plate.

"Rita Skeeter has been scrambling around all week, searching for any more messy intelligence from the Ministry of Magic to report; her articles have caused us quite a bit of trouble."

"And what about Malfoy, Dad..." Bill asked, "How is Malfoy? Is he locked up in Azkaban?"

"I really wish that were the case," Mr. Weasley sighed. "He insisted during the trial that he acted that way because his team lost, and he didn't expect it to escalate this much."

"Dazed?" Bill said angrily, "They've all used the Cruciatus Curse!"

"I know, but no one can testify," Mr. Weasley said. "Remember, his spell didn't work, and we can't prove it with Prior Incantato."

"Moreover, a significant number of jurors chose to believe Malfoy, believing that the mastermind behind this was an escaped Death Eaters. Whether it was using the Imperius Curse on Buck to send him to assassinate Harry, or being the first to use the Killing Curse and create the Dark Mark, it all came from this Death Eaters."

Coincidentally, Malfoy had already been arrested when the Dark Mark appeared, which means he had no connection with this Death Eaters.

"That's utter nonsense... What about Principal Olympe Maxime? Did she agree to that too?" Bill asked.

"The Ministry of Magic is still negotiating with her," Mr. Weasley said. "That's why the Malfoy haven't been released yet."

Despite his donation of a large sum of gold and his willingness to assume all losses and compensation, Principal Olympe Maxime went to the French Ministry of Magic, insisting on an explanation or he would withdraw from the program...

Mr. Weasley paused for a moment before continuing, "In short, both Headmaster Olympe Maxime and the French Ministry of Magic are adamant, Fudge has been having a headache over this matter."

"I understand." Kyle nodded. "He doesn't want to damage his international reputation, but he also doesn't want to give up Malfoy's gold..."

"You could say that," Mr. Weasley poured himself a small glass of whiskey. "But in any case, Malfoy is in for a rough time... I've heard that the amount of gold he's promised to pay in compensation is no small sum."

"Plus, we need to give Beauxbatons an explanation... There are rumors that the Malfoy family is already selling off their Diagon Alley shops."

"He should go to Azkaban!" Ron exclaimed indignantly. "I really want to see if Draco Malfoy will still be so arrogant then."

Mr. Weasley did not speak.

If he had used that Cruciatus Curse back then, he definitely wouldn't have been able to escape, but now... it can only be said that Lucius's scheming over the years has paid off; he's spent a lot of Galleon and finally got his reward at the crucial moment.

Unless it's a serious mistake, there will always be someone to speak up for him.

Furthermore, the appearance of that Dark Mark was perfectly timed, providing him with a convenient excuse to exonerate himself.

"I think you should all go upstairs and see if your luggage is packed," Mrs. Weasley interrupted their conversation. "Go on, and stop talking about Malfoy. Let your father rest for a while."

"Okay..." Everyone took their things and went upstairs.

Kyle had wanted to ask if there was any news about Sirius in the department, but seeing Mr. Weasley's tired appearance, he didn't say anything more.