Chain Reaction

Just as Dewey was teaching Harry how to face a Boggart, on the other side of the school, Snape was marching toward Dumbledore's office. Standing before the Stone Gargoyle, he stated the password for the day in a steady voice.

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans."

The Stone Gargoyle lazily lifted its eyelids to glance at Snape, retracted them even more slowly, turned, and shifted aside.

A creaking sound echoed as it pivoted, clearing a path.

Snape tugged at the front of his robes and strode onto the spiral staircase.

If he hadn't misheard, as the stone creature turned back into place, it let out a deep, heavy sigh.

"Sigh."

Snape ignored the bone-idle stone creature and arrived at the Headmaster's Office.

The office was quiet; many of the portraits of former headmasters had gone out to play, leaving only a few behind to attend to their own affairs. Fawkes stood on a perch, watching Snape.

Dumbledore's eyes were closed, appearing to be in a light slumber.

As a master of Legilimency, Snape could tell at a glance that Dumbledore was not dozing; he was searching for something within his memories.

After a long while, Dumbledore opened his eyes to see Snape, but before Snape could speak, the flames in Dumbledore's fireplace turned green.

Someone was arriving via Floo Powder.

"One moment, Severus. I'm afraid he has come to find me again."

Dumbledore gestured for Snape to wait and turned toward the fireplace. Sure enough, a fat, greasy head appeared within the flames.

It was Minister for Magic Fudge.

Dumbledore waved his wand casually, and Severus Snape felt an invisible barrier form around him. If he guessed correctly, the purpose of this magic was to render him invisible to the person in the fireplace.

He could still hear the conversation, however.

It was a magically crafted Invisibility Cloak.

Fudge had arrived at the Headmaster's fireplace; only a head appeared in the Floo Network, a clever technique that Snape himself knew. When communicating via the Floo Network, one could choose to transmit only a part of their body, just as Fudge had done.

However, a technique is called a technique precisely because it requires long-term practice.

If one is not proficient, a single slip-up could result in one's facial features parting ways with their owner.

The fire transformed into a head, and Fudge's voice emerged from it, panicked and utterly devoid of confidence.

"We need your help, Dumbledore. The Ministry is in total chaos; it's absolutely dreadful."

Fudge opened his mouth to demand assistance from Dumbledore for the Ministry.

He had thought of Dumbledore once again.

Only Dumbledore could help him now.

"That lot has gone on strike!"

Fudge complained.

More than ten days had passed since Dewey and Sirius first appeared. During this time, Fudge had continuously intensified the manhunt for the two fugitives. Some "reformed" former Death Eaters had seized the opportunity to join the Ministry—"We are your loyal subordinates, Minister, and we are willing to obey your every command." After joining the Ministry, they donated heavily to Hogwarts and St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, and by extension, made generous contributions to the Ministry itself.

They had also offered bribes to the higher-ups in the Ministry.

Fudge was extremely satisfied with this; he felt these former Death Eaters were his supporters—"You-Know-Who is dead, and these Death Eaters were just good people who were bewitched and threatened back then," he hypnotized himself. These "former Death Eaters" had held high positions under You-Know-Who, and now they were parachuted into the Ministry in the same capacity.

They had done nothing, yet they were already high-ranking officials in the Ministry.

They banded together, squeezing out half-blood wizards and the veterans who actually did the work, seizing resources, and in a very short time, they had woven themselves into a tight web.

Fudge was very pleased with this; he felt the Ministry was harmonious from top to bottom, and with the help of these people, he had better grasped the power of the Ministry!

That was exactly where the problem lay!

What he hadn't expected was that, through several of his foolish maneuvers, the entire Ministry had almost completely ground to a halt. Perhaps he had never considered one thing: power does not flow from the top down.

Power emerges from the bottom up. He was not a master of magic with the astonishing charisma of Dumbledore; he could control the Ministry only because he was the Minister for Magic. It was because he occupied that position that he could command the Ministry's staff.

Without the position of Minister for Magic, he was nothing!

It was like Ancient Rome; only the Emperor who held the Praetorian Guard and the legions in his hands was the true Emperor.

Whether you were Octavian or Caesar, once you lost the loyalty of your officers, you were nothing but a corpse!

The Ministry was composed of many wizards. People like Lucius Malfoy would never personally go out to capture two fugitives.

The ones actually doing the work were the unlucky frontline grunts like Walker. They had no vacation, no subsidies, nothing at all. They were pushed to the front, only to be stabbed in the back repeatedly.

The credit went to Lucius, while Walker and his ilk got nothing.

"Tell those idiots to get out of my sight, or I'll show them what a 'Crucio' feels like!"

This was Mad-Eye Moody roaring at Goyle right in front of Fudge, even with Scrimgeour, the Head of the Auror Office, standing right there.

He didn't care at all about his direct superior or the big boss himself. After the roar, he took a large group of Aurors and continued his patrol, refusing to listen to the orders of "those stupid superiors" ever again.

As for the remaining Aurors, well, these poor wretches—when they were capturing Hagrid at Hogwarts last year, countless spells had landed on him, only to be deflected away. In their N.E.W.T.s, their written exam for Defense Against the Dark Arts was perfect, but the remaining twenty percent—the practical application—was quite mediocre.

In their work, this made them appear somewhat... laughable.

And Hagrid was only a half-blood giant!

He is only a half-blood, after all!

He is not a pure-blood giant!

Aurors are the group within the Ministry of Magic tasked with the most dangerous missions, and they should, by rights, be the most powerful. Yet, aside from Mad-Eye Moody and others who participated in the last war against Voldemort, the rest are barely any better than Hit Wizards.

How laughable.

What drove Cornelius Fudge to despair was that these Aurors, along with the Hit Wizards and personnel from other departments, had indeed not left.

But that was all—they had merely not left!

They were all engaging in passive resistance.

Relying on those "loyal" subordinates of his, Fudge could not grasp control of the Ministry of Magic at all. Nor could he simply fire every Ministry employee who was dragging their feet.

In desperation, he turned to Dumbledore for help, hoping to gain his assistance.

Dumbledore listened to these words and perfunctorily brushed Fudge off, yet after a while, Fudge was beaming with joy.

Hidden within the magic, Snape curled his lips in a sneer of contempt.

Cornelius Fudge, what a truly peerless fool.

He found Fudge's shortsightedness and stupidity laughable. Dumbledore was an exceptionally clever man; if he wished, he could make anyone he spoke with feel happy and content.

Just like now.

He had given Fudge no help at all, yet Fudge was very happy. Perhaps what he wanted was not actual assistance, but emotional comfort.

After seeing Fudge off, Dumbledore waved his wand once more.

"What has happened, Severus?"

He invited Severus to sit and offered him a cup of tea. Catching the scent of the strong honey within, Snape set it aside.

"Lupin is giving that boy private lessons."

Snape said, "They are in contact alone.

But Lupin is a werewolf."

Dumbledore looked at Snape with a chuckle, indicating that he understood Snape's concerns.

"He will not harm Harry, Severus. Although Remus is a werewolf, he has never truly harmed anyone."

At this, Snape could not help but knit his brows. He did not agree with Dumbledore's words. They nearly killed me, Snape thought to himself.

However, Snape also knew that arguing about this matter with Dumbledore was useless.

"So, you knew about these things all along? Was this all done with your tacit approval?"

He went straight for the jugular.

"Yes, Severus," Dumbledore said readily. "I only learned of this news recently myself. The relationship between Remus and Harry is extraordinary.

Nothing will go wrong while they are together.

If you are still worried, how about this: for the week leading up to the full moon each month, you shall serve as the professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. How does that sound?

Severus, can you spare the time?

To teach those children Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

With a few brief words, Snape, whose mood had similarly improved, soon left the Headmaster's Office.

Only Dumbledore remained in the room.

Dumbledore sat in his chair, looking somewhat weary. He picked a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean from the table, but quickly spat it out.

"Pah, pah, pah!"

He spat loudly, looking thoroughly disgruntled.

"Earwax flavor again, oh my!"

Dumbledore exclaimed at his bad luck, took a mouthful of tea to rinse his mouth thoroughly, and only then pulled a book of Dark Magic from beneath the table.

This book of Dark Magic carried a strange, whispering curse that could turn any reader with an unsteady mind into a puppet of the Dark Arts.

Without a doubt, this was a monumental work of Dark Magic, but unfortunately, it was facing Dumbledore. Dumbledore flipped through the pages without the slightest reaction; the Dark Magic struck him only to be easily deflected. Dumbledore studied the text on the pages and pulled out a map, gesturing and marking it.

On the cover of this map, a dark wizard who looked quite evil held a wand, repeatedly casting "Avada Kedavra." Unfortunately, his Avada Kedavra had no effect, serving only to add a touch of green light to the book cover!