"Puff..."
Fudge had just taken a sip of Black Tea, spat it out upon hearing Hermione's words.
"Cough cough... I think..."
Fudge coughed and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, pausing for a moment before continuing, "Dumbledore, I think there's definitely some misunderstanding here. We should investigate."
Before Dumbledore could speak, Snape, tossing his robes, strode up to Fudge and said coldly.
"Minister Fudge, since you've come to Hogwarts to arrest students from my house, shouldn't you at least give me, the headmaster, a headslamp?"
"No, no!" Fudge quickly waved his hands. "This must be a misunderstanding, Professor Snape..."
As Fudge spoke, he kept glancing at Dumbledore and winking at him.
Say something, Dumbledore!
"What is all this about?!" Fudge cried out helplessly in his heart.
Dumbledore stood up, patted Snape on the shoulder, and then turned to look at Hermione.
"Miss Granger, what exactly is going on?"
"This morning I went to the Hospital Wing to pick up Silan from the hospital. As soon as we left the hospital, we saw two male wizards wearing dark cloaks."
"They said they were from the Department of Biological Control of the Ministry of Magic, and that Silan was involved in harboring dangerous dark Magical Creatures, so they took him away," Hermione briefly recounted the events.
Fudge glanced at Snape out of the corner of his eye and noticed that Snape looked very unhappy.
This is bad.
What is Snape's connection to the young wizard who was taken away?
Why do you look so angry?
Dumbledore and Snape turned to Fudge and asked almost simultaneously, "Is that so?"
Fudge cursed inwardly, "Those two idiots, Billy and Walton, can't even handle this little thing."
I just want you to investigate the Basilisk situation, come back and write a report to give those parents an explanation.
How did things get to the point of arresting a young wizard?
The worst part is that you provoked Slytherin students; don't you know their headmaster is not someone to mess with?
It even got to Dumbledore...
Fudge grew increasingly troubled, and reluctantly nodded ambiguously, trying to justify himself. "I just asked them to investigate the Basilisk."
"Is that so?" Snape asked sarcastically.
"Of course, I swear!"
Fudge quickly said, "Professor Snape, and Headmaster Dumbledore, as you both know, I have always had great respect for Hogwarts and have always cared deeply for the young wizards..."
"I think there must be a misunderstanding between us, and we should investigate and clarify the matter."
Fudge, the non-stick pan, kept babbling on, "We all know that many parents have sent complaint letters to the Ministry of Magic because of this. We're all doing this for the safety of young wizards."
"I think they just want this student to cooperate with the investigation; I absolutely did not mean for them to arrest anyone."
"That had to be," Snape warned coldly, then said to Dumbledore, "I'll go check."
"Severus," Dumbledore called to him, "Let's go together, Minister Fudge?"
"Of course, of course, I'll go too."
Fudge wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and nodded repeatedly.
The group walked out of the Headmaster's Office in silence.
Fudge felt a little more relaxed.
He was unwilling to offend Dumbledore, since he needed to consult Dumbledore's opinion on many matters.
Everyone knows that Dumbledore is Fudge's external brain, half a personal advisor.
They turned a corner and came face to face with Professor McGonagall looked to be in a hurry.
Seeing the strange group of Dumbledore, Snape, Hermione, and Fudge, Professor McGonagall stopped and asked, somewhat puzzled, "What's going on here...?"
"Our minister has arrested Prewett." Snape's sharp eyes pierced Fudge.
"What?!"
Professor McGonagall frowned at Fudge and asked, "What is it about? Why didn't you tell the professor? Does Headmaster Dumbledore know?"
"Minerva, calm down."
Fudge is having a terrible headache right now.
Another one?
Why are all these professors so worried about this young wizard?
Fudge felt a sudden chill run down his spine as he recalled Snape's words.
Prewett.
The young wizard who was taken away was named Prewett?
As Minister for Magic, Fudge certainly knew about the Prewett family, and even knew that the Prewett brothers died fighting against the Voldemort.
From his perspective, regardless of whether he liked or disliked the Prewett family, he had to admit that the Prewett family was full of loyal martyrs.
"It would be terrible if this got out." Fudge's mind raced instantly.
In the blink of an eye, he thought of many negative reports, such as "After the Ministry of Magic mistreated heroes" and "After the Minister for Magic aided and abetted the tyranny and persecuted the loyal and good."
If this news got out, what would the rest of the Wizarding World think of him as Minister for Magic?
This is a huge challenge to his authority.
Fudge will not allow this to happen.
Those two damn idiots!
When they took him away, didn't they even ask his last name?
If the news does leak out, it's those two guys' responsibility, and has nothing to do with me.
While Fudge was thinking about how to deflect blame, he said without hesitation, "It's all a misunderstanding."
"At the very least, that wasn't my intention. You know, Minerva, I've always been very protective of young wizards; I would never make things difficult for them. For the sake of our past collaboration..."
Fudge kept rambling on and on, eventually even resorting to emotional appeals.
Professor McGonagall worked at the Ministry of Magic for two years after graduating from Hogwarts.
To be precise, Fudge and McGonagall were indeed colleagues before, but they didn't have any business dealings.
To put it bluntly, Fudge is just trying to piggyback on someone else's success.
Professor McGonagall was uninterested in Fudge's attempts to ingratiate himself, and said coldly, "It had better be that way."
"Of course." Fudge nodded repeatedly. "We're on our way there to clear up this misunderstanding."
"I'll go with you," Professor McGonagall said.
Their ranks have grown even larger.
Fudge felt a chill run down his spine and could only awkwardly reply, "If you'd like..."
The group walked hurriedly down the corridor.
Fudge screamed inwardly, "Where did those two idiots take them?"
"Once I find them, I will definitely..."
As he was thinking this, suddenly everything went dark, and out of the blue, he saw a professor.
Professor Sprout, seeing their strange group, asked curiously, "Where are you all going?"
A bad feeling suddenly rose in Fudge's heart.
No way? Again?!