Aftermath

[Wrongfully Convicted, a Hero Imprisoned for Twelve Years!]

In the Daily Prophet, the enormous headline was an eyesore to the Ministry of Magic.

Later, it was said that several Ministry employees visited the Daily Prophet offices a few times, and subsequent newspaper headlines became [Ministry of Magic, with Sirius Black's Assistance, Captures Escaped Fugitive].

Compared to the previous one, the latter headline was utterly unremarkable and entirely unappealing.

The Ministry did not care about that. As long as they were not caught in unfavorable public opinion, it was fine.

During this period, wizards were like foxes in a melon patch, unable to decide which juicy piece of gossip to devour first.

First, there had been the Azkaban prisoner escape, with the Ministry conducting a full-scale search.

Then came the Ministry's failure of oversight once again, allowing Dementors to attack hundreds of Hogwarts staff and students.

After that, news spread that Ministry Aurors had attacked Hogwarts students, though no specific source could be found. It was only printed in a corner of the Daily Prophet.

Finally, in the past few days, the prisoner whom the Ministry had imprisoned for twelve years before he escaped had turned out to be innocent, while an Order of Merlin First Class recipient had been the true culprit.

Who knew how many media outlets flooded into the Ministry of Magic, all seeking firsthand information.

Fudge was suffering and enjoying it at the same time. Not because he enjoyed being cursed at, but because this incident had finally earned him a wave of popularity for setting things right.

A miscarriage of justice committed by the previous Minister had been corrected during his term. Quite a few wizards even wrote letters specifically praising Fudge for his courage in uncovering the truth.

With Dumbledore's persuasion, several prominent figures in