Scrimgeour, who had remained silent all this time, saw Fudge wavering and reminded him with a sneer.
"If you don't want to see news of Aurors killed in the line of duty in next week's papers, Minister, you must sign this order."
Percy calmly added from the side:
"Minister, the reason the Wizengamot agreed to the Magical Energy Weapons Control Act so readily was that they wanted the Minister and the Marauders Power Company to batter each other bloody. So they fanned the flames, deliberately releasing this weapon to force the Ministry of Magic to act sooner..."
Scrimgeour turned his head to look at Percy. "And what if that fellow Black staged the whole thing himself? To clear himself of suspicion..."
Percy shrugged. "This search already covers the Marauders Power Company. That company has quite a few former werewolves..."
Fudge and Scrimgeour both looked at the young man, then exchanged a glance.
"Ahem, Mr. Weasley, Professor Holmes was the one who saved the werewolves... he's on our side..."
Percy shook his head. "Minister, he's only a scholar!"
That very afternoon, after Fudge signed the search warrant.
The latest issue of The Quibbler joined the fray from an absurd and bizarre angle.
Mr. Xenophilius Lovegood wrote in his usual alarming bold type:
[The Dark Lord and the Minister for Magic's Late-Night Pas de Deux: Uncovering the Shocking Conspiracy Behind Knockturn Alley's Fake Guns!]
[This magazine's senior analyst pointed out that the hostility between the Marauders Power Company and the Ministry of Magic's senior officials was nothing more than a shoddy puppet show put on for the public. In reality, this was a perfect two-pronged fleecing.
Black used fake guns to create panic and force the pure-bloods to relinquish power; Fudge used that panic to establish a dictatorship.
Their ultimate aim was