Amelia bowed slightly and sat back down.
Lin Ze noticed that her fingers were still trembling slightly as she sat down.
She was trying her hardest to control herself.
Bagnold cleared her throat and turned her gaze toward the Special Operations Team. "Now, let us move on to the next item on the agenda. Special Operations Team, please report on your recent progress."
Lin Ze closed his notebook and stood up.
He felt Malfoy's gaze stabbing into him like a knife, but he did not so much as glance at him.
"Madam Minister, colleagues." His voice was not loud, but every word was clear.
"Although the Special Operations Team has only recently been established, we have already achieved some preliminary results. We arrested Bodo Crabbe, formerly an Auror with the Auror Office, and are investigating the network of Death Eater connections behind him."
"Based on the evidence currently in our possession, we have identified at least twelve suspects with direct ties to Crabbe, including personnel within the Auror Office, Logistics Office staff, and..."
He paused, his gaze sweeping toward Malfoy. "Certain individuals outside the Ministry of Magic."
Malfoy's expression changed.
"Individuals outside the Ministry of Magic?" Bagnold raised her eyebrows slightly.
"Yes. Certain people have long used their influence in the Wizarding World and their financial advantages to provide intelligence and material support to the Death Eaters. We are currently compiling the chain of evidence against them and expect to submit it to the Wizengamot within a week."
"Very good." Bagnold nodded, a hint of satisfaction entering her voice.
"The Special Operations Team's efficiency is truly impressive. Director Crouch, do you have anything to add?"
Crouch set down his pen and looked up.
"Madam Minister, I have only one point to add. Everything the Special Operations Team has just outlined is sufficient to prove that Death Eater infiltration of the Ministry of Magic goes far deeper than we previously estimated."
"This is not a matter of a few individuals, but a network of connections spanning every existing department."
A wave of hushed whispers rose around the conference table.
The people in Wizengamot uniforms leaned toward one another, their expressions each graver than the last.
"Of course, as an old friend of the Ministry, Mr. Malfoy has made considerable contributions over the years. I believe there is no need to subject him to unwarranted suspicion without any evidence."
Bagnold nodded slightly at this, the coldness in her gaze toward Malfoy giving way to a smile once more. "Mr. Malfoy, thank you for your concern for the Ministry's work."
"But as you can see, the Special Operations Team's work is proceeding in an orderly fashion. The 'indiscriminate investigations' you are worried about do not exist."
Malfoy rose and bowed slightly. "You are quite right, Madam Minister. It seems I was worrying unnecessarily. However..."
He shifted his tone, his gaze settling on Lin Ze. "I would also like to ask this young gentleman a question. Who, precisely, are these so-called 'individuals outside the Ministry of Magic' your Special Operations Team mentioned?"
Here it comes.
Lin Ze had been waiting for him to ask that question.
He opened his notebook, but instead of looking at its contents, he met Malfoy's gaze directly.
"Mr. Malfoy, under the relevant regulations, detailed information about the subjects of an investigation cannot be disclosed publicly before it is formally submitted to the Wizengamot. However, I can tell you that our investigations have only one criterion."
"Evidence."
"As long as the evidence is conclusive, we will investigate, regardless of the person's surname, how many Galleons their family has, or how many institutions they have donated to."
He closed his notebook and gave a standard professional smile.
"In that regard, as an honorary member of the Wizengamot, Mr. Malfoy, you should understand the gravity of the law better than we do."
Malfoy stared at Lin Ze for a full three seconds, his gray eyes seeming to freeze over.
"Excellent. With such promising young talent in the Ministry of Magic, I can rest easy."
He sat back down, tapped his cane lightly against the floor, and said nothing more.
The meeting ended amid a delicate atmosphere.
Bagnold delivered some closing remarks, the gist of which was, "We must all stand united and work together to advance the investigation into the Death Eaters," then adjourned the meeting.
The meeting ended amid a delicate atmosphere.
When Minister Bagnold adjourned the meeting, Lucius Malfoy was the first to leave the office.
His cane struck the stone floor at a considerably faster rhythm than when he had arrived. Although a smile still lingered on his well-maintained face, the curve of his lips had become as stiff as though it had been subjected to a Permanent Sticking Charm.
Fudge followed close behind him, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief as he walked and muttering, "A misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding." It was unclear whether he was explaining things to Malfoy or talking to himself.
Watching the two disappear one after the other at the end of the corridor, Lin Ze silently gave Amelia an enormous thumbs-up.
To have pushed Malfoy this far, this future Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was certainly no pushover.
"Miss Bones." Bagnold's voice came from behind her.
Amelia stopped and turned around.
Bagnold was still seated at the head of the conference table, her hands folded on its surface, her expression betraying neither pleasure nor anger.
"Your performance just now impressed me," Bagnold said.
"Thank you, Minister."
"But I must remind you of something." Bagnold's tone grew slightly heavier.
"Malfoy has considerable influence in the Wizengamot. You humiliated him in public today. He will not simply let this go."
"I know." Amelia's voice was calm.
"But if he dares to order our Special Operations Team around in the Minister's Office, he should be prepared to get bitten."
Bagnold stared at her for a while, then the corners of her lips lifted slightly.
"All right, I understand. Off you go. Your team members are waiting for you."
When Amelia left the Minister's Office, Ben was the first to come over.
"Amelia, you were amazing back there!" His eyes shone.
"I only did what I should have done," Amelia said.
"Oh, come on."
Ben continued chattering. "You practically slammed the words 'Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater' right down on the table."
"You can eat carelessly, but you can't speak carelessly. Our Miss Bones never said any such thing. It wouldn't be good if some petty schemer overheard you," Kingsley said with a smile beside them.
"Ahem... right, right..."
Ben glanced back and noticed that several staff members in the corridor were indeed straining their ears to eavesdrop. He hurriedly shut his mouth.
Back in the office converted from a storage room, they each settled into their chairs.
The entire way back, Ben had still been caught up in Amelia's earlier verbal sparring with Malfoy.
He vividly described how Amelia had left Malfoy speechless, even standing up to imitate Malfoy's pose as he forced a smile.
"That fellow had his chin up, with the corners of his mouth like this-and then he said, 'Miss Bones, this is social etiquette'-"
Ben imitated Malfoy's tone.
Everett laughed so hard that his glasses slipped down his nose three times.
Reed lay over his desk, laughing until a snot bubble came out of his nose.
Even Kingsley could not help shaking his head, unable to keep the corners of his mouth from rising.
Only Amelia remained expressionless. She sat back down in her seat and leafed through a case file.
"All right, all right, enough fooling around." Lin Ze waved a hand.
"Although we took Malfoy down a peg in front of the Minister today, it also exposed a problem."
"You mean..." Ben's smile faded.
"Malfoy wouldn't know we were investigating his flow of funds for no reason. Someone must have leaked the information."
Kingsley nodded. "Yes."
"Then who could it be?" Lin Ze swept a thoughtful gaze over the others.
Ben was the first to jump up. "Why are you looking at me? I might have a big mouth and love gossip, but I wouldn't have the nerve to go blabbing about this!"
"I wasn't suspecting you."
Amelia looked up from her case file. "Besides us, who else knows about our investigation plan?"
"Director Scrimgeour knows," Kingsley said.
"Mr. Crouch knows too," Amelia added. "But I don't think either of them would tell anyone."
"Then the problem lies among us." Lin Ze leaned back in his chair, his gaze passing over every face in the office.
The atmosphere in the office suddenly grew tense.
[I only saw the reader's tip today, so here's an extra chapter for "The Default Name Is Real"! Thank you for your support!]