A few days ago at the Ministry of Magic, Fudge was awakened in the middle of the night by an owl.
The greyish-brown owl flapped its wings and crashed into his bedroom window, a letter tied to its claws, sealed with a Hogwarts wax seal.
He was still half asleep, thinking it was another complaint letter from a student's parent, and turned over to pretend he hadn't seen it. But the owl started pecking at the windowpane with its beak, making a constant tapping sound.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Fudge stepped barefoot onto the floor, flung open the window, and the cold wind rushed in, making him shiver.
He tore off the letter, unfolded it, and read two lines by the dim light of the magic lamp on the bedside table. He then froze on the spot.
Dumbledore's handwriting was as neat and clear as ever, and his wording as polite as ever, but the content was anything but polite.
The letter read, "The Marauder's Map shows that Peter Pettigrew was in the Gryffindor ' dormitory tonight, his name right next to Ronald Weasley's."
Peter Pettigrew did not die. He had been hiding in the Weasley family as a rat for the past twelve years.
Fudge read those lines three times.
The first time he read it, he thought Dumbledore senile; the second time, he began to doubt whether he was fully awake; and the third time, the letter in his hand started to tremble.
"That can't be," he muttered. " Peter Pettigrew is dead. Black killed him. The whole street was blown up. Only a finger was left. I saw the report with my own eyes—"
Then he shut up. Because he suddenly remembered who had written the report.
The Ministry of Magic Accident Investigation Department, the investigator in charge of this case back then was Crouch's man.
Crouch was the kind of person who only cared about the result, not the process; the best way was the one that could close the case as quickly as possible.
Fudge stood in the bedroom, barefoot, clutching a letter in his hand, his mind racing with a political calculation.
If Peter Pettigrew is still alive, it means that the Black case verdict was a miscarriage of justice, and the entire Wizengamot was involved in the verdict.
Who was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot twelve years ago? Dumbledore. Who voted in favor back then? Almost the entire Ministry of Magic's top brass.
If this gets out, where will the Ministry of Magic's reputation be?
Fudge stood there for about five seconds, then he made a decision.
First of all, this matter cannot be hidden, nor can it be hidden any longer.
Since Dumbledore already knows, it means that someone at Hogwarts is already handling it.
If he keeps it to himself, he'll be the first to suffer when the truth comes out.
He contacted Amelia Borns, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, overnight using the Floo Network.
Amelia's voice, still heavy with sleep, came from the fireplace, but after Fudge's retelling, she remained silent for a good ten seconds.
"Are you sure that's what Dumbledore wrote in his letter?"
"The letter is in my hand, do you want to come and see it?"
"No, I believe you." Amelia's voice was now fully awake. " Fudge, this is ten times more serious than Lockhart's affair."
" Lockhart is at best a fraud, swindling a few medals. If Peter Pettigrew's case is overturned, the entire Wizengamot sentencing system will have to be re-examined."
"When Black was imprisoned in Azkaban, he went through a full trial process."
Fudge's lips twitched.
Of course he considered that; how long had it been since the Lockhart incident?
He still vividly remembers the embarrassment of that press conference. He can't forget the looks in the eyes of the reporters below the stage when he stood on the stage and said, "A guy full of honors is actually a fraud."
Now another one has arrived.
This time it's even more outrageous—the dead have come back to life, and it's a former "hero" who's alive.
The recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class, lived in Hogwarts for twelve years in the form of a mouse.
"I know," Fudge replied.
"It's good that you know." Amelia paused for a moment, "I'll gather the members of Wizengamot first thing tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow. This matter cannot be delayed. Think about it, what if the second part of that book has already reached this point? What if the readers already know the truth? The longer we delay, the more passive we become."
When Fudge stood up from the fireplace, he felt like he had aged five years in an instant.
The following morning, an emergency closed-door meeting of Wizengamot was held in the courtroom beneath the Ministry of Magic.
Besides Amelia, several senior members of Wizengamot and several high-ranking officials from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were also present.
Fudge passed Dumbledore's letter around on the table, and the only sound in the meeting room was the rustling of the parchment.
"So, Dumbledore means that Peter Pettigrew is still at Hogwarts, in the form of a rat?"
An old wizard with a short white beard put down the letter, his expression as if he had just eaten a whole, unpeeled lemon.
"That's what it said in the letter," Fudge said.
Where is the evidence?
" Dumbledore said that Peter's name was shown on the Marauder's Map. That map could track down the real name of everyone in the castle, no matter what form they used to disguise themselves."
" The Marauder's Map," the old wizard repeated, turning to the people beside him, "Has anyone heard of this?"
Several people shook their heads.
"I've heard of it; it's mentioned in that book," Amelia said.
Many years ago, Filch confiscated a map made by a student, which supposedly showed the location of everyone in the castle.
"Now it seems it's true again." Fudge shrugged. " Dumbledore used it to find Peter's name."
A moment of silence fell over the meeting room, then another witch in a dark green robe spoke, "If this is true, then Black's trial back then—"
"It must be reopened," Amelia finished for her, her tone flat, "And the entire Wizengamot must be reopened. Not a single one of those who voted in favor back then will escape punishment."
Fudge glanced furtively at the expressions of the people present. As he expected, half of them had changed their expressions.
"So what do we do now?" the old wizard asked.
"Send a summons," Amelia said. "Get Dumbledore to Wizengamot to explain himself."
"What exactly happened with Peter Pettigrew, what evidence does he have? These all need to go through formal procedures. A verdict from twelve years ago cannot be overturned based on a single letter."
Will Dumbledore come?
"He must come," Amelia said calmly. "A summons from Wizengamot is legally binding. If he doesn't come, it's contempt of court. Dumbledore wouldn't do that."
Upon hearing this, Fudge finally felt relieved.
As long as Fudge passes the buck to Wizengamot and lets Dumbledore handle the questioning himself, he'll be Fudge.
The summons was issued by Wizengamot, and the questioning was conducted by Wizengamot; it had nothing to do with Fudge.
All he needs to do is express, at the appropriate time, that the Ministry of Magic will fully cooperate with the investigation.
That afternoon, Wizengamot's urgent summons was delivered to Hogwarts through official channels.