The Great British Empire's Foreign Policy!

Back in Gringotts Hall, William saw someone he hadn't expected— Minister Fudge.

He was sitting on the sofa in the hall, chatting with Hermione and Anne.

William frowned. What was he doing here?

It couldn't possibly be a coincidence; William deliberately chose to come to Gringotts during mealtime to avoid large crowds.

Moreover, there were several Auror following at the entrance; the minister had clearly come specifically to intercept them.

Has the kidnapping of the Dementor been exposed?

Hermione caught a glimpse of William from afar and gave him a reassuring look; the girl had probably just managed to get some information out of him.

As William approached, Fudge stood up and, in a concerned tone like an elder, scolded, "William, you didn't even tell me you were going back to the United Kingdom?"

"It's nothing serious, Minister," William said with a smile.

"Of course it's big news. You guys did something amazing in France... I just chatted with Hermione about it, wow... really interesting." Fudge smiled broadly.

"Let's go, let's find a more comfortable place. Gringotts isn't a good place to talk," Fudge said in a low voice, blinking. "Those damn misers won't like us!"

The group walked through Diagon Alley and arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.

The bar owner, Tom, appeared immediately, his back hunched, his wrinkled, toothless face raised in a fawning smile.

William now realized that Tom's survival was nothing short of a medical miracle! Having the same name as the Dark Lord —wasn't that just asking for death?

Could it be that Old Tom is also a great wizard of Dumbledore's caliber, just keeping a low profile and hiding his abilities?!

The wizards around them buzzed with excitement when they saw William and Hermione. Some even rushed up to shake hands.

The Auror immediately stopped the group of clueless wizards, striking a pose like bodyguards. They would have looked even more like them if they had worn suits and sunglasses.

As everyone knows, the Auror ' duty is not to arrest criminals, but to act as their bodyguards!

"I need a private room, Tom. The kind where no one will bother us," Fudge said bluntly.

"Yes, Minister!" Tom said. "What would you like to drink? Beer? Brandy?"

"I'd like some small potion tea," Fudge said. "It's brewed by eight Potions Master; I've recently become obsessed with it."

Tom led the group along the narrow passage, and they entered a small private room. Tom snapped his fingers, and a fire was lit in the fireplace; he bowed and left.

Several Auror stood guard at the entrance.

"Sit down, you three little ones," Fudge said, pointing to three chairs beside the fireplace.

Fudge took off his pinstripe robe, tossed it aside, and then sat down opposite the three of them.

The bar owner, Tom, reappeared, carrying a tray with delicate little jars of tea and grilled gluten.

He placed the tray on the table, left the private room, and closed the door behind him.

"Come on, have a taste. Have you had dinner yet?" Fudge said, pouring out the tea.

The three nodded, but none of them touched the charred gluten.

"I've been so busy I haven't even eaten yet. I don't mind you knowing, the Ministry of Magic is in complete chaos lately."

Fudge sighed, spread butter on his grilled gluten, added ketchup, and then added a hamburger. It looked a bit like Lao Ba's secret mini hamburger.

William felt nauseous at the sight; he regretted eating so much for dinner.

"Black's prison break, the construction of the Quidditch World Cup venue, the disappearance of the Dementor... oh, it's a disaster!"

"This year is definitely the most difficult year in history." Fudge took a bite of his hamburger.

"Fortunately, that crazy woman Arya didn't attack London; she chose Paris instead," the minister said gleefully.

William listened, waiting for Fudge to get to the point.

"Tell me about Paris, William?" Fudge didn't beat around the bush.

"Mr. Scamander was arrested, Cregan subsequently issued a nationwide arrest warrant for you... Dumbledore came to me and asked me to negotiate with the French Ministry of Magic."

"Impossible... it can't be just as Cregan said, that you and he work together seamlessly..." Fudge said astutely.

"I wonder if there's something more to this?"

"Mr. Minister, what do you mean... I don't understand?" William feigned confusion.

"Children, the French Ministry of Magic is using you." Fudge said angrily.

"France arrested the wrong person, and you mercifully saved Paris. They even turned around and used you to maintain the reputation of the Ministry of Magic. I have never seen such shameless people!"

"You should stand up and bravely expose them," Fudge urged.

William sighed slightly; this was typical of someone who loved watching the drama unfold.

Using William as a tool, having him lead the charge and expose the filth of the French Ministry of Magic, will definitely divert everyone's attention away from Black.

And then take the opportunity to stir up another wave of nationalist sentiment... Fudge is like old Trump.

"But! I don't think what happened in France is important," Hermione couldn't help but say. "That's all in the past. Catching Black is the most important thing right now."

Fudge squinted at Hermione. "Are you accusing the Ministry of Magic, child?"

Hermione grasped William's hand, feeling the warmth of his palm. After a moment, her hand stopped trembling. She mustered her courage, looked directly at the Minister for Magic, and said loudly:

"Yes, I am indeed criticizing the Ministry of Magic for its inaction. You shouldn't be wasting your time trying to uncover the truth about Paris or reporting on my relationship with William!"

William immediately nodded in agreement, making his stance clear. If he had said it in words, it would have been something like, "Me too!"

"You two are still young and don't understand, but of course this matter is important."

Fudge ignored Hermione's rudeness; he was asking for a favor and had no right to get angry.

"We've lost a Dementor in France... did you know?"

"Yes, of course we know! The Dementor attacked us!" Hermione said bluntly.

"Oh, what, this is terrible..." Fudge panicked. "I don't know... The Dementor didn't say... They only said they were driven away by the France Auror..."

Fudge seemed genuinely unaware; a look of panic crossed his face.

After a moment, he loosened his collar and said with difficulty, "I will inquire about this matter."

But this only confirmed my suspicions.

To be honest, Dementor are as docile as puppies and never attack wizards unless provoked.

William nodded slightly; he could attest to that. The Dementor were indeed docile, as docile as Anne's Dahei.

Fudge smiled with satisfaction as he saw William nod, "So what a coincidence that the Dementor attacked you? It must have been deliberately orchestrated by the French Ministry of Magic."

They seized the opportunity to capture the Dementor, then leaked the information to that damned Rita... How cunning!

Hermione gripped William's hand tightly, and William coughed lightly, trying not to show any unusual reaction.

In fact, it was William who leaked the information to Rita, and it was also he who captured the Dementor.

Fudge stubbornly insisted it was France, so what could William say? Could he tell Fudge that he was the one who did it?

William, of course, wasn't that stupid, so he could only nod and agree.

Fudge seemed to get angrier and angrier as he spoke, squashing the hamburger in his hand, splattering butter all over him.

Why didn't Black flee to other countries? Why did he choose France? The French Ministry of Magic is offering Black political asylum!

The whole thing was orchestrated by the French Ministry of Magic!

Fudge continued, "I've been keeping an eye on things in Paris because I want to expose the dark side of the French Ministry of Magic and put pressure on them so they'll compromise and hand over Black!"

It's that simple!

"..."

This person's ability to fill in the blanks is truly astounding. If William hadn't experienced the whole thing, he probably would have been completely fooled by Fudge's story.

"Why would the French Ministry of Magic do this?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"Why? We're hosting the Quidditch World Cup next year! We're investing heavily, betting everything on the fate of our nation."

"The French Ministry of Magic wants to sabotage us; they'd better cancel Quidditch!" Fudge said angrily.

"Aren't we a friendly country to France?" Anne on the side asked doubtfully.

"The Muggle government signed the Treaty on Europe Union two years ago, and the European Union will take effect this November..."

"Yeah, yeah... the Muggle government has joined the European Union." Fudge chuckled dismissively. "Because we're in there, we can make a mess of it."

Let me put it this way, my child: whether it's the Muggle government or the Ministry of Magic, our foreign policy for the past five hundred years has had the same goal—to create a divided Europe!

We instigate France Germans Germany, between France and Italy, and between Italy and Netherlands.

We engage in widespread regional discrimination, bashing France, attacking Germans, and criticizing Soviets... cough cough, in short, there isn't a single good wizard in France!

"..."

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