A Politician's Tactics

Drogon had gone to deliver a letter to Dumbledore, while Milia was still there.

William took out five Knuts. Milia proudly held out a long leg, asking him to put the coins into a small leather pouch tied to it.

Then she picked up the remaining snacks in her beak and flew off toward the Hogwarts Owlery.

William opened the envelope. It contained not a letter, but the latest special edition of the Daily Prophet.

Everyone gathered around William to read about the Ministry of Magic's latest investigation.

When William opened the paper, the attack on the Ministry of Magic was the top story.

The headline was printed in heavy black ink: Shocking! Important physical evidence found in Ministry of Magic attack.

Below it was a photograph-a wand!

It looked very familiar to William, and no wonder. He had seen it in Diagon Alley not long ago.

It was Lucius Malfoy's wand!

It was indeed Lucius's wand. The Malfoy family crest was carved into it, and there was an indentation at the top where a pigeon-egg-sized diamond had once been set.

After the fight in Diagon Alley that day, Lucius had found only the diamond and lost his wand. Now, mysteriously, it had turned up at the scene of the attack on the Ministry of Magic.

"Could Malfoy have done it?" Cho asked after reading the paper.

From what everyone had said, Lucius Malfoy didn't seem like a good person.

"Cho, his whole family are dark wizards!" George said angrily.

"When You-Know-Who fell, Malfoy should have been punished. He claimed You-Know-Who had controlled him, and he paid a great many Galleons to get away safely.

"None of the Malfoys are any good. There's nothing I wouldn't believe him capable of."

George was still angry about what had happened in Diagon Alley that day. Lucius had said they bred as fast as Mudbloods.

Mudblood was the vilest word in the Wizarding World.

Cedric rested a hand on his chin. "But we all saw Malfoy fighting in Diagon Alley that day."

Cho pointed to a passage in the paper. "According to the report, the attack happened before midnight. He could easily have gone.

"You also said he lost his wand, but who would steal a wand worth ten Galleons instead of a diamond?

"He most likely staged the whole thing himself."

Cho's analysis made a lot of sense.

But the twins exchanged a glance.

Fred looked around and lowered his voice. "Remember how my dad said Mad-Eye was investigating Malfoy that day?"

"Who's Mad-Eye?" Cho asked, puzzled.

"Mad-Eye's name is Moody," George said. "He's an Auror, more or less retired.

"Mad-Eye is brilliant. He's caught enough Death Eaters to fill half the cells in Azkaban."

"Most importantly," Fred continued, "Mad-Eye is definitely on our side... I mean, he's very close to Dumbledore, and he's very capable."

"Since Mad-Eye was keeping an eye on Malfoy, did he find anything?" Cedric asked.

"He did find a few things." George weighed his words. "Fred and I overheard all of this."

"My dad told Malfoy that day that Mad-Eye was going to investigate him, just to provoke him into moving the Dark Magic items hidden in his house.

"After Malfoy went home from the fight, he really did go out that night to sell things. Mad-Eye caught him red-handed at Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley."

"Mad-Eye was too hasty," Fred said regretfully. "He should have waited a few days!

"Malfoy sold a cursed necklace, but it wasn't very dark magic. He was only testing the waters. The Ministry would fine him at most, and he could be released on bail. He wouldn't have to go to Azkaban at all."

Cho thought for a moment, then asked in puzzlement, "But doesn't that prove Malfoy didn't attack the Ministry of Magic?

"He went out to sell things that night. When would he have had time to attack it?"

Fred gave a wry smile. "That's exactly the problem. When Mad-Eye heard the Ministry of Magic had been attacked, he was furious with himself.

"If he hadn't caught Malfoy that night, Malfoy wouldn't have been able to clear his name. At the very least, he'd have had to spend some time in Azkaban."

Cho looked utterly confused. She frowned. "If Malfoy didn't attack it, why would the Daily Prophet report on his wand? Isn't that deliberately misleading everyone?"

"A scapegoat, Cho," William explained. "The Ministry of Magic can't find the attacker, so Fudge needs a scapegoat to divert attention for the time being.

"That way, they won't look quite so incompetent, and there'll be a little less pressure on the Ministry."

Miscarriages of justice were never isolated cases, and the Wizarding World was no exception.

William had been puzzled for some time.

Why had the Daily Prophet been making such a fuss over the fight between Weasley and Malfoy all this time?

The conflict between the two families was common knowledge. Something like that wasn't worth putting in the paper.

Yet the newspaper with the largest circulation had followed the story for more than half a month.

Now William finally understood. Fudge had been trying to cover up the attack on the Ministry of Magic.

When a major incident broke out, covering it up required more hot topics to distract the onlookers.

It was a tactic that would become commonplace in later years.

Onlookers were like fish, with short memories.

Once the uproar died down, no one would discuss the serious incident that had made them gnash their teeth, not until it erupted again.

The attack on the Ministry of Magic by a dark wizard was precisely the kind of scandal that had to be suppressed.

The blow it dealt to the Ministry of Magic's reputation was undoubtedly severe.

Especially at this particular point in time: Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, had taken office only six months ago.

Fudge couldn't tolerate being branded incompetent. For a politician intent on remaining in office for the long term, that would be a devastating blow!

So he had chosen to have the Daily Prophet make a great fuss over the fight, hoping to divert everyone's attention.

But Fudge had underestimated the impact of the attack, and rumors had still gotten out.

When the Ministry of Magic realized it could no longer hold them back, it stopped trying to cover the matter up and disclosed it of its own accord.

By then, more than a month had passed since the attack on the Ministry of Magic.

The public was furious that it had taken so long for the matter to be reported and dealt with.

Often, ordinary people didn't care about the truth of an incident or its consequences. What angered them was being made fools of.

When those in power covered up an incident, that was essentially what they were doing.

At such times, a shrewd politician would produce the culprit, or a scapegoat or two, at just the right moment to divert the onlookers' attention once more.

An attack that had left the Ministry of Magic at its wits' end was a very different matter from a case where the culprit had already been caught.

Malfoy was just such a scapegoat who had walked into the line of fire, and the wand reportedly found at the scene was the perfect sensational hook!

Whatever the truth, William realized that the newly appointed Minister for Magic was not as incompetent as Hagrid had said.

At least when it came to dealing with the ordinary public, Fudge was skillful and an extremely shrewd politician.

(Please vote for the story, and thanks to ASAxiaolong for the tip (//?//))