A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 584 Misunderstanding
The atmosphere in the private room of Pig Head Bar was particularly heavy.

Charles said sternly to Albus, "Headmaster, if you want to expel me, just say so."

Albus immediately shook his head and said, "No, that's not what I meant. I just wanted to ask you to assist Aberforth in teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

He talked with Aberforth for a long time, and Aberforth reluctantly agreed to help out at Hogwarts next school year, but he had no teaching experience and needed help.

Aberforth understood Hogwarts' predicament and was willing to help, but he was worried about messing things up and needed someone's help.

Therefore, Albus decided to entrust the task of assisting with teaching to Charles.

Charles would definitely not agree. He had a lot of things to do. The development of the magic model was about to enter a critical stage, and he didn't have much time. Even if he did have time, he would rather prepare for the A-Level exams and then find a good university to study at, which would be useful in the future internet industry.

Everyone involved in Defense Against the Dark Arts class would leave after a year, a compelling reason that he used to slap a heavy label on him.

“I’m sorry, I can’t agree.” He stood up. “I have plans with Lupin to have afternoon tea with the werewolves who are receiving treatment at St. Mungo’s Hospital today.”

After Charles left, Albus remained silent. Aberforth said to him, "You're too hasty. Charles has just gone through unprecedented torment. Although he hasn't shown it, he must be feeling unsettled. Getting him involved in this course now will make him feel like he's being rejected by Hogwarts for causing trouble."

"Aren't you afraid that he'll leave Hogwarts on his own and follow... that person's path?"

Aberforth's final point was clear: back then, there was someone who was expelled by Durmstrang and caused a huge uproar on both sides of the Atlantic; now, with another dropout, who knows what kind of trouble Pippi Leigh will cause.

Albus remained silent for a long time, then finally let out a long breath and said wearily, "I was too impatient."

Aberforth said, “You don’t need to be in such a hurry. As long as you eat well every day and don’t eat so many sweets, you can live a long time.”

Albus pretended not to hear and continued, "Tonight, I will apologize to him and explain my thoughts."

Charles did not return to Hogwarts for dinner that evening. Dumbledore waited for a long time in the Gryffindor common room, but still did not see him, nor did he reply to messages on his communication notebook.

Dumbledore used his communication notebook to ask around, including Fleur and Erica, only to find that Charles wasn't in Hogwarts Castle. Harry and the others had gone to the greenhouse, and he secretly used the Marauder's Map to search for him as well. Dumbledore himself went to the centaur village, but Charles wasn't there either.

"Albus, what's going on?" Professor McGonagall rushed into the principal's office. "Oh, Remus."

Lupin just happened to crawl out of the fireplace.

Dumbledore said to Professor McGonagall, "Charles said he was going to St. Mungo's Hospital to have a tea party with the werewolves before he left today."

He had a guilty conscience and felt that Charles had really run away from school because of what she said during the day, so he didn't dare to look his best friend in the eye.

Before arriving, Lupin had heard what had happened from his communication notebook and said, "This afternoon, Charles had a tea party with us at St. Mungo's Hospital. We had a very pleasant conversation and didn't notice anything unusual about him."

He recounted in detail what happened at the tea party today, and there was indeed nothing wrong.

Professor McGonagall said worriedly, "Could it be a goblin again, or... a mysterious person?"

"Albus?"

"Albus!"

She suddenly noticed something was off about Dumbledore's eyes; he probably knew or was hiding something. Dumbledore opened his mouth, and finally recounted what had happened at the Hog's Head earlier that day.

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, pinched her brow, and finally said, "Explain it to Jack yourself."

Dumbledore nodded bitterly.

Just then, green flames rose from the fireplace, and Fudge's chubby body emerged from the fireplace door.

He said, "Sorry, I was in the bathroom just now. What happened?"

Dumbledore said, "Charles came back last night and is missing again today."

Fudge's face darkened, and he said, "Could he have been detained by Moscow's magic?"

The others were taken aback, but Dumbledore immediately asked, "What does this have to do with Moscow?"

He knew that Charles had a very good relationship with Moscow; could something big have happened again?

Fudge blinked and said, "Hasn't Hogwarts received an official letter from the Ministry of Magic?"

"There's an urgent matter in Moscow that requires Charles to come over. They've sent an official letter to the Department of International Magical Cooperation. I contacted Charles using the Ministry of Magic's communication notebook. He said he just left St. Mungo's Hospital and is going to the Ministry of Magic right away. The Department of International Magical Cooperation will send an official letter explaining the situation, and he can ask for leave."

Dumbledore brandished the Elder Wand, having retrieved all the mail from the Headmaster's office that day, but found not a single letter from the Ministry of Magic.

Fudge's face instantly darkened. The letter that the Ministry of Magic was supposed to deliver to Hogwarts had gone wrong, indicating that there were bad people in the Ministry of Magic, and that the nature of the matter was extremely malicious.

The Aurors quickly sprang into action, systematically reviewing the work logs and examining the evidence at the International Department of Magical Cooperation. By employing a two-pronged approach, they reconstructed the entire incident, ultimately cross-referencing the "ought" in the logs with the "actual" in the evidence to form a robust chain of evidence. This allowed them to pinpoint the responsibilities of each link, from direct operation to management and supervision, and to hold those responsible accountable based on the facts.

When Scrimgeour led a bewildered Bertha Jorkins out of the fireplace, everyone from Fudge to Lupin looked grim.

Whether it's the old professors at Hogwarts, the officials of the Ministry of Magic, or Lupin and his classmates from different years, everyone knows that Bertha Jorkins is a silly girl who loves to meddle and is completely clueless. Her work experience is described as "being sent from one department to another, causing more trouble than she does." Last year, when the Department of International Magical Cooperation lost its director, the Department of Magical Sports took the opportunity to bring this terrible girl over. The entire staff of the Department of Magical Sports even went to the Dancing Grass Restaurant to celebrate.

Sure enough, Bertha Jorkins was on duty at the Department of International Magical Cooperation today. Although Fudge arranged for her to send an official letter to Hogwarts immediately, she thought it was the weekend and decided to do it on Monday when she came to work.

Fudge said to Scrinker helplessly, "You can deal with her later."

Scrimgeour looked at him with a resentful expression, thinking that he shouldn't just pass the buck to the next person.

He quickly decided that Fudge would definitely take on a prestigious but sinecure after stepping down, so he made Bertha Jorkins his assistant.

The Ministry of Magic is fully responsible for this blunder. Fudge seriously changed the subject, avoiding any questioning from Hogsmeade about the matter, and got down to business: "I think there are still many problems in the communication between the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts. If St. Mungo's Hospital is involved, there will probably be even more problems. So I think we should develop an automated management system for the communication notebooks."

"If we had this system, I would find that I hadn't finished the tasks I assigned before dinner, and this misunderstanding wouldn't have happened."

He had seen their system when he visited Falbotton Castle before, but it was very expensive. It seems good that it's being used by the Ministry of Magic now.

(End of this chapter)