A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 705 Your Purpose
"You're living a really comfortable life."

"I'm starving, these are mine."

As soon as Eleanor appeared, she snatched the bear-shaped bread that Charles had just taken out of the oven.

These breads are all made by shaping dough into little bears, with bacon either rolled into a stick to hold or made into clothes and jewelry; they all look very cute.

Charles asked in surprise, "What brings you here?"

Two days after the old man left, Eleanor suddenly contacted him, saying she had something important to discuss, and told him where she was.

Charles was certain that the older woman had something urgent to do, but he didn't expect her to arrive right at mealtime.

Eleanor examined the bear-shaped bread with curiosity, saying, "You know what? You ruined Umbridge's plans."

Charles simply chuckled, took two pork ribs from the refrigerator, and waited for what was to come.

Eleanor continued, "I heard from Umbridge that she plans to publicly punish you at Hogwarts to establish her authority, and then rescind the punishment when you plead with her, as a favor to you."

Charles was making a marinade for pork ribs with salt, brown sugar, smoked red paprika, garlic powder, coriander seed powder, mustard powder, and black pepper. He looked at Eleanor with a puzzled expression and asked, "Why would she think that?"

Eleanor, eating a bear-shaped bread roll, said, "Someone gave her this idea, thinking that since you're still a child, you should scare her a little and then comfort her, and she'll be very obedient."

Then she shrugged and said, "I told her that I couldn't treat you like a normal child, and they laughed at me."

After Charles thawed the pork ribs with a spell, he rubbed them with olive oil and then coated them with marinade, asking, "So what's she thinking now? Could it be that she feels she's gone too far and has asked you to come back so I can plead with her?"

“How could that be?” Eleanor laughed. “The kind of person she is will never see her own mistakes.”

"She will only find that neither you nor Dumbledore dare to question her decision."

"So now her confidence is at an all-time high, and she believes she will achieve great things at Hogwarts."

Charles wrapped the marinated pork ribs in tin foil, drizzled them with grape vinegar, and frowned slightly.

After he put the foil packet into the oven, he turned to Eleanor and asked, "What role did you play in this?"

If Eleanor hadn't come today, he wouldn't have thought much of it, but now that she's here, things are probably not so simple.

Eleanor looked at Charles and said seriously, "I only intended to stir up a fight between her and Dumbledore, but I didn't expect her to use you as a scapegoat."

Charles, without looking up, was mixing ketchup, honey, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, garlic powder, and smoked paprika to make a barbecue sauce when he said, "Tell me your purpose."

The cabin suddenly fell silent.

“I’m going to kill Umbridge,” Eleanor said calmly, as if asking Charles how long the ribs would take to roast.

“It’s not just me.” She picked up a bear-shaped bread roll and continued, “Many people in the department will be happy that she’s dead.”

Charles simply grunted in response, turned up the fire in the oven, and used magic to speed up the roasting of the pork ribs, achieving the effect of low-temperature roasting for two and a half hours in the blink of an eye.

When the time was up, he took out the pork ribs and carefully unfolded the tin foil.

As the steam rises, the pork becomes tender, and you can feel its elasticity when you press it lightly with your fingertips.

He dipped a brush into the prepared barbecue sauce and applied it layer by layer.

Finally, he placed the pork ribs coated with barbecue sauce into a baking pan, brought the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, and baked them for another 15 minutes.

It was already dark outside. The candles on the candelabra on the table were lit. Dinner consisted of roasted ribs, bear-shaped bread rolls, canned pickles, and beer.

The conversation about Umbridge just now seemed to have never happened.

Eleanor swallowed a piece of roast meat, took a big gulp of beer, and said, "The minister sent me to see you today."

"The minister asked me to convey his apologies, but there's nothing he can do about the Hogwarts affair."

There were already many compromises between Scringer and Umbridge, so the minister had limited power to restrain her, not to mention any unseen deals behind the scenes; otherwise, the education order wouldn't have been issued so quickly.

Charles simply smiled. Voldemort was hiding in plain sight, and there were a series of cooperation agreements between Farbatton Castle and the Ministry of Magic. If he were to run away, Scrimgeour would have nowhere to turn. Suddenly, a possibility occurred to him, and he asked, "Black?"

He recalled that Black had messaged him that evening, saying not to worry, and that he was probably putting pressure on the Ministry of Magic because of what had happened to him.

This pressure suddenly fell on the minister, and Scringer had no choice but to send Eleanor to try and persuade Charles.

Eleanor's answer surprised Charles: "It's Mrs. Longbottom."

Charles's lips twitched.

Eleanor continued, "I must say, Blake does have some tricks up his sleeve."

"There are rumors that Madam Longbottom is preparing for an informal meeting with the Hogwarts Board of Directors and is currently in frequent communication with the parents."

"This matter was kept very low-key. If I hadn't heard about it at the ministry, I would have thought that Mrs. Longbottom was just chatting with someone out of boredom."

Charles picked up his beer glass and took a sip, his gaze never leaving her eyes.

“This has nothing to do with me,” Eleanor said immediately. “I have no power to influence the parents’ circle.”

"However, I always felt that someone was giving advice to Madam Longbottom behind the scenes."

Charles lowered his head to cut the meat, ate a piece, and said, "When you get back, please tell the minister that although I've stopped attending classes, it won't stop me from preparing for the ultimate wizarding level exam and managing the company."

“I’ve been working on some difficult problems lately, so I need to calm down and won’t be going back to the UK for the time being.”

"I can let some well-informed people know about it."

After he finished speaking, he continued eating dinner.

Eleanor immediately realized that the last sentence was the key point, so she said, "It's okay, I'll tell Rita Skeeter."

"What kind of balance should we strike?"

She believed that Charles should start by launching a counterattack against Umbridge through public opinion, so she first asked whether he should lay the groundwork gradually or launch a direct attack.

Charles said, "I did violate school rules and Ministry of Magic regulations this time, and the reports praised Umbridge for strictly enforcing the law. I obediently accepted the punishment."

Eleanor understood. Once this report was published, Umbridge would be smug, and she couldn't even imagine what he would do next.

“There’s one more thing,” Charles added. “Keep an eye on the news in the department. If anyone breaks into the Secret Service, notify me immediately.”

Eleanor said, "No problem."

She didn't ask Charles why, just as he hadn't given a reason when she said she wanted to kill Umbridge.

The two drank some beer, and Eleanor, while eating a small bear-shaped bread, said, "I inquired about your plan to buy land."

"Large tracts of land are difficult to acquire. Nowadays, large land transactions involve many issues such as inheritance tax, which is like putting money from one pocket to another."

Charles, somewhat embarrassed, said, "I bought the land mainly to house Newt Scamander's magical creatures; a place that's too small won't do."

Eleanor had only known that he was going to buy land and thought it was a normal investment. She didn't expect that he would be settling magical creatures there. After thinking for a moment, she said, "If that's the case, maybe there's a chance for things to turn around."

"You know, for some people, they'd pay any price to have contact with magical creatures."

Charles chuckled and said, "You've ordered the dragon fruit takeout from Dancing Grass Restaurant three times in one week. I didn't know you could eat that much."

Eleanor simply smiled, understanding the situation without needing to explain further.

"I'll pass on the message for you," she said thoughtfully. "There might be an unexpected surprise."

“There’s something else,” Charles said, remembering something. “I’m planning to build a magic amusement park. Could you help me find a few design companies?”

Eleanor was used to his whimsical ideas.

(End of this chapter)