Harry returns from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 301 Great Britain Weightlifting Champion
There was no way she could celebrate after the match; at least, Vivi didn't have time to stay and party. She had many things to deal with personally.

After all, he is the Minister of Magic of a country, and he cannot afford to waste his time entirely on personal matters.

But after the banquet ended and the Great Hall was gradually emptied, before Dumbledore could even say anything to persuade Vivi to stay, he saw Professor McGonagall storming over, followed by Minister of Magic Fudge.

Seeing the Minister of Magic arrive at Hogwarts, the students decided to stay and watch the drama unfold.

"Dumbledore!" Fudge swept a sinister glance over the surrounding crowd. "Let's talk in private!"

The students sighed in disappointment, and Dumbledore turned around and called out to Harry.

“I’ll go check what’s going on,” Harry reassured Cassandra. “It looks like something unexpected has happened.”

“Hmm,” Cassandra nodded.

Harry followed Dumbledore and the others to a side room.

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold as soon as I entered the room.

"What's going on?" Dumbledore swept his gaze sternly around the room, glancing at Fudge and then at Professor McGonagall. "Why are you all in the Great Hall? Minerva, you surprise me—I told you to look after Barty Crouch Jr.—"

"There's no need to guard him anymore, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. "The minister has made sure of that!"

Professor McGonagall had never been so impulsive. In Harry's memory, she had always been a composed lady, but now her cheeks were flushed with anger, her hands were clenched into fists, and she was trembling with rage.

“We told Mr. Fudge that we discovered the Death Eaters were responsible for tonight’s events,” Snape said in a low, slow voice. “He seemed to feel that his personal safety was in danger, so he insisted on summoning a Dementor to accompany him into the castle… and then, he brought the Dementor into the office where Barty Crouch Jr. was—”

“I told him you wouldn’t agree, Dumbledore!” Professor McGonagall said angrily. “I told him you wouldn’t allow the Dementors to set foot in the castle again, but—”

“My dear lady!” Fudge roared, his current furious state a sight Harry had never seen before. “As Minister for Magic, my power is limitless—I have the authority to decide whether or not to bring a bodyguard! Because I am meeting someone who may be very dangerous—”

But Professor McGonagall's voice drowned out Fudge's words.

“That guy—that guy walked into the office,” she screamed, pointing at Fudge, “and lunged at Crouch, and—and—”

Professor McGonagall frantically searched for words to describe what had just happened, but it seemed that the Dementors had given Barty Crouch Jr. a fatal kiss.

It sucked Crouch's soul out of his mouth, leaving Crouch in a state worse than death, or as Muggles would say, a "vegetative state."

"According to various accounts, he deserved it!" Fudge said aggressively. "He appears to have caused the deaths of several people!"

“But he can’t testify now, Cornelius,” Dumbledore said, staring intently at Fudge as if seeing right through him for the first time. “He can’t provide evidence of why he killed those people.”

“Why did he kill them? Hey, isn’t it obvious!” Fudge said angrily. “He’s a wandering madman! From what Minerva and Severus told me, he seems to think that everything he does is in accordance with the will of the mysterious man!”

“Voldemort did give orders to him before, Cornelius,” Dumbledore said. “The deaths of those people were merely a side effect of Voldemort’s plan to make a comeback—a plan that succeeded, and Voldemort has indeed returned.”

Fudge was horrified, as if someone had hit him hard in the face.

He blinked, still dazed, staring blankly at Dumbledore, seemingly unable to fully believe what he had just heard.

After a while, he seemed to have recovered and began to speak haltingly, his eyes still fixed on Dumbledore.

"The Mysterious Man... is back? Impossible! Absolutely impossible! The Mysterious Man is long dead! He died fourteen years ago in Godric's Hollow! Don't joke with me, Dumbledore... Or do you have some ulterior motive?"

As he said this, Fudge looked at Vivi, who was standing prettily not far away, and also glanced at Sirius, who was sitting on a stool leisurely reading a newspaper.

Perhaps... Dumbledore is planning to team up with Grindelwald? To seize his position as Minister of Magic?

Ah, I've long heard that there was an ambiguous relationship between Dumbledore and Gellert from the Grindelwald family...

It seems they intend to support his granddaughter? Or perhaps they plan to use Grindelwald's power to overthrow him and become Minister of Magic themselves?

Fudge became increasingly convinced of this possibility. After a long internal struggle, he was convinced that Dumbledore wanted to seize power and become Minister of Magic himself.

But he completely forgot that Fudge's success today was entirely due to Dumbledore's support.

If Dumbledore wanted to be Minister of Magic, he could have done it long ago; he wouldn't have needed to go through all this trouble and take such a roundabout route.

If Dumbledore had stepped forward and taken on the responsibility of Minister of Magic after Voldemort's first downfall, Fudge would have been out of the picture.

At that time, Dumbledore's prestige was at its zenith, and he was the only person Voldemort feared.

“Minerva and Severus have undoubtedly told you,” Dumbledore stared intently at Fudge, his eyes gleaming, “we heard Barty Crouch Jr.’s confession. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was secretly taken out of Azkaban, how Voldemort learned from Bertha Jorkins that he was still alive, and how he rescued him from his father to use him to cause trouble for Harry… Let me tell you, the plan succeeded, and Crouch Jr. has helped Voldemort make his comeback.”

“Listen to me, Dumbledore,” Fudge said, a faint smile appearing on his face. “This, this can’t be! You—you can’t really believe this… The Man of Darkness—is back? Don’t be ridiculous, don’t be ridiculous… Needless to say, Crouch probably thinks he’s following the Man of Darkness’s orders—but how can you take the words of such a madman seriously, Dumbledore…”

"Tonight, when Harry touched the Triwizard Cup, he was sent straight to Voldemort," Dumbledore said firmly. "He witnessed Voldemort's return firsthand. You might as well come to my office, and I will explain everything to you—if you want the details, I also witnessed Voldemort's return; you might as well look at my memories."

Harry suddenly noticed a small beetle not far away. It looked inconspicuous, but Harry just saw it.

It's Rita Skeeter. It seems Vivi's invisible hand is about to exert its power. "Enough, Dumbledore!" Fudge began to grow impatient. "You're exaggerating—judging that the Man of Vander has returned based solely on Potter—a single sentence from that boy, Potter, and the ravings of that madman? This is irresponsible towards the British wizarding world! Please forgive me for not accepting it!"

Dumbledore sighed; he suddenly felt a little tired.

As the saying goes, you can't wake someone who's pretending to be asleep. Dumbledore knew Fudge all too well. The news of Voldemort's return would undoubtedly deal a huge blow to his reputation, so he would never admit it.

He hasn't had enough of being Minister of Magic yet.

However, he still wanted to make one last effort.

“Listen to me, Cornelius,” Dumbledore said. “I know this is hard to accept, but Voldemort created many Horcruxes, which is why he was able to escape death…”

"what……"

Fudge glared at Dumbledore, then turned to look at Vivi.

“I understand, I understand, Dumbledore—I understand why you have tried again and again to force me to admit that Voldemort has returned. I just don’t understand what good it would do you to spread this news and cause public panic, to keep everyone in a state of constant fear. It turns out that the Germans are instigating this!”

"A German?" Dumbledore was taken aback; he clearly hadn't expected Fudge to say such a thing.

However, Fudge no longer cared about any of that. He said coldly, "Since its establishment, the Grand German Ministry of Magic under Ms. Grindelwald has swallowed up several countries. It seems that Czechoslovakia and Denmark are no longer enough to satisfy your appetite. The next target... is England, right? No wonder you chose to study in England. It turns out you're colluding with Dumbledore!"

Upon hearing this, Vivi ignored him.

It's just a mad dog biting randomly; taking it seriously is a losing proposition.

This is extremely undignified—to openly criticize the head of another country's Ministry of Magic in front of them…

But Fudge didn't care. As long as he could keep his position as Minister of Magic, what did losing a little dignity matter?

Since we can't refute the news of Voldemort's return, then... let's take advantage of the British wizards' resistance to the German Ministry of Magic!

Using the pretext of a foreign power can indeed divert public attention and make them focus on the false news that "the German Ministry of Magic is trying to swallow up Britain."

Moreover, there are many Muggle-born wizards in the wizarding world who know Muggle history.

There were similar stories during World War II, which undoubtedly reminded them of those unpleasant days.

In fact, many wizards also participated in World War II, fighting against the Xiu Li Society.

“He must really be crazy,” Vivi whispered to Harry, her words full of disdain for Fudge.

How could such an insect sit in the position of Minister of Magic in the UK?
This is truly the biggest joke of the year...

“Cornell…” Dumbledore sighed, giving up on trying to persuade Fudge. “It’s the truth, believe it or not, it’s there. If Voldemort really does return, then the British wizarding world…”

"What a fact! But Dumbledore, don't forget! I am the Minister for Magic of Great Britain, not you!" Fudge said with a sneer. "Don't forget, I am in charge of the fifty-nine counties of the four Great Kingdoms. It is none of your business how the British wizarding world is behaving!"

Harry leaned closer and whispered in Vivi's ear, "Looks like Minister Fudge is a weightlifter after all, he can actually carry such a heavy British..."

Vivi lowered her head and smiled faintly. She knew that Fudge's political and biological life was already on a countdown.

However, as the Minister of Magic of Greater Germany, Vivi certainly wouldn't take action against Fudge. This would be an awkward situation, and if word got out, it would be like mud falling into his crotch.

All she needs to do now is stand by and watch the show, just like the book I read a while ago said, "He who does many unjust things will surely fall by himself. Just wait and see."

After saying that, Fudge stormed off in a huff, leaving a room full of people standing there.

“It seems Fudge is determined not to believe it.” Dumbledore rubbed his temples, looking utterly exhausted. “I never imagined he would be this kind of person, such a heartless, power-hungry fool!”

“Perhaps this is a good thing,” Sirius said from the side. “We should always look at both sides of things, one good and one bad…”

“Stupid dog,” Snape slowly interrupted Sirius, “Do you really think the return of the Mystic is a good thing? Or has the dreary life in Azkaban really spurred you into thinking you're a Death Eater too?”

“Oh, you snotty-nosed devil!” Sirius retorted. “I don’t know if I’m a Death Eater, but you definitely are!”

“Alright,” Vivi said, trying to calm things down. “Let’s not talk about it anymore… I don’t think Fudge will let this go so easily… He will definitely try every means to suppress the opposition in Britain as much as possible in order to maintain his fragile rule.”

"What will he do?" Harry asked curiously.

“I don’t know,” Vivi replied straightforwardly. “I’m sorry, I can’t interfere in this matter. After all, it’s an internal affair of your British Ministry of Magic… In my opinion, Fudge is trying to stir up populist sentiment in the British magical community and make me a target of ‘foreign forces’ in order to counter his so-called ‘Dumbledore wants to seize power’ idea that he’s competing with. If I get involved, then I’ll just give him an excuse to criticize me.”

Mr. Bagman had been listening for a long time, and finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Does he really think Dumbledore is after his position as Minister of Magic? Oh, Merlin's white hair, are there really people in this world who are as stupid as pigs?"

(End of this chapter)