Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 341 Rice: Henry, I think you want to improve.

A few days of peace passed, and then a news story ignited the British magical community.

The Daily Prophet devoted the entire day to describing the Wisengamo Conference, which they called the Trial of the Century.

The trial was initiated by Amelia Bornes, the current Director of the Department of Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, and with the approval of Dumbledore, the First Wizard of Wizengamo, it brought together all members of Wizengamo and almost the entire Ministry of Magic’s top leadership, including Minister for Magic Fudge and Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation Barty Crouch.

Then, in front of all the wizards present, she announced that she had captured Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew with Wormtail.

Upon hearing the name "Peter Pettigrew," the entire room erupted in uproar. Many thought they had misheard, until Peter and Sirius were brought to court together.

Burns didn't give the jury time to question her, immediately rolling up Wormtail's sleeve to show everyone the Dark Mark on his arm. At the same time, she had Sirius roll up his sleeve to show everyone his hairy arm, which had no tattoo marks whatsoever.

Faced with such a stark contrast, the wizards on the jury wavered.

The Dark Mark isn't something every Death Eater has; only those who have made significant contributions to Mystic can be "bestowed" with this honor.

Peter Pettigrew instinctively tried to argue, but the potion that Rice had forced him to take for a long time had greatly damaged his brain, making his thinking very sluggish. He was no match for Bones and was refuted by her until he couldn't even speak.

In the end, Dumbledore, the chief wizard of Wizengamor, even offered Peter a truth serum. Under its influence, Peter confessed everything.

With irrefutable evidence, Peter was stripped of all his honors and sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban, while Sirius Black was freed and exonerated—the Ministry of Magic even paid a large sum in compensation for his actions.

Of course, this wasn't the only case tried on the day of the Trial of the Century; a series of astonishing events followed...

Barty Crouch was impeached for dereliction of duty. He was primarily responsible for sentencing Sirius Black to life imprisonment without trial and for serious violations of Ministry of Magic regulations, and as the then Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Although many people supported his actions back then, he has to take the blame now because he adopted such an impetuous approach.

When the Wisconsin court passed the impeachment motion against him, Barty Crouch Sr. seemed to age decades overnight. He ultimately did not struggle, but resigned from all his posts in accordance with the verdict, thus exiting the political arena with relative dignity.

As Barty Crouch walked out of the Wizengamor courtroom, Fudge instinctively thought it was all over—when the Sirius Black incident occurred, he was merely the deputy director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters, so he shouldn't be held responsible…

But he was still naive. If the Sirius Black case wasn't investigated, why couldn't the Dementors' invasion of Hogwarts be investigated?

After overturning a wrongful conviction and forcing a powerful minister to resign, Burns, riding high on his victory, launched an impeachment campaign against Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge.

When Burns announced his impeachment, Fudge's face contorted in shock: he never imagined this day would come so soon.

He felt he could easily hold out until Christmas this year. And why couldn't they have communicated with him beforehand? He thought sadly: if they had offered him some benefits, he would have voluntarily stepped down! For example, a position as chairman of some committee, and he could have retired peacefully. Why make it so undignified?!

Bones initially thought so, but Henry Greengrass firmly opposed her plan. He believed it would alert Fudge, who might find a way to turn the tables.

That's the stated reason. The real reason is that Henry knew Fudge had seriously offended someone he shouldn't have, and that person certainly didn't want to see Fudge living a comfortable life after retirement. So he dealt with Fudge in the most ruthless way.

Fudge had intended to defend himself, but to his surprise, a loud chorus of boos erupted from the stands—all from the parents of the students who had initially opposed him. They had already secretly reached an agreement with Burns and now only wanted Fudge to fall from grace as quickly as possible.

When Dumbledore abstained from voting, Fudge knew he was doomed.

Following Crouch, Fudge was also slinked out. This was actually a very good ending, considering he was still alive and well—a remarkable achievement: to offend both Slytherin and Hufflepuff and still escape unscathed.

At the end of the trial was a rather trivial case: Sirius Black was fined for failing to report his Animagus form to the Ministry of Magic.

After learning that Sirius Black was only fined, Professor McGonagall was indignant: Why did she have to honestly report to the Ministry of Magic in the first place?! It seems like not reporting is the mainstream choice for the Animagus?

……

"When Fudge was dismissed, he wanted to say something more, but two Aurors stood right behind him, and he shut up." In Lady Patif's tea house, Henry vividly recounted the scene of Fudge's downfall to Rice.

With Fudge's downfall, Henry Greengrass's status as a figurehead rose accordingly, approaching that of Septimius Malfoy of the Malfoy family in the late 18th century—who wielded considerable influence over the Ministry of Magic at the time, and many believed that then-Minister of Magic Anxis Osbott was merely his puppet.

How far Henry can go depends on the outcome of his "battle of wits" with Burns.

However, this was not what Rice wanted to see. After realizing that the two could not quickly determine a winner, he abandoned the idea of ​​making Burns Henry's puppet, as it was not in his interest.

He needed a united and efficient Ministry of Magic to address the growing challenges, not continued factional infighting. He'd rather have Fudge in place as the glue holding the opposition together. He wasn't worried if Burns became too disobedient, because he had excellent solutions…

"Henry, I see you really want to improve." Rice took a sip of tea, then frowned, pushed it aside, and stared at Henry.

Henry: ?

He suddenly had a bad feeling.

"You're joking. Back when our ancestor Adrian was learning magic from you, he used up all the potential for improvement in our Greengrass family. How could I possibly have any room to improve?" Henry was rather easygoing, so he deliberately didn't respond to Rice's comment.

How could Klein possibly change his mind because of a few words from Henry? He smiled and said seriously, "I am a fortune teller, and the divination results tell me that the position of the next Director of the International Department of Magical Cooperation is rightfully yours, so don't refuse."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

This is the second update; subsequent updates will still be at midnight.

(End of this chapter)