This Hogwarts isn't normal.

That afternoon, Fudge "invited" Lucius to the Ministry of Magic.

Without much formality, the two went straight to the point.

"Speak, Lucius, what exactly is going on?"

Minister Fudge was "swamped with work" and had no time to care about news reports.

Lucius hesitated for a moment, then mentioned the previous article smearing Harry, repeatedly stating that he didn't do it.

If there were any benefits, even the slightest, it might be attributed to him.

But this smear article not only yielded no benefits but also provoked Sirius's frantic retaliation, clearly making it an incredibly foolish move.

Fudge certainly believed him, but what was the use of his belief? People had already come to the Ministry of Magic demanding proof of where the charity funds went; he couldn't just fabricate something to deceive them.

Lucius rubbed his furrowed brow, "Clearly, someone wants Malfoy and Black to fight each other."

He had been busy with a series of new product development projects revolving around magical base stations and simply didn't have extra time to deal with other matters.

Fudge thought even more deeply; since the smear article could appear in the newspaper, it meant there was a problem with the newly established Magical News Department.

"Lucius, find a way to resolve the proof of where the charity funds went; I will fully cooperate with you on my end."

Fake proof could only fool ordinary wizards, but Black and Shafiq were both from the Sacred Twenty-Eight families and had plenty of ways to determine authenticity.

The charity funds spent on the daily expenses of the Ministry of Magic had to have bills, but could the Ministry of Magic's bills be shown to outsiders casually?

So, the simplest solution was procurement; as long as it wasn't something outrageous like one Galleon for a piece of parchment, it was still possible to inflate the costs.

Lucius was immediately unhappy upon hearing this.

Asking him to find a solution meant he had to take money out of his own pocket to fill the hole; Fudge, the tightwad, was treating him like a sucker.

But could he refuse? He could only smile superficially and agree while cursing inwardly.

He could take out money, but Fudge had to give him an explanation and find out the mastermind behind the smear article.

"Rest assured, Lucius, I will definitely give you an explanation."

After sending Lucius away, Fudge immediately went to the Magical News Department with a dark face.

The three young people from the original Daily Prophet newspaper were busy laying out tomorrow's news, completely unaware of the arrival of the Minister of Magic.

"Cough cough--"

After coughing several times, Gerry finally poked his head out from behind a large stack of drafts.

"Minister Fudge!" He stood up excitedly, accidentally knocking all the drafts on the table to the floor.

The remaining two young people also looked over in a fluster, and the spilled ink "dripped" onto the scattered drafts.

Fudge's face became even more unsightly.

When he learned that Umbridge had changed the new newspaper supplier, resulting in the inability to modify the bizarrely appearing smear article in time, his face could no longer be described as cloudy.

Having only been in the position of Senior Undersecretary for less than two years, she already knew how to use the power in her hands to seek personal gain; if she wasn't reined in properly, wouldn't she be making more than him?

Fudge calmed down slightly and looked at the three uneasy young people, "The Magical News Department is an important department for us to control public opinion. Later, I will hold a meeting with senior officials to discuss how to improve the department's operational efficiency. Thank you for your hard work during this period."

He patted the three on the shoulders, "Don't be nervous. Can you tell me what problems the Magical News Department currently has?"

The three looked at each other, and Gerry, the most confident, calmly listed many problems.

First of all, there was a serious shortage of manpower.

"Minister, it's definitely not going to work relying on just the three of us in the Magical News Department. Although we have experience from working at the newspaper, the amount of news lately has been too much. Just laying out the news for the next day requires us to work overtime for at least two hours."

The shortage of manpower was obvious. When the newspaper was taken over, those who were older should have been packaged and taken away together.

Next was the issue of management.

"We are all just small staff members, and occasionally when we encounter requests from above, we have no way to refuse and can only do as she asks."

This 'she' clearly referred to Umbridge.

The newspaper supplier was changed as soon as it was said, and the news content was also changed as soon as it was said. It was true that a head of the department who didn't act like one wasn't very good.

Then there was the review of the article content.

"Minister, I think the Magical News Department needs to set up a separate review department, which will be specifically responsible for reviewing, instead of being handed over to the upper levels for review as it is now."

The original intention of the Ministry of Magic taking over the Daily Prophet was to better control public opinion. Therefore, whether or not a review department existed was not important; what was important was that the reviewers must be clever enough.

Then there was the issue of salary and benefits.

Gerry became more and more confident as he spoke and even dared to look Fudge in the eye, "Minister, the Magical News Department is a department that often works overtime, and our workload is also the largest. I think our overtime pay and benefits should be appropriately increased."

It was almost the twenty-first century, and it was impossible to make the horse run without letting it eat grass.

The reason why these three young people were chosen in the first place was because it was considered that they had no family burdens and could save a lot of unnecessary expenses.

Looking at it now, some expenses really couldn't be saved.

Seeing Fudge nod lightly, Gerry quickly took the opportunity to demand employee benefits.

The Daily Prophet where they used to work had performance bonuses, which were subdivided to each position based on the monthly newspaper sales. Although working in the Ministry of Magic was a secure job, they would eventually have to get married, have children, and support their families.

Fudge heavily patted Gerry on the shoulder, and the smile on his face seemed a little angry, "I understand, it's not easy for everyone to work, but the Ministry of Magic is not my one-man show. I need to seriously discuss this issue with senior officials."

Benefits were basically gone, but Gerry didn't know when to stop, "Minister, this is not just a problem with our department. If the benefits are good enough, I believe all departments can complete their work more efficiently."

The other two young people looked at him with horror.

It was tough to speak with confidence; they didn't know what kind of new job Sirius had promised them.

Fudge's smile became gentle again, "Young man, your name is Gerry, right? We will definitely seriously consider your suggestion."

He took a deep look at Gerry in front of him, "It's getting late, and it's time for me to go to the meeting."

After leaving the Magical News Department, his face was extremely unsightly.

Young people were inexperienced and spoke without regard for seniority, which wasn't a big deal, but the key was that Gerry spoke too bluntly. Some things could only be hinted at; saying them openly was meaningless.

……

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