The days at Hogwarts

"Hey, you're here!" Myrtle came over to greet them immediately, and circled around the two of them several times before stopping. She held her hands to her chest and cheered in a sweet girl's voice, "I'm so happy. Since I died, this bathroom has never been so lively!"

Loren reminded her, "It wasn't lively here when you were alive."

"Ignore him, Myrtle," Hermione nudged Loren and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"This Auror is asking about the scene of my death!" Myrtle showed an honored look and continued with relish, "As you know, it happened here, and I died in this single room..."

It looked like the Ministry of Magic would ask the relevant personnel for details. Loren thought about it and realized that, on the surface, he and Hermione were not directly involved in the Basilisk incident, nor did they face Voldemort head-on, so they should not be asked about it.

After saying goodbye to Myrtle, they also went down to the secret room to see what was going on in the investigation below.

At the end of the stone tunnel, the employees of the Ministry of Magic formed a circle, and the young wizards crowded outside them, forming another circle. It was bustling.

In the middle of the crowd was a huge snake skin, more than twenty feet long and as thick as an oak tree trunk. The light shone on the snake skin, reflecting a bright green light.

Although it is just an empty shell, the huge shape lying there makes people feel creepy.

Most of the young wizards opened their eyes wide, trying to see every part of the snake skin clearly, while some timid students hid behind the crowd, took a quick glance and then shrank back, as if they wanted to see but didn't dare to.

"This is just the skin shed by the basilisk. Do you know what this means? The real basilisk is bigger than this skin. I think it's at least forty feet long." Ron gestured with his hands to show the thickness of the basilisk.

The young wizards were excited as they imagined a basilisk that was even bigger than this. Seamus asked incredulously, "How did you defeat it?"

Good question... Ron gave him an approving look and began to describe the details of how they dealt with Voldemort and defeated the Basilisk, with his eyes flying and his description vividly.

So much so that Seamus couldn't help but question: "It sounds like it's all Harry's credit. What does it have to do with you?"

Ron was like an enraged lion, stiffening his neck and glaring at him: "What are you talking about? If I hadn't been there to help, how would Harry have found the opportunity to kill the basilisk?"

Loren and Hermione listened on the side and couldn't help laughing secretly.

After realizing that the people checking the snake skin here were just ordinary staff, the two continued to go deeper.

When he walked inside, Loren realized why most of the young wizards were surrounded by snake skins outside. There were only some black bloodstains near the Slytherin statue, and nothing else.

Many Ministry of Magic staff were scattered in every corner of the Chamber of Secrets, checking for subtle clues. They moved lightly and spoke in low voices, except for the people at the foot of the Slytherin statue.

"Albus, did you really see him... I mean, did you really see You-Know-Who?"

The person speaking to Dumbledore was a short, fat, middle-aged man with a head of messy grey hair.

Hermione lowered her voice and whispered in Lauren's ear, "It's the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge."

Fudge was still dressed the same way they had seen him in Hagrid's hut, in a pinstriped suit, bright red tie, and conspicuous purple pointed boots.

Standing next to him and helping him hold the dark green top hat was a woman who was also short and plump. She wore a pink woolen hat on her head, a pink plush Chanel-style top, a pink A-line mid-length skirt, and pink high heels.

Her whole body was pink in tone, and her slightly old face had a sweet smile like that of a young girl, which gave people goose bumps.

Loren recognized her at a glance because of her distinct personal features. She was the classic villain Umbridge, who was not a Death Eater but was even more like one.

She looked too much like a pink toad. Loren poked Hermione next to him and asked in a low voice, "Will girls think she looks girlish in this outfit?"

"No way, it's so ugly." Hermione's tone was still disgusted.

The two spoke in low voices, but Percy, who was watching the fun with them, heard it. He turned his head and warned seriously: "Don't say that, that is Ms. Dolores Umbridge, who is about to be promoted to Senior Deputy Minister of Magic."

"She must be a very capable lady to be able to hold such a high position at such a young age." As he spoke, there was an inexplicable longing in his eyes.

"What?!" Hermione suddenly became angry, "She is the Umbridge who proposed the Anti-Werewolf Act?"

"Oh, this is exactly what I imagined her to be!" Hermione's attention was completely attracted by Umbridge, and her eyes were fixed on her.

At the foot of the giant stone sculpture of Slytherin, Dumbledore and his friends continued their conversation.

"I hope you understand, Cornelius, that Voldemort has fallen and we don't have to be afraid of him. You can just call him by his name: Voldemort." Dumbledore said lightly.

"V..." Fudge took out a handkerchief, wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead, and said unnaturally, "Like you said, that person has fallen, how can he come back?"

His words gradually became smoother and faster, "Albus, it's not that I don't believe you. However, as the Minister of Magic, I should be responsible for the wizards. If I spread untrue news, it will cause panic among them."

Fudge said in a worried tone: "You know, many people are watching us. Just think about it, what we say will make those poor wives worry about their husbands away from home again day and night, and will make the shop owners in Diagon Alley as a whole nervous, worried that someone will destroy their shops at any time..."

Fudge spoke a long speech, all about his responsibility for the people, in an attempt to overpower Dumbledore.

Dumbledore's deep blue eyes were full of oppression. He looked straight at Fudge, forcing Fudge to look away and wipe his sweat with his handkerchief more frequently.

After a long while, Dumbledore slowly said, "Cornelly, you already have the answer in your heart, right? But I want to say, think about what happened fifty years ago, who else can open the Chamber of Secrets except Voldemort."

He is determined to take my place... This was the only thought in Fudge's mind, and beads of sweat were clearly appearing on his forehead.

Dumbledore's prestige is much higher than his, both in the Ministry of Magic and among the people. He also has the support of the Wizengamot. If Dumbledore is determined to spread the news of Voldemort's return, he may be elected as Minister of Magic next week.

As his eyes rolled around, Fudge met Umbridge's gaze. Following her small gestures, Fudge slowly calmed down.

"Maybe he wrote down the method to open the secret room and left it in a classroom, tucked inside an old book, and it wasn't found until this semester by a student."

Fudge rattled off his arguments, "After all, he hasn't appeared in more than a decade. If he still has the ability, why did he wait so long?"

After listening for a while, Loren felt that he understood Minister Fudge's mentality a little.

If Fudge was just an ordinary wizard or an ordinary official, he might have faced up to Voldemort's dangers and responded positively. However, he was the Minister of Magic, and his fear of Dumbledore's seizure of power and his obsession with power made him think that everything was a means for Dumbledore to seize power.

He is short-sighted and judges others by his own standards. He is just a villain who happens to be in power.

Dumbledore looked at the Minister of Magic in front of him with disappointment... a little weak, fond of money, power and status, lacking in self-confidence, a little exaggerated, but not bad in essence, this was Dumbledore's previous impression of Cornelius Fudge.

It was also because of this impression that he did not object to Fudge taking up the position of Minister of Magic, and even thought it was quite suitable. But he ignored the alienation of power to a person.

"Perhaps." Dumbledore sighed, "Excuse me, I have to leave. I have a pile of letters from students' parents to reply to."

"Of course, I understand this kind of involuntary busyness!" Fudge was extremely happy. After saying goodbye to Dumbledore in a hurry, he watched him go away.

Their conversation did not avoid the little wizards. In addition to Loren and his companions, some other little wizards in the secret room also saw it.

When Dumbledore walked towards him, a little wizard in the seventh year of Gryffindor couldn't help but stand up and call him.

"Headmaster Dumbledore," he said hesitantly, "Mysterious - I mean Voldemort, is he really involved in all this? I mean, about the Chamber of Secrets, about the Basilisk?"

Dumbledore had a gentle smile on his face. He was happy that the little wizard called Voldemort by his name. He said kindly, "Mr. Xavier, you need to judge for yourself."

He glanced at the little wizards around him who had the same doubts, with a heartwarming smile on his face, "The scene where the incident happened is in front of you, and the people who witnessed it are your classmates. You have the ability and the right to make your own judgment. I just want to say, make the choice you think is right."

After saying that, Dumbledore nodded and walked away.

Percy stood there with a dull look in his eyes. The shock was so great that he couldn't recover for a while.

At this time, although Percy's desire for power had already sprouted in his heart, he had not yet graduated and had not been influenced by messy ideas and things.

On one side was his beloved Headmaster Dumbledore, and on the other side was the Minister of Magic whom he admired. One of the witnesses of the incident was his younger brother. Although Ron was a bit naughty, he would never lie about such things. He knew the truth of the incident clearly.

The clearer he understood the truth of the matter, the greater the shock he felt.

The students discussed:

"Which one do you believe?"

"We should trust Headmaster Dumbledore. He has no reason to harm us."

"There's no reason for the Ministry of Magic to lie to us."

……

Fudge watched this scene from a distance, his face fell a little ugly, but when the little wizards looked at him, he showed an approachable and friendly smile.

Loren stood close to Hermione, and he even felt that Hermione was shaking with anger. Surprisingly, although Hermione was angry, she said nothing, but stared at Fudge and Umbridge, trying to get more information from them.

Loren stood silently in front of Hermione and pushed her a few steps into the shadow of the pillar next to her, so that she could get a better look at the opposite side without being noticed.

Looking at Percy next to him, Loren mourned for him in his heart. Poor Percy, he had been mentally shocked by the corrupt officialdom before he even graduated. He wondered if he could survive it.

A neatly dressed Auror walked quickly to Umbridge and whispered something to her, and Umbridge's smile became even brighter.

She coughed lightly a few times, cleared her throat, and deliberately spoke loudly: "Minister Fudge, apart from the traces of the basilisk's impact and bite, the signs at the scene show that only a low-level duel took place, and all the spells were relatively common. It is certain that there is no sign of the killing curse."

Fudge breathed a sigh of relief, and probably held his throat as he replied in a serious tone, "I think this should prove that it's not the You-Know-Who. After all, isn't his best skill the Killing Curse?"

The two's acting was very poor, and anyone could tell that they were performing for the young wizards. But it also achieved some goals. Some young wizards' eyes had changed, and the scales in their hearts were slightly leaning towards the Ministry of Magic.

Fudge brought Umbridge towards the young wizards, looked at them, and said in a friendly tone: "Seeing you reminds me of my time at Hogwarts. Cherish the present days. Believe me, these will be the most relaxing and most memorable days for you in the future - perhaps a dozen years, or perhaps decades."

The young wizards were infected by his gesture and let down their guard. A young Slytherin wizard asked: "Minister Fudge, what is the truth about the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk? Has that man really come back?"

Fudge laughed twice. "I can't tell you now. We will publish the specific situation in the Daily Prophet after the investigation is completed."

If the minister makes no mistakes, his assistant will make up for them. Umbridge laughed twice and said, "Based on the current evidence, the answer is no."

"But Harry saw it with his own eyes."

"This is normal," Fudge said, as if he were a friend of the little wizard, talking about his own experience in an intimate manner. "When I was your age, I would also deliberately say something exaggerated to attract attention..."

Loren and Hermione, who were gradually walking away, could not hear the rest of the words.

In the Chamber of Secrets, the Minister of Magic was still talking, slandering Harry and Dumbledore unintentionally but with malicious intent.

Chapter 230 Oh no, I’m exposed

Although Hermione was still so angry that she gnashed her teeth and wanted to chop them up and feed them to Fluffy when she heard Fudge and Umbridge's nonsense just now, after turning around and walking away and not hearing those dirty words, Hermione quickly calmed down.

Feeling the pull of his robe, Loren turned around and saw Hermione looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Hermione opened her mouth, hesitated, and finally said, "I, I have some questions about Animagus to ask Professor McGonagall. You can continue your tour. I'm leaving first."

After saying that, she turned around and left.

You do seem to have questions... Loren reached out and grabbed her robe, asking in confusion, "Aren't we reviewing what we learned last semester? Do you have any new questions?"

Hermione stopped walking and turned to look at Loren, who was also looking at her, with a look in his eyes that seemed to say -

There's something wrong with you. There's something very wrong with you.

Hermione blinked her eyes and tried to think of a way to make up a question to deal with it. But she was not good at lying, so she simply gave up making up an excuse and grabbed the corner of her clothes, twisted them a few times, and spun a few times to break free from Loren's hands.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I have some questions for Professor McGonagall anyway."

"Oh, no...you're acting weird today." Loren reached out to grab the corner of her clothes again, refusing to let her go.

Hermione decided not to fight with him anymore, and pushed Loren back until his back was against the wall of the stone tunnel. The little witch pressed hard a few times, as if to embed him into the wall so that he couldn't catch up.

The series of big moves made him stunned, and his eyes were blank. Hermione then withdrew her hand and told him seriously: "Stay still and don't ask too many questions."

As soon as he turned his head, he muttered softly: "Nagging..."

Loren looked at the girl's back as she quickly walked away, tilted his head, and his mind was full of question marks.

The little wizards around noticed them and cast playful glances at them. Loren thought about it and decided not to pursue the matter further, after all, everyone has some little secrets.

He turned around and joined the crowd watching Snake Skin.

The outer circle was composed of young wizards watching, the inner circle was composed of Ministry of Magic staff taking measurements and collecting evidence, and next to them was Professor Snape, who slowly paced around the snake skin, monitoring these Ministry of Magic staff to prevent them from stealing Hogwarts' property.

Loren had nothing to do, so he followed Professor Snape and the two talked in a low voice.

"Greedy, that Cornelius Fudge is no different from someone from a pure-blood family." Snape warned the Ministry employees with his eyes and introduced them in a disdainful voice.

"In 1990, after the previous Minister of Magic, Millicent Bagnall, resigned, the most prestigious Barty Crouch at the time lost his election opportunity because of his Death Eater son. Dumbledore became confused and refused to serve as Minister of Magic. Fortunately, Cornelius Fudge took over."

"1990? That means he has only been in office for a few years."

"This is the most ridiculous thing." Snape's mouth curled up into a sarcastic arc. "When he first took office, he could only rely on Dumbledore's support to keep the Ministry of Magic running. He had to write letters to ask Dumbledore's opinion on anything. Some people gave him a nickname - Dumbledore's Yes Man."

Loren couldn't help but laugh. Fudge was young and consulted Dumbledore about politics. Now that he has grown up, he should be careful about Dumbledore's rebellion.

"Later, those people from the pure-blood families flattered him all day long. He now feels that he is fully capable of being the minister and has no intention of giving up power in the short term."

"That's what Dumbledore is like. He always does unnecessary things. If he hadn't chosen Fudge..."

Seeing a Ministry of Magic employee trying to cut a large piece of snake skin, Snape cast a spell and light burst out.

It wasn't very powerful, just a warning to the Ministry employee not to do anything.

The clerk smiled awkwardly and continued to measure, taking samples according to the standard, each time no larger than the size of a fingernail.

"Greedy." Snape sneered. "I've given them a box of snake scales, a box of flesh, and a box of snake bones, and they actually want to take the entire snake skin back to the Ministry of Magic."

"Can the school refuse?" Loren asked.

"Oh, of course. Otherwise, what do you think Professor McGonagall has been doing? Even the Board of Directors has no right to interfere with the school's decision now."

The topics they talked about next gradually became boring. They talked about the application of the Divine Sword Shadowless Curse and the exploration of the medicinal value of the basilisk material...

On the other side, Hermione came to the Transfiguration professor's office. When she pushed the door open, Professor McGonagall was replying to students' parents.

There was a whole pile of envelopes stacked up on top of each other, and it was hard for Hermione to avoid seeing them.

After spending so much time with Loren, Hermione also became more casual. Seeing Professor McGonagall put down her quill, she couldn't help but ask, "Reply? Headmaster Dumbledore also said that he would reply to the students' parents. Do so many parents write to him every semester?"