novelaction Chapter 302: Fang Thomas's Tricks
Chapter 302: Fang Thomas's Tricks
Facing an old wizard who is as aggressive as a Tebo warthog, and this old wizard has been your teacher for seven years...
Any normal person would be overwhelmed and unable to utter a word, which is not impossible.
However, Umbridge was not intimidated by the aggressive Horace at this time. Looking at her expression, she seemed to be a little excited.
She said triumphantly, "Mr. Slughorn, I must remind you that if you use your wand to destroy the Ministry's office supplies again, I have the right to put you on the Ministry's 'visitor blacklist'."
She spoke very loudly.
At once, everyone in the magic court noticed them.
These people were originally busy with their own affairs, arguing about charges and fines with their respective judges, and did not pay any attention to the group of young and old who were brought into the court door by Mr. Weasley.
However, at this moment everyone present saw Bourne and the others, and more importantly, they all saw Headmaster Dumbledore.
"Which inquisitor is so brave? He dares to invite Headmaster Dumbledore to the Magic Court to be questioned and pay a fine?"
"Isn't this the opposite of Tian Gang?"
"That's right. Now it's time to watch something interesting. I bet a Sickle that this farce will end in violence."
"..."
Some wizards in the UK don’t even know who the current Minister of Magic is, but everyone knows Dumbledore.
Even if you haven't been to Hogwarts, you've at least eaten chocolate frogs and seen Dumbledore in cartoons.
It is even like the people of a certain Eastern country can use "Palace Jade Liquor" as a code to confirm each other's identity as citizens.
If there really are Muggles who have infiltrated the wizarding world, then simply using "Principal Dumbledore" as the test question will most likely help find the spy.
"What exactly do you want to do?"
Mr. Weasley lowered his voice and questioned Umbridge, who seemed determined to make "big news".
At this time, Umbridge just stroked her wavy hair and answered easily, "Yesterday, Mr. Slughorn and Mr. Scamander 'caught' a Muggle thief. With the help of the truth serum, Minister Fudge learned some things from him. Because those things are not only related to the International Statute of Secrecy, but also involve a series of other secrets of the Ministry of Magic, so we asked this little wizard to come here for questioning."
"What the hell is this?" complained Mr. Weasley, frowning.
"That man is nothing but a Muggle thief who abused magic items to commit crimes. You can confiscate all the magic items on him. Use the Obliviate spell to change his memory, and then send him to the Muggle police, right?
As a result, you even used truth serum. It would be fine if you used truth serum, but what secrets could a Muggle thief know? Moreover, what did the words that person said during the interrogation have to do with Bourne, a little wizard?"
-
"It's a big deal—"
Cornelius Fudge, wearing a baggy suit, sat in a comfortable chair in the minister's office, smoking a pipe and listening to a dull-faced man talking to himself.
That man was Thomas Fang.
The reason why he became so dull was because he drank too much truth serum. Moreover, he drank it voluntarily, and Minister Fudge did not force him.
Yesterday, when he was brought to the Ministry of Magic, his tightly closed mouth suddenly opened, and he clamored to see the Minister of Magic, to see Cornelius Fudge, to talk to the "highest authority in the wizarding world."
The Aurors who had captured him could not help but be surprised, because they thought the same as Mr. Weasley, that this man was just a Muggle who collected magical items and used them to commit crimes.
Let me ask, how did this guy know the Minister of Magic, who told him the name "Cornelly Fudge", and who spread the rumor that Cornelius Fudge is the "highest authority in the wizarding world"... Uh, the point is wrong. It should be whether he has some conspiracy by spreading such rumors?
Out of concern for the matter, the Auror Office promptly reported it to Minister Fudge, who was also given a tour of the interrogation room on the eighth floor underground at the Ministry of Magic.
Just as Minister Fudge condescended to come to the eighth underground floor and looked viciously at the Muggle thief who had framed him through a one-way magic mirror, the latter actually turned his head and looked at him while sitting in the restraint chair.
He said: "Why did you come just now? Did you spend a lot of effort to arrange those people?"
Minister Fudge was stunned on the spot.
He had indeed just gone to the Auror office to make some arrangements for personnel transfers.
Moreover, it was precisely because of the words of the man in front of him, "the highest authority in the wizarding world", that Fudge, who always suffered from "delusion of being persecuted by Dumbledore", made such a trip.
Although there was no actual evidence, Fudge had heard of the name "Order of the Phoenix" and guessed that there were members of the Order of the Phoenix in the Auror Office.
As soon as the "highest authority in the wizarding world" said this, he ran to find Scrimgeour and asked the head of the Auror Office to take some people to Azkaban.
The reason he gave was:
The place had fallen into disrepair over the years, and Peter Pettigrew escaped from prison there some time ago, so a large number of Aurors were urgently needed to check for any deficiencies and personally give Azkaban Prison a "major overhaul".
This job can only be done by Aurors with "strong physical strength". After all, no magical engineering team will undertake the maintenance work there, and even dwarves with "rock brains" are unwilling to deal with Dementors.
The purpose of doing this was to get as many people as possible out of the Auror office.
After inspecting Azkaban prison, the Aurors were exhausted both physically and mentally. Most likely, no one would remember the absurd words "the highest authority in the wizarding world", and probably no one would pass these words to Dumbledore's ears.
One has to admit that Cornelius Fudge is actually quite talented when it comes to political struggle.
It would be really hard for an ordinary wizard to come up with his twists and turns.
Therefore, he was wondering: How could the Muggle thief who was locked in the interrogation room know what he had just done?
"Give him truth serum," Fudge said solemnly to the interrogation expert in the interrogation room, but he soon changed his words: "No, wait a minute, you go out first, I want to personally entertain this Muggle thief."
Then, Minister Cornelius Fudge walked towards Fang Thomas with a freshly opened bottle of truth serum.
"No need to feed me."
"I'll drink it myself."
The interrogation room of the Ministry of Magic naturally did not talk about the human rights of Muggles. Fang Thomas had just been tortured and his clothes were soaked, but he still smiled and looked at the Minister of Magic who was walking towards him with a bottle of potion, bypassing the one-way magic world that seemed like a wall.
Gulp, gulp, uh—
In just two gulps, he drank the entire bottle of truth serum and even burped.
"It's from 82," Fang Thomas said with a smile, "It tastes better than I thought."
Fudge was surprised and asked, "How do you know that this bottle of potion has been stored from 82 to now?"
The Minister of Magic felt very strange. He knew that what the man said was true. This bottle of truth serum should have been purchased by the Ministry of Magic in 82.
Because that year he was promoted to the logistics department of the Ministry of Magic, and "innovatively adjusted" the Ministry's purchasing mechanism: buy more in years when the prices of potion raw materials are cheap, and then "report losses" in a timely manner, and then maintain minimum purchasing standards in years when the prices of potion raw materials increase; however, those minimum purchases must be made up with the potions that were previously "reported losses".
As a result, within a few years, the Ministry of Magic's logistics department had accumulated a small departmental treasury, from which every employee could benefit.
In fact, the reason why he was able to rise all the way to the Minister of Magic, in addition to Dumbledore's public support, was that a group of grassroots supporters he won over through similar tricks when rotating through various departments were also an indispensable and important force.
Based on his understanding of Veritaserum, after 82, due to more and more restrictions on the production of its raw materials, the price of this potion has been rising all the way and has never fallen.
So, when Fang Thomas said that this bottle of potion was from 82, he was actually right.
But just when Minister Fudge was confused, Fang Thomas immediately answered his doubts: "Don't worry, the reason I know is because the label on the bottle of potion has not been torn off. Although it is a little stained, the production date is still there... uh, the maximum storage time is 7 years, and it is clearly written."
"You!" Fudge picked up the potion bottle and looked at it. He was so angry that he pointed his wand at Thomas Fang, but finally put it down again.
"Don't worry," the thief said with a smile, "I know many more secrets. Do you want to continue asking?"
Minister Fudge narrowed his eyes: "Now I want to know, who told you these secrets?"
-
"That's all nonsense!" Harry shouted angrily.
Three whole days!
Compared to the miserable three days he had lived, he would rather attend the ghosts' deathday dinner every day, or meet Draco Malfoy every day.
God knows where did Dudley's Aunt Marge get such a long vacation? Are the detectives in Scotland Yard usually so idle?
At last the day came, Aunt Marge's last night as a guest.
Aunt Petunia prepared a fine dinner, Uncle Vernon opened several bottles of wine, and everyone had soup and salmon.
Of course, this "everyone" did not include Harry, and the unfortunate child's dinner was the leftover afternoon tea snacks from the Dursleys.
And just as the last dessert of the dinner was served and the whole family was sharing the lemon meringue pie, Aunt Maggie once again drank a large glass of brandy.
"Ah," said Aunt Marge, smacking her lips and putting down her empty glass. "That's a very nice dessert, Petunia. Usually I only have fish and chips in the evening and a little wine, but your dinner is worthy of an English brandy."
She burped loudly and patted her big belly.
"Forgive me. But I do like to see healthy, normal children," she went on, winking at Dudley. "You'll grow up to be a normal-sized man, Dudley, just like your daddy. Oh, Vernon, I'd like a little brandy too... Here, this one -"
She tilted her head towards Harry and snapped her fingers at him as if he were a turbaned English footman.
Harry felt his stomach tighten.
Signature sheet, he reminded himself.
Only students who get a signed form can visit Hogsmeade village once a week in their third year.
"This one has a mean, selfish, smaller-than-normal air. It's all due to bad blood, that's what I said the other day. Bad blood shows. I'm not saying anything bad about your family, Petunia—"
She seemed to realize the inappropriateness of her words, and quickly used her shovel-like hand to pat Penny's bony hand.
"But your sister was a very bad judge. She was your sister, and must have come from a respectable family. And then she ran off with a good-for-nothing, and we are seeing the consequences now."
Harry took a deep breath and heard a strange sound in his ears.
But he couldn't remember what was underneath it. Aunt Marge's voice seemed to bore right into him, like the sound of Uncle Vernon's drill sucking air into his mouth through his teeth.
"That Potter," cried Aunt Marge, seizing the bottle of brandy which Harry had brought over and splashing some more into her glass and on the tablecloth. "Vernon, why did you never tell me what he did for a living?"
Uncle Vernon and Petunia both looked unhappy, and Dudley even looked up from his pie and stared at his parents in amazement.
"He's - not working," said Uncle Vernon, glancing at Harry. "Unemployed."
"I guessed it right!" said Aunt Marge, taking a swig of brandy and wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "A worthless, good-for-nothing, lazy beggar, the kind of person who——"
"He's not that kind of person."
Harry said suddenly.
The table was silent. Harry was shaking. He had never been so angry in his life.
"You, boy," he said gruffly to Harry, "go to bed, go -"
"No, Vernon," hiccuped Aunt Marge, holding up her hands and fixing her little bloodshot eyes on Harry. "Go on, lad. Proud of your parents, aren't you? They went out, got in a car accident, and died—"
“They didn’t die in a car accident!”
As Harry spoke, he was not aware that the back of the shirt that Dudley had given him, which still didn't fit him well, was fluttering up.
"They died in a car accident, you little liar! And they dumped you as a burden on their respectable, hard-working relatives!"
Aunt Marge screamed, furious. At this moment, the brandy bottle in Aunt Marge's hand exploded with a "bang", and the fragments flew everywhere. Dudley was so scared that he slipped off the chair and hid under the table immediately.
"You're an insolent, ungrateful little—" Aunt Marge seemed reluctant to stop, but suddenly she couldn't say the words.
Her great red face began to expand and her little eyes bulged outward and her mouth opened too wide for her to speak.
A second later, several buttons fell off her tweed dress and hit the wall with a clatter.
She swelled up like a huge hot air balloon, and her belly broke free from the tweed belt that was tied around her waist, and each of her fingers swelled up to the size of a sausage.
"Maggie!"
Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia yelled together as Aunt Marge's entire body began to leave her seat and rise towards the ceiling.
Now she was completely round, like a life buoy with little eyes, and as she floated into the air, her arms and legs stretched out in odd ways, making bursts of popping noises.
"Boy, look what you've done!" Vernon stared at Harry Potter with wide eyes, as angry as an angry bull.