Homecoming from Hogwarts

Chapter 988: Follow the guidance
Dumbledore explicitly refused to legislate for tip-offs.

Hearing these sensitive words, the three people in front of Umbridge's office were immediately shocked, but Arthur immediately came to his senses. He stared at Lucius warily and cleared his throat vigorously.
"Minister, are you in there? I heard from Isaac that you were here!"

The heated discussion in the office immediately died down, and Fudge's alert voice rang out.

"who is it?"

"Arthur Weasley—"

Mr. Weasley said loudly,

"I have something I want to talk to you about, Minister. Oh, Lucius Malfoy wants to see you too."

The office was quiet for a while, and then a sound of footsteps gradually became clearer from behind the door, and Umbridge's swollen face like a toad appeared in front of them.

Umbridge raised her chin and glanced coldly at Arthur and the timid boy behind him, but when it came to Lucius Malfoy's turn, Umbridge was much more friendly. She said in a sharp voice:
"You go first, Lucius--"

Mr. Weasley's face immediately darkened, but he had no choice but to take Percy aside and wait.

This was obviously not the first time Lucius visited Umbridge's office, so he turned a blind eye to the poor aesthetics of the office. He saw Cornelius Fudge standing next to Umbridge's desk, holding a piece of parchment tightly in his hand. When Fudge realized that Lucius was looking at the parchment, he gasped, crumpled the letter into a ball, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

Fudge's tone was totally different from the usual friendly one when he gave him sponsorship, he said impatiently.

"The Minister and I were discussing an important matter, Lucius—"

Umbridge chuckled a few times, and was very friendly.

"So if you have anything important to ask for the Ministry's support, you'd better hurry, Lucius--"

"Oh, thank you very much for taking the time to entertain me, Minister, Ms. Umbridge -"

Lucius gave a sleek, grateful smile.
"Actually. Oh, it's like this. I noticed that there are some false reports about the current security situation in the wizarding world in the Daily Prophet. Rita Skeeter even said that people are losing confidence in the Ministry of Magic."

"What nonsense!"

Fudge said angrily, his face turning blue.

"Oh, of course, Minister—"

Lucius showed a flattering smile just right.

"Those people simply cannot understand how difficult it is to manage a country and ensure the well-being of the majority of its people. As for the Malfoy family, as an ancient family with a long history in the British wizarding world, we have witnessed how much this country has improved compared to before.

After seeing those reports, Narcissa and I unanimously decided that we need to provide some support to the Ministry of Magic at this critical moment. We plan to donate a sum of money to St. Mungo's to improve the medical care of ordinary residents. Of course, the Ministry of Magic should be responsible for disposing of this money and deciding how to use it -"

Umbridge's fat face, which was filled with a business smile, suddenly brightened up. Of course, she did not forget who should come forward to accept the donation. She blinked her eyelashes and looked at Cornelius Fudge.

"Yeah."

Hearing Lucius' words, Cornelius's frown relaxed. He exhaled softly. Although his face was still ugly, he patted Lucius' arm and forced a smile at him.
"Thank you, Lucius. You are right. The Ministry of Magic does need more support right now."

Then he sighed again.

"If there were more people like the Malfoy family who understand things, the Ministry of Magic would not be facing such a difficult situation. Don't worry, Lucius, I did hear some bad things about you, but they are all slanderous words without any evidence. The Ministry of Magic will never change its view of the Malfoy family because of this."

"Oh, thanks, Minister, and Madam Umbridge!"

Lucius immediately said in fear,
"That's exactly what I was worried about!"

"As for the donation, Lucius, you and Dolores should coordinate it. I'm afraid I don't have time to deal with it in the near future."

"Of course, Ms. Umbridge is your right-hand woman and I have my full confidence in her."

Lucius tactfully bowed to Dolores. "So, is there anything else, Lucius?" Fudge said with a pleasant face.
"I'm afraid I'll have to hear what Arthur wants from me. After I get rid of him, I have to discuss the current troubles with Dolores?"

"Oh, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just happened to hear a word or two."

Lucius said cautiously,
"The trouble you're talking about, legislation, and Dumbledore and Braine, so it's related to Hogwarts, right?"

Fudge and Umbridge looked at each other, and then Fudge's face darkened again.

"you know--"

Dolores said in a coquettish voice,

"In recent times, some people in Hogwarts have been spreading absurd and ridiculous false statements, hoping to disrupt the order that the Ministry of Magic has worked hard to maintain. This is absolutely intolerable to the Ministry of Magic, so we plan to -"

"We plan to send personnel to Hogwarts to supervise the daily teaching activities of Hogwarts--"

Lucius quickly answered,

"Oh, it is said that person is you--"

Under the surprised and wary gazes of Fudge and Umbridge, Lucius explained,
"Oh, don't get me wrong, Minister, Ms. Umbridge. I'm not snooping into the Ministry of Magic's top secrets. I just happened to go to Hogwarts to visit Draco and accidentally heard about this from Severus."

"That's right."

Fudge seemed to find it a little awkward, he frowned and spoke softly, and Umbridge's fake smile disappeared, her expression becoming quite gloomy.

"If, I'm not mistaken--"

Lucius took in the expressions of the two people, his gray eyes rolled around in his eye sockets, and he said worriedly,
"Normally speaking, the Ministry of Magic probably has no right or reason to forcibly station personnel in Hogwarts and interfere with Hogwarts' daily teaching, unless... unless a new law is established to ensure the legality of this matter."

Before Umbridge could speak, Fudge said sullenly,

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do now.”

"But this will lead to public opinion. People will discuss the purpose of the Ministry of Magic's move. In view of the ridiculous remarks made by Dumbledore before, people will wonder whether the Ministry of Magic is deliberately suppressing Dumbledore and Hogwarts. This may damage the image of the Ministry of Magic--"

Fudge had a sinister look in his eyes and kept silent. It was obvious that he had already thought about the things that Lucius mentioned.

"But we have to do this, Lucius—"

Umbridge, who was forced to do something, said sharply,
"We have every reason to believe that Hogwarts has deviated from its educational purpose and is intentionally seeking more power. If it is not curbed, terrible things may happen!"

"Of course, of course—"

Lucius nodded in approval.
"I fully understand your decision. Speaking of which, Minister, Ms. Umbridge, have you discussed this matter with the Hogwarts Board of Directors?"

"School Board?!"

Fudge's small eyes on his round face suddenly widened and he screamed.

"certainly--"

Lucius, who was cautious in his approach, was secretly delighted that he had finally brought the topic to this point, but he looked surprised.
"Didn't the Ministry of Magic consult the school board? Maybe you have forgotten, Minister, that the Malfoy family was a member of the school board. We were once blamed for the basilisk incident and were kicked out of the school board.

But the Board of Directors has the right to interfere with Hogwarts’ teaching activities and personnel appointments. You know, Brian was the investigator appointed by the Board of Directors to enter Hogwarts to investigate Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets. The Board of Directors even has the right to dismiss the headmaster of Hogwarts…”

(End of this chapter)