Homecoming from Hogwarts

Umbridge's office fell into silence, and Fudge and Umbridge stared at each other.

"School Board!"

Suddenly, at one point, Fudge waved his fist vigorously, his expression excited as if he had discovered a new world.

"That's right. Brian entered Hogwarts through the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors can even directly appoint and dismiss the headmaster of Hogwarts. I can't believe I forgot this!"

Umbridge's eyes, covered by swollen eyelids, kept flashing, as if she was weighing the pros and cons of this matter.

"Lucius!"

Fudge rushed forward and grabbed Lucius' arm, his excitement evident in his expression.
"The school board can directly remove Dumbledore and Blaine. Yes, that's it! You support the Ministry of Magic, right, my dear Lucius?"

"Of course, Minister—"

Lucius concealed his disdain very well, but he looked embarrassed.

"I am very willing to work for the Ministry of Magic, Minister, but as I said just now, the Malfoy family took the blame for the basilisk incident that year, and we have been excluded from the list of the school board. It is really a shame. For many centuries, the Malfoy family has been a director of Hogwarts, but this honor was lost in my hands-"

Looking at Lucius, Umbridge narrowed her eyes. She probably knew what Lucius wanted.

Talking about what happened back then, Fudge couldn't help showing a little embarrassment. At that time, he was very grateful to Brian for solving Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets and contributing the precious basilisk.

"What does it take to get the Malfoys back on the Hogwarts board, Lucius?"

Umbridge stared at Lucius with innocent eyes.
"Since the school board can exclude the Malfoy family, I think it can also accept the Malfoy family again."

"That would require a two-thirds vote of the directors, Madam Umbridge -"

Lucius bowed.

"There are eleven Greengrasses, Averys, and Blacks in total. Unfortunately, some of them are not close friends with the Malfoys—"

Fudge understood what was going on, but he was not angry at Lucius Malfoy's plan. He wanted to use the power of the Ministry of Magic to force all the school directors to agree that the Malfoy family would regain control of Hogwarts, but the Ministry of Magic did need to have a greater say in Hogwarts.

Using the school board to directly dismiss Dumbledore and Brian Fudge's eyes sparkled. This seemed very tempting, but it was not a wise choice.

Because this will inevitably lead to the most intense resistance from Dumbledore and Braine, he is not seeking to completely break off relations with Hogwarts, but Dumbledore and Braine must support the Ministry of Magic's decision.
Arthur was surprised to find that when Fudge and Umbridge, who had looked furious just now, escorted Lucius Malfoy out of the office, the three of them were actually talking and laughing, and Fudge's arm was even affectionately placed on Lucius Malfoy's shoulder.

"We will contact those companies as soon as possible, Lucius. One week. I guarantee that we can re-initiate the vote within one week!"

"Thank you so much, Minister Fudge!"

Lucius smiled.

"The Malfoy family will integrate the opinions of the board of directors to ensure that no voice different from that of the Ministry of Magic will appear."

"minister!"

The conversation he heard startled Arthur. He could not understand it completely, but that did not prevent him from seeing that Fudge and Lucius Malfoy had reached some kind of agreement. He looked at Fudge who was about to put his arm around Malfoy's shoulders and called out.

Fudge completely forgot about Mr. Weasley. He was stunned for several seconds before he remembered that Arthur also wanted to talk to him about something.

A trace of displeasure flashed across his fat face, but Fudge still stopped.

"Please help me see Lucius off, Dolores. You can also discuss the donation matter."

"With great pleasure, Minister—"

Dolores said with a big smile on her face.

"Well, come with me, Arthur, and we'll talk in Dolores' office."

Fudge waved to Arthur and walked back to the office first.

"Come on, Percy, let's go and talk this out--"

Arthur gave Percy, whose forehead was sweating from nervousness, an encouraging smile, then took Percy's arm and walked into the room.

"Who is this, Arthur?"

Fudge turned around and found a young man who looked familiar followed Arthur into the office. He frowned and said. This question made Percy blush. He stood there with his hands clasped together, a little at a loss. But Mr. Weasley patted Percy on the back calmly.
"My son, Percy Weasley. This is surely not the first time you are meeting him, Minister."

"Your son?"

Fudge looked at Arthur suspiciously.

"Is he also an employee of the Ministry?"

Percy's blush subsided, and he wished desperately that a hole would appear in the floor so he could jump in and hide himself without being so embarrassed.

"Oh, of course--"

Mr. Weasley naturally pulled Percy to the sofa opposite Fudge, and after he made Percy sit down, he also sat down.
"He's been with the ministry for almost a year. If you haven't forgotten, old Batty had an assistant before."

"Oh, I remember now!"

Fudge's face showed realization.

"Yes, you were Barty's assistant and helped the Department of International Magical Cooperation handle a lot of things during the time when Barty disappeared. But later -"

Fudge narrowed his eyes and looked at Percy who was trying to straighten his chest.
"He was punished for what happened to old Batty, if I remember correctly."

"You are not mistaken, Minister--"

Mr. Weasley nodded seriously. "The Ministry believes that Percy did not notice Barty Crouch's problem in time. I mean, he did not notice that old Barty Crouch was kidnapped. Someone wrote to him pretending to be Crouch's notes and arranged the work of the Cooperation Department."

"Oh--"

Glancing at the trembling Percy Weasley, Fudge leaned back on the sofa, twirling his thumb and said nonchalantly,
"This is a reasonable punishment, isn't it, Arthur? I'm not targeting anyone, but since your son is old Batty's assistant, he should be aware that the letters he receives every day are not from his boss, right?
It's really scary to think about it. If Vitia Kleona arranged some terrible tasks in this way and Percy followed the orders, it's hard to imagine how much damage the wizarding world would suffer."

“That’s totally it.”

Mr. Weasley's cheeks also turned slightly red. He wanted to say 'nonsense', but finally restrained the impulse and said 'prejudice' instead.

"Strictly speaking, Percy and Old Barty only spent less than a few months together. He lacked an in-depth understanding of Old Barty. Based on this, it was understandable that he failed to discover that Old Barty was in a bad condition. Only Percy was punished. In the matter of Old Barty, objectively speaking, this was unfair to Percy, Minister!"

Mr. Weasley said indignantly.

Fudge squinted his eyes and thought for a long time before he remembered how he handled the matter at that time.

In order to suppress the impact, no one was dealt with in a big way at that time, and Old Batty's assistant, the thin young man in front of him, was driven away to the centaur office of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
The Centaur Office. The entire Ministry of Magic knows what the situation is. There is nothing to do. It is completely a retirement department.

"What do you think we should do, then, Arthur?"

Fudge still looked nonchalant. Move Arthur's son to another place?
Now that the heat of old Barty's incident has passed, asking Percy Weasley to change departments is just a trivial matter. But Cornelius is still not very happy about it. The reason is nothing but Arthur's own position.

"my thoughts?"

Mr. Weasley glanced at Percy, his eyes softening.

"To be honest, I think Percy is an excellent young wizard, Minister, and this evaluation is not based on our father-son relationship, Minister-"

Mr. Weasley said seriously,
"Percy served as a prefect and the president of the male student union during his time at school. He obtained twelve NEWTS certificates with excellent results. After entering the Ministry of Magic, he has been investing great enthusiasm in his work. Of course, it is undeniable that he lacks experience, but this is not a disadvantage for young people, right?"

"yes--"

Fudge looked at Percy in surprise. Arthur's son was indeed quite outstanding. But, so what? The Ministry of Magic brought together the best Hogwarts graduates of all time. There was no shortage of prefects and student union presidents, nor NEWTS certificates.

"But a mistake is a mistake and must be punished, Arthur. Oh, I suddenly have an idea."

(End of this chapter)