Harry Potter and the Burnt Badger

The more he talked, the angrier he became, and in the end he threw the water glass on the table and smashed it into pieces on the wall.

It was already late at night, and other colleagues in the Auror office either had not returned yet, or were still out on patrol and arrest missions. Only Ken O'Gorman, Ekel Weaving and Kingsley Shaq The three of you have just returned from a mission and are staying in this empty Auror office.

Kingsley silently waved his wand to clean up the mess that Ken had made. Acker leaned on the table next to him and lowered his eyebrows, which happened to fall on Umbridge's "sweet" smile. He curled his lips, turned away, and used a magic spell to turn the "Daily Prophet" into a crumpled paper ball.

"Huh... is there any news about Moon Fox recently?" Ken let out a long breath and let his voice return to its usual calmness. "That kid shouldn't have been caught yet."

Kingsley shook his head and whispered: "No, Moon Fox seems to have evaporated. No trace of him has been found in Hogwarts or Shafiq Manor."

"Thank God, there is finally some good news." Ken raised his eyebrows. "Fudge is really getting more and more powerful. He didn't catch any werewolves that hurt anyone yesterday, so he just reported a few self-imprisoned werewolves; a mere three Hogwarts students in his first year can also be directly accused of 'colluding with dark wizards'. I really don't know what our minister can't do."

"Shh-" Kingsley turned to look at Ken, "There are only three of us in the office, but that doesn't mean there are only three of us in the Ministry of Magic."

Ekel also looked at Ken and suddenly said, "That kid deserves it."

Ken and Kingsley were both stunned, and then Ken O'Gorman said in disbelief: "Do you want to listen to what you are saying! Wei Wen! You, I and Elijah went together at that time. Hogwarts, right? Have you heard what other people said about that child? Do you really think that child will collude with dark wizards? You are simply... simply unreasonable! I see you are getting more and more The devil is gone!"

When it came to his anger, Ken stood up from his chair and raised his legs to leave the office.

"I didn't say he colluded with dark wizards." Ekel said coldly: "But the article in the Hogwarts school newspaper was published by him personally. Do you think that with that kid's mind, he would not know how to publish that kind of article? Are there any consequences? Even Ilya has sensed that Fudge has been in trouble recently. So is there any problem that the kid deserves to be wanted? Didn't he ask for it? "

Ken and Kingsley were stunned again. Seeing the disbelief on their faces, Ecker naturally knew that they obviously felt that they were trying to make up for it.

It's no wonder that he has always suspected Edgar, so it is normal to think that Moon Fox has also colluded with the dark wizard.

Ekel grabbed a handful of hair and said impatiently: "I don't think that kid colluded with the dark wizard. I admit that I have always doubted Edgar, very doubtful, and still doubt it now. But Moon Fox sent it I have read the articles, but I am not completely confused enough to think that someone who colludes with the dark wizard can write such an article. That kid would rather be stabbed in the spine than to take the werewolf off the list of dangerous creatures. I would never have thought that What dark wizard would be willing to do such a thing."

"Then can't you speak more nicely?" Kingsley sighed helplessly, "You have to use this quarrelsome tone."

"Why should I speak nicely? Don't forget, his uncle is no different from a dark wizard in my heart. I don't doubt that he is colluding with a dark wizard, and that doesn't mean I like him." Ekel sneered and said, "To be honest, I Now I don’t know how you are so sure that Edgar Shafiq did not collude with the dark wizard. Logically speaking, wouldn’t it be suspicious for the dark wizard to throw him out? Which Auror have you seen after being captured by the dark wizard? Can he be released alive? It is said that he cannot wake up, but who knows if this is a trick that the dark wizards worked with him to deceive people."

Kingsley picked up the water glass and took a sip, then stared into Ecker's eyes with his usual gentle eyes, "Because I don't think the tricks of the dark wizards can fool the healer of St. Mungo's, Severus Spencer." Nap, and Albus Dumbledore. More importantly, have you ever thought that those dark wizards threw Edgar out just to pit the minister against the Shafik family. After all, just a little inquiry can You know, since the incident with Forest Dempsey last time, there has been a huge gap between the minister and Golov Shafik and even Professor Dumbledore."

Ecker did not answer immediately. He turned his head to avoid Kingsley's gaze. After a while, he said: "So? Just for this kind of thing, you have to let your enemies go with your own hands? Ha, I don't I think this is the way of dark wizards."

After saying that, he bypassed Ken who was standing not far from the door and left the Auror office first.Ken intentionally wanted to keep him, but Kingsley stopped him.

"Stop trying to persuade him. It can't be persuaded." Kingsley sighed deeply again. "As you said, Edgar has become his inner demon. Unless one day he personally passes the hard facts. Discover the truth, otherwise he will treat Edgar as a dark wizard for the rest of his life."

Ken looked at the door of the office for a long time before finally sitting down on the chair in disappointment. "When this incident is over, apply with the above to transfer him and Elijah out of the Auror office. Elijah has never been suitable for this position. , As for Ekel...it’s obvious that he shouldn’t continue working now.”

"Yeah." Kingsley responded and took another sip of water in the cup.

"Kingsley, do you think that even if Ekel really sees the truth, he will definitely believe it?"

"I think so, and I think that by that time, he will collapse." Kingsley leaned back on the chair with a water glass, trying to make his sitting position as comfortable as possible. "Actually, he hates more than just Edgar. , and even more so himself. I'm afraid he thought more than once that if he and Eric had gone on the mission together, no matter what happened, he could die in Eric's place."

"To be precise, he just can't let go of what happened back then. After all, if strictly calculated, what he owes Eric is much more than what Eric owes him."

"What a hopeless fool." Ken said sadly.

Kingsley said nothing, but slowly drank the last sip of water in his glass, then leaned on the chair and took a nap.

The Auror office became as quiet as before. Ken sat for a while, then finally remembered to clean up the dirt on his body, and then leaned on the chair and fell asleep.

…………

"Moon, do you think we...can really succeed?" After a day of contact, Rideout, the youngest of the 22 werewolves in the cave, has become quite familiar with Munn, probably because He found Moon sitting alone at the entrance of the stone cave, so he also came over and asked softly, "If it succeeds, will I have the opportunity to study at Hogwarts for two years?"

Rideout is a 16-year-old Frenchman, but he was bitten by a werewolf when he was 12 years old, and was expelled from Bubbaton School of Witchcraft and Wizardry [Note 1].Later, his parents decided to send him to a distant cousin's house in the UK. As a result, because he could not bear the beatings and abuses he received from his cousin day after day, Rideout eventually fled the house and began to wander around the UK.If he hadn't met the werewolf couple Rubeo and his wife later, Rideout might have been arrested by the Ministry of Magic, or even died in some unknown corner.

"Honestly, it seems that Hogwarts does not admit young wizards born outside the United Kingdom and Ireland [Note 2]." Moon glanced at Rideout, whose eyes had obviously darkened, and said softly: " This is a long-standing tradition, so... I don’t really want to give you some false hope, sorry.”

Rideout forced a smile, as if he didn't care about the answer. He raised his hand and patted Moon on the shoulder, "It's okay. In fact, there is nothing that interests me about going to school. I just want to Just get to know more friends of the same age. Now at least I know you, right."

Moon responded, and then asked: "Rideout, have you contacted your parents in these years?"

"No." Rideout looked at the sky covered with dark clouds and shook his head. "Anyway, they have my brother, so they probably don't want me to contact them. It would be better without me in that family. "

"What's more, to me..." He turned to look at Rubeo and others who were chatting and laughing with others in the cave, "These people are more like family."

Moon looked at Rideout's side face, and his mind suddenly reappeared in the depths of the cave. The iron chains they used to imprison themselves were as thick as forearms and stained with blood.

"Don't worry, we will succeed." Moon also patted Rideout's shoulder, just like he did before.

Rideout was startled, and then realized that Moon was answering his original question. He laughed from the bottom of his heart and nodded vigorously, "Well, by then, our lives may be different. It will feel better.”

"It may not necessarily get better immediately." Moon chuckled, "But it will definitely get better and better."

"Ah, maybe I can find a serious job in a few years." Rideout leaned back and put his hands on the ground. "That way, I don't have to look at the candy shops on the roadside. ”

His brown eyes reflected the light emitted from the hollow metal ball beside Moon, and it seemed like the eyes themselves were emitting a shimmering light. "Maybe I can use my wages to buy some truly decent Christmas items." A gift for everyone—of course, I won’t forget to give you one, Moon.”

Listening to Rideout's trivial thoughts, Moon suddenly felt that the anxiety he had felt in his heart for the past few days was gradually being brushed away, and he felt a little peace for no reason.

On the book in hand, the magic called the Wail Choir is still blocked before the next page.

He still had a little more than two months to find a way to snatch Uncle Edgar back from the hands of death.

Of course, the premise is that he can successfully win the battle two days later.

The countdown has officially begun.

-

[Note 1] Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, also known as Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is pronounced Beauxbatons as "Beauxbatons" in English, but in fact, in French, Beauxbatons should be pronounced as "Beauxbatons".

[Note 2] The known students in Hogwarts are all British. For example, Qiu Zhang is British-Chinese.

Chapter 93 The true purpose of the Crow Party

The wind howled, blowing the crimson robe on Millicent Barnold's body. She looked at the night sky and didn't speak for a long time.

After a while, she seemed tired of watching, and she suddenly said softly: "Amelia, have you ever regretted not running for the position of minister recently?"

The current Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, is sitting on a chair behind Ms. Barnold. She is carrying a cup with light golden mead, and her face has lost its usual look. Serious, but with a bit of weariness.

"Honestly, not at all, Millicent. I don't think that if it were me, I would definitely be able to do better than Fudge. What's more, you also know that compared to Fudge, who is good at camp and has a wide range of contacts, I My popularity is far from that good. Even if I participate in the election, I will only lose completely in terms of support rate."

Ms. Barnold sighed and said helplessly: "These are all excuses, Amelia, these are all excuses. Your popularity is not that good, but don't forget, as the former Minister of Magic, I can definitely give you You build momentum and introduce you to those people with enough influence. Besides, Albus Dumbledore is definitely more supportive of you as minister, and with Scrimgeour, your chances of winning are not small."

Amelia Bones raised the glass and drank the little mead left in it. Then she put the glass on the small table aside, took off her monocle, and slowly leaned back on the chair. , closed his eyes, "Stop talking, Millicent, it's not like I haven't complained to you before. That position is not suitable for me. Just being the director of the Legal Enforcement Department has already forced me to make some mistakes. It’s something you can’t help but do. If you really become the Minister of Magic, such things against your will will only become more and more common, not less and less. You have also been a Minister, so you should know more about this than me. , isn’t it?”

"Besides, Cornelius Fudge is the current Minister of Magic. This is a definite fact and no one can change it. Instead of thinking about what is and is not, it is better to think more about how to get through the current trouble."

"He's done it! Amelia!" Ms. Barnold turned around suddenly and stared at Ms. Bones's face. "It won't be long before he is forced to resign amidst the calls of the wizards. Do you have to wait until then to consider these things?"

"You keep saying that you don't want to do things that are against your will, but Amelia, only when you become the Minister of Magic can you have the opportunity to change all of this. If you just continue to shrink in the Department of Law Enforcement and remain stubborn like you are now If you do, then in the next few decades, you will still have to repeat your previous life, and you will be unable to do so again and again."

"Even after your niece Susan enters the Ministry of Magic, you will still have to watch her follow your old path. Like you are now, even if you are faced with things that are not in line with your own wishes, you can only helplessly compromise. "

"Is this what you want to see? Amelia? Is it possible that you would rather watch these things happen than work hard to change them?"

Seeing that Ms. Bones still didn't make any move, Ms. Barnold shook her head, strode past her and walked into the room, leaving only "Think about it yourself."

The wind is still blowing, but the intensity is much weaker than 2 minutes ago.

Ms. Bones slowly sat up straight. She wanted to pour herself another half glass of wine, but when she looked at the small table, she found that the remaining half bottle of mead on the table had disappeared.Obviously, Ms. Barnold took the wine away when she entered the house just now.

She turned her head and looked at the night sky like her friend before. After a long time, she finally let out a faint sigh.

…………

There is only one day left until January 1th.

There was also a conversation going on in the Prime Minister's Office at No. [-] Downing Street at this moment, but compared to the conversation on the balcony of Barnold's house, the atmosphere between the two people here was obviously worse.

"So, can I understand that you want me to order a day of martial law in London through the news channels?" Current British Prime Minister John Major suppressed his anger. "Do you know what you are talking about? Mr. Fudge?"

This was not the first time John Major had met Fudge. In fact, Fudge had visited him as early as early December 1990, just two days after he took office.He clearly remembered that Cornelius Fudge's face at that time was full of pride - just like himself at that time.But this time, the Cornelius Fudge in front of him not only had a depressed face, but even his hair was obviously much thinner than last time, even though it had only been a little more than a year.

If there was any similarity between the two visits, it was that Fudge was still not very polite.

When Fudge came last time, John Major knew for the first time that there was such a thing as a "wizard" in this world.In fact, Major didn't believe it at first, until Fudge, with a mysterious and sarcastic smile, waved the small stick in his hand and turned his teacup into a gerbil.

John Major was startled.

Well, he had to admit that although Fudge was not polite enough last time, he was at least relatively gentle.But this time, Fudge was still not polite enough and became much more irritable.

Facing John Major's question, Fudge's face twitched twice, "Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, that's it, and you have to do it."

"I don't understand. Shouldn't you handle things like these... werewolves, black witches, etc. more properly? I remember when you came here last time, you said that there was no problem in the wizarding world. What happened?" John Major took a deep breath. "Not long after you came here last year, another person came and told me that a felon from the Ministry of Magic had escaped from prison and asked me to blockade as many blocks as possible."

"Now, you actually came here in person and told me that there are a large group of werewolves and black witches escaping outside? Is this what you mean by 'there is no problem in the wizarding world'? Do you know that if you want to put the entire London under martial law, I have to What an outrageous reason do you have to make up?"

"A war, a war, Mr. Fudge, please forgive me, your wording makes me suspect that you are exaggerating."

John Major picked up the water glass next to him and took a sip of water to slightly relieve the dryness in his throat.

"It's not a 'dark witch', it's a 'dark wizard.'" Fudge said impatiently, "This is not an exaggeration, and London is probably the main battlefield. You have to understand, Prime Minister, just like you Muggles, there are Just like murderers and robbers, there are also many restless people among wizards. Even though the wizarding world is calm most of the time, no one can guarantee that something outrageous will happen tomorrow, right?"

"Okay..." John Major took off his glasses in despair and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Then what measures are you going to take?"

"I will send two Aurors over to protect your safety. The dark wizards who committed the crime this time like to attack Muggles. I must ensure your safety first." Fudge clapped his fingers and said one by one: "Of course, of course, we will spare no effort to capture those werewolves and dark wizards, and at the same time make preparations for post-war repair and treatment, such as reciting the forgetting spell for those Muggles who accidentally saw the truth and repairing those Muggles who were affected. Buildings and the like... In short, I will make arrangements for whatever we need to do, but martial law in London is also necessary."

"Otherwise, if a Muggle is bitten by a werewolf and becomes infected with lycanthropy, there will be big trouble."

"Lycanthropy?" John Major repeated the word, and the expression on his face gradually became richer. "If I guess correctly, you mean that if Muggles are bitten by those werewolves, they will Will you turn into a werewolf?"

"Yes, that's it, Mr. Prime Minister."

John Major uttered a curse word. At this moment, he desperately hoped that everything was just a dream. He would rather still be lying on the bed at home, but he just forgot to come to the office today.

But this is obviously impossible.

Fudge also saw the uneasy mood of the Prime Minister, but he really couldn't muster the energy to comfort the Muggle Prime Minister now, so he just added, "If there are really Muggles who are so unfortunate as to be bitten by a werewolf, , we will handle it responsibly and try our best to ensure that it does not cause panic among Muggles."

"Then I really thank you." John Major said through gritted teeth. He took a few deep breaths and said unhappily: "Is there anything else you want to 'notify' me of?"

"No, no." Fudge stood up and put his bowler hat back on his head. "I'm leaving first, Mr. Prime Minister. There are still a lot of things in the ministry waiting for me to go back and make decisions."

John Major was too lazy to answer him. He just raised his hand and waved casually, signaling his permission.So, soon, as he watched, the flames of the fireplace turned bright green again as Fudge threw a handful of something, and then Fudge stepped into the fire and disappeared.

"Huh..." John Major leaned back in his chair dejectedly. After a while, he sat upright again and began to rack his brains to make up the reasons for martial law in London.

…………

"Ha, I lost again." Edgar dropped the chess piece, ignored the knight's abuse of him, and said in a brisk tone: "I really don't have any talent in wizard chess."

Golov smiled and put away the chess pieces and the chessboard one by one, and then poured half a glass of fire whiskey for Edgar and himself. "Where do you think the dark wizards of the Crow Party will choose as the attack location tomorrow?"

"Hmm... I don't know." Edgar drained the wine in the glass in one gulp, and then poured half a glass more unsatisfactoryly. "The dark wizards of the Crow Party are all mentally ill. What do they want to do? , no one can say for sure. But if I had to guess, I think they probably want to attack the Ministry of Magic."

"It seems we have different ideas." Golov laughed and took out a piece of paper. "But Moon's ideas are quite similar to mine."

Edgar was startled, then overjoyed, and took the note from Golov's hand: "Hey, this stinky boy Moon, if you have the time to write to you, don't you know to write one to me too?" Seal it?"

Golov couldn't laugh or cry, "Don't be stupid, this is not a letter he wrote recently. It was sent by Professor Dumbledore last week."

"Ah, this..." Edgar unfolded the note and took a look, and found that there was only one sentence written on it - "Muggles and Diagon Alley."

"Uh, Golov, are you trying to say that you and Moon both think that the Crows will attack Muggles and Diagon Alley?" Edgar looked at Golov with a blank look in his eyes, "Really? It's reasonable to attack Muggles. What do they mean by attacking Diagon Alley? They want to attack Gringotts because they are short of money?"

Golov took a sip of the wine, feeling the heat and mellow aroma of the wine in his mouth. Then he took a deep breath and said slowly: "Of course not. Think about it, why do the black wizards of the Crow Party bring werewolves with them?" Such a chaos happened? Is it to avenge the werewolf? "

"That's definitely not the case. The dark wizards of the Crow Party are no different from other typical dark wizards. They also look down on werewolves... That's right. If they don't study their transformation magic carefully, why do they have to do something with werewolves?" Edgar Blinking his eyes, he became more and more confused.

"After learning the truth from you, Moon came to talk to me about this matter. His final thought was that the dark wizards of the Crow Party probably just wanted to force Fudge to fall." Golov said softly. After knocking on the wine glass, the glass made of crystal emitted a crisp and pleasant buzzing sound. "Then they supported their own people to ascend to the throne."

Edgar's hand that was about to pick up the wine glass suddenly froze. He seemed to realize something and said with some difficulty: "You want to say that the person I suspect exists in the ministry and delivers the message to the black wizard of the Crow Party, Probably high enough to run for the next Minister of Magic?"

Golov nodded lightly, "Yes, just like what Munn told us when you first woke up, that person was not only a senior official of the Ministry of Magic, but also a confidant of Fudge. Munn asked me about some of the crow gangsters at that time. After I told him what the wizard had done before, we talked about it again, and he found that almost every time the black wizards of the Crow Party caused trouble, they had clear intentions."

As he spoke, Golov stood up and pulled out a stack of newspapers from the bookshelf next to him, including the "Daily Prophet", "Wizard Weekly" and "New Star" that wizards often read, as well as those published by Muggle newspapers. newspaper.

"After the poisonous fog incidents in 1952 and 1813, a large number of Muggles and wizards disappeared; in 1868, the semi-finished flesh and blood wave appeared in County Fermanagh, and within a few days, the director of the Department for the Management and Control of Magical Creatures was changed. Sir; after what happened to you last time, the Ministry of Magic also changed some officials..."

"Obviously, the people of the Crow Party actually act in two ways. One is to collect experimental materials. This has been discovered a long time ago. There have been several similar reports within the Ministry of Magic many years ago. "

"The other one is actually vaguely related to the Ministry of Magic. Some people have proposed it before, but it has always been only conjecture. Because there was a big disturbance, the Ministry of Magic rotated a group of officials related to it. This kind of thing is simply It's normal. There's no way to be sure that this was really planned by the Crow Party. What's more, many times, the officials who were kicked out of their positions were in collusion with the Crow Party, which weakened this possibility. After all, every year There will always be some officials who are confused with the dark wizards."

"But the problem is..." Golov unfolded the stack of newspapers and revealed a list inside. "This is what I compiled. The last time you and Eric Lee ruined the plan of the black wizard of the Crow Party, , a list of officials who have been promoted in the Ministry of Magic and the reasons for their promotion."

Edgar took the list and glanced at it, then his eyes paused and rested on one of the names.

"George Sargent?"

"It seems that your insight is as good as ever." Golov gave an affirmative answer. "After I compiled this list, Moon and I both realized that there was something wrong with this person. After that incident, , he was directly promoted from a memory cancellation officer to the director of the memory cancellation command. The reason was that the previous director of the memory cancellation command was the cousin of a high-level traitor who was found to be a traitor. Therefore, after the director of the memory cancellation command was arrested, , Fudge promoted Sargent to the position by name.”

Edgar nodded, "I remember this, and if I remember correctly, after Fudge became Minister of Magic, this George Sargent directly took over from Fudge and became the director of Magical Accidents and Disasters." The deputy director of the department, his reputation in the department has not been bad in the past two years. Except for a few senior officials, he has the highest reputation."

"More importantly, think about it, Edgar." Golov stretched out his finger and tapped George Sargent's name heavily. "Bones has never been very interested in the position of minister. She refused to run for office last time Barnold left office, and Barty Crouch Sr. was already destined to miss out on the ministerial position. Those seniors who had strong pressure on George Sargent either missed the chance to become ministers. Either they don’t care about the position at all, or they are people like Scrimgeour and Thicknesse who are bound to be on the front line in this battle.”

"If the dark wizards of the Crow Party take those werewolves and pay special attention to Scrimgeour and the others during the battle, the position of the next minister will be..."

"It almost has to be George Sargent. Even if Fudge is willing to expose George Sargent after he steps down, by then, I'm afraid most people will think that he is just unwilling to leave his peak. That position. Besides, who can guarantee that Fudge will not also die in this chaos?"