Harry Potter and the Burnt Badger

"You told me earlier that there was a person in the diary from many years ago who would appear and talk to you. You also said that that person's name was Tom Riddle, and he once won the Special Contribution to the School Award like me, right? , Susan." Moon said solemnly: "I specifically asked the professors that this so-called Tom Riddle was the original name of Voldemort who once turned the entire wizarding world upside down."

As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked. Even Susan's mother, a Muggle, was full of fear of Voldemort because her husband's brothers and his family died at the hands of Death Eaters.

As for Susan, there was obviously no need to say more. She sat down directly on the stool and looked at the diary with only horror and fear in her eyes.

"There is no doubt that extremely powerful black magic has been cast in this diary, so it can be disguised as a teenage Tom Riddle to confuse people." Moon casually revised the true situation of the diary into a mess - The Horcrux issue is not yet suitable for everyone to know. "That's why I said, Susan, you don't have to blame yourself. Even Professor Dumbledore would call the black magic that can achieve this step 'rare'." , for you, a little wizard who is not yet an adult, it is absolutely normal for you to fall into this trap."

Ms. Bones had stood up at some point. She walked behind Susan, patted Susan's shoulder gently, and said softly: "That's right, Susan. Besides, all this has passed. You You didn’t really do anything wrong, right?”

Susan came back to her senses and nodded with difficulty, but judging from her expression, it was obvious that it would take her a long time to let go of this matter.

"So, who left this thing in my house?" Susan's father looked a little pale. "We have never made enemies with such a weird thing..."

"That's not something I can know." Moon said with a wry smile: "I just confirmed with Ms. Bones that you don't usually have the habit of collecting cursed items or black magic items, so I deduced who this might be. Stay here."

"Of course, if you are suspicious... I do have a target of suspicion. After all, everything is too coincidental, but after all, this is just a suspicion and cannot be taken seriously."

Moon made a big circle in his words, but he never named anyone.

Susan's father, Mr. Bones, quickly found his own suspect in Moon's convoluted words.

"Lucius Malfoy! It must be him!" Susan's father suddenly stood up from the sofa, the anger in his brows and eyes seemed to be about to set the whole house on fire. "It's him! That's right!" It is both something related to...the mysterious man and a dark magic item, and when he came to visit me, it was around the time of Arthur Weasley's search. Yes...absolutely right!"

Moon and Ms. Bones looked at each other, and just like that, the goal was achieved.

Moon knew the answer early, and Ms. Bones also learned from Professor Dumbledore that the diary originally belonged to Lucius Malfoy.But the source of all this information is Moon's Legilimency towards Susan. It is not suitable evidence to be put on the table, so it is even less suitable for them to say it directly from their mouths.

Only by guiding Mr. Bones to find the answer himself, and letting him, a real victim, raise his well-founded and reasonable doubts can what Ms. Bones does next become logical.

Although Moon and Ms. Bones could have just told Mr. Bones everything and let him act out a play.But after all, the performance is not really good, and some things, like Horcruxes, for the time being, the fewer people know about it, the safer it is.

Hearing what her father said, Susan suddenly thought of something. She pursed her lips and turned pale, and said with some trembling: "It seems... yes, I remember that I should be at Lucius Marr." It was only after the day of Fulai’s visit that I found the diary on an old bookshelf at home.”

"Damn Lucius Malfoy..." Mr. Bones clenched his fists bitterly, then turned to look at Ms. Bones, "He should be sent to Azkaban!"

Ms. Bones shook her head slightly and was about to explain. Golov, who had been sitting aside and watching the 'drama' in front of her without saying a word, suddenly said: "I'm afraid this won't work. If it's just With the existing so-called 'evidence', that old fox Malfoy will only remain a suspect at best, and will not really be convicted of anything, right, Minister."

Although Golov didn't know the overall plan of the whole thing, based on his understanding of Munn, having been with him day and night for so many years, and the reminder in An's eyes, he could naturally tell that Munn had been there from beginning to end. They are always controlling the rhythm of the conversation and trying to steer things in a certain direction.

Therefore, he would cooperate with Munn at the right time.

"What should we do? Is it possible to let him go like this?" Mr. Bones's face suddenly darkened. "By leaving such a dangerous diary here, Old Malfoy is obviously trying to destroy my family."

"It's definitely impossible to let him go, Mr. Bones." Moon praised his mother and uncle in his heart, and echoed: "You are right, Lucius Malfoy definitely has bad intentions. But if we want to really catch his fox tail, we still have to think of another way."

At this time, it was finally the time for Ms. Bones to perform, and it was also the right time for her to make the final decision and make the plan.

"Let's do this, Josh [Note 1]." After thinking for a moment, Ms. Bones said slowly: "Tomorrow you go to the Ministry of Magic and make a record of your suspicions and understanding of this matter. Submit it, so that we can keep an eye on Lucius Malfoy later to see if he is planning anything else in private."

"Okay." Susan's father agreed very decisively. It was obvious that he was really angry at Lucius Malfoy at this moment.Not only that, he also quickly gave another suggestion, "If it was Lucius Malfoy who really left that diary here, would it be possible that those who were responsible for searching for dark magic items also received it?" Did he come here because of his report? I remember they clearly said at the time that someone reported that illegal items were hidden in my home."

"In this case, does it mean that as long as we find those responsible for the search and ask who initiated the report, we can prove that Lucius Malfoy did everything?"

Looking at her brother's innocent look, Ms. Bones shook her head helplessly, "It's useless, Josh. Lucius Malfoy is very cunning. He dares to report you here, or you have to invite him." A trustworthy person or someone hired to report on his behalf, or simply passed the information directly to a ministry official who is closer to him, and the report is most likely anonymous. It is difficult for us to make things clear in this way alone. Related to Lucius Malfoy."

Mr. Bones was so angry that his teeth were itching. He sighed heavily, and then said angrily: "This guy has not been doing good things for so many years, ha! Let me tell you, what he did back then was simply If you use it to deceive ghosts, it's like 'being controlled by a mysterious man using the Imperius Curse'. I really don't understand how Minister Barnold believed him."

The people here, whether it is Ms. Bones as the current minister, Moon, Golov, or Nora, all know the answer to this matter clearly.

Unfortunately, it is always difficult to talk about this kind of thing on the table.

The reason why old Malfoy was able to escape the disaster in the first place was due to just a few reasons:

First, the Imperius Curse is indeed an excuse that cannot be verified;

Second, Lucius Malfoy is not so much an extreme dark wizard as an extremely self-interested businessman. Without Voldemort, he would not be able to do much harm;

Third, at that time Voldemort had just fallen, and the British Ministry of Magic and the British wizarding community, which had endured many years of ups and downs, were in dire straits. They needed to maintain stability and recover as soon as possible - and letting Lucius Malfoy go would without any surprise Bring a load of Galleons to the Ministry of Magic.

Therefore, the pardon for Lucius Malfoy is slightly different from the pardon for other Death Eaters for whom there is no clear evidence.Pardoning Old Malfoy was actually more based on profit considerations.

And these words, it is obvious that no matter how well they are known, they can only be 'knowingly', especially today when Minister Millicent Barnold has completely bid farewell to the position of minister.

An has never cared much about political content, nor does she care much about it, so she doesn't bother to pay attention to these things at all, not to mention that what she is talking about now has nothing to do with Moon.But because of this, she quickly noticed the stagnation and awkwardness in the atmosphere in the living room, and quickly moved the topic aside.

With Ann's guidance and Ms. Bones's gentle words of advice to Susan's father, everyone soon turned to chatting about other things.But perhaps because Moon just mentioned the mysterious man, everyone's expressions were somewhat unhappy, and Susan seemed to have never been able to fully recover.

After chatting for a while, Susan's mother began to prepare the meal, and Susan finally got the chance to return to her room temporarily, presumably to digest the news that shocked her today.While the others continued to talk about the family's troubles and messes, Ms. Bones called Moon and took him for a walk in the courtyard outside the house.

"Now there is a reason to keep an eye on Lucius Malfoy. Are you really sure that he will reveal his true nature?" Ms. Bones said softly while looking at the endless wilderness in the distance. "I still think you may be able to expose everything. It's easy to think, Lucius Malfoy is definitely more cunning than you think."

Moon thought about the news he got from Rodriguez yesterday, and suddenly said: "Then what do you think, we just alert the enemy?"

"Tell me about it?" Ms. Bones did not comment, but looked at Moon with interest.

"The tracking of Lucius Malfoy does not need to be carried out secretly. Just make this matter bigger and let the news out. Just say that Mr. Bones reported Lucius Malfoy in an attempt to frame the blame, and put a book with The diary containing strong black magic was left at the Bones family, and after testing, it was found that the diary did contain strong black magic and was related to the mysterious person from that year. The details of the incident are still under investigation."

"On the one hand, this is a way to tell Lucius Malfoy that his little plan has been completely realized and there is no need to have any illusions anymore."

Moon put his hands in his pockets and explained the plan with a calm face. "On the other hand, according to Professor Dumbledore's speculation, not only is Voldemort not dead, but he is still wandering in the world relying on Horcruxes. In this case , it is possible that Voldemort is also paying attention to the news and news in the British wizarding world. No one knows that this diary is a Horcrux, but Voldemort must know that Voldemort only needs to publish two photos with the report, and Voldemort will be able to recognize it."

"At that time, even if Lucius Malfoy can still suppress his anxiety and learn that his Horcrux has been disposed of in this way without any effect, Voldemort may still find a way to contact Lucius Malfoy. Yes. What do you think? Minister?"

A few days ago, Moon would not have proposed this idea, because Voldemort was probably just a lonely ghost, and even if he wanted to contact Lucius Malfoy, there was a high probability that he would not be able to contact him.Unless they directly say that they have found out that the diary is a Horcrux, then Voldemort will be forced to jump over the wall, but at the same time, it may also add many variables to the subsequent journey to find Horcruxes.

But now, according to what Rodriguez said, since Voldemort dared to openly seek out those secret societies of dark wizards, he has probably found an important way to resurrect him, and he has great confidence that he can be resurrected in this way. .

The same diary was published in the newspaper. A Voldemort in a state of being alone and a wandering ghost, and a Voldemort who is likely to be resurrected, will definitely have completely different reactions.

In other words, as long as Voldemort's reason for sending people to find the Crow Party is not just to brag, then this stone will not be useless if it is run out, but it may hit several birds in one fell swoop.

"Then what?" Ms. Bones looked at Moon. "I can see from your expression that you seem to have some unfinished words."

"Then... there is a price for doing this." Moon added the last point of his thoughts as he said, "If we fail and we don't catch any of Lucius Malfoy's flaws, then this matter will obviously make you Your statement will be damaged, and it may become a basis for others to criticize you in the future. Therefore, it is up to you to decide whether to do this. After all, the price is yours."

Ms. Bones raised her eyebrows lightly and said with a smile: "It turns out that you have also considered the impact on me after failure. The more I see you, the more I feel that you are really suitable to be a staff member who can help make suggestions."

"It's just that I think more about it out of habit. It's just a small skill, not as powerful as you praised me."

"Just do it the way you said." Ms. Bones did not teach Moon not to be too modest, nor did she think too much. Instead, she made a straightforward decision, "If you want to cherish feathers, you shouldn't be the minister." That’s the best path for me.”

Moon didn't answer, just bowed.

"Before I go back, I have one more question to ask you." Ms. Bones turned around and faced the house in the middle of the courtyard again, but she did not rush towards it, but stood there steadily. The window looked at Golov, who was chatting with Susan's father on the sofa with a smile on his face.

"What do you think of the Malfoy family over the past few years?"

Moon paused for a second before giving his answer, "If you are rich, you will have more than you need, and if you are strong, you will not be enough. If things really change, I'm afraid it will be difficult to protect yourself. It seems that you can have both sides, but in fact, in the eyes of people at the top, there is only support." The Malfoy family, which only gains strength through power, is more like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered."

"What if he is rich and powerful?" Ms. Bones turned her head and glanced at Moon intently, as if she meant something.

"Isn't that the Malfoy family?" Moon spread his hands. "If they were not accustomed to the businessman's nature of investing, taking sides, working for the powerful and making profits for themselves, the Malfoy family today would definitely be very different, but it would be What it will become, no one can say.”

"That's true." Ms. Bones laughed. "Let's go back. Can I take what you just said as a guarantee?"

"What guarantee?" This time, Moon replied quickly. He looked at Ms. Bones, waiting for this person's answer.

"Make sure that the Shafiq family will not gradually become like the Malfoy family." Ms. Bones did not beat around the bush, but said straightforwardly: "Spreading trouble, playing both sides, and always turning against the so-called stronger person and their own interests. .”

After hearing that Ms. Bones had not become another power player like Fudge, Moon also breathed a sigh of relief. He shrugged and said in a joking tone: "At least recently, I haven't heard of Gossip." Uncle Love has the idea of ​​changing the family name."

Chapter 68 Accepting leave

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At the end of the Christmas break, Ms. Bones publicly stated that Lucius Malfoy had been named as a suspect for possessing a cursed object containing powerful dark magic, and was trying to frame the Bones family. Put the blame on.

At the same time, at the urging of Ms. Bones, the Daily Prophet also posted a photo of the diary in its report.

In just one day, the entire wizarding world began to discuss this——

Some people think that the Malfoy family will definitely be in trouble this time. They dare to do such a small trick to the blood relatives of the current Minister of Magic. What’s more, the minister is still a typical resolute and resolute person. I am afraid that in a few days, the Malfoy family will It will completely become the dust of history.

Some people think this is just another farce. The Malfoy family has been standing for many years, how could it suffer any substantial damage?If the Malfoy family could be "killed" so easily, how could they survive so many ups and downs?

Everyone has their own ideas, which is normal, but what’s funny is that throughout the wizarding world, no one who paid attention to this matter even suspected that this matter was not Lucius. Malfoy did it.

It seems that at least the image of him and his family in everyone's mind is surprisingly consistent.

In this regard, Mr. Malfoy did not express any emotion.On the contrary, Lucius Malfoy maintained complete silence, did not argue with anyone, and did not try to use any newspapers to defend his innocence.

This directly confirmed everyone's view: Ms. Bones did not wrongly accuse him, and it was really he who did this.

It is foreseeable that in the future, not only the Ministry of Magic, but also most people in the British wizarding world will pay more attention to the Malfoy family.

…………

A few days later, the Christmas vacation officially came to an end. The little wizards, who had been lying comfortably at home for more than half a month, had to pack their bags, board the Hogwarts Express again, and embark on the road back to school. .

Last night, Olanda and Shawnie dragged her along to tell stories for most of the night, and after getting up this morning, Owen hugged her thigh and gave a long farewell speech.By the time Moon arrived belatedly at King's Cross Station and crossed Platform 9 3/4, the express train was already about to leave.

Not bothering to say goodbye to his uncle who came to see him off at the station, Moon hurried past the parents who were still waving at the train window, quickly found a door and slipped into the car.When he wanted to go back to find Uncle Golov, the train had already started to whistle, pulling his eyes away from him in time, and drove out along the track.

Moon reluctantly picked up his backpack, zipped up his suitcase, and began to search for Cedric and others along the carriage section.

The train was filled with noisy sounds as always. Groups of little wizards gathered together, either chatting or fighting. In short, there was no stopping.The prefects' inspection hadn't started yet, so all the little wizards were having fun at this moment.It consumes the longing for my friends that I have accumulated throughout the holiday.

But Moon felt that this should not be the reason for them to poke their chests with their wands.

"Ah, I'm so sorry." The little Ravenclaw witch who accidentally stabbed Moon with a sword blushed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."

Moon sighed and waved his hand, "It's okay. Be careful next time. If I am a first-year wizard, I might be poked in the head by your wand..."

The little witch's face turned red all of a sudden, and she didn't care to say anything else, and quickly returned to the compartment where she and her friends were.Moon took the box and took two steps forward. Unsurprisingly, he heard the excited and joyful voice of the little witch coming from the compartment:

"I knew it! Fox would never be angry about something like this! Do you want to try it next time?"

"Alas..." Munn let out another long sigh silently. Good guy, are all the little wizards now so...brave?

To be honest, it is definitely a big loss for Gryffindor that this little witch was not sorted into Gryffindor.

He squeezed through the car little by little and entered the next car connection. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Percy and Penello who were secretly staying here, whispering as carefully as thieves. .

"Uh... Hi, did I come at a bad time?"

To be honest, Moon didn't really want to say hello. After all, Percy and Penelope always deliberately kept their distance in school - meaning they would only nod politely to each other when they met in the corridor.

But now, the two of them are "holding arms and talking heart to heart". Look at Percy's affectionate look, and look at Penello's happy smile.If the two of them hadn't hugged each other yet, Moon would have estimated that this section would have been classified as inappropriate for children.

If you said that these two people would only hug each other but not kiss each other, Moon would just think that you were thinking nonsense.

But the problem was that he couldn't say hello, because when he saw these two people, Percy and Penello also glanced at him.

It's very embarrassing. It's time to discuss with Professor Dumbledore to install larger windows on the two doors connecting the carriages.

However, now that everyone has discovered each other and can no longer greet each other, Moon thinks that it is better to tease them openly, otherwise the three of them will only be embarrassed together.

Now, with this teasing, at least he didn't need to feel embarrassed.

The main thing is a plan.

Faced with Munn's teasing, Penello looked particularly calm and generous. She immediately waved her hand to Munn and responded with a smile: "Hey, no, no, we are planning to go on inspection, um... remember to help. We keep it a secret~"

In contrast, Percy was obviously a little...well, at a loss.He couldn't even say a word. He seemed like he wanted to put a mask on his face, or give it to Mu En and forget everything.

If it were anyone else, Percy probably wouldn't be so unnatural, but the person standing in front of him now is Moon after all, a man who is related to his future - after Christmas, when he visited Shafiq Manor , Mr. Shafik, that is, Golov Shafik, has clearly shown his intention to cultivate him.

He also vowed at the time that he had no interest in love, that he only liked work, loved his work, and wished he could shine in a senior position in the Ministry of Magic.

The slap in the face came so suddenly, and it was obvious that Percy was at a loss.What if Moon goes back and mentions this matter to Mr. Shafiq, what if Mr. Shafiq questions his enthusiasm and love for work...

Percy's thoughts had already leapt to the scene where he was kicked out of the Ministry of Magic.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I understand." Moon made a 'no problem' gesture, and then glanced at Percy helplessly. Feeling that his worries and entanglements were about to overflow, he had to add He said: "Don't worry, I will never tell anyone about your relationship, but it's true that you two are about to graduate. Even if you talk openly in school, there won't be any problem."

Penello smiled brightly, and then looked at Percy helplessly. There was no doubt that the reason why the two of them were so secretive was almost entirely because of Percy's thoughts.

And what about Percy?He was already muttering something weird like "you don't understand", "prefect" and "work".

Moon shrugged and said no more to the two of them. Anyway, as mentioned before, Percy is a bit of a brainiac. It is difficult for him to influence Percy's ideas. Talking more is useless. It is better to start quickly. slip.

There were no accidents along the way since then. When they found Cedric and the others, these three guys were playing Muggle cards that Gall had brought from home.As soon as Munn put down his luggage and finished preparing, he was dragged by Yaerlin to join their blackjack army.

Just like that, when the rumbling express train finally stopped at Hogsmeade Station, and the little wizards were preparing to get off the train one after another, Gal and Yaerlin were "satisfied" and gave away all their candies for the next two months. Moon and Cedric.

This time back to school after the Christmas break, no first-year wizards need to visit the campus.Therefore, Hagrid did not need to go alone to lead the new students. Instead, he stayed beside the long line of Thestral carriages and greeted the young wizards to get on the carriage.

Riding on the dark night and the cold wind of mid-January, the shadow of Hogwarts Castle was already faintly visible amidst the running carriages.

The four of them, Moon, who had also saved up their vacation time, were still chatting. Yaerin accidentally or unintentionally brought up the Duel Club assessment before the Christmas vacation, which firmly hit Gal's pain point.

"Hmph, wait and see, I will definitely pass the next assessment." Gal pouted unconvinced and said with confidence - just because he failed again in the second assessment before, and the one who already had The story of "a man without determination - Gal" that no one had mentioned for a while was immediately pulled out of the dusty memories.

Even the Christmas card Milton sent to Gal said: "To Gal who has no determination."

There is no doubt that this 'encouraged' Gall to a great extent.Because he knows very well that if he still fails to pass the next assessment, I am afraid that from now on, he will have to bear this title for the rest of his life and will never be able to take it off again.