Chapter 597: Fudge's Change of Heart
"Rumors? Cornelius..."
Dumbledore's expression was so calm, so profoundly still, that it only served to
stoke the fires of Fudge's irrational fury.
"How could it be anything but rumors!" Fudge bellowed, his face swelling to a
violent shade of magenta. "It seems to me that you lot are determined to
manufacture a state of panic, to dismantle everything we have spent thirteen
years carefully building!"
From the shadows, Snape watched him with a cold, unblinking stare. He looked at
the frantic little wizard who refused to believe that his orderly, comfortable
world was about to be reduced to ash—who refused to accept that Lord Voldemort
had risen again.
"Voldemort has returned," Dumbledore said once more, his voice gaining a hard
edge. "Cornelius, if you accept this truth immediately and take the necessary
precautions, we might still salvage the situation. The first and most vital step
is to remove the Dementors from Azkaban—"
"Preposterous!" Fudge shrieked. "Withdraw the Dementors? The moment I suggest
such a thing, I'll be escorted from my office! Half the population only sleeps
at night because they know the Dementors are standing guard at that fortress!"
"Cornelius, the rest of us will find it very difficult to sleep if we know you
have left the Dark Lord's most dangerous supporters in charge of the very men
who will serve him at a moment's notice!" Dumbledore countered. "Those creatures
have no loyalty to you, Fudge! Voldemort can offer them a scope of power and a
feast of despair that you cannot begin to match! Once he has the Dementors
behind him, his old circle will flock back to his side, and you will find it
impossible to stop him from reclaiming the influence he held thirteen years
ago!"
Fudge's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, his rage leaving him
momentarily speechless.
"The second measure you must take—and you must act tonight," Dumbledore pressed,
"is to send envoys to the Giants."
"Envoys to the Giants?" Fudge gasped, finally finding his voice. "What is this
madness?"
"Extend a hand of friendship before it is too late," Dumbledore said. "Voldemort
has already begun to court them. He has done it before, and of all wizards, he
is the only one who can offer them the 'rights' and 'freedom' they crave."
"You... you must be joking!" Fudge was wheezing with shock. He shook his head,
physically recoiling from Dumbledore. "If the public hears I am negotiating with
Giants—creatures they loathe with every fiber of their being—my career is
finished!"
"You are so enamored with your office, Cornelius, that you have lost your
capacity for judgment," Dumbledore said. His voice rose, and the air in the
small hut seemed to vibrate with a sudden, golden aura of power. His eyes flared
with a piercing light. "You attach too much importance to 'purity' of blood! You
always have! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but
what they grow to be!
"I tell you now—if you follow my advice, the Ministry and the entire wizarding
world will remember you as the bravest and greatest Minister in history. But if
you fail to act—history will record that it was your cowardice that gave
Voldemort his second chance to destroy the world we fought to rebuild!"
"Absurd," Fudge whispered, continuing to back away toward the door.
"Insanity..."
A heavy silence followed.
"If you choose to remain this stubborn, Cornelius," Dumbledore said, "then our
paths must diverge. You will do what you deem appropriate. I... I shall act
according to my own will."
There was no threat in Dumbledore's voice; it was a simple statement of fact.
Yet Fudge reacted as if the Headmaster had leveled a wand at his throat.
"Fine! Fine then, Dumbledore!" Fudge shook a trembling finger at him. "I have
given you absolute freedom. I have treated you with nothing but respect. I have
remained silent when I disagreed with your hires—the werewolf, the giant
Hagrid—and your 'unauthorized' curriculum. But if you intend to move against
me—"
"The only thing I intend to move against," Dumbledore said, "is Voldemort. If
you oppose him as well, Cornelius, then we are still on the same side."
Fudge looked like a man standing on shifting sand. He rocked back and forth,
frantically rotating his lime-green bowler hat between his hands. Finally, he
spoke, his voice carrying a note of pathetic pleading. "He won't return, Albus.
It's impossible..."
"Cornelius... enough. I see now." Dumbledore stopped speaking, staring at Fudge
until the man's eyes were filled with a desperate, silent begging. "I am an old
man, Cornelius. My vision is growing dull. If I am to judge whether we should be
'radical' or 'conservative,' I find the choice too difficult to make alone."
"What... what do you mean, radical?" Fudge asked, his political instincts
screaming. He could feel the cold, terrifying light in Dumbledore's eyes.
Instinctively, Fudge reached for the Magic Hand Mirror in his pocket. He wanted
to contact the Aurors waiting outside the gates.
"We must respect the vision of the youth, Cornelius. It is only right. Old men
like us are meant to step into the background eventually... Mr. Green? Would you
come in, please?"
The door creaked open. Fudge spun around in alarm, seeing a head of messy black
hair appear in the window frame before the boy stepped inside.
"Headmaster. Minister Fudge."
"Mr... Mr. Green?" Fudge stammered, frantically smoothing the fabric of his
trousers.
"Good morning, Minister," Sean said politely. He had seen the smoke from the
chimney and assumed Hagrid had returned. He hadn't expected a Ministry summit.
"Ah... yes. Good morning, Sean," Fudge said. Facing the boy, his demeanor
shifted instantly from defensive to oily and cautious.
"Tell me, Sean," Dumbledore said with a small, knowing smile, the wrinkles
around his eyes crinkling. "What are your thoughts on the measures we must
take?"
Fudge opened his mouth to protest, but Dumbledore cut him off with a sharp look.
"We require an honest, impartial, and just mind to adjudicate our disagreement.
Surely you can agree to that, Cornelius?"
"Well... naturally. I only... you see, dear boy," Fudge said to Sean, "news like
this would cause a catastrophic breakdown of public order."
Fudge was a gambler at heart. He looked at the boy and saw the most valuable
project in the wizarding world. He is an honest boy, Fudge thought. Honest
people are the easiest to use.
Silence settled over the four of them.
Sean looked at Fudge. He thought of the casualty reports he'd been reading all
week—the deaths, the injuries, the terror. He looked into the Minister's eyes
with a clarity that made Fudge break into a cold sweat.
"Voldemort has returned," Sean said flatly.
"Now, see here—"
"The Ministry must implement a full-scale response," Sean continued, ignoring
the interruption.
"The Ministry does not take orders from—" Fudge's face was turning a sour,
sickly grey. He realized with a jolt that these two were a united front.
Dumbledore had just secured his successor, and he hadn't even briefed the
Ministry on the wind's direction.
"Doing so will save lives," Sean said simply.
Fudge's jaw tightened. He gripped his hat so hard the felt began to deform.
"He told you to take measures. Are your ears blocked?"
Suddenly, the door was kicked open. A tall, hooded figure stepped through, the
wind whipping his cloak. Only his chin was visible, but Fudge felt a jolt of
terrifying familiarity.
"You shouldn't be here," Dumbledore said, his voice turning ice-cold.
Sean noticed a flicker of dejection—of resentment—on the stranger's face.
"You asked me to come, and now you're throwing me out? Albus, your heart is a
fickle thing," the hooded man sneered.
Dumbledore's gaze sharpened into a lethal glare. The stranger let out a scoff
and turned back toward the door. He didn't bother to close it, leaving the hut
open to the elements.
He's throwing a tantrum, Sean realized.
"Who... who was that?" Fudge asked, his voice shaking.
"He'll find you soon enough. You'll know him then," Dumbledore said with a hint
of pained resignation.
Fudge didn't understand, but he felt an instinctive dread. He looked at Sean and
saw something in the boy's eyes that bothered him more than the stranger.
Is that... pity? Fudge wondered.
"I hope you consider this seriously, Minister," Sean said significantly. "This
time, it isn't just about the victims. It's about your own survival."
"Nonsense... what is this talk of survival? Mr. Green, you should tell me—"
Fudge tried to suppress his panic. "You know that from the beginning... I mean,
I am willing to hear your suggestions, but..."
Fudge's face paled. He realized he could no longer feel the connection to his
Aurors through the M-Net. The mirrors were silent.
"Don't bother with the front gates, sir," Sean added helpfully.
"Mr. Green!" Fudge's composure broke completely. He grabbed Sean's hand like a
drowning man grabbing a rope.
Who was the stranger? Why did he feel like he was being hunted? Dumbledore,
Green... who else did they have hidden in this castle?
"Are you willing to let the Ministry act?" Sean asked.
"Of course! Naturally! Opposing You-Know-Who—it is the Ministry's primary duty!
We must ensure the safety of every citizen!" Fudge pivoted instantly.
Sean wasn't surprised by the change, only the speed of it. He knew that if Fudge
didn't take measures, the "other" Dark Lord might take measures of his own.
"The Azkaban guards must be replaced. If the reports are true..."
Fudge wasn't a total fool. He knew Dumbledore's words held eighty percent truth,
and with Sean Green's endorsement, it became a certainty. He didn't want to
believe Dumbledore because Albus challenged his authority. But Sean? Sean was a
boy who didn't want power. Fudge knew that if you gave Sean Green the Ministry,
he'd only use it to expand the library.
He was a "safe" Legend to support. If Fudge had Sean Green in his corner, his
own seat would be safer than Gringotts.
"I give you my word," Sean said.
"Then I am... well..." Fudge looked at the boy, searching for a sign of
alliance. "I trust you, Mr. Green. I want you to know—it is because of you that
I am doing this."
Sean offered a steady, reliable nod.
"Replacing the guards will be a massive undertaking. We need reliable, powerful
wizards... and personnel is short these days," Fudge said, "struggling" with the
logistics.
"Agree to it," a cold voice whispered from outside the window. Again, only Sean
seemed to hear it.
"Perhaps I can be of assistance with the staffing," Sean offered.
"Splendid! Simply splendid!" Fudge beamed. His gamble had paid off. The "Hermes"
faction was officially in league with him. He wasn't alone against the Dark Lord
anymore; he was standing with the most powerful boy in the world.
"As for the Giants... I'll send a Ministry delegation immediately," Fudge
promised. He leaned in, his voice a conspiratorial whisper. "I'm doing this
entirely on faith in your character, Sean. I hope you remember that."
Sean watched the oily Minister and realized that every man had a price.
"I must return to the Ministry. You've given me quite a lot to process today..."
Fudge squeaked, looking back at the door. "The front gate...?"
"It is open to you, sir."
"Right. Good."
Fudge's stout frame squeezed back out of the door. He vanished into the snow.
Only Sean and Dumbledore remained, staring at each other for the first time in
three months.
"Professor Snape..." Sean began carefully.
Dumbledore let out a slow, heavy sigh.
☆☆☆
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you