"This is truly shocking…shocking…Albus, you didn't tell me any of this before I came…"
"Trust me, Cornelius, I didn't know much more than you did."
Standing at the door, Kael listened to the conversation inside and raised his hand to knock on the Headmaster's Office's oak door.
The door opened quickly.
Inside the Headmaster's Office, Cornelius Fudge was sitting opposite Dumbledore, and he looked rather nervous…
Two days before the holiday, Dumbledore and Sirius finally returned, and without Kael even saying anything, Dumbledore wrote a letter to the Ministry of Magic and found a random excuse to lure Fudge to Hogwarts.
Kael had thought Dumbledore could handle the rest himself, but just as he was getting ready to go, Professor McGonagall came running to say the Headmaster wanted him.
Looking at Kael standing in the doorway, Fudge frowned and said, "Dumbledore, this is…?"
"Kael is the one who first discovered something wrong with that rat." Dumbledore said with a cheerful smile, "So I invited him too. If there are any details I might overlook, he can clarify things for you."
"Oh, remarkable indeed…" Fudge muttered absent-mindedly.
Kael noticed that the Pensieve, always kept in the cupboard, had been brought out. Clearly, before he arrived, the two of them had already viewed Peter Pettigrew's memory.
"Albus, you really handed me a difficult problem…"
Fudge glanced at Kael and said hesitantly, "Peter Pettigrew has the Merlin Knight Order First Class medal, twelve years now.
And we've had Sirius Black locked up for a year… If I tell everyone now that their identities were mistaken, I'll drown in Howlers."
"Being Minister of Magic isn't easy. I have to deal with so many things every day." Fudge twisted his top hat, "Is it possible that the rat's memory is fake? And you've said it yourself—it can't change back, and there's no way to prove it's an illegal Animagus…right?"
"You're absolutely right, Cornelius." Dumbledore sighed and agreed, "It's eaten too many Mandrake Leaves, which does make things very difficult. I suppose you can't do much either.
It's just a shame about Sirius—not only locked up for twelve years for nothing, but also hunted by Dementors the whole time."
Fudge looked up, somewhat surprised.
He'd expected Dumbledore to argue him into a corner; he'd already prepared a bunch of excuses for pushing things off. But then the situation suddenly reversed, and by the sound of it, the other party didn't intend to interfere anymore.
"Well then…" Fudge said calmly, "I suppose you were right before: Dementors really shouldn't be so close to Hogwarts… I'll have them moved when I get back."
"Thank you for that, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, getting to his feet and, at the same time, discreetly winking at Kael.
So Kael stood up too, cleared his throat, and muttered in a voice just loud enough for everyone to hear, "Such a pity, twelve years ago you weren't the Minister. Otherwise… I'm sure none of these mistakes would've happened."
Fudge's expression froze.
Kael's words suddenly reminded him.
That's right—twelve years ago, it wasn't him who gave the order to arrest Sirius; he hadn't even been involved at all.
Fudge thought of many things, but his expression didn't change in the slightest.
"You two definitely planned all this." He looked at Dumbledore with annoyance. "And I bet it was your idea."
"Sorry, Cornelius, I don't follow you." Dumbledore said with surprise, "Did we do something?"
"Don't play innocent, you crafty old fox." Fudge laughed, "You had Kael say those things, didn't you? Pretending to praise me, but actually putting pressure on me to agree to a retrial for Black."
"You're mistaken, Cornelius," Dumbledore said with a strange expression. "I never told Kael to say that…"
"Oh?" Fudge chuckled, seeming to see right through everything. "Kael's a good kid, not nearly so sly."
Dumbledore's face looked even more peculiar.
Kael acted as if he hadn't heard, or maybe as if he agreed. "Minister, I didn't mean anything by it…I really do think you're a good Minister."
"Alright then, I have to admit—I fell for it." Fudge sat back down in his chair, setting his hat aside.
"Black's case is really a failing of the Ministry of Magic. As the current Minister, I have a duty to correct that mistake."
"Cornelius, you're agreeing to a retrial?" Dumbledore asked.
"Isn't that what you were after?" Fudge said, "But before that, we have to find Black first…"
He hadn't even finished his sentence when a ragged man stepped out of the corner of the Headmaster's Office.
It was Sirius Black himself.
Instinctively, Fudge jumped up from his chair, about to yell for help.
But he quickly caught himself, and his hand that was reaching for his wand made a subtle detour; he undid a button at his collar, and shot Dumbledore a strange look—as though to say… You've already found him, and you claim this isn't your plan?
Dumbledore didn't rebut, only said:
"I found him while he was dealing with two Death Eaters…"
"Wait a minute," Fudge interrupted, "Did Black steal someone else's wand?"
"Precisely because he didn't…" Dumbledore said, "which made things very dangerous, but he managed it…"
Black dragged two unconscious people out from the corner; their faces were badly bruised, obviously knocked out cold.
Fudge carefully tried to identify them.
They didn't have the Dark Mark on their wrists, so probably not anyone important. But with Dumbledore here, it was safe to say they really were Death Eaters—Aurors could check their identities later to confirm.
"Since Black still can't move about freely…" Dumbledore said, "Cornelius, can you help take these two back to the Ministry of Magic when you go?
That's what he wants, too."
"Take them back?" Fudge's eyes lit up, "Oh, of course, no problem, that's exactly what I should do."
He looked quite pleased. "Even while evading Dementors, he still doesn't forget to fight Death Eaters—I'm starting to believe he really was framed."
"Whether he was framed still needs thorough investigation," Dumbledore said. "For now, let me keep an eye on him. How's that?"
"That's best," said Fudge. "But how are we supposed to investigate…"
He glanced at the cage on the table, "The Wizengamot won't accept a rat's memory as evidence; even as the Minister, I can't change that.
And if we don't see Peter Pettigrew in person, even if Black volunteers to drink Veritaserum, it won't help."
"You needn't worry about that," said Dumbledore. "We've already found a way to make Peter recover, but it'll take some time."
"Of course that's fine." Fudge looked at the two Death Eaters tied up together. "If the Ministry can help in any way, just let me know… Like I said earlier, this was a mistake made by the Ministry, and I'd be happy to help make amends."
Dumbledore raised his head a little…from Fudge's tone, it sounded as though he already believed Black was innocent.
…