The woman outside the door walked in unceremoniously.
She looked around, her gaze stopping on Harry.
"Harry Potter, you're here."
Harry's heart skipped a beat, and he bravely stepped forward.
The woman's face was round and pale, her lips thin as blades, and her smile was unsettling.
She wore a pink suit with a brooch pinned to her collar.
"I am the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for magic, Dolores Umbridge." Her voice was high-pitched, with a saccharine artificiality.
"By Minister Fudge's order, I'm taking you back."
Harry was stunned: "Back to my aunt's house?"
"No, no, no." Umbridge shook her head.
"The Ministry of Magic will arrange your accommodation."
"Why?" Harry asked, confused.
The smile on Umbridge's face didn't change: "You don't need to know these things, just obey."
Charlie listened from the side, his brows furrowed.
"How do you prove you're from the Ministry of Magic?"
Umbridge turned to look at him, a flicker of displeasure in her eyes.
"Charlie White, isn't it? I recognize you, the youngest Potions Master. Oh, famous at a young age, but you must remember, you are just a student."
"I don't need to prove anything to you."
At this moment, footsteps were heard from upstairs.
Grandma White came down, holding a set of pajamas Charlie had outgrown.
By the size, they seemed to be for Harry.
"The bed's made, you two go up and rest."
Umbridge saw Grandma White and her brows furrowed tightly. She drew her wand, raising her hand to cast a Spell.
Charlie's face instantly turned cold.
"Expelliarmus!"
A red light shot from his fingertips.
Bang!
Umbridge was blasted backward, hitting the wall, her wand flying out of her hand and landing in Charlie's hand.
[The foolish monarch assaulted a court official during court recess, tyrant points +20]
She slumped to the ground in pain, her eyes filled with terror.
"You… you're mad! I'm the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for magic! How dare you attack me!" Her voice was trembling.
"Minister Fudge won't let you get away with this!"
Charlie walked up to her, his wand pressed against her forehead.
His eyes were terrifyingly cold.
"Give me a reason." His voice was soft, but every word carried murderous intent.
"And pray that reason can buy your life."
Umbridge's face turned pale with fright.
"I… I just wanted to use a Memory Charm on her." She stammered.
"Harry's information is top secret now, Muggles cannot know."
Charlie frowned. "What top secret?"
Umbridge dared not conceal anything this time; the words tumbled out like beans.
"A criminal has escaped from Azkaban, named Sirius Black." Her voice trembled.
"He was Lord Voldemort's most loyal servant, imprisoned in Azkaban twelve years ago, and now he has escaped."
"The Ministry of Magic believes his target is Harry Potter."
Charlie stared at her coldly. "Why?"
"Because Harry defeated You-Know-Who." Umbridge swallowed.
"Black wants revenge for his master. The Ministry of Magic has decided to protect Harry, so they sent me to pick him up."
Charlie's expression grew even more grim.
If Sirius's target really was Harry, then the Orphanage was now in danger.
Harry had already been here; that madman might very well track him here and attack Grandma White.
Charlie turned and helped the still-shaken Grandma White upstairs.
"Grandma, please rest first. I'll handle the rest."
Grandma White looked at him, her eyes filled with worry.
She knew Charlie was no longer an ordinary person at this point. For these magical matters, she couldn't offer help and had to trust Charlie.
"Charlie, don't do anything reckless."
"Don't worry, Grandma." Charlie smiled.
"I know what I'm doing."
Once Grandma White returned to her room, Harry came over, his face full of guilt.
"I'm sorry, Charlie." He lowered his head.
"I didn't know I'd cause you so much trouble. If I had known, I wouldn't have come to find you."
Charlie patted his shoulder.
"This has nothing to do with you."
Then he turned to look at Umbridge.
She had calmed down by now, swallowed, and put on that bureaucratic expression again.
"Mr. White." Her voice lacked some confidence, but the Ministry of Magic seemed to give her a bit of courage.
"I can overlook your attack on a Senior Undersecretary to the Ministry of Magic, but the Muggle's memory must be erased. This is the Minister's order."
Charlie said nothing, just waved his wand.
"Levicorpus."
Umbridge was hoisted upside down, hanging from the ceiling by her ankle.
She gasped, opening her mouth as if to say something.
"Silencio."
Charlie didn't want to hear her noisy voice and simply made her shut up.
Her voice instantly vanished, her mouth wide open, but unable to make any sound.
Charlie looked up at her, his voice cold.
"You should be glad your Spell didn't work, otherwise you'd be dead."
"Now pray, pray that Fudge gets here before you're hanged."
Umbridge's face turned beet red, her eyes wide.
She never expected Charlie to dare attack an official of the Ministry of Magic.
Harry stood at the top of the stairs, swallowing.
It was the first time he'd seen Charlie so enraged.
Charlie sat back on the sofa, closing his eyes to rest. This matter wasn't over; the Ministry of Magic, not seeing Umbridge return, would surely send more people.
Not long after, several Apparition cracks sounded outside.
Charlie opened his eyes.
The Orphanage gate was open; five Ministry of Magic employees in uniform stood outside, all holding wands.
They saw the inverted Umbridge through the gate, their faces changing drastically.
"Mr. White, what happened here?"
The leader had seen Charlie at a Ministry of Magic awards ceremony and had intended to ask Charlie what had happened.
But seeing Charlie's cold eyes, he immediately felt uneasy; those were not friendly eyes.
"I did it." Charlie didn't hide it at all.
The man was stunned for a moment.
"Why?"
"You can't make decisions. Go back and tell Fudge to come."
Displeasure at being underestimated flashed in the eyes of the five, and the leader said in a deep voice.
"Although you are a Potions Master, you cannot attack a key Ministry of Magic official. If you're sensible, quickly put the Undersecretary down."
"What if I say no?"
The man scoffed. In his opinion, while Charlie was famous, his fame was all in Potions.
In a fight, could he possibly beat all five of them?
"Then don't blame us for being impolite."
They pulled out their wands and swarmed forward.
A moment later, four more hanging sausages appeared on the ceiling.
This was the disadvantage of having no students at Hogwarts in the family. If there were children in the family at Hogwarts, they wouldn't dare to lay a hand on Charlie.
The remaining person fell to the ground, scared out of his wits.
"Go back and tell Fudge." Charlie's voice was very soft.
"Tell him to come himself."
The man scrambled away.
Time came to the middle of the night.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of Apparition sounds rang out.
Fudge appeared on the street with a dozen Aurors.
He saw the people hanging there, his face ashen.
"Mr. White!" he roared.
"Do you know what you're doing?"
The Aurors all drew their wands, pointing them at Charlie.
They only waited for Fudge's command to act.
-------------------------------
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