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"Wow. What a surprise. Who could have imagined that the culprit would be our Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Mr. Barty Crouch?"
"But if one thinks about it, perhaps it is understandable. A man who taught little Barty to become such a wicked Death Eater... what kind of man did that make the father?"
Barty Crouch Sr. was rigid, serious, and proper. More than ten years ago, when Voldemort led the Death Eaters, Crouch had won the trust of most of the wizarding world by advocating harsh measures against them. He had almost been a model to all wizards.
He hated evil, loathed Dark Magic, and was the bane of Dark wizards.
Even though his son being a Death Eater had stained his reputation, he had upheld justice over family and personally sent his son to Azkaban.
Because of that, he had been transferred from Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He had also lost the right to compete for the position of Minister for Magic.
Looking across Crouch's life, there had been much to praise.
Even Fudge, who had once been his competitor, had only guarded against and suppressed him. He had still trusted Crouch's character.
Yet now, more than ten years later, this same man had summoned the Dark Mark.
Was he a Death Eater?
That was too unbelievable.
Barty Crouch Sr. lay where he was without the slightest intention of refuting anything, as if he had completely accepted the accusation.
'If the main culprit is Barty Crouch Sr., then who are the accomplices?'
A terrifying thought rose in Fudge's heart. He stretched out a trembling hand and pointed at the captured masked wizards.
"Who... who are they?"
The masks were lifted, revealing familiar faces one after another.
"Andy?"
"Aurora?"
"Tisma?"
Among the thirty-eight masked wizards, at least twenty were Ministry employees. Although none were department heads or directors, quite a few held important posts.
"This... this..."
Minister Fudge pointed at those wizards, unable to complete a sentence for a long while. Sweat kept forming on his forehead and soon covered his large face.
Even the Ministry higher-ups and Aurors behind him looked very bad.
Death Eaters hidden inside the Ministry?
The only one whose expression remained normal was the lion-like Head of the Auror Office, Rufus Scrimgeour.
But that was because his face had been injured during the war and now looked nearly expressionless.
What could they do?
What else could they do?
They could only arrest them. Try them.
There was absolutely no way to cover this up, nor could it be covered up.
They were not the only ones present. Because the Dark Mark had been dispelled from the sky, many wizards had already returned to the campsite.
Quite a few had seen Barty Crouch Sr. and the other wizards.
If only British wizards had seen it, that might have been one thing. But among the one hundred thousand wizards, many had come from other countries.
"Scrimgeour, have your people watch them closely. We will see them in the Wizengamot three days from now."
Fudge made the arrangements with a bitter face.
Scrimgeour, whose name had been called, felt his head throb. This was clearly not a good job.
Too many people were involved.
"I will give everyone an explanation. Mr. Dursley, when I have time, I will visit you. For now, we return to the Ministry."
Fudge hurriedly said this, then left with the Ministry crowd.
Dudley smiled as he watched him go.
Some people might ask: if Fudge had already guessed these people's identities, why expose them in public? Was that not digging a hole for himself?
Others might not know Fudge's purpose, but Dudley did.
Fudge's approach looked foolish, but in reality, he was removing rivals.
As Dudley had expected, that very night, Fudge came to find him.
"Mr. Dursley, you will help me, won't you?"
Fudge looked at Dudley with a faintly pleading expression.
If it had been one or two people, it would have been fine. Losing twenty posts at once, however, was a painful blow even for an organization as large as the Ministry.
"Of course. You are our important Minister."
Dudley looked at Fudge sincerely, and that gaze pleased him greatly.
"Minister Fudge, regarding the details of this case, you can handle it this way..."
The reduction in Ministry staff that gave Fudge such a headache was nothing more than a small effort to Dudley.
The number of wizards was small compared with Muggles, but if one counted only wizards, there were actually not so few. At the very least, there were more wizards than centaurs, giants, vampires, and hags combined.
Besides, not everyone could enter the Ministry.
Too many people wanted too few positions. That was exactly the situation.
The same rule applied here: if you did not do the job, plenty of others would.
And so Dudley naturally arranged for another batch of older alumni to enter the Ministry.
"There is one more thing, Minister Fudge."
"Mr. Dursley?"
"I think Mr. Crouch may have been under the Imperius Curse. You had better examine this."
Dudley pointed at his own head.
"Being controlled by the Imperius Curse is much easier to accept than letting a brave, hardline department head become a Death Eater."
"No matter what, he can no longer become your competitor, can he?"
"You can also gain a very capable helper. Believe me, Mr. Crouch's ability is stronger than that of most wizards."
Fudge only thought for a moment before his face opened into a broad, wrinkled smile.
"Of course, Mr. Dursley. You truly are my best partner."
Recovering a powerful subordinate without much effort was profitable no matter how one looked at it.
Three days later, at the Wizengamot.
The Quidditch World Cup case was tried as scheduled.
The thirty-eight wizards received different punishments according to their crimes. Of course, every Ministry employee among them lost their job without exception.
The Ministry absolutely did not allow, and could not allow, Death Eaters within its ranks.
Regardless of the facts, that was at least what it had to claim publicly.
So these people absolutely could not remain.
In any case, most were only lower-level staff. They could be abandoned. Preserving the Ministry's reputation mattered more.
Next came the main culprit of the case, Barty Crouch Sr.
Before the verdict was announced, Minister Fudge requested that Crouch first be examined to determine whether he had been under the Imperius Curse.
The Ministry therefore invited top Healers from St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
After all, Crouch was the head of one of the Ministry's key departments and held real power. They could not treat him as casually as the earlier wizards.
After the Healers' examination, they reached a final conclusion.
Barty Crouch Sr. had indeed been under the Imperius Curse, and to a severe degree. The caster had forcibly controlled him, causing a certain amount of damage to his mind.
After discussion among the members of the Wizengamot, they ultimately did not send Barty Crouch Sr. to Azkaban. Instead, they stripped him of all Ministry positions and ordered him to receive treatment from the Healers.
After the results of treatment were known, they would investigate the true culprit.
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