The Silent Witch of Hogwarts

Chapter 385 The Unspeakable Secret in the Principal's Office

Chapter 385 The Unspeakable Secret in the Principal's Office

"Miss Roy Hamilton, in recognition of your outstanding performance in the Triwizard Tournament, your heroic act of protecting seven Aurors, two Hogwarts students, and a Hogwarts professor has earned you a prize of five hundred Galleons from the Ministry of Magic."

In the somewhat crowded headmaster's office at Hogwarts, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge nodded slightly to Lloyd. Besides her, Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Madam Maxim, Barty Crouch, and several Aurors from the Ministry of Magic were also present.

However, there were no media personnel present, not even a reporter from the Daily Prophet.

Even so, Loila's face lit up with joy when she heard Fudge mention the 500 Galleons.

She'd finally made back her summer Quidditch bets—Loyla had felt anxious about it before, even though she wasn't short of money.

"Professor Hamilton?" Seeing Loila's silly grin, Parkinson, who was standing next to her, had to cough lightly to remind her.

"Um!" Loila snapped out of her daze, nodded hurriedly, and then awkwardly took the small purse from Fudge's hand, saying in a slightly hesitant voice, "Th-thank you—"

"You're welcome, Miss Hamilton." Fudge nodded gently, a forced smile appearing on his somewhat tired face. "The Ministry of Magic should be thanking you."

The Ministry of Magic should indeed thank Loira. If it weren't for her timely arrival, and if Harry Potter had been killed by Sirius Black—Fudge can hardly imagine what would have happened—

The thought of it gave him a headache—Sirius Black was so audacious, managing to fool the patrolling Aurors and those sealing off the Forbidden Forest—not only had he infiltrated the tournament, but he had also managed to escape after causing such a huge incident.

The Aurors searched the Forbidden Forest for three or four days but found no trace of him.

Fudge sighed softly, then said slowly, "However, Miss Hamilton, I hope the inside story of this matter will not be spread."

"Can you understand?"

"Huh?" "Don't spread it" means—you can't tell anyone that you received money? Loila looked at the small bag in her hand and was startled. Could this be Minister Fudge's embezzled public funds?

Don't do this! — Roy suddenly felt that the Galon in her hand was no longer a Galon, but some kind of hot potato or a dung bead — Actually, it wasn't as bad as a dung bead, after all, Roy had been hit with one before when she was in Durmstrang —

No, no, now is not the time to let my mind wander!

Loila straightened her expression and nodded: "I—I understand!"

Upon hearing this, Fudge nodded and then looked at the three principals who had remained silent.

"Cornell, perhaps we should talk?" Dumbledore coughed and nodded slightly.

Fudge paused, noticing that the three principals seemed about to say something, then looked at the Aurors and said, "You can all leave now."

As the Aurors left the headmaster's office, the somewhat crowded space suddenly felt much more spacious. However— looking at the four of them, Loila also felt a little tempted to leave.

Are they going to talk about something really important next? — I'm really curious to know what it is — but it seems the more I know, the busier I get — I still have things to do. I've already missed one chance to kill someone, and if I delay any longer —

Loila pursed her lips and took a few steps back, preparing to follow the Aurors away.

But clearly, Dumbledore didn't think that way.

"Miss Hamilton, please wait a moment," he said slowly. "Perhaps you should also hear about this matter."

"Huh?" Loila waved her hand subconsciously: "Ah—that—I'm just a professor—that's all."

"But you are the best professor."

"Ugh!"

Dumbledore, you're so despicable! Since you say that, Roy bit her lip, suppressing a happy laugh, and stood obediently beside Dumbledore.

That's right, I'm the best professor! How can you not hear about something like that?

Seeing Royla leave Dumbledore with a gentle smile, she turned to Fudge and said, "Cornell, you should know what this means, right?"

"Ah—haha—" Fudge let out a slightly awkward laugh. Loila wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt that Fudge, who was clearly the Minister, seemed like a child in front of Dumbledore.

Dumbledore is so wicked!

"This can only be described as—Sirius Black's own affair, right?" Fudge's words carried a hint of probing. "It seems someone helped him escape from Azkaban back then."

"That's not all, Minister Fudge," Mrs. Maxim said with dissatisfaction. Her tall stature made her appear quite imposing in front of Fudge.

"Back during the Quidditch World Cup, I heard rumors of Sirius Black's collusion with the Death Eaters," she said slowly. "If the guy with Sirius was a Death Eater, doesn't that mean that person—"

"That man is dead, Mrs. Maxim," Fudge couldn't help but say. "He was just some member of the Black family."

"Such words won't convince us," Mrs. Maxim said slowly.

"Ahem—" Her words didn't elicit a response from Fudge, but rather from Karkaroff, who slowly said, "Minister Fudge's words do have some merit—"

"We can't be so sure that Sirius's accomplices are Death Eaters." He paused, then added, "They might also be Mughalists or something."

"!" Loila's body trembled involuntarily. Could it be that Karkaroff had thought of something? Although he didn't know that she was a member of the Sorcerer Party, he did see Lord Grindelwald and me talking at the time.

Loila couldn't help but feel a little scared, and she slightly tightened her grip on the wand in her sleeve, preparing for battle.

"Headmaster Karkaroff must be joking, right?" Dumbledore said slowly. "I really don't know what reason the Mughals would have to collude with Sirius."

I'm glad you spoke up for me, but could you please not use words like "collusion"? Don't you have any more elegant words in English?

"Headmaster Karkaroff must be joking, right?" Fudge wiped the sweat from his brow and said to Dumbledore. Clearly, one Death Eater was enough of a headache; if the Usurpers were dragged into this—

Karkarov's face showed a hint of displeasure at their words, but that was all he could do. He shook his head and said, "Whether I'm joking or not is one thing—but preventing this from happening again is another."

"Minister Fouché, I do not want my students to participate in the competition under such dangerous circumstances."

"Ah—" He seemed to suddenly remember something, and a somewhat awkward smile appeared on his face: "I almost forgot—"

Even under these circumstances, Durmstrang still won the first game.

No—who asked you?

Loila almost couldn't resist swinging her wand at his somewhat annoying expression, but thankfully Dumbledore's presence calmed her down.

Karkaroff's words made the expressions of the others turn ugly, except for Dumbledore, who simply shook his head calmly and then remained silent.

"Ah—Principal Karkaroff, you're right—" Fudge thought for a moment and said, "So the Ministry of Magic has already made its own arrangements."

"For criminals like these, Aurors alone are clearly not enough—we must strike hard."

"So we decided to send Dementors."

"A Dementor?!"