Chapter 722: Harry Potter, Wanted by the Ministry of Magic The Ministry of Magic wanted list.Generally speaking, the wizards who could appear on that list were either Dar |
Although they had learned from Lockhart that the Ministry of Magic had already fallen, what puzzled Pansy and the others was that no news of the Ministry being captured by the Dark Lord had spread through the British wizarding world.
To be precise, the British Ministry of Magic was still operating as usual. At the very least, no one could tell that it had already come under the Dark Lord’s control.
However, before long, The Daily Prophet, the Ministry’s mouthpiece, did publish a surprising piece of news.
Namely...
Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, had abruptly announced that he would no longer continue serving as Minister.
“Due to my own lack of ability and the numerous mistaken decisions I have made, I will be stepping down from the position of Minister of Magic as of today and handing it over to Pius Thicknesse... Cornelius Fudge!?”
As she read the words The Daily Prophet claimed had come from Cornelius Fudge himself, Hermione’s face filled with disbelief and confusion.
If this “former” Minister of Magic had run away out of fear, Hermione would have found that far more likely and reasonable.
But voluntarily giving up the position of Minister of Magic?
Aside from him being threatened or controlled, Hermione truly could not think of any other possibility.
In other words...
“So the intelligence Lockhart gave us was real?”
“It looks that way. But who is this Pius Thicknesse? Do any of you know?”
Although Hermione addressed everyone present, her gaze immediately landed on Draco.
It was as if she had assumed from the start that Draco would know of this wizard’s existence and his true background.
And in fact, Draco did know who he was.
Rather, since they were their allies, Draco naturally had to figure out which important figures existed among them.
And this Pius Thicknesse had naturally fallen within the scope of his investigation.
“Mm. Before this, he should have been the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.”
To be honest, there was nothing wrong with that position. The problem was that, with his qualifications and connections, there was no way he could have risen straight to the position of Minister of Magic in a single step.
Clearly...
“It seems this man is the Dark Lord’s hidden pawn inside the Ministry of Magic.”
There was no need to think too hard to understand why Voldemort would push this wizard into the position of Minister of Magic.
To put it simply, he was definitely one of the Dark Lord’s people. Or rather, he was most likely...
A Death Eater!
Draco drew his gaze away from The Daily Prophet as unease began to stir in his heart.
And apart from this terrible news, contact with Dobby seemed to have been abruptly cut off as well. Even now, he still had no idea what had happened.
The only people he could reach at the moment were Fleur and her group, whom his father had arranged to stay in Hogsmeade.
...
Almost a week had passed since Dumbledore’s death.
And during that week, to say no one had noticed the changes in the outside world or inside Hogwarts would be nothing more than self-deception.
The first and most obvious change was the large-scale resignation of Hogwarts professors.
In fact, even if Dumbledore had never meant for it to be that way, once these people accepted his invitation and entered Hogwarts as professors, they were almost automatically marked as part of Dumbledore’s camp.
When Dumbledore was still alive, that mark had not been a problem. They had even felt a faint sense of pride and satisfaction because of it.
But now that Dumbledore was dead, and they had lost Dumbledore’s protection, everything had changed drastically.
The most obvious result was that several professors who were neither especially powerful nor especially strong-willed could not help beginning to worry about their own safety.
After all, you could not expect every wizard to stand up and resist the Dark Lord, nor did every wizard have the courage to face such a powerful Dark Lord head-on.
And once Horace took the lead in proposing that he leave Hogwarts, everything erupted at once.
“Who is it this time?”
“Looks like the Muggle Studies professor.”
“...”
“Ugh... How many does that make now? Don’t tell me even the Heads of House are planning to leave in the end.”
“Forget the professors. My parents don’t plan on letting me keep coming to Hogwarts either.”
“They say it isn’t safe here anymore.”
“...”
The moment Draco entered the Great Hall, he heard countless discussions rising around him.
And this was not the first time it had happened.
At first, professors would still step forward to stop it, but as time passed and the changes became increasingly obvious, no professor did so anymore.
As for Minerva McGonagall, who would have done something about it, no one knew what she had been busy with lately. She had not appeared for quite some time.
In truth, Hogwarts was now almost no different from being at a standstill. It made the young wizards extremely uneasy, and the things they talked about were drifting further and further in a bad direction.
But when even the professors had no attention to spare, these young wizards naturally could not change anything.
Just as Draco was about to eat, two figures who should not have appeared here came to stand beside him.
The two small figures were Ginny Weasley, who had not known how to face Draco since what happened in Hogsmeade that day, and Luna Lovegood, who always seemed to be drifting off into her own world.
“Um...”
Draco looked up at the sound and only then noticed the conflicted, nervous look on Ginny’s face.
Perhaps it was because Hermione was not there, or perhaps because she did not know where to begin, but she was hesitating badly. She did not seem like her usual self at all.
Still, even though Ginny had not said anything yet, Draco already had some idea why she had come to him.
“You want to know what’s happening in the wizarding world right now?”
“That’s right... We can still learn a few things from The Daily Prophet, but you and I both know very well that it isn’t the truth.”
“So what do you want to know? Or rather, what you want to ask is... whether Potter really is wanted?”
“...”
Yes.
After Pius Thicknesse took office, the first arrangement he made was to issue a Britain-wide warrant for the missing Harry Potter.
Mm... and it was the sort where dead or alive made no difference.
...
The Ministry of Magic wanted list.
Generally speaking, the wizards who could appear on that list were either Dark Wizards who had committed crimes, or people who posed a serious threat to the British wizarding world. Only someone like that would be important enough for the Ministry of Magic to hunt down and treat with caution.
Someone like Fenrir.
No one dared allow that mad Werewolf leader to wander freely through the wizarding world.
After all, no one could be sure what kind of destruction or consequences might follow if his actions were not stopped.
That was why the Ministry of Magic had placed this Werewolf on the S-level wanted list and treated him with extreme caution.
By comparison, Harry Potter appearing on that wanted list seemed utterly strange and unbelievable.
To put it bluntly, what right did Harry Potter have to be compared with those Dark Wizards? There was even less reason to list him as a dangerous person who needed special attention.
With his level of ability, aside from muggles who knew no magic and Squibs, Draco truly could not think of anyone Harry Potter could defeat or kill.
Let alone endanger the safety of the entire wizarding world.
And since this was such a simple thing, one that could be understood with the slightest thought, Ginny naturally could not have failed to realize it. That was why she was puzzled enough to seek someone out and ask.
At the same time, it was obvious that Ginny now regarded Draco as someone who could answer her questions, and someone worth trusting. “What do you think?”
“You mean Potter being wanted?”
“Exactly. You should know very well that the Ministry has no reason at all to put Harry on the wanted list.”
As Ginny spoke, she unceremoniously pulled out a chair and sat down. At that moment, she did not care at all about the rejecting looks from the other Slytherin students around her.
Right now, she was more worried about the changes happening outside.
And the way she stared fixedly at Draco made the little snakes look downright strange. Some of them even jumped up to glance toward the doorway, as if they were afraid a certain young lady might happen to see this scene.
It had to be said, these people were far more nervous than Draco himself, even though he was the one involved.
As if he understood exactly what they were thinking, Draco swept his gaze lightly around the room before finally looking at Ginny across from him. “Looks like you don’t know anything.”
Feeling as though he was pitying her, Ginny glared at Draco in annoyance. “If I knew, I wouldn’t have come to ask you.”
The next second, Ginny reacted.
“So you really do know what happened! And why hasn’t my owl shown up again?”
“Actually, I do know a few things. And...”
“And?”
“And I think you should get your answer very soon. Or do you want to know it right now?”
“Do you even have to ask? Of course I want to know now.”
Although Ginny felt Draco’s gaze was oddly rude, she immediately realized that Draco must know something. Otherwise, he would not be saying something so evasive.
Seeing Ginny puff out her cheeks in anger, Draco was suddenly struck by a mischievous impulse and asked in return, “So, you really care about Potter?”
“Huh?!”
Draco was not sure if it was his imagination.
But Ginny seemed even angrier than she had been a moment ago.
...
As for Harry Potter being wanted, when Draco first heard it from Ginny, he had indeed been a little surprised. But he soon felt that this was only to be expected.
Given Voldemort’s hatred toward Harry Potter, or rather, toward everything connected to Dumbledore, Voldemort was bound to make some kind of move as soon as he occupied the Ministry of Magic.
What Draco had not expected was for Voldemort and his people to act so quickly, or for Dumbledore’s death to come so early and so suddenly.
It had left everyone unable to imagine that the Ministry of Magic would fall within such a short time.
As for whether anyone had noticed what was happening at the Ministry?
In truth, judging from the string of harsh laws recently issued, and from the fact that every member of the Order of the Phoenix had been listed as either wanted criminals or people under close surveillance, several things were already clear enough.
Even if people could not understand it at first, as time passed, they would surely realize that everything this newly appointed Minister of Magic was doing was meant to erase the influence left after Dumbledore’s death and to target the Order of the Phoenix he had left behind.
In other words...
With his sharp mind, Draco quickly thought of something from Harry Potter’s situation.
He frowned seriously. “In that case, I’ll probably become that person’s target as well.”
Although Lucius Malfoy and the others had not received that kind of special “treatment,” it was obvious that this was only because Voldemort intended to deal with what Dumbledore had left behind first. Only after that would he focus his strength on Lucius and the others.
In that case, the timing of when he would make his move was very much worth paying attention to.
“Are you even listening to me, Mr. Draco?”
“Mm... If you really want to know, it’s not exactly a secret.”
“Not a secret? But...”
“Hogwarts has probably been sealed off.”
“Sealed off?! What exactly happened?”
Only then did Ginny truly realize how serious things were.
At first, she had thought this was only the chaos caused by Dumbledore’s sudden death, and that it should only be temporary. But judging from Draco’s reaction now, things were not as simple as she had imagined.