The phoenix's flames enveloped the three of them, and when they opened their eyes, they were already standing in the Minister of Magic's office.
"Dumbledore! You! Why can't you knock like a normal person? I'm swamped over here—buried in work! If this isn't a matter of life and death, please just leave!"
Fudge was reeking of smoke and soot, and his hair looked like a bird's nest that hadn't seen a wash in days.
"A magical society of only four thousand people—what urgent business could the Ministry possibly have?" Kasen plopped down onto a sofa, arms crossed, firing off a dry remark.
"Hmph! Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban! That's not urgent enough for you?!" Fudge snapped back, roaring at Kasen the moment he caught wind of his sarcastic tone.
Both Dumbledore and Hagrid's faces changed the moment they heard the name, but Kasen was another story—he assumed it was just one of the many random convicts from Azkaban. So he fired back without missing a beat:
"Well I'm not the one who busted Sirius out! If you're upset about me saying the Ministry has nothing better to do, feel free to address the comment—don't try to blast my eardrums with your volume."
Hagrid stepped forward at just the right moment to shield Kasen. He didn't know if Fudge might draw his wand in the next second, or if this whole conversation was about to explode. He just knew Kasen probably had no desire to keep looking at Fudge's face right now.
"...What did you come here for?" Fudge looked at the mountain-like figure of Hagrid standing in front of him, then turned to Dumbledore still calmly positioned in the center of the office. After a deep breath, he asked.
"The real culprit behind the Moaning Myrtle case has been found. Hagrid is innocent," Dumbledore said simply and clearly.
"Alright. I'll need someone from the Ministry to go verify the identity of the real culprit and have them sent to Azkaban."
"That's fine, but… the culprit is already dead—and has become part of Severus Snape's personal collection," Dumbledore explained.
Fudge's face suddenly went pale. "So… he's finally gone down that path."
"The culprit was a basilisk—yes, the same one from the legend of the Chamber of Secrets in Hogwarts. It's dead now and being used by Severus as potion material," Kasenhis said, watching Fudge clearly jump to the wrong conclusion, and decided to clarify before Snape's reputation took a hit.
Successfully prevented Snape from being slandered.
"Go to the Deputy Minister's office next door and find Umbridge…"
"Not Umbridge," Kasen cut in reflexively.
"…Then go to the Auror Office and find Scrimgeour. He'll handle this. Just—please—stop bothering me. I really do have a lot of headaches right now," Fudge muttered, scratching the few hairs left on his head.
"…How exactly did Sirius Black escape from Azkaban?" Dumbledore asked.
"No idea. Maybe someone helped him. Maybe there's a traitor. Maybe a Portkey leaked. Maybe he found a broken wand lying around and managed to fix it—it's not impossible…" Fudge replied.
"And how do you plan to deal with it?" Dumbledore continued.
"We're currently checking for security holes in Azkaban, reviewing every Auror and Hit Wizard who's been in or out of the place in the past year—along with every inmate."
"This matter is currently being investigated in secret to avoid unnecessary panic. If we can resolve it before the Hogwarts term ends, all the better. If not, we'll have no choice but to issue a wanted notice," Fudge replied.
"…Not bad," Dumbledore said, unusually praising Fudge for actually doing something reasonable. "What do you think Sirius broke out for?"
"Why did he break out…? Does he need a reason to escape Azkaban? Of course it's for freedom."
"No, no—let me rephrase. Where do you think Sirius Black would go after escaping Azkaban?"
"His home, maybe. Or to his old Death Eater comrades. If he didn't get a wand inside Azkaban, then he'd definitely need one after escaping," Fudge answered.
"And what would he do once he got his wand? What's the one thing he'd want to do most?" Dumbledore asked again.
"Think about why he was sent to Azkaban."
"…He wants to harm Harry Potter!" Fudge finally concluded, eyes wide.
And over in the corner, Kasen suddenly started coughing.
He quickly pulled Hagrid over. "So who exactly is this Sirius Black, and why would he want to hurt Harry?"
Hagrid's expression turned grim. "Long story short… a traitor. A coward. Worse than a Death Eater. James and Lily treated him like family—closer than family. Pettigrew was his best friend. And he still…"
"Wait, wait, wait—Hagrid, just get to the point," Kasen interrupted. The way Hagrid's story was dragging on, Kasen was genuinely worried that if he didn't cut him off, the man might ramble until the Ministry closed for the day. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕·𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎·𝚗𝚎𝚝
"…He's a Death Eater. Of course he'd want to kill the Dark Lord's enemy—Harry Potter."
"Got it," Kasen nodded, while on the other side, Dumbledore was still deep in conversation with Fudge.
"If we still haven't found Sirius Black before the school year starts," Fudge was saying, "then the Ministry will have no choice but to station Dementors at Hogwarts."
Kasen rolled his eyes so hard it was a miracle they stayed in his head. Fudge really just dropped that kind of madness like it was no big deal.
Right now, he deeply regretted that Dumbledore was such a civilized man. If only the old guy had a slightly shorter fuse, Kasen could've seen the glorious sight of Dumbledore grabbing Fudge by the collar and slamming his head into the wall.
But no—he had to sit there and listen to Dumbledore's eloquent, well-mannered verbal fencing instead.
And then, the next second, the scene before him utterly stunned him.
He watched Dumbledore's eyes spin slightly as he clearly considered… something. Who knows what kind of strange idea had crossed his mind.
"…Very well," Dumbledore said.
Over in the corner, Kasen—so bored he'd been picking at his fingernails—nearly ripped one off. Just as he was about to rise as the righteous voice of reason and personally hand Dumbledore a few good smacks to reset his brain, Dumbledore turned and gave him a look…
…Like he'd already predicted exactly what Kasen was thinking.
Dumbledore quickly added, "I believe this is a valuable opportunity—one that could encourage them to learn the Patronus Charm."
"Hagrid, what's the Patronus Charm? Do they teach it in class?" Kasen lowered the raised hand he'd been preparing to smack Dumbledore with and turned to ask.
"The Patronus Charm is a spell used to fend off Dementors. As for whether it's taught… I'm not sure. I don't actually know that spell," Hagrid admitted.
Kasen nodded. "So basically… hard to learn, huh." He nodded again, slowly stood up, and started shaking out his palm, walking steadily toward Dumbledore.
Read 12 chaps ahead: .com/Dragonel