Somewhere in London. The study of Cornelius Fudge's home.
The atmosphere became tense the moment the red envelope arrived.
Cornelius glanced at his wife's uneasy expression, then at the red envelope in her hand.
"Dumbledore… But, why a Howler?" The fear in his heart was greater than Catherine's.
He knew that the Ministry of Magic had been making quite a few small moves at Hogwarts recently, not to mention the secret agreement with the goblins, or the house-elf spies from the pure-blood families… For a moment, Cornelius Fudge couldn't even pinpoint what had made Dumbledore so furious.
But Catherine Fudge clearly didn't think too much about it. She shoved the envelope into Cornelius's hand, urging him anxiously.
"Open it quickly," Catherine said nervously. "There are only a few minutes…"
The corners of the envelope had already begun to smoke. If it wasn't opened before it spontaneously combusted, the Howler would amplify several times over.
«London, To Cornelius Oswald Fudge – Dumbledore» The words written in emerald green ink looked full of murderous intent.
Cornelius Fudge reached out a trembling hand, took the letter from his wife with a nervous expression, and tore it open quickly.
As if an explosion had occurred, a tremendous sound instantly filled the study. All the furnishings, books, and chandeliers in the room vibrated. Dust from the ceiling fell in a flurry. The Fudge couple, who were facing the Howler head-on, were as if they had been hit by a tidal wave dozens of meters high.
"Cornelius Oswald Fudge! How dare you do such a terrible thing!"
"The magical world has finally ushered in precious peace. How could you, a greedy, arrogant fellow, secretly collude with the European magical community to conduct a large-scale suppression of werewolves for your own selfish gain? Do you want to force the werewolves to completely turn to the dark forces and reignite the magical war?!"
This was the first time Cornelius had heard Dumbledore's roar, hundreds of times louder and more imposing than usual.
Everything in the study was trembling, and the echoes all around were deafening. Cornelius Fudge felt as if his eardrums were about to be shattered.
The Howler leaped up violently, approaching the face of the poor Minister for Magic who was trying to dodge it, and continued to roar ferociously.
"…The werewolves wouldn't gather together and wait for you to catch them for no reason. The dark forces may have returned. You don't need to go to the Armenian forest. I and the International Confederation of Wizards will take over the follow-up matters. Before you make a big mistake, immediately order the Aurors to return to guard. This is likely a trap set by the dark forces! If you plan to continue to stubbornly launch a war, don't say I didn't warn you beforehand!"
The Howler stopped, and there was still a buzzing sound in his ears.
The red envelope spontaneously combusted, curling up into a small pile of ashes in the raging flames.
The Fudge couple stood blankly in the study, as if they had just been severely washed over by a tidal wave dozens of meters high. A few wisps of wind blew in from the unclosed window, rustling the curtains and pages of the books. The buzzing in the study gradually dissipated, returning to normal.
Catherine Fudge walked to the window, closed it, and turned her back to her husband, looking somewhat lost.
"Um, so this is what you've been busy with? But Cornelius, no matter what you become, I—"
"Wait a moment, my mind is a bit messed up right now."
Cornelius Fudge rubbed his brow, trying hard to recover from the tsunami-like roar.
What Armenian forest, suppression of werewolves, dark forces, launching a war… Cornelius Fudge could understand these things when they were separated into individual words, but when they were put together and turned into questions in his ears, he completely lost his way.
"Catherine, you know me. My greatest wish is world peace. I, I don't know—"
Cornelius pointed to the pile of Howler ashes, stood up uneasily, and took his top hat from the coat rack.
"But, no matter what, something big must have happened—I need to go to the Ministry. Dumbledore must have made a mistake, but if someone is really trying to start a war, or create chaos, then this time the enemy must be quite cunning. This is a trap, a terrible trap. The Aurors are still quietly waiting in their homes, and I have never secretly discussed the suppression of werewolves with other magical governments…"
Cornelius Fudge argued in a flustered manner. Before he could finish speaking, he was embraced again in a warm hug.
"I believe you, Minister. The situation is urgent, go to the Ministry of Magic quickly—"
Catherine hugged her husband gently, then quickly released her arms and helped him tidy his collar and shirt. "Promise me, be careful and don't be reckless. Don't you always say Dumbledore is a bit senile? This accident may be your greatest test and opportunity."
"Don't worry, I should be back soon. I just need to figure out what happened and where the rumors came from—"
Cornelius Fudge glanced at his wife, picked up his wand from the desk and put it in his pocket, and walked quickly towards the fireplace in the living room.
Undoubtedly, Dumbledore was really a bit senile this time.
He had nothing to do with those questions in the Howler. It was too easy to expose this non-existent matter. When that time came, Cornelius wanted to see how Albus Dumbledore would explain and apologize for this inexplicable Howler.
…………
British London, the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic.
The light here was much dimmer than during the day, and most of the fireplaces embedded in the walls were not lit.
When Cornelius Fudge arrived at the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic, everything was as peaceful as ever. There were no signs of dark forces invading.
On the peacock blue ceiling, the golden symbols that detected various abnormal magical conditions were still faithfully moving and changing.
In the Atrium, there was only the endless sound of water from the Golden Fountain. Streams of benign water sprayed from the tips of the wizard's wands, from the centaur's arrows, from the goblin's pointed hats, and from the house-elf's ears, falling into the nearby pool.
"Minister, it seems you've also received the news? What exactly happened?"
Just then, a hoarse, but terse and forceful voice came to Cornelius Fudge's ears.
Cornelius turned his head and saw Rufus Scrimgeour, the Head of the Auror Office, stepping out of the flames of the fireplace on the right. His tea-brown hair and thick eyebrows were streaked with gray. His brow was furrowed tightly, and he looked particularly serious.
"You mean… Dumbledore's letter? He sent one to you too?"
"Yes, werewolf suppression, Armenian forest, vigilance against dark forces, restraint in action…"
Rufus Scrimgeour nodded, rattling off several short phrases, simply and concisely describing what he knew.
Although he didn't say too much, judging from the grim face of the Auror Head, who had the nickname "Old Lion," Cornelius guessed that the other party had also been scolded by a Howler, and was particularly aggrieved and bewildered after being scolded.
"Phew, same here. It seems Dumbledore is really getting senile."
Cornelius Fudge shook his head, glanced at the peaceful and quiet Golden Fountain, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Speaking of which, I wonder who is so capable that they can play Dumbledore so easily. A werewolf army retaliating? A secret multi-national magical community suppression of werewolves? Dark forces causing trouble? Attempting to provoke a magical war? You can tell that these things are all false just by listening to them, right? If we really urgently summoned the Aurors as he said, or even hurriedly contacted other magical governments to verify, that would really be a joke—"
"Uh, actually—"
Scrimgeour's expression was a bit subtle, and he looked at Cornelius Fudge, who looked relaxed, hesitating to speak.
Before he could interrupt Cornelius Fudge, the fireplaces embedded in the walls of the Ministry of Magic's Atrium lit up one after another.
In dozens of clusters of green flames, one wizard after another walked out quickly. At the same time, a series of Apparition sounds rang out in the open hall not far away. In less than five minutes, at least thirty Aurors from the Ministry of Magic arrived at the Atrium one after another.
"Um, Albus Dumbledore is… crazy?" Cornelius Fudge's eyes twitched.
Just as Fudge began to imagine Dumbledore's desk piled high with Howlers, he suddenly heard a soft cough in his ear.
"Cough, I notified them—I issued an emergency Auror action order."
Rufus Scrimgeour said, looking at Cornelius with a stern expression, and explained proactively before the other party could ask.
"Apart from the British Ministry of Magic not participating, at least half of what Dumbledore said in the letter is true: in some occasions we didn't know about, most of the Aurors from the European magical community secretly united and launched an unimaginable collaboration."
"And their target, that's right, is to suppress the werewolves—it is said that hundreds of werewolves are secretly gathering in that forest at this time."
"Secret gathering? Hundreds of werewolves?!" Cornelius Fudge was stunned for half a second. "What are they planning to do?"
"I don't know. But there is a very high probability reason, isn't there?"
Rufus Scrimgeour shook his head, looking a bit terrible, staring straight at Cornelius Fudge and said.
"A few months ago, we took the lead in implementing several raids against the werewolf community, sweeping away the werewolf gathering points within the British magical community in a short period of time, which undoubtedly put a lot of pressure on the werewolves—they seem to be planning to unite and try to fight back."
"So… their target is likely to be us?"
Cornelius Fudge murmured thoughtfully, his smile instantly disappearing.
"Based on the information I have, this is at least one of the reasons." Rufus Scrimgeour said in a deep voice, "Hatred, threats, the hope of survival and the desire for freedom… I said before, raiding the werewolf community for no reason may be able to arrest some dangerous werewolf criminals, but at the same time it will also push some neutral and harmless werewolves completely from the good side to the dark side—"
"There are no 'harmless' werewolves in this world! We discussed this before."
Cornelius Fudge raised his hand and impatiently interrupted Scrimgeour, muttering to himself in confusion.
"But… why did other magical governments secretly suppress the werewolves, and… what exactly does Dumbledore want to do?"
"Obviously, this is a remarkable achievement. I heard that many of them have bet their jobs on it."
Rufus Scrimgeour sneered, "Tonight is the night of the full moon. They can accurately lock down who the werewolves are and arrest hundreds of werewolves at once. You know, our previous 'Werewolf Operation' had quite a few voices in the magical community. If they can take this opportunity to sweep away most of the werewolves in Europe, that would be no less than a major event than defeating the goblin rebellion. And Dumbledore's side…"
"I understand, he still wants to protect the werewolves—"
A flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in Cornelius Fudge's mind.
Different from the British magical community, Dumbledore's identity in the eyes of other European magical governments is more that of the Chief of the International Confederation of Wizards.
Because of this, if this "suppression" was initiated by the British Ministry of Magic, then Dumbledore's position after arriving would be very awkward.
On the other hand, Dumbledore's term "take over" in the Howler now seems to have a bit of meaning.
The werewolf problem that has stretched for thousands of years in the magical world, whoever solves it will definitely leave a footprint in history forever.
"Um, that's what I think too—Dumbledore was already very dissatisfied with the last operation…"
Rufus Scrimgeour nodded in agreement, "If I'm not mistaken, the wizards from the International Confederation of Wizards will arrive at the scene with the other Aurors around dawn, and according to Dumbledore's character, he will definitely try his best to ensure that 'innocent' werewolves are not arrested."
"So… most of the werewolves gathered in the Armenian forest, plotting revenge on the British Ministry of Magic, will be released directly?"
"The reason for the werewolf gathering is just speculation. Compared to that, I'm more concerned about the second thing Dumbledore mentioned…"
Scrimgeour frowned slightly, looking around at the Aurors gathered around them waiting for orders, "I have an uneasy feeling, as if an invisible force is hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to move. The werewolf side is likely to be a trap, so I urgently summoned most of the Aurors to prevent dark wizards from taking advantage of the situation. As for Armenia, with Dumbledore there, there's no need to worry too much…"
"Is that so? But my opinion is exactly the opposite."
Cornelius Fudge thought for two seconds, shook his head, and said.
"Dumbledore's information is obviously not as comprehensive as the Ministry of Magic's. He even thought that we were also in the ranks of 'suppressing werewolves'."
"That's not surprising. After all, this was initially initiated by the British Ministry of Magic. And the purpose of his hastily sending the letter was more to ask us to 'withdraw' from the Armenian forest, rather than to remind us to be vigilant against the dark wizards' sneak attacks. To be honest, even if the dark forces really make a comeback, there's no reason to raid the Ministry of Magic at night—apart from the tedious documents, there's nothing in the Ministry of Magic worth stealing."
"However, Scrimgeour, your judgment to issue an emergency summons was very correct…"
The Minister of Magic stroked the wand in his hand and looked at the Aurors surrounding the Atrium.
"I've decided, Kingsley, you and Mr. Scrimgeour, along with a few Aurors, will be stationed at the Ministry. The other Aurors, come with me. This is a milestone event in sweeping away the werewolf threat in the magical community for thousands of years. The British Ministry of Magic shouldn't be absent—"
"As for the reason…"
Cornelius Fudge thought for a few seconds and turned to look around.
"Aurors, or rather, the Ministry of Magic recently, has there been any event related to Armenia and werewolves?"
"Gilderoy Lockhart, he was interviewed in Armenia a few days ago—"
After a brief silence, a young witch with pink hair cautiously raised her hand.
"In the interview, he claimed that the story prototype of the book *Wanderings with Werewolves* actually came from an old Armenian wizard. We originally wanted to summon him to judge 'malicious spellcasting', but he temporarily postponed it with the reason that he was accepting a public interview at the scene of the incident…"
"Very good, that's it! This reason is too suitable!"
Cornelius Fudge was overjoyed and nodded with satisfaction.
Werewolves, suspects, Armenia, and Hogwarts is also involved, this is too perfect.
As for why they mobilized so many Aurors, and why they would participate in the werewolf suppression operation after arriving in Armenia, Dumbledore's Howler gave Cornelius Fudge a hint: this is a secret operation initiated by the British Ministry of Magic.
"What's your name?"
"Tonks, Nymphadora Tonks."
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Yay!