Felix woke up from bed very early the next morning, looking radiant, without any trace of fatigue. The side effects of the potion seemed to have been neutralized by his body’s mutation, as he stared at the grey ceiling, he heard the sound of Valen’s unconscious smacking of her beak as she slept in her crib.
Felix smiled and got up from the bed as he stretched.
“Bang!”
The metal alarm clock on the cabinet exploded at once, and Felix looked down at the broken parts, frowned, and let the alarm clock recover with a wave of his hand.
“It’ll take a while for me to get used to it.” He mused and said to the sleepy-eyed Valen, “It’s okay, you can sleep some more.” He said and walked out of the bedroom.
Valen waved sleepily at him and rolled over on the comfortable, soft velvet sheet, her body curled into a ball as she continued to sleep. She had stayed up all night once again to wait for the Great Demon to return last night.
Outside the office window, you can see the lush Forbidden Forest and stretching mountains, the sky is clear and bright, like a halo of blue ink, and the breeze will tickle your face.
A yellow-brown owl flew towards him with a newspaper in its beak and landed in front of him with its wings folded as it approached the windowsill.
Felix flipped open the paper and Fudge’s big face is the first thing that caught his eye, ” Indeed the level of a Press Award.” Felix muttered, at which point the owl hooted at him a few times, “Oh, oh.” To which he handed it five Knuts.
The owl raised its wings and flew away.
Throughout the day, he stayed in his office to exercise his new powers and was surprised to find that his magic is growing considerably, and he reckons this may continue for some time.
In the afternoon, he took the time to visit the hospital wing. Just as he reached the door, he heard Mr. Weasley’s voice. So he pushed the door in.
“… Fudge has shut himself up in his office and isn’t seeing anyone,” Mr. Weasley said, “I guess he wants to take advantage of the last bit of time to sit in the Minister of Magic’s chair a little longer… …” Perhaps realizing he was being too mean, he shrugged and didn’t continue the conversation. “Anyway, Fudge did a decent job and appointed Ms. Bones to handle the ministry’s affairs temporarily before his ‘sabbatical’.”
“Thank you, Arthur.” Ms. Bones said with a tired look on her face.
There are quite a few people in the room. In addition to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who are lying in their beds, and Mr. Weasley, who is talking in the room, there is also a strange woman in the ward, Amelia Bones, along with Sirius, Lupin, Professor McGonagall, and Dumbledore.
“Can I come in?” Felix asked.
“Of course, Mr. Hap.” The woman said, “There are many subjects that cannot go without you.”
Felix looked at her twice with interest, before picking a chair at the wall and sitting down.
Ms. Bones said solemnly, “There are no outsiders here, so I’ll be blunt. The Ministry is now on edge, the news the Aurors have brought back has frustrated everyone, and once today’s newspaper came out, panic will instantly spread throughout the wizarding community; We have to stabilize the situation as soon as possible … Headmaster Dumbledore, I need your help.”
Dumbledore nodded slightly, ” We can’t afford to disorganize ourselves while the darkness is at bay.”
“That’s it.” Ms. Bones said approvingly. She took out a document and put on her monocle, then looked down to examine the contents of the document, “Then, first I must verify that the Dark Lord truly returned.” Her two thick eyebrows raised high, “It’s not that I don’t trust them – I’ve listened to your statements, and it’s remarkable that you have thought of using the Ring of Ouroboros to request help in that situation … but I have to be 100% sure before I can firmly implement wartime policies.”
“A very reasonable request.” Dumbledore smiled, “Amelia, I think what you need most now is a decisive piece of evidence, right?”
Ms. Bones nodded solemnly.
Dumbledore looked to Felix.
“Okay, but just to be clear in advance, you can’t see the full footage…” Felix said, snapping his fingers and calling softly, “Dobby.”
Dobby, the house-elf, appeared in the middle of the room.
” The Great Mr. Hap, you – oh my, what did Dobby see?” Dobby blinked, startled by a room full of acquaintances, “Mr. Lupin, Mr. Harry Potter and his friends the Wheezy and Ms. Granger, Mr. Black, and – Mr. Dumbledore!” He let out a cry.
“Hello, Dobby.” Harry and Hermione whispered a greeting.
“Dobby,” Ron couldn’t stop himself and immediately Dobby looked at him with sparkling eyes, “Actually, the pronunciation of my name, uh – I’ll talk to you later.” He really didn’t have the courage to discuss the difference between “Weasley” and “Wheezy” with Dobby in front of big guys.
“Well, Dobby, I will get their autographs for you later.” Felix said, “Now get the things I asked you to keep for me.”
“As you wish!” Dobby said excitedly, and his figure suddenly disappeared.
Ms. Bones turned her head to Mr. Weasley, “Shouldn’t we be on guard against their magic? They’re not restricted by the Anti-Apparition Charm, righ-”
“Hm, Ms. Bones, I don’t think-” Hermione nervously gripped the sheets and said pointedly, “You shouldn’t suspect Dobby, or the kitchen elves, who have been at our beck and call. ”
“Yes, you’re right,” Ms. Bones said, looking down at Hermione for a moment, “but we all know that the You-Know-Who has pulled together a large group of pureblood families who are equally not lacking a house elf’s service.”
Hermione stopped talking.
At this point, Felix rummaged through a nearby cupboard and pulled out a piece of parchment & quill, and scribbled on it, “Excuse me, can a few of you sign this, please?” Dumbledore readily agreed, and from the length of his signature, he should have written the full name.
Everyone signed their names one after another, and when the parchment was passed to Harry, he stared at the writing on it: To brave Dobby, who obtained the key evidence under the nose of Voldemort. At the bottom is a row of signatures.
Harry also signed his name.
After waiting for a few minutes, Dobby reappeared in the hospital wing ward, carrying a large bag behind him.
“It’s all here, Mr. Hap.”
The few people present watched curiously as Felix fumbled through the bag and pulled out an oddly shaped square object, and started pushing buttons on it, Felix fiddled with it for a while and handed it to Ms. Bones, “You have to select the glowing place, yes, that’s right … ”
He actually did only two things, one is to avoid the scene of Hermione using the time-turner in the footage of the camera, and the second is to adjust the playback progress to after his appearance, otherwise, it is not easy to explain why he watched for so long without doing anything … and also it is not good to reveal the presence of Lucius.
Ms. Bones did as he said. She first frowned at the poor picture quality in the camera, followed by her mouth wide open, she just watched quietly for a few minutes, and then put down the camera with a complicated face.
“If I’m right, this is a muggle item?” Ms. Bones asked in a low voice.
“Yes, you will notice that there is not a trace of magic on it, which will avoid the attention of Voldemort and the Death Eaters.” Felix put the camera back, “You can find an expert in this field to investigate, because of the technical difficulties, the footage captured by the camera cannot be modified, so it is very convincing.”
“Then can I take it-” Ms. Bones asked tentatively.
“Hmm, not for now.” Felix thoughtlessly refused, “Because I trust you, I let you see a lot of content that should not be revealed, for other people, I must do some precaution.”
“But you also said before that it could not be modified-” Ms. Bones asked suspiciously.
“Ma’am, it is true that it cannot be modified, but it can be overwritten.” Felix said emphatically, “For example, if I cast a permanent presence enchantment on the writing on the wall, you will never be able to modify it again, but a new layer of paint can be applied on the surface of the wall to cover the writing …”
“I understand, I will arrange for someone to verify it.” Ms. Bones did not dwell too much and said calmly. In fact, her inner mind had already rolled up with a shocking wave, coming back from the dead … she fully understood Felix’s reason for not wanting to disclose the complete footage.
And this happens to be the illusion that Felix brought to her – to cover up one secret with another, to bury the time-turner in history, after all, history always has buried countless secrets.
“So – uh -” Ms. Bones tried to reorganize her words, “the second thing, the external announcement about confirming the You-Know-Who’s appearance, well, I think it would be best to postpone it for a few days.”
“Why? What’s the difference between you doing this and Fudge?!” Harry asked aloud.
“Very different. At least the Ministry knows about it, and I won’t deliberately stop the news from spreading, it’s just that … official recognition means war is coming, and a few days later may keep the other side at bay, which will buy us some time.” Ms. Bones said calmly, “The Ministry is urgently publishing the wartime survival manual, I also need time to convince those who have weight, as I said before, to gain common ground … In addition,” she hesitated, “I want Cornelius to come forward and announce this.”
“That wimp?” Sirius said disgruntled.
Ms. Bones gave him a stern look, “Watch your words, Sirius, he’s still Minister of Magic.”
“Yes, Head Girl Amelia,” Sirius said lazily.
Harry looked at his godfather in amazement, he suddenly remembered Sirius’ own admission that he had made her cry when he was at school. At that moment, Harry looked at him strangely.
Ms. Bones glared at him but still explained calmly, “Cornelius … Fudge probably won’t remain in office for longer, and I hope the last impression he leaves on the public will be one of standing up bravely and announcing the return of the You-Know-Who, rather than slipping out of office before the war and disappearing from public sight. ”
“And you plan on retaining him?” Sirius shouted, “Look at all the bastard things he had done!”
Ms. Bones didn’t look at him as she looked down at her papers.
“Character flaws aside, Cornelius is more than capable enough to be a good advisor.”
Sirius muttered discontentedly, which sounded a bit like a “women …”
Several ladies in the room glared at him at the same time, Sirius shrank his neck, “It’s my fault.”
“Since we’re talking about advisors,” Ms. Bones’ fingers traced over the file, “there’s another important thing, Dumbledore, I assume you’ve reactivated the Order of the Phoenix?”
The atmosphere in the ward became eerie as everyone looked at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore nodded slightly, “You’re right, Amelia.” He patiently explained, “You should know that when the war begins, Voldemort will wildly place spies into the Ministry of Magic, and I wanted to make sure that there is a resistance force independent of the Ministry.”
“I think,” Ms. Bones pursed her lips, ” we should cooperate.”
“Your suggestion?” Dumbledore looked at her curiously.
“The Ministry of Magic will not interfere with any of the actions of the Order of the Phoenix, but at the very least, we should exchange information, which will benefit both sides.” Ms. Bones said very fluidly, as if she had written in advance, “And in the short term – until the situation is stabilized – someone must be stationed on the other side as a messenger.”
“You mean … a two-way residence? Exchanging personnel with each other?” Dumbledore asked.
“That’s right,” Ms. Bones said, “I can’t and won’t order you to, but being able to pull the strings with the ‘Greatest White Wizard’ is the best way to stabilize the situation at this critical time. ”
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared in disbelief, it is hard to imagine that this woman would talk about using Dumbledore’s reputation so openly.
“I have asked the Ministry’s Aurors before I came, and there was quite a good number of applicants,” Ms. Bones said with a helpless expression, “If you agree, I will provide a list of names for you to choose from.”
“I have no problem.” Dumbledore consented.
“The candidates on your side are–” Ms. Bones asked with a long breath of relief.
Dumbledore thought for a moment and looked up at someone.
Sirius is watching the show leisurely with crossed legs, mentally planning what to do over the summer, until Dumbledore focused his gaze on him, so he looked up alertly.
“Headmaster Dumbledore, you don’t want to send me to the Ministry of Magic, do you!” He jumped up at once, “You promised to make me a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts during the new school year! I’ve been preparing for so long, struggling with those mischievous students at the Muggle school …,” he became more and more aggrieved as he spoke.
“It’s only temporary,” Dumbledore said with a small smile spreading from the corners of his eyes, “you’ll only have to stay for a month or two, it won’t affect your work during the new school year.”
“What about the rest? Hagrid? Remus? And-”
“They all have their own things to do.” Dumbledore said.
“Yeah, the Headmaster’s right, you’re the most idle of them all.” Felix couldn’t help but add his voice, the thought of a free-spirited Sirius joining the Ministry of Magic inexplicably gave him a sense of pleasure.
Sirius shot him a vicious glare and looked around, only to find that everyone is looking at him with a playful expression, even his own godson is looking at him with expectant eyes, Sirius got so angry that his teeth itched.
“So – hey Amelia, I want an advisor title too, can’t be worse than … well … can’t be worse than Felix and Fudge! ”
“… It’s only temporary.”
Ms. Bones agreed rather reluctantly.
She had an equally strong opinion about Sirius, an impression that stemmed from unforgettable memories of her school days.
“One last thing,” she said, taking a large bag from Mr. Weasley and placing it at Harry’s feet, as it clattered. She said briefly, “The prize money for the tournament, which was supposed to be a thousand galleons, I’m offering five hundred galleons as compensation, personally-”
“These are far from enough,” Sirius couldn’t help but nitpick, “they suffered so much and showed fearless courage to escape from under Voldemort’s hands, they deserve a medal from the Ministry of Magic.”
Ms. Bones’ chest began to rise and fall violently, she said word by word: “I-was-about-to-say-it!”
She took a deep breath, regained her composure, and looked over at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. “The Ministry is considering awarding you all the Second class Order of Merlin for your bravery in the face of the You-Know-Who, and for fighting to the death – and Mr. Hap, we’re considering awarding you the First Class Order of Merlin.”
Felix smiled and shook his head.
“You deserve it,” Ms. Bones said immediately, “We need to set a few examples in the current war. If I survive to the end of the war, I’m sure a lot of medals will be handed out.”
Harry was once again shocked by Ms. Bones’ “frank” and “straightforward” words, but he thought this is not bad.
“I’ll leave you alone,” Ms. Bones said, “Arthur, I’ll give you a few days off to spend with your children, but don’t take too long, the Ministry will be quite busy soon …” she walked to the door of the ward and paused, humming heavily from her nose.
Everyone looked at her in confusion.
“Sirius Black! Follow!” She shouted angrily at Sirius, who slumped in his chair with a listless expression.
Sirius pointed at himself incredulously, “Now?” After receiving an affirmative answer, he hung his head and stood up, muttering in a small voice, “Well, the Head Girl Amelia is now capable of ordering people around …” He muttered until the door to the ward closed behind him.
The people in the ward looked at each other.
“Is it really okay to let Sirius go over there? I’m not doubting his abilities, but character-wise-” Professor McGonagall asked with a serious expression, “I’m worried he’ll make a mess of things.”
“Don’t worry, Professor McGonagall.” Lupin said with a smile, “Sirius learned how to deal with this Minister when he was in school, maybe we have a chance to turn her into a member of the Order of the Phoenix …”
Professor McGonagall didn’t look too convinced.
At this point, Mr. Weasley could hardly contain the keen interest in his heart and pointed at the camera that is held in Felix’s hand as he asked, “It can record footage? Without any magic?” After receiving an affirmative answer, he said with a look of awe, “It’s incredible … it’s so wonderful.”
The more he looked at it, the more he liked it, and finally, he couldn’t resist asking Felix: “Mr. Hap, can I ask where you bought it? I want one for my collection.”
Felix wrote him an address and warned him, “It’s best not to keep this at home, it will be damaged by magical influence – by the way, you know how to locate Muggle address, right?”
“I can call a cab, I know how to do that!” Mr. Weasley said cheerfully, as if he had been looking forward to this very thing for a long time, “I have a garage at home, that holds many of my treasures … have you heard of pins? I have several …”
“Did I ever tell you guys that my dad is crazily obsessed with muggle gadgets?” Ron whispered, covering his face.
Harry and Hermione nodded their heads in small measure.
Harry reminded him, “Mr. Weasley even gave me a tour through his garage, have you forgotten? A few weeks before the start of the second year …” he said and looked at Dobby, because of Dobby’s kind “prevention”, he was misunderstood by the Ministry of Magic for casting a spell outside of school and given a written warning.
What’s worse, the letter was seen by Uncle Vernon.
After a year at Hogwarts, the Dursleys were cautious and indifferent to Harry – they were mainly worried about having a pig tail on them – but the Ministry’s warning letter broke the false balance and Harry was locked in his room, with iron bars nailed on the windows.
That time was a nightmare. While he was worried that he would miss the school train and be expelled from school; he was also worried that he would be starved to death, or Hedwig would be starved to death. So, every time he thought about it, he felt very grateful to the Ron and Weasley twins who came to his rescue.
But that was a long time ago. He is doing well now, “Dobby.” He whispered.
The house-elf perked up his bat ears and looked at Harry with admiration in his eyes.
“Here’s your autograph, the professor got it for you.”
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