Mysterious Journey

Chapter 931: Perplexity

In the late twentieth century, Europe gradually saw a trend of declining birth rates.

And within the relatively competitive and closed-off magical world, this situation was even more severe. Apart from exceptions like the Weasley family, most magical families had only one child. For Xenophilius, a widower, Luna was practically everything he had.

Therefore, Ailiana could understand Mr. Lovegood's occasional feelings.

In any era, the way parents and children interact is an unavoidable issue.

In Ailiana's original plan, she intended to use some forceful methods to make Mr. Lovegood understand that Luna would eventually have her own social circle and life. That was why she had been prohibiting Xenophilius from visiting his daughter during the "o5 weekly meeting."

Unfortunately, she couldn't be cold-hearted enough to ignore Mr. Lovegood's lonely figure.

However, while Ailiana could help Xenophilius create more opportunities to spend time with his daughter, that was all she could do.

"...You kids, you must remember to tidy up your things in the future, don't be careless."

"I used to have this problem too, but I've improved a lot..."

"It's troublesome after the library closes at night. If you lose your homework or textbooks, it will cause a lot of trouble for classes later. I remember when I was studying at Hogwarts, I once lost all my Transfiguration homework and textbooks in one go, and later..."

On the way from the Hogwarts Entrance Hall to the teachers' lounge, Xenophilius Lovegood clearly became much more interested, repeatedly reminding Luna of various precautions, occasionally identifying the surrounding directions, and leading the way.

And behind him, unseen by Mr. Lovegood, Miss Lovegood's face grew increasingly dark.

"Dad! The house-elves will help us deliver our clothes and homework to our bedrooms."

"Uh... eh?"

Just as Xenophilius began to recall how he explained the missing homework to Professor McGonagall and how he managed to survive that week's Transfiguration class without a textbook, Luna finally couldn't help but interrupt Xenophilius's reminiscence, sounding annoyed.

"I, Hermione, and Hannah are the prefects of Hogwarts. Our responsibility is to arrive at the scene as quickly as possible in case of emergencies and assist the professors in controlling the situation. As for textbooks and clothes, they all have labels, and the house-elves will help us sort them out and deliver them to our beds before twelve o'clock after we've been away for half an hour – completely different from your time."

Luna glanced at Mr. Lovegood and said stiffly with a straight face.

"Also, we've arrived at the teachers' lounge. Perhaps we should keep our voices down, lest we disturb the others inside..."

"Uh, uh—good. Of course."

Xenophilius Lovegood stammered awkwardly, chuckling.

He finally understood why the other two little witches had such subtle expressions when he appeared with a pile of clothes. If he hadn't been so clever, the girls wouldn't have had to carry their backpacks all the way here to audit.

Fortunately, the heated questions and answers coming from the teachers' lounge at this moment temporarily rescued him.

...

Hogwarts teachers' lounge.

Tonight's emergency "press conference" seemed to have reached its climax.

Just as Xenophilius and his party quietly slipped into the room, they heard Barnabas, the editor of *The Daily Prophet*, questioning Fudge.

"...So, does Professor Quirrell really have serious illegal behavior? Does this mean that the Ministry of Magic has the power to bypass Hogwarts and directly participate in the appointment and dismissal of Hogwarts professors? And will Quirinus Quirrell face imprisonment in Azkaban?"

Beside Barnabas, a magical quill floated in the air above a notebook, as if an invisible person was holding it.

The other magazine editors and reporters in the room were all focused intently on Cornelius Fudge, with various magical cameras, recording devices, and shorthand tools all prepared. The Minister for Magic couldn't even sigh or fart without it being recorded...

This was probably the most explosive large-scale conflict in the past half year, and all the media in the magical world had to take it seriously.

"Um, about that..."

Cornelius Fudge composed himself and sat properly behind the temporary podium.

After a period of buffering, his complexion was much better than the previous liverish color.

The Minister for Magic glanced at the reporters around him and cleared his throat.

"Yes, and no."

"I'm sorry, could you please be more specific?"

Barnabas was stunned for half a second, and the quill hovering in the air left an inkblot on the notebook.

Cornelius Fudge pondered for a moment, glanced at Dumbledore sitting next to him, and said softly with great skill.

"If you insist on me giving an accurate answer, then I can only say that, based on the current situation, considering the overall picture, referring to the past, taking into account all aspects of consideration and emphasis, and analyzing and summarizing, perhaps it can be considered... you may find that, although it is difficult, these matters are extremely delicate circumstances, and at this stage, we can only take a certain reserved attitude. That's roughly it."

"...Um, uh. So, what exactly—"

Barnabas opened his mouth, his hand hovering in the air, clenching and releasing, as if trying to capture the meaning of Fudge's words.

"This is suspected, a subtle state between guilty and innocent..."

Cornelius Fudge replied calmly with ease, subtly taking control of the questioning.

"At least, in the absence of sufficient evidence to prove that Professor Quirrell is incompetent or intends to violate the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, the Ministry of Magic naturally has no reason to stop his normal teaching; on the other hand, there is also no sufficient evidence to prove that Professor Quirrell can remove his suspicion... All of this must go through a rigorous hearing review before the Wizengamot Court makes a decision."

A rustling sound of writing filled the large room as reporters and editors eagerly recorded what Fudge had just said.

At such a rare public press conference, any overlooked detail could affect their magazine's sales.

"Then, during this period, are there any special arrangements for Professor Quirrell?"

As the core editor of *The Daily Prophet*, Barnabas quickly locked onto the key point of the question and continued to press.

"Can we assume that the Ministry of Magic admits that it should take other more appropriate actions to enforce the law, abandoning tonight's arrest of Quirinus Quirrell? This seems inconsistent with the 'extreme danger' revealed by Undersecretary Umbridge and the Aurors..."

"Um, not entirely accurate—I prefer the term, probation."

Cornelius Fudge blinked, turned his head to look at Dumbledore next to him again, and quickly explained.

"As everyone knows, Professor Dumbledore himself is the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot Court. After discussion, we unanimously believe that before the court officially opens the trial, Mr. Quirinus Quirrell is more suitable to be at Hogwarts, rather than in the Ministry of Magic or elsewhere."

"Uh, sorry, time is limited... Mr. Dolfta?"

Before Barnabas of *The Daily Prophet* could organize a new question, Cornelius Fudge pointed to another wizard raising his hand.

However, Cornelius Fudge quickly realized his mistake.

Compared to the relatively mild *Daily Prophet*, the questions prepared by *The Quibbler* were obviously much sharper.

"Honorable Minister, what do you think of Undersecretary Umbridge's actions today?"

The middle-aged wizard asked bluntly, not caring about the pink toad's face, which had instantly turned gloomy not far away.

"From the information currently understood, the Ministry of Magic carried out a controversial emergency operation tonight. As the direct initiator and driver of this operation, did Dolores Umbridge have your authorization? And—do you approve of this arrest and search behavior? If you also think it is inappropriate, what responses and system adjustments will the Ministry of Magic make afterward?"

If *The Daily Prophet*'s main focus was on daily news, then *The Quibbler*'s positioning was on high-quality, analytical reports.

Dolfta wasn't worried about offending any senior undersecretaries. The ancient pure-blood families standing behind *The Quibbler* didn't care about a particular Minister for Magic; they were more concerned about the potential benefits and threats that the Ministry of Magic's current power might bring them.

"Regarding this point, it's also... yes, and no."

Cornelius Fudge raised his eyebrows and replied with increasing skill and ease.

"So... do you approve or disapprove? We don't need to beat around the bush here."

Dolfta frowned and looked at Fudge impatiently. "Minister, please answer my question clearly."

"Dolores now has dual roles, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic and a full-time teacher at Hogwarts—this is an unprecedented special situation: a Hogwarts professor discovered that a colleague might have a problem, so they directly reported it to the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic. From a procedural point of view, every step is in compliance with the regulations and can be explained accordingly. We will seriously consider related issues afterward..."

Cornelius Fudge said softly and quickly, seemingly competing with the rustling quills to see who could be faster.

"We found that a wizard was in possession of dangerous items, so we immediately dispatched Aurors. Because the location was in the school, we applied for a search warrant and increased personnel, hoping to complete the work without affecting the students—unfortunately, we did not execute it perfectly, but this was an inevitable accident in the execution of the task, unrelated to the Ministry's system. After confiscating the dangerous items, according to Article of the International Statute of Secrecy..."

Cornelius Fudge paused slightly and looked at Dumbledore for help.

"Article 125 of the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy, Aurors have the right to urgently arrest anyone who may leak secrets. However, the following sentence, which grants the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement the power to directly sentence someone to death without approval in emergency situations, has been deleted."

Dumbledore said softly, his gaze crossing the reporters in the middle of the room and looking at the teachers sitting in the corner.

If he remembered correctly, a "professor" present almost died mysteriously because of this decades ago.

As he mentioned this special law, Newt Scamander suddenly turned to look at the door—a plain-looking castle caretaker had somehow slipped to the door, blocking the only way out for everyone, and was now whispering something to the few latecomers.

"Oh, thank you. That's right, that's it. According to Article 125 of the Statute of Secrecy, the Aurors have the right to determine whether Mr. Quirrell should be urgently arrested, and from the feedback I received, the confiscated 'Muggle-killing curse item' does constitute this reason."

Cornelius Fudge nodded gratefully, Mr. Dolfta, and said in a cheerful voice.

"Undoubtedly, all of our officials are strictly following long-standing regulations and laws to carry out their work. Perhaps there are some aspects to be considered in terms of on-site judgment, but this is inevitable and can be avoided by subsequent consultations... Next one. You are?"

The Minister for Magic turned his face happily and looked at Scott, who had just raised his hand.

"Scott Burn. Editor-in-chief of *Transfiguration Today*, Minister."

"Oh, yes, yes. I remember now. You are here today to attend Professor McGonagall's academic conference, right?"

Hearing Scott Burn's self-introduction, Cornelius Fudge's expression clearly relaxed a lot, and he said with a smile.

"*Transfiguration Today* is a very important magical research publication. I often say that we should vigorously develop such publications. Do you have any questions you would like to ask? If it's related to Transfiguration, then my answer is full support! The Ministry of Magic attaches great importance to education—"

"Um, actually it's about Defense Against the Dark Arts. We sometimes publish other academic news..."

Scott Burn coughed lightly, looked down at his notebook, and continued.

"It's like this, before you arrived, Minister, we had the good fortune to witness a very exciting magical battle, and in it, we heard some discussions about Defense Against the Dark Arts. Perhaps the course content recognized by the current Ministry of Magic has some errors..."

"Regarding this, we..." Cornelius Fudge coughed lightly, preparing to explain.

"And more interestingly, from the students, we learned that Professor Apokalypse briefly served as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts last year, but this year the Ministry of Magic sent Dolores Umbridge to replace him. The two obviously have a considerable degree of divergence in teaching style and content, so we have to question whether it is correct for the Ministry of Magic to interfere in education?"

Scott Burn said bluntly in a deep voice. The reporters around him whispered to each other, and the flashbulbs flashed again.

"This..."

The smile on Cornelius Fudge's face gradually disappeared.

You know, this temporary press conference was a forced march.

Dumbledore did not hold any grudges and gave a lot of suggestions to help him get through the immediate difficulties, and from the previous rounds of speeches and questions, the unified caliber reached after these consultations obviously had an effect, but...

He hadn't prepared for this question at all!

Most importantly, he still hadn't figured out how Umbridge and Scrimgeour lost!

That was a full four elite Aurors, plus the head of the Auror Office, plus a Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic. In Cornelius Fudge's think tank's deduction, this lineup even had a chance to force Albus Dumbledore to retreat at Hogwarts!

———

———

Hooray!