Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 498 Umbridge's Whereabouts

“Yes, Minister Cornelius Fudge was already aware of Voldemort’s resurrection.” A few days later, at a press conference, when interviewed by the Daily Prophet and other news media, Tierra said this with a smile, which made Cornelius Fudge breathe a sigh of relief.

“All the muddle-headedness and resistance that Minister Cornelius Fudge has displayed over the past year was to mislead Voldemort and his Death Eater cronies hidden within the Ministry, so that they would come out on their own,” Tyella continued to explain. “And the result is obvious: we captured three of Voldemort’s cronies, Bellatrix Rustrange and Fenrir Greiberg, who recently escaped from prison, and Lucius Malfoy, who was hiding within the Ministry.”

"Unfortunately, although we captured Voldemort, his strength was clearly beyond our expectations. During the journey to Azkaban, Voldemort unfortunately escaped, so we are still in danger."

“Lucius Malfoy is now under our tight surveillance until he reveals all the Death Eater traitors hiding within the Ministry of Magic.” After saying this, Tyrell tilted her head to look at Cornelius Fudge, then stepped down from the Ministry of Magic's podium and obediently stood beside the press dais. Beside the dais, besides Tyrell, stood a cool old man wearing sunglasses—

It was Salazars-Slytherin.

The other members of the Golden Book Council were not keen on power struggles to begin with, and were eager to combine what they had seen and recorded with the calculations they had done with Tyrell some time ago to study the mysteries of the ascension ritual, so they all returned to Hogwarts early. Tyrell left only one Slytherin to support her.

But it didn't matter. After Dumbledore left, Cornelius Fudge thought Tyrell was naive and tried to fool her, but Tyrell, without a word, moved with a slow motion with both hands—

He gave Cornelius Fudge a demonstration of remotely releasing Voldemort.

After that, Connelly Fudge behaved himself and held a press conference today as planned by Tierra.

“Oh, right, right,” Cornelius Fudge pulled out a handkerchief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and straightened his collar. “First of all, I must regretfully announce that the wizard who calls himself the Demon King… oh, you all know who I’m referring to, is still alive and active among us again.”

In his address to reporters, Fudge delivered a very official speech as is customary: "Thank you for Mr. Lockhart's sacrifice and contribution, for stepping forward in the most perilous time for the entire British wizarding world, repelling and capturing that wizard who called himself the Dark Lord."

"For this reason, we are applying to the Order of Merlin for a First Class medal in recognition of Mr. Tierra Lockhart's contributions to maintaining peace in the wizarding world."

After saying that, Cornelius Fudge glanced guiltily at Tyella.

But Tierra kept her eyes fixed on the reporters and onlookers below the podium.

"It's equally regrettable that a large-scale rebellion has broken out among the Dementors of Azkaban. They have expressed their opposition to continuing to work for the Ministry of Magic. We believe that these Dementors are currently serving that Dark Lord, and I think that may be the reason why he escaped during his transport," Cornelius Fudge said regretfully, sadly, and with a hint of apology. "Our transport methods were foolproof, but unfortunately, that Dark Lord's cunning and treachery far exceeded our expectations. He actually managed to turn the Dementors against us, which was something we did not anticipate."

"Because of that scourge's escape..." Cornelius Fudge glanced at Tiera as he spoke, then coughed and continued, "Because of that scourge's escape, it means that the Death Eaters' dark forces have regained power... I regret to announce that, from today onwards, the Ministry of Magic will be under a state of emergency, and in order to better prepare our wizarding community for the upcoming struggle against the evil forces of the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord, and to achieve a certain degree of victory, I announce that the Ministry of Magic will implement two reform policies."

"First, there's the 'Hogwarts Educational Reform Act,' proposed by Headmaster Dumbledore a year ago, which I signed off on yesterday," Cornelius Fudge continued. "Mr. Tyella Lockhart had his death record cleared the day before yesterday and his Hogwarts student status reinstated. This September, he will become the new Hogwarts Investigator, assisting Headmaster Dumbledore in implementing the 'Hogwarts Educational Reform Act' as both a Ministry of Magic official and a Hogwarts student, and further refining the reform during its implementation." "I will send you the detailed documents of the 'Hogwarts Educational Reform Act' after this press conference," Cornelius Fudge said, pausing as if waiting for questions from the reporters.

“Yes, young lady.” Connelly Fudge immediately noticed a little girl with platinum blonde hair sitting at the front who raised her hand.

“Hello, Minister, my name is Luna Lovegood, a reporter for The Quibbler,” Luna said softly. “How is the previous Hogwarts Investigator doing?”

“Oh…Ms. Umbridge…” Cornelius Fudge took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat again, then glanced guiltily at Tyella—

Tyrell's story, in general, wasn't problematic. Regarding Cornelius Fudge and Dumbledore's charade, as long as Dumbledore didn't deny it, the matter was practically settled. But except—

Dolores Umbridge.

Because she went too far, so far that Connery Fudge wanted to protect her but didn't know how to cover it up for her.

"We have solid evidence that Dolores Umbridge, during her time as Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor and Hogwarts Special Investigator, instructed and personally used a series of Dark Magic spells, including the Crucifixion Curse, to torture students who opposed her. What is your explanation for this?" Luna asked lightly.

As soon as Luna finished speaking, a murmur of discussion immediately arose from the audience—

“This…this…this…” Cornelius Fudge nervously wiped his sweat and kept glancing at Tiera.

Tierra nodded, and Connelly Fudge felt as if he had been granted a pardon.

"I am very sorry to tell you all that Lady Dolores Umbridge has probably been won over by Voldemort." Cornelius Fudge bowed slightly, as if he were bowing. "It was my mistake in judging people. Her disguise was too clever, allowing such a cancer to lurk in the Ministry of Magic. We sent her from Hogwarts to Azkaban three days ago, at the same time we captured that devil. But unfortunately, on the day the Dark Lord broke out of prison, she also disappeared from Azkaban. Her whereabouts are now unknown. We guess she has probably joined that wizard who calls himself the Dark Lord."

Listening to Cornelius Fudge's speech, Tierra smiled as she let her thoughts drift far away—

In a dark, remote forest castle, Voldemort listened as the toad-like ugly woman, Dolores Umbridge, recounted everything she knew about the ritual of becoming a god, while using Legilimency to verify the truth of Umbridge's words.

(End of this chapter)