Hogwarts 1991

Chapter 168 Cornelius Fudge and David Goodman

First Wednesday in August.

Cornelius Fudge was sitting alone in the middle of the office. He was holding a long meeting minutes, but his mind was full of the chatter among his subordinates that he just heard at the corner of the corridor.

— Dumbledore would not have done so.

"Dumbledore, Dumbledore, everything is Dumbledore!"

"When will these guys be able to understand that I am the Minister of Magic of this country!!...the ruler of the wizarding world with the highest authority!!"

He angrily threw out the stack of records in his hand, and the white paper fell down freely over the office.

From the appearance, Cornelius Fudge is indeed not as majestic as the Minister of Magic, which is what annoys him the most.

He doesn't look like a powerful wizard like Dumbledore at all, no matter in appearance, in fact, or in people's mouth.

He himself knew that he was far inferior to Dumbledore in terms of bloodline, magical power, fame, and even the degree of loyalty of his subordinates.
especially the looks...

For example, Dumbledore looks like a powerful wizard holding a long wand, wearing a black-gray robe, roaring, and jumping up to beat the flame monster, while Fuguitar himself looks like an alcoholic Muggle or squib.

Cornelius Fudge was short and stocky, with a mop of gray hair that, like so many older wizards, began to recede.

He could only try to stretch the front of his hair so that it could be covered, so as not to spoil the already bad image.

Generally speaking, the clothes he wears are a mishmash (both elements) catering to the two factions that exist in the Ministry of Magic (Muggles, half-blood wizards and those pure-blood wizards):

Pinstripe black and blue suit, bright red tie, purple pointed shoes, of course it's just that. It can only be said that the Muggle outfit that Fauci wears is a bit weird and has no vision, but once he goes out...

Putting on the long black cloak and the dark green wizard hat on the tripod hanger next to it, it's just... any Muggle with a bit of normal aesthetics can't look at this kind of dress with a straight eye.

Fudge took a few deep breaths, but he still couldn't calm down this extremely bad mood.

So he picked up his wand, conjured a large glass, filled it with amber liquid, and poured it down.

After a glass of whiskey, Fudge felt much better.

He waved his wand again.

All the parchments on the ground swished into the air, and came back to him one by one.
After they were sorted automatically, they landed in the red file box on the upper left of the huge bronze metal desk.

"Go and call David Goodman!" Fauci just frowned, then turned his head and said to a portrait on the wall to his left.

There are also many portraits hanging in the office of the Minister of Magic just like the office of the headmaster of Hogwarts.

But they are all the portraits of the Minister of Magic of England over the years.

Here they can reveal the hidden secrets and unspeakable truths in the Ministry of Magic and the entire magical world to the newly appointed Minister of Magic in this way... and can guide the new Minister of Magic to prevent them from making wrong choices.

Cornelius Fauci benefited a lot back then.

Moreover, this method is extremely confidential, and it is very difficult for wizards to obtain secrets from these portrait painters. Even in Voldemort's time, no Death Eater has ever heard of it.

Of all the portraits in the Office of the Minister of Magic, the only one that isn't one of them... is the little dirty oil painting that Fauci just talked to.

It's about the size of a normal 8K notebook, oval in shape.

There is only a profile head of a person in the painting.

This head is still a gray-white stone statue, only two eyeballs are completely black, shining like black pearls, which is very strange in comparison.

The head portraits in oil paintings are generally stationary, not as active as other oil painting characters,...picking their nostrils, blinking, or disappearing suddenly, it stays in the oil painting forever, maintaining that face.

Only when the current prime minister wants to notify his department heads in the office will he become active.

And... there are such portraits in the offices of other Ministry heads of Magic as well.

The portraits on both sides are the same and synchronized.

As long as one side speaks, the other side can convey at the same time.

Of course, in addition to the head of the department, the assistant to the Minister of Magic, or the office of the Secretary of the Minister can also receive this notice.

And David Goodman is Cornelius Fudge's current secretary, a Muggle-born wizard.

"Okay, sir!"

After hearing Fudge's order, the portrait blinked and began to move, preparing to notify David Goodman.

"Forget it, I'll go by myself!"

Fudge waved his hand and stopped the order he had just given.

He then thought about it, if David Goodman, a wizard born in a pure Muggle family, was allowed to come and go in his office frequently, those pure-blood wizards would be even more dissatisfied with him.

Although he knew that David was one of his own, not those from the Muggles or the International Federation of Wizards faction, but for the balance of power within the ministry, he could not let people think that he had a preference, and began to favor the Muggles and wizards faction.

Thinking of this, Fudge hurriedly put on his dark green top hat, put on a black cloak, and went out of this office to an office in the corner of the corridor at the top of the Ministry of Magic.

come near,

Fauci originally wanted to knock on the door, but after thinking about it, he pushed the door open and went in.

He wanted to see what his most trusted subordinate was doing in private.

——Is it true that, as some pure-blood wizards say, one thing on the surface is another thing behind the scenes, deceiving oneself.

There were only two people in the room.

David Goodman and a tall, balding, dark-skinned wizard are talking at length.

Fudge recognized from that side's iconic gold earrings,

—It was Kingsley Shacklebolt.

This reassured Fudge.

He still knew Kingsley.

He is a member of the Shacklebolt family, usually taciturn, a reliable and loyal Auror with excellent work ability.

David Goodman looked up at the uninvited visitor, and realized that it was his loyal boss.

— Cornelius Fudge, always worried and unreasonable.

Especially since Harry Potter entered school last year, this symptom has become more serious, and he has become suspicious all the time, looking at everyone like a traitor spy, for fear that Dumbledore will use the legend of Harry Potter, a little boy in the wizarding world of England, to plot to overthrow his throne of power.

——I knew I wouldn't tell him that Dumbledore had a power struggle with him.

David sighed, knowing that he and Kingsley Shacklebolt, a young man, could no longer continue teaching about the Muggle authority.

"The general situation... is like this. In fact, after the previous ministers of magic changed the departments of the Ministry of Magic... You can find many similarities between the department structure of the Ministry of Magic and the departments of the Muggle government... If there is something you don't understand, you can watch a Muggle TV series "Yes, Minister"... This interesting TV series can let you understand the general methods of the actual operation of the Muggle government in England..." David Goodman briefly concluded.

"By the way, Kingsley, you know TV series... No, do you know TV?" He suddenly remembered that the young man in front of him was a wizard from a pure-blood family, so he asked.

David Goodman hoped that this seemingly capable young man would have some basic common sense of modern Muggles. Their minister seemed completely impatient and asked him to explain in detail.

"Sir, I know the TV, I will look for this TV series!" Kingsley replied slowly, with a deep and thick voice.

After speaking, he stood up from his chair, shook hands with David Goodman, then said hello to Fauci, the Minister of Magic, and left with interest.

"minister……"

"Kingsley, will I have a word with Goodman alone?"

Kingsley Shacklebolt left the office and closed the door gently.

Now only David Goodman and Cornelius Fudge were left in the room.

When he really faced David Goodman, Fudge seemed to have nothing to say again. He didn't know what to say, and he expressed his fear as if he was incompetent and too afraid of Dumbledore.

Embarrassed and speechless, Fauci pretended to be interested in David's office, and began to look around.

Speaking of it, although Goodman is Fauci himself, the Secretary of the Minister of Magic, and the closest assistant, the number of times he has come to this office is also very few, and the few times he just passed by in a hurry and did not observe it carefully.

but……

Even from this office, it can be seen that the wizard David Goodman is the weirdest person in the entire Ministry of Magic.

Fauci once heard gossip and gossip among his subordinates.

Have heard them rank who is the weirdest person in the Ministry of Magic.

Some people say it was Arthur Weasley, and his desk was filled with all kinds of Muggle supplies... Even strange batteries and plugs of various models filled several chests of drawers.

Some people also said that it was Umbridge's pink old toad, such an old witch, who still wore girlish pink clothes all day long...even her office was decorated in pink, and she obviously didn't like cats, but she crazily collected porcelain and porcelain plates with cat portraits.

—that old hag has gone mad.

But at the end of the discussion, everyone agreed that the strangest person was still elected by David Goodman.

You can see a thing or two from this office alone...

Although it was not big, it was empty. There was only a worn-out long brown table with scratches in the whole room. There were only a few piles of papers and reports waiting to be processed and written on the table. Two tattered black armchairs were placed on both sides of the table.

Compared to other head-elects who were elected department heads who wanted to hang their own portraits all over the walls of their offices, he never did this kind of thing, and there was not even a portrait on the wall... No, there was another one, which was the weird stone-faced portrait that was stipulated not to be moved.

(Although Fauci’s office does not have his own portrait, it is because the Ministry of Magic has not had any traditions for hundreds of years. Of course, Cornelius Fauci finally managed to magnify his portrait by tens of thousands of times and hang it at the entrance of the Ministry of Magic. All wizards who entered the British Ministry of Magic saw this moving portrait at first sight)
And the wizard David Goodman, although he looks older than Connery Fauci, of course...he is indeed older.

But the blond hair is well-groomed, and he never speaks in a hurry, with a greasy official accent, which requires people to go around a few times to understand.

He is obviously a Muggle-born wizard, but he doesn't shy away from his birth at all. From the beginning to the end, no matter what time he wears an exquisite black suit, blue spotted tie or bow tie, and black leather shoes.

He doesn't look like a wizard at all, and he prefers to deal with serious incidents that cause Muggle social turmoil rather than erasing his memory. He prefers to use magic and soft treatment - to eliminate the influence by influencing the Muggle government and the Muggle media.

This is indeed regarded as heresy by the vast majority of wizards and is not popular.

Even the magic wizards of the pure-blood faction drove him out of the Ministry of Magic several times.

But due to all sorts of big troubles with Muggle society, he was brought back again.

Take it for granted... Compared with magic, David Goodman understands all aspects of the entire British Muggle society better, and he is also the number one 'Muggle expert' in the Ministry.

It's always a good idea to ask him about Muggle-related matters.

Just like Kingsley Shacklebolt, because Aurors often need to deal with Muggles, David Goodman was often consulted.

And for Connery Fauci, the secretary has another role.

Goodman, who has worked in the Ministry of Magic for more than 30 years, even survived Voldemort's time... is a veritable old bureaucrat.

He can be said to be the most senior wizard in the Ministry of Magic and the wizard who knows the operation of this authority best.

"Goodman, why did I hear rumors that Dumbledore attached great importance to a little wizard?" Fudge walked back and forth, and finally said slowly.

"Harry Potter? Wizards all over the world know about it!" Goodman lowered his head to deal with the documents, and responded without thinking.

After talking with Kingsley, David Goodman knew that his minister was still having the same problem just by looking at his face.

— Doubt Dumbledore, be afraid of Dumbledore!Nothing made me panic and terrified.

"I'm really looking for trouble, scaring myself... This minister will only make himself panic, and then start looking for other events to seek exposure and support...Dumbledore didn't become the Minister of Magic, so he must have seen the piss of this position! It's so wise..."

He ignored his self-inflicted minister, and instead continued to deal with the reports, meeting excerpts, and various approval matters that were on the table.

——It doesn’t matter which country these politicians are from, wizards or Muggles are the same, it’s like a lunatic managing a mental hospital.

Crazy Cornelius Fudge sat down, stared at David and said loudly, "No, no, Harry Potter, can this be a rumour?"

"It's another one, I remember not long after, he will be questioned about the Philosopher's Stone incident at Hogwarts..."

"Um, I remember... But, it's a transcript! It's not a question." Goodman corrected it unceremoniously.

"And such a trivial matter, why do you hold on to it?"

"What do you want, Minister?"

"I think it's time to test Dumbledore...you won't object! What a chance!..."

Before Fauci finished speaking, Goodman raised his head and said word by word, "I object!"

"What! Why, no,... Didn't you say that there must be a power struggle between me and Dumbledore?" Fauci leaned forward and stared at Goodman and asked sternly.

"Minister, you and Dumbledore don't have rights because of fighting, but have to fight because of the rights you have..."

"I, I... what are you talking about!"

Fudge was bewildered.

(End of this chapter)