HP: For a better world

"knocking"

"Come in." A delicate voice came from the minister's office.

The Auror Captain walked in timidly, "Ma'am."

He tried his best to keep his voice steady and said, "I'm looking for the minister."

"What's the matter?" Umbridge was sitting next to the minister's desk. She looked up from the documents and glanced at him. "The minister has gone to Germany for a meeting. If you have anything to say, just tell me. I can handle it -"

She narrowed her eyes in enjoyment and recognized him as the Auror who was lucky enough to be directly appointed as a team leader. She said lazily, "I am very honored that the Minister is willing to entrust this responsibility entirely to me. Have you sent the prisoner to Azkaban? Well done. The Minister will reward you."

"No..." The captain said with difficulty, "Actually, things have changed, ma'am... I think we'd better contact the Minister as soon as possible..."

Umbridge raised her eyebrows, which seemed motionless at all, and noticed that this lucky guy was actually sweating.

She raised her upper body with sudden interest, "Is it something serious?"

Her eyes rolled around in her sockets, and she smiled sweetly, but she ordered firmly: "Talk to me."

The team leader showed a look of resistance and fear.

"Is there anything you can't tell my 'most trusted' subordinate as the Minister?" Umbridge asked as she looked at the captain.

She keenly sensed something was wrong from the captain's bad look, and intuitively felt that there was something she could benefit from. She looked at her pink cat nails that she had just done yesterday with appreciation. It was indeed her lucky cat - it brought her good luck as soon as it arrived.

She didn't say anything, but just fiddled with her nails with appreciation, using silence to put pressure on the team leader.

The team leader was sweating profusely, lowering his head and not even daring to look up. As time passed, he looked like he was about to fall off the ground - he must have made a big mistake, which was why he was so nervous.

After a while, as if she felt that the pressure was enough, Umbridge retracted her fingernails and patted her newly curled hair before she spoke leisurely, "If you tell me what mistake you made now, perhaps I can cover it up for you in front of the minister... If you say nothing and insist on waiting until the minister comes back before you speak, then I'm afraid there's nothing I can do." She said lightly.

"What mistake did you make?"

Umbridge said without a trace of malice, "The only mission you have received recently is to accompany the Minister to capture Sirius Black and then take the real prisoner Peter Pettigrew to Azkaban -"

To be honest, when Umbridge first heard Fudge's order, many things she could use flashed through her mind, but Fudge was very careful and even reached a political exchange with Dumbledore. They only needed to wait for Peter to arrive, and Fudge would notify the Daily Prophet to start laying the groundwork, and then they could naturally submit the case to the Wizengamot Court. It would be best if the matter was exposed just before Crouch was re-nominated for the election two years later to completely suppress this old rival.

Umbridge twirled her pen, thinking.

Recently there's the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament. If they do a good job, the Department of International Magical Cooperation will shine again - and now their leader is Barty Crouch.

Fudge's political enemy was also Umbridge's enemy. So she gave up the idea of ​​making a fuss about this matter. She just told the Selwyn family about a student who was hurt in this matter. It was said that their heir seemed to have had a feud with this student in school. He was just a half-blood. If Umbridge could get the recognition of the Selwyn family, it would be a great deal.

She cast a probing gaze at the team leader's face, "You are lucky enough to be promoted... You shouldn't come to see me with this expression--"

Umbridge quickly guessed the only answer: "Or - did you let Peter Pettigrew run away?"

"No——" the captain said with difficulty, "It's not us——"

"It's Azkaban."

The squad leader was firm.

"We don't know when the prisoner touched the wand of the man from Azkaban - we warned him and sent a team with him."

"When we finished our mission and were taking a rest there, we saw a ferry washed back by the waves on the coast... There were two completely gnawed human skeletons on the boat."

The captain's voice became quieter as he spoke, as if he was recalling something he had seen when he and the remaining team member were out to have some fun at the nearest wizard market.

He shuddered. Although he knew that many kinds of black magic could achieve this effect, it was still very scary to see with his own eyes two gnawed human skeletons after the boat that had disappeared for half a month returned - especially one of them could be recognized as his recent companion from his clothes - the clothes were covered with dense rat tooth marks.

The member sent out was the one who led the Dementors to kiss Black. The original intention was to appease the innocent victims and share the credit. The captain gave him the easiest and safest job. He hoped that the reward he would receive after sending the prisoners would make him recognize Fudge's arrangement.

Unexpectedly, this allowed him to escape. Thinking of Peter Pedillo who could only sob and beg in a low voice all the way, the captain couldn't help but shudder deeply. There was fear in his eyes. He looked timid and cowardly, but he could do such a terrible thing.

The round trip by ferry to Azkaban took a month, and Peter's outburst on the ferry bought him more than half a month of escape time.

"...Ms. Umbridge," the captain said to her coquettishly, "You see, I came to discuss this with you as soon as I found out about this, didn't I -"

"That's hard to say." Umbridge said in the innocent tone of a little girl, ignoring the captain's suddenly pale face, "You know how important this is to the Minister--"

She pushed away the documents in front of her, stood up, walked slowly from behind the desk and looked at the tall and strong team leader in front of her who lowered his head and wished he could shrink into the corner.

"This concerns the minister's re-election—"

Umbridge said, raising her voice.

"...Of course I understand the seriousness of the matter, ma'am!" The captain confessed urgently, "That's why I immediately, immediately after I discovered this matter--"

Umbridge raised her hand to stop him.

The team leader quickly shut up and swallowed back the emotion he had not yet expressed.

"Hufflepuff? Auror who was promoted from a striker?"

Every time Umbridge said something, the captain nodded hurriedly.

"——Sir, you are very lucky to be promoted from a striker to an Auror, and then get the opportunity to be promoted soon."

The captain looked at Umbridge and smiled as she stretched out her flat face. With her current standard black wizard robe and pink bow on her head, she looked like a fat black toad with a flat mouth, and a slippery tongue was about to pop out of her mouth in an instant. The captain hurriedly lowered his head and struggled to find the gratitude he had thought of before, and read out dryly: "Yes, ma'am, I am very grateful for the opportunity you gave me..."

“How many people know about this now?”

"Well... unfortunately, when the boat came back, there were a few nearby residents, and..."

"——I mean, how many other people knew that this was done by Peter Pettigrew?"

Umbridge's fake smile disappeared in an instant, and she interrupted him expressionlessly.

"There are only my team members, old Jack who is responsible for receiving us, and the person in charge of Azkaban—" the captain replied quickly, "Except for Azkaban, I have already controlled them, ma'am."

"But I didn't know whether I should inform Azkaban that someone had died in the line of duty or continue with the Minister's instructions to inform the Law Enforcement Department, so I came here first—" The captain hesitated, feeling a little uneasy, and cautiously tried, "Did I do something wrong?"

"Ma'am," he added hastily.

"Do not."

"You didn't," Umbridge smiled with narrowed eyes, her voice revealing an overly sweet feeling of inferior saccharin, "On the contrary, you did very well, sir~"

The team leader's eyes widened slightly, his mouth lifted up involuntarily, and his whole facial expression revealed a kind of hesitation.

……real?

"So what should I do now—go ahead and complete the Minister's notice, then report to Mr. Scrimgeour…?"

Umbridge walked up to the captain with a genuine, extraordinary smile on her face.

The captain's mind was tense and his eyes were fixed on Umbridge.

At first, she stretched out her chubby hands to help this lucky yet unlucky guy tie his tie to show her closeness and consideration, but when she found that the captain was staring at her chubby fingers, she suddenly changed her mind, and retracted her hands as if she had no interest, and coughed in a fake manner.

"Of course not, dear, no, no need to tell them, you've done a great job, wonderfully, I will report all this immediately after the Minister comes back, don't worry - but before that, I'm afraid you have to go out for a walk and relax - how about it? Albania -" Umbridge pressed the collar on his chest affectionately and said without question.

The captain opened his mouth wide, isn't this exile? Dark wizards are rampant there, and there are bunkers, forests, and mountains everywhere for hiding - although the scenery is indeed beautiful.

It's also suitable for tourism. The Muggle population there is not very developed, the terrain is complex, and the environment is changeable, which is very suitable for wizards to hide.

"It's true that the Muggles in the Southern Federation to the north are at war, but is it still a good place for wizards to travel?" Umbridge said with a smile.

"As for your other subordinate, I will arrange for him to find another job, South Africa—"

"But! But!" The captain was caught off guard, "But Madam - Ms. Umbridge - Miss -"

Umbridge responded with a smile on her face. "Oh, I think you should know what to shut up about, sir." She said coquettishly, "Go on a trip, understand? Wait for me to inform you that the vacation is over, and don't believe anyone except me."

"Salaries will be paid as usual." She added after a while.

-

That night.

Fudge stepped down from the Thestral carriage in his suit and tie with a smile on his face, straightened his collar and said goodbye to his companions.

When he returned to the office, he spoke in a cheerful tone: "Long time no see, my dear Dolores, is there anything else in the department that needs my instructions?"

He pretended to loosen his tie and sighed, "This trip to Germany exhausted me so much. We almost encountered an attack by dark wizards - of course, it was okay in the end. It happened near the venue. They refused to tell me what happened recently - fortunately, Kingsley was very good and keenly discovered the whole picture, which allowed us to gain a great advantage in the negotiations -" He was about to praise Kingsley Shacklebolt's behavior.

But he was surprised to find that Umbridge did not eagerly step forward to get his coat this time.

"--What's wrong with you? Did something big happen in the Ministry while I was away?" Fudge asked in confusion, feeling that there was something wrong with her attitude.

"Yes." Umbridge, who had just had a friendly chat with her 'old friends', immediately said with fake concern: "This is a big problem, Minister."

Fudge raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Don't tell me—"

"Don't tell me that the news of the Triwizard Tournament has leaked out." Fudge suddenly laughed, thinking that he was very humorous, and said, "The people will be happy to be the Minister of Magic who took the venue from France -"

As he spoke he took a step forward excitedly, trying to show his personal secretary, Umbridge, how pleased he was.

"Minister Fudge, who has outstanding political talent, excellent negotiation skills, and is steadfast in the national interest—"

Fudge suddenly stopped, raised his hand and said happily: "Also, the approval rating is soaring!"

"This is simply wonderful, Dolores," Fudge exclaimed.

"I see that the Department of International Magical Cooperation is also trying very hard, which is good. The harder they try, the more credit old Crouch will get. When they fall, the more I can get. Ah ha, the sinner hidden in the Ministry of Magic for many years. The Ministry of Magic mourns deeply. We didn't see the true face of Crouch for so many years. Obviously, we all know how cruel the methods of a leader with an iron face are to a person. He claims to attach importance to the law but destroyed the life of a warrior. What do you think of putting this paragraph in the Daily Prophet on the day of the election, Dolores? I am really a genius."

"I'm afraid this is a little different from what you expected, Minister," said Umbridge, her face trembling slightly. She seemed to be thirsty, so she licked her lips with her tongue and said impatiently, "Peter Pettigrew is missing, and the Auror you just assigned suddenly handed me the news -"

"--Peter Pettigrew!" she said in a low, frightened tone, "he has escaped again--and has killed two of our public servants with his usual brutality! The bodies of those public servants have been found--"

"It's at the new ferry station in Azkaban." Umbridge shouted in a panic. "If someone finds out who the murderer is, then you, we will be finished. Minister, what should we do?"

She blinked her eyes as if she was nervous, swallowed her saliva, and even the voice that always called the Minister in a sweet and sticky voice had changed. It was mixed with a vaguely strange sticky feeling.

It was also like a toad making a drumming sound from inside her big chin.

Fudge gasped.