At the end of February, in the cold spring season, the famous journalist Rita Skeeter published an article in the Daily Prophet:
[Barty Crouch escaped from Azkaban? Secretary Fudge’s big mistake!]
As soon as this article appeared, it was like a depth charge, instantly detonating the entire magical world.
Where is Azkaban?
Britain's wizarding prison!
It was put into use in the 18th century and has been in operation for nearly three hundred years. There has never been an escape incident of a prisoner.
Even Peter Pettigrew, who made a fuss the year before last, only escaped on the way to Azkaban, not from inside the prison!
But today, an escapee appeared in this prison known as the "fortress with iron walls", which naturally caused an uproar immediately.
You must know that if a prisoner can escape from prison, a second or third prison escaper will appear.
And Azkaban holds countless criminals, including countless vicious Death Eaters. Once they all escape, how terrifying it will be!
The identity of the fugitive Crouch, who was once the director of the Department of International Cooperation, has also aroused public suspicion.
Could it be that high-ranking Ministry of Magic officials like them actually knew about Azkaban's security flaws and were able to escape smoothly?
Everyone also noticed one thing in particular. Crouch escaped from prison in January and it was not revealed until the end of February... What about the period in between?
The Ministry of Magic neither wanted Crouch nor informed the public about the incident, but chose to conceal the truth.
It's like a tiger escaped from the zoo, but the zoo did not make a statement, leaving the public in an unknown danger... This behavior undoubtedly made everyone angry.
Therefore, throughout March, under the guidance of Rita Skeeter, major reporters and news writers all angrily criticized the Ministry of Magic's inaction and opacity, pointing the finger directly at Fudge.
Fudge was so busy with this, he was so anxious and angry, and his mouth was full of tears, but the more he was like this, the more he liked to read newspapers and read those comments that criticized him.
"After Peter Pettigrew's escape and the Quidditch World Cup attack, another prison break occurred in just six months. We have to question Minister Fudge's level of governance.
Now it seems that the original sentence "After Minister Millicent Bagno retired, the Ministry of Magic officially entered the Fudge Era", how ridiculous this sentence was!
The Ministry of Magic must now break free from the tight shackles of bureaucracy. It is time to open the windows, get some fresh air, get rid of all the red tape, and rejuvenate this creaking old bureaucratic machine..."
"What do you mean fresh air, a new minister? Who wrote this? Ah... of course it was her... Rita Skeeter."
Fudge gritted his teeth and recited the name, and then angrily threw the cup out of his hand. The cup hit the wall and immediately broke into pieces.
Bang bang bang!
Following a knock on the door, Fudge said impatiently: "Come in."
Umbridge pushed open and entered. She first locked the door, then waved her wand to restore the broken cup. Then she walked over to Fudge and said in a cooing voice:
"Mr. Minister, what happened to make you so angry?"
"Is there anything else?" Fudge leaned back in his chair tiredly and sighed:
"That damn woman Rita Skeeter wrote an article to scold me again, and even hinted that I should step down."
"I have already sent a large number of Aurors and Dementors out to capture Crouch. What else does she want to do? Is it interesting to keep her entangled like this?!"
"Yes, you have done so many great things, but if Skeeter doesn't report on it, why do you have to report on this one thing? You can see that you have ulterior motives!"
Umbridge said, walking to Fudge naturally, rubbing his temples to make him relax.
"Have the Aurors found Skeeter?" Fudge asked.
"Not yet." Umbridge shook her head, "When the Aurors arrived at her house, the building was already empty. She must have other safe houses in the UK."
"This cunning woman." Fudge snorted coldly: "We must find her, teach her a lesson, and make her change her mind."
"She has been advocating a 'transparent Ministry of Magic' in the newspaper all day long. These two words are inherently contradictory. It can be transparent or there can be a Ministry of Magic, but there is no 'transparent Ministry of Magic'!"
"She also said that the public has the right to know more about what is going on..." Fudge roared: "No, the public only has the right to be ignorant."
Fudge scolded Rita for more than ten minutes before he picked up the cup, took a sip of tea, moistened his dry throat, and continued to ask:
"Any good news?"
"Well, take a look at this report." Umbridge handed over a newspaper.
Fudge took the newspaper and was immediately happy. The article in the newspaper was not scolding him, but praising him.
"Since becoming Minister of Magic, Mr. Fudge has always led well and made great efforts to improve people's livelihood. He is a well-deserved good minister.
Needless to say, his greatness...Mr. Fudge deserves a Medal of Merlin..."
These words simply spoke to Fudge's heart. He had indeed wanted to get a medal for a long time.
He savored the reports over and over again happily and said with a smile:
"It's so well written. This reporter named Jacob has a higher level of professionalism than Rita Skeeter."
"From now on, Jacob's articles will be shown to me as soon as possible, do you understand?"
"Yes, Mr. Minister." Umbridge smiled sweetly.
Fudge put down the newspaper and said with cold eyes:
"This political wave is coming so fiercely, and I always feel like someone is manipulating public opinion behind it."
"Tell the Auror Office to catch Crouch before Easter and end this farce."
"I understand, Mr. Minister."
Fudge's eyes were cold and he said: "When I catch Barty, I will let the dementors give him a passionate kiss."
Fudge tightened his grip on the cup. He was so excited that the cup in his hand shook and water spilled on his lower body.
Umbridge quickly bent over, lying on Fudge's lap, and used her sleeve to help him wipe the tea.
"Dolores, wipe it with paper!"
Fudge took the toilet paper out of the table and handed it to Umbridge. After she took it, she lay on his lap and wiped it again.
There was a small green beetle standing on the window in the distance. She was holding an ultra-small mini camera in her hand and took a picture of this scene.
But from the beetle's point of view, it's more like Umbridge leaned over Fudge's lap, and after working for a while, took the tissue from Fudge...
As for what is being wiped...who can see the AV quality clearly!
But that’s right, she couldn’t see clearly. She had even thought about the news headlines in the future:
[Fudge: Dolores, don’t use your mouth, wipe it with paper!]