But the next morning, this happy atmosphere was broken.
While eating breakfast, Cedric opened the Daily Prophet he had subscribed to as usual, ready to see what news was on the front page.
But the next second, he suddenly stood up and exclaimed.
Not only Cedric, more and more students began to scream as if they had seen something terrible.
"What happened?" Connor asked.
Cedric spread the newspaper out on the table and pointed at the ten photos on the front page, speechless.
The photos showed nine wizards and one witch. Some were laughing loudly, while others were looking up arrogantly. Under each photo were their names and crimes.
[Antonin Dolohov brutally murdered the brothers Gideon and Fabian Prewitt]
Augustus Rookwood, leaking Ministry secrets to You-Know-Who
[Bellatrix Lestrange...] As the only witch in the photo, this photo is probably the most eye-catching, and she is also the most arrogant one among everyone.
There was disgust in her eyes and a look of contempt and disdain on her thin lips, as if the person in front of her was some disgusting bug.
Her crime was to brutally torture the Longbottoms.
Kyle was naturally familiar with Bella. In order to exchange for the key to the Lestrange family vault, he even asked the Dementors to bring a small gift to her.
Some candies and chocolates were things that could make her feel happy again...although Kyle didn't know if she still had such a thing as happiness now.
Looking up along the photo, is there a bold and eye-catching title? [Many people escaped from Azkaban, the Ministry of Magic issued a warning, and the mysterious man made a comeback! ]
Several notorious Death Eaters escaped from prison and the mysterious man made a comeback... No wonder Cedric screamed when he saw such news.
In fact, the auditorium was already in chaos, and some timid students were even scared to tears.
Even those students who had always believed in Dumbledore, such as Cedric, Mikel, Justin and others, sat there gasping for breath.
It was one thing to believe it, but when the Ministry of Magic published it in the most authoritative newspaper, they still found it hard to accept.
"Kyle, you really did it."
In the chaotic auditorium, only Connor whispered: "Fudge no longer pretends that nothing happened. He admits that the mysterious man has made a comeback."
"Yeah," Kyle muttered as he looked at the newspaper.
Everything he had done before, including creating the illusion that Dumbledore wanted to compete for the Minister's post, or keeping Malfoy from contacting Fudge, was to make him feel a sense of crisis.
When Fudge felt that he had no chance of winning, but did not want to give up the position of Minister of Magic, he had only one way to go...declare a state of war in the wizarding world.
Because at this time, the Ministry of Magic will not easily replace the Minister.
His plan was very successful. Fudge had already panicked when he was called to the Ministry of Magic during the Christmas holidays. As long as Nicolas Flamel's owl came to Hogwarts in front of Umbridge, Fudge would definitely not hesitate anymore.
Of course, this was Kyle's original plan, but he did not expect that a Death Eater prison breakout would occur during the process.
"Why at this time?"
Although his plan was successful, Kyle frowned and was not happy at all.
If they had acted a few days later, even if it was just for show, Fudge would have strengthened the guards of Azkaban, and then...
"Forget it!" Kyle suddenly sighed.
If this prison break was planned by Voldemort himself, then no matter how much the Ministry of Magic strengthens the guards, it will be useless and will only cause unnecessary sacrifices.
After all, the only person who can resist Voldemort is Dumbledore. It is impossible to let him leave school to guard Azkaban... This is unrealistic.
Kyle shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
At this moment, fear and anxiety began to spread in the auditorium. Fortunately, the professors seemed to have anticipated this situation. Sprout, who was in the auditorium, stood up in time and calmed everyone's emotions.
"Don't panic, everyone. Hogwarts is safe enough. You won't get hurt here."
Her words had some effect, and the buzzing discussions in the auditorium gradually died down.
Then came Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Snape, and finally Dumbledore.
When the principal appeared here, the last sound in the auditorium disappeared.
But Dumbledore didn't say anything. He just sat in the teacher's seat as usual and made himself a sandwich, as if he really came for breakfast.
Taking advantage of this time, Kyle also read the rest of the newspaper.
"The Ministry of Magic announced a mass prison break in Azkaban last night. Minister Cornelius Fudge was interviewed in his office and confirmed that ten serious criminals escaped last night."
"This is an oversight by the Ministry of Magic. Although we have improved our defenses with the help of Sirius Black, we have forgotten about external factors."
Fudge said last night, "We found a surviving guard last night, and learned from him that someone broke through the defenses of Azkaban and rescued the Death Eaters from the Dementors.
"The striker saw the man's appearance, and when the Aurors received the news and rushed over, they also saw the Dark Mark in the sky... Yes, I have to regretfully tell you that the You-Know-Who is back.
"I think I need to apologize to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore on behalf of the Ministry of Magic. He was the first to discover that his archenemy had made a comeback, but our Ministry of Magic did not take it seriously.
"I will go to Hogwarts in person soon to express my apologies to Headmaster Dumbledore and discuss with him how we should deal with the terrible Dark Lord.
The Ministry of Magic will do its best to protect everyone's safety, but the public is also requested to remain vigilant and always carry their wands with them. The war has begun!"
…
"Oh, Fudge is quite clever." Cedric sneered after coming to his senses. "The Ministry of Magic didn't take it seriously. How dare he say such a thing? He clearly spent six months telling everyone that Dumbledore was an old lunatic, didn't he?"
"That's true, but it's obvious that he won't admit it." Connor continued to flip through the newspaper. "The entire wizarding world is in chaos. Kyle, do you think Professor Dumbledore knows about this?"
"He should know." Kyle looked up at Dumbledore who was sitting in the teacher's seat.
Just then, Dumbledore also looked over, his blue eyes flashing behind his lenses.
After breakfast, Professor McGonagall came to the Hufflepuff table.
"Please wait a moment." She stopped Kyle, "The principal has asked for leave for you. You don't have to go to the first Transfiguration class. Just go to the principal's office directly. The same command as before."
"Okay." Kyle agreed.
After Professor McGonagall left, Connor couldn't help but ask, "What does the headmaster want to see you about?"
“I think it has something to do with today’s Daily Prophet,” Kyle said.
"Then what should we do next?" Connor looked a little confused. "The wizarding world is suddenly declared to be at war. Can we still stay in Hogwarts?"
"Don't worry, the more it is now, the less likely Hogwarts will be closed."
Kyle smiled and said, "And you don't have to worry too much about it. Voldemort won't jump out of the shadows just because of a report. Just go to class.
But what we are going to learn next may not be as simple as before. "
"It doesn't matter, as long as Hogwarts isn't closed." Connor smiled and waved, then ran towards the Transfiguration classroom.
When he reached the principal's office through the spiral staircase, he found Fox standing on the same branch he had been perched on before, and he didn't know when he had left the box.
And Dumbledore is already waiting here.
"I'm curious." He looked at Kyle curiously, "What on earth did you do to make Fudge admit that Tom had made a comeback without even seeing him in person?"
"It's nothing. Didn't we discuss this before?" Kyle said, "Put some pressure on him so that he has to do this in order to keep his position."
"I know, but I'm curious about what you did," Dumbledore said. "I know Fudge, he never does anything extra and only believes what he sees.
"I have talked to Fudge many times before and put almost all the evidence in front of him, but he just refused to believe it... He would not do anything that could threaten his position as minister, no matter how small the possibility is."
Dumbledore glanced at the Daily Prophet which was spread out on the table, especially at the last sentence on the front page.
"The war has begun..." He said softly, "In Fudge's opinion, this decision is equivalent to drinking unicorn blood to prolong life. It will never be done unless it is absolutely necessary. What did you do?"
"Just wrote a few letters." Kyle shrugged and briefly recounted what he had done in the past few days.
When Dumbledore heard that Kyle asked Fawkes to deliver the letter to St. Mungo's without any disguise, the corners of his mouth twitched violently.
Read more of the latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!
And when they heard what Kyle asked Malfoy to do and what he did when he sent a letter to himself, they were all dumbfounded.
He was only out for a few days, so how come Kyle caused so many problems... No wonder Fudge did so many unreasonable things out of character.
Actually, it's not Fudge's fault. If this kind of thing happened in Hogwarts... for example, if an owl from the school board flew into Professor McGonagall's office every day, he might start to suspect whether Professor McGonagall wanted to be the headmaster.
"But I think what finally made Fudge make up his mind was this prison break," Kyle said. "Ten people escaped from prison. This is not something that can be fooled by simply finding an excuse."
"No, you underestimate Fudge." Dumbledore said, "If your actions had not put him under unprecedented pressure, he might have been able to find an excuse... Barty Crouch Jr.'s escape would be a good excuse."
"But there is one thing I am curious about." Dumbledore asked with interest: "Are you so sure that Fudge will use this method to keep his position?"
"In fact, I couldn't guarantee success." Kyle said, "So I sent letters to Nicolas Flamel, Newt, Mr. McPhail, Ms. Maxime, and Dean Sassia.
"And three of them have already replied to my letter. They readily agreed that if Fudge has not announced the return of the You-Know-Who on the 20th, they will cooperate with me in carrying out another plan..."
Kyle glanced at Dumbledore and stopped talking, because he probably didn't want to hear what was coming next.
No matter what, Kell would never let the Ministry of Magic become a stumbling block in their fight against Voldemort. If it really came to the last resort, Dumbledore would have to take on the position of Minister of Magic part-time.
After all, one of the people who wrote back to him was Nicolas Flamel, who seemed quite interested in Dumbledore becoming Minister and even offered to come to Hogwarts.
With Nico's help, this matter is basically half successful.
As for the headmaster of Hogwarts...if Dumbledore is unable to do the job, Kyle thinks Professor McGonagall is also suitable.
Of course, this was just a previous plan and it is no longer necessary now.
Dumbledore, standing aside, felt a chill all over his body. He felt that he seemed to have guessed Kyle's thoughts, but he would rather not have guessed it.
"Kyle..." He said thoughtfully, "I think it would be better for you to get the person's consent next time you make a decision. What do you think?"
"This is all for dealing with Voldemort, Professor." Kyle said with a smile, "Sometimes special means are needed. Besides, I remember you also said at the Hog's Head that you can give up everything as long as you can defeat him."
"Did I say that?" Dumbledore pretended to think.
"I'm sure, Professor," Kyle said, "and many people heard it, including the owner of the Hog's Head Inn. If you don't believe it, we can ask him."
"Well, I did say that." Dumbledore sighed and admitted it, but when he said this, he was trying to express his determination, and he didn't expect that the scope of "anything" would be so broad.
"I have to admit, Kyle..." Dumbledore couldn't help but say, "You always come up with plans that I would never think of."
"It's nothing." Kyle shook his head modestly. "You don't have to give me 200 points or give me a special contribution award for the school. You really don't need it."
Dumbledore didn't want to talk to him anymore. After a moment of silence, he said, "Okay, then I won't add it."
This time it was Kyle's turn to remain silent. He was just being polite, but Dumbledore took it seriously.
But he didn't pay much attention to it, and asked instead: "Professor, is this why you asked me to come here this time?"
"I guess so. Also, you helped Harry learn Occlumency. Professor Snape told me about it. He said it was you who taught Harry."
"That's nothing." Kyle didn't want to talk about this topic. He looked at the newspaper on the table and asked, "Professor, will the Dementors also turn to Voldemort?"
"I'm glad we thought of the same thing." Dumbledore said with a smile, then changed his expression to a serious one. "But this is what I want to know."
"After receiving the news last night, I went to the island where Azkaban is located. There are much fewer Dementors there."
"How much?" Kyle asked.
"About half," said Dumbledore. "We now need to know whether these disappeared Dementors were killed or joined Tom."
"Wait..." Kyle said, "Professor, isn't it only the Patronus Charm that can kill Dementors? Neither the Death Eaters nor Voldemort can use this spell."
The Patronus Charm is a very special kind of magic. Only a wizard with justice in his heart can transform his inner happiness into a Patronus. If a dark wizard with an evil heart tries to use it, not only will he fail to summon a Patronus, but it will cause the wand to backfire and summon insects to devour the user.
"Most Death Eaters would certainly not be able to use it, but Tom...his idea of happiness is a little different from ours." Dumbledore tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
"Besides, the Patronus Charm is not the only way to kill Dementors. This spell is more about driving them away. In fact, the Killing Curse is also effective against Dementors."
"Okay," Kyle said, "Then what do you want me to do, Professor?"
"Fudge will come to Hogwarts this afternoon, and he will bring two Dementors with him, both of whom were guards last night," said Dumbledore.
"I need to know whether those disappeared Dementors have joined Voldemort. This is related to whether we need to make changes to the existing defense plan."
"No problem," Kyle said.
"There is one more thing..." Dumbledore's expression eased a lot, "Fudge has already stood on the side of fighting against the Death Eaters. Why don't you write another letter to Duggar and the others to explain the current situation...to prevent them from doing something unnecessary without knowing anything."
"That's not necessary." Kyle thought for a moment, "They should read the Daily Prophet. It's all clearly written there."
"It is better to be cautious," Dumbledore insisted, his blue eyes fixed on Kyle without blinking.
"Okay, I'll go back and write the letter now," Kyle said.
"No, it's fine here." Dumbledore waved his hand, and immediately a few pieces of parchment and quills appeared on the table.
"After you finish writing, I will ask Fox to help deliver the letter. After all, an owl can't deliver the letter to Nico, right?"
Having said that, he glanced at Fox who was sleeping on the branch, and secretly decided in his heart that no matter what Kyle said, he would never lend him the Phoenix again.
Kyle actually wanted to tell Dumbledore that he had other ways to contact Nico, and he didn't necessarily have to use Fawkes, but after thinking about it, he didn't say anything...
It’s better to keep it for later use in case it may be useful.
So Kyle sat down at the table quietly and wrote the letter in front of Dumbledore.
…
(End of this chapter)