Chapter 349: Chapter 349: Special Envoy from the Ministry of Magic (Edited)
"It's just a small investigation; there's no need to involve the Aurors, Minister," Umbridge responded respectfully.
"I want them to go."
To Umbridge's surprise, Fudge wasn't being polite this time; he really wanted Umbridge to lead an elite team from the Ministry of Magic waiting at Hogwarts.
"If... Dumbledore is unwilling to compromise, then we will punish the Dementors and let them know that the magical world is ruled by wizards, and the Ministry of Magic has the final say."
Fudge finally relented. He didn't want to have an intense conflict with Dumbledore. In his internal balance, Dumbledore outweighed the Dementors.
Umbridge didn't have her own ideas; her only idea was to be in line with those in power. Of course, she promised to fully carry out the task.
"Of course, we must remind these lower creatures that wizards are their masters. According to the Ministry of Magic Regulations, Article—"
"Go." Fudge didn't want to talk to her anymore; Umbridge's perfume bothered him.
Umbridge stood up respectfully and said, "Yes, Minister."
...
Umbridge left Fudge's office and quickly selected a group of Aurors and a team of Ministry of Magic enforcers and headed to Hogwarts.
Once there, she ordered the Aurors and enforcers to stand by while she went ahead to negotiate at Hogwarts.
That's when she encountered Professor McGonagall.
"Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, I am Dolores Jane Umbridge, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic and Commissioner of Investigation for the Ministry of Magic, tasked with investigating the recent Dementor incident." Umbridge introduced herself with a sweet, childlike voice, then extended her hand in a "friendly" gesture.
Professor McGonagall looked at the five thick, stubby "carrots" offered in front of her, and her reaction was one of reluctance: she didn't want to touch that woman, but it turns out she was the Ministry of Magic's representative, and it wasn't very polite to ignore her in that manner.
So, Professor McGonagall had to hold her breath and barely brush Umbridge's five carrot fingers.
The smile on Umbridge's face grew even sweeter as she followed Professor McGonagall inside Hogwarts with her short legs.
"Oh, after all these years, the sight of Hogwarts hasn't changed at all." After a few hypocritical words of courtesy, Umbridge got to the main topic.
"Minerva, I believe this is all just a misunderstanding. As we all know, the Dementors are loyal to the Ministry of Magic, so they wouldn't disobey the Ministry's orders."
"But the Dementors certainly did break into the Quidditch field, causing great chaos. All the teachers and students at Hogwarts saw it clearly." Professor McGonagall had a serious expression; she was trying to contain her impatience and explain to Umbridge how the events unfolded that day.
However, you can't wake someone who's pretending to be asleep. Umbridge knew full well the origin, development, and outcome of the events, but she had "her" position.
Therefore, Professor McGonagall repeated time and time again, while Umbridge kept repeating like a broken record: "This is just a misunderstanding."
Her message was also quite clear: the Ministry of Magic was not wrong, and neither were the Dementors; they were just doing their duty. As for the Hogwarts professors... well, they might not be wrong either; all of this was Sirius Black's fault.
Professor McGonagall felt her temples throbbing.
"The Dementors broke in and attacked the students." She made an effort to keep a calm tone. "That's a fact."
This time, Umbridge's blood pressure went up. As much as she pretended not to have seen it, she couldn't change the fact that the Dementors had harassed the students. The students of Hogwarts, what kind of people were they?
There was no need to mention Muggle-borns and half-bloods; most of the pure-blood family descendants attended Hogwarts. Even though some of them talked about sending their children to Durmstrang, like the Malfoys, their bodies, quite honestly, still chose Hogwarts.
After these pure-blood family descendants were scared that night, they naturally complained to their elders. And their elders' attitude was quite unanimous: those who made our children uncomfortable, I will make them uncomfortable.
Blame the Dementors for their actions? Surely they wouldn't blame them. The Dementors were the Ministry of Magic's dogs; if the kids were frightened by the dogs, they would naturally seek the owners.
So, several letters of responsibility were sent to the Ministry of Magic through official and private channels. The senders' names on the letters were increasingly intimidating.
But Fudge didn't care in the least.
Making mistakes wasn't a problem as long as he could blame someone else. Sirius Black was the perfect scapegoat.
Umbridge's purpose was precisely that: to conclude, through a "thorough investigation," that everything was Sirius Black's fault. It had all been a misunderstanding! The Ministry of Magic was blameless, the Dementors were diligent servants, and Hogwarts was an innocent victim. Everyone was in the right, except Black.
Umbridge even had a prepared draft for the statement: the Dementors made some minor mistakes while pursuing Sirius Black and had some run-ins with the students, causing unnecessary discomfort. Disciplinary action has now been taken against the responsible Dementors. The Ministry of Magic sincerely apologizes for what occurred, the matter has been resolved, and public resources will not be used again, and so on.
They could send someone to apologize, and that would be it.
Umbridge's "we're all friends" strategy didn't seem to make sense to her. Why were Professor McGonagall and that stubborn old man refusing to give in?
Umbridge knew from McGonagall's reaction that it would be difficult to resolve this situation with a superficial apology and regret.
"Minerva, we're both women, and we should understand each other. I'm aware of the difficulties you face at Hogwarts, and I hope you can also understand me..." The appeasement strategy had no effect, so Umbridge resorted to the gender and emotion card.
McGonagall looked at her with a strange expression.
A difficult situation at Hogwarts? Me? It seems like I'm doing fine, don't I? Apart from a few troublesome students and a not-so-active headmaster, Slytherin House and its Head of House being too annoying, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with me, right?
"This seems unrelated to our topic today. If we're talking about understanding, I believe my students deserve more understanding," replied McGonagall firmly.
She had two clear demands: first, the Dementors to be removed from the castle; second, punishment to be imposed on them.
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