#89 - Section 89

"It's just that my family happens to have these collections, it's nothing!"

Although it pained him, Lucius Malfoy still pretended to be nonchalant.

"Lucius, I was actually preparing to introduce you, but it seems there's no need."

Fudge, who was constantly watching the scene, immediately came up to shake hands with Lucius upon seeing him.

Every pure-blood from a great family was an object of his wooing, even Lucius Malfoy, a pure-blood with a Death Eater background.

After all, it wasn't him, but the previous Minister, who declared him innocent during the initial purge, claiming he was controlled by the Imperius Curse.

Besides, his family really was rich, and they supported his work with real gold and silver, making them one of his biggest benefactors.

"My son Draco had some minor conflicts with Ethan at school, but they've been resolved now, and that's how I know him."

Lucius explained with a smile.

"It's good that you've cleared things up. By the way, why didn't you bring your son to see the world?"

"That troublesome child? I wouldn't want to embarrass myself by bringing him out."

As they were chatting, Lucius suddenly noticed a red-haired figure who had just come over from Dumbledore's side, none other than Arthur Weasley.

Instantly, the smile on his face vanished, and his eyes stared intently at him.

Sensing something, Arthur Weasley also turned his head and glared at Lucius, neither willing to look away first.

If they were in a different place, without so many prominent figures from the British wizarding world around, they would have started a fight.

Ethan felt that these two were a bit like Draco and Harry when they grew up; they could spot each other in a crowd, disliked each other upon meeting, and couldn't wait to start fighting.

Fudge noticed Lucius's strange behavior, turned his head, and saw the familiar red hair, immediately understanding what was going on.

He didn't intervene, but left on his own, leaving the scene to them.

Anyway, they wouldn't fight, so why bother with their grudges?

As more and more people arrived, the awarding of the medals was about to begin, and the scene quieted down, with everyone taking their seats.

Several cameras were set up, and personnel from well-known wizarding newspapers and magazines were present to record this moment.

Dumbledore walked to the front of the stage and cast a Sonorus charm on himself.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this investiture ceremony."

"Over the past period of time, some wizards have made contributions to the wizarding world that are obvious to all. They have protected our lives with courage and wisdom, and brought great changes to our world…"

Dumbledore looked at the manuscript in his hand, which recorded the deeds of Ethan and the other two award recipients.

"Now, Ethan Iadrien, Archiebald Core, and Milly Claire, please come to the awarding position."

Ethan left his seat and strode to the front.

Like Ethan, there was also a man in his forties with black hair and a bit of a receding hairline, as well as a blonde beauty in her thirties.

Ethan had only learned that he wasn't the only award recipient that day when he went to tell the Vorley couple the location of his cottage after casting the Fidelius Charm.

Archiebald Core was a staff member of the Beast Office of the Ministry of Magic, residing in Upper Flagley, Yorkshire.

Half a month ago, while resting at home, he prevented three werewolves from going berserk and attacking, saving multiple families. After a series of internal operations by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, he was finally awarded the Order of Merlin, Third Class.

Milly Claire was an attending physician at St. Mungo's Hospital. Two months ago, she rushed into a ward and stopped a patient who had fallen into mania and had mental problems, saving twenty or thirty patients on the same floor.

With the joint application of all the staff at St. Mungo's Hospital, she was awarded the Order of Merlin, Third Class.

It was only a few days ago that it was decided that the three would participate in the awarding ceremony together, after all, it was not easy for the members of the Wizengamot to gather once.

After Ethan, Archiebald Core, and Milly Claire took the stage, Dumbledore took out a gold badge with a purple ribbon from a box on the stage and came to Ethan.

"On behalf of the Wizengamot and the wizarding world, I award Ethan Iadrien the Order of Merlin, Second Class."

With that, he helped Ethan put on the Order of Merlin badge.

Ethan also shook hands with Dumbledore.

Immediately afterwards, he put the badge on the next award recipient.

This could only be done by him or Fudge as Minister.

The Order of Merlin badge is gold, and the ribbon varies according to the level. The first class is a green ribbon, the second class is a purple ribbon, and the third class is a white ribbon. (The previous chapter has been changed, it is not graded by the color of the badge, but the level is different and the ribbon is different.)

The first class is the most difficult to obtain, and it can only be obtained for making significant contributions. Dumbledore obtained the first class medal for imprisoning Grindelwald in Nurmengard.

Peter Pettigrew was awarded the first-class badge because he used his life to stop Sirius Black, the villain who betrayed the Potter family. Of course, that's what the wizarding world thought.

Cornelius Fudge, completely gilding his own face.

Second class representatives include Newt Scamander, who was awarded the second class for his outstanding contributions to the protection of magical creatures.

Damocles Belby was also awarded the second-class badge for inventing Wolfsbane Potion, improving the living conditions of werewolves, and contributing to the harmony and stability of the wizarding world.

There are many third-class ones, like Lockhart, who wrote novels bragging about how many dark creatures he had subdued, as well as Archiebald Core and Milly Claire, who solved dangerous people or saved wizards. As long as there are deeds and some operation, they can get the third-class medal, which is not uncommon.

As the three put on their respective Order of Merlin badges, the atmosphere at the scene reached its peak, and the wizards were generous with their applause and cheers.

Until the applause and cheers at the scene completely calmed down, Ethan and others took turns to give a speech.

Ethan's speech was prepared when he was still at Hogwarts 697, which is the original intention of his invention of the wizarding mailbox, as well as some dreams and views on the wizarding world, of course, this is all added material.

The other two are also similar to Ethan, almost saying that they will work harder and make more contributions to the wizarding world, and what their dreams are.

After the three speeches, they took a separate photo, which needs to be hung up.

Then they took a group photo, which represents the same award ceremony, and then the three took photos with various bigwigs. After doing all this, the entire award ceremony is over.

The whole process is not too long, it has only been two or three hours since Ethan went out, but it is really tiring to accompany a smiling face throughout.

"Ethan, you are free now. You can visit the Ministry of Magic now or go home directly. I have a meeting later, so I won't accompany you."

Amos, who had brought Ethan to the Director's office on the third basement floor, had long seen that Ethan was impatient.

"I should go back. The Ministry of Magic isn't that interesting to visit."

If he could enter the Department of Mysteries, Ethan might have been more interested.

"Alright, go back to where you came from. You can use any of the fireplaces on the right, but don't use Apparition. It's not really appropriate here."

Amos reminded him. It was fine to break the rules in private, but in public, especially in the Ministry of Magic, if he got caught, it would be a slap in his face, and the matter would definitely not be small.

"Okay, I know!"

With that, Ethan said goodbye to Amos and took the elevator to the eighth basement floor.

As soon as he got out of the elevator, Ethan sensed a small thing clinging to him. It was a beetle.

In Ravenclaw's secret chamber, Ethan had found an interesting spell.

The Hyper-Sensory Charm, which enhances a wizard's senses.

[Thank you, My King (Servant), for the urging ticket, thank you,大佬! Thank you,大佬 for the monthly ticket of a Xue Qiu Qiu, thank you,大佬!]

Chapter 119: Rita Skeeter's Fear

"Ethan, what are you doing?"

"I caught a rather interesting beetle. It jumped onto my clothes while I was still in the Ministry of Magic, and it hasn't come down for a long time."

Refusing Belinda Wawley's lunch invitation, Ethan returned to the cottage with Cassandra and immediately covered the beetle on his body with a glass, transferred it to the table, and added a Firmness Charm to the glass.

If it were someone else, they might have been fooled, but Ethan knew that Rita Skeeter, the popular editor of The Daily Prophet, had an Animagus form that was a beetle.

Her favorite thing to do was to turn into a beetle to snoop on other people's privacy and publish it in The Daily Prophet. Not only that, but she also loved to arrange and distort other people's words. Simply put, she was an unscrupulous reporter.

Even the book "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore" was written by her, which shows how bold she is.

Now, it was only natural that she was targeting Ethan, the youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin badge. Just digging up a little something and adapting it would be enough for her news to make tomorrow's headlines.

Moreover, Animagi have a characteristic: some human features will be reflected in the animal form of the Animagus.

For example, Peter Pettigrew's severed finger, Professor McGonagall's glasses, and this beetle also had patterns of glasses around its eyes.

"It followed you back from the Ministry of Magic?"

Cassandra frowned. It was snowing heavily outside. Beetles in this weather?

There shouldn't be any of those in the Ministry of Magic, right?

At least her father had never said that there were bugs in the Ministry of Magic.

Besides, what kind of bug wouldn't run away after experiencing fireplace teleportation and the Apparition just now?

"Deal with it later. Hatch, go prepare lunch."

Having cast the Firmness Charm, the beetle couldn't run away anyway, so Ethan wasn't in a hurry.

In Animagus form, there is no ability to cast spells. One can only choose to revert to human form or fight in animal form.

If she chose to revert to human form, Ethan also wanted to see who would explode first, the glass with the Firmness Charm or the witch's flesh and blood.

"Is this an unregistered Animagus?"

Cassandra heard from Ethan's words that this beetle was unusual, and after a little guessing, she knew the result.

Only Transfiguration and Animagi could do this, but there was no need to treat Transfiguration with no meaning like this, so it could only be Animagi.

There are no beetle forms among the registered Animagi, so this can only be unregistered.

"Yeah!"

Ethan nodded in confirmation, then immersed his vision in the panel.

The moment he received the second-class badge of the Order of Merlin, the achievement prompt came.

Thinking about it, it was normal. Receiving the Order of Merlin badge was the highest honor in the British wizarding world.

[Legacy of Honor]

A symbol of wisdom and courage, legends flow through the years. Time passes, glory is passed down, continuing the brilliance, until eternity.

Achievement Goal: Obtain the Order of Merlin Badge (1/1)

Achievement Reward: Talent: Steadfast (Increases physical resistance, magical resistance, and mental resistance)

After so long, the talent finally came again.

After receiving it, Ethan found that it was growth-type. The better the physical fitness, the higher the physical and magical resistance added by this talent, and the mental resistance was related to willpower.

Overall, it was quite good. Ethan had already received a reward for physical improvement, and the upper limit had also been raised. Now, after obtaining the Steadfast talent, his magic resistance could probably be comparable to Hagrid's.

After the potion of Magic Blood is successfully concocted, it is estimated that the magic resistance can be further improved, and reaching the level of XXXXX magical creatures is probably not a dream.

Just after Ethan and the others left the room, the beetle began to hit the glass frantically.

She now knew that she had screwed up. That little wizard had already discovered her and had deliberately brought her back.

If you want to talk about news, she did dig it up. The youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin badge disregarded the rules of the Ministry of Magic and learned Apparition before reaching the age limit. This would definitely make headlines.

And the matter between Ethan and Cassandra, she could even write a series of short essays for a week and publish them in the newspaper, and the sales would not be bad.

But now, it was another matter whether she had the chance to go out. Just now, she had heard Ethan Adriene cast the Firmness Charm.

As long as he didn't take the glass away, she would have to die here.

Ethan didn't care what this bug was thinking. He took Cassandra to the restaurant to wait for Hatch to prepare lunch.

The two chatted about today's award ceremony at the Ministry of Magic, and Cassandra burst out laughing when they talked about Lucius and Arthur Weasley.

These two were both fathers, but they were still so childish.

It wasn't until after lunch and resting for a while that Ethan brought Cassandra back to the room where the beetle was imprisoned.

At this moment, the beetle was lying on its back on the table, motionless. So, was it playing dead?

Even an ordinary beetle couldn't die so quickly. The oxygen in this glass was definitely enough for a little thing like a beetle.

Immediately, Ethan turned the parchment on the table into a dark, opaque basin and covered the glass with the basin.

In the dark and narrow space, one could not even feel the passage of time, and fear would be infinitely amplified.

Ethan was going to use this to add some ingredients to her.

The moment darkness fell, Rita Skeeter regretted it.

She had originally planned to play dead to deceive Ethan into opening the glass, and then she would revert to her human form and give him and that little Wawley girl a Memory Charm each, but she had screwed up.