Chapter 448 Minister, Let’s Form an Alliance

The meeting room was bustling with activity. Everyone was obviously very interested in the pure-blood duel. They kept discussing what kind of exchange of interests had taken place between Fudge and Sebastian. At the same time, they felt sorry that Umbridge did not dare to accept the challenge and could not see the fun.

As for the issue of the mysterious man's return, no one seemed to care about it. Only Dumbledore kept calling on everyone to discuss it more.

Fudge saw this and decided to use a delaying tactic. He perfunctorily agreed to conduct further investigations on the existing clues, but used vague terms to imply that the investigation would not be too in-depth.

As Dumbledore announced the end of the meeting, Fudge stood up immediately and walked quickly towards the door with his head down, taking the dejected Umbridge with him. Neither of them looked back, for fear of being involved in more arguments.

In the minister's office, Fudge paced back and forth in a rage, his face as dark as if water could drip out. He slammed his fist on the desk, making a deafening sound.

"Dolores, you are so stupid!" Fudge glared at Umbridge angrily, his voice full of uncontrollable anger. "This farce today is all your fault! I am completely embarrassed as the Minister of Magic!"

"Did you hear what people were talking about just now? Everyone is saying that I, Fudge, had to kowtow to Sebastian in order to get you back!"

"Congratulations, Dolores, you're going to be famous," Fudge said sarcastically, giving a thumbs up. "Pure-blood duels have reappeared in the world because of you. I guarantee that all media outlets will report this extensively tomorrow."

"No, there is no need to wait until tomorrow. Someone must have sold everything to the media by now. Your name will be known to thousands of households tonight, and I, the Minister of Magic, will also get a little angry because of you."

Fudge became angrier and louder as he spoke, but luckily he had cast a soundproofing spell in advance so the Ministry employees could not hear his roar.

"Where on earth do you get the guts to provoke Sebastian, and even more so a direct personal attack! Do you think he's Dumbledore? Just smile at the insults."

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down: "It's not that I have gained nothing today."

He closed his eyes, carefully recalled Sebastian's reactions, and then spoke with certainty.

"Sebastian wasn't very keen on confirming that the You-Know-Who was back, or rather, he wasn't very interested in spreading the news about the You-Know-Who. It was mainly Dumbledore who was causing trouble today."

"Dumbledore..." Fudge gritted his teeth and chewed on the name again and again. "The big mess today is all because of him. He is really going too far. He even forced the Ministry of Magic to make a decision through the Wizengamot meeting."

Seeing that Fudge's anger had subsided a little, Umbridge said tentatively, "Minister, I just want to share your worries today, because I really can't stand the way Dumbledore is meddling in the Ministry of Magic. I even suspect that he wants to drive you out and become the minister himself."

Get yourself out?

Umbridge's words directly touched Fudge's sore spot and pointed out what he was most worried about.

If it weren't for the matter of the mysterious man, Fudge would not have worried about this possibility at all, because he knew very well that Dumbledore had no interest in the position of Minister of Magic.

At the beginning, he was able to successfully take the position of Minister of Magic entirely because Dumbledore rejected the nomination, otherwise, Fudge would have no chance at all.

After that, he always maintained superficial respect for Dumbledore, even being cautious.

Dumbledore was also willing to help Fudge consolidate his position as Minister of Magic so that many of his policies could be implemented smoothly.

After all, both ordinary wizards and political opponents knew that the important decrees he issued had been reviewed by Dumbledore in advance. This would reduce policy disputes and prevent the opposition from taking advantage of the issue.

Of course, this does not mean that Fudge completely agrees with Dumbledore's ideas. For example, he did not agree with Lupin, a werewolf, being the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. However, in order to avoid disrupting the delicate balance between the two sides, he often chose to turn a blind eye.

Now, the two have serious disagreements over whether the mysterious man will return.

Dumbledore insisted that the mysterious man was gathering his strength again, but Fudge was unwilling to admit the news, so he began to wonder whether Dumbledore would use this crisis to bring himself down?

If the mysterious man really comes back, there is a high possibility that Dumbledore will step down and replace him with a tough figure, such as the highly popular Amelia Burns.

It is even possible that Dumbledore will personally take charge of the Ministry of Magic and lead the wizarding world to fight against the forces of darkness.

"We must do something," Fudge said, feeling extremely uncomfortable. His face was as gloomy as a dark cloud. "We can't just let today's incident go. We must fight back and return the anger. Let Dumbledore know who is the real controller of the Ministry of Magic."

Just then, Fudge's magic cell phone rang. He frowned and raised his hand to answer it.

"Minister, this is Yaxley. Are you in the office? I want to talk to you."

Yaxley?

What does he want from me?

"Come on." Fudge waved his wand to remove the soundproofing spell, then quickly adjusted his facial expression and suppressed his inner anger deep in his eyes.

Soon, Yaxley walked in with an impeccable smile.

"Minister, Deputy Minister," he nodded slightly, with a hint of flattery in his tone, "We have heard about what happened in the conference room just now."

"What?" Fudge snorted coldly, looking at the other person sharply, "Are you here to see the joke?"

"Of course not, you misunderstood," Yaxley waved his hands quickly, looking sincere, "In fact, Dumbledore's actions have made us pure-blood families very dissatisfied. Not only did he slander us, he also relied on his reputation to wantonly interfere in the affairs of the Ministry of Magic. We feel that we must take some action."

Dumbledore pushed these people into a corner, and they actually took the initiative to seek alliance with him.

Thinking of this, Fudge raised his eyebrows and softened his tone: "What do you want to say?"

"We want to form an alliance with you," Yaxley smiled slightly, with a calculating light flashing in his eyes, "together we can fight against Dumbledore and the Savior."