"Where is Fudge?" Kasenhis asked again.
"Perhaps in his office." Scrimgeour glanced at Kasenhis, who looked perfectly fine aside from being covered in blood, and unconsciously took a step back.
At this point, he was starting to find this seemingly ordinary Hogwarts professor completely unreadable.
If combat power in the magical world were ranked, then Dumbledore and the two generations of Dark Lords, Grindelwald and Voldemort, were unquestionably T0.
Most Hogwarts professors sat around T0.5, like Professor McGonagall and Snape.
That half-tier difference didn't look like much, but in actual performance, one Grindelwald casually killing ten Snapes within a minute would probably be easy.
But for one Snape to take down ten ordinary Death Eaters would already be a major challenge. In a sense, the current magical world's T0 peak might not quite be divine yet, but it was already far removed from ordinary humans.
Just those three had already thrown the entire European magical world into chaos.
And now this Professor Kasenhis might very well become the fourth T0…
When will the Ministry of Magic ever rise again!??
Sob sob…
Though his inner thoughts were extremely dramatic, on the surface he still forced himself to look composed, putting on a standard polite smile as he answered respectfully.
"Alright. I should go meet that old fellow and see what he's thinking." Kasenhis took two steps forward, then quickly realized something. He walked back, used his mechanical arm to skewer Umbridge's headless corpse like a piece of meat on a stick, and let it sway behind him as he moved.
From the reception hall to the Minister's office, the atmosphere grew increasingly grim and tense.
By the time he arrived outside Fudge's office, two Aurors stood guard at the door like iron towers.
Then they saw Kasenhis… with the bloody "skewer" trailing behind him.
Fortunately, Dumbledore and Scrimgeour were following behind him, which stopped the Aurors from immediately drawing their wands.
Snape, after confirming Kasenhis was fine, had already returned to Hogwarts.
"Where's Barty Crouch?" Scrimgeour asked.
"Inside, sir," the Auror replied.
"Let me knock first." Scrimgeour glanced at Kasenhis, confirmed there was nothing unusual on his face, then stepped forward and knocked.
Soon, the door opened from the inside.
Kasenhis glanced in. Several Aurors had their wands trained on Fudge, while Barty Crouch sat on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other.
Nearby, Tonks and a few Aurors were busy writing things down.
"You must ensure that the number of people who know about today's events remains under double digits. Only the Auror Office and the few of you should know the truth. Anyone who doesn't need to know, and anyone who accidentally witnessed the full process, may be Obliviated."
Barty Crouch spoke rapidly as he stood and walked toward them.
Kasenhis naturally shifted a step aside. Crouch was very likely the next Minister of Magic. If anyone was getting a handshake, it would be Dumbledore, not him.
But unexpectedly, Crouch did not pass him by. Instead, he stopped in front of Kasenhis and extended his right hand.
"Oh… what should I call you? Perhaps… Minister?" Kasenhis asked as he reached out to shake his hand.
"That's up to you. After all, I'm not one yet," Barty Crouch said calmly, then looked at Dumbledore. "I hope you don't mind. He was standing closer than you."
"In fact, I'm not that petty," Dumbledore replied.
Inside the office, the restrained Fudge looked toward Dumbledore outside the door in shock, instantly clutching at him like a lifeline. "Dumbledore! Albus! Forgive me, please help me."
Dumbledore merely glanced at him and shook his head helplessly.
Then Kasenhis walked straight toward Fudge. "You want forgiveness? Get religion."
Seeing the blood-soaked Kasenhis, Fudge instinctively felt fear. That fear peaked the moment he saw the bloody "skewer" trailing behind him.
"What… what is that… Just because Umbridge went to Hogwarts to summon you, you killed her?" Fudge said, trembling.
"If it were just a summons, of course not. In fact, there was more. For example, colluding with Death Eaters and ambushing me with twenty of them along the thestral carriage route."
Kasenhis gave his mechanical arm a light shake, dropping Umbridge's headless corpse in front of Fudge.
"Th-this… I didn't know anything about it!" Fudge said, completely dumbfounded.
Whether he was genuinely dumbfounded or pretending was not within Kasenhis's concern.
He had come only to ensure Fudge would pay the price. But since Barty Crouch had already handled matters, there was nothing more for him to do.
Thinking of this, he looked up and asked Crouch, "Oh right. What price will Fudge pay?"
Barty Crouch turned around. "His wand will be snapped, and he will be placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life… He is, after all, the Minister of Magic. Even if only formerly, he deserves a measure of dignity."
Kasenhis nodded, though inwardly he did not agree much with Crouch's decision.
Under Fudge's rule, his weakness had allowed Voldemort to remain at large. How many ordinary people had suffered and been slaughtered because of that?
Just simple house arrest… wasn't that far too lenient?
But openly falling out with Barty Crouch right now was not a good idea.
It wasn't easy to finally have a Minister willing to stand against Voldemort. If he created friction now, wouldn't that just be handing Voldemort exactly what he wanted?
Still… letting Fudge live comfortably to old age…
Why did that sit so badly with him…
With that thought, Kasenhis flicked his hand and released a Wither skull so small it was barely noticeable.
It drifted casually toward Fudge, then, under the man's terrified gaze, lightly tapped his shoulder.
At first, Fudge only felt something like a needle prick in his shoulder. But very soon, he felt nothing at all.
Or more bluntly put, he could no longer feel his shoulder existed.
The slow spread continued… until after everything at the Ministry had settled… until Kasenhis and Dumbledore had already returned to Hogwarts… only then did it creep toward Fudge's chest…
Though "slow" wasn't quite the right word…
Because now…
There was no saving him. He might as well wait for death.
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