Not long after, Mr. Arthur Weasley, who had left, hurried back, accompanied by the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and two Aurors.
"Peter!"
As soon as Fudge entered the room, he saw Peter Pettigrew, surrounded by everyone, slumped on the ground.
Even though Arthur had already recounted the general course of events on the way there, seeing Peter, who had come back from the dead, still left him with an incredulous expression.
"Cornelius, you're here. Arthur must have already told you about Peter. Now Peter is in your hands, and I hope he receives the trial he deserves. Also, it's time for Sirius Black's unwarranted charges to be cleared."
Dumbledore spoke politely, but Fudge's brows were already furrowed in displeasure; he felt Dumbledore was overstepping and interfering with the Ministry of Magic's work.
"Of course, of course, but all of this must go through a trial. Even if Peter is guilty, Sirius is not necessarily innocent…"
Fudge's hesitant manner clearly showed he was worried that Peter's case would affect his reputation as Minister and that of the Ministry of Magic.
Tom, unable to bear it, impatiently tugged at Fudge's robes: "Minister Fudge, may we speak privately for a moment?"
Fudge saw that it was a low-year Wizard pulling him and immediately wanted to refuse, but then Tom's grip on his robes became heavier, and a weighty pressure, not belonging to a young Wizard, assailed him, blocking the words of refusal he wanted to speak.
Dazed, he was dragged out of the room by Tom. Fudge felt he had lost face in front of everyone and, displeased, snapped at Tom: "I have many things to do. I don't have time to play house with you. If you don't give me a satisfactory answer, you know the consequences. All right, now let me hear what you want to say?"
Tom was unconcerned and kindly analyzed for Fudge: "Minister, aren't you refusing right now because you're worried this matter will affect your and the Ministry of Magic's reputation and stability?"
Fudge saw his thoughts exposed and his expression changed, but he still defended himself: "No, how could that be? I just want this matter to be handled fairly and justly."
"Is that so~~" Tom drew out the end of his sentence.
Fudge's face instantly flushed red. Just as he was about to scold Tom, he heard him continue speaking to himself: "But what does this have to do with the Minister and the Ministry of Magic? Wasn't Mr. Barty Crouch the one responsible for throwing Sirius into Azkaban without a trial back then? I heard that matter was his personal action, right? Now it's your turn, Minister, to set things right."
Fudge's eyes suddenly lit up. He hadn't thought this matter could be explained this way. That's right, this matter could be entirely pushed onto Crouch, and he would be the wise Minister who set things right.
At this point, Tom leisurely added: "I've heard people talk about Mr. Barty Crouch. I heard he has a very good reputation and high prestige. Everyone always says that if he were elected Minister for Magic, he would do very well."
With these words, Fudge's last trace of hesitation disappeared.
When Fudge and Tom returned to the room, he completely changed his former attitude, smiling broadly as he told Dumbledore: "Dumbledore, thank you all for capturing Peter for us. Don't worry, we will try him as soon as possible. And we will immediately launch a reinvestigation into Sirius's case; we will certainly give him justice." As he spoke, he directed the Aurors to arrest Peter on the spot.
This drastic change in attitude made everyone feel puzzled and very curious about what Tom had said to Fudge to make him change his tune so quickly.
Tom smiled and said nothing, but Fudge didn't let him off the hook, pulling Dumbledore and praising Tom: "Dumbledore, this student of yours, Tom Riddle, is truly excellent. Gentle, intelligent; I really want him to work at the Ministry of Magic after he graduates. I heard that the main credit for Peter's successful arrest came from this child. He's truly accomplished at a young age."
After saying all that, Tom wished he could sew his mouth shut. These words sounded so familiar. Fudge, are you sure your predecessor didn't say the same thing to that bald, snickering monster back then? Didn't you see Dumbledore's gaze on him was off again, clearly overlapping with that noseless Tom?
After everything had settled, Tom and Harry returned to Hogwarts with Dumbledore and his group.
Tom, using the excuse of taking care of Harry and ensuring he rested well, entered the Gryffindor common room for the first time.
Harry, who hadn't fully processed the evening's events, repeatedly asked Tom: "You mean Peter Pettigrew was arrested just like that?"
Tom reassured Harry: "Yes, he was arrested and will receive the trial he deserves."
"Thank you, Tom, thank you for avenging my parents. Is this your Christmas gift to me? I like it very much, thank you." Harry's voice became a little choked up as he kept thanking Tom.
"You're welcome, and besides, this isn't the Christmas gift I planned to give you." Tom stroked Harry's messy hair; a head without a bald spot felt nice.
Now it was Harry's turn to be confused: "It's not? I thought it was. Then what exactly is the gift you mentioned?"
"Sirius Black, that's the gift I'm giving you. Unfortunately, he's still in prison right now, and it will probably be a while before he gets out." Tom finally revealed the mystery to Harry.
"Sirius Black?" Harry mumbled the name.
Tom asked with a smile: "Do you know who he is?"
"I heard he was my father's best friend. I also heard he and Snape were together, and their relationship broke down, turning love into hate, which is why he and my father teamed up against him in school." Harry told Tom everything he had heard.
Tom was stunned upon hearing this and asked blankly: "Where did you hear that?"
Harry looked at Tom, bewildered: "Isn't this what's been circulating in the Castle all this time? Even a girl like Hermione, who's always buried in books, has heard it. I heard a few Hufflepuff girls even wrote several popular novels in private. Haven't you heard any of this, Tom?"
Tom was speechless. To be honest, he really hadn't heard of it.
He had been immersed in the joy of dueling Lord Voldemort every day during this period and never would have thought that the rumor he impulsively started back then was still circulating now. Moreover, it had gone through N iterations and had now developed to a point where even he was speechless hearing it. No wonder Snape's temper was getting worse and worse.
"Is something wrong?" Harry asked cautiously, seeing Tom in a daze.
Tom covered his face with both hands and told Harry, embarrassed: "He's actually your godfather. I told you I would give you what you desired most. Now, I'm giving you your godfather as a gift."
"My godfather?" Harry's tears flowed uncontrollably, yet he still managed a faint smile, "Thank you, Tom. This is the best gift I've ever received in my life."