Fudge and Scrimgeour ultimately parted on bad terms.
The leaders of various Ministry departments also dispersed. As for whether they believed Scrimgeour or Fudge, only they themselves knew, but at least they appeared calm on the surface.
Returning to his office, Fudge looked at Dawlish and the others waiting there, nodded slightly, and said, "You did well. If Scrimgeour had caught evidence this time, our future activities would definitely have problems. As for Howard, tell him I'll resolve the werewolf issue as soon as possible. His business there cannot be delayed, and the year-end dividends must arrive on time no matter what."
"Your subordinate understands."
"Good, you may go."
Dawlish and the others immediately left Fudge's office.
When they had returned earlier, Fudge was somewhat suspicious of them, but after some explanations, he grudgingly accepted their story. As long as everything remained normal on Howard's end afterward, Fudge would eventually drop his suspicions as time passed.
Of course, it was more likely that before Fudge dropped his suspicions of them, he would already be overthrown by their new master. At that time, whether Fudge suspected them or not would be meaningless.
"You all go rest. Leave the remaining matters to me."
The other three masked Aurors understood what Dawlish meant when they heard his words. They all nodded and left, while Dawlish pretended to want something to drink and went to the break room, ordering some tea and refreshments. He naturally came to a table near Barrett, and when Barrett asked to borrow sugar, he struck up a conversation. The two quickly became acquainted.
Matters at the Ministry were proceeding steadily.
After the holidays ended, Hogwarts also resumed its ordinary yet extraordinary school life.
In Professor Snape's Potions office, Sean finished his potion and carefully poured it into a container.
Taking the container, Snape carefully smelt it, then raised his wand to tap the potion, confirming its ingredients and effects before nodding lightly. "No problems. This potion is completely usable. If you were to write it as a paper..."
At this point, Snape frowned slightly. "For you, this kind of paper is no longer suitable to write on. The academic value is too low, just modifying another potion's recipe to change the potion's properties somewhat. Even if such a paper were written, it couldn't possibly be published in The Golden Cauldron. There's no need to publish it."
Hearing Snape say there was no need to publish, Sean secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He had just sent out his Transfiguration paper before the holidays, and judging by the timing, it should have started the review process. He could finally rest a bit. If Snape assigned him another paper at this time, it would truly be unbearable.
Fortunately, his professor still cared for him and didn't burden him further.
"Professor, then I should be able to directly brew this potion under the supervisors in early February, right?"
"Yes, your potion definitely has more advantages than the Bubble-Head Charm. Your choice not to use the Bubble-Head Charm is correct. That charm can indeed allow wizards to survive underwater, but once you dive to deeper waters, water pressure will greatly interfere with your body, problems the Bubble-Head Charm cannot avoid.
Moreover, your potion can temporarily change your body to adapt to underwater activities without affecting your ability to use magic underwater. Very good choice."
"Good, Professor. If there's nothing else, I still need to visit Professor Dumbledore."
"Go ahead."
Seeing Snape wave him off, Sean immediately stood up to take his leave.
However, he didn't immediately choose to find Dumbledore but first went to the Great Hall to meet Harry.
"Sean, over here."
Seeing Harry sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, Sean walked over and sat down directly.
For people like Sean and Harry, this was quite insignificant, but for some others, a Slytherin sitting at the Gryffindor table was itself quite noteworthy.
Of course, given Sean's current status at Hogwarts, him sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table during free time wasn't really a big deal. Many people chose to ignore it after their initial surprise, except for a very few.
"Harry, did you bring the Marauder's Map?"
"Yes, it's here. Do you need to look at it?"
"Good, please let me see it."
Taking the Marauder's Map Harry handed him, Sean opened it, then drew his wand and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"
As Sean's wand lightly tapped the map, it immediately revealed numerous names and passages. However, Sean's attention wasn't on Hogwarts castle itself but outside it. He looked at the name of that person outside the castle, found no changes, and slowly nodded.
"Alright, I'm done with it, Harry."
"Sean, is there someone who sneaked into Hogwarts? Like Pettigrew last year?"
Looking up at Harry, Sean could have brushed this off, but he didn't want to. He had always felt that everyone should bear their own responsibilities, and Harry was no exception. Fighting Voldemort and Death Eaters was his responsibility.
"I do suspect someone got in, but unfortunately, I don't know if it's due to some powerful concealment charm or if my guess is wrong. The person I suspect isn't showing any other names on the Marauder's Map."
The Marauder's Map was created by Harry's father, James Potter, and his friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew when they were students. Though they had magical abilities beyond their age and worked together to create this excellent magical item, the Marauder's Map wasn't omnipotent. It had its limitations.
If someone cast powerful concealment charms on themselves, the Marauder's Map couldn't detect their true identity.
"Sean, what should we do about this?"
"Harry, you don't need to worry about this for now. I actually have some other ways to identify people. As soon as I make any discoveries, I'll immediately go find Professor Dumbledore. This way, whoever wants to cause trouble at Hogwarts won't succeed."