Most of the tents in the campsite had been destroyed. Sirius's tent, of course, was no exception.
So after handing the unconscious Harry over to a frantic Sirius, Tver led Gabrielle and the rest of the Beauxbatons students into the forest, where they found Madam Maxime.
As a half-giant herself, Madam Maxime was even larger than Hagrid, but that didn't stop her from being deeply anxious over her students' disappearance.
When Gabrielle explained that it was Tver who had protected them and ensured they made it back safely, Madam Maxime pulled him into a tight embrace.
It was, without exaggeration, the most serious injury Tver had suffered since coming to this world.
Noticing the Beauxbatons girls behind him, who were clearly eager to try the same, Tver hurriedly said his goodbyes and returned to Fawley Manor that very night.
Meanwhile, Cynthia and Marvolio, along with Barty Crouch—now freed from the Imperius Curse—had an exhausting night ahead of them.
Furious, Barty had already decided to prosecute the wizards who had blindly joined in, foolishly whipped up by the Death Eaters.
Judging from the situation, though, most people had shown restraint. Aside from the final group of Death Eaters who had surrounded Tver, no one had used particularly powerful magic.
So the majority likely wouldn't face overly harsh punishment.
Which also meant the Death Eaters who attacked Tver were completely finished.
Using the Killing Curse in full view of everyone was bad enough. On top of that, under Tver's instructions, the entire blame for the parade was pinned squarely on their heads.
As for how they would ultimately be dealt with, the people handling it had far more experience than Tver did. He didn't need to interfere.
But it was easy to imagine the outcome. Even with their families' remaining influence, an Azkaban "suite" was unavoidable this time.
With that settled, Tver slept soundly and peacefully. It wasn't until noon the next day that he finally met Cynthia and Marvolio—who had been busy all night—as well as a slightly stiff Barty Crouch and Lucius Malfoy, all gathered in the living room.
"Good morning, everyone. How long have you been waiting?"
Tver looked Barty and Lucius over with amusement.
The two of them seemed to realize that their plans had been disrupted and that they'd been forced to clean up the aftermath. There was a hint of embarrassment on their faces.
Still, they were seasoned veterans. They quickly straightened up and greeted him with polite smiles.
"We just finished up," Lucius said promptly. "I never imagined Fawley Manor would be this beautiful."
"Thanks for the hard work," Tver replied casually, then helped himself to the breakfast Jeff had brought out.
Marvolio suppressed a laugh. They had clearly been here for quite some time—the tea on the table had gone completely cold.
"Hard work? You're the one who slept in this late."
"Sorry I couldn't help," Tver said indistinctly around a mouthful of fried egg. "But doesn't that just show how much I trust your abilities?"
"So," he added, "how was everything handled last night?"
"Most of the Death Eaters on the list were pinned to the ground by you," Barty said, his tone a little unsteady. "They were arrested without any resistance."
Although he hadn't seen exactly what spell Tver had used, the flaming spears were still very much there.
At the time, a number of Aurors had exhausted themselves trying to remove the spears embedded in the ground, with no success. If Cynthia hadn't come back after escorting the Death Eaters away and helped them out, some of those spears would probably still be there now.
That alone had given Barty a very clear idea of just how strong Tver and Cynthia were, despite how low-key they usually were.
It wasn't that the spell itself was impossible to deal with. Tver hadn't used any particularly troublesome tricks.
The problem was simply that the Ministry—or rather, these so-called white wizards—rarely studied Dark Magic and didn't understand the workings of Fiendfyre.
Still, there was another issue.
Quite a few people had seen Tver cast spells the night before, and Fire Shield Protection was his teacher's signature magic. It was hard to stop people from making certain associations.
Fortunately, his speech at the previous Wizards' Union conference had gone very well. Quite a few senior wizards had already approached him to discuss the limitations and merits of Grindelwald's ideas.
Once parts of his teacher's views gained broader acceptance, Tver's own identity would instead be seen as an advantage.
Especially with Dumbledore's endorsement, he wouldn't be pushed into a corner.
All of this raced through Tver's mind, even as he continued eating without missing a beat.
"Arresting them only puts you back in the public eye. If you want to become Minister, Fudge still has to step down."
"Take a look at this." Cynthia pulled out a newspaper that had just come out that morning.
Cornelius Fudge—Minister of Magic, or Protector of Criminals?
The photo showed Fudge standing in the campsite, directing Ministry staff in the aftermath. Above his head loomed a massive Dark Mark, flickering with a sinister glow.
"Minister Fudge smiled broadly during an interview, claiming that the mastermind behind the riots, along with a considerable number of accomplices, had already been arrested."
"However, when pressed by this reporter, the Minister repeatedly refused to disclose the identity of the mastermind."
"As someone who cares deeply about last night's attack, I continued my investigation."
"Through the offhand complaints of a certain Auror, I quietly uncovered a shocking scandal—the wizards arrested all came from pure-blood families."
"And every single one of them was a Death Eater who escaped Ministry trial twelve years ago!"
"Given the Minister's evasive attitude, I have every reason to believe these Death Eaters are hiding some unspeakable secret."
"But I soon realized I was wrong. There is no secret at all. Everything is right there in plain sight!"
"In just one night, before this article went to press, I learned from no fewer than ten witnesses that these Death Eaters share extremely close ties with the current Minister of Magic, Mr. Fudge!"
The rest of the article was filled with evidence Rita had gathered, including photographs of those Death Eaters posing alongside Fudge, all meant to support her claims.
In truth, someone as power-hungry as Fudge would associate with any wizard who held influence in the magical world.
Those Death Eaters had long since become fringe figures. There was no reason for Fudge to genuinely value them.
But public opinion didn't work that way. As long as Rita kept hammering on this point, Fudge would never be able to fully distance himself from the Death Eaters.
Even if he were later forced to punish them severely, Fudge's reputation would take a devastating hit.
Pure-blood influence was strong, but plenty of people in the magical world resented them. Fudge openly associating with pure-bloods—and criminals, no less—was bound to stir up widespread dissatisfaction.
Tver chuckled as he folded the newspaper away and finished the last bite of bread.
Holding his pumpkin juice, he leaned back and crossed his legs, looking perfectly at ease.
Despite a few unexpected turns along the way, his ultimate objective had still been achieved. That alone was enough to satisfy him.
"Isn't this a bit too fast?" he asked. "Just one night, and Rita dug up this much? That feels unrealistic."
"I thought about that too," Cynthia said thoughtfully. "But Rita seems busy with something lately, so she pushed the article out first."
"Busy?" Tver mused, finding that odd.
Still, Rita no longer needed the level of monitoring she once did. With his growing influence, she wouldn't dare step out of line anyway.
"Probably working on another story," Cynthia shrugged.
...
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