If the Ministry of Magic sent people to station there once, they would do it again and again!
So much so that it became the norm in the future!
Dumbledore knew this all too well, and the furrowed brow never left his face from the moment he saw the news.
The important thing was that he couldn't refuse this assignment!
There had indeed been one unexpected incident after another at Hogwarts, that much was undeniable.
It was perfectly normal for the Ministry of Magic to send Aurors to protect the students.
Furthermore, Fudge's public defense of Hagrid in the Daily Prophet, and his admission of the Ministry of Magic's mistakes, greatly enhanced his reputation among ordinary wizards.
Openly refusing at this point would put too much pressure on them.
Hogwarts couldn't handle it!
"These methods don't seem like something Cornelius could come up with..."
Dumbledore fell into deep thought.
He wasn't without suspicion of Argus, after all, when Argus was captured and brought to the Ministry of Magic, he had acted extremely intimately with Fudge.
However, no matter what, Argus was just a twelve-year-old child, and his mental capacity was far beyond what he could possibly possess.
"Besides Argus, it seems there's only one other person who could cause Fudge to change so much."
"Is that the newly appointed head of the Auror Department?"
"It seems we need to have Mundungus investigate this thoroughly."
...
Several days passed, and the Ministry of Magic was in no hurry to send Aurors to Hogwarts.
Even if Dumbledore couldn't refuse such a thing, other miscellaneous matters still needed to be specifically arranged.
For example, personnel selection, stationing locations, patrol incidents, etc.
In the last few days, Argus noticed Rita Skeeter's movements!
He had second-guessed himself unnecessarily.
Under normal circumstances, he might not have even noticed that there was a beetle following Harry around.
To avoid alerting the enemy, he also kept a close watch on the situation discreetly.
Similar to Professor McGonagall, after transforming into an Animagus, some of the external features of the body were transferred to the Animagus.
The pattern around the beetle's eyes resembled a pair of thick glasses.
All his observations were extremely discreet, and Rita noticed nothing.
One reason for this was her unusual confidence in her disguise.
After all, who would suspect a beetle for no reason?
Just as she was thinking about where to go to find out more news about Hogwarts, everything suddenly went black.
Immediately afterwards, the world spun around.
A slightly immature male voice came to her ear.
"Argus, what were you pretending for just now?"
"Nothing much, I just saw a strange-looking beetle and wanted to observe it more closely."
"Beetles? You have a hobby like that?" Draco asked with a look of disgust.
Argus simply smiled and offered no further explanation.
Inside the cup, Rita breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
It turned out that the little wizard was just curious about the beetle, not that he had given her away.
She estimated it wouldn't be long before the cup was opened.
Then she could take the opportunity to rush out.
She had encountered similar situations in the past; some children liked to catch insects and would instinctively chase after her when they saw her.
However, she was never caught.
This time, she would just consider it a moment of carelessness on her part.
Although the name outside sounded somewhat familiar, she didn't pay it any mind.
But after a long time, Rita didn't see any sign of the cup being opened.
Even after a brief shaking, the entire cup came to a standstill.
Faced with endless darkness and deathly silence, she could no longer bear it.
She immediately planned to smash the cup and run away!
There were only a few minor wizards around; she could easily deal with them using the Obliviate!
When she tried to release the Animagus and forcefully break the cup, a terrifying situation occurred.
The cup seemed to be under a spell, and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't budge it an inch!
Forcibly removing the Animagus would only crush her into a pulp!
"Damn it! Which pure-blooded family's young master is this? Even his cup has a protective spell on it!"
"Once I get out of here, I'm going to report on their family's dirty secrets!"
Rita cursed inwardly, but she was helpless against the cup in front of her.
In the past, a mere cup could be easily removed.
But for her now, it was an impregnable fortress!
In the blink of an eye, several hours had passed.
Rita's anger intensified.
"You damn pureblood, don't let me find out who you are!"
"Otherwise, I will make your family a pariah in the wizarding world!"
As time went by, the darkness and silence around her made Rita increasingly uneasy.
All that could be seen was an endless expanse of shadow.
She could neither hear nor see anything from the outside world.
In such an environment, all fears would be amplified infinitely.
The small cage seemed to have become her final resting place.
"How long has it been? Why isn't it open yet..."
Rita kept swirling the glass around in her mouth to pass the time.
A thought that filled her with despair suddenly appeared in her mind.
"The person who caught me, has he forgotten about me?!"
The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed, and her mental defenses began to crumble.
She banged the cup wildly, trying to attract attention.
Unfortunately, it was all in vain; the blessing of the Unbreakable Charm could not be shaken by a single beetle.
It might have been ten minutes, or it might have been an hour.
She only stopped her futile efforts when she was completely exhausted from bumping into things.
"Am I really going to die here...?"
Gradually, she lost her sense of time.
She wished it was all just a dream, and that when she opened her eyes, she would still be the chief reporter for the Daily Prophet.
But when she opened her eyes, all she saw was darkness.
The terrifying silence drove her almost mad!
The silence and darkness lasted an unusually long time.
After an unknown amount of time, Rita had fallen into utter despair.
She didn't know how long she had been in the cup; at first, she could do some simple calculations.
But as the days went by, the darkness eroded all her reason.
Just then, the cup suddenly burst open!
The light shining through the rim of the cup seemed to be the salvation of her life.
Despite her extremely weak body, Rita struggled to flap her wings and fly out of the cup.
The moment she flew out, she instantly reverted to her original form, fearing that she would be put back into the cup.
She fell to the ground, panting heavily.
Her eyes were filled with the joy of being reborn.
Just as she angrily looked up, wanting to see who had locked her up for so long...
Facing her was a blond, blue-eyed boy.
The boy had a faint smile on his face, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
The very first thing he said sent chills down her spine!
"How does life feel in a cup?"
"This kind of dark corner is perfect for someone like you, isn't it?"
"Rita Skeeter!"
…
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