Despite the Ministry of Magic's best efforts to suppress the information, things did not go as planned. Within just two days, the Chinatown attack swept through the entire British Wizarding World like a storm, causing a massive uproar.
The cause was someone identifying the identity of a slain Death Eater amidst the chaos that day—the notorious Augustus Rookwood.
He was originally an Unspeakables in the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic, but during the First Wizarding War, he betrayed the path of righteousness to become Lord Voldemort's lackey, acting as a spy to obtain intelligence. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban based on Karkaroff's testimony.
A Dark Wizard who was supposed to be serving a sentence in Azkaban actually died in a wizarding brawl in London's Chinatown on the eve of Christmas—how could this be tolerated?
Was no one allowed to have a decent Christmas anymore?
Trained Owls continuously delivered letters to the Ministry of Magic. Countless letters of inquiry fluttered in like snowflakes, paralyzing the work of the Assistant to the Minister for Magic's office.
Faced with the overwhelming questioning and pressure from the public, the newly appointed Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was completely at a loss. He couldn't even bother to investigate the Wizengamot's violation of their agreement by casting offensive spells in the street. He sent twelve Owls in a row to Hogwarts, inviting Albus Dumbledore to come out and help.
To be honest, the situation developing to this point was entirely unexpected and highly undesirable for all organizations involved.
Take the Death Eaters, for instance; they had already suffered heavy losses from repeated strikes. Lord Voldemort himself was troubled by a Blood Curse and could not fully commit to the resurrection plan. At this time, he did not want to expose himself too early.
As for the Wizengamot, they had not yet established a firm foothold in Britain. If the Death Eaters' actions highly alerted the British Wizarding World, prompting the British Ministry of Magic to cast aside its pride and seek help from the International Confederation of Wizards—leading to the Aurors of Europe coming out in full force—the consequences would be unthinkable.
Once these Death Eaters were eliminated too early, the Wizengamot would lose their most crucial bargaining chip for negotiations with the Ministry of Magic—after all, if the 'rats' are all gone, who would need to keep a 'cat' to catch them?
On the other hand, the British Ministry of Magic had its own concerns.
Especially for a man like Minister Fudge, who was obsessed with his official position, the newly re-elected government had only just been formed, and his seat as Minister was not yet secure.
If the news of a mass breakout from Azkaban along with the Dementors were to break now, it would inevitably trigger strong public dissatisfaction and questioning of the government, leading to a loss of trust in the new administration—a situation that was undoubtedly Minister Fudge's worst nightmare.
Finally, regarding Dumbledore, what this exceptionally wise old Wizard feared most deep down was that Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters might have an extreme reaction due to external pressure.
Originally, the contest between them was more like boiling a frog in lukewarm water. But if a sudden change caused this confrontation to rapidly escalate into a tragic 'burn-the-bridge' scenario where both sides suffer, it would surely result in massive casualties among innocent Muggles and Wizards. This was a tragedy Dumbledore desperately wanted to avoid.
Against this backdrop, something unexpected happened—before any of the organizations had even met or engaged in any discussion or consultation, a political miracle quietly unfolded in the British Wizarding World!
The first to take action was Lord Voldemort. Perhaps the powerful vitality contained within that cockroach soul had nourished his incomplete spirit, allowing his intelligence to temporarily climb back to its peak from his younger days.
Lord Voldemort calculated in his heart: given the courage of the currently cowardly and incompetent Ministry of Magic, they would never dare risk triggering social panic by easily publicizing the truth that he was still alive. He only needed to give them a way out to stabilize them.
Thus, the Aurors responsible for guarding the old site of Azkaban were surprised to find that in just one night, those Dementors who had successfully escaped and the Dark Wizards serving time in Azkaban had actually returned to this gloomy and terrifying prison as silently as ghosts. They even meticulously arranged a false scene, as if the place had always been peaceful, serene, and orderly.
Faced with many Death Eaters and with Dementors assisting them, the Aurors on duty could only retreat to a relatively safe distance first, then quickly dispatch personnel to the Auror Office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to report this emergency truthfully.
At this time, Minister for Magic Fudge was sitting in his spacious and bright office, complaining miserably to Dumbledore, hoping that this White Wizard, hailed as the wisest man today, could give him some guidance and think of a countermeasure for the current predicament.
When he learned that those vicious fugitives from Azkaban had all actually returned and cleverly created an illusion that everything was calm and as usual, he breathed a sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
Immediately after, Fudge instructed his assistant to invite reporters from The Daily Prophet who specialized in reporting Ministry of Magic news to the surrounding areas of Azkaban to take some photos.
In his heart, the most urgent task at the moment was to spread the important information that 'Azkaban is safe and sound' as quickly as possible, thereby stabilizing the panicked mood of the public.
Meanwhile, Dumbledore also heard about this. In his view, this was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity to greatly weaken the strength of the Death Eaters. However, that extremely foolish Minister Fudge might not necessarily agree with the suggestion he proposed—
As expected, when Minister Fudge heard Dumbledore's plan to mobilize a large number of Aurors to besiege Azkaban, he rejected the proposal without hesitation and almost without thinking.
He had only just authorized the release of news that Azkaban was still safe. If he turned around and sent numerous Aurors to launch a siege there, even the stupidest person would realize there was a serious problem!
His political enemies would attack him to death; would his seat still be secure?
Just like later during the Triwizard Tournament when Cedric died, Fudge's first reaction was not to investigate the truth, but to have a Dementor give Barty Crouch Jr. a fatal kiss, leading to a lack of evidence—this selfish Minister would always put his own interests first.
Faced with Dumbledore's persistence, Minister Fudge pleaded with him to wait a bit longer, preferably until the storm caused by the Chinatown incident had completely settled, before they discussed a specific plan of action.
Dumbledore sighed; this was clearly a stalling tactic by Lord Voldemort, fearing the Ministry of Magic would turn hostile and hunt him down before he was ready.
If you don't send a large number of Aurors to besiege them now, once this period of attention passes and that group of Dark Wizards breaks out with the Dementors, won't the Ministry of Magic still be in a passive position?
Fudge, this pig of a teammate, really is... forget it. Anyway, if Lord Voldemort cannot be completely killed, the Death Eaters won't be cleared out either. A few more or less won't make a difference now; let's stabilize the people's hearts first.
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