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Fudge's expression shifted several times. He had some misgivings about the people behind Dudley, meaning Dudley's staunch supporters, the Carrow family.
The Carrow family might usually keep a low profile, but in reality, they were even harder to handle than the Malfoy family.
If not for producing a few fools who were hit hard when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named fell, and if not for the previous head of the Carrow family being useless and losing many businesses through poor management, even now they were still a great family on par with the Malfoys.
In truth, there was no one behind Dudley.
Only himself.
"Minister, Potter..."
Fudge gritted his teeth. Offending the Carrow family meant offending the Carrow family. Right now, Harry was the most important.
"Dursley, I will say it again. Potter must come with us today, even if we have to use force."
This time, the Aurors understood Fudge's words. They looked at one another, then slowly raised their wands toward Dudley and the others. They just happened to ignore Draco.
"You have five seconds to consider the consequences."
Dudley spoke lightly. He still sat in his seat, completely unmoving.
Once five seconds passed, spell light from who knew where struck the Aurors' wrists with extreme precision. Before they could even react, their wands flew from their hands.
"Protect the Minister! There is an enemy!"
"It might be Sirius Black!"
The Ministry employee following Fudge screamed. This shout directly frightened Fudge into hiding under the table, and then the employee himself also followed him under it.
The other Aurors immediately became nervous as well and hurriedly picked up the wands that had fallen to the floor. Because they were nervous, they even picked up the wrong ones. Everything became a mess.
'Useless. Even more useless than the ironthorns I planted around the outer edge of the courtyard.'
Dudley looked with contempt at this group of Ministry members, who were like clowns.
'Aurors are no longer the Aurors of the old days.'
The elite among wizards? Perhaps.
Only thirteen years had passed since the First Wizarding War and the fall of that person. The truly excellent Aurors had either died in clashes with Voldemort and the Death Eaters, or, like the Longbottoms, could only stay in St. Mungo's Hospital.
What kind of people were the Aurors left in the Ministry? Did that even need to be said?
And what standard could the apprentices taught by them have?
"There is no enemy." Dudley spoke lightly, using his fingertip to tap gently on the dining table. "I dislike people pointing wands at me. What happened just now was only a small punishment. There will be no next time."
As Dudley's words fell, two figures appeared behind him. One was a gap-toothed old witch with a large hooked nose, like a villain in a fairy tale, and the other was a bald old wizard with a stern expression.
They were Hocus and Pocus.
The powerful aura emitted by the two made the Aurors not dare act rashly.
A single spell had knocked the wands from several Aurors. If they wanted to attack them...
The young Aurors swallowed in unison.
Seeing that it was not Sirius, and that there truly was no danger, Fudge trembled as he crawled out from under the table. First, he glared fiercely at the Ministry employee who had shouted nonsense. Then his gaze locked onto the two old wizards. "Who are they?"
"The housekeepers here."
Dudley answered casually, his tone still indifferent.
"They just attacked Aurors."
Fudge's body was still trembling slightly. His mind clearly had not recovered, and his attitude was no longer as forceful as before.
He somewhat regretted not asking Rufus Scrimgeour to come along. That was one of the few wizards in the Ministry who could actually fight.
Then Fudge saw Dudley's sapphire-like eyes. He only felt that those eyes seemed able to see through his heart, full of mockery.
Then he heard Dudley speak in the tone of someone stating a small matter.
"Shocking: a certain high-ranking Ministry official actually ordered Aurors to point wands at underage young wizards, including the hero of the wizarding world, Harry Potter. Is this abuse of power, or has the Ministry lost all sense of decency? I think the Daily Prophet would definitely like this news."
Dudley took out a crystal ball and casually played with it in his hand.
As Dudley narrated, especially after seeing the crystal ball in Dudley's hand, Fudge's eyelids twitched violently. His wrinkled face was covered in deep worry.
This kind of crystal ball could record images magically, like a Muggle video camera.
If this news were released, the complaint letters he received would pile up throughout the entire Ministry, and his approval would fall to rock bottom.
Then he would be finished.
"Mr. Dursley, you cannot do this."
Although Fudge had little ability, he was quite skilled at changing sides when needed. His attitude immediately softened.
"I also believe this would not be good for Mr. Fudge. So I think we should talk and clear up this misunderstanding."
"Yes, yes, yes. It was all a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. Mr. Dursley, you are right." Fudge kept wiping away sweat. He no longer had the majestic appearance of a Minister for Magic from just now. He nodded repeatedly.
Against a mediocre person like Fudge, the best method was to immediately grasp his throat and take control of the pace.
Dudley and Fudge spoke alone for a while. When Fudge came out, his entire body looked as if it had been fished out of water, soaked through with sweat.
"Mr. Dursley, it is getting late. I think I should leave and not disturb your rest."
Fudge's attitude had made a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, and he did not mention taking Harry away or the attack on the Aurors at all.
Even when he first took office as Minister for Magic and consulted Dumbledore, he had not been this respectful.
The Aurors looked at one another, not knowing what to say. Of course, they also did not dare say anything.
"Take care. I will not see you out."
"Please rest well. Rest well."
Just as Fudge was leaving, Dudley suddenly said, "I suddenly remembered something. This morning, besides the songbird, I also heard a raven calling."
"The environment here really is excellent, Mr. Dursley."
Fudge still failed to hear the meaning behind it and foolishly offered a compliment.
After they left, Dudley spoke to Draco beside him.
"Draco, the eldest son of the Wilkes family, Victor Wilkes, wanted to follow his father into the Department of Mysteries, didn't he?"
"Tell him it has already been arranged."
"And Dorian Jugson of the Jugson family. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement welcomes him."
"Tell Eric Strange that the Department of Magical Games and Sports is a good place."
These were all Slytherins who had graduated in the past two years but had not found suitable work.
Of course, Dudley had not done it for free. But compared with what he gained, he had only paid a tiny little fortune in Galleons.
As people often said, the carrot and the stick never go out of style.
So, having a mediocre Minister for Magic was, in a certain sense, quite a good thing.
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