"Ayeeeeeeeeeeeee Mummmmaaaaaaaaaaaaa~~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
After Kasenhis and Dumbledore left the office, Fudge finally slumped back into his chair and let out a full-throated wail.
Kingsley pulled out his wand and tapped the still-bound Umbridge, trying a Finite Incantatem, but it didn't do much. It was only then that the Binding Spell naturally wore off on its own.
Umbridge immediately shoved Kingsley aside and, shrieking wildly, sprinted toward Fudge, sliding on her knees to land right beside him.
"M-Minister! Minister, are you alright?"
"Yoooooooo!"
Fudge looked at the very culprit who had gotten him into this mess, burning with rage — but after all, he was still the Minister for Magic. If he lost his temper over a small matter like this, how could he expect anyone to be loyal to him afterward?
Still, swallowing his anger completely? Fudge wasn't that magnanimous...
"Haahh.. haah.. I.. I'm fine. Help me ...sit up," Fudge said with difficulty.
Umbridge hurriedly propped Fudge back into his chair.
"Go fetch a Healer!" she shouted at Kingsley after she was done.
Kingsley just shrugged and strolled leisurely out of the office.
Scrimgeour glanced around, then also walked out — after all, if he stuck around any longer, who knew if a scapegoat role or an extra shift would fall from the sky onto him?
"Umbridge, you... you..." Fudge rasped through gritted teeth.
"Minister, I'm here. Whatever you need, just say it," Umbridge quickly replied.
"You'll split yourself in two and head to Africa and South America! You're going as a diplomatic envoy," Fudge said.
"Minister... split myself in two?" Umbridge asked in utter confusion.
"Hah? Didn't you just say I could say whatever I wanted? Anyway, if you're unwilling to take that mission, I have another job for you," Fudge continued.
"Minister... the other mission..." Umbridge stammered.
"Strictly speaking, two more missions: Explorer of the Death Veil in the Department of Mysteries, or Close-Range Observer of the Killing Curse. Pick one!!" Fudge said, sucking in a sharp breath.
"Then... Minister, can I still go be the diplomatic envoy?" Umbridge forced out a smile that was even uglier than her usual expressions.
"Then hurry up and Goooooo!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Umbridge shot out of the office like a bolt of lightning.
...
Meanwhile...
"The Sorting Ceremony, officially begins!"
Professor McGonagall was down below conducting the Sorting, while Dumbledore and Kasenhis, along with a bunch of other professors, were all slacking off up at the staff table.
After all, most people who could be professors at Hogwarts also held seats in the Wizengamot.
At this very moment, they were already beginning to prepare for the upcoming Wizengamot trial.
"So, if Fudge really pushes to press charges, how are you all planning to vote?" Kasenhis asked.
"You don't even need to ask — we already know how we should vote. And the others will probably make the same choice too. Between a foolish politician and a professor who truly cares about the little wizards, they know which side to take," said Professor Flitwick easily, clearly having a good sense of how the Wizengamot judgment would turn out.
"But... would Fudge really choose to escalate this? It's obvious he doesn't have the upper hand. Keeping things quiet would be his best option — otherwise, the entire wizarding world would curse him," Lupin asked, confused.
"Remus Lupin, when will that beast brain of yours ever truly clear up? Or is it that your brain was sharper when you were a wolf than when you're a human? When Kasenhis's enchanted book removed your werewolf traits, did it happen to wipe out your brain too?" Snape said elegantly, tossing a piece of sausage into his mouth while casually mocking him.
"Oh... esteemed Professor Snape, do you have some great wisdom to share?" Lupin took a deep breath, reminding himself again and again: don't lose your temper, don't lose your temper.
"As for the current Ministry of Magic under Fudge's leadership, if it weren't for the various department heads giving him lip service while doing their own thing, the magical world would've been thrown into chaos long ago. So you can't judge someone like him by common sense," Snape said.
"A coward, an arrogant man, a stubborn man, a fool — his stupidity isn't just in failing to see what he's doing, but also in failing to recognize what the best solution in front of him is."
"And a fool like that, who acts on a whim, who blindly believes in the so-called authority of the Ministry, who worships rules, who likes making impulsive, brainless decisions — he's one hundred percent going to choose to appeal to the Wizengamot!"
"And just as I said, he's so foolish that he won't even remember who the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot is!"
As Snape finished his long speech, Dumbledore couldn't help but puff out his chest proudly. Hu hu hu~!
"...And we still don't know which genius originally propped up such an idiot," Snape added.
Dumbledore promptly deflated and lowered his head. Ugh..
With Snape's double-edged sermon complete and his reputation soaring, the whole staff table was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
At that moment, Professor McGonagall finally finished the Sorting, and a flock of owls flew into the Great Hall, delivering special express editions of the Daily Prophet into everyone's hands.
"Oh... looks like Fudge really did something that stupid," Professor McGonagall said, grumbling as she stared intently at her newspaper.
"But, credit where it's due, this article's actually pretty fair. It covers everything — from Sirius Black's prison break, to Fudge and Dumbledore's decision to station Dementors at Hogwarts, all the way to Kasenhis's warning letter and Dumbledore's reminder to Fudge."
"Finally, it details the Dementor disturbance along the Hogwarts Express route, Kasenhis and Dumbledore visiting Fudge's office one after the other and chopping off his arm, and then how at St. Mungo's they discovered the wound was contaminated with a special curse — it could heal, but not regenerate... And after all that, Fudge decided to go to the Wizengamot to sue Kasenhis."
Professor McGonagall recited everything written in the Daily Prophet from beginning to end. What was written there was not just extremely close to reality — it was word for word, exactly as things had happened.
"This Daily Prophet is actually reliable for once."
"The reporter who wrote this article is Joanne Kathleen Rowling — one of the very few fair journalists the Daily Prophet has. Probably because none of the other reporters dared to touch such a hot potato, they let her write it," McGonagall explained.
"In any case, she did a very good job. Now that the wizarding world knows the truth, the upcoming Wizengamot trial will be very favorable for Kasenhis," Dumbledore said.
"Mm, it's obvious," Professor Sprout said with a smile, because down below, the little wizards had just seen the fresh-off-the-press newspaper and were already boiling with righteous fury.
They had learned that Professor Kasenhis had gone to Fudge's office and personally chopped off his arm to protect them, yet now Fudge was trying to sue him at the Wizengamot — so the students immediately started roasting Fudge as part of their early morning chatter.
"I should go write to my old friends at the Wizengamot," Dumbledore said lightly.
"I'll write to the Potions Association... and the different Potions Clubs," Snape said concisely.
"The Transfiguration Association will help too, don't worry, Kasenhis," McGonagall said, patting Kasenhis on the shoulder.
"And the Herbology Association and the Ravenclaw Mutual Aid Society," added Professors Sprout and Flitwick.
"Actually, you don't have to go to all that trouble. I'm not afraid... though, alright, I guess I should also write to the European Alchemy Association later," Kasenhis said.
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