In the past few days, Fudge hadn't been idle. After speaking with Dumbledore, he immediately began making his moves.
Since it was now unavoidable to clear Sirius Black's name, what Fudge could do was maximize his own benefit—ensuring he gained as much as possible from this upheaval.
While holding meetings with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and various department heads, Fudge also consulted privately with his aides. Finally, on the first Monday after the Easter holiday, an article clearing Black's name was published in the Daily Prophet.
The report laid out everything that had happened twelve years ago: how the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix had fought against Voldemort, the Fidelius Charm plan for the Potters, Peter's role as Secret-Keeper, and why Sirius had been wrongfully imprisoned.
To protect the Ministry's reputation and prestige, the article constantly polished the image of both the Ministry and Fudge. It glossed over the details of the original trial and portrayed Sirius as a tragic hero. According to the report, Sirius had said nothing and accepted imprisonment because he felt guilty toward the Potters and blamed himself for their deaths.
Although that was indeed the truth, the Ministry's behavior was quite unsightly. If they had been more careful back then, this miscarriage of justice could have been avoided. The public wouldn't have been deceived for twelve years, and Sirius wouldn't have had to spend the prime of his life in Azkaban.
The public was not blind. It didn't take long for people to discover that it was Barty Crouch who had sent Sirius to prison without a trial. Soon, calls of "The Ministry is incompetent," "Fudge must step down," and "Send Barty Crouch to Azkaban" grew louder and louder.
At this moment, Fudge stepped forward. He bowed and apologized in one smooth motion, restarted the investigation into the case, and personally took on the role of chief judge.
Through Fudge's crisis management, an image of responsibility and accountability was established, and people once again began to place their expectations on both the Ministry and Fudge.
Fudge could be said to have gained immensely—not only suppressing his rival Barty Crouch, but also taking the opportunity to weaken the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Amelia Bones.
He became the one who turned the tide, correcting the Ministry's mistakes in time and restoring its credibility.
The case was quickly reopened, and Sirius, accompanied by Dumbledore and several Aurors, took part in the proceedings.
To demonstrate the Ministry's fairness, not only did the Daily Prophet provide full coverage of the trial, but Fudge also invited some ordinary witches and wizards to attend. As for what dealings Fudge had behind the scenes with the pure-blood families, no one knew.
In the follow-up reports, the public learned how Sirius Black had finally been cleared of his unjust charges. The names of Dumbledore and Eda appeared once again in the articles, and Fred and George were also given a few lines of mention.
Fudge, who had done nothing, also secured a place in the report—as if the one who had stubbornly refused to acknowledge the truth before wasn't him.
Rather than taking all the credit for himself, he shared it with Dumbledore and Eda, showing his political side. Since the trial had been almost entirely public, there was no way to hide it. It was better to do a favor and give Dumbledore some face.
Fudge himself suffered no losses, and Dumbledore wouldn't gain much more from a single article—so why not?
Seeing Eda's name appear in the Daily Prophet once again sparked the public's curiosity. The newspaper lived up to its reputation as a media outlet, publishing another report on Eda's recent activities, and "incidentally" interviewing Fudge to ask his opinion of the girl.
During the interview, Fudge praised Eda highly, calling her the most outstanding witch he had ever seen at her age, a witch of exceptional talent.
If Eda wished to join the Ministry of Magic after graduation, Fudge said he would welcome her with open arms, and she could choose whichever department she preferred.
It was a fairly sincere offer, but Eda, back at school, dismissed Fudge's invitation entirely.
Although there were still some people in the Ministry who genuinely did their jobs, that didn't change the fact that the Ministry was rotten to the core. Unless a thorough purge was carried out from top to bottom, the Ministry would remain nothing more than an impressive-looking but useless façade.
By mid-April, the trial had concluded. It had been a long time since the Ministry had operated with such efficiency. Peter Pettigrew was sent to Azkaban—his long-overdue punishment had finally arrived.
Sirius Black's reputation was restored, and to honor him, he was awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class. To express his apology, Fudge sincerely invited Sirius Black to join the Ministry and take a position in the Auror Office.
However, Sirius declined the Minister's offer. He said he wished to properly enjoy life and travel the world with his friends. In reality, after the trial ended, Sirius returned to Hogwarts.
Perhaps, for him, Hogwarts was another name for the world.
With Peter finally brought to justice and locked away in a single cell in Azkaban, the system's assigned task was completed. However, Eda was quite dissatisfied with the reward.
"Basic Animagus Transformation"—what kind of reward was that? She had no interest in becoming an Animagus at all. The only useful part was the included method for identifying Animagi, which at least made the whole effort not entirely pointless.
The renovation of the Twilight Shack had also been completed. The new decor emphasized one thing above all—luxury. The Black family was truly wealthy; everything in the house was the best brand available on the market, all custom-made.
Eda felt like she hadn't extorted enough. No wonder Sirius had agreed so readily that day.
The Twilight Shack was no longer a secret base for just Eda and the twins. Sirius still lived there, with no intention of moving out. Lupin came and went frequently, and Harry practically wanted to live there full-time.
Looking at the lively house, Eda felt like crying without tears… Sirius and Harry were as happy as could be, while Eda couldn't feel happy at all.
These days, not only did she have to memorize Transfiguration essays, but she also had no easy time in Potions class.
The moment Eda dared to talk back, it was an instant combo of point deductions and detention. She was now more familiar with the trophy room than with her own home—she could tell where each award was placed even with her eyes closed.
Probably in the entire history of Hogwarts, there had never been a prefect who had been put in detention as many times as Eda.
Eda could only vent all her frustration on the training dummies. For several mornings, the Forbidden Forest was thrown into chaos, and she finally managed to achieve a three-star rating.
During the trials, Eda gradually figured out the scoring system. Victory itself was important, but it only earned one star.
The remaining two stars depended on combat performance—the effectiveness and variety of offense and defense, as well as factors like the amount of damage she took and how many times she was knocked down, all influenced the final rating.
Although she had achieved a three-star rating, Eda still wouldn't dare claim she could稳赢 Snape or Professor McGonagall. The gap in strength between the three of them wasn't that large.
It could only be said that against opponents of that level, Eda had a high chance of winning and was almost impossible to defeat. But to reach the point of guaranteed victory, she still needed to keep honing her abilities.
Her understanding and application of magic, as well as how to adapt her combat style against different types of opponents—these kinds of experience and flexibility couldn't be mastered in just a day or two.
As for Dumbledore, he remained far beyond reach. Not to mention that he also had the Elder Wand. If Eda wanted to stand on equal footing with him, she still had a long way to go.
After achieving the three-star rating, Eda naturally received a reward—a blood-red gemstone with an irregular shape. Although it was red, it wasn't the Philosopher's Stone. Its effect was to enhance the effectiveness of healing spells.
At the same time, the gem could also increase Eda's own recovery speed. In other words, whether she was injured or ill, under the same medical conditions, she would recover faster than others.
The most overpowered aspect was that the gem could be used to save her life. No matter how severe the injury, as long as she wasn't already dead, she could absorb the gem's energy to fully restore herself to health.
But there was only one use. The gem's energy couldn't be replenished—once used, it would immediately turn into an ordinary stone.
Just as Eda was thinking about how to store the gem, it flew directly onto the ring on her left hand and fused with it. The shape of the ring didn't change, and no gemstone appeared on its surface—only an occasional flash of blood-red light flickered across it.
Thinking about the gem's effects, Eda muttered to herself, "I always thought I was a damage dealer… turns out my real role is a healer."
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