Everything that had happened tonight seemed incredibly strange to Fudge. He had only come to serve as a judge for the Triwizard Tournament, so how had he somehow gotten involved with Death Eaters and You-Know-Who?
Not long after the Minister arrived at Hogwarts, Dumbledore invited him to the Headmaster's office for a private discussion. They talked about all the strange incidents that had happened throughout the school year.
Starting with Bertha Jorkins's disappearance, the fiasco at the World Cup, the fourth champion who should never have appeared, Barty Crouch's disappearance (death), and so on.
Dumbledore told Fudge everything he knew. However, no matter how Dumbledore explained it, Fudge simply refused to believe him.
It really did sound far too absurd. How could someone who had been dead for so many years suddenly emerge and cause trouble? It was no wonder Fudge did not believe it. As the leader of the wizarding world, he needed to be cautious with his words and actions to prevent widespread panic among wizards.
With no other choice, Dumbledore had to temporarily give up on trying to persuade Fudge. He decided to let the facts speak for themselves and have Fudge see everything with his own eyes.
That evening, the third task began on schedule. Eda and Harry, disguised by Sirius, touched the Triwizard Cup and were transported to Little Hangleton by Portkey. Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion according to plan.
Fleur Delacour was attacked and withdrew from the tournament, and Viktor Krum also withdrew. None of this attracted Fudge's attention. He still had not taken Dumbledore's words to heart.
Just then, Dumbledore discovered that Barty Crouch Jr. was missing. Barty Crouch Jr., disguised as Moody, should have been patrolling around the maze, but he had shaken off McGonagall and Hagrid, who were watching him, and escaped.
Dumbledore immediately realized that something was wrong. The situation had changed. He quickly called off the competition and had the professors lead the students back to the castle.
Although he already knew that the plan had changed, Dumbledore was powerless to do anything about it, because he had not known beforehand where the Portkey would take them. All he could do was wait for Sirius to send back news.
However, Dumbledore was not simply sitting around waiting. After Barty Crouch Jr. escaped, the Headmaster led people in searching his office.
There, Dumbledore found a magical trunk. Barty Crouch Jr. had been keeping the real Moody hidden inside this trunk during this period so that he could obtain Moody's hair whenever he needed it.
Dumbledore rescued the poor Moody and took him to the hospital wing for treatment.
In the hospital wing, Moody told Dumbledore and Fudge about what had happened to him. Fudge finally believed that Barty Crouch Jr. had not died, and also learned that Benedict Fowley had escaped from Azkaban and joined up with Barty Crouch Jr.
But the Minister still did not believe Dumbledore's conclusion. He did not think that the storm this man had stirred up had anything to do with Voldemort.
And so, Dumbledore patiently tried to persuade Fudge while anxiously waiting for Sirius to send him a message.
After waiting for a long time, Dumbledore finally received Sirius's message. In front of Fudge, Dumbledore created a Portkey and invited him to come along, so that he could personally witness Barty Crouch Jr.'s conspiracy.
After all, some things could only be believed after seeing them with one's own eyes. Dumbledore really had no idea what else to do with Fudge.
But Fudge was still somewhat hesitant. He did not trust Hogwarts' Headmaster and regarded Dumbledore as his imaginary enemy. Perhaps the Minister also had a persecution complex, always feeling that some unruly citizen was plotting against him.
Fudge could afford to sit there, but Dumbledore could not. Barty Crouch Jr. had escaped, and Sirius had taken so long to send back a message. There was only one possibility: Sirius and Eda had encountered trouble, trouble serious enough to threaten their lives.
There was no time to worry about anything else. Every additional second of delay meant another point of danger for Sirius and Eda. Dumbledore had no choice but to go ahead first, no longer bothering with what Fudge thought.
It was precisely because Dumbledore went ahead first that he was able to rescue Sirius, whose life was hanging by a thread, stop the Fiendfyre from reaching the village, and drive Voldemort away.
But it was also precisely because Dumbledore went ahead first that Fudge, after wasting so much time dithering, missed the Death Eaters and missed Voldemort.
"Cornelius, you heard what Alastor said in the hospital wing," Dumbledore said. "You also heard what Sirius said. This dark fire is right before your eyes. Do you still not understand?"
Dumbledore adjusted his emotions and said calmly, "Cornelius, countless pieces of evidence are all pointing to the same conclusion. He has returned, tonight, in this very place that has been burned to the ground."
You can never wake someone who is pretending to sleep. Whether at the school or in Little Hangleton, Dumbledore had exhausted every possible argument, but Fudge simply refused to believe him.
Fudge said, "Impossible, absolutely impossible! Benedict Fowley, Barty Crouch Jr., and him, the person you keep talking about, I didn't see a single one of them tonight!"
Of course he couldn't see them. Who could blame him when Fudge himself had been hesitating, with a belly full of shady thoughts that could not see the light of day?
If Fudge had come here with Dumbledore, he would have been able to see Barty Crouch Jr., and might even have gotten a glimpse of Voldemort.
However, he was destined never to see Fowley's corpse. It had long since been burned away by the fire, without even a trace of ash remaining.
"May I ask, Minister, then what is this fire supposed to be? Heavenly fire?" Eda shouted. She had been putting up with Cornelius Fudge for a long time. She simply could not help but argue with him.
Fudge was extremely displeased by Eda's interruption. He felt that this girl was simply relying on Dumbledore's favor and ignoring him, the Minister of Magic.
Fudge roared, "What are you trying to say? Are you trying to say that this fire was caused by You-Know-Who, or are you trying to say that you had a duel with You-Know-Who?"
Although Fudge's own hesitation had caused him to arrive one step too late and miss the most exciting part, Sirius had still given the Minister a brief explanation of what had happened.
Although he did not show it on his face, Fudge sneered inwardly at Sirius's account.
A little girl who had not even graduated from school yet, no matter how talented she was, how could she possibly face You-Know-Who alone?
And this girl was currently alive and kicking, even interrupting a conversation between important figures. How was that possible?
Fudge loudly berated Eda and continued, "If you say he's back, you should at least put on a convincing act if you want to fool people. If things really happened the way you claim, how could you possibly be standing here talking to me?"
His line of reasoning was unbeatable, and his logic was incredibly clear. The best proof that You-Know-Who had not returned was that Twist was still alive. Unless you die right in front of me!
No one knew what had given Fudge such courage. He seemed to regard Eda as a soft target that he could bully at will, and he apparently regarded Vinda as one too.
Perhaps the monitoring shackles on Vinda's wrist had given the Minister a false impression, making him think that Vinda Rosier was nothing special, just another pushover like those pure-blood families he had managed to control.
The moment those words were spoken, Eda's anger instantly reached its limit. Voldemort had left her in such a miserable state tonight, and she had been holding back a stomach full of anger for a long time.
Now Fudge was even cursing her to die. How could she possibly tolerate that?
However, the moment Eda made a move, Laura hurriedly grabbed her and stopped her from doing anything further. Dumbledore, who was farther away, also spoke up to stop her and told Eda to calm down.
Dumbledore could stop Eda, and Laura could hold Eda back, but they had both overlooked the silent Vinda, the witch Vinda Rosier.
A streak of green light suddenly appeared, passing precisely beside Cornelius Fudge's ear before disappearing into the darkness behind the Minister.
Then Vinda coldly said, "This time is only a warning. If there is a next time, I will personally prepare a coffin for the Minister."
Vinda's sudden attack stunned everyone present. At the same time, it saved Fudge's face while the Minister stood there completely terrified.
The Aurors were, after all, professionally trained, and those assigned to protect Fudge were certainly no weaklings. They quickly recovered. Two Aurors stepped in front of Fudge, serving as human shields, while the other Aurors drew their wands and pointed them at Vinda.
Once one side had drawn their wands and refused to let the matter go, the other side was naturally not going to sit there and be bullied.
Laura immediately released Eda and drew her own wand, pointing it from a distance toward Fudge in the crowd, clearly intending to capture the leader first. Needless to say, Eda's wand had never left her hand.
In the cemetery that had been reduced to scorched earth, the people who had just been working together to put out the fire instantly split into three factions: Rosier, Fudge, and Dumbledore.
The atmosphere became extremely tense.
"Oh, right. I forgot to ask something." Vinda's voice was cold and merciless. "Please tell me, Minister, how many people are there in your family?"
Dumbledore, who belonged to the third faction, was having a terrible headache.
One Eda was already enough to give him a headache. He had never expected Vinda to be just as troublesome! Every time he managed to push one problem down, another popped up. Dumbledore truly had no words left.
At this moment, Sirius, who had originally belonged to the third faction, silently drew his wand. His footsteps showed his choice as he moved to Vinda and Eda's side.
Although Fudge had the numerical advantage, he remained silent in the face of Vinda's provocation. No one knew what Fudge was thinking. He did not look at Vinda Rosier. Instead, he looked toward Dumbledore.
It was as though Dumbledore had instructed Vinda to do this.
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