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"Dangerous?"
Hearing that word, Dudley raised an eyebrow. He was certain he had not misheard.
Compared with a basilisk, a Horcrux, and Voldemort's remnant soul, how was Sirius Black supposed to be more dangerous than any of those?
Clearly, this was only Dumbledore's excuse because he did not want Dudley involved.
"I only want to solve the problem in front of us as soon as possible. Those Dementors are surrounding the castle grounds. They have kept Hogwarts under clouds all day, leaving nearly every day damp, gloomy, and lifeless. They have made the surroundings foul and oppressive, leaving my group members and me unable to train properly."
"Moreover, I have already received quite a few reports from students. The Dementors are showing signs of wanting to attack them."
After being thrown out by Dumbledore at the feast, that group of Dementors had restrained themselves somewhat. Recently, however, they had begun growing active again.
Those things were more disgusting than Dark creatures. They did not have much intelligence, and if they were allowed to continue like this, sooner or later something would go wrong.
Expecting them to follow the Ministry of Magic's agreement was less realistic than expecting Voldemort to become a good person.
"Dudley, endure it a little longer. After all, this is the Ministry's requirement."
Dumbledore took out another Cockroach Cluster and tossed it into his mouth, chewing noisily.
At the start of term, quite a few students had already written home. Dumbledore had originally thought that Fudge, who usually bent with every shift in public opinion, would immediately soften and withdraw the Dementors as quickly as possible. But this time, Fudge, who had always lacked much of an opinion of his own, was unusually firm. He insisted on letting the Dementors guard Hogwarts.
Even after receiving so many letters of complaint, he remained unmoved.
That left the wizards who had received those letters with no options. The decision was Fudge's alone. He was the Minister for Magic, theoretically the most powerful man in magical Britain.
Of course, Fudge's approval would certainly drop sharply.
But a drop was still better than losing his position outright.
Dudley sighed.
"If they truly obey the Ministry's rules, do not attack Hogwarts students, and do not provoke me."
"Professor Dumbledore, allow me to offer a small opinion. I do not quite agree with your repeated tolerance toward the Ministry of Magic. You are the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Your duty should be to take responsibility for every student's safety."
"Do not forget, aside from being Headmaster of Hogwarts, you are also Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot."
The Wizengamot was a magical organization established even earlier than the Ministry of Magic, something like a combination of court and parliament. The Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot was the highest official in that organization.
In theory, its authority was not inferior to that of the Ministry of Magic.
But Dumbledore's position as Chief Warlock had been left largely unused.
Headmaster of Hogwarts. Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Either identity was enough to stand alongside the top levels of the Ministry of Magic. Politically, neither position was inferior to Fudge's.
Knowing some of Dumbledore's past, Dudley understood that Dumbledore no longer wanted to participate in any power struggle.
But this sort of thing was not something you could avoid simply because you did not want to participate.
As a wise person once said: wherever people gather, politics follows.
As long as Dumbledore was alive, he remained within the struggle for power, even if he had clearly expressed that he was tired of the center of power.
Avoidance was useless.
Because other people would not think that way.
Power could blind people and make them lose themselves.
After leaving those words behind, Dudley left the Headmaster's office. Before leaving, he gave Fawkes another bag of feed.
He could understand Dumbledore, but he did not agree with him.
After Dudley left, the portraits of past Headmasters became active and began offering their views.
"Dumbledore, I think he is right." A calm female voice sounded, surprising the Headmasters around her.
She rarely expressed her own opinion. Most of the time, she only listened.
Yet she was respected by every Headmaster present.
Her name was Phyllida Spore. Among the portraits of former Headmasters, she was one of the oldest portraits in the office.
"In my time, there was no Ministry of Magic. There was only the Wizards' Council."
"The Wizards' Council was responsible for managing the magical world, while Hogwarts was responsible for teaching outstanding wizards. The division of labor was clear, and neither side interfered with the other."
"At Hogwarts, only the Headmaster's word mattered. Even the leader of the council had to step aside."
"Dumbledore, valuing power is not wrong. But what we should do is face it directly, not blindly distance ourselves from it."
"Phyllida, I understand. I know..." Dumbledore said softly, his voice growing smaller and smaller. "Let me think about it."
Sirius breaking into Gryffindor Tower caused quite a stir.
Whenever the students had free time, they discussed it, and the more the story spread, the more fantastical it became.
Some said Sirius could transform into a flowering bush, avoid the Dementors' pursuit, and sneak into Hogwarts.
Some said Sirius could pass through walls like a ghost, which was why the Dementors could not detect him at all.
The most absurd rumor claimed that after entering the castle, Sirius had turned into a dried potion ingredient and hidden inside Snape's storeroom.
It was told with complete confidence, and someone had even invented the spell used to turn into a dried potion ingredient.
Dudley scoffed at this. If Sirius dared hide there, Snape would certainly not mind slicing him up, grinding him down, and throwing him into a cauldron to boil into a pile of sludge.
However, rumors were only rumors. These stories only spread among the students. The truth might be completely different from what they imagined.
Was it possible that Sirius had simply entered Hogwarts through some secret passage in the castle?
Impossible. The students felt that was not exciting at all, not magical at all, and not nearly mysterious enough.
So that theory found few believers.
Even though it was the closest one to the truth.
As the days passed, no trace of Sirius appeared. It was as if he had vanished. After showing himself once, he never appeared again.
During this time, Defense Against the Dark Arts leapt from the most unpopular subject to the most popular one.
Professor Lupin's classes were truly interesting. They were almost all practical lessons, and they absolutely did not repeat themselves. They dealt with all kinds of Dark creatures.
For example, Red Caps: bloodthirsty, cruel little creatures that were extremely troublesome. In the wild, once they smelled blood, they would immediately appear and keep ambushing travelers until the victim died.
For example, Kappas: monkey-like aquatic magical creatures that liked human blood. They would drag lost people underwater, drown them, and suck their blood, which did not make them any less dangerous.
Lupin patiently taught the students practical techniques for dealing with these Dark creatures, and everyone benefited greatly.
Even Dudley praised Lupin's teaching method.
There was a great deal of knowledge that could not be learned from books.
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