Chapter 472 Before School Starts
It was not until the next night that Kyle found out why Chris had to rush back to the Ministry of Magic overnight.
In short, the Ministry was seriously short of staff, and the few people in the Department of International Magical Cooperation were not enough. No matter who it was, as long as they could breathe, they were called back to help.
The same was true for Mr. Weasley.
For a week in a row, they left before dawn and did not return until late at night.
So Kyle had dinner at the Weasleys' house these days, and every time he went there, he would hear Fred and George's sarcastic words next to him.
Because Kyle and Cedric had teamed up to stuff them into the box, the two had been doing this since they returned from the camp.
Cedric escaped because he was far away from the Burrow.
In the end, Kyle was really annoyed and promised to take them to the box for a tour after school started, and then they finally had a few days of peace.
During this period, something else happened. Percy and Mrs. Weasley had a big fight.
The reason was that Rita Skeeter published another article. She got the news from somewhere, saying that Mr. Weasley only cared about a few French students in order to please the headmaster of Beauxbatons, and watched more than a dozen wizards being killed without any reaction.
Of course, anyone with a discerning eye could tell that this was made up, but Percy believed it. He even complained about Mr. Weasley's unwise behavior during breakfast, and brought Bill and Charlie along.
Mrs. Weasley was furious and had a big fight with him. Charlie even showed him what the dragon breeder's methods were.
Percy didn't even finish his meal, and fled to the Ministry of Magic with a pair of black eyes.
"Don't worry about him." Bill said to Harry and others beside him: "Rita Skeeter never writes good things about others. She is best at reversing right and wrong, but many brainless people believe her."
In the blink of an eye, it was the last day of the holiday, and Sirius and Lupin still didn't send him any letters.
In the morning, Kyle went to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, but it was empty, and the elf was not there.
In addition, there was no news from the Ministry of Magic.
Apparently, Sirius's retrial was put on hold.
What happened at the Quidditch World Cup had not been dealt with yet, and Fudge did not seem to want to take action against Crouch at this time.
But this is not difficult to understand. The Ministry of Magic is now in chaos, and a large number of Howlers are sent to the office of the Department of International Magical Cooperation almost every day.
If it weren't for Crouch attracting the public's anger, I'm afraid those letters complaining about the safety of the World Cup and demanding compensation for losses would have been sent to his ministerial office.
Fudge didn't want to spend most of his time dealing with those Howlers every day.
When Kyle returned to St. Catchpole Village, it was almost noon.
Chris came back once, and then hurried away with Charlie. He received a mission to go to Romania immediately. After Charlie knew about it, he decided to get a wave of portkeys. It happened that he only had one day left for his vacation. Using the Ministry of Magic's portkeys would save him a lot of time on the road.
Mr. Weasley waited until late before dragging his tired body back, looking exhausted.
"Things are getting out of control." He sat in an armchair by the fireplace, listlessly fiddling with the wrinkled cauliflower on the plate.
"Rita Skeeter has been scrambling around all week, searching for more confusing intelligence from the Ministry of Magic to report. Her articles have caused us a lot of trouble."
"What about Malfoy, Dad..." Bill asked, "How is Malfoy? Is he imprisoned in Azkaban?"
"I really think so." Mr. Weasley sighed, "He insisted at the trial that it was because the team he supported lost the game, and he did that kind of action in a moment of confusion, and he didn't expect it to be so big."
"Confused?" Bill said angrily, "They all used the Cruciatus Curse!"
"I know, but no one can testify." Weasley Mr. Sly said, "Remember, his spell didn't work, and we couldn't prove it with the flashback spell."
"And a considerable number of jurors chose to believe Malfoy. They believed that the mastermind of this incident was an escaped Death Eater. Whether it was using the Imperius Curse on Buck to let him assassinate Harry, or being the first to use the Killing Curse and conjure the Dark Mark, it was all done by this Death Eater.
Coincidentally, when the Dark Mark appeared, Malfoy had been arrested, which means that he had nothing to do with this Death Eater."
"It's nonsense... What about Principal Maxime, did she agree?" Bill asked.
"The Ministry of Magic is still negotiating with her." Mr. Weasley said, "That's why Malfoy and the others haven't been released yet.
Although he donated a large sum of gold and took the initiative to bear all the losses and compensation, Principal Maxime found the French Minister of Magic and insisted on an explanation, otherwise he would withdraw..."
Mr. Weasley paused, and then continued: "In short, Principal Maxime and the French Minister of Magic are very determined, and Fudge has been troubled by this matter."
"I see." Kyle nodded, "He doesn't want to damage his international reputation, but he is unwilling to give up Malfoy's gold..."
"You can say that." Mr. Weasley poured himself a small glass of whiskey, "But no matter what, Malfoy will suffer this time... I have inquired, and the gold he promised to compensate is not a small amount.
"In addition, we have to give an explanation to Beauxbatons... There is news that the Malfoy family is already selling the shop in Diagon Alley."
"He should go to Azkaban!" Ron shouted dissatisfiedly: "I really want to see if Draco Malfoy will still be so arrogant at that time."
Mr. Weasley did not speak.
If the Cruciatus Curse was used at the beginning, he would definitely not be able to escape, but now... It can only be said that Lucius's scheming over the years has worked. He spent a lot of Galleons and finally got a reward at the critical moment.
As long as it is not a serious mistake, there will always be someone to speak for him.
In addition, the appearance of the Dark Mark was too timely, which just found an excuse for him to get away with it.
"I think you should all go upstairs to see if the luggage is packed. "Mrs. Weasley interrupted their conversation and said, "Go, stop talking about Malfoy, and let your father rest for a while."
"Okay..." Everyone took their things and went upstairs.
Kyle wanted to ask if there was any news about Sirius in the Ministry, but seeing Mr. Weasley's tired face, he didn't say anything.
……