The Acting Minister Is…

Unfortunately, no amount of imagination could change the reality, and Dawlish had had enough of her unreasonable behaviour, so she shot Ellison and Sunny a look.

After a few years of training, Ellison was no longer the novice Auror he once was. He looked very capable in his dark robes.

As soon as he saw Dawlish's signal, Ellison grabbed Umbridge and dragged her away, pulling a long face.

"This is slander! I did not join You-Know-Who! I am innocent! … Let me go … I want to see Minister Fudge!" Umbridge's angry voice echoed through the Entrance Hall.

Seeing Umbridge being forcibly dragged away by Aurors, the young wizards and witches were so relieved that George and Fred took the lead in cheering and setting off fireworks in the Great Hall, suggesting that everyone should celebrate tonight.

The professors, in a rare show of good humour, did not try to stop George and the others from causing trouble, although it was clear that they were in a good mood.

Trelawney burst into tears, as Umbridge's arrest meant that the previous review had been invalid, and that she would be able to return to her duties without fear of being thrown out of Hogwarts.

Ivan, standing in the crowd, was quite calm, as he was the one who had personally ordered Umbridge's arrest.

Piers's reaction seemed to have been quite quick, as he was able to remove Umbridge from her post as Undersecretary and Senior Investigating Officer, and even branded her as a witch.

Umbridge's future can only be seen in Azkaban…

After watching the show, the young wizards gathered in the Entrance Hall returned to the Great Hall to enjoy their lunch.

As they ate, Harry and the others discussed Umbridge's sorry state as she was taken away, and became more confident in the new Ministry of Magic.

After all, Pearce, the new Minister for Magic, was very different from Fudge in his treatment of Lord Voldemort. He was very aggressive, going to war with the Dark Lord whenever he wanted to, shouting that whoever caught the Dark Lord would be the next Minister for Magic.

"If only the Aurors had caught You-Know-Who earlier. My mother was so worried about my safety, she didn't feel comfortable letting me stay at school," Seamus complained as he sliced a steak.

"You should tell your mother that Hogwarts is the safest place in the wizarding world, and that You-Know-Who won't be able to get in without Professor Dumbledore!" Ron said confidently, then turned his attention to the Daily Prophet and sighed.

"It's a pity we don't know where You-Know-Who is hiding. The Ministry would reward us with ten thousand Galleons for information."

Ron was envious of the bounty on his head, which was enough to buy a Firebolt for this year's Quidditch tournament.

Hermione glanced at him and snapped, "Don't even think about it, Ron. You-Know-Who isn't that easy to deal with, and we'd better not expect to run into him!"

Harry nodded in agreement. His last encounter with Lord Voldemort in the graveyard had left a deep scar in his heart, and the power he had displayed was not something they could hope to match.

Ron was equally frustrated, knowing that he was no match for the mysterious man, and turned to Ivan to make a suggestion.

"By the way, Ivan, you might want to try it… if you help the Aurors catch You-Know-Who, you'll be the next Minister for Magic!"

"Not interested. You might as well worry more about this year's O.W.L. exams." Ivan waved his hand without much interest. Being Minister for Magic didn't seem like such a good idea. It was boring dealing with trivial matters every day.

He knew this because he had seen the documents Fudge had left in his office, as well as the recent minutes of the meeting.

Because of this, Ivan lost his last bit of interest in the position of Minister for Magic.

However, he should have known better. There were only a few thousand wizards in the whole of Britain, and even with the addition of goblins, centaurs, and other intelligent magical creatures, the total number was less than 10,000. It couldn't even be compared to a Muggle town, and there weren't so many important things to deal with on a normal day.

Were it not for the Dark Lord's resurrection, the Minister for Magic would most often hold weekly meetings at the Ministry of Magic to wrangle over issues such as whether legislation should be enacted against discrimination against humanoid creatures.

No wonder the former Minister Fudge was so obsessed with power struggles.

Ivan shook his head. As far as he was concerned, being Minister for Magic was a complete waste of his valuable time, and might as well have been handed over to Pierce, who was equally keen on power.

At least the other party was doing well now. After being beaten up by him, they became much more honest. Otherwise, they would not have voluntarily given up the opportunity to directly take on the position of Minister for Magic and instead used the title of Acting Minister.

Pierce's meaning could not have been more obvious. Translated, he meant to run the Ministry in his place…

Given this, Ivan naturally returned the favour, allowing the Daily Prophet to spread the word on Pierce's behalf, turning the newly appointed Acting Minister into an anti-magic hero, the hope of the wizarding community!

"I wonder how Lord Voldemort will react to this?" Ivan murmured to himself as he picked up the Daily Prophet from the table.

She was even tempted to go to Snape and ask him about it, believing it would be interesting…

However, curiosity aside, Ivan did not feel complacent about his successful plot against Voldemort. After all, the threat posed by the Dark Lord had not disappeared, and his frequent provocations could have unexpected consequences.

No one could have predicted what Voldemort would do next in his fury…

Ivan's head began to hurt at the thought of it. Powerful wizards like Lord Voldemort were hardly bound by the rules, and even if they did manage to trap him somewhere, he might not be able to defeat them, let alone kill him.

These were supposed to be Dumbledore's problems, and now it was Dumbledore's turn to worry about them…

Ivan grumbled to himself, but he knew that Dumbledore had not been seen for a long time, and that he was in grave danger.

Even as Ivan thought this, a voice spoke behind him.

"Hales, Headmaster Dumbledore wants you to come to his office later."