Chapter 533: Separate Paths (Edited)

"Wait a minute! Peter Pettigrew died a long time ago! He was killed by Black thirteen years ago! That's something you should know!"

Fudge shouted again when Fish said that Peter had appeared holding Voldemort in a baby state.

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Fish frowned unhappily at the interruption, he was going to say something about Peter not being dead, but then he remembered that it was something that Professor McGonagall didn't seem to allow him to say....

So he turned his head to look at Professor McGonagall, and when she gently shook her head, he said, "Not that Fish has ever seen him before, but he's missing a finger on his right hand, and that's what Harry and Voldemort call him."

The small gesture between Fish and Professor McGonagall, however, was misinterpreted by Fudge, who looked back and forth between the two, then turned his attention back to Dumbledore and suddenly sneered.

"About that, I'll explain later, Cornelius." Dumbledore said quietly, shaking his head helplessly.

But Fudge, now fully convinced that Dumbledore was behind what Fish was saying, sneered once more, then folded his hands and stepped aside and looked at him coldly.

Fish had no idea what Fudge was thinking, he yawned and continued to speak apathetically, which reinforced Fudge's certainty of what was on his mind....

For Fish's apathetic narration sounded too much like recitation.

"... Then Voldemort ran away, and then Severus found Fish and Harry and brought us back nya... ha~~~yawn~~~"

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Drowsily, Fish yawned once more, and rubbed his eyes that were almost closed.

"Minerva, can Fish go back to sleep nya? I'm so tired after transforming into a big cat..."

"Well, you can sleep."

Professor McGonagall said softly as she stroked Fish's head.

With her consent, Fish immediately returned to his cat form and jumped into Professor McGonagall's arms and fell into a deep sleep.

Looking distressed at the burnt fur on Fish's body, Professor McGonagall gently combed Fish's hair, then patted and stroked his back gently, causing the sleeping cat to purr comfortably.

Fudge visibly froze at the sight of the bumpy fur on Fish's body, and his previously contemptuous expression turned hesitant, but soon, he recovered and looked at Dumbledore with a stern face.

"A very good story." he said coldly, "If there is nothing else, I think I must leave, and I will be back tomorrow to To hold the award ceremony for Fish. Come on, Bagman." He waved to Ludo Bagman.

"This is not a story, Cornelius." Dumbledore stopped a sullen Fudge and an overwhelmed Bagman and said, "Voldemort is back, he has regained his flesh and power, you and the Ministry must be prepared and take the necessary steps to make it still possible to salvage the situation. The first and most important step is to free Azkaban from Dementor control...".

But Fudge didn't listen and shouted angrily, "Free the Dementors? I would have been thrown out of the office for suggesting that! Half of us can only sleep at night because we know there's a Dementor on duty in Azkaban!".

Dumbledore still tried to convince him, and made a second suggestion, "Send a message to the giants."

Of course, this suggestion was also rejected by Fudge.

"If the magical world finds out about my dealings with giants... people hate giants with a passion, Dumbledore.... My career will be over!" Fudge gasped in surprise, shaking his head as he took a step back.

"Cornelius, you are so obsessed with your official position that it has robbed you of proper judgment."

Dumbledore looked at Fudge with great disappointment, and said in a serious voice.

"If you take my advice and do something about it, the Ministry and the entire magical world will always remember you as the bravest and greatest Minister of Magic who ever lived. If you don't act... history will also remember that it was you who stood by and let Voldemort have a second chance to destroy the world we have worked so hard to rebuild."

"You are the one who is destroying everything we have worked so hard to build over the past thirteen years!" Dumbledore's commanding tone made Fudge feel as if he'd been stabbed with a needle, and he turned harsh again, "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, Dumbledore, to get a naive child like Fish to lie!"

"Do you think I taught Fish what he just said?". Dumbledore laughed angrily, "You mean even the kidnapping of Fish and Harry, was planned by me?!".

"I didn't say that..." Fudge flinched a little at the sight of Dumbledore's anger, he muttered, "Maybe it was just some mad Death Eater who planned it all in the name of You-Know-Who, and Fish and Harry were tricked by him."

"He didn't trick us!" Harry shouted, "Fish and I saw Voldemort return! I saw Death Eaters on their knees kissing his robes!".

"I've heard Fish say that once before, they were all masked weren't they?" Fudge waved his hand impatiently, as he continued to make excuses. "Maybe they weren't even Death Eaters, just a bunch of You-Know-Who-worshipping lunatics playing pranks."

Snape took a step forward, walking past Dumbledore, and as he did so he pulled up the left sleeve of his robes. He held out his arm for Fudge to see, who recoiled in horror.

"Look," said Snape in a hoarse voice, "Look, the Dark Mark. I think you know what it means, and no one but Voldemort could have brought about its change."

"Why do you think Karkaroff is running away tonight? We both feel the Mark burning. We both know it has returned. Karkaroff feared that Voldemort would take revenge on him. He had betrayed many of his fellow Death Eaters, and surely no one would welcome him back among them."

Snape looked coldly at Fudge and said, "I was there, cloaked in the invisibility cloak, and that man was Voldemort, I couldn't have been more wrong."

But the preconceived Fudge didn't believe, or rather didn't want to believe, what Snape was saying, he kept shaking his head and said, "Enough, I've heard enough of your crazy talk, I don't want to say any more. Tomorrow I will contact you, Dumbledore, to discuss how to run this school. I must return to the Ministry of Magic."

"If you are going to be so stubborn and insistent, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, "We will have to go our separate ways. You do what you see fit and I'll do what it takes."

There was no hint of threat in Dumbledore's voice, it sounded like a mere statement.

Instead, Fudge acted as if he had caught something, "Well, well, Dumbledore," he pointed his finger at Dumbledore, "You've finally revealed your true intentions! I won't let you get away with this."

Dumbledore didn't argue, just watched with disappointed eyes as Fudge dragged Ludo Bagman out of the office.