Chapter 895: Adding Trouble (Patreon)

It was a pity that this scene could not be filmed; otherwise it would definitely be the front page of tomorrow.

Evan was considering assigning a dedicated photographer to Rita Skeeter, just as she had done before. A good photo could be the finishing touch of a report and more easily attract readers' attention.

Just give her an extra sum of Gold Galleons every month, and Rita must have a suitable candidate in mind.

Fudge and Umbridge left in a hurry, and Rita Skeeter relentlessly pursued them.

She kept raising questions about the hearing, and didn't intend to let Fudge off so easily.

Some of the passing wizards nodded to Evan and Harry as they passed, but most averted their eyes. They acted as though Mr. Weasley, Evan and Harry were part of the wall.

Percy was the last to leave the courtroom, and when he came out, the atmosphere in the corridor was at its most awkward.

He glanced at Mr. Weasley, his face expressionless, and he marched past clutching a large roll of parchment and a handful of spare quills, his back rigid and his nose in the air.

The lines around Mr. Weasley’s mouth tightened slightly, but other than this he gave no sign that he had noticed his third son.

"We ought to tell the others the good news, they must have been very anxious up there," said Mr. Weasley, beckoning Evan and Harry forward as Percy’s heels disappeared up the stairs to the ninth level. "By the way, Evan, I know you're hiring Rita Skeeter to write for the newspaper recently, but you'd better stay away from that woman. She's only a liar. In the past few years, she has caused numerous troubles. Most of the work of the whole Ministry of magic has been in response to her..."

"I’ll be cautious!" said Evan. "We’ll strictly review her articles before publication."

Be that as it might; Rita Skeeter had a good grasp of the scale. She knew how to guide the reader between the lines without leaving critical evidence.

Even if the whole article was full of nonsense, there was no way for people to say anything.

As for whether she was spreading rumors, and whether it would cause trouble, as long as she was not talking about him, Evan didn’t care.

Judging from the current situation, with Rita Skeeter around, Fudge would be somewhat cautious, and that was enough.

"I just wish you know how things stand," said Mr. Weasley, walking up the steps. "I'll show you around the Ministry in a moment, and then send you back. I’ll have to deal with that trash bin... "

"What will you have to do about it?" Harry asked, grinning. Everything suddenly seemed five times funnier than usual.

After he was cleared, his mood improved a lot, and he could finally relax and visit the Ministry of Magic.

"Oh, it’s a simple enough anti-jinx," said Mr. Weasley as they mounted the stairs, “but it’s not so much having to repair the damage, it’s more the attitude behind the vandalism. Muggle-baiting might strike some wizards as funny, but it’s an expression of something much deeper and nastier, and I for one..."

Mr. Weasley broke off in mid-sentence. They had just reached the ninth-level corridor and saw Umbridge commanding two wizards to drive Rita Skeeter out, apparently on Fudge’s order.

Fudge himself was standing a few feet away from them, talking quietly with a tall man with sleek blond hair and a pointed, pale face.

The second man turned at the sound of their footsteps. He too broke off in mid-conversation, his cold gray eyes narrowed and fixed upon Evan and Harry’s faces.

"Well, well, well … Patronus Potter and Hope Star Mason," said Lucius Malfoy coolly with an ironic emphasis.

Harry felt winded, as though he had just walked into something heavy.

He looked at him angrily. He couldn’t believe that Lucius Malfoy dared look at him in the face. He couldn’t believe that he was here, in the Ministry of Magic, or that Cornelius Fudge was talking to him in a cordial manner, as though they were best friends, when Harry had told Fudge mere weeks ago that Malfoy was a Death Eater.

Beside Harry, Evan also frowned and looked at Malfoy. He had last seen those cool gray eyes through slits in a Death Eater’s hood. He had Apparated into the dark graveyard to renew his allegiance to his old master.

Lucius Malfoy was a very cunning man. His character and the status and wealth of the Malfoy family were absolute. He would not be completely loyal to anyone, and would not really put Voldemort's interests in reign like those crazy people. He’d always had his own plans.

In other words, he was someone within Voldemort's camp who could be swayed.

In Evan’s view, he could actually cooperate with Malfoy; there were no fundamental differences between them.

Of course, he needed to be extra careful when dealing with Malfoy; he was far more troublesome than Rita Skeeter.

At the very least, there was nothing in Evan’s current hands that could impress him.

However, after he understood Voldemort's attitude toward the Malfoy family after he returned, Evan believed that he still had a chance. Voldemort would certainly not easily forgive Malfoy for destroying one of his Horcruxes.

He would keep this matter firmly in his heart, and then let the family go to death little by little...

When Malfoy understood all this, it would be the moment when he would betray Voldemort without hesitation.

“The Minister was just telling me about your lucky escape, Potter,” drawled Mr. Malfoy, his gray eyes fixed on Harry. “Quite astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of very tight holes... Snakelike, in fact..."

Mr. Weasley gripped Harry’s shoulder in warning.

“Yeah,” said Harry, taking a deep breath, “yeah, I’m good at escaping..."

Then Lucius Malfoy looked up at Evan.

"Look at your companion, Potter, if I were you, I wouldn’t let a Mudblood stand beside me," he said slowly.

"If I were you, Mr. Malfoy, I wouldn't be standing here leisurely," said Evan, smiling from the corner of his mouth.

He decided to give him a wake-up call and stimulate him a little by the way. It would be better if Malfoy's defection could be accelerated.

In fact, this was a good opportunity; otherwise he really had no way to contact him.

Just a few words could add some fatal troubles to Voldemort and Lucius, which was really appropriate.

"After you’ve lost and damaged your master's important thing, based on your understanding of him, do you think he’ll easily let you go?" Evan said.

"What do you mean?" Lucius narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand what you’re talking about."

"You’ll understand. Draco and I are classmates, and despite our differences, we've managed to get along quite well overall. Naturally, I wouldn't want to see him step towards his own destruction," said Evan, gazing back at him and enjoying the gradually changing expression on Lucius's face.