Chapter 1040: Fudge’s Accusation (Patreon)

Evan glanced through the newspaper quickly, but there was no photo of Peter Pettigrew.

Poor guy, he was now the most heavily guarded prisoner in Azkaban and considered the most dangerous Death Eater, but Voldemort didn't even look at him.

Thirty Death Eaters had escaped, and the fact that Peter Pettigrew was not among them already spoke volumes.

While Evan was browsing the photos, Harry’s eyes were drawn to the picture of the witch. Her face had leapt out at him the moment he had seen the page.

The only female Death Eater in the newspaper, Bellatrix Lestrange.

She had long, dark hair that looked unkempt and straggly in the picture, completely different from the sleek, thick, and shining hair he had seen in Kreacher's place.

She glared up at everyone through heavily lidded eyes, an arrogant, disdainful smile playing around her thin mouth.

Like Sirius before, she retained vestiges of great good looks, but something — perhaps Azkaban — had taken most of her beauty.

Like the others, there was a caption beneath her photo.

convicted of the torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom.

But Evan knew that her crimes were much more than what was reported, and the same was probably true for other Death Eaters.

“The Ministry of Magic announced late last night that there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban," read Hermione. "Speaking to reporters in his private office, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, confirmed that thirty high-security prisoners escaped in the early hours of yesterday evening, and that he has already informed the Muggle Prime Minister of the dangerous nature of these individuals."

“We find ourselves, most unfortunately, in the same position we were two and a half years ago when Sirius Black escaped,” said Fudge last night. “Nor do we think the two breakouts are unrelated. We have summoned Black to inquire about the situation. There is currently no evidence directly pointing to him as the culprit, but we must consider the possibility of outside help in an escape of this magnitude, and we must remember that Black, as the first person ever to break out of Azkaban, would be ideally placed to help others follow in his footsteps, or leak his experience and methods of escaping. We have to suspect this, especially since among the fugitives is Black's cousin Bellatrix Lestrange."

“I don’t believe this,” snarled Harry, “Fudge is blaming the breakout on Sirius?"

"It's truly unbelievable!" said Evan.

“What other options does he have?” said Hermione bitterly. “He can hardly say, ‘Sorry everyone, Dumbledore warned me this might happen, the Azkaban guards have joined Lord Voldemort’. He’s spent a year telling everyone you and Dumbledore are liars, hasn’t he?"

"But Sirius has been proven innocent," said Harry in disbelief.

"Fudge doesn't think so. He thinks Sirius may commit a new crime at any time!"

"How can a criminal stay at home and wait for the Ministry of Magic to catch him?!"

"Yeah, everyone knows what's going on. But Fudge needs a scapegoat; he can't admit Voldemort's return, so he's pushing all the blame onto others," said Evan. "Don't worry, Harry, Sirius will be fine."

“He has more than enough evidence to prove he didn't do it. If needed, we can vouch for him. Fudge can't frame him — stop whimpering, Ron — there's more behind this," said Hermione, lowering her head to continue reading the newspaper. "Elaine, he mentioned your uncle. Besides accusing Sirius, Fudge believes that the escape of the Death Eaters is related to vampires, and you planned the whole event. He says those Death Eaters see your uncle as their leader."

"I'm used to it," said Elaine disapprovingly. "Not surprising at all.  Human wizards always blame various things on us. In the list of bad deeds attributed to vampires, about half have nothing to do with us."

"What else did that idiot say?" Harry asked angrily.

"He says ‘We are, however, doing all we can to round up the criminals and beg the magical community to remain alert and cautious. On no account should any of these individuals be approached.’ That's the end!" Hermione read the last paragraph on the newspaper, discontentedly flipping through it. "They should have provided more details."

"Wait for the Hogwarts Magic News," said Evan. "Lupin should have more detailed information about what happened. Since this incident is classified as a prison break, it means that the Dementors have not betrayed on the surface..."

Voldemort was very careful. He did need the help of elite Death Eaters, but he still didn't want to leak the news of his return.

That's why a large-scale prison break had occurred, and Fudge would not admit that there was a problem with the Dementors. Because admitting that there was a problem with the Dementors was equivalent to indirectly acknowledging Voldemort's return.

Voldemort was very good at playing with people's minds, and he had a strong hold on Fudge's.

But this was in vain, for without acknowledging the Dementors' betrayal, magic could not provide a satisfactory explanation for the escape.

Anyone with a non-negative IQ would see the clues in this. Evan felt it was necessary to publish the article Rita Skeeter wrote for them during the summer vacation to tell everyone the truth, revealing what was exactly going on in the wizarding world.

Meanwhile, Harry looked around the Great Hall, wondering why his fellow students were not looking scared or at least discussing the terrible piece of news on the front page, but very few of them took the newspaper every day like Hermione.

There they all were, talking about homework and Quidditch and who knew what other rubbish, and outside these walls thirty more Death Eaters had swollen Voldemort’s ranks…

He glanced up at the staff table and it was a different story here: Dumbledore still did not appear. Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were deep in a quiet conversation, both looking extremely grave. Professor Sprout had the Daily Prophet propped against a bottle of ketchup and was reading the front page with such concentration that she was not noticing the gentle drip of egg yolk falling into her lap from her stationary spoon.

Meanwhile, at the far end of the table, Professor Umbridge was tucking into a bowl of porridge.

For once her pouchy toad’s eyes were not sweeping the Great Hall looking for misbehaving students. She scowled as she gulped down her food and every now and then she shot a malevolent glance up the table to Dumbledore's vacant seat.

In addition to this news, the Daily Prophet also published an obituary for a man named Broderick Bode. He had been injured in a workplace accident some weeks ago and sent to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. His health was improving steadily, but coincidentally, someone sent him a Devil's Snare disguised as a harmless Flitterbloom, and when the convalescent Mr. Bode touched it, it throttled him instantly!

St Mungo's Hospital had not yet been able to explain how the plant appeared in the ward, and was hoping anyone with knowledge of the situation could provide clues.

On the day Evan, Harry and Mr. Weasley went to the Ministry of Magic for trial, they had met Mr. Bode in the lift.

He worked for the Department of Mysteries, so what appeared to be an accident was a murder, a clever murder.

As long as no name was left, there was no way to find out who had sent the plant.

It seemed that after the events in Norway, Voldemort had begun to accelerate his acquisition of the Prophecy orb.

After a while, the Hogwarts Magic was also delivered, providing a detailed account of the Death Eaters' escape. It was much more detailed than the Daily Prophet, but there wasn't much valuable content.

However, the Hogwarts Magic had brought about a noticeable change. It was worth noting that the number of students in the school currently subscribing to the Hogwarts Magic far exceeded that of the Daily Prophet. They weren't interested in the reports but rather in the product promotion lists and post-homework analysis sections in the newspaper.