Hogwarts Castle.
First floor washroom.
Fudge was pacing back and forth at the entrance of the secret chamber.
From the moment he learned the news, Fudge sensed that there was room for manipulation in this matter.
Ignoring all the matters concerning the Ministry of Magic, he rushed over with an Auror and a few trusted confidants.
The Aurors who went down to investigate reported the situation inside the secret chamber and what they had learned from Professor McGonagall.
"Such a commotion, and none of you noticed it last night!"
"I'm sorry, Minister." A group of Aurors lowered their heads and dared not utter a sound.
In fact, most of their time at Hogwarts was spent patrolling crowded or frequently visited locations.
Places like the first-floor restrooms, which are rarely visited, are seldom patrolled or inspected.
Otherwise, no one would have noticed such a big commotion.
Fudge snorted in dissatisfaction, glancing around as if looking for someone to discuss it with.
The result was that he was met with Umbridge's fawning and sweet gaze.
He opened his mouth and turned to look at the group of Aurors.
"Where is your director? Where is he?"
"He went to St. Mungo's Hospital to find out what happened from Mr. Grindelwald, and he should be back soon."
"The Minister has already arrived, and he dares to make the Minister wait for him!" Umbridge glared at the Auror who spoke.
"Hurry up and call him over here!"
"Shut up!"
Since Alan Mitchell came along, Fudge has become increasingly annoyed by Umbridge's brainless sycophantic behavior.
Even lackeys need to be considered from different perspectives.
Is this the time for you to be a sycophant?
Instead of thinking about how to handle this matter, she's already trying to sow discord among his colleagues!
If it weren't for the fact that she had followed him before and had worked hard even if she hadn't made any great contributions, he would have kicked her aside long ago.
Umbridge noticed Fudge's anger and shrank back, not daring to speak again.
She dared not express her resentment to Fudge, but in her heart she had cursed Alan Mitchell countless times.
"Minister! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!"
Not long after Fudge finished reprimanding Umbridge, Alan rushed over from St. Mungo's Hospital.
"It's alright, how is Mr. Grindelwald?" Fudge was still very concerned about his partner.
Even though he already knew he wasn't seriously injured, he still couldn't help but ask.
"He's fine now. He can be discharged after a few days of observation at St. Mungo's Hospital."
"I have already spoken with Mr. Grindelwald about the specifics of what happened last night."
"This is largely consistent with Professor McGonagall's statement."
"Basically the same…" Fudge frowned slightly.
Argus's answer was clearly different from what he had imagined.
But he wasn't good at this kind of thing, so he could only wave his hand irritably at the Auror behind him.
"You guys, tell your director about what you found in the secret room."
"No need, Minister, I'd better go down and take a look myself, just in case they make any mistakes."
"This..."
Fudge hesitated. Although the Aurors who had just gone down had returned safely, this was, after all, Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets.
No one could guess what tricks he would leave behind.
Alan Mitchell was his trusted lieutenant; if anything went wrong with him, he would have nowhere to turn to for help.
Seemingly sensing what Fudge was thinking, Alan smiled and comforted him.
"Don't worry, Minister."
"Mr. Grindelwald and his men made such a commotion last night, but nothing happened. The Auror checked it again today."
"There will be no danger."
"And..."
Alan suddenly leaned close to Fudge's ear and whispered, "Mr. Grindelwald hinted to me that what happened last night wasn't so simple."
"I need to examine the clues myself to understand his meaning as soon as possible."
"Oh!" Upon hearing that it was Argus's hint, Fudge's eyes lit up.
He hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Since it's Mr. Grindelwald's suggestion, then go ahead, and take a few more Aurors with you."
Be very careful!
"Yes, Minister!"
Alan Mitchell and a few Aurors pretended to search the secret room for a long time.
With Argus's prompting, he had figured out how to find a weakness.
They arrived at the basilisk's location.
Although the body was smashed to pieces by the stones, some wounds could still be vaguely seen.
"Sure enough, the injury to the basilisk's eye was clearly not caused by a stone."
Alan Mitchell's approach of seeking evidence with the results in mind naturally yielded twice the results with half the effort.
It was easy to find discrepancies between the cave's contents and the descriptions given at Hogwarts.
These differences are so subtle that they are easily overlooked if not known beforehand.
He didn't rush up, appearing ready to continue his search.
After inspecting the entire cave and the basilisk corpse, they brought the Aurors back to the surface.
"So, what did you find?"
As soon as Fudge saw Alan Mitchell come up, he rushed forward to ask him something.
Alan Mitchell's eyes flickered slightly, indicating to Fudge that this was not the place to talk.
"Not for now. Let's send someone to guard this place first."
"After all, it's Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. What if there are unknown things inside that could hurt a young wizard at Hogwarts?"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Fudge nodded repeatedly: "Umbridge, find a few Aurors to guard this place."
"Remember, no one is allowed to enter until it is confirmed to be safe, and no one is allowed to touch any items inside, understand?"
"Yes, Minister!"
Umbridge quickly agreed, as if afraid someone would take it from her.
...
Back to the Ministry of Magic.
Upon entering Fudge's office, Alan Mitchell took the initiative to speak.
"Minister, I did make a discovery inside the cave."
"Speak quickly!"
Fudge urged him on, not even bothering to rest.
"When I spoke with Mr. Grindelwald at St. Mungo's Hospital, he hinted to me that something was amiss."
"The basilisk...something seems wrong!"
"What's the problem?" Fudge pressed.
"I examined the basilisk's corpse carefully. Most of it was smashed by rocks and its original appearance was no longer visible, but there was one wound that was very strange!"
"What's strange about it?"
"That's right, it's the basilisk's eye! The wound there doesn't look like it was caused by stone, it looks more like… being scratched by something!" Alan Mitchell explained.
"Imagine fighting a basilisk and blinding it without even seeing its eyes. Is that even possible?"
Fudge slammed his hand on the table and stood up.
He appeared unusually agitated.
"You mean... it wasn't Mr. Grindelwald who killed the basilisk, but a professor from Hogwarts? No! It was Dumbledore!"
…
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