A friendly day at Hogwarts

Dumbledore maintained a calm expression and seemed not surprised by the arrival of a group of Ministry of Magic executives. After all, the matter was of great importance, related to an unjust, false and wrong case that had lasted for more than ten years, and the reputation crisis of the entire Ministry of Magic.

"I didn't expect to meet again so soon, Albus." Fudge said.

Due to the incident in the Chamber of Secrets and Malfoy, his relationship with Dumbledore was somewhat unhappy. Not long after, such a big incident happened again, which made it difficult for him to maintain a natural expression.

"Yes, Connelly." Dumbledore nodded slightly, "The incident happened suddenly and is related to an old incident more than ten years ago. I can only trouble you to come here in person."

He said, pointing to Wormtail aside.

Due to Dumbledore's previous coma spell, Wormtail had not yet come to his senses. He lay limply on his back in an armchair, his hands and feet fixed by shining silver magic ropes.

"Is this Peter Pettigrew? The hero we have been touting for 12 years?"

Mrs. Amelia Bones, who had short gray hair and wore a pair of monocles, asked with a frown on her face, her expression serious and her brows furrowed.

Barty Crouch's eyes fell on Wormtail, who was in ragged clothes and with a gray face. He had a gloomy face and said nothing, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"Yes, Mrs. Bones," Lockhart took the opportunity to speak.

Mrs. Bones is not a star-chasing witch and does not pay much attention to this popular traffic writer. However, as a recipient of the third-level Order of Merlin, Lockhart cannot easily enter the upper echelons of the Ministry of Magic, but in these He is also somewhat famous in the eyes of officials.

Mrs. Bones smiled kindly at Lockhart and nodded slightly.

"I'm a little curious, Albus." Fudge frowned and said, "It's been so long, how did you find out that Pettigrew is not dead?"

His tone was not normal curiosity, but rather suspicious and questioning.

Glenn secretly smiled in his heart. As expected of Cornelius Fudge, even if he saw Wormtail in person, he still refused to admit the mistakes made by the Ministry of Magic.

In this regard, Mrs. Bones was completely different.She was originally dissatisfied with skipping Sirius Black's trial, but Crouch was at the height of his power at the time, and her position was unable to interfere with the other party's decision.

Now that she saw Wormtail was still alive with her own eyes, she immediately understood that it was indeed an unjust, false, and wrong case.

An innocent warrior, even if he faked his death just to escape, what reason would he have to remain anonymous for 12 years when the dark forces were wiped out?

Dumbledore seemed to have guessed Fudge's stubbornness, and said calmly: "I don't know anything about the capture of Peter Pettigrew. Speaking of which, I don't know more than you do, Connelly. Me too. It wasn't until Professor Lockhart sent him to me that I had a general understanding. If you want to ask, you might as well listen to what he has to say."

Dumbledore's acting skills are quite natural. Although it sounds like he is praising Lockhart for his ability, it is actually alluding to his concealment.

If he hadn't known the plan in advance, even Glenn would have thought that Dumbledore was already dissatisfied with Lockhart.

Although Fudge is not very good at managing the Ministry of Magic, he can climb up to the position of minister step by step, so he is not a fool.Those who have been able to reach this point are all outstanding in observing words and intrigues.

Sure enough, Fudge's eyes narrowed slightly, and he subconsciously glanced at Lockhart.In just a moment, he reacted, quickly looked away, and pretended to raise his hand to straighten his tie.

Glenn chuckled in his heart. If Lockhart also had a favorability system, maybe he could hear the prompt "Cornelly Fudge, Friendliness +1" in his mind right now.

Telling stories is what Lockhart is best at. Before Fudge could ask, he took the initiative to describe it to several people.

"Speaking of discovering Pettigrew's flaws, I would also like to thank little Mr. Ollivander. If it hadn't been for him, I probably wouldn't have connected these details so easily."

He raised his hand and patted Glenn lightly on the shoulder.

"I think some of you must not know that Peter Pettigrew is actually an unregistered Animagus."

"This..."

Several people were stunned and shook their heads at the same time.

Lockhart smiled slightly and said: "As early as when Black escaped from prison, I had some doubts. He was sent to Azkaban without trial, and he didn't even raise any objection. Why did he end up in Azkaban 12 years later? What about the sudden jailbreak?”

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, he added a hint of emphasis to the "without trial" part.

Crouch, who was already dark-faced, turned even gloomier.

Fudge seemed to want to say something, but hesitated and did not speak. His eyes drifted in Crouch's direction for a moment.

"There are a lot of doubtful details, but I can't always connect them together, which made me a little distressed." Lockhart continued, "I have specifically investigated the details before and after Black was imprisoned. If the information I got is correct, , the reason why Pettigrew captured Black on his own back then was because Black, as the guarantor of the Potters, told the person who cannot even be named their location, right?"

When he said the word "capture," Lockhart raised his hands and made a "double quotation mark" gesture.

"That's right." Crouch, who had not spoken since entering, said in a low voice.

Lockhart nodded and said, "As far as I know, Peter Pettigrew has always been timid and timid, isn't he?"

"Indeed." Professor McGonagall nodded. "Although Peter Pettigrew graduated from Gryffindor House, he never seemed to show any bravery during his studies. For this reason, I was a little suspicious. There is something wrong with the Sorting Hat. However, catching Black alone is a reflection of his bravery..."

Before she could finish, she was interrupted by Lockhart shaking his head.

Fudge was slightly startled and looked at Dumbledore meaningfully.Dumbledore's expression remained unchanged, showing no emotion.

"As a person who has always been timid, a sudden change in personality may cause problems."

Lockhart said slowly, looking at several senior officials of the Ministry of Magic.

"We have always believed that Black betrayed the Potters. But is there a possibility, and I mean possibility, that it was not Black who betrayed the Potters, but Peter Pettigrew. And the one who caused the twelve On the night when Muggles died, it was actually Black who was capturing Pettigrew..."