Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard

Chapter 690: Chapter 665: Fudge’s Decision, the War Begins

Harry mastered Occlumency, which seemed to make everyone happy—everyone except Snape and Umbridge. The rest ended the Start-of-Term Feast in a fairly cheerful atmosphere.

But the next morning, that joyful mood was shattered.

At breakfast, Cedric opened his copy of the Daily Prophet as usual, getting ready to check the front page for news.

But the next second, he suddenly stood up with a cry of alarm.

Not just Cedric—the number of students shouting out in shock quickly grew, as if they had seen something terrifying.

”What happened?” Conna asked.

Cedric spread the newspaper out on the table, pointing at the ten photos on the front page, speechless.

In the photos were nine wizards and one witch—some were laughing boisterously, some held their chins high in arrogance. Under each photo were their names and their crimes.

[Antonin Dolohov, brutally murdered the Prewett brothers Gideon and Fabian]

[Augustus Rookwood, leaked Ministry of Magic secrets to You-Know-Who]

[Bellatrix Lestrange...] As the only witch in the photos, hers was perhaps the most attention-grabbing. She also appeared the most arrogant of them all.

Her eyes were filled with contempt, thin lips curled in both mockery and disdain, as if something disgusting sat before her.

Her crime was cruelly torturing the Longbottoms.

Kael was no stranger to Bella; to get the Lestrange vault key, he’d even had the Dementor deliver her a small gift.

A few candies and some chocolate—enough to spark a little joy in her again... although Kael doubted she still knew what happiness felt like.

Above the photos was a bold, attention-grabbing headline—

[Mass Azkaban Breakout, Ministry Issues Warning, You-Know-Who Rises Again!]

Several notorious Death Eaters had escaped, You-Know-Who was back... with news like this, no wonder Cedric had cried out in shock.

In fact, by now the Great Hall was in utter chaos. Some of the more timid students had burst into tears from fright.

Even those who had always believed in Dumbledore—like Cedric, Mikel, and Justin—sat there gasping for air.

Belief was one thing, but when the Ministry of Magic announced all this on the most authoritative newspaper, it was still hard to accept.

”Kael, you really did it.”

In the midst of the chaos in the Great Hall, only Conna quietly said, ”Fudge didn’t keep pretending nothing had happened. He admitted You-Know-Who is back.”

”Yeah.” Kael stared at the paper, muttering.

Everything he had done before, from making Dumbledore look like he wanted to become Minister, to keeping Malfoy away from Fudge, was to make Fudge feel threatened.

Once Fudge realized he had no chance of winning but still refused to give up the Minister of Magic position, he would have only one path left—announce the Wizarding World was at war.

Because in times like this, the Ministry of Magic wouldn’t easily change ministers.

The plan had worked out very well. That Christmas break, after being summoned to the Ministry, Fudge had already started to panic. All they had to do was wait for Nicolas Flamel’s owl to arrive at Hogwarts in front of Umbridge, and Fudge wouldn’t hesitate anymore.

Of course, this was Kael’s original plan, but he hadn’t expected, in the middle of it, a Death Eater prison break to occur.

”Why now, of all times?”

Even though his plan had succeeded, Kael frowned, unable to feel any joy.

If they’d waited a few days longer, even just to put on a show, Fudge would definitely have strengthened Azkaban’s security. Then...

”Forget it!” Kael suddenly let out a sigh.

If this breakout had been orchestrated by Voldemort himself, then no amount of extra Ministry security would have helped—in fact, it would have only led to needless sacrifices.

After all, only Dumbledore could stand up to Voldemort; it’s hardly realistic to have him abandon the school to guard Azkaban...

Kael shook his head, pushing those thoughts away.

By now, fear and unease had begun spreading through the Great Hall. Fortunately, the professors seemed to have anticipated this; Sprout immediately stood up and started calming the crowd.

”Don’t panic, everyone. Hogwarts is safe enough. Nothing will harm you here.”

Her words had some effect. The humming of anxious conversation gradually died down.

Then Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Snape arrived, followed by Dumbledore.

When the students saw the Headmaster enter, even the last whispers fell silent.

But Dumbledore didn’t say a word. He simply sat at the staff table as usual, making himself a sandwich, as if he really was just here for breakfast.

Taking advantage of the moment, Kael turned his attention to the rest of the paper’s content.

”Last night, the Ministry of Magic announced a large-scale breakout in Azkaban. Minister Cornelius Fudge confirmed in his office that ten major criminals escaped last night.”

”This was a lapse on the Ministry’s part. Although, with Sirius Black’s help, we have improved security, we failed to account for outside factors.”