Chapter 183: Order of Merlin

After that, everything started moving in the right direction.

The next morning, Ivan woke up when he saw Ron apologizing to him, Harry and Hermione non-stop.

He burst into tears and said he was a jerk. He said he had been controlled by Peter Pettigrew. He said he shouldn't stop believing everyone.

Although Ivan felt that Ron had withheld some details, he eventually forgave him, as did Harry and Hermione.

After all, no one could successfully break the Imperius Curse's hold.

Ron's performance last night was enough to prove that he was different from Peter Pettigrew. He is worthy of being a hero.

Ron didn't stay at school for long. At Madam Pomfrey's suggestion, at 7 a.m., after breakfast, he was sent to St. Mungo's Hospital for his examination. He should probably spend the rest of the Christmas vacations there.

Although everyone was very worried, Madam Pomfrey repeatedly promised that he would recover, without keeping any sequelae.

Just after parting from Ron, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, entered the room accompanied by Dumbledore. Behind them, there were three adult wizards, one male and two females, all in their 40s and 50s.

Ivan's eyes wandered among the three, and the lady following Fudge wore a black robe, she was a square-jawed witch with very short gray hair and a monocle.

To this person, Ivan had no impression.

But when he saw the witch next to her, he had a bad feeling, wouldn't it be the legendary Umbridge?

Umbridge was wearing a fluffy pink jacket. She was a short squat woman who resembled a large pale toad. She had a wide, flabby face, a wide, slack mouth and a small neck and her eyes were large, round and slightly bulging.

Even the black velvet ribbon in the brown hair of his hat reminded Ivan of a large fly, and it was as if he was about to stick out his long, sticky tongue to catch it.

Behind Umbridge, there was a serious wizard; he was a stiff, erect old man, dressed in an impeccable robe. The parting in his short gray hair was almost artificially smooth, and his narrow toothbrush mustache looked as if he had trimmed it using a slide rule. His shoes were nicely polished. Ivan had never seen a wizard as strict as this one. If he wasn't wearing a robe, but a suit, he could simply pretend he was the manager of a Muggle bank.

This guy was absolutely the object of Percy's adoration.

In Ivan's impression, there was only one person who could be the object of Percy's adoration in this regard, namely Barty Crouch, who was eventually killed by his son Batty Crouch Junior, the Death Eater.

Ivan watched him closely, wondering if he had already hidden Barty Crouch Junior at home.

If possible, he would like to report it or say something about it, but he knew no one would believe him.

As an influential official in the Ministry of Magic, Bartemius Crouch had a very high reputation. If it weren't for his son, he would probably be the Minister of Magic now.

When Ivan looked at the three people, they also looked seriously at him, Harry and Hermione, especially Harry, for a long time.

"Good morning, children!" Fudge looked tired and in a bad state of mind. He looked like he didn't sleep last night. He said quietly. "It's unbelievable that it was all done by Peter Pettigrew, and that Black is innocent. Look what we've done, the Ministry of Magic is going to be a laughing stock, and The Prophet newspaper may have a chance to laugh about it, if others know about it..."

"Now we're a laughing stock, Minister!" Bartemius Crouch interrupted him, a hint of impatience in his voice. "We actually locked Sirius Black up in Azkaban for 12 years, who knows how many innocent people are inside?"

"Yes, you're right!" Fudge seemed to understand what he meant, hesitated and said cautiously, "This is indeed the consequence of our negligence, but I remember you were the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the accusations against Death Eaters at the time, were all presided over by you..."

"Thank you for reminding me, Minister!" Bartemius Crouch said dryly, "It doesn't matter whether it was me personally, or the Wizengamot, it's a shame that will never be washed away. Fortunately, the children have given us the opportunity to make up for this mistake."

"It is indeed fortunate." Fudge did not look pleased at all. He pointed to the three wizards beside him and briefly introduced them to Ivan, Harry and Hermione. "Children, this is Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation; the two ladies are Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Dolores Umbridge, Principal Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic."

Crouch wasn't looking at them, he was still looking at Dumbledore. Bones flashed a smile at Ivan, Harry and Hermione, and looked more cordial.

As for Umbridge, she had a fake smile on her face, and then she waved at the three of them, and made a bell-like giggle. The hairs on the back of Ivan's neck stood up.

Harry and Hermione both looked grim, especially Hermione. Under Umbridge's gaze, his little body shrank as much as possible into the bedclothes he lay on.

"Well, children, about Black's case, the Wizengamot has set up a special investigation team, and the five of us are members of it." Fudge said shortly, "although I just heard Albus say it, we still want to know more about what happened last night."

Ivan, Harry and Hermione looked at each other, and finally Ivan went back to talking about what happened last night. He deliberately hid the details about Ron, the spinner and the centaurs, but said that he caught Peter Pettigrew in the Forbidden Forest.

"That's shocking, at your age! I couldn't single-handedly catch an evil dark wizard." Umbridge looked at Ivan, speaking in a high-pitched, smiling voice that was girlish and breathless.

"It's just luck, ma'am!" Ivan replied cautiously.

"There's nothing to be modest about, Ivan, you've always been excellent." Fudge twirled his hat and continued, "Things are much as I imagined. The problem now is that if anyone asks you how you caught Peter Pettigrew, you know..."

"I know, Minister!" Ivan nodded. He knew what Fudge was going to say. "Even though I finally caught Peter Pettigrew, the Ministry of Magic put a lot of effort into this matter, like last year's Basilisk incident. I would have told you if I had the chance."

"Thank you, Ivan, you've helped us a lot." Fudge breathed a sigh of relief. To him, as long as it didn't affect the reputation of the Ministry of Magic and his career, there was no problem with Black's innocence.

"You've done very well this time. You three, plus the boy from the Weasley family, have just been promoted. The Ministry is going to apply for the Order of Merlin, third class for all four of you." Fudge continued, "Especially you, Ivan, even if I have to fight for it; I think second class will be the most appropriate."