Chapter 476: Simple criteria for choosing friends.

"Sirius Black, how have you been?" Fudge greeted Sirius with a smile.

He acted as if the two knew each other well, but in reality they had only met a couple of times, and neither of them were pleasant memories.

"Not bad, it's better than Azkaban out there." Sirius said coolly.

"I'm relieved to see you like this now, I'm sorry I wasn't more help then, the conclusion was made without a fair trial, you know the man was responsible." said Fudge in a low voice of regret, looking in the direction of the house elf, Winky, where Barty Crouch was standing, "I was a close friend of your father's when he was alive, you can come to me if you need anything. In fact, there's always an opening in the Auror's office, if you want it, that's for sure!"

As a tragic post-war hero, Sirius was now well known among the general public of the magical world.

Fudge was interested in incorporating Sirius as an Auror in the Ministry of Magic.

Not to mention that the Black family, being the oldest pureblood wizarding family, had strong connections and wealth.

"I'll think about it!" Sirius said.

Upon receiving a satisfactory answer, Fudge's gaze shifted to Ivan.

"Dear Ivan, I'm glad to see you here, I just saw your ad in the paper, it's great!"

He shook Ivan's hand like a father and greeted him warmly.

It was a few minutes before Fudge returned to his seat.

"Is he a friend of your father's?" asked Ivan, sitting down.

"It's all about money, pureblood wizards like my parents are friends with almost every high official in the Ministry of Magic. They used to donate large sums of gold galleons to these politicians to help pass bills in their favor." Sirius sneered, "One of my ancestors tried to force a bill through the Ministry so that wizards could hunt and kill Muggles, sort of."

It was absurd, but it was the interests and traditions of pureblood wizarding families.

Older pureblood families, like the Black family, have always tried to hide behind the scenes, using their wealth and family history as a weapon, cunningly using those in front of them to defend their interests and threaten other witches to do their bidding.

Over the centuries, this pattern worked well.

It was only with the arrival of Voldemort that these pureblood wizarding families found themselves in a bad way.

In the early days of Voldemort's rise to power, there were many pureblood wizarding families who supported him.

Like Sirius' parents, they were proud that their son had become a Death Eater.

They shared Voldemort's belief that pureblood wizards were supreme.

But when Voldemort revealed himself and went on a killing spree, the pureblood families were afraid.

The relationship went from allies to master and slave, and the Purebloods became the instruments of Voldemort's expansion of power.

No one dared to oppose him, and no one dared to renounce.

Death Eaters are not a group you can join and leave whenever you want.

The only result of defying the Dark Lord's will is to die.

There is no end to this path except death.

That is why many of the old pure-blooded wizarding families were relieved when Voldemort was defeated.

Although after the war, his power and control over the magical world was not as strong as before.

However, it was better than following Voldemort's killing frenzy.

Just then, the Malfoys, another representative of the pureblood wizarding family, entered the box.

Lucius Malfoy, as usual, was in his usual elevated position, looking sideways at everyone in the compartment.

His cold blue-gray eyes lingered on Ivan and Sirius for a moment, then quickly moved away.

There was a grimace on his pale, pointed face, which made him look very arrogant.

Behind him were Draco Malfoy and his mother, Narcissa Malfoy.

"Ah, Fudge!" Lucius quickly approached the Minister of Magic, extending his hand, "Hello, I don't believe you've met my wife Narcissa, and our son, Draco."

"Hello, hello!" said Fudge, smiling and bowing to Mrs. Malfoy, "Allow me to introduce Mr. Oblansk, Mr. Oblansk, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, never mind, you don't understand anything I'm saying anyway. Let me see who else, you know Sirius Black don't you?"

"Of course!" Lucius turned his malevolent gaze back to Sirius and said in a pretentious tone, "I'm surprised he's been released!"

"Oh, Black is innocent, we've proved it!" Fudge didn't understand what he was saying, "It was all done by that evil Peter Pettigrew, who would have thought he was the guilty one!"

"Exactly!" Lucius whispered, "but I think there are some dangerous guys even if they aren't!"

"Malfoy, if you want a fight, I'm ready for it!" shouted Sirius.

His voice was so loud that everyone in the compartment looked over their shoulder.

"Lucius didn't mean that, Sirius, I think you misunderstood him, don't worry!" Fudge said in fright, "Lucius has just made a large donation to St. Mungo's Hospital for the Wounded and Sick, he's my guest of honor!"

There was the money again, and Ivan instantly understood the significance of what Sirius had just said.

It seemed that it was very easy to befriend Fudge, as long as you had a large sum of gold.

As long as the Philosopher's Stone is transformed to have the function of turning a stone into gold, it seems that it is not difficult to control the Ministry of Magic.

Under Fudge's watchful eye, Lucius Malfoy said nothing else out of the ordinary.

He looked sarcastically at Sirius and everyone else in line.

This feeling is like being watched by a venomous snake.

Then, he headed back to his seat.

Draco followed his father, looking contemptuously at Ivan, Harry, Ron and Hermione.

One by one, people approached the compartment, and only when all the seats were full did Ludo Bagman rush in.

"Is everyone ready?" his face round, shining like a giant cheese ball, "Minister, may we begin?"

"Begin, Ludo." said Fudge kindly.

Ludo nodded, drew his wand, pointed it at his throat, and said, "Boom!".

The next second, his words resounded like thunder, echoing throughout the packed stadium.

His voice reverberated above their heads, reaching loudly to all corners of the stands.