— — — — — —
Faced with Fudge backing down, Tom simply yawned and ignored him.
The night before had been exhausting. He had to soothe the girls' emotions and also give Jeanne a stage assessment.
In the end, Jeanne passed her final kindergarten exam with a solid eighty. Judging by academic standards, she was now a proud first-grade elementary student.
"Minerva seems to want a word with me," Dumbledore said. "I'll leave things here to you two."
"It's still early. You probably haven't had breakfast yet. Help yourselves."
He smoothly defused the awkwardness for Fudge, nodded to both of them, and flicked his wand lightly over the tea table. Two breakfasts appeared at once, with Tom's portion noticeably larger.
After eating with Tom often enough, Dumbledore knew his appetite well.
With that done, he gave them another small nod and left the office, deliberately giving them privacy.
"Let's eat first, Minister Fudge. No rush," Tom said casually. "If we take it slow, I can skip History of Magic. You know how Professor Binns is."
Tom had already started cutting into his sausage. Fudge smiled faintly, a touch of nostalgia in his voice.
"Back when I was a student, my roommates and I would stay up all night talking. Whenever we had Binns' class, there was nothing to worry about. You could sleep through the lecture and make it all back."
Tom glanced at him with interest. "By the way, Minister Fudge, which house were you in?"
"Slytherin. The Fudge family is pure-blood, though not especially famous. Before me, we never produced anyone important. Most of our family ended up in Slytherin or Ravenclaw."
"No wonder," Tom nodded. "Ambition, and a bit of cleverness too."
Fudge said nothing and focused on his meal. He did think of himself as clever. But Tom was far too monstrous, capable of making two sides that hated each other agree for his sake.
In that situation, Fudge was completely isolated. What good was intelligence when the gap in power was that overwhelming?
Tom ate at an unhurried pace. Only when the bell for first period rang outside the window did he finish his last sip of grapefruit tea and set the cup down.
Fudge spoke at the right moment. "I've already prepared the apology statement. Tomorrow, you'll see the Ministry's sincerity in the Daily Prophet. The Astra Abyssum Guild will bear no responsibility, and the Aurors will begin a full sweep of Knockturn Alley. Beyond that, do you have any other demands?"
Tom shook his head. "That's all I want. That's about all the Ministry can offer anyway."
"When do you plan to make me resign?" Fudge asked.
Tom looked at him in surprise. "Minister, what are you talking about? I'm just a student. What right do I have to force a minister to resign? You haven't broken the law, and the Wizengamot hasn't impeached you. Your seat is perfectly secure. There's no need to resign."
Fudge's expression darkened at once. "Riddle, at this point, spare me the hypocrisy. There's no point humiliating a loser."
"This isn't humiliation. It's the truth," Tom said calmly. "You keep being Minister. Don't provoke me, and I won't interfere in the Ministry's internal affairs. That's not my responsibility."
Fudge stared at him in disbelief. "You're not joking?"
"I do have a sense of humor," Tom smiled lightly, "but joking right now…" He did not finish the sentence, but Fudge understood perfectly.
By then, Fudge's heart was already overflowing with wild joy.
Before coming here, he had been convinced his career as Minister was on a countdown. Best case, he resigned on his own. Worst case, Riddle pushed an impeachment through the Wizengamot and he was dragged down in disgrace.
And now he was being told he could keep his job?
That was no different from having Galleons fall straight from the sky onto his head.
"From the sound of it, Minister Fudge," Tom teased, "you're determined to resign and retire to the countryside, like Babajide Akingbade?"
"No, of course not!"
Tom's words snapped Fudge back to himself. The gray, withered look drained from his face, replaced by a healthy flush. His previously sunken belly even puffed out a little. His whole presence shifted.
"I'm still in good shape and fully capable of contributing to the wizarding world," he declared eagerly. "Mr. Riddle, as long as Knockturn Alley still exists, I won't sleep easy. Do you have any other matters?"
"If not, I'll head back to the Ministry right now and deploy people. We'll catch them completely off guard!"
At that moment, Fudge looked positively radiant.
Tom watched in amazement. Power really was a miracle cure. The half-dead Fudge was instantly back to full health.
"Safe travels, Minister," Tom said politely.
He watched as Fudge disappeared into the fireplace of the headmaster's office. When Tom turned back, the portraits lining the walls had come to life.
Phineas Black gave him a thumbs-up. "Kid, you're something else. You trained a Minister like a servant."
Another bearded former minister sighed repeatedly. "The times really are going downhill. Even someone like that can become Minister for Magic. Are there really no capable people left?"
This portrait belonged to Everard, who had once served as Minister himself. Seeing Fudge's behavior clearly left him heartsick.
Dilys Derwent curled her lip. "Everard, Fudge was Dumbledore's pick in the first place. If you ask me, Dumbledore's eye for people isn't all that great. That man has no bottom line when it comes to power. Maybe without Riddle stirring things up, he probably would've turned on Dumbledore sooner or later for his own benefit."
Tom gave the greatest healer in wizarding history a thumbs-up in return. Now that was a portrait seasoned to perfection. She had dissected Fudge's nature with brutal accuracy.
The former headmasters fell into a noisy discussion, not a single good word for Fudge among them. Tom half-heartedly hummed along, then pulled out his codex and contacted Bones.
"So, Fudge left?" she asked.
"Yeah. Are you sure you don't want to take advantage of this opportunity? If you miss it, once things settle down, pulling Fudge off that seat will mean waiting for his next mistake."
Bones smiled and shook her head. "Honestly, I'm tempted. But reason tells me I can't do that. It would deal a serious blow to the Ministry's credibility."
"And after this lesson, Fudge should be a lot more clear-headed."
Tom shrugged. "It makes no difference to me anyway. As long as you can hold yourself back."
Truth be told, Tom's original thought was simple. Just crush Fudge completely and let Bones take over.
But when he talked to her the night before, she had firmly opposed it.
A struggle was a struggle, but rules were rules.
And because Tom had acted too early, Fudge never even got the chance to really jump around. He had not broken any rules, nor had he committed any serious mistakes in the past.
He had only wanted something he should not have wanted, and provoked someone he could not afford to provoke.
Bones did not want to become Minister that way. It would set a terrible precedent for the future, one that said brute force and dirty tactics were all it took to sit in that chair.
Tom understood her point perfectly. But he simply did not care.
Who sat in the Minister's chair made no real difference to him.
...
Before long, Dumbledore returned.
Tom was leaning against the windowsill, watching Hagrid teach the sixth-years. Today, Hagrid had brought out a gigantic petrifying lizard. The creature was enormous, its hide harder than stone.
"How did the talk go?" Dumbledore asked.
He joined Tom at the window. In the past, he had always stood here alone, quietly enjoying the energy and laughter the young witches and wizards brought to the castle. Having someone beside him now felt oddly different.
"Pretty pleasant, I'd say," Tom replied, turning away when the lizard knocked a student flat. "At least for Minister Fudge, it's a good outcome. He gets to keep his dignity."
Dumbledore looked at him in surprise. "I thought you would let Bones take over…"
"I did consider it," Tom shrugged, "but Madam Bones insists on playing by the rules. You know her. She can be stubborn."
Dumbledore smiled with clear admiration. "I wouldn't call it stubborn. That may simply be Hufflepuff's persistence. They're always the ones with the highest bottom line. I can't quite match that myself."
Tom nodded in agreement. "She's about my level. Sigh~ I should have been sorted into Hufflepuff."
Dumbledore fell silent.
That level of shamelessness did not really belong to any house. In that regard, Tom had practically founded his own school and surpassed the founders themselves.
Shaking his head helplessly, Dumbledore spoke softly. "You should be satisfied now, shouldn't you? From today on, you won't have any enemies left in Britain."
"Tom, no more trouble, alright?"
"Professor, that's not fair," Tom said innocently. "From Robert to Fudge, and even those in Knockturn Alley, when was I ever the one who started it?"
"I was just defending myself."
Dumbledore sighed. "I'm old. I can't argue with you. From now on, leave the counterattacks to me. You focus on your magic. How about that?"
"Sounds perfect," Tom agreed cheerfully.
Who would not want an extra enforcer? With Dumbledore blocking trouble for him, life was going to get a lot quieter.
Dumbledore nodded and muttered quietly, "Just to be safe, I'll drag Tina and Perenelle into this. They would absolutely not let you kill anyone, since they know the consequences. Hmm… as for Nicolas and Newt, they'd be too easy for you to fool."
Tom froze. Is this the legendary 'I'll tell your parents' move?
---
Somewhere hidden, a shout blasted like a warhorn:
"Riddle! You rotten son of a bitch! You bastard!"
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(A/N: Hehe~ Yeah, these two chapters are mostly just transitional, but they were really necessary😅)