ccxxix. you-know-who

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''We're doing our best," said Lupin.

''How?"

''Well, the main thing is to try and convince as many people as possible that You-Know-Who really has returned, to put them on their guard," Bill signed. "It's proving tricky, though."

''Why?"

''Because of the Ministry's attitude,'' Tonks spike up for the first time. "You saw Cornelius Fudge after You-Know-Who came back, Harry. Well, he hasn't shifted his position at all. He's absolutely refusing to believe it's happened."

''But why?" Harry asked desperately. "Why's he being so stupid? If Dumbledore—"

''Ah, well, you've put your finger on the problem,' said Arthur with a wry smile. "Dumbledore."

''Fudge is frightened of him, you see," said Tonks sadly.

''Frightened of Dumbledore?"

''Frightened of what he's up to," Arthur told him. "Fudge thinks Dumbledore's plotting to overthrow him. He thinks Dumbledore wants to be Minister for Magic."

''But Dumbledore doesn't want—"

''Of course, he doesn't, he's never wanted the Minister's job, even though a lot of people wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he's never quite forgotten how much popular support Dumbledore had, even though Dumbledore never applied for the job."

''Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore's much cleverer than he is, a much more powerful wizard, and in the early days of his Ministry he was forever asking Dumbledore for help and advice," said Lupin. "But it seems he's become fond of power, and much more confident. He loves being Minister for Magic and he's managed to convince himself that he's the clever one and Dumbledore's simply stirring up trouble for the sake of it."

''How can he think that?" Harry demanded angrily. "How can he think Dumbledore would just make it all up—  that I'd make it all up?"

''Because accepting that Voldemort's back would mean trouble like the Ministry hasn't had to cope with for nearly fourteen years," said Sirius bitterly. "Fudge just can't bring himself to face it. It's so much more comfortable to convince himself Dumbledore's lying to destabilize him."

''You see the problem,' Lupin spoke once again. "While the Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from Voldemort it's hard to convince people he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. What's more, the Ministry's leaning heavily on the Daily Prophet not to report any of what they're calling Dumbledore's rumor-mongering, so most of the wizarding community are completely unaware anything's happened, and that makes them easy targets for the Death Eaters if they're using the Imperius Curse."

''But you're telling people, aren't you?" said Harry, looking around at Arthur, Sirius, Bill, Mundungus, Lupin, and Tonks. "You're letting people know he's back?"

They all smiled humourlessly.

''Well, as everyone thinks I'm a mad mass-murderer and the Ministry's put a ten thousand Galleon price on my head, I can hardly stroll up the street and start handing out leaflets, can I?" said Sirius restlessly.

''And I'm not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community,' said Lupin. "It's an occupational hazard of being a werewolf."

Tori muttered something not so nice about Snape under her breath.

"Tonks and Arthur would lose their jobs at the Ministry if they started shooting their mouths off," Sirius continued but smiled at Tori as if he had heard her. "And it's very important for us to have spies inside the Ministry because you can bet Voldemort will have them."

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