Amidst the cries of shock, grief, and heartache from the crowd, Charle had already bitten down on the Elder Wand.
But it was clear that this item must have some kind of protective spell on it to shield it from physical damage.
Otherwise, after centuries of being lost, sometimes even buried in graves, if anything unexpected happened, the Elder Wand would have probably been shattered into pieces long ago.
But after all these years, it was still fully functional.
Charle took a bite, but couldn't even gnaw off a single wood chip from the Elder Wand. Instead, it hurt his teeth.
This also made Charle change his strategy. Just like eating a frozen, rock-hard popsicle, he started to suck on it instead.
It was only after sucking a few times that the prompts from the Deep Blue System in Charle's mind started ringing out in a flurry.
"Deduction points +500..."
"Deduction points +500..."
After a few sucks, nearly five thousand deduction points were pocketed!
Charle gasped.
Was this the value of a Deathly Hallow?
Just sucking on it a few times yielded so many deduction points?!
Immediately, Charle also learned from his previous experience in the dream of R'lyeh. He didn't think about anything else and focused on seizing this opportunity to earn deduction points.
One suck, two sucks, three sucks...
Charle's deduction points continued to soar.
In the blink of an eye, they were approaching the previous peak of one hundred thousand points, enough to deduce a basic, ordinary spell like the Lumos spell into a forbidden curse like the Eternal Blazing Sun Spell!
Unfortunately, just as Charle was still reluctant to let go of the Elder Wand, Dumbledore, with a look of helplessness, said gently,
"Mr. Evans, could you please let go of my wand?"
Only then did Charle sheepishly release his grip.
Dumbledore gently tapped the wand, and the few remaining marks on it immediately vanished without a trace.
At this moment, a nurse from St. Mungo's Hospital also quickly brought a tray and placed it in front of Charle.
"Poor child, look how hungry you are."
"Eat, eat quickly, slowly, there's more if it's not enough."
To be honest, Charle only realized it then.
During the time he was kidnapped by Dak, other than the sublimation potion, he really hadn't eaten or drunk anything else.
Even the little bit of food in his stomach had been vomited out from the nausea.
He was truly hungry.
This time, Charle didn't use the Deep Blue System to convert the food into deduction points. Instead, he buried his head and started eating ravenously.
Besides alleviating the hunger in his stomach, Charle also wanted to use this time to think about how to deal with the Ministry of Magic Aurors if they were to ask what exactly happened in Dak's basement later.
But upon seeing Charle start to eat heartily with grunts and chomps, everyone in the ward relaxed a little, including the few wizards who clearly exuded a bureaucratic aura.
Compared to asking a Muggle child who had just experienced a magical outburst and been abducted by Dak what happened, they were clearly more concerned about another matter.
That was their approval rating.
Charle was alive, and other than being starving, he seemed mentally normal. This was the best possible news for them.
Otherwise, after being reported by the journalists and seeing Charle's miserable state, the wizarding public, who were already not very satisfied with them, might have their anger instantly ignited.
At that time, if protests and demonstrations broke out, their political opponents would also seize the opportunity to make a big fuss, and they might even be forced to step down early.
Compared to this, how Dak died, was that important?
Most likely, he drank the potion and ended up killing himself.
If not, they could just make up a legendary story based on the remaining traces.
The person was dead, the truth no longer mattered. What was important was to protect their positions in this turmoil.
So, after a moment, a short old man with a head of fluffy white hair walked over.
He glanced at Dumbledore by the bedside, a look of vigilance deep in his eyes, as if guarding against Dumbledore using this incident to make trouble and seize his power.
Then, he came before Charle and introduced himself.
"Mr. Charle Evans, I am Cornelius Fudge, the current Minister of Magic, which is what you Muggles call..."
"What was it called again, Prime Minister, oh right, that's the word."
"I deeply sympathize with your experience. That deranged fellow Dak has already caused enough suffering to the wizarding world. Thanks to your bravery and wisdom, Dak has been eliminated this time, and you have made a great contribution."
After saying a lot of pleasantries, Fudge finally revealed his true intention.
It turned out he hoped Charle could cooperate with the Ministry of Magic for some publicity and accept some interviews to calm public opinion.
To minimize the big issues and resolve the small ones.
Dumbledore's eyes on the side showed anger.
"Minister, Charle is still a child, and he's just been through something so terrible. You want to talk to him about this now?"
Fudge chuckled dryly, but his attitude remained firm, and he even spoke to Charle with a hint of enticement.
"Think about it, you'll become a star in the wizarding world's newspapers."
"You'll be the new Boy Who Lived. Do you know about The Boy Who Lived? He's practically a legend in the wizarding world."
"When you start school, all your classmates will look at you with adoration, including those pretty little girls..."
"Ahem, just imagine the scene!"
A hint of mockery surfaced in Charle's heart.
As expected, meeting him is worse than hearing about him. Cornelius Fudge, the politician in the original story who would stop at nothing for his political career.
He even dismissed Voldemort's return as a fallacy, ultimately giving the Death Eaters ample time to grow and directly causing the Ministry of Magic to fall.
Many fans of the Harry Potter original story jokingly call him a Death Eater mole.
Looking at him now, he's indeed a complete power animal.
It's just a shame that the bargaining chips Fudge is offering are only good for deceiving naive children.
But inside Charle's body is the soul of an adult.
The Boy Who Lived?
Whoever wants that title with no benefits can have it.
At least being an outstanding individual at his previous job was useful for getting promoted!
So after a moment, Charle repeated his question.
"A star? Adored by thousands?"
Fudge nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, exactly!"
In Fudge's opinion, no child could resist such temptation.
What he never expected was that Charle's expression was incredibly firm and full of responsibility.
"Minister Fudge, if you've paid attention to me, you'll know that I'm also a well-known star in the Muggle world you speak of."
"I firmly believe that public figures need to have a sense of responsibility."
"I must tell the truth of the matter and Dak's wickedness exactly as they are, so that justice can be served, and parents and children will pay more attention to safety precautions, and perhaps such things won't happen again in the future."
"I, Charle, am unyielding and will never bury the truth for a mere title!"
"Such a price is not enough to buy me off!"
Dumbledore, standing nearby, showed a relieved smile.
This child, Charle, has such courage and determination, such a strong sense of responsibility.
He's definitely a Gryffindor!
Fudge, on the other hand, looked embarrassed.
Having his calculations exposed by this child, Charle, and then being lectured in return, made the old fox feel a burning sensation on his face, making him wish he could leave this embarrassing scene immediately.
However, thinking that if Charle were to truly elaborate on the truth and it was widely reported by the wizarding world's newspapers, the emotions of the wizarding public might be stirred up, and his position would truly become unstable.
Fudge endured the embarrassment and stayed.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as he racked his brain for a way to make Charle change his mind.
He then remembered that the information he had read mentioned that Charle was a well-known genius student throughout the Muggle world in the UK.
He hadn't paid attention at the time, but the facts proved that trying to tempt Charle with a star aura was completely ineffective.
What other way was there to calm the situation?
A thought flashed through Fudge's mind like lightning.
He remembered that the information also mentioned that Charle seemed to have a peculiar obsession with food.
Looking at Charle's behavior after waking up, it was clear that the information was not false.
With this thought, Fudge had a flash of inspiration and proposed another condition.
"Mr. Evans, to express our apology and compensation to you, all your future expenses for food and drink in the wizarding world will be reimbursed by the Ministry of Magic!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Charle, who was burying his head in the hospital meal, immediately looked up, his eyes showing an unusual sparkle.
"Minister, are you serious?"
"Anything I eat, the Ministry of Magic will reimburse?"
"Even if I eat a lot, and have a tiny bit of a peculiar eating habit, that's okay too?"
Hearing Charle's question, Fudge was overjoyed and nodded solemnly.
"Yes, that's right, everything is okay. We can sign an agreement right now. The Ministry of Magic will permanently guarantee your food expenses!"
The next moment, without any hesitation, Charle said decisively.
"Deal!"
At the same time, he sincerely let out a sigh of admiration.
"Minister Fudge, you truly are a good person!"
While Charle was expressing his admiration and agreeing to the condition, Dumbledore, who had just been looking on with a face full of relief, almost pulled off his beard at that moment.
No, wasn't he just unyielding?
Now, for the sake of food reimbursement, he agreed?
Charle Evans, I was mistaken, you are definitely not a Gryffindor.
Undoubtedly a Hufflepuff!
Fudge, on the other hand, revealed a smile like an old fox, his heart swelling with smugness.
"I, Fudge, am truly a genius. I so easily saw through this child's weakness and resolved a political crisis at a negligible cost. I can even use this to promote the Ministry of Magic's humanitarian care."
"As for food reimbursement..."
"Hahaha, how much can this child eat?"
"Even if he ate for a hundred years, could he possibly bankrupt the Ministry of Magic?!"
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