After the serious discussion ended, Tver and Percy stayed in the office a while longer, talking about some of Fudge's little tricks.
For all that Tver had managed to win over the Ministry of Magic and the pure-blood families, the truth was that most people in the wizarding world still wanted peace and quiet.
Or rather, like Fudge, they were unwilling to give up their current peaceful lives just because of news that You-Know-Who had returned when there was still no concrete proof.
So when it came to Barty Crouch, who insisted that You-Know-Who really had returned, they maintained a stance of neither opposing nor supporting him.
That seemingly neutral position actually left Barty with his hands tied.
If he kept stressing the threat You-Know-Who might pose in public, not only would it fail to win him more support, it would only make ordinary wizards increasingly annoyed.
And that was exactly what Fudge was taking advantage of.
Once he sensed how the public felt, he cleverly chose not to put much effort into arguing against that line of thinking. Instead, he more or less let the media swarm over it and keep publicizing it.
Then, once the public grew sick of hearing about it, he could step forward and declare that You-Know-Who had not returned, and naturally win over a great many supporters.
Thanks to Percy's warning, Barty Crouch wisely chose to avoid the spotlight for the time being. But Dumbledore, who had been charging ahead on the front line all along, ended up taking the backlash from public opinion...
That was why, even though the Ministry's key forces were under Tver's control, Dumbledore was still stripped by Fudge of his positions in the Confederation and the Wizengamot.
Of course, Dumbledore did not care.
"But Mr. Crouch has no way to move against Fudge right now," Percy said with some regret.
Though he was firmly resolved to stay by Fudge's side as an undercover agent, if Fudge could be brought down sooner, then the misunderstanding with his family could also be cleared up sooner.
"It's fine," Tver comforted him. "Right now, we just need to focus on taking complete control of the Ministry of Magic. Besides, as long as Fudge stays in the Minister's seat, he can keep taking the blame for us."
Once Voldemort was resurrected, he was bound to start causing trouble. By then, Fudge's incompetence would lower everyone's expectations.
That way, Barty would not even need to perform especially well. As long as he did better than Fudge, he would be able to win the public's trust.
They did not talk much longer before Fudge stormed back into the office, shoving the door open, the fury on his face plain as day.
"You... drank my best tea?" Fudge stared unhappily at the teacups on the coffee table.
A little tea was not really enough to make him angry. What truly bothered him was that Percy, the assistant he relied on so heavily, still seemed to have a fairly good relationship with Tver.
"We had nothing else to talk about, so all we could do was drink tea, wasn't it?"
Tver calmly set down his cup, and Percy did the same, as if the two of them really had done nothing but sit there drinking tea.
Seeing Percy's open and untroubled expression, Fudge found himself unable to say much.
Surely, even if the two of them did have something going on, they would not dare do anything inside his office... right?
"All right, Percy, go back to work first." Fudge did not even bother greeting Tver as he dropped heavily into the main seat behind his desk.
"As for you, Tver Fawley, out with it. What do you want with me?"
He had originally intended to show a little grace, but the carefully planned scheme he had cooked up to frame Harry Potter had been completely ruined by Dumbledore's sudden appearance.
His mood was awful, so naturally he had no interest in being polite to Tver.
Tver curled his lips in amusement. With a strictly businesslike attitude, he took out an official Wizards' Confederation document and flicked his wrist, letting it drift lightly onto the desk in front of Fudge.
"The Wizards' Confederation has unanimously decided to require magical governing bodies in all countries to strengthen their communication mechanisms with muggle governments and establish Joint Operations Offices to deal with serious disasters that may occur."
"Disasters?" Fudge froze for a moment. "There's been no word of any disaster in Britain, or even anywhere in Europe."
"Cornelius Fudge." Bracing one hand on the desk, Tver slowly leaned forward. "Not everyone is as timid and afraid of trouble as you are."
Fudge immediately understood that he was referring to You-Know-Who. His face turned livid, and he stood up, forcing himself to look level with Tver.
"I will not allow the Confederation..."
"This is an order, not a request. You have no power to refuse." Tver straightened up again at once, reducing all of Fudge's effort to nothing.
"This office is under my control. I have the authority..."
"No. The office is guided by the Confederation's local representative, who also holds the leadership role." Tver grinned. "And as for the representative in Britain, care to guess who that is?"
"..."
Fudge clenched both fists so tightly that he almost wanted to punch... himself.
If he had known back then that a seemingly empty post like Confederation representative could have this kind of use, he never would have agreed to that deal with Dumbledore.
But this Joint Operations Office...
"Wouldn't this violate the Statute of Secrecy?"
Sensing the hint of concession in Fudge's words, Tver stopped pressing him and sat back down.
"Haven't you ever met with the muggle Prime Minister? All we're doing now is strengthening that mechanism so it can deal with the coming crisis."
Fudge let out an oh, instantly recalling how smug he had looked when he met the muggle Prime Minister.
So from the sound of it, this office was really just something like the Department of International Magical Cooperation, a body for sharing information.
The only difference was that instead of passing emergency reports to the muggle Prime Minister through the old process, there would now be a professional office handling it...
Based on that understanding, Fudge convinced himself that he had already figured out the office's role and limits, and immediately felt relieved.
If it was only a department like that, then handing it over to Tver was not such a big deal.
"All right then. Since it's the Confederation's decision, I agree." He deliberately emphasized the Confederation, just to make sure Tver did not think he was backing down.
"What do you need me to do? Introduce you to the muggle Prime Minister?"
Fudge's readiness to cooperate actually surprised Tver a little.
He had not expected Fudge, who had been losing ground at the Ministry again and again, to be this straightforward.
Seems he is not completely stupid after all.
"The office will need to direct the operational branches of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so we will also need an official from the Auror Office stationed there."
At that, Fudge's anger flared up again.
Dawlish, the Auror he had worked so hard to promote, had kicked him aside the moment he became head of the Auror Office.
But then another thought occurred to him. He could use this chance to kick Dawlish out of the Ministry and dump him into this useless office.
The more he thought about it, the harder it became to suppress the delight spreading across his face.
"Fine! Whatever you want, I'll give you the best!"
Tver looked at the suddenly excited Fudge with a strange expression.
This man really could not take praise at all...