Two and a half hours later, Cedric and Percy and the others finally arrived in Link's ward.
One by one, they stood beside Link's bed, silent, their expressions somewhat strange.
Cedric and John even kept winking at Link from time to time.
It seemed that Link being able to achieve results that exceeded their expected time by more than half an hour, even while just recovering from a serious illness, had shocked them greatly.
After all, when Link usually bragged to them, they all thought he was just boasting.
What Link said had already gone beyond the limits of what they could understand.
But now it seemed that the clowns were actually themselves.
Emily had already shrunk into a corner, covering her face and refusing to show herself.
Link, however, acted very naturally. Half lying on the bed, he calmly swept his gaze over everyone before slowly asking, "How long did I sleep?"
Hearing this, John immediately raised his head. He first looked at Link, then at Emily, the surprise in his eyes completely undisguised.
As if saying, you two were together for so long and still didn't figure out something this simple?
Seeing this, Emily lowered her head even further, but her fists clenched tightly.
Those familiar with her knew this was a sign she was about to explode.
John raised his eyebrows and quickly said,
"Two days, Link. No, to be exact, one day and two nights!"
Link nodded and continued asking, "Tell me, what happened during the two days I was unconscious?"
Percy stepped forward and said respectfully, "That day after you fainted, you were immediately brought back to Hogwarts by the Hunter Squad together with the D.A. Army for treatment."
"After that, Crouch and I, with the help of that Sander, dealt with a group of disobedient old Aurors and successfully took over command of the entire Auror force."
"Together with Mr. Kreacher and Miss Victoria, who returned later, we brought the whole situation under control."
"As for what happened that night inside the Department of Mysteries, we have not made any public statements."
"Although the outside world has still learned some things through bits and pieces of information and the disturbance has been a bit fierce, overall we have managed to suppress it."
"We think this is the best course of action. Whether to make the matter public or not should be decided by you."
"Well done. You didn't disappoint me," Link nodded and said.
"Now that I'm awake, start slowly releasing what happened that night according to the plan we made beforehand. Oh right, you know how those newspapers should report it, don't you?"
Hearing this, Percy rubbed his hands together and said eagerly, "Of course, Lord Flamel, we won't disappoint you. But after this, that old fellow Fudge will definitely step down. As for the candidate for the new Minister…"
Link looked at Percy with a half-smile.
The hint in his words was already very obvious.
He was asking for a reward.
Although the true controller of the Ministry of Magic in the future would certainly be Link, and the so-called new Minister could only be a puppet controlled by Link, puppets and puppets still had differences in treatment and rank.
Could a department-head puppet or a chief-assistant puppet compare with a minister puppet?
Percy had clearly set his sights on the Minister's position.
Link smiled and shook his head.
"You don't seriously think you can beat Barty Crouch for it, do you?"
"As long as you support me," Percy gritted his teeth and said with courage, "anything is possible, isn't it?"
Hearing this, Link's smile became even brighter.
Because the truth was exactly as Percy said. No matter how experienced old Barty was or how much political power he controlled, in the end, their foundation was still Link.
As long as Link supported him, Percy defeating old Barty would be an easy matter.
But the problem was, why would Link do that?
More precisely, why should Link set up a new Minister at all?
No matter who he appointed, the other side would definitely be dissatisfied.
That would cause the Ministry of Magic to once again fall into internal conflict and division.
And this was obviously something Link did not want to see.
He still hoped to unite their strength and continue pursuing Voldemort and those mysterious shadowy figures.
Link sighed deeply and said to Percy in a low voice, "Percy, Percy, you've gotten swollen-headed again."
As soon as these words were spoken, Percy looked as if he had been struck by lightning and immediately began trembling like a sieve.
After the earlier training from old Kreacher, the words swollen-headed had already become his nightmare, to the point that merely hearing the term triggered a stress reaction.
He almost instantly dropped to the ground and said urgently, "I was wrong, Lord Flamel, I shouldn't have gotten swollen-headed. I'll recognize my place. Please don't…"
Before Percy could finish speaking, Link interrupted, "The Ministry of Magic will not select a new Minister for now."
"From this moment on, the Ministry of Magic enters a state of war. A War Committee will be established, with you, Barty Crouch, and me as Hogwarts' representative as its members."
"In addition, remove the Wizengamot's supervisory authority over the Ministry. All decisions of the Ministry of Magic will be determined by the committee."
"As for the Auror force…"
Link paused before continuing, "Let Sander control it for now."
"Sander? That young man with premature white hair?"
Percy suddenly raised his head and spoke in disbelief.
But just after finishing, he lowered his head back to the ground even faster.
At a time like this, no matter what Link said, Percy would agree.
Cedric glanced at Percy and said, "Sander isn't very suitable, is he? He only pledged loyalty not long ago."
"Although he played a good role when we took over the Auror force before, that's not enough to deserve such a heavy reward, is it?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Percy looked at Cedric with immense gratitude.
Cedric had spoken exactly what he was thinking.
"No need to worry. Even if Sander isn't reliable, it doesn't matter. The Aurors won't be able to cause any trouble."
"Anyway, later I'll be inserting Hunter Squad members into it and gradually taking control of command, so just treat this as another test of his loyalty." Link said coldly.
"Besides, if we don't give him temporary command of the Aurors now, should we give it to Crouch and Percy instead?"
Cedric nodded and said nothing more.
Meanwhile Percy, still kneeling on the ground, felt a chill in his heart.
He had figured it out as well.
Command of the Auror force would never be given to him or old Barty.
Because that would break the fragile balance of power between them.
Under such circumstances, temporarily setting up a puppet like Sander and then gradually eroding control by mixing in their own people was the best method.
This was the situation most beneficial to Link.
"So now," Link said as he moved his neck, "tell me. What's the situation on the Order of the Phoenix's side?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire ward fell silent.
The lively group who had been winking at each other all lowered their heads and said nothing.
Seeing this, Link sighed.
Silence was also an answer.
During the time he was unconscious, there were too many things Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix could have done.
And judging from everyone's reactions, things had indeed developed in the worst direction, just as he had expected.
Link continued calmly, "So Dumbledore has already returned to Hogwarts?"
"Yes, Link. He returned to Hogwarts at almost the same time as you, but…"
Cedric paused before frowning and saying, "strangely, he didn't announce the cancellation of the tripartite committee system we set up before, nor did he interfere with any of Hogwarts' management."
"He has just stayed in the headmaster's office the whole time without making any moves."
"That old man is waiting for me. Let's go, let's go meet him."
As he spoke, Link got off the bed, put on his clothes, and walked straight out of the ward.
Hogwarts' hospital wing was very lively now.
Although no one from the D.A. Army died in the Department of Mysteries battle thanks to the protection of the Order of the Phoenix, there were still plenty of unlucky people who were injured.
These people had clearly already received news that Link had awakened and had gathered in the corridor, constantly watching the door of Link's ward.
When Link walked out surrounded by Emily and the others, the crowd immediately let out a wave of exclamations.
These people were all subordinates under Link's control, and a superior had to maintain a superior's authority.
So Link would not be polite with them. After nodding slightly to acknowledge everyone, a slight sweep of his stern gaze suppressed the rising exclamations.
The excited wounded restrained their emotions and consciously moved to both sides, bowing to Link.
Only after Link passed did they follow behind him.
At first, Link thought they only intended to escort him part of the way.
But when he truly left the hospital wing, he realized how completely wrong he was.
Because outside the hospital wing, there were several times more people gathered than inside earlier.
Just from the numbers, it seemed like the entire Hogwarts population had crowded here.
Madam Pomfrey and several volunteers who were studying healing under her were blocking the entrance to the hospital wing, apparently trying to make everyone quiet down so the patients could rest properly.
This kind of order was normally something no one dared disobey.
Not even Dumbledore.
Madam Pomfrey had always been someone whose word was final. A healer of her level coming to Hogwarts was already a miracle.
Everyone had to keep her happy.
Moreover, her requests were always reasonable.
However, today this privilege of hers had failed.
The moment Link appeared, thunderous cheers erupted from the crowd not far away.
Seeing this scene, the people following behind Link all showed proud smiles.
As people who had fought alongside Link, they felt they had the right to enjoy the cheers as well.
"The news that you led us in a nighttime raid into the Ministry of Magic to rescue Harry Potter and drove back Voldemort has already spread throughout Hogwarts these past few days."
"Those… bored people even made up a lot of different versions of the story. Even though those versions are all ridiculous, the result is that everyone admires you a lot."
John leaned close to Link's ear and explained excitedly.
Link nodded at this.
He was not surprised by this at all.
Hogwarts students were at the stage of life where people liked to fantasize the most.
At the same time, they worshipped heroes.
Especially the kind of "superhero" filled with strong individual heroism.
Clearly, Link perfectly matched the hero image in their imagination.
Just look at what Link had done.
Fighting Voldemort head-on and seriously injuring him. How many people in the wizarding world could accomplish something like that?
Yes, Dumbledore probably had the ability to do it.
But Dumbledore was an old man.
Although he was kind and almost everyone at Hogwarts liked him, he was still too old in the end.
Link was different.
He was young and wealthy, extremely handsome, full of prestige, and unbelievably powerful.
A Link like this was practically the prince on a white horse that girls only dreamed of, and the perfect fantasy stand-in for boys.
Through this constant imagination, Link became an almost perfect hero.
And so everyone went crazy.
As for why this group had gathered here now, Link felt there was no need to ask.
Because it must have been done by George and Fred.
Just by looking at the way they were hidden in the crowd winking at him, the matter was already clear.
As the prank kings of Hogwarts, this must have been very interesting to them.
Of course, they would never admit that this was a disguised prank.
Link was sure that if someone asked why they did this, they would righteously declare that it was to express admiration and gratitude to the noble King of Hogwarts, Link Flamel.
George and Fred were absolutely capable of something like that. Link knew them too well.
Taking a deep breath, Link finally focused his gaze on the trio of Harry in the front row.
Compared with the unreliable George and Fred, Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked much more sincere.
All three of them had red eyes and had clearly been crying for a long time.
Especially Hermione.
Almost the moment Link appeared, tears began pouring continuously from her eyes, and she looked terribly exhausted, as if she needed treatment even more urgently than Link.
Link walked forward slowly and said with a smile, "Stop crying. Everyone came through safely. That should be something worth celebrating, shouldn't it?"
Hearing this, Hermione quickly nodded, sniffing as she kept wiping the tears from her face in an attempt to stop them.
Unfortunately, it was useless.
It was even worse with Harry and Ron.
Link's words seemed to have the opposite effect, and the two of them immediately burst into tears.
"Lin… Link, I'm sorry…" Harry said hoarsely while crying. "I shouldn't have… shouldn't have doubted you!"
"Yeah Link! This whole thing is George and Fred's fault!" Ron said as well.
"We originally planned to wait for you to handle things, since that was the best method. But George and Fred just wouldn't listen! They insisted on taking us to the Ministry of Magic!"
As soon as these words were spoken, George and Fred, who had been laughing in the back row, both froze.
Although the facts were indeed not very different from what Ron said.
Ron's way of saying it was really…
"Ron…" George and Fred, having recovered, leaned in behind Ron with cold smiles and said, "Looks like we brothers need to properly strengthen our bond again!"
After saying this, George and Fred dragged away the pale-faced Ron and left the corridor.
This dramatic scene immediately lightened the sorrowful atmosphere, making both Harry and Hermione unable to help laughing.
[🎉 Shoutout to baby_pal and LeadStar p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]