"Headmaster, I think Mr. Hart should spend a few more days in the hospital on campus!" Madam Pomfrey insisted, "Although I can be sure that there is nothing wrong with his body anymore, it would be safest to observe for another three to five days, otherwise anything unexpected will happen......"

"I think your comments are constructive, Poppy!" Professor Albus Dumbledore said mildly, "but Mr. Hart has some other matters to attend to...... You know, these are extraordinary times. ”

"Well...... "Madam Pomfrey muttered, "the body should still be the most important ......"

However, instead of insisting on her opinion, she allowed Dumbledore to leave the hospital with Jon Hart.

......

"Thank you, Professor!" Jon said with some gratitude as he walked down the hallways of Hogwarts.

The past few days of being "locked up" in the school hospital have been very boring to be honest...... In a sense, Hogwarts' school doctor, Poppy-Pomfrey, was too conscientious.

However, she also swept away Jon's previous injuries and made him alive again.

"Nothing, come with me!"

Since it was early in the morning and there was no one in the hallway, Dumbledore led Jon into an empty classroom.

"Look at this!" Dumbledore said after sitting down.

At the same time, he handed Jon a newspaper, the Daily Prophet of the day...... The ink on the newspaper is still very new, and it should have been printed not long ago.

Jon looked down, his face turning solemn. Because the headline on the front page reads -

"The Death Eaters have asked the Ministry of Magic to exchange hostages!"

"An unnamed Death Eater, a desperate obedient and follower of the mysterious man, warned this newspaper last night...... Eleven employees they claim to belong to the Department of Magical Beasts Management and Control of the Ministry of Magic are now in their hands: Dirk Cleiswell, Amos Diggory, Cuthbert Motridge, ......"

Underneath the newspaper, there are also more than a dozen portraits...... The wizards in the portrait are all tied with ropes, and their faces are full of despair and helplessness. Jon immediately recognized Cedric's father, Mr. Diggory, and Mr. Mottridge in a women's dress......

"The Death Eaters hope that the Ministry of Magic will not disappoint their staff, and they have decided to use these eleven Ministry of Magic employees and exchange them for eleven Death Eaters they are holding - including Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, Antonin Dolohov, ......

At eight o'clock this morning, the Death Eaters will release one of their employees and return him to the Ministry of Magic. At the same time, they demanded that Azkaban release one of the Death Eaters on the list within half an hour and return his wand. If the Ministry of Magic does this, the Death Eaters will release another employee within half an hour, and if the Ministry fails to do so, the Death Eaters will kill one of them and dump his body on a Muggle street......"

Wait a minute...... It's eight o'clock this morning!

Jon's expression was shocked, and he quickly looked down at his watch...... It's 7:15 a.m., that is, it's only 45 minutes before the so-called "hostage exchange."

......

"How is this possible!" Jon muttered, "how could the Daily Prophet publish such content?"

Wasn't Jon under the impression that the Daily Prophet had always been the mouthpiece of the Ministry, and now that the Death Eaters were not in control of the Ministry, how could they help the Death Eaters publish such a message?

"That's not what the original headline was supposed to be, Barnabas Guffey [editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet] told me!" Dumbledore said in a deep voice, "but this morning the newspaper office was attacked, and the attackers were very cautious and did not cause much alarm; they just changed the headline on the front page of the newspaper and sent it all out......"

"By the time they reacted, the owl had flown all over England with the newspaper?" asked Jon in a low voice.

"That's right!" Dumbledore nodded, "Now all wizards in Britain who have the habit of reading the morning newspaper should already know about it!"

"So...... What is the Ministry's opinion on this?" Jon asked tentatively.

"Scrimgeot advocates a stern rejection of the Death Eaters' requests......" Albus Dumbledore said slowly, "but Amelia disagreed...... She thinks that the safety of the members of the Ministry of Magic should be more important...... Most of the top brass of the Ministry of Magic leaned towards Amelia's views. ”

Jon nodded silently!

Actually, it's not hard to understand...... If this was not made public, the Ministry of Magic could have refused the Death Eaters' request, even if it had abandoned the innocent staff......

But now, the matter is made public...... If the dozen or so employees were allowed to be executed by the Death Eaters, it would be a great danger to the reputation of the Ministry, and possibly even to everyone within the Ministry.

And with such a short reaction time, it was difficult for the Ministry of Magic to come up with any effective solutions.

frowned and pondered for a long time...... Jon still hadn't come up with anything useful.

He could only look at Dumbledore for help, "Do we need to do something, Professor?"

"To be honest, I didn't come up with anything good about it. Dumbledore shook his head, "But Amelia and I promised that she had sent someone to negotiate with Tom, and that she would release as few Death Eaters as possible......"

"Okay......" Jon sighed helplessly.

After the victory in the battle of the Department of Mysteries, the advantage gained by the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix seems to be losing little by little...... And the power of the Death Eaters is rising at a speed that is visible to the naked eye.

The situation seems to be gradually becoming a little less optimistic?

......

"Of course, that's just one of the things...... And you don't need to worry about this, Amelia and I will take care of it as much as we can......" After a pause, Dumbledore continued, "There is one more thing ......"

"Huh?" Jon gave Dumbledore a puzzled look.

"I told you before that Diana was taken away by Scrimgeour with the Aurors......" Dumbledore said slowly, "Now, Miss Greengrass is alone in the old mansion......"

“...... So I suggest that you should go over and see her now, and comfort her......" Dumbledore smiled, "Of course, this is just a little suggestion of mine!"