"As I mentioned just now, due to the mistake of the previous Minister, Mr. Blake was wrongly accused for twelve years. Although the responsibility does not lie with me as the current Minister, I still feel very guilty."

    Luckily, the Ministry of Magic today is far from what it was in the past. We have been making progress, with the most elite staff who can detect and correct mistakes in a timely manner.

    George is an excellent representative of our Ministry's staff, and he even helped catch an evil wizard with one eye during his travels in France, earning him the Heroic Order of Merlin."

    Fudge slapped George on the shoulder and made grand gestures of praise, ostensibly praising George, but everyone could hear the underlying message that he, as the Minister, was doing a good job.

    Under the lenses of various magical newspapers, he finally said:

    "So, we have decided to award George with the Second-Class Order of Merlin and one million galleons as a reward."

    After Fudge's speech, Dumbledore on behalf of the Wizengamot awarded George the Order of Merlin, and George's direct superior Umbridge presented him with one million galleons.

    After that came the interview session with various journalists, and George did not disappoint Fudge; he did not mention his recent employment that morning, nor did he throw Fudge under the bus.

    Actually, he had just started working at the Ministry of Magic that morning, and many people in the Ministry, including many wizards at Hogwarts, knew about it. The journalists may not have necessarily noticed, but they were not stupid either.

    But that's not a big deal, in the era of witchcraft where information can only be spread through newspapers, many things will be like that as long as most people believe so, the truth is often overlooked by the majority.

    Fudge wanted the majority of the wizarding world to view the Ministry of Magic as a reliable institution and for him, as the Minister, to be considered competent. That was enough.

    The next morning, George saw the Prophet's Daily Prophet headline as he ate his breakfast.

    The striking headline read: "Twelve years of wronged, the brilliant Minister and excellent 12-year-old employee rectify, Sirius Black is a hero!"

    There were two pictures in the newspaper, one of the Minister embracing him, and another of Dumbledore presenting him with the Order of Merlin.

    "Now, I guess I'm a public figure, too."

    He put away the paper and a smile graced his face.

    Before, he had been well-known only within the school, and outside of it, his fame was just a fleeting moment after joining the England Quidditch team. But since he hadn't participated in any matches, people had mostly forgotten about him.

    Later, he received the Heroic Order of Merlin in France, but that was also abroad, and not many witches in the UK knew about it.

    So, when he first joined the Ministry, many witches didn't know who he was.

    But after this article, I believe very few people in the wizarding world will remain unfamiliar with him.

    On the one hand, for an excellent twelve-year-old to pass the ultimate wizarding test and join the Ministry of Magic, already a stunning feat for most witches.

    On the other hand, the drama involving Sirius had been going on for a year, and people were worried. Now George had solved it, making a lasting impression.

    Combined, these two events were enough to make him a star in the British wizarding world.

    "That's why he became an assistant to the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law so quickly after joining."

    "I said that even if it's the Minister's own son, he couldn't have graduated at 12 to start working at the Ministry of Magic."

    "It really is beyond comparison. My son hasn't even scored two excellents in his OWLs this year, and at just twelve, he's already gotten twelve excellents in his NEWTs and joined the Ministry of Magic."

    "Don't talk about your son. You can't even use the Cruciatus Curse properly, but he's managed to defeat Sirius and Peter together, and we combined probably couldn't beat him."

    "Well, it's not surprising that we can't use the Cruciatus Curse properly; we're civil servants, not Aurors. It's not normal for him to be able to subdue both the terrifying Sirius and Peter at the same time, is it?"

    "One escaped from Azkaban with the help of many Dementors, and another destroyed a street in the past."

    When George Apparated back to the Ministry of Magic for work, the overall opinion of him had completely changed.

    Yesterday, they were discussing how George had been parachuted into the Ministry of Magic as a child of a prominent family, but today they learned that he had joined the Ministry through his own merit and had been assigned directly to the Department of Magical Law due to his significant contributions.

    George had just started working that morning, and the press conference had been held in the afternoon. Therefore, events such as capturing Peter Pettigrew and clearing Sirius Black's name could not have occurred after George joined the Ministry.

    The specific details of the situation were obvious to the old employees of the Ministry, who had been working there for many years and were well aware of the Ministry's ways.

    "Good morning, George!"

    "Good morning!"

    On his way there, George noticed many Ministry of Magic employees he didn't know, all actively greeting him and showing him respect in their eyes.

    He did not act with an air of arrogance due to his talent, and he courteously replied to each greeting with a friendly nod.

    Don't underestimate these employees; many of them haven't even mastered the Impervius Charm yet. Perhaps one of them is working on a spell that could be helpful to him.

    Many employees at the Ministry of Magic have low combat skills, but that doesn't mean they are not capable of researching magic.

    It's like soldiers and scientists; Aurors are the soldiers, and most civil servants at the Ministry of Magic are scientists. People like Dumbledore who are a blend of both warriors and scientists are the exception.

    It's quite reasonable to think that every excellent student who graduates from school wants to join the Ministry of Magic. In fact, the Ministry of Magic annually recruits the most outstanding graduates from Hogwarts and other schools.

    Over the years, it can be imagined that there are many talented witches and wizards working at the Ministry of Magic.

    Perhaps because of the heavy bureaucracy under Fudge's tenure as Minister, many senior officials lack capability, but the magical research abilities of many lower-level employees are not bad at all.

    Like Arthur Weasley in the cramped, second-floor corridor office, no one on the whole floor could match his skills in alchemy and magic.

    "Good morning, Mr. Weasley!"

    As if to prove the old saying, "When you mention someone's name, they show up," George had just stepped into the elevator with an empty briefcase when he met Arthur bustling in.

    "Oh, good morning, George."

    Congratulations on receiving the medal and bonus. Ron and Hermione saw the newspaper this morning and have been talking about you all day, asking me when you'll have time to come over."

    Arthur replied, catching his breath.

    He naturally recognized George. Last year when school started, he had asked him about alchemy in the broken tavern and they had talked for a long time.

    But he hadn't expected that just one year later, George had become a colleague in his department.

    "I'll go visit them next weekend when I have some free time, how about you recently?"

    George nodded, and began chatting with Arthur.

    Arthur had a lot of ideas about alchemy, and when they went to visit the Burrow on the weekends, he would have plenty of time to ask and learn from him.