"Well, you guys also didn't reveal a word of it, did you?" Harry said with a smile.
Ron, meanwhile, gawked at the clothes on the twins.
"How much did this cost?"
Fred shook his head with a mock sigh as he drew his wand and with a flick, three goblets flew over and landed in the hands of the golden trio. Fred and George stepped forward and clinked their goblets and drank their drinks in one go, "Then we will leave you alone." Fred said.
"Someone keeps mentioning your names." George said with a grin, "Especially that chubby professor has mentioned it on average once every three sentences, we suspect one of you has secretly bewitched him."
The two men made their way out - "Wait, wait!" Harry shouted, but it was too late.
"Harry, my boy!" Professor Slughorn spotted the trio with his sharp eyes, and he immediately strode towards them with his large pot belly bound by his brown waistcoat, and several gold glittering buttons glaring at them like creature eyes.
The office was quiet for a few seconds as various measuring gazes shot from all directions, which is one of the reasons Harry didn't like this kind of environment. Luckily he saw Mrs. Weasley waving at them happily, which also made it easier for Professor Slughorn to drag him along without too much effort.
"And you two," Slughorn said to Ron and Hermione as he walked away, "I've been talking to your parents for a while about the - er... the importance of homeschooling." But instead of taking Harry over to the Weasleys and the Grangers, he walked around the group and joined Amelia Bones in her conversation.
He forcibly positioned Harry between Ernie and Cormac McLaggen and said with a smirk, "See, you'll never find a stronger friendship than the one you built during your school years." Harry glared at him, as his expression stiffened.
He didn't know when he had ever formed a 'strong friendship' with Ernie and McLaggen.
Harry remained silent throughout the next few minutes.
He noticed that Professor Slughorn had centred most of the conversation around Ms. Bones, occasionally dividing some attention to Sirius. This seemed to coincide with the thoughts of the Macmillan and the McLaggen, so Sirius only had to chime in occasionally as he spent the rest of his time observing his uncomfortable godson.
Ms. Bones' answers were brief and concise, and she remained basically expressionless throughout the conversation, except for the smile she flashed at Harry when he came, but this is more in line with the image of a steel-hearted minister - Azkaban still houses over three hundred foreign wizards.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry caught a glimpse of Susan Bones sitting in the corner, chewing on an apple with a 'crunch' sound, and she seemed to notice Harry's gaze as she nimbly slipped away and blended into the crowd.
At that moment, Felix and Snape arrived together.
Neville tugged at his father's sleeve and Frank Longbottom was chatting with the Grangers' about the interesting story of the exclusive wand, "Gee - that's amazing, we always wondered who exactly our daughter had inherited her magic talent from ... " Mr. Granger said.
"What's wrong?"
Neville's father looked up with an expression of joy at first, but then it quickly cooled off when he saw Snape following Felix. Snape glanced in that direction and whispered a couple of words to Felix before he turned his head and went to find Damocles Belby.
Felix joined in the conversation with a smile.
On the other side, when Ms. Bones saw him, she quickly responded with a couple of words and walked toward him. At the same time, from around the corner, an elderly woman, with gray hair striding briskly on her feet, met her gaze and both of them stopped in their tracks.
Felix showed just the right amount of surprise. Weighing the pros and cons quickly in her mind, Ms. Bones changed her direction to meet the old woman, "Ms. Pinkstone, we need to talk." The old woman gave her a contemptuous blank look and followed her away.
"Who was that woman?" Mr. Granger asked curiously.
Felix shook his head, so Mr. Granger continued with the story of how he got his exclusive wand, "I also signed up with my wife with the attitude of giving it a try, the staff told us we might have to wait in a long queue and go through all sorts of vetting ... only to be notified the next day, and the whole process went incredibly smoothly."
Felix winked at Hermione, whose face flushed.
"I don't think anyone would say no to give a small favour to an Order of Merlin winner."
Mr. Granger froze for a moment.
"Oh, really?" He said, abruptly feeling a little uneasy, "I heard that man has been arrested? We subscribe to several magic newspapers and keep a close eye on developments ... It is said that the You-Know-Who - what a strange name - made a deal with the former Azkaban prison guards, trading human emotions in exchange for powerful spellcasting abilities."
"Dad - I told you both to read The Quibbler less!" Hermione shouted as her face flushing even more.
"But this is the only publication that gives an explanation ..." Seeing his daughter's unhappy face, Mr. Granger changed the subject decisively, "Mr. Hap-- -"
"You can call me Felix."
"... Okay, Felix." He said, "We bought a whole set of magic projectors, I especially like the 'immersive' mode, it's amazing, it's like we're characters in a film too, but we have to lock the doors, windows and put up a 'no visitors' sign when we use it."
"Hermione," Mrs. Granger said with a deliberate stern face, as she was concerned about something else, "look at your hair - didn't you send home a quick smoothing hair gel? And this cloth, do you wear them all the time?"
Hermione yelped in annoyance and ran off in a huff. Mrs. Granger chased after her.
"My daughter has - er, been rather stubborn since she was a child." Mr. Granger tried to explain.
"... I can understand that."
On the other side of the room, a finally relieved Harry and Sirius skulked around the room, with food in their hands.
"That woman is Carlotta Pinkstone?" Harry asked.
"That's right, a total pain in the arse, don't bother with her, Harry." Sirius stuffed a piece of strawberry pudding into his mouth and vaguely said, "As if we didn't have enough trouble."
"What's wrong?" Harry asked worriedly, thinking about Sirius's investigative mission, "Work not going well?"
Sirius gnashed his teeth hard.
"It went well - that's what makes it a big problem." He had a toothache look on his face, "A lot of stuff is plainly laid out."
"And what's it about? You don't look like you are okay though."
"Ahem, I'm just validating someone's theory, actually - come this way, Harry." Sirius looked up to find the two of them unknowingly walking over to Felix, who was flashing his white teeth at him. He hurriedly dragged Harry in a different direction and continued, "As I said, that was only a small errand, and the contents in Felix's books and report weren't too far off from what I saw."
"I did figure one thing out over the last few months though."
Sirius became serious, "Muggles, unlike wizards, can derive huge theories from some simple truths, and because there are enough of them, they can spare plenty of manpower to bring out the full potential of these theories, which they named 'basic scientific theories' ..."
" This also means that the rate of Muggle development can be measured - there are exceptions, of course, but we can figure it out roughly - and I can sense more and more that there is a line that stops ahead, and once it is crossed, it will be very difficult for wizards to maintain the Statute of Secrecy."
Harry listened with a heavy heart, as he recalled the clip of the speech Professor Bagshot had shown him; had that man from half a century ago anticipated the inevitable exposure of wizards, just as Professor Hap had? The only difference was that Grindelwald had chosen to start a war and try to enslave the Muggles in the end.
He cryptically described Professor Bagshot's point of view to Sirius, who stopped chewing and looked at Harry thoughtfully.
"I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking, but since he picked this Mr. Bagshot as a professor for the Defence Against the Dark Arts class, it means he's aware of the problem as well. Do you think that professor is hostile to Muggles?"
"Not really," Harry said, searching his mind trying to find the exact words, "I guess he thinks that wizards and muggles are two different kinds of people and that once wizards are exposed to the outside world -- you know, there could be conflict --" he said, his breath abruptly hitched.
He imagined a war.
Sirius caught the anxious look on his face and seemed to guess what Harry was thinking, and solemnly said.
"Don't worry, it's not a big problem yet. I agree with Felix that we have at least a few more decades to prepare - and don't forget that the Minister of Magic has actually been in contact with the Muggle Prime Minister and hasn't completely closed off."
He suddenly lowered his voice to speak, and Harry leaned in closer to hear more clearly.
"Frankly, I have some admiration for Felix - but don't tell him, to save him from getting smug - both because he pointed out the problem and also because he did all those things without saying a word, to lay the groundwork for the future... Amelia already has a general idea."
"What idea?" Harry asked, holding his breath as his eyes followed his godfather to Professor Hap in the crowd.
"Gradually increasing the connection between the two sides." Sirius said, picking up a piece of rib in his hand, "The squib issue is a good entry point, and now with the exclusive wands, the number of squibs who can cast spells will definitely increase in the future - we haven't fully licensed it yet, but there is a trend towards that - -conservative estimates suggest that the number of squibs in the country is over a hundred thousand, if not more because squibs also have offspring."
"Amelia is going to wait for the situation to stabilize in a couple of years and use this as an excuse to negotiate in secret with the Muggle government to set up a special department, the kind that would keep it a secret from the general population."
"Why should it be kept secret from ordinary people?" Harry asked in confusion.
"One step at a time," Sirius shrugged, "actually initiating a collaboration would mean more government workers would be aware of the existence of wizards, tearing a hole in the wall first, and deploying people from each side to jointly manage magical incidents that occur in the Muggle community. After some years of keeping it up, when both sides have a foundation of mutual trust, we can let the cat out of the bag little by little ..."
Harry swallowed.
"Don't think it is simple as I make it sound, it is very tedious to do and there are all sorts of details that need to be sorted out. For example, we have no clear legal framework, and both sides have to make concessions, which is a headache."
That's enough. Although he didn't know the full extent of the plan, Harry's tense mood relaxed. Just a moment ago he had felt that conflict would be inevitable, but a few minutes later things took a turn for the better, and for a moment Harry felt like he didn't understand anything.
"You're still at school," Sirius smiled understandingly, "there's a lot of knowledge you can't learn at school, I strongly suggest you to travel for a year or two after you graduate before joining the Ministry of Magic as an Auror."
Harry lowered his head in silence, seeming to ponder the feasibility of the plan.
"What if the conflict is unavoidable?" He blurted out, and Sirius looked at him in surprise as Harry explained in a whisper, "I mean, we're all looking on the bright side now, aren't we? If there's an accident, like the Muggle government not recognizing the Ministry of Magic-"
"They'd have to admit it," Sirius said lightly, "Do you think the Ministry of Magic just keeps the wizards undetected? Who is the one that suppresses the power of dark wizards? Who is it that keeps the dark creatures in check and prevents them from going out to harm people? The Ministry of Magic can hide or even withdraw from Britain at any time, and then what? It would be a dark wizard's paradise, and you don't think dark wizards would be stupid enough to take the Muggle army head on, do you?"
There was silence for a while, Harry opened his mouth several times, and he was unable to imagine what the consequences of this scenario would be if it happened.
"Let's talk about something happy," Sirius said with sudden cheerfulness, "How is your Animagus study going? I heard that over a dozen students got outstanding in their O.W.Ls?"
Harry smiled back.
"Yeah, you have a talent for being a teacher. But - well, we're kind of stuck on the very first step, and even Hermione can't figure out a foolproof method."
A smirk graced Sirius's face, and he suddenly glared at Harry.
"Do you honestly," he said with a scowl, "think the entire previous generations of wizards are quite rubbish?"
"How could-" Harry denied in a rush.
"And what gave you the illusion that Animagus would be easy? It took almost three years for both James and me to finally pull that off, relying on a little bit of luck, and we're not even sure we can do it again without it going awry." Sirius didn't have a problem saying that "You guys would be lucky if you could finish it before you graduate."
Harry was dumbfounded.
"But didn't you say that successful Animagus transformation would help us with our grades on Transfiguration-"
Sirius grinned and scowled at him, which reminded Harry of Fred and George pulling off a prank, "Actually, I wasn't lying, if you guys really did do it in one go, you truly wouldn't have to worry about your Transfiguration class grades anymore ..."
The atmosphere in Slughorn's office was cheerful, but a heated argument had just ended in the washroom not far from here.
Ms. Bones came out furious, she had simply wasted her breath, Pinkstone remained hostile to the Ministry of Magic too deeply and no matter what she said. Pinkstone simply believed she was lying to her with the sole aim of holding her in check and waiting for her natural death.
Bones took a few deep breaths to calm her emotions before turning and striding towards the party. Not long after, Carlotta Pinkstone appeared as well, her face clouded with gloom.
"You're making a lot of noise, Carlotta." A voice said, and Pinkstone jerked back. She hesitated a little at first, then stared deep into a silvery blue pupil, and her mouth opened wide.
"G... Grinn-"
"Shh." The man said softly as he raised his index finger and pressed it over his own lips. Pinkstone immediately fell silent, her pale face flushed with excitement and her words became stuttered, "I really, I really didn't expect to meet you here."
"But I have been waiting for you. From the first time I heard your name, I had a feeling that the little English girl who approached me alone half a century ago would appear before me in a miraculous fashion. You've had a hard time, but you are willing to endure it, aren't you?"
"Yes, yes, I only hate that my cause has not been fulfilled." She looked at Grindelwald with anticipation, "Do you want to do something about it this time out?"
"But - Carlotta - there is a fine difference in our ideas."
"That's true, but-"
"Can I trust you?"
"Of course! What do you need me to do?"
There was a moment of silence.
"Wait." Grindelwald whispered, "Just know that our cause has not ceased yet."
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