The next day, the day after the exposure of the magical world, in the Ministry of Magic.
Felix, Amelia Bones, and Sirius walked into a small conference room, they had just finished a meeting with a high official of the Ministry of Magic before turning their heads and coming here. The original members of the Order of the Phoenix are all present in the conference room.
"Where's Kingsley?" The dark-haired, rosy-cheeked Hestia Jones asked perkily.
"He's been tasked with keeping the Prime Minister safe." Ms. Bones said, "We have no guarantee that Grindelwald or the Acolytes won't take the opportunity to seek trouble, and his role for the next little while is crucial."
"Ah, Kingsley has gone to be secretary for the prime minister again?" Hestia Jones said in surprise, and her words were well-founded; when Voldemort was on the loose and the Ministry of Magic feared that the Muggle Prime Minister would be subjected to the Imperius Curse (especially after the then Assistant Prime Minister had already been subjected to a not-quite-successful Imperius Curse), Kingsley had been sent on such a task, and unbeknownst to him, the Prime Minister had been very pleased that he had performed his job as efficiently as two men.
Of course, the Prime Minister was very surprised when he learned the truth personally.
"So that Muggle Prime Minister is on our side?" Moody asked gruffly.
Ms. Bones said measuredly, "He promised to try to secure a peaceful outcome, but we can't take it lightly, he can't sway the situation alone. Gentlemen, it is easy to start a war, any fool can do it, but peace is hard to come by and requires painstaking planning."
"Well said." Sirius clapped his hands twice.
Felix was thinking of something else; no one knew where Grindelwald might be at the moment, and everyone - mainly Akingbade and a group of Ministers of Magic, including Bones - thought that Grindelwald is hiding in the shadows, sitting around waiting for chaos so that he can take advantage of the situation to ascend to the top and seize power in the magical world.
Felix did not see Grindelwald either, but he did meet Rosier in Hogsmeade, once again under the name of Nichol Noel, and Vinda Rosier refused to reveal Grindelwald's whereabouts, or it is possible that even she did not know.
As the second in command of the Acolytes, her role consisted of two things: to act as a middle ground between members of the Acolytes, gathering information from all directions; the other role involved teaching Felix how to disguise himself as Grindelwald without flaw.
"Since you have all joined the Ministry of Magic on a temporary basis," Ms. Bones looked around the room, "I won't be overly polite, I do need people urgently now - first things first, the Pan-Magical Alliance. Felix has agreed to have 'Future World' company work with this cooperation, with Lupin being in charge."
Lupin nodded, took a deep breath, and said with a determined gaze, "Leave it to me."
"Bill will follow you, he knows the goblins well." Ms. Bones continued and Bill in his seat said seriously, "And Fleur, she has long wanted to join the Order of the Phoenix." "That's fine, make your own arrangements. The second thing is the outside mission, the Ministry of Magic will adopt a retraction strategy until the outcome of the negotiations is clear, the general public will stay at home as much as possible, and the Ministry will send special staff to check the defences of each home -"
"Do we have to do this job too? It's a bit of a big deal." Mundungus asked with a drowsy look.
"No need." Ms. Bones said with a stern face, "You're in charge of the other thing, regulating, patrolling, and warning the various grey areas in the country, I demand a total pause in smuggling, theft, and black market transactions hidden in the shadows, of course, all you have to do is lead the way, that shouldn't be hard for you, should it?"
"This, this ..." Mundungus' whole being sobered up, and he said with a bitter face, "You can't spoil my job."
"Is smuggling, theft, and black market dealing all your job is about?" Moody yelled at him.
Mundungus flinched and avoided his gaze, bowing his head and muttering, "It's not like you don't know what I do - how many times did you catch me before you retired? Well, it's over, even if the ban is lifted, no one will be happy to do business with me anymore ..."
"A second-class Order of Merlin." Ms. Bones said with a firm demeanour.
Mundungus' eyes lit up, he didn't get a thing during the last war, there was nothing he could do about it, he had so little credit to claim and what little he had couldn't be put on the table. In contrast, the others present basically received their rewards after the war.
"If that's the case ..." his attitude softened, and he looked quite motivated. Sirius "snorted" out a laugh and Bones shot him a look, "You will resume your duties as my secretary."
"I refuse," Sirius said with a wide grin, "I'm going outside to do tasks."
Ms. Bones ignored him, "Third thing, I need some people to go abroad to find out what's going on in the outside world, including what the local wizarding population thinks, the attitude of the non-magical community towards wizards, and so on."
"You're worried about conflict coming from abroad?" Lupin asked tactfully.
"That is correct. Our representatives stationed at the Confederation are sending back a steady stream of information," Ms. Bones said with a stony face, "but unfortunately, as far as I can tell, they are mostly adopting a conservative strategy." With that she glanced at Felix, if she hadn't been subjected to a succession of ideological shocks before, and psychologically well-prepared for the crisis of exposure of the wizarding world, she's afraid that she would have made the same choice as those Ministers of Magic now - to actively withdraw and be at the mercy of fate.
'At the mercy of fate' may be a bit of an exaggeration, but apart from them, no other Ministry of Magic has actively embraced change, and the most radical thing they've done so far is reviewing the proposals she submitted previously and holding a meeting to discuss them. By the time they reached a conclusion, two or three months probably would have passed.
"Every region has a different environment for wizards to survive in." Ms. Bones explained, "The relationship between wizards and local governments in the United States is not good, and there is a lack of mutual trust between the two sides; the situation in Africa is even more complicated, due to differences in language and customs, and the existence of multiple autonomous organisations of wizards which function like a Ministry of Magic, but are actually significantly less important, so don't expect them to reach any agreement in the short term... ..."
With the main topic of business out of the way, Ms. Bones relaxed as the crowd spoke in small groups.
"What about Harry and the gang?" Lupin inquired Felix, "I saw you take them into a conference room when I arrived."
"Yeah," Sirius straightened up, his eyes rolled, "Why don't you hand Harry out to me, and we'll go on a mission together. That boy isn't that much weaker in battle power than I am, other than his lack of experience."
Felix gave him a side-eye glance, Harry at present is already superior to Sirius in strength completely, Sirius is purely trying to rub his face with gold. He said slowly, "Don't even think about it, they've got a bunch of homework to do."
"Homework?" Sirius' eyes widened as he seemed confused.
"Yeah, they have the burden of trying to break down the barrier between wizards and non-wizards on their shoulders." Felix said, exchanging a look with Ms. Bones, remembering the conversation that had taken place last night in Rita Skeeter's rented flat.
After experiencing the tornado incident in front of the Houses of Parliament up close and personal, Rita Skeeter had taken a half-day leave of absence, on the grounds that she was frightened, and The Sun newspaper was generous and very lenient with the world's first journalist to have publicly interviewed a wizard (even if it wasn't, it would have been branded as such), considering it a historic event comparable to third-degree contact, and ready to follow up by creating a series of hot stories around her.
In fact, Rita Skeeter was indeed shaken, but not by a wizard's spell as her superiors thought, but by the complete exposure of the wizarding community, and it took her a lot of questions to get her head around what had happened.
"You're going to stay on, Rita." Upon hearing of her bizarre experience, Felix said gleefully, "You will have plenty of access to confidential information next, that will not be written down in the newspaper - you have a keen eye for the human heart and know what they want, and I want you to continue to use your talents to dig out the true thoughts of people from all walks of life. And yes, in the next articles involving wizards, be unbiased and take a neutral stance."
"I can't influence the senior management's decisions." The expression on Rita Skeeter's face looked half expectant, half awkward. She used her long nails to tweak her chin and said wryly, "Unless - well, you guys allow me to use magic."
"We won't do that." Ms. Bones said sternly.
Rita Skeeter rolled her eyes and turned her head to look at Felix. Felix weighed his words, "Changing minds with magic has too many hidden dangers. This is not an isolated incident. In modern society, people are connected in all sorts of ways, and a sudden change in one's attitude can raise suspicion, especially at this point in time. The situation isn't that urgent for us to go to that length."
"What if the situation is urgent and there is no time to waste?" Rita Skeeter pursued.
"You have to think about the question, in whose hands do the power lie?" Felix gave her a meaningful look, "Do your part, and you'll become a legend among journalists."
Rita Skeeter fell into contemplation, she didn't feel a sense of irritation, she knew what she wanted.
"How are you planning to influence the attitude of the senior management of the newspaper?" Skeeter asked shrewdly, "I will need something at the back so that I can cooperate with you, won't I?"
"You've gained some reputation in the Gun Ban series coverage, make good use of it, and that Ilvermorny wizard who immobilised you with the Full Body-Bind Curse, I know you will hate him to the bone, but he's actually created an excellent profile for you, so put the resentment away for now ... Well, our original intention was to send the newspaper some basic information, understanding is the first step in removing the wariness, but I suddenly got a better idea, and I have some eager students on hand who would be happy to help."
"Well, I'd like to see ..." Rita Skeeter smacked her lips in discontent and asked, "What about my safety?"
"The Ministry of Magic will send Aurors to provide protection." Ms. Bones said.
...
"This is even worse than I thought, I thought I would be brewing tea, running errands, or writing a bunch of inexplicable reports like Percy at best," Ron couldn't help but complain, "but can someone tell me why we're writing essays in the Ministry of Magic?"
"Ron, what we're doing means a lot!" Hermione said seriously.
Harry didn't say anything, he stared listlessly at the parchment in front of him, not a single word touched on it. He had seen what thousands of wizards went through in the Pensieve, but none of it seemed helpful - none of them had mastered the skill needed to write articles for a Muggle newspaper.
He, Ron, Sirius, and the others had stayed overnight at school last night, Hermione was taken to home by the Professor, but he hadn't expected them to meet again in the lobby of the Ministry of Magic early this morning. Instead of making them do chores, the Professor led them to an empty meeting room, took out quills and bottles of ink, and asked them to write letters, presumably about their lives as current Hogwarts students, and Professor Hap warned them not to reveal their names, addresses, or any confidential information.
Harry looked around; at first, it was just the three of them, but it wasn't long before Professor Hap went out and brought back a number of people one after another, all of them from his school.
These students could be roughly divided into two camps. The first group is related to the Order of the Phoenix, such as Neville and Ginny, and of course him, Ron and Hermione; the second group are the family members of the Ministry of Magic's public officials, such as Susan Bones, Ernie Macmillan, Cormac McLaggen, Zacharias Smith (who Harry and Ron both hated), Draco Malfoy, and Cho Chang, who had brought her friend, Harry couldn't remember that girl's name, it seemed to be Mary or something.
But -
Harry turned his head and stared at Luna's tousled pale yellow hair, unable to figure out why she showed up here as well. Perhaps it might have something to do with the fact that Luna's father, Mr. Lovegood, shared a partnership with Professor Hap? He knew that the magazine 'The Solutions to the Ancient Runes' printed along with The Quibbler, and he had found an extra page of the Quibbler attached to an article when he read it one time, and Ron had bookmarked that issue.
Luna looked at Harry with her light-coloured eyes.
"Dad and I stayed over at Hogsmeade last night, and he wanted to thank Professor Hap in person."
"Oh," Harry blinked, "I thought I heard the Three Broomsticks room was full?" He actually wanted to ask why he wanted to thank Professor Hap, but then he suddenly remembered that the Professor had lent the Resurrection Stone to Luna, and it dawned on him, so he changed the subject.
"Yeah, so we stayed in the Hog's Head Inn," Luna said cheerfully, "Luckily, there was one last room left there when we went over to ask. Even more, luckily, Dad happened to spot Felix through the window when he got up to go to the toilet in the evening, and they chatted for a while and the professor mentioned he needed some student help, so here I am."
"Yeah, that's lucky enough." Harry said, but he knew how shitty the environment inside the Hog's Head Inn was. He couldn't help but mentally wonder what the Professor's purpose was for showing up in Hogsmeade though, was it to meet someone?
"Is Aberforth alright?" Hermione interjected to ask.
"He has probably never seen so many guests in his life, I don't know if it's a good thing for him though." Ron said with a frown.
"He's fine," Luna said seriously, "but he's planning to sell the Inn."
"What's wrong?" Harry looked shocked.
Luna shook her head slowly, "He didn't mention it, I guess he has more important things on his mind."
Harry brought his attention back to the parchment, he glanced to his both sides, Hermione had already written a third of the parchment, and he could tell that she was writing seriously, biting her lip as she kept composing, Ron had only written two lines and Harry stared at the freckles on his nose for inspiration, only to find Ron showing an expression of pleasant surprise and then seeming to write with a flood of ideas as he looked down and scribbled.
Harry couldn't help but be curious and lean over.
The first line started with 'I have a friend.' Harry froze and continued to read on, 'He grew up being abused by his Muggle relatives, oh Muggle meaning non-magical people, he lacked clothes and food, he was once locked up by his aunt and almost starved to death, luckily I noticed the abnormality and went to rescue him in a flying car; don't make a big deal out of it, it wasn't the first time we risked our lives despite the fact that we had only finished the first year at the time ...'
"Ron." Harry couldn't help but protest.
"What's wrong? I didn't mention your name." Ron said with a smirk.
Harry sat back and sulked alone, thinking about writing a 'My Muggle Aunt, Uncle and Cousin's Family' as well, which would serve as a perfect way for him and Ron to testify against each other if they were both chosen, but he didn't want to take a cheap advantage on Ron, and after thinking about it, he also started with 'I have a friend' opening sentence.
'I have a friend whose whole family are wizards, this friend's parents have seven children, and thus they are not exactly doing well in terms of wealth (much better now), but of course, it doesn't matter, because they are the kindest people I have ever met, especially compared to my relatives.'
Harry paused, still unable to resist making a dark reference to the Dursleys, he felt a little petty.
'I met this friend on a train, his twin brother helped me carry my trunk, and he was the first person my age I met in the wizarding world-' As he wrote this, Harry realised that something was wrong, the first person his age he had ever genuinely struck up a conversation within the wizarding world was actually Draco Malfoy, so he crossed that out and changed it to 'He was the first person my age I met on the train and the first friend I made in the wizarding world, though I soon made a second and third friend ...'
'One of the elective subjects at school is Muggle Studies, the textbooks to which are very old and completely out of date, but another friend of mine (who also comes from a Muggle family and therefore knows a lot about these things) said it is fascinating to look at these things from a wizard's point of view and I read the thesis she wrote: Why do Muggles need electricity? My first friend read it too, and he was very enthused to learn about it, even though he didn't select the course. I think it was a pity ...'
Near noon, Felix came over and read through a dozen letters one by one.
"McLaggen, there is no need to mention your father's connections in the Ministry of Magic three times in your letters;"
"Smith, there's far too much superiority in your writing, I can't guarantee whether the reader of it will want to punch someone when they read it ..."
"Luna, your observations are unique and detailed, but the mention of several unproven magical creatures ... never mind, it fits just right with your style."
"Well, Granger - yours is not very good, too rigorous, analysing the similarities and differences between the two sides from the perspective of muggles and wizards respectively as it came from an expert in the field, I want something written by a sixteen or seventeen-year-old, but you can pitch it to the Daily Prophet. "
"Miss Bones, my 'Aunt Minister of Magic' angle is interesting, you might as well write more, you're in control of your own scale."
"Weasley, you confessed about your illegal and disorderly behaviour, especially those paragraphs describing your psychology is quite wonderful, it is evident that you are the primary mastermind - no need to change, it's quite interesting, but I suggest you cross out the paragraph about your suspicion about me being the heir of the Chamber of Secrets."
"Potter, I'm not sure--well, how did you know that Mr. Weasley snored in his sleep? Oh, Ron told you. ... Well, it turns out Arthur has all his good stuff hidden in his garage - does Molly know about it?"
Felix supervised them to revise it, and finally tailored a very targeted beginning to it, then he singled out a few of them and handed them to an Auror.
"Send them to the Sun newspaper post."
...
In the afternoon, the press conference proceeded as scheduled in the Ministry of Magic conference room, with countless wizard families huddled in front of the magic radios. Felix's calm and confident voice carried through thousands of homes:
"... We have been forced to embark on an unprecedented torrent of time in which everyone is caught in, and I hope that when we look back at this period of history some years from now, each of us will be able to point to the world behind us and proudly say to future generations with pride that it is an era we created for them."
Meanwhile, the Sun's front office received several letters from 'enthusiastic little wizards'.
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