When Kingsley sent back the information he had received, everyone was surprised.
"A fireplace eliminated the possibility of war?" Sirius leaned against the doorframe, with a cat teaser dangling down from his hand, and Crookshanks seized the opportunity to pounce on it and grab it.
Ms. Bones was much relieved by this, nevertheless, she remained stern-faced and corrected, "It's ten million fireplaces, the real number will only be more than that."
"Oh come on," Sirius said in a bantering tone as he picked up Crookshanks, ignoring the fierce face he was making, "cats don't worry about whether they'll have food tomorrow, do they? It's too tiring to live like that." He kept shaking the big ginger cat.
Crookshanks huffed and stretched out the pads of his cat's paws and smacked Sirius in the face. A small smile swept across Ms. Bones' eyes.
"What's next?" Lupin asked, sitting on the couch.
Felix thought for a moment and uttered one word, "Wait."
"The Ministry of Magic has the information advantage over the Muggle government in this whole conflict. We have shown more initiative in the early stages in order to eliminate the risk of war, but nothing can be done in excess, and we have already awakened a massive machine with a population of nearly sixty million people."
"Now that Kingsley is keeping an eye on the government and Skeeter is staying at the Sun, the next step is to listen to the voices of the people - well, I'm not sure yet, have the special floo network lines been established?"
"The floo network administrators are working overtime," Ms. Bones said, "but it's going to take time to structure a network across all the counties of the country."
Felix nodded to show that he understood.
The matter was an extension of a series of suggestions he had made at Hogwarts last time: there might be hundreds of newspapers across Britain, and even more local tabloids of all kinds than one could count, but they certainly brought together a portion of public opinion. Wizards are inherently small in number, and sorting out information through these newspapers is the best way to proceed.
But there are two difficulties in the matter of procuring newspapers using the floo network.
One being how to collect and compile newspapers from all over the country, and the solution Felix gave was the floo network. The floo network was designed to transmit people around the country through flames and internal routes provided the wizard could say where he or she wanted to go. Felix, on the other hand, wanted to create a specialized floo network, like a spider's web with merely longitudinal thread, with the Ministry of Magic at the centre and the other end of the spider web placed in each of the country's counties.
This would have the advantage of saving manpower, and a dozen people would be able to travel quickly through the country on short notice. Of course, for security reasons, the wizards in charge of this task would be required to carry special passes, and they have been separated from the Floo Network Authority to form a separate division under the Department of Magical Transportation.
It is worth mentioning that since there will be more and more interaction with the non-magical world in the future, Ms. Bones intends to create a new Department of Magic, which will be based on the 'Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office' of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement with some of the staff from the Obliviator Headquarters, the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee and the Muggle Liaison Office to form the new department.
Due to the unexpected exposure of the wizarding community, only the beginning of this project had been completed, leaving most of the progress still on her Minister's desk.
The second difficulty involved staffing. Obtaining the newspapers certainly would not be enough; it would be necessary to deploy staff to analyse the articles one by one, and these people would have to have a basic understanding of both wizard and muggle society in order not to be confused by a bunch of unfamiliar terms. The Ministry of Magic only has a limited number of people from muggle families.
"Didn't you guys collect a bunch of names of students who were willing to help?" Felix said to Harry, "Well, let's call them over to give it a try." He held out the slightest hope in the back of his mind. Grindelwald had supposedly been teaching students seriously for the whole of last year, hadn't he?
In a way, Grindelwald's Defence Against the Dark Arts could well be renamed 'Defence Against the Muggle Community's Weapons and Concealments'.
As it turned out, he did a pretty good job.
The following day alone, a dozen young faces were added to the Ministry, and the number quickly surpassed a hundred.
The Ministry of Magic became crowded at once.
"At first we only called people who were close to us." Hermione said with slightly rosy cheeks, "Harry has the contacts of all the members of the frontline lookout club, and I was able to contact the Magic Rune Club ... and then word got out."
"Fred and George helped a lot too." Ron said, "They've been quietly operating a radio station for some time now, it was set up even before the wizarding community was exposed. They didn't think that far ahead though, originally they only intended to use the radio to promote the products of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, with the secret code written blatantly on the bottom of the leaflet."
"You guys are doing a great job." Felix said encouragingly. "There are too many people though, even underclassmen."
He was referring to the Creevey brothers. The older brother, Colin Creevey, was in the same grade as Ginny, both fifth years, and could barely fit in, but the younger brother, Dennis Creevey, was only a third year, and he figured it would take him half an hour to read a paper.
"I've asked Colin to talk his brother to go back." Harry said in a rush while warning Ron and Hermione with a look, and Ron seemed to think of something funny as he forced himself to hold back a laugh.
Harry didn't dare tell the Professor that the Creevey brothers were in high spirits and that they weren't working alone, the two brothers ran the 'Harry Potter Fan Club' together and Colin had assured him with conviction that he could recruit another fifty people.
It took him a lot of talking to dissuade Colin from that idea.
When the number approached two hundred, it became impractical to keep them in the Ministry of Magic any longer.
When Professor McGonagall learned of their dilemma, she invited them to Hogwarts, "It's the summer holidays and the school is deserted. Moreover, there is a hidden danger in a mass gathering of wizards."
As the new Headmistress of Hogwarts and a senior figure in the Order of the Phoenix, she hadn't exactly spent the last few days relaxing.
It wasn't an off-site mission, though.
On the one hand, she and the other professors were busy upgrading the defences of Hogwarts Castle; on the other hand, she had found a magical album in the Headmaster's office that resembled an address book, that contained both Dumbledore's closest friends and personal connections, as well as high officials from the Ministry of Magic abroad, some of whom could no longer respond to her because of their age.
The most important thing on it for her was the pictures of the Headmasters of the eleven world-renowned wizarding schools.
In the ordinary course of events, she would have spent years visiting each of these schools after succeeding as Headmistress, but for now, all formalities of false courtesy were eliminated and all questions and messages were conveyed through the photographs.
In the Hogwarts great hall, Professor McGonagall and several of the remaining professors gave a warm welcome to the students.
"Thank you for coming forward at a critical time, you are more than just Hogwarts students, you are part of the wizarding community and represent the future of the wizarding world ..." she said excitedly, unable to restrain herself from taking out a handkerchief to wipe the corners of her eyes in the middle of her sentence.
Something took root in the hearts of all the students as a sinking feeling settled over them.
"Maybe I should include Muggle Studies as a compulsory subject for young wizards from wizarding families ... This subject could become increasingly important, even Alasdair Maddock has openly stated his love for the Muggle sports, what else can't happen?"
"Who is Alasdair Maddock?" Ron asked in a whisper.
"A pretty good chaser," Ginny, who is also a chaser, said, "The papers say he's expected to join the legendary Montrose Magpies next year."
"Professor McGonagall is a Montrose Magpies fan." Harry added.
The castle was quiet that evening, not as lively as usual. Seamus stared blankly out of the window; Harry knew he grew up as a standard half-blood, his mother being a witch and his father a muggle, and he had told them about it as a joke -
"Mum didn't tell Dad she is a witch until after she got married. It scared the hell out of him."
As Harry walked past, Seamus whispered, "My mum and dad had a fight. Because Dad's co-worker said something bad about wizards when he came to visit the house." Harry paused and patted him on the shoulder.
"It'll get better."
"Will it?"
"It will."
The next morning, everyone gathered in the great hall as the Ministry of Magic deployed a small team to assign tasks to the students. Harry was surprised to see Percy's figure.
"Shut up, don't talk." When Percy passed Ron, who opened his mouth, Percy immediately warned, "I won't give you any preferential treatment." With those words, he dropped a stack of muggle newspapers with a thud.
Ron made a face at him when Percy left and picked up the newspapers.
"Hey, we've been allocated to Devon." He whispered to Harry, the Burrow is located in Devon.
"I'll keep an eye out for news from the Ottery St Catchpole village for you if there is any." Harry whispered, at which point Percy and a few Ministry of Magic staff stood in front of the students and told them what to do.
The student's task is substantial, but implementing it on an individual basis made it simple. They first divide up a group of students to pick out the newspaper articles with the words 'Wizard', 'Witch', and 'Magic' in them, then cut them out and roughly categorise them (at the moment there are only two types, good and bad). The categorised clippings are sent to another group of students, all from Muggle families, who are responsible for picking out the more pressing ones, usually from influential media, articles with extreme views, or statistics.
"In the face of any group of people being controversial, the primary consideration should be the base, proportion, and probability of different situations occurring." Hermione said to Harry and Ron.
"Whose views are these?" Harry asked.
"Professor Hap mentioned it in a report." Hermione said without thinking.
"It doesn't quite ring a bell, didn't sound like him." Ron rubbed his chin and analysed it.
"That's because you never read articles of a serious nature!"
"She's talking nonsense," Ron said to Harry when Hermione had turned her head to leave, "There's no stuff as serious and boring as the History of Magic, and I've been studying it for five whole years! If you add in Professor Binns' lectures, the effect is simply doubled ..."
"Then it's time to show your talents in this area." Harry said dryly, his eyes fixed on an obituary in the newspaper.
David, died on June 23, 1997, at the age of fifty-one. He was a lover of the occult and magic during his lifetime and "I am actually a vampire." He said this to a journalist during one of his interviews. In the background at the time, there were three children who were crying in fear at his presence. He considered it an honour, but his wife was not impressed and asked the journalist if vampires could get the cardio-vascular disease - a question that the journalist purposely recorded and publicly sought an answer to, given that wizards really do exist.
Harry scratched his head, should I cut it off? But what category of information should it be classified as? I suppose it should count as a well-intended one.
Nearly two hours later, they were finally done and Harry rubbed his sore neck. The thirty or so information he had gathered were both good and bad, but all within acceptable limits. It was pretty much the same on Ron's end.
Harry looked up and noticed with shock that there was an extra wall in the middle of the great hall. Percy and a couple of staff members were standing at the front, putting up newspaper cuttings every now and then, and they were surrounded by a circle of students who has solemn expressions. Harry went over and noticed a huge map of England hanging on the wall, with lines and symbols of special significance, which reminded him of the tactics board hanging on the wall in the players' lounge.
"There is a greater rejection of wizards in the more remote countryside." He heard Percy whisper.
"It might have something to do with religion." Another man said.
Harry's heart sank as he remembered what Seamus had said to him last night, and his chest felt like a stone pressing down on him, and he couldn't catch his breath. His breath puffed onto the back of the student's neck in front of him and the person looked back - Draco Malfoy looked at him with a strange expression that seemed like anger and seemed to be hiding something else.
He stepped aside towards the side to make room. Harry gave him a surprised look, then took a step forward.
Harry could see more clearly, a blood-soaked coloured headline taking up a third of the page, titled 'All Wizards Should Go to Hell'. He frowned.
"Oh never mind that, it's just a third-rate local tabloid," Hermione said as she pushed in from the back of the crowd, clutching a stack of newspaper clippings in her hands. She said with annoyance, "I bet it doesn't have more than a thousand readers - this is the kind that's really hard to deal with." She held up a newspaper clipping and waved it in front of Harry and Draco.
'A detailed list of notorious events in history where wizards are suspected to have been involved.'
"Is that true?" Harry asked in surprise.
"It has nothing to do with true or false, with the word 'suspected' being used in it." Hermione said contemptuously, "But they clearly didn't have good intentions when they linked wizards with vicious events." She moved past Harry and handed the newspaper clipping to Percy.
"Oh yes, Harry - I just forgot to mention that your letter appeared in the newspaper."
...
Over the next few days, various pieces of information continued to come together.
Ms. Bones compiled their recent approaches into a booklet and submitted it to the International Confederation of Wizards, and according to the delegate stationed there, over two hundred people were clamouring in the lobby of the Confederation's headquarters, with African delegates alone taking up a quarter of the crowd.
"Prior to this, the autonomous bodies in Africa gained international support by grouping together, which is how Akingbade rose to power, and of course, it has to be acknowledged that he himself showed competence and was trusted by all parties until the crisis arose." The representative said bluntly.
"But with the wizarding community completely exposed, they started to think differently, and many of their claims were eye-opening - for example, a place I can't even name, which is not as big as even a county in England, with just over a hundred wizards. They have a good relationship with their local Muggle military regime, maintaining a near semi-open alliance; for example, if the Muggle military regime attempts to conquer a tribe, which has wizards in it, even if it is just a single wizard, the local wizard group there will help them conquer that tribe."
This information shocked many people.
"The International Confederation of Wizards doesn't care?" Sirius looked surprised, "What about the Statute of Secrecy? Aren't wizards strictly forbidden from getting involved in muggle disputes?"
Ms. Bones sighed.
"Statute of Secrecy isn't foolproof, they vary from person to ... person and place to place! Africa is already a special region, plus magic is highly respected there ... Anyway, the International Confederation of Wizards has always had very low expectations of them, it's fine as long as they don't make a big mess."
Lupin raised his eyebrows slightly.
"If I understand correctly - before the Statute of Secrecy became junk - the wizards there showed some self-restraint, but now ..." he paused, "Muggle military regimes openly pull in wizards as their thugs, aren't they?"
"There is already a trend towards that." Ms. Bones said, "The Confederation sent a warning to those two groups of wizards, but it is yet to be seen how much effect it will have - after a brief glimpse of the wizard force that Grindelwald has along with the disclosure, various ministries of magic have withdrawn their Aurors who were sent out, to take care of their own countries. The Confederation is now an empty shell and considerably less binding."
After handing over a copy of their previous initiatives to the International Confederation of Wizards, she could only stare blankly afterwards.
"Or on a happier note," Ms. Bones suddenly chuckled, "Kingsley brought back some good news, the Prime Minister's side has finally ended their lengthy meeting and passed a resolution to extend an invitation to the wizards."
Lupin was slightly surprised and then smiled. Moody's magic eyes darted around, his grip on his walking stick kept loosening and tightening, Bill and Fleur hugged each other in excitement, and amidst a crowd of leering eyes, Sirius gave Amelia Bones a firm hug and a kiss.
A week of tight nerves had left them all a little breathless, and everyone felt excited to see the light of day now. At dinner, Ms. Bones sat next to Felix and talked to him in a whisper.
"The news won't be announced until tomorrow, the Prime Minister has sent a message via portrait that they will be sending out an invitation in the Queen's name, in the nature of a private party or afternoon tea ... Do you have any suggestions?"
Felix thought for a moment and asked tentatively, "They don't want it to be too official?"
"Yes. The Prime Minister stated that there is still a significant number of people in Parliament who have misgivings." Ms. Bones said, "He suggested politely that it would be best if the team selected to negotiate is not too official, and that the party will not proceed to any substantive negotiations right off the bat. This event basically equates to the wizard's first public appearance - well, actually the second, even though Grindelwald's acolytes have largely failed to make a good impression on the world."
"It has to be a stark contrast to the Acolytes ...," Felix mused, his eyes lighting up as he skimmed over the crowd of people in the hall and stopped on the students' Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny.
"What do you think about picking a few students to form a delegation?" Bones was about to open her mouth to retort when Felix continued, "A delegation that will be personally led by me."
Bones was stunned, then looked down and thought quickly. The conclusion was ... It seemed feasible?
With Felix around, there would be no need to worry about safety at all, she trusted his wisdom in making decisions on the spot, and as Felix is nominally a professor at the school, it made perfect sense for a professor to lead students without any obvious political overtones. As for her earlier fleeting concerns, such as being given a hard time by Muggle government officials, they would be dealt with by the Prime Minister, as he would give warning.
Better to show their strength properly ...
"So be it!" Ms. Bones said, then she hesitated slightly, "The student candidates-"
"Choose from the hundred or so student volunteers, first consult with their parents." Felix said immediately, "Make the pros and cons clear to them, after all not everyone wants to show up in public ..."
A new day had begun.
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