"Really? That's great!" Hacker felt an unexpected surge of joy.
How to solve this problem in a way that benefited everyone? It's simple, the person who lost the dog should bear the search expenses. But that person can't afford to pay, and now it has become a moral blackmail by the media towards Hacker. If Hacker refuses to rescue the dog, he'll appear too cruel, but if he rescues it, he'll be seen as someone seeking his own interest and won't please anyone.
Faced with this dilemma, Tom offered a third option: using magic to solve the problem!
"Please, Tom," Hacker said.
A complicated matter was resolved in a few words.
"Speaking of which, it was a close call; I was about to listen to Humphrey," Hacker recalled Humphrey's entrance moments ago and felt relieved.
Tom looked at Hacker's expression and was left speechless. How is it possible for Hacker, as the nominal leader of civil servants, to be so manipulated?
"Maybe you should put a lock on the door," Tom casually suggested.
Even kids know it's better to lock the door when using a computer.
"He has the key," Hacker said with a worried face.
"You can change the lock," Tom said without thinking.
Hacker: !!!
"Can I really change the lock?" He seemed a bit puzzled, but then he reacted immediately: of course he could! He was the Prime Minister!
10 Downing Street was theoretically his residence, so he had every right to change the lock.
"You can ask another official to guard the key and, at the same time, optimize the security regulations to completely sever the connection between Sir Humphrey and your side," Tom suggested, presenting a second strategy. Civil servants aren't united, right? So, find a way to divide them.
Hacker: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ
He didn't fully understand this combo of moves, but he was impressed and felt it was very powerful. He began to think carefully about it.
Outside the office, Humphrey was also questioning Bernard about Tom's background.
"So, he's... from the Prime Minister's...?" Sir Humphrey discreetly pointed his finger toward the Prime Minister's office.
After receiving a negative response, Sir Humphrey fell into deep thought.
"He's not an illegitimate child, not a representative of some strange organization, nor from an influential family... so where the hell does he come from?" Sir Humphrey looked toward the closed door of the office, deep in thought.
At that moment, the man named Lucius, whom the old Arnold had shown him that day, came to mind.
"Could it be...?" Sir Humphrey glanced at the office with a penetrating look.
This was a visitor from the magical world! A connection that had so far been in the hands of the Prime Minister! Throughout the generations, civil servants had done their best to establish a connection with the Malfoy family, and now that connection was about to be broken. But dear Lord, today he had really encountered him!
He had to seize this opportunity.
So, he waited patiently outside the office. It took a long time before Tom finally left the office.
As Tom was about to leave, Humphrey approached enthusiastically and invited him to try afternoon tea at Downing Street.
"Of course," Tom replied, also curious about this leader of civil servants, and together, they entered the tea room of number 10.
"Lucius Malfoy," Sir Humphrey suddenly said.
Tom was surprised, then understood: Humphrey really had a connection to the magical world.
Seeing Tom's reaction, Sir Humphrey also confirmed that Tom was indeed a person from the magical world.
However, neither of them rushed to take things further. They just had tea, chatted, and enjoyed some sweets.
"So, when you're an adult, what do you plan to do?" Sir Humphrey found a good topic of conversation.
"Go to Oxford to study and graduate with first-class honors, become a civil servant," Tom improvised, speaking without thinking and making Sir Humphrey laugh until his stomach hurt and he was almost in tears.
"Very well, but make sure not to attend the wrong school. If you end up at the London School of Economics, you'll probably only become a minister," he added disparagingly about Hacker's education.
"Leave your phone number," Tom said, following the idea of taking advantage of the situation, jotting down Humphrey's home phone number. Doing this was like moving a relatively unimportant chess piece, leaving an official connection in the UK, which might come in handy in the future.
With this step, he had achieved his goal for today. He had maintained the relationship with Hacker and also established a connection with civil servants, making his future actions easier.
As for how to help Hacker, he had his own methods.
...
The cold spread across the Salisbury Plain moors as night fell. During the day, journalists with their cameras and microphones had retreated, leaving scattered rubbish everywhere.
Tom took advantage of the darkness of the night and transformed into a phoenix to quickly reach the location. He flew over the moor for a while and finally found the Border Collie named Bonnie next to a tree trunk.
The next step was very simple. Tom dived down, grabbed the Border Collie, and took off into the sky with it. With that, his mission was a great success.
"You can make your report now," Tom said after landing, releasing the Border Collie and returning to his human form. He also successfully found the support staff that Hacker had organized.
"How did you do that?" asked the support staff, amazed. "Didn't you go directly into a dangerous area?"
"I just have dog training skills," Tom replied, waving his hand to downplay his abilities, and disappeared into the darkness.
While Tom was busy strengthening his ties with Hacker in the afternoon, Karkaroff was fleeing for his life.
Karkaroff knew Lord Voldemort's nature very well and was aware of his immense power and limitless magical abilities, so he dared not stop and ran from Northern Europe to Japan, crossing the entire continents of Asia and Europe.
When he finally set foot on Japanese magical territory, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief. He was finally safe.
It turned out the "Shogun" still had some nostalgia. Upon learning of his arrival and understanding his intentions, he prepared a safe house for him and ordered his followers to personally protect him, offering him a new identity when the time was right.
Karkaroff felt relieved and renewed, as if he had been given a second chance at life. But that feeling only lasted until he opened the door of the safe house.
"It's been a long time, my old friend," said Voldemort, raising his hand and casting a curse that rendered Karkaroff's followers unconscious. He then conjured a rope out of thin air and tied the terrified Karkaroff.
Behind Voldemort, one after another, the Death Eaters emerged from the shadows. They formed a circle around Karkaroff and Voldemort, as they had done in the small village of Little Hangleton.
"Mas...ter..." Karkaroff attempted to say something, but Voldemort silenced him with a touch of his wand.
"Perhaps you wonder why you find yourself here, in front of your former master... I can only say that the power of Lord Voldemort knows no bounds. There is nothing he cannot do... Well, I've spoken too much already. It's time to settle scores!" Voldemort's cold voice echoed in the safe house.