"Dictator..." Murphy was holding a copy of Dumbledore's complaint letter, reading it with great interest, "Such flattery, it's almost embarrassing."
...
Barty Crouch was speechless.
Was that really praise?
Which part of that letter contained a single compliment?
"Murphy, now's not the time for jokes. They're serious about this. If we don't handle this properly, the consequences could be troublesome!" Crouch reminded.
"Oh? What kind of trouble?"
Murphy set aside the thick stack of papers, crossed his legs, and looked like he was all ears.
"Well... naturally, we'll be ostracized by the international community. The British wizarding community will be isolated, excluded from international affairs. In severe cases, they might restrict trade with us or even impose bans, prohibiting some of our members from traveling abroad..."
Murphy nodded, "Anything else?"
"You could become an international fugitive. They might even send an international task force to capture you."
Murphy nodded again, "Continue."
...
Crouch furrowed his brows, "You don't seem worried at all?"
"Worried about what?" Murphy smiled, "Worried that we won't be able to host the Quidditch World Cup? That we can't join the International Gobstones Club? Or that they'll send three or four experts like Dumbledore to catch me?"
"Sorry, I really can't think of anything we need to worry about."
"But..." Crouch felt something was off, "Are we going to be enemies with all countries from now on?"
"Why would we be enemies?" Murphy asked, "Is any country's wizarding community going to declare war on us?"
"That..." Crouch hesitated.
While the Muggle world had seen wars, and wizards had various reasons to get involved, it was rare, if ever, that a magical ministry invaded another country's wizards.
First, wizarding societies in each country were generally self-governing communities, making it hard to form an external force like an army.
Second, with wizards being so few and the world so vast, wizards could generally provide for themselves, making war meaningless.
Risking life and limb to wage war usually aimed at gaining something, but what could wizards gain? More land they couldn't use? More magical creatures that needed to be carefully managed to avoid exposure to Muggles?
It would take a particularly insane person to undertake such a loss.
Only under one condition might a wizarding war occur: to gather and rule over more wizards.
But that presupposed the existence of a power-hungry individual like Grindelwald or Voldemort. Even then, wouldn't it be more convenient to become the President of the International Confederation of Wizards?
Compared to other countries' wizards, Murphy actually had a reason and motive to initiate a wizarding war.
"Are we really going to do nothing?" Crouch was still worried.
"Of course, we can't just do nothing. If people insult us, throw dirt on us, we certainly can't accept that," Murphy said. "We must make our voices heard, even if no one believes us, you still have to say the official words."
"It's just a war of words, the kind where even if you lose, it doesn't cause much harm. Just argue back as much as you like."
"Respond to the Confederation positively, but the investigation team, we don't necessarily need to cooperate. Is our Ministry of Magic so idle? For such baseless accusations, find an excuse to brush them off."
"Compared to the noise outside, what we should really pay attention to is the wizards at home. Just have the Daily Prophet publish some articles."
"Why would Dumbledore, a British wizard, do something so detrimental to the British wizarding community?"
"Is he harboring any grievances since leaving Hogwarts?"
"Even more so, is Dumbledore really that trustworthy?"
"Mr. Crouch, the wise who can truly see the whole picture are a very small minority among people. Most can only make judgments based on limited knowledge and partial information. Choosing a good angle and a good way of narration, the facts can appear in countless forms."
...
Barty Crouch left with doubts, still somewhat uncertain.
Yet, Murphy wasn't as carefree as he had appeared.
He frowned and picked up the complaint letter again.
Dumbledore really went through with it.
This wasn't his usual approach. Clearly, he now saw Murphy as a real enemy and realized he couldn't stop him on his own.
In fact, as Murphy had mentioned earlier, this move wasn't entirely without effect.
What Murphy feared most was the wizarding society interfering with Umbrella.
As Dumbledore said, the British wizarding community was indeed under his control now, and he wasn't worried about those so-called international opinions or sanctions from the wizarding community; they truly meant nothing.
But if wizards used their influence on Muggle society to target Umbrella, it could place Umbrella in a more passive position in the global market.
However, there was a way out.
Wizards and Muggle societies don't always share the same interests. When Umbrella is just a threat to the local market, a replaceable foreign enterprise, Muggle society might abandon it under wizarding influence.
But what if Umbrella held a value no Muggle could refuse?
For instance: the ability to combat aging.
The only company that can truly reverse aging and extend human life.
In the face of this irrefutable gift, any Muggle would become an ally of Umbrella.
And the wizards attempting to take this gift away from Muggles would seem overly objectionable.
The anti-aging virus.
This kind of psychic virus is the only anti-aging method that can be mass-produced at the moment.
Murphy hadn't planned to introduce it to the market so soon.
But now, using it to forge an invincible golden body for Umbrella doesn't seem like a loss.
On the other hand, while the International Confederation of Wizards might not be able to do much to the British wizarding community, being isolated in the international community is indeed dangerous. Once Dumbledore realizes this move can't harm Murphy significantly, he will surely take more actions.
If the British wizarding community really has to leave the group, it's best to align with one or two partners.
Murphy thought about it and was about to send a message to Lady Yaga to see if they could formally ally with Arkaim. But before he could send his message, he received a message from the other side.
"Come quickly to the Spring Palace. Maria has appeared."
___________________
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