Chapter 400 Noisy Conference Room
Get up in the morning and start persuading parents. They spent some time in the morning to confirm the itinerary. After packing some of the luggage of the three of them, Loren and Hermione saw off the Grangers and Grandpa Bates. Finally, it was lunch time.
Loren and Hermione ordered room service to bring lunch to the room. The main course was steak and scones, with a cream of mushroom soup. There were no pre-made dishes at this time, and the lunch provided by a luxury hotel was worthy of the high price. The price was reasonable, and without the dentist and his wife supervising them, both of them ate very satisfactorily.
The dessert after the meal was ice cream balls, which were served in an ice bucket without melting at all.
Hermione looked at the ice cream carefully and distinguished their flavors. The black one was chocolate, the pink one was strawberry, and what flavor was the light green one?
She took a small spoonful and sipped it into her mouth. The cold and pungent taste of grass burst out in her mouth, and the stinging coolness shot straight into her nose, causing the girl to tremble slightly.
Hey, mint flavor...
Hermione shook her head and quickly took a spoonful of strawberry-flavored ice cream to sweeten her tongue. After thinking about the sweetness of the strawberry flavor, she put the mint-flavored ice cream ball into the ball. Digging into Loren's plate: "Hey, let me share one with you."
"..."
Loren looked at the ice cream ball with a piece missing and was silent for a moment.
Forget it, Monica just asked me to take care of her.
Hermione glanced at his expression quietly and asked quickly: "What should we do next, wait for the International Federation of Wizards to convene?"
"..."
What a clumsy change of subject.
Loren gave her a roll of his eyes, took a spoonful of ice cream and put it into his mouth, taking advantage of the cool and transparent mint aroma to sort out the information he had gotten these days.
It is known that there is something dirty in the underground pipes of Brooklyn, and it may be Voldemort or the Purifier behind it.
The Grangers and Grandpa Bates had already driven out of the city, and he and Hermione were able to evacuate quickly when they encountered an unknown incident. The matter was not as serious as they thought.
There are still two days until the International Wizarding Conference is held.
Loren thought for a moment and made a decision: "Let's go find Professor Dumbledore."
"Go to Professor Dumbledore."
Hermione repeated it in a low voice, with foam from the melted cream at the corners of her mouth.
...
Walworth Building, a conference room on the middle floor.
Dumbledore sat at the head of the conference table. His half-moon glasses and fluffy white beard obscured his face, making it difficult to see his expression. He was wearing the Wizengamot Chief Wizard Ceremony. The whole person looks majestic and solemn.
From the beginning of the meeting to now, he only said two insignificant words. The other ministers of magic present thought that he was the same as before and did not want to participate in voting on any disputes of interest, so they gradually ignored him. majesty.
This is not a formal meeting of the International Federation of Wizards. It is just a gathering of some magic governments with relevant interests to discuss some meeting issues in advance. Sometimes we can get results that are satisfactory to many parties, sometimes we can only exchange a few words, and the topic is still the same. Voted by all participants at a formal meeting.
Dumbledore is here to witness as a notary.
Participating in this forward-looking meeting were the ministries of magic from many countries, many of which have far-reaching influence.
The German Ministry of Magic. Over the past few centuries, the German Ministry of Magic has been Strictly control the evil spirits to reduce the chance of them eating people;
The United States Ministry of Magic, they have gone very far in getting along with non-magical people, although the purifiers have caused them a lot of trouble, 20 What happened in the 1990s almost destroyed half of New York City, but Serafina Picquery, the president of the Council at the time, had extraordinary perseverance. After being completely isolated from No-Majs for a period of time, the Magic Congress and Ilvermorny Let's try sexual contact and absorb the achievements of No-Maj culture together, which is developing the fastest now.
The French Ministry of Magic has long been committed to safeguarding the rights of Veela and Veela hybrid wizards; the Norwegian Ministry of Magic has made great achievements in the field of Quidditch;
The New Zealand Ministry of Magic has spent a lot of time, effort and financial resources to Upholding the Statute of Secrecy, especially items related to wizards but not magic. The greatest achievement of recent decades has been preventing Muggles from acquiring Maori art that depicts white wizards playing Quidditch.
The sculptures and paintings are currently on display at the Ministry of Magic's Wellington headquarters in New Zealand.
In addition, there are also the Ministry of Magic of Italy, the Ministry of Magic of Bulgaria, the Ministry of Magic of Liechtenstein and other small countries.
The spokesperson of the French Ministry of Magic is a woman with a gorgeous face. She is describing the situation of a large number of low-end potions being dumped in France, which attracted several Ministry of Magic spokespersons to echo.
"We must unite to raise the price of raw materials. If this continues, sooner or later they will overwhelm us with low prices!" the French spokesman said sternly.
Dumbledore lowered his head and picked at the nail of his thumb. Since he was one hundred years old, his nail growth has slowed down, but its thickness has increased, making him look a bit old. He obviously looked at it when he was ninety He still looks young.
I didn't expect Minerva to make the business so big. It seems that she is indeed suitable to be the principal of Hogwarts.
Dumbledore thought happily.
"The initiative to improve raw materials is not in our hands. We must unite the ministries of magic in India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other regions." A spokesman for the Italian Ministry of Magic said, "It is recommended that this issue be kept in Let's discuss it again at the International Wizarding Conference!"
The French spokesperson looked a little dissatisfied, but did not refute him. Instead, she started the next topic: "Next is about the Anti-Werewolf Act introduced by the British Ministry of Magic. Taking advantage of the fact that other intelligent humanoid magical creatures did not join the meeting , we'd better discuss the results first to avoid quarrels at the conference. "
Werewolves are special existences. Wizards generally do not recognize werewolves as wizards, but some humanoid intelligent magical creatures, including vampires, recognize werewolves. . The introduction and implementation of the "Anti-Werewolf Act" has caused dissatisfaction among many races. They feel that if things continue like this, they may be the next race to be expelled.
The French spokesperson has a close connection with the Veela, and there was a questioning tone in his voice.
Hearing this, everyone in the venue looked at everyone at the British Ministry of Magic. At this meeting, the British Ministry of Magic came with two main speakers, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, and Sitting next to him was Barty Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation.
Others had intriguing smiles in their eyes. After all, they all knew that the International Wizarding Conference was originally scheduled to be held in London, but the venue was suddenly changed not long ago.
Cornelius Fudge frowned. Senior Deputy Minister Dolores Umbridge, the proposer and advocate of the Anti-Werewolf Act, was not present today, and he did not prepare a speech on this issue.
Fudge gave Crouch a look next to him, indicating that he would put off the issue for now.
Barty Crouch looked a little absent-minded and ignored the look from the minister.
Seeing this, Fudge had no choice but to bite the bullet, coughed and began to discuss hesitantly: "Werewolves... Werewolves are a serious hidden danger to the wizarding community. Our British Ministry of Magic has always attached great importance to this issue... Everyone also knows that the wolfsbane potion not long ago was invented by the British wizard Damocles Bellby..."
Dumbledore had no intention of listening to Fudge's nonsense to delay time. He noticed that not far away Mr. Crouch's eyes were unfocused, absent-minded, and he looked very tired. He had looked like this since he entered the conference room. A faint blue light flowed behind the half-moon-shaped glasses.
It's strange. In the past few days before the International Federation of Wizards and Wizards, everyone else is so idle that they are about to sprout. Why does Mr. Crouch look so tired?
Looking for fun at night?
No, it's not.
Dumbledore had an encounter with Crouch during the trial of Death Eaters many years ago. Dumbledore had an understanding of this upright man who almost became the Minister of Magic. As far as he knew, Mr. Crouch was a dedicated man who had been concentrating on his work after his wife died of illness, and there had never been any scandals.
"...To sum up, werewolves are still a serious safety hazard to the wizarding community, and even because of their infectious characteristics, they can also affect Muggles. Strict management of werewolves is the most feasible way. This is why we have launched the "Anti-Werewolf Act" "
No matter what, Fudge has been the Minister of Magic for a few years. After clarifying his thoughts, his speech gradually became fluent. Although he failed to give any useful information, he managed to get over it.
As the country with the greatest impact of the Anti-Werewolf Act, the spokesperson of the United States couldn't help but stand up: "So your behavior is to drive away the werewolves in your country and let them migrate to the United States?"
The spokespersons of other countries and the Minister of Magic snickered quietly, gloating and waiting to see the show.
Fudge took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said reluctantly: "You can work with us to implement the Anti-Werewolf Act..."
"Then, will the whole world implement your "Anti-Werewolf Act" together until they are expelled from the earth?" the US spokesperson mocked, "Or do you plan to force all werewolves to death?"
They internally There was once the idea of absorbing werewolves as special personnel, but due to the uncontrollable and contagious nature of werewolves, the proposal did not pass.
Fudge stammered: "Werewolves are a harmful group... and, and this may be a relief for them -"
Before he could finish his words, the French spokesman saw The anger in Li was about to burst out, and Fudge even suspected that if he continued to speak, the French spokesperson would show his Veela fangs and pounce on him and bite his neck off.
The two began to quarrel in the conference room. Fudge was a little uncomfortable with this kind of situation. In addition, the American spokesperson added one or two irritating and strange words from time to time, and his face quickly became angry. blush.
Dumbledore felt his eyes were disturbed and turned to look out the window in disgust.
As night falls and the lights begin to turn on, Muggle electricity makes the city shine brightly. It is a technology more magical than magic. The streetlights are neatly arranged on both sides of the road. From a distance, it looks like the Milky Way. of starlight.
Suddenly, Dumbledore's eyes froze, and he saw several street lamps being picked like fruits, swaying together, and then extinguished in the darkness.
In the office, the quarrel has stopped. With the mediation of the Italian and Bulgarian spokespersons, the issue of werewolves has been temporarily postponed.
"The next topic is——"
"Sorry." Dumbledore's deep voice interrupted his speech, and he slowly stood up, "I want to go back and rest. Please forgive me for being an old man. I must fall asleep at the specified time, otherwise I will sleep all night. "
The others in the conference room were silent for a moment. They felt that this reason was too perfunctory, and they suspected that Dumbledore was tired of their quarrel, but thinking that this old man was indeed a hundred years old, And he has always had an eccentric personality, so maybe he really wants to go back to sleep.
Several spokespersons who were friends with Dumbledore said good night and watched him leave the conference room.
After seeing the door close and confirming that Dumbledore had gone away, Fudge shouted: "After all, it is a cross-country trip, and Albus is over a hundred years old, so it is normal to feel tired! Many wizards are traveling under him At this age, even if he doesn't have dragon scabies, he is already old and confused, his memory is confused, and he can't even hold a knife and fork!"
"Of course, I'm not saying that Albus is already old and confused. It's normal to say some strange things at this age. As you know, he has always been very weird..." Fudge made an embarrassed expression, as if he was trying to save Dumbledore's respect. "Last year he even told me, "That guy "You know who the mysterious man is" is back. "
The conference room fell completely silent. Everyone looked at Fudge and listened to his self-righteous speech.
"But let us think about it, if the mysterious man is really alive, why has the past ten years been so stable?"
"Even if it is true as Albus said, the mysterious man came back last year Why can we survive this year safely, right?"
"Let me tell you..."
...
In a narrow alley three blocks away from the Woolworth Building, a bizarre scene was taking place.
Two teenage children, a boy and a girl, were hiding behind the corner wall. The boy was holding a lighter-like object in his hand. Whenever he opened the metal cover, the light from the nearby street lamps looked like fruit. When it was picked off, a bright yellow ball of light rushed into the lighter with a hiss, and the light disappeared into the small box.
"Will this really make Dumbledore notice?" Hermione asked quietly, her eyes fixed on the small box.
"Try it, I think he can see..."
Loren whispered back. When he just got the Deluminator, he had studied it for a while and had seen the disassembly diagram. , in addition to collecting and storing light, it also involves very profound alchemy, which is more complicated than he imagined.
As he was talking, he turned around and suddenly saw a lady's silk glove floating in the air, with the fingers spread out and the silk filling it, as if an invisible hand was wearing the glove.
Loren and Hermione looked straight at the gloves.
The silk gloves waved as he greeted them and pointed to the tall building not far away.
"It seems to be guiding us..." Hermione said hesitantly.
Loren nodded, with that magical radiance like a little sun, he couldn't think of anyone else.
The silk glove reached out and made a gesture of invitation to shake hands. Loren thought for a moment, held Hermione's hand with one hand, and held the silk glove with the other.
A gentle magic power surged up, and the surrounding space was quickly distorted.
The next second, he and Hermione disappeared into the alley.
(End of this chapter)