Chapter 691 New Generation (Please give me double monthly votes!)
When Kingsley's news came back, everyone was surprised.
"A fireplace eliminated a war?" Sirius leaned against the door frame, the cat toy in his hand hanging down, and Crookshanks saw the opportunity to pounce on it and bite it.
Ms. Bones felt much more relieved, but still said with a straight face: "It's 10 million fireplaces, the real number will be more than this."
"Oh, come on," Sirius picked up Crookshanks, ignored the fierce face it made, and said in a teasing tone: "Cats don't worry about whether they have food tomorrow, right? That's too tiring to live." He kept shaking the big ginger cat.
Crookshanks stretched out his cat paw pad angrily and hit Sirius in the face. A hint of smile flashed across Ms. Bones' eyes.
"What to do next?" Lupin asked while sitting on the sofa.
Felix thought for a moment and said one word, "Wait."
"In this crisis, the Ministry of Magic has an information advantage over the Muggle government. In order to eliminate the hidden dangers of war, we have been more proactive in the early stage, but everything is too much, and we have awakened a huge machine with a population of nearly 60 million." "
Now Kingsley is watching the government, Skeeter is staying at the Sun, and the next step is to listen to the voices of the people - oh, I don't know yet, has the special Floo network line been constructed?"
"The Floo network administrators are working overtime," said Ms. Bones, "but it will take time to build a network covering all counties in the country."
Felix nodded, indicating that he understood.
This matter is an extension of a series of suggestions he made at Hogwarts last time: there may be hundreds of newspapers in the UK, and there are too many local tabloids to count, but they undoubtedly represent part of public opinion. Wizards are few in number, and it is a good way to sort out information through these newspapers.
But there are two difficulties in using the Floo network to purchase newspapers.
One is how to quickly collect and summarize newspapers from all over the country. The solution Felix gave is the Floo network. In theory, the Floo Network is used to pass people, allowing wizards to travel on fire with the help of flames and internal lines, but the place must be said by the wizards themselves. Felix hopes to establish a dedicated Floo Network, like a spider web with only vertical threads, with the Ministry of Magic at the center and the other radial ends set up in counties across the country.
The advantage of doing this is that it saves manpower, and a dozen people can quickly fly across the country. Of course, for safety reasons, wizards responsible for this task must wear special passes. They are separated from the Floo Network Administration and set up a separate department under the management of the Department of Magical Transportation.
It is worth mentioning that because there will be more and more places to deal with the non-magical world in the future, Ms. Bones plans to set up a new Department of Magic, that is, based on the Office of Prohibition of Abuse of Muggle Objects of the Law Enforcement Department, and then draw some staff from the Memory Cancellation Command, the Muggle Issues Mediation Committee, and the Muggle Liaison Office to form a new department.
Because of the accidental exposure of the wizarding world, this plan has only completed the beginning, and most of the remaining progress is still on her minister's desk.
The second difficulty is the problem of manpower. Of course, it is not enough to just get the newspapers. People have to be assigned to analyze the articles one by one. These people have to have a basic understanding of both wizarding and Muggle society, so they will not be confused by a bunch of unfamiliar terms. And the number of people from Muggle families in the Ministry of Magic is limited.
"Didn't you collect a list of students who are willing to help?" Felix said to Harry, "Then ask them to come and try." He had a little hope in his heart that Grindelwald should have been teaching students seriously for the whole year last year.
To some extent, Grindelwald's Defense Against the Dark Arts can be renamed "Muggle Community Concealment and Weapon Defense".
Facts have proved that they did a good job.
On the second day alone, there were more than a dozen young faces in the Ministry of Magic, and then the number of people continued to exceed one hundred.
The Ministry of Magic suddenly became crowded.
"At first we only called people we were close to." Hermione said with a slight blush on her cheeks: "Harry has the contact information of all the members of the frontline lookout stations, and I was able to contact the Magic Club... and then the news spread."
"Fred and George also helped a lot." Ron said: "They have secretly opened a radio station for some time, even before the wizarding world was exposed. But they didn't have any good intentions. They originally planned to use the radio station to promote the products of the Magic Wheezes Workshop, and the code was blatantly written under the flyers."
"You did a good job." Felix encouraged. "But there are too many people, even students from lower grades."
He was referring to the Creevey brothers. The elder brother Colin Creevey was in the same grade as Ginny, both in the fifth grade, and could barely be used, but the younger brother Dennis Creevey was only in the third grade, and it would probably take him half an hour to read a newspaper.
"I've asked Colin to persuade his brother to go back." Harry said quickly, and warned Ron and Hermione with his eyes. Ron seemed to have thought of something interesting, and he tried hard to hold back his laughter.
Harry didn't dare tell the professor that the Creevey brothers were very excited, and they were not fighting alone. The two brothers jointly ran the "Harry Potter Fans Club". Colin vowed to him that he could recruit another fifty people.
He spent a lot of time to persuade Colin to give up this idea.
When the number of people approached two hundred, it would be inappropriate to let them stay in the Ministry of Magic.
After learning about their difficulties, Professor McGonagall invited them to Hogwarts, "It's summer vacation now, and the school is deserted. And there are hidden dangers when wizards gather in large numbers."
As the new principal of Hogwarts and a veteran of the Order of the Phoenix, she has not had an easy time these days.
But she is not out on duty.
On the one hand, she and other professors are busy upgrading the defense system of Hogwarts Castle; on the other hand, she found a magic album similar to an address book in the principal's office. There are both close friends and personal relationships of Dumbledore, as well as high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic abroad. Because of the long time, some people can no longer respond to her.
For her, the most important thing here is the photos of the principals of 11 world-renowned magic schools.
According to the normal process, she should have spent several years visiting these schools one by one after taking over as the headmaster, but now all formalities are waived, and all questions and information are conveyed through photos.
In the Hogwarts Great Hall, Professor McGonagall and several professors who stayed on campus expressed a warm welcome to these students.
"Thank you for standing up at the critical moment. You are not only students of Hogwarts, but also part of the wizarding community, representing the future of the wizarding world..." She said excitedly, and couldn't help but take out a handkerchief to wipe the corners of her eyes halfway through her words.
All the students felt heavy in their hearts, and something was taking root.
"Maybe I should make Muggle Studies a compulsory course for young wizards from wizarding families... This subject may become more and more important. Even Alasdair Madoc has publicly stated that he likes Muggle sports. What else can't happen?"
"Who is Alasdair Madoc?" Ron asked in a low voice.
"A very good chaser," said Ginny, who is also a chaser. "The newspaper said that he is expected to join the legendary team Montrose Magpies next year."
"Professor McGonagall is a fan of Montrose Magpies." Harry added.
The castle was quiet that night, not as lively as usual. Seamus stared blankly out the window. Harry knew that he was a standard half-blood. His mother was a witch and his father was a Muggle. He once told them this as a joke-
"Mom didn't tell Dad that she was a witch until she got married. It scared him a lot."
When Harry walked over, Seamus whispered, "My parents had a fight. Because Dad's colleague said bad things about wizards when he came to visit our house." Harry paused and patted his shoulder.
"It'll be fine."
"Will it?"
"Yes."
The next morning, everyone gathered in the Great Hall, and the Ministry of Magic assigned a team to assign tasks to the students. Harry was surprised to see Percy.
"Shut up, don't talk." When Percy passed by Ron, Ron opened his mouth, and Percy immediately warned, "I won't give you any preferential treatment." After saying this, he "banged" and threw down a pile of Muggle newspapers.
Ron made a face at him, and after Percy left, he picked up the newspaper.
"Hey, we're assigned to Devon." He whispered to Harry, and the Burrow is located in Devon.
"I'll help you keep an eye on the news of Ottery St. Catchpole Village, if there is any." Harry whispered, at this time, Percy and several Ministry of Magic staff stood in front of the students and told them what to do.
The students' tasks are important, but it becomes very simple when implemented by individuals. They first assigned a group of students to pick out articles with the words "wizards" and "magic" in the newspapers, and then cut them out and roughly categorized them (currently there are only two types: good and malicious). The classified clippings were sent to another group of students, all of whom were from Muggle families. They were responsible for picking out more urgent news, usually influential media, or articles with extreme views or statistics.
"When facing any collective dispute, the first thing to consider is the cardinality, proportion and probability of different situations." Hermione said to Harry and Ron.
"Whose opinion is this?" Harry asked.
"Professor Happ mentioned it in a report." Hermione said without hesitation.
"It sounds literary, not like his tone." Ron stroked his chin and analyzed.
"That's because you never read serious articles!"
"She's talking nonsense," Ron said to Harry after Hermione turned around and left, "There is nothing more serious and boring than "History of Magic", and I studied it for five years! If you add Professor Binns' explanation, the effect is doubled..."
"It's time to show your talent in this area." Harry said dryly, staring at an obituary in the newspaper:
David, died on June 23, 1997, at the age of 51. He was a fan of occultism and magic. "Actually, I'm a vampire," he told a reporter during an interview. In the background, there were three children who were scared to tears by him. He regarded this as an honor, but his wife disagreed and asked the reporter whether vampires would suffer from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In view of the fact that wizards really exist, the reporter deliberately recorded this question and publicly solicited answers.
Harry scratched his head. Should he cut it off? But what kind of information should it be classified as? It should be considered goodwill.
After nearly two hours, they finally finished their work, and Harry rubbed his sore neck. Among the more than 30 pieces of information he collected, there were good and bad ones, but they were all within the acceptable range. Ron's side was similar.
Harry looked up and suddenly found that there was an extra wall in the middle of the hall. Percy and several staff members stood in front, hanging up the clippings from time to time. They were surrounded by a circle of students with solemn expressions. Harry leaned over and found a huge map of Britain hanging on the wall. There were some lines and symbols with special meanings on it, which reminded him of the tactical board hanging on the wall of the player's lounge.
"The more remote the countryside is, the more anti-wizards they are." He heard Percy whisper.
"It may be related to religion." Another person said.
Harry's heart sank. He remembered what Seamus said to him last night. His chest suddenly felt like a stone was pressing on him and he couldn't breathe. His breath sprayed on the back of the neck of the student in front of him. The man turned his head - Draco Malfoy looked at him with a strange expression, as if angry, as if hiding something else.
He made way to the side. Harry looked at him in surprise, then took a step forward.
Harry saw more clearly, a bloody headline occupied one-third of the page, the title was 'All wizards should go to hell'. He frowned.
"Oh, don't worry about that, it's just a third-rate local tabloid," Hermione squeezed in from behind the crowd, holding a stack of clippings in her hands. She said irritably, "I bet it doesn't have more than a thousand readers - this is the kind that's really hard to deal with." She waved a newspaper clipping in front of Harry and Draco.
'It lists all the vicious incidents in history that were suspected of being involved by wizards. '
"Is this true?" Harry asked in surprise.
"It has nothing to do with truth or falsehood. It uses the word 'suspected'." Hermione said contemptuously, "But he obviously has bad intentions in linking wizards with vicious incidents." She passed Harry and handed the clipping to Percy.
"Oh, by the way, Harry - I just forgot to say that your letter was in the newspaper."
...
In the next few days, various information continued to be collected.
Ms. Bones compiled their recent practices into a booklet and submitted it to the International Confederation of Wizards. According to the representatives guarding there, more than two hundred people were arguing in the hall of the Confederation headquarters, and African representatives alone accounted for a quarter of the number.
"Before this, autonomous organizations in Africa gained international support by banding together. That's how Abaginde came to power. Of course, we have to admit that he had always been very capable and trusted by all parties before the crisis." The representative said bluntly. "
But as the wizarding world was completely exposed, their ideas changed. Many of their demands were shocking - for example, a place I can't name, which is not even as big as a county in the UK, has only a hundred wizards. They have a good relationship with the local Muggle military regime and maintain a nearly semi-open alliance; but that Muggle military regime tried to conquer a tribe, and there were wizards in the tribe, although only in the single digits, but it was still an obstacle."
This news shocked many people.
"The International Confederation of Wizards doesn't care?" Sirius looked surprised. "What about the Statute of Secrecy? Doesn't it strictly prohibit wizards from getting involved in Muggle disputes?"
Ms. Bones sighed.
"The Statute of Secrecy is not omnipotent. It varies from person to person... and from place to place! Africa has a special environment, and it is not taken seriously... In short, the International Confederation of Wizards has always had low requirements for them, as long as they don't cause a big mess."
Lupin raised his eyebrows gently.
"If I understand correctly, before the Statute of Secrecy became a waste paper, wizards with different stances were still restrained, but now..." He paused, "The Muggle military regime will not openly win over wizards as their weapons, right?"
"There is already such a trend," said Ms. Bones. "The Federation sent people to warn the two groups of wizards, but it is not known how much effect it will have. The Ministries of Magic of various countries have withdrawn the Aurors they sent out, and they are too busy to take care of themselves. As a result, the wizard coalition against Grindelwald was short-lived. The Federation is now an empty shell, and its binding force has been greatly reduced."
After she copied a copy of their previous actions and submitted it to the International Confederation of Wizards, she could only stare blankly.
"Let's talk about something happy," Ms. Bones suddenly smiled, "Kingsley brought back good news. The Prime Minister finally ended the lengthy meeting and passed a resolution to invite wizards."
Lupin was slightly surprised, then smiled, Moody's magic eyes rolled around, and the hand holding the cane kept loosening and clenching, Bill and Fleur hugged each other excitedly, and in the eyes of everyone's excitement, Sirius hugged Amelia Bones tightly and kissed her.
A week of tense nerves made them a little breathless, and now seeing the light, everyone was very excited. At dinner, Ms. Bones sat next to Felix and talked to him in a low voice.
"The news will not be announced until tomorrow. The Prime Minister sent a message through the portrait. They will send an invitation in the name of the Queen. The nature is similar to a private party or afternoon tea... What do you think?"
Felix thought for a moment and asked tentatively: "They don't want it to be too formal?"
"Yes, the Prime Minister said that there are still a considerable number of people in the parliament who have doubts." Ms. Bones said: "He tactfully said that it would be better not to select a negotiation team that is too serious, and the two sides will not enter into substantive negotiations at the beginning. This event is basically equivalent to the first public appearance of wizards-well, actually the second time, although Grindelwald's saints have basically not left a good impression on the world."
"To form a sharp contrast with the saints..." Felix said in thought, his eyes swept across the people in the hall and landed on students such as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny, and his eyes lit up.
"What do you think about selecting a few students to form a delegation?" Bones was about to open his mouth to refute, but Felix continued: "I will lead the team myself."
Bones was stunned, then lowered his head and thought quickly. The conclusion is... it seems feasible?
With Felix here, there is no need to worry about safety issues. She also trusts his wisdom in making decisions on the spot. In addition, Felix is nominally a professor at the school, so it is reasonable for a teacher to bring students with him, and it does not have obvious political implications. As for her fleeting concerns before, such as being harassed by Muggle government officials, they are all solved. The Prime Minister will give a warning.
It is best to show strength appropriately...
"Let's do it!" Ms. Bones said, and then she hesitated a little: "Student candidates-"
"Select from these more than a hundred students, voluntarily sign up, and seek the opinions of their parents." Felix immediately said: "Explain the pros and cons to them. After all, not everyone is willing to appear in public..."
A new day began.