Chapter 644 Observation Report

"You didn't say a word either?" Harry grinned.

Ron looked at the twins' clothes.

"How much will it cost?"

Fred shook his head as if he was sighing, pulled out his wand and waved it lightly. Three goblets flew over and landed in Harry and the others' hands. Fred and George walked up to them and clinked their glasses, and drank them all. "Then I won't bother you." Fred said.

"People keep mentioning your names." George said with a grin, "Especially the fat professor, who mentions him once every three sentences. We suspect that one of you secretly cast a spell on him."

The two made way - "Wait, wait!" Harry shouted, but it was too late.

"Harry, my child!" Professor Slughorn spotted Harry and the other two with his sharp eyes. He immediately walked towards them with his big belly bound by a brown vest, and several golden buttons stared at them like biological eyes.

The office was quiet for a few seconds, and all kinds of scrutiny came from all directions. This was also one of the reasons why Harry didn't like this environment. Fortunately, he saw Mrs. Weasley waving happily at them, which made it easier for Professor Slughorn to drag him.

"And you two," Slughorn said to Ron and Hermione as he left, "I talked to your parents for a long time about the importance of - uh - family education." But he did not take Harry to the Weasleys and the Grangers, but walked around the crowd and joined Amelia Bones's conversation.

He forced Harry to sit between Ernie and Cormac McLaggen and said with a smile: "Look, you will never find a stronger friendship than the one you established in school." Harry stared, his expression stiff.

He didn't know when he established a "strong friendship" with Ernie and McLaggen.

Harry remained silent for a while.

He found that Professor Slughorn focused most of the conversation on Ms. Bones, occasionally paying some attention to Sirius. This seemed to coincide with the ideas of the Macmillans and the McLaggens, so Sirius only needed to agree with them occasionally and spend the rest of the time observing his godson who was feeling uncomfortable.

Ms. Bones's answer was concise and clear. During the whole conversation, she was basically expressionless except for smiling at Harry. However, this was more in line with the image of a tough minister - Azkaban still holds more than 300 foreign wizards.

Harry saw Susan Bones sitting in the corner, chewing an apple, and she seemed to notice Harry's gaze, so she slipped away swiftly and blended into the crowd.

At this time, Felix and Snape came together.

Neville tugged at his father's sleeve. Frank Longbottom was chatting with the Grangers about the interesting things about the exclusive wand. "Oh, it's amazing. We have always been curious about whose talent our daughter inherited..."

"What's the matter?"

Neville's father looked up, his expression was happy at first, and then when he saw Snape following Felix, the joy on his face quickly cooled down. Snape glanced over here, whispered a few words to Felix, and turned to find Damocles Belby.

Felix joined the conversation leisurely.

On the other side, Ms. Bones saw him, quickly responded with a few words, and walked over here. At the same time, an old woman rushed out from the corner. Her hair was all gray, and her steps were hurried. The two of them looked at each other and stopped.

Felix showed a trace of surprise at the right time. Bones quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, turned around and greeted the old woman, "Ms. Pinkston, we need to talk." The old woman rolled her eyes at her contemptuously and left.

"Who is that woman?" Mr. Granger asked curiously.

Felix shook his head, so Mr. Granger continued to tell the story of how he got his own wand. "I signed up with my wife with the attitude of giving it a try. The staff told us that we might have to wait in line for a long time and pass various examinations... But we received the notification the next day. The whole process went incredibly smoothly."

Felix winked at Hermione, and Hermione blushed.

"I think no one would refuse to do a favor to the winner of the Order of Merlin."

Mr. Granger was stunned for a moment.

"Oh, really?" He suddenly said with some uneasiness: "I heard that the person has been arrested? We subscribed to several magic newspapers and kept a close eye on the developments... It is said that the mysterious man - what a strange name - made a deal with the former Azkaban prison guard, exchanging human emotions for powerful spellcasting abilities."

"Dad - I told you to watch less "The Quibbler"!" Hermione shouted, her face getting even redder.

"But only this newspaper gave an explanation..." Seeing his daughter's unhappy face, Mr. Granger decisively changed the subject, "Mr. Hep--"

"You can call me Felix."

"...Okay, Felix." He said, "We bought a whole set of magic projectors. I especially like the 'immersive' mode. It's so magical, as if we have become characters in the movie. However, when using it, we must lock the doors and windows and hang up a sign saying 'No visitors allowed'."

"Hermione," Mrs. Granger said with a deliberately stern face. She was concerned about other aspects. "Look at your hair-didn't you send a quick smoothing spray home? And the clothes, have you always worn the same clothes?"

Hermione shouted angrily and ran away angrily. Mrs. Granger chased after her.

"My daughter--uh, has been stubborn since she was a child." Mr. Granger tried to explain.

"...I can understand."

On the other side, Harry and Sirius, who were finally freed, strolled around the venue with their hands full of food.

"Is that woman Carlotta Pinkstone?" Harry asked.

"Yes, a complete nuisance. Don't pay any attention to her, Harry." Sirius stuffed a piece of strawberry pudding into his mouth and said indistinctly, "As if we don't have enough troubles."

"What's the matter?" Harry asked worriedly, thinking of Sirius's investigation mission, "The work is not going well?"

Sirius sucked his teeth fiercely.

"It's going well - that's why the problem is big." He had a toothache expression, "A lot of things are exposed."

"What's the reason? You don't look like there is no problem."

"Well, I just verified someone's theory. In fact, go this way, Harry." Sirius looked up and found that the two of them had unknowingly walked to Felix's side. Felix showed him his white teeth. He hurriedly pulled Harry to turn around and continued, "Like I said, it's just running errands and handing in Felix's books."

"However, I have figured out one thing in the past few months."

Sirius became serious: "Muggles are different from wizards. They can deduce huge theories through some simple principles, and because there are enough of them, there are enough people to fully develop the potential of these theories. They named it 'basic scientific theory'..." "

This means that the development speed of Muggles can be estimated - of course there are exceptions, but it's roughly like this - I can feel more and more that there is a line in front. Once this line is crossed, it will be difficult for wizards to keep it secret." Harry felt

heavy-hearted when he heard it. He remembered the speech clip that Professor Bagshot showed him. Did that person half a century ago also predict that the exposure of wizards was inevitable, just like Professor Hep? But Grindelwald finally chose to start a war and try to enslave Muggles.

He described Professor Bagshot's views to Sirius in a veiled way. Sirius stopped chewing and looked at Harry thoughtfully.

"I don't know what Dumbledore thinks, but since he chose Mr. Bagshot as the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, it means that he is also aware of the problem. Do you think that professor is hostile to Muggles?"

"Not really," Harry said, racking his brains to find the right words, "I guess he should think that wizards and Muggles are two groups. Once wizards are exposed to the outside world - you know, there may be conflicts -" As he said this, his breath suddenly stagnated.

He thought of war.

Sirius caught the anxious expression on his face, seemed to guess what Harry was thinking, and said seriously.

"Don't worry, it's not a big problem. I agree with Felix's opinion. We still have at least a few decades to prepare - don't forget that the Minister of Magic has actually been in contact with the Muggle Prime Minister, and it is not completely closed."

He suddenly lowered his voice and spoke, and Harry leaned closer to hear more clearly.

"To be honest, I admire Felix a little bit - but don't tell him, lest he get complacent - not only because he pointed out the problem, but also because he quietly did those things to lay the foundation for us... Amelia already has a general idea."

"What idea?" Harry asked breathlessly, his eyes following his godfather to look at Professor Hepp in the crowd.

"Gradually increase the contact between the two sides." Sirius said, picking up a piece of pork chop, "The problem of Squibs is a good entry point. Now that we have exclusive wands, the number of Squibs who can cast spells will definitely increase in the future - we haven't let them go yet, but there is this trend - conservatively estimated, the number of Squibs in the country is hundreds of thousands, or even more, because Squibs also have descendants."

"Amelia plans to wait for the situation to stabilize in two years, and use this as an excuse to secretly discuss with the Muggle government to set up a special department, the kind that is kept secret from ordinary people." "

Why keep it secret from ordinary people?" Harry asked puzzled.

"We'll do it step by step," Sirius shrugged. "In fact, cooperation means that more government officials will know about the existence of wizards. We'll start by opening a gap, and each side will send people to jointly manage magical events in the Muggle community. After a few years of persistence, the two sides will have a foundation of mutual trust, and then we'll spread the word little by little..."

Harry swallowed his saliva.

"Don't think it's simple as I say, but it's very complicated to do. There are all kinds of details that need to be sorted out. For example, we are still in a blank in the relevant laws, and both sides need to make concessions. It's a headache just to think about

it." That's enough. Although he didn't know the full picture of the plan, Harry's tense mood had relaxed. Just now he thought that conflict was inevitable, but things took a turn for the worse a few minutes later. For a moment, Harry felt that he didn't understand anything.

"You're still in school," Sirius smiled with understanding, "You can't learn a lot of knowledge on campus. I strongly suggest that you travel for a year or two after graduation, and then join the Ministry of Magic as an Auror."

Harry lowered his head and remained silent, as if thinking about the feasibility of the plan.

"What if conflict is inevitable?" he blurted out. Sirius looked at him in surprise. Harry explained in a low voice: "I mean, we are all thinking about the best now, right? If something unexpected happens, such as the Muggle government not recognizing the status of the Ministry of Magic--"

"They must recognize it," Sirius said lightly: "Do you think the Ministry of Magic is just protecting wizards from being discovered? Who is suppressing the power of dark wizards? Who is restraining dark creatures and preventing them from going out to harm people? The Ministry of Magic can hide at any time, or even withdraw from Britain, and then what? This will become a paradise for dark wizards. You don't think dark wizards will be stupid enough to confront the Muggle army head-on, do you?"

After a long silence, Harry opened his mouth several times. He couldn't imagine what the consequences of this situation would be.

"Let's talk about something happy," Sirius suddenly said excitedly: "How is your Animagus learning going? I heard that more than 20 students got excellent in the OWLs exam?"

Harry also laughed.

"Yes, you have a talent for being a teacher. But - well, we are stuck at the first step, and even Hermione can't think of a perfect plan."

A smile flashed across Sirius' face, and he suddenly made a face at Harry.

"Honestly," he said with a straight face, "do you think that we elders are useless?"

"How is it possible -" Harry denied it hastily.

"Then what gave you the illusion that Animagus is easy? It took James and I almost three years to do this, and we relied on a little bit of luck. We are not sure if we can do it again." Sirius said unhappily: "It would be good if you can finish it before graduation."

Harry was stunned.

"But didn't you say that the Animagus's Transfiguration results--"

Sirius grinned and winked at him, which reminded Harry of Fred and George's pranks. "Actually, I didn't lie. If you really succeed in one try, you really don't have to worry about your Transfiguration results anymore..."

Slughorn's office was full of joy. A fierce quarrel had just ended in the bathroom not far away.

Ms. Bones came out angrily. She was wasting her breath. Pinkstone was too hostile to the Ministry of Magic. No matter what she said, Pinkstone thought she was deceiving her. The only purpose was to stabilize her and wait for her natural death.

Bones took a few deep breaths to calm down, then turned and strode towards the banquet. After a while, Carlotta Pinkstone also appeared with a gloomy face.

"You are arguing very fiercely, Carlotta." A voice said, and Pinkstone turned back suddenly. She hesitated at first, then stared deeply into the pair of silver-blue pupils and opened her mouth.

"G, Grindelwald--"

"Shh." The man raised his index finger and pressed it on his lips, saying softly. Pinkstone immediately quieted down, his pale face flushed with excitement, and his words became stuttering, "I really didn't expect to meet you here."

"But I have been waiting for you. From the first time I heard your name, I had a premonition: the little British girl who came to me alone half a century ago would appear in front of me in an incredible way. You have a hard life, but you are happy with it, right?"

"Yes, yes, I just hate that my ideas have not been realized." She looked at Grindelwald expectantly, "Do you want to do something this time?"

"But--Carlotta--there are slight differences in our ideas."

"That's right, but--"

"Can I trust you?"

"Of course! What do you need me to do?"

There was a moment of silence.

“Wait,” Grindelwald whispered. “Just know that our work is not over yet.”