Chapter 692 Inheritance

In the morning, the Prime Minister delivered a speech in front of 10 Downing Street.

"...The group of wizards really exists. They used to be guests of honor in the court and they were active in public. Some places still have their legends. But from the 15th to the 17th century, Britain and even the world were undergoing earth-shaking changes. The thousand-year-old Middle Ages came to an end, the old order was destroyed, and the new order had not yet been established. Our society was undergoing major changes in all aspects. At the same time, the contradictions between wizards and ordinary people continued to intensify, and some extremely bad things happened. It turned out that it was the scar left by our march from thorns to civilization."

"After that, wizards chose to hide their identities, cut off contact with the public, and ensured the implementation of this measure by establishing laws. They called it the Statute of Secrecy."

"A week ago, the hidden wizard society was made public by accident, and everyone faced a huge choice - perhaps even the most important choice in recent years. Because the two societies have been separated from each other for too long, they are deeply unfamiliar with each other. The ministers of state held several meetings, all members of parliament attended, including Her Majesty the Queen, who also rarely came, and finally reached a consensus: to start a dialogue cautiously."

"I am here to publicly invite wizards to send a delegation. I believe that communication is the first step in resolving disputes..."

The Prime Minister said, then looked around, waiting for reporters to ask questions.

"Mr. Prime Minister, do you mean that last week's terrorist activities were caused by accidents?" A reporter asked sharply, "According to statistics from all parties, although there were no casualties, the nationwide traffic jams, city shutdowns, and the destruction of individual municipal public facilities caused huge property losses to the country, not to mention that many people were frightened and hospitalized."

"Well... We have to admit that wizards are also good and bad. The difference is that they have mastered magic, so their individual combat capabilities vary greatly. The panic we are experiencing is caused by an extremely evil and powerful dark wizard and his followers. You should know that name, Grindelwald... He is ambitious and has been eager to rule the world as early as sixty or seventy years ago."

"But he was finally locked up for half a century, and only escaped from the wizard prison not long ago and planned this action." The Prime Minister said carefully: "He hopes that our society will be divided, so that he can take the opportunity to make a comeback and burn the war to every inch of land. At that time, Britain will not be spared, and the world will not be spared... In view of that terrible future, we must keep a clear mind and not fall into the trap."

Another reporter asked: "Has the government always concealed the existence of wizards from the public? What prompted you to keep the secret? Don't you think this is a violation of the public's right to know?"

The Prime Minister did not answer directly, but changed his angle.

"I think the reason why successive prime ministers have kept secrets is not only related to national security secrets, but also to avoid panic in society, because wizards have hidden their identities for hundreds of years, and their image is very different from what we imagine in our minds... They have established similar political regimes to ours, and formed various organizations, such as schools, hospitals, law enforcement agencies, and they even have organizations similar to the United Nations - wizards are also progressing and developing."

After the press conference, the Prime Minister turned around and walked back to No. 10 Downing Street.

"Thank you for everything, Mr. Prime Minister." Kingsley, the assistant, said politely.

The Prime Minister stopped.

"You don't understand. Be prepared to face the surging public opinion."

Kingsley was a little stunned, but the Prime Minister returned to his office without saying a word. He stood in front of the window sill and looked at the reporters and people who had never left. He had a hunch that everyone would be forced into a bigger whirlpool of public opinion, and his speech today was the fuse.

But he had no choice.

Whether it was for the national interest or his personal political future, promoting negotiations was the best way. Even the opposition party did not force too much in this incident. When he took out a piece of wizard information, members of parliament with different political views and belonging to different parties basically voted in favor.

These people were not all sincere, but there was no doubt that none of them wanted to clean up the mess at this time.

If the current Prime Minister was driven out of office on the grounds of opposing wizards, then there would be only one way to go: take an extremely tough attitude, completely bring wizards under the control of the government, and even start a war.

But this approach is actually far more dangerous than starting peace talks. If the peace talks go against some public opinion and are a thrilling tightrope walk, then being hostile to wizards and forcing them to rise up in resistance is like setting off fireworks on a powder keg.

The opposition party can gain public support through incitement and extreme slogans, but when the war really breaks out, relatives, property, stable life... will be destroyed. The people will hate these MPs as much as they once supported them.

The tone of the Prime Minister's investigation was similar to what he thought. Talk first, test the bottom line in the negotiations, and then continue to seize benefits.

But there is no shortage of speculators in this world.

Not long after, Felix received the news.

"Is it just an invitation? The details have not been discussed yet?" He asked in surprise.

"It has been decided, but the Prime Minister does not want to appear too familiar in front of the public." Ms. Bones said: "The time is one week later, at 3 pm, and the location is the Houses of Parliament."

Felix blinked.

"The Houses of Parliament? Not Buckingham Palace?"

"The Prime Minister did want to hold the meeting at Buckingham Palace at first, but the Queen refused after careful consideration."

Felix smiled. "Hmm? Maybe he doesn't want to show obvious personal inclinations to avoid causing resentment among some extreme people... The Houses of Parliament are not bad either, with many rooms..." He suddenly stopped talking.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought of something." Felix put away his smile and said seriously. He remembered the prophecy that Dumbledore had shown him - that is, the scene of a massive anti-wizard march. In the scene, in addition to Rita Skeeter appearing on the scene, there was another significant symbol, that is, the Houses of Parliament as the background.

Things seemed to be moving in the direction of what Grindelwald had seen.

In the past week, anti-wizard marches have broken out in various places, but the momentum was not great. On the one hand, this was because the matter was only discussed in newspapers and the government had not yet made a public statement; on the other hand, because the Ministry of Magic adopted a contraction strategy, ordinary people could not find the real person even if they wanted to demonstrate.

The most important thing is that "wizards" are new things, and opponents need time to unite.

But it is obvious that they finally have a great opportunity now - time, one week later; location, the Houses of Parliament; people, the wizard delegation.

Everything seemed so natural.

Not long after Ms. Bones left, Hermione came with a list.

"There are more than 30 people who have signed up." She handed the parchment to Felix, and then said seriously: "In fact, since we are here, it means that we are willing to contribute to peace. But many people are worried that they will not perform well enough, and they have some suitable candidates in mind..."

"I guess you must be one of the people they recommend, right, Miss Granger?"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

Felix stared at the list in a daze, "I really need to think about it carefully." Since he thought that his appearance in a week might be related to the prophecy, he had better be more cautious. The people selected must at least have good psychological quality.

The students completed the task of sorting newspapers today. Near noon, some students went home through the school fireplace, while others stayed in school to discuss today's news. They are basically students in the sixth and seventh grades, who are already adults or close to adults, and they look like adults in their conversation and clothing.

Because it is summer vacation, these students are not wearing school uniforms. The common struggle and common hatred of the past few days have brought them together, and they are indistinguishable from each other.

All these phenomena were seen by the professors who stayed in the school. They were delighted with this change. If it weren't for the wrong timing, they might be happy to hold a few banquets. Slughorn definitely had this idea.

When walking through the hall, Felix saw Snape. He was waiting in front of the stairs going down, and seemed to have been waiting for a while.

"What's the matter, Severus?"

Snape looked up at Felix and asked in an emotionless tone, "Has the time been set?"

"Next week," Felix joked, "It's really exciting, isn't it?"

Snape would not answer such questions. He continued, "Are you planning to take a group of students to negotiate with the Muggle government?"

"Not a negotiation, um-similar to the players from both sides walking around the field together before a large Quidditch game." Felix thought for a while and expressed his thoughts, "Young faces will help to distinguish them from Grindelwald's saints, and..." He said as he pondered, trying to sort out his thoughts, "I'm thinking about how to show some strength without being noticed. Isn't that what negotiation is? Show sincerity, flex muscles... but the method is very important, and it can't appear too aggressive. Do you have any good ideas?"

"That's your business." Snape said coldly. He turned around, his robe fluttering behind him, "Follow me."

Felix was a little confused, but still followed Snape to his office. The door opened, and Snape flashed into the room. Felix pushed the door open, wondering what Snape meant. Could it be that some potion had made a key progress?

Ever since he showed several pathological patterns including werewolves and dragon pox to a group of potion masters and pharmacists in Sword Castle, many wizards have chosen to stay near Sword Castle to conduct research, sharing their insights from time to time. Snape has also been there several times. The

Potions Professor's office was as dimly lit as always. Felix's eyes swept across the glass specimen jars lined up against the wall, and finally stopped at Snape, who had his back to him and blended into the darkness.

Snape's body trembled slightly, with one hand on the table, as if he was trying hard to suppress his inner emotions, like a forbearing snake. Felix caught this strange atmosphere, did not urge him, and stood quietly waiting.

Finally, Snape turned to face him, his eyes calm.

"Use the Disarming Charm on me, Felix."

I really can't make up the minimum of 4,000 words, I will try to write more tomorrow.