After Felix returned to school, he spent some time to find Valen who was taking a pleasant walk. Because the atmosphere of the previous meeting was too serious, Felix left Valen at school. After not seeing each other for a while, Valen's temper became even wilder.
Felix asked in a tone of seeking inside information: "I heard that there is a flying Niffler wandering near the Forbidden Forest recently?"
Valen shook his head repeatedly, indicating that he had no idea about it. "Really?" He patted his chest and suggested seriously that he could ask Hagrid, he might know.
"...There are many dangerous creatures in the Forbidden Forest." Felix warned him.
Valen waved his hand carelessly.
Felix followed his line of sight and saw the small bell tied to his scarf, and reached out to grab it.
"Confiscate it - it is for your safety, not an adventure prop." Valen could only watch helplessly as Felix shook his finger, and the cute silver bell stretched out and turned into a silver bird.
This was a patronus magic specially arranged by Felix. The Patronus is not the point. The point is that it contains some of the magic circuits of the Mandrake. If there is real danger, the Patronus can completely stun a few unsuspecting wizards with a roar. This trick also works on creatures near the Forbidden Forest.
They walked towards the castle.
"Do you like the Forbidden Forest? I know some particularly delicious spices... Professor Sprout has hidden them very well."
When Felix was awakened by the tempting aroma of roasted pumpkin the next day, he stood in front of the window and felt as if he was in another world. The mountains in the distance were covered with silver, and the Black Lake at the foot of the mountain was covered with a thin layer of ice, just waiting for the arrival of a heavy snow.
He spent Halloween at school and took time to get to know his students again. It was strange that no one distinguished him from his memory. Felix felt that he was much more serious and solemn when teaching students.
He even attended the party hosted by Slughorn with great interest. Snape still looked like he didn't want anyone to come in, but he calmly mentioned his "little progress" in potions - Felix resisted asking for details so that the other party wouldn't be able to show off. Emmeline Vance was not interested in the food at the banquet, but she had a special liking for the classical music played at the party. She asked Slughorn the name of the record, and Slughorn said lightly:
"You can't buy it anywhere else. It's from a Muggle store... Yes, it's specially processed. I have some connections with the Muggle government... I can give you a set..."
After Halloween, Felix realized that he still had the title of vice-headmaster, so he ran to Professor McGonagall to perform his duties - and chat with the Sorting Hat by the way. Unfortunately, this dirty hat didn't appreciate it and kept yelling, listing Felix as a person who refused to communicate. Felix was a little disappointed. The easy days didn't last long. Now was a critical period, so he returned to the Federation headquarters after a week. Like a large information transceiver, he constantly received and sent out various types of information. For a period of time, more than a dozen different forms of patron saints appeared in the hall of the Federation headquarters at the same time.
The progress brought by the work in recent days was very gratifying. Some countries with faster negotiation progress had reached the final step. The Federation headquarters was excited. One morning, Akinbad, who came back from the United States, brought bad news.
"The situation is a bit bad." He handed over a newspaper in a concise manner. Felix took it and saw that the headline on the newspaper was written in bright red handwriting "The Auror team was unfortunately killed."
Putting down the newspaper, Akinbad briefly explained what happened. A three-person Auror team had an accident while investigating the local government's secret control of young wizards. There were no survivors.
"Is there an army involved?" Felix asked in surprise.
"It was a spellcaster, another group of spellcasters." Akinbade said, "It happened last night. The other teams received the last signal. When they arrived, it was too late. The reporters guarding the Congress saw it..."
Half an hour later, Felix appeared in the MACUSA - Woolworth Building.
There were three bodies in front of him. Horace Greenstinch, the president of the MACUSA, the principal of Ilvermorny School of Magic, the director of magic security, Uriah as the deputy, and several senior congressional officials were all present, and their faces were very ugly.
"Are there any clues at present?"
"It is possible that other wizard organizations are involved," Horace Greenstinch said gloomily, "I suspect it is the descendants of the Purgers. I sent a large number of people around Halloween to monitor suspicious people who passed by - theoretically it is completely feasible. Many wizards have procurement plans during the holidays. I judge that someone will take this opportunity to fish in troubled waters..." This is
the plan he mentioned to Felix. But the plan was only half successful. The Aurors did find the abnormality, but they did not come back alive to report the situation.
Felix did not comment on the speculation of "the Purgers". The Purgers played the role of extremely disgraceful wizard traitors in history, similar to mercenaries who were paid to do things. American wizards once turned pale and hated them. When the Magical Congress of the United States was established, these people were immediately liquidated. Only a small number escaped punishment and hid in the crowd.
They were unable to retaliate against the Congress, and dared not use magic. For this reason, they even took the initiative to abandon children with magical talents. From the subsequent development, these people did not choose to cooperate with the authorities for a long time. As executioners who once sold their compatriots to Puritans and official extremist organizations for money, they knew too well what torture they would suffer. This fear and hatred of the Magical Congress was passed down from generation to generation.
So the incident of the twelve magically gifted children some time ago was really an accident. No, maybe it was not an accident. Felix suddenly thought, what if it was a test by some people last time? A test of wizards and public opinion? Assuming that those children have been under the watchful eyes of a small group of people, and will be transported to an uncharted sea base when the time is right, they are the "fixed quota" every year, but this year they are used for other purposes...
Felix carefully examined the bodies of the three victims, and after a while, he raised his head.
"I think these three Aurors have encountered the people we have been looking for, but those children have grown up and become our enemies."
This is almost the worst case scenario.
"Could this secret plan have lasted for decades... But even so, they can't fight against formally trained Aurors, who haven't even received a complete magical education." A bearded wizard at the scene - he is the head of magical security - shouted.
"They haven't received a complete 'school education'." Felix corrected, "It is indeed difficult for them to accept orthodox magical instruction, but that doesn't mean they have to learn from scratch. The simplest way... is to gain the trust of any wizard, then they can freely enter the wizarding world and easily purchase publicly published magic books, potion materials, and second-hand wands in magic shops..."
"As for whether their true level exceeds that of Aurors... I can't tell for now. There are many possibilities for what really happened. For example, these Aurors were careless, deceived, or really not as skilled as others. But one thing is certain... their opponents are not ordinary people, but professionals who have received rigorous training and have been carefully nurtured."
A blurry figure appeared at the tip of Felix's finger. He leaned in to look at the faceless face carefully and said softly,
"The purpose of establishing any magic school is not to train agents, assassins, or killers. We learn magic to better control magic power. It is also because the wizard community subconsciously wants to grow and develop, or at least avoid decline. So wizards moved from the earliest family education and master-apprentice education to school education, established communities, and derived many professions that I think are dispensable. All of this is to make it easier for people to interact with each other. But the opponents hidden in the dark don't think so. They just want to squeeze out as much talent as possible in a certain area in the short term."
"You might as well try to outline the growth environment of those people. Not considering those who died due to various accidents, they generally left their parents before the age of eleven, and then drifted on the sea for several years, undergoing various experiments, brainwashing, training... When they are a little older, they will go out to perform tasks, so what are those tasks?"
Horace Greenstinch felt a chill, his mind turned quickly, and then suddenly turned his head to look at someone, and said urgently: "Uria, you immediately go to the common magic shops to ask those shop owners whether they have received young wizards. Their common feature is that they have purchased various magic materials in bulk more than once, and-" He said with some difficulty: "Investigate those solitary wizards and check whether anyone has disappeared inexplicably in recent years?"
Uria left in a hurry with a serious expression. The expressions
of the several people present were different. No one spoke for a long time. Finally, it was the principal of Ilvermorny School of Magic who broke the silence: "Mr. Hep, according to this situation, is it possible that the other party has cultivated a sufficiently powerful spellcaster?"
Felix thought for a moment and denied this possibility.
"The overall quality of those people is almost at the level of an average excellent Auror, and they are only comparable in one aspect. There is no possibility of going further, let alone exploring the true meaning of magic... As for the evidence, judging from the wounds left behind, they cast conventional spells with obvious characteristics of dark magic. This does not mean that their magical attainments are profound, but it is a manifestation of an imbalance in magic."
"From this we can also draw a conclusion that no matter who the other party is, the time span for them to do this will not be too long, definitely not more than thirty years."
"Why do you say that?"
"- If it takes longer, these people themselves will suffer backlash. You know, the wizard's magic power is directly connected to the soul, and it will be directly reflected in the personality..."
After a long silence.
"What should we do next?"
"Negotiations will proceed as usual. I have a feeling that the next negotiations will not go smoothly. There is a hidden force that will do everything possible to prevent the conclusion of the contract... But someone took the initiative to jump out, which made it easier for us to unravel the clues and find the key person. In addition, I need to make a map."
...
The whole November was spent in an uneasy atmosphere. Although more than a dozen magic ministries and local governments around the world have signed contracts and recognized the status of the "Charter of Federation and Alliance", many people have publicly questioned the effectiveness of this law, believing that organizations like the International Confederation of Wizards, which are above the will of wizards from various countries and even above the will of governments, are illegal and should be banned.
In particular, some of the above clauses are simply unbearable for the consortiums and governments of some countries.
The delegation of the Magical Congress of the United States of America held three rounds of negotiations with the local government, but as the negotiations deepened, some principled issues were put in front of them, becoming irreconcilable contradictions between the two sides, and the negotiations fell into a deadlock again. Some tough voices appeared publicly in the news media: an unknown congressman from a remote state proposed that the government should fund the establishment of special schools to create and take over the American magic world. This statement immediately won the support of the medical and arms consortiums, who expressed their willingness to donate to this great cause.
But the next day, the congressman burst into tears in front of reporters and told the "evil crimes" he had committed, which almost immediately became evidence of the wizard's deception. A series of vicious incidents were subsequently "indirectly" proved to be related to wizards. The delegation of the Magic Congress negotiated for more than half a month, and found that the public opinion environment outside had completely changed.
The cold reception of the delegation of the Magic Congress of the United States, the boycott of the International Confederation of Wizards, and the gradually spreading public opinion around the world, all led to one result - this was exactly the conclusion reached by many government think tanks - a head-on conflict was inevitable.
Even to a certain extent, this was the result that everyone expected - provided that the conflict did not occur in their own country - for many people, it was incredible that it had dragged on for so long, and people could not help but suspect that it was the work of magic.
A group of more than two million people hidden under the water, incompatible with the world order, and possessing abilities that only exist in literary works and fairy tales... But so far, no conflict of a certain size and scale has broken out, as if everything was designed. This is too strange.
The shadow of war has never been far away. At first, it wandered in Britain. As the situation in Britain stabilized, the attention of various countries turned to the most chaotic Africa. Although Africa was chaotic and small conflicts occurred frequently, it had never been out of control. Some people waited and waited, and finally the "Charter of the Federation and Alliance" was issued, followed by dozens of countries negotiating at the same time... It is a miracle that things have developed to this point.
But some things cannot be avoided. Other means only serve to delay and deter, and only happen on paper. Only a head-on confrontation can best reflect the strength of the two different groups. Is it that wizards are vulnerable, or modern weapons are completely ineffective against magic? Only after a real fight, those increasingly restless dark thoughts will sink back into the rotten mud and acquiesce to the birth of a new order.
What caused the disagreement among the think tanks of various countries was when and where this conflict would break out, who would instigate it, and how many casualties would there be in the end, and whether it could be controlled within a certain range?
The bad weather in November continued into early December. As a group of people held their breath and waited, the time came to the last month of 1997. Finally, Babajide Akinbade, the president of the International Confederation of Wizards, and Felix Hep, the first president of the International Pan-Magic Union, issued a solemn warning to all wizards.
A single stone stirs up a thousand waves!