Chapter 557: Drinking poison to quench thirst
In the meeting hall of the Ministry of Magic, the Director of the Auror Office, the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes and other top officials of the main departments of the Ministry of Magic gathered together.
Like any high-level leadership meeting of a large institution or a country, the atmosphere in the meeting hall at this time was serious, even a little too serious.
Because everyone present had a gloomy look on their faces, as if tomorrow was the end of the world.
Of course, tomorrow is naturally impossible to be the end of the world, but for these officials, every day after that is not much different from the end of the world.
The reason for all this is the official order issued by Minister Flint regarding the next work of the Ministry of Magic.
Yes, the paper version of the order is now on the table in the conference room for everyone to read. After being edited by the female assistant, the text on it has become a document with beautiful words and standard format, but everyone can still read the murderous aura from every word on it!
'It's all up to you! If you don't do it well, you will die! '
That's what their Minister Flint meant!
"Huh!" Robert, the then Director of the Auror Office, sighed deeply, "Tell me what the Minister wants to do."
"I believe you know this, Robert," said Cage, then Director of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. "It is obvious that the Minister has had enough of you. As officials employed by the Ministry of Magic, our most fundamental duty is to help the Minister manage the country. But what have you done? You only act as a voice machine, summarizing the news to the Minister, and then the Minister makes the decision. This undoubtedly greatly increases the workload of the Minister and proves your incompetence."
After saying this, Cage smiled slightly, crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair.
The document issued by Chris this time had almost no impact on him, the Director of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because all matters under the jurisdiction of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures have been handled by them themselves, and there is no need to ask the Minister of Magic for instructions.
This was a bad thing in the past, because it made the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures directly one of the busiest departments in the entire Ministry of Magic.
But now it seems that this has become a good thing.
Hearing this, the heads of the other departments all had dark faces. The heads of some departments such as the Director of Magical Law Enforcement and the Department of International Magical Cooperation were better off. After all, although they usually had a lot of work to ask the Minister for instructions, these were small matters that they could handle on their own.
So the impact of this paper document on them was not very big. It was nothing more than that their good days of leisure in the future would no longer exist.
The head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters had a really dark expression at the moment.
You have to know that there is an imminent and important event of minority group rebellion in front of him. You can tell with your heels that if he handles this matter wrongly, the feedback caused by this matter will make him go to see Merlin in advance.
As for whether Minister Flint would let him go for their hard work and great contributions?
This is basically impossible, because Minister Flint has always been such a person who keeps his promises.
If you say you want to die at three o'clock, then you can't stay until five o'clock!
The head of the Department of Magical Incidents and Disasters looked solemn, and in the end, it was the former who spoke first, saying to everyone:
"You can't just stand by and watch. We are all members of the Ministry of Magic. If there are mistakes in our work, it will damage the reputation of the entire Ministry of Magic!"
The voice of the head of the Department of Magical Incidents and Disasters was firm, but it was obvious that the other officials in the meeting room did not buy it.
In this situation, you still want them to protect the reputation of the Ministry of Magic?
Is this a joke?
It's already good enough for them to save their official hats and lives!
Looking at the indifferent people, the head of the Department of Magical Incidents and Disasters could only look to Robert for help. This was his last hope,
because in theory, the Auror Office had the responsibility and obligation to assist them in solving this matter. They were actually grasshoppers on the same rope.
However, Robert, the director of the Auror Office, did not think so.
You know, he is a direct subordinate of Minister Flint, and he didn't believe that Minister Flint would execute him because of this small connection.
Thinking of this, he frowned and said,
"Mr. Director, I understand your feelings very well. Please rest assured that if you need our Auror Office for anything, just ask us and we will do our best."
The expression of the Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters became even uglier, because Robert's meaning was already very clear.
Our Auror Office is just an auxiliary department to assist you in this matter, and you have to bear the blame yourself.
The Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters was naturally unwilling, so a fierce debate began.
The debate lasted from dusk to midnight, but still did not change anything. Faced with such a big trouble, no one was willing to participate.
In the end, the superiors yawned and left the meeting room in a hurry, while the Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters sat slumped in his office chair with a deathly pale face.
Kingsley looked at the Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters, who seemed to have accepted his fate, and his expression was also a little solemn.
As an undercover agent of the Order of the Phoenix in the Ministry of Magic, he did not participate in the plan to rescue Mike last time. Therefore, although he was demoted due to his identity, he still holds the second-in-command position of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
This is why he is here.
"Mr. Director, what are you going to do?"
Kingsley cautiously probed. As an undercover agent, he had the obligation to obtain this information in advance.
Hearing this, the Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters smiled bitterly and said,
"What to do? What else can we do? Give in. Give them whatever they want. We can delay it for a day!"
After that, the Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters shook his head, stood up and walked out of the meeting room with heavy steps.
Kingsley frowned and fell into deep thought.
As an old man who has been in the political world for decades, he knows very well that this is a plan that is only a temporary solution. Doing so will only make things more difficult to solve.
It turned out that Kingsley's conjecture was correct.
The day after the meeting, the Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes approached representatives of various groups, including centaurs, witches, goblins, and mermen, to seek a solution to the situation.
In order to eliminate the current turbulent situation in society, the Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes signed a series of unequal contracts under the surprised gaze of many representatives, satisfying some of the demands put forward by minority groups that at least seemed more reliable.
For example, giving centaurs, mermen and other intelligent creatures the right to establish autonomous regions, giving Muggle wizards a certain number of Ministry of Magic positions, giving witches currently working in the Ministry of Magic greater rights, and reducing the Ministry of Magic's taxes on Gringotts.
It has to be said that this is a situation that everyone is happy with.
The minority groups left happily with the benefits, and although the Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes paid a huge price, at least the crowds of people marching on the streets disappeared, so it was not a loss.
But human beings are always greedy, especially when you are too enthusiastic, they will not stop until they squeeze out every last bit of benefit from you.
Of course, the above qualities are unique to humans and fairies.
Mermen and centaurs are actually very satisfied with the current situation and are not prepared to ask for more.
But under the coercion of wizards and fairies, they have to participate.
So, just one week after the signing of the settlement agreement, the parades of various groups appeared again.
In response, although the Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes was angry, for the sake of their own lives, they once again interviewed the group of people from last time.
And this time, the interests ceded by the Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes were even greater. The
Ministry of Magic, the Power statue in the lobby of the Ministry of Magic has disappeared, and it has been replaced by a group of statues, in which witches, Muggles, centaurs, mermen and other races live in harmony, but the only thing missing is the figure of wizards.
The shackles that have been imprisoned on these minority groups for thousands of years have also disappeared. They have suddenly gone from being at the bottom of society to being the upper class, and can despise those pure-blood wizards to their heart's content. These minority groups began to commit crimes to retaliate against the pure-blood wizards and make money at the same time. Both the Aurors and the strikers began to turn a blind eye to these crimes at the signal of their superiors. As for
the witches, they benefited the most from this struggle.
They themselves have extraordinary abilities. In this situation, they even pried open the blockade of the top pure-blood families on the upper officials of the Ministry of Magic, which led to many witches becoming senior officials of the Ministry of Magic and even members of the Wizengamot.
After paying so much, the wizarding world of Yingguo finally calmed down.
But the mood of the Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters did not improve at all, because he knew very well that the current peace was only temporary, and those greedy guys would ask for more from him.
And giving these guys too many privileges would also cause dissatisfaction among the inherent classes. In the end, he was either forced to death by the minority groups because he had nothing to give, or he was quietly dealt with because he made the inherent classes lose too much benefits! For a
time, the Director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters was actually a little desperate.
At the same time, inside Hogwarts, Filch was standing on a wooden box, struggling to stick a piece of parchment on the notice board in the entrance hall.
It was clearly written on it:
"Notice on the appointment of the headmaster of Hogwarts .
All teachers, students and staff are informed
that according to the work needs of Hogwarts, in accordance with the relevant traditions of selecting the headmaster of Hogwarts, and in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom, after a series of procedures, the Ministry of Magic has decided to appoint the current Minister of Magic, Chris Flint, as the headmaster of Hogwarts.
Hereby appointed.
Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom."
Looking at the parchment that he had posted neatly in the center of the notice board, Filch smiled with satisfaction.
It was not the first time that the Ministry of Magic had sent a headmaster or professor down. Although Umbridge, who was sent down last time, gave him some bad experiences in the end, overall, the days when Umbridge was in power were still quite comfortable. At least there were fewer naughty students at that time.
Rubbing his hands, Filch was already thinking about how to please the new headmaster. As long as he could get along well with the new headmaster, he would have the opportunity to suggest to him to intensify the indoctrination of the students. In this way, he could save a lot of effort in his daily work.
'Merlin bless! The new headmaster Flint must be a hardliner! '
Filch hoped sincerely in his heart.
At the same time, the students in the hall also found the notice in the entrance hall and gradually gathered around.
When they saw the content of the notice, the crowd exploded.
"Harry, the Chris Flint mentioned above, could it be the one I think?"
Ron said in disbelief, and Harry nodded dully and said:
"If there is only one Minister of Magic, then he should be it."
"Oh! Merlin's beard! We are all doomed now!"
Ron covered his face and wailed in despair.
You have to know that these Hogwarts students just made a big fuss at the Ministry of Magic! Now the Minister of Magic is coming to Hogwarts to be their headmaster!
Ron instinctively thought that this might be Chris's conspiracy!
The other party must want to take revenge on them by using the identity of the headmaster of Hogwarts!
There are many people in the crowd who behave similarly to Ron. Although they don't have the stupid idea that Chris, as the Minister of Magic, will come to Hogwarts to be the headmaster in order to take revenge on them, they are also dissatisfied with this decision. After all,
the operation to rescue Mike has just ended, and most of them still think that the Ministry of Magic is their enemy!
As for the Slytherins, they are so happy.
God has mercy on them. Since Chris left Hogwarts, they have been suppressed by Mike's lineage. In the recent period, they have even been beaten so hard that they dare not even leave the dormitory except for classes!
Now Chris is back, and he has returned gloriously with such a prominent identity as the Minister of Magic and the headmaster of Hogwarts. You can tell with your heels that their good days are finally coming!
Of course, after a series of setbacks, they learned their lesson. They
were not arrogant enough to celebrate in a public place like the Great Hall, but covered their mouths, forced themselves to hold back their laughter and rushed back to their common room.
Presumably, there will be a special banquet in the Slytherin common room tonight.
Hermione looked at the notice and the noisy crowd around her, gritted her teeth, and said to Harry and Ron:
"No! We must go to Professor McGonagall to ask for clarification!"