allendalepharm Chapter 305 Major Events and the Big Shots Don't Care
Chapter 305 Major Events and the Big Shots Don't Care
Chapter 305 Major Events and the Big Shots Don't Care
The next morning, owls flew around the world like crazy, sparking a heated discussion among Muggles about the "end of the world".
But actually, the owls are all delivering newspapers and magazines.
Regarding Lockhart's remarks at a board of trustees' reception.
(Everyone tacitly mentioned only the Board of Trustees, which was in accordance with impeccable procedure.)
(Due to some unspeakable reasons, news of Voldemort's appearance was deliberately concealed.)
Rita Skeeter, editor-in-chief of The Daily Prophet, even ran the headline on the front page: "The beginning of a new era comes from a speech by the great Gilderoy Lockhart."
They overlooked the significance of the "Three-Way Battle" that Lao Ge planned and launched.
Rita is very good at doing this kind of thing.
She knew that the bigwigs wouldn't mind the title, but in fact, this title would become an important annotation of a great era in the future.
The incident caused such a sensation that even Harry Potter, who was traveling in Norway, saw it in the newspapers.
Yes, Harry Potter went on vacation during the summer.
This was an unprecedented experience for him.
Uncle Vernon would sometimes take him on family trips, but at most they would go to places like the zoo that weren't too far away.
After he enrolled at Hogwarts, this became even more impossible.
And now, Sirius Black, the godfather from the old money family, is funding a trip to Norway for the Ron family and Hermione's family—it couldn't be more wonderful.
Their plan was to have their fill here, use the "Quidditch World Cup" door key to return to England, watch the games there, and then go home.
A perfect plan.
Harry was filled with anticipation.
However, on this particular day, Hermione stopped by this place during her trip to meet someone she met online, and returned looking terrified.
Although Harry didn't know what online friends were, even though he grew up in a Muggle family.
"Harry! Ron! Bad news, we might not be able to watch the Quidditch World Cup! It's not going to happen!"
Ron's father, Arthur, was drinking and chatting with Hermione's father, Mr. Granger, and Sirius Black. The ladies needed a half-day break after their long journey, and the three old men were taking the opportunity to sit down and enjoy a delicious beer.
Hearing Hermione's shouts, the three of them turned to look.
"Is there some mistake?" Arthur, who was already inside the Ministry of Magic and was extremely interested in the event, was somewhat puzzled. "I haven't heard any rumors, and the newspapers haven't mentioned it either."
In the past few days, the content of Magic Master Lockhart's speeches has almost stolen the spotlight from the Quidditch World Cup, but even so, the secondary pages are still full of information about the event.
He grabbed a copy of "Today's Prophet" from the table and waved it around, saying, "Look, they're still discussing whether teams from different countries can advance smoothly."
Hermione sighed. "It's a message from a Muggle. I just met up with someone I met online, and we were talking about my holiday plans. I mentioned I wanted to travel to the Weasel Hill area in England (where this year's tournament is being held), and she showed me the forums—"
She looked somewhat frightened. "A Muggle passenger plane crashed there, and the Muggle newspapers are all reporting on it. International rescue teams are coming here to help with the search and rescue."
With that, she shrugged, "This isn't something that can be solved with a simple 'Muggle Exorcism Charm'!"
Her statement contained so much information that everyone was somewhat confused.
"Netizens? What's that?" This was Ron's bewilderment. Did it refer to a friend who plays a sport using a certain type of net?
"What's a forum? Open a forum? What kind of strange description is this?" Harry was equally confused.
Sirius Black burst into laughter. "The internet, little ones, you need to learn how to understand this world!"
"You know about the internet?"
Hermione looked at Sirius with some surprise. In her eyes, this middle-aged man, who had been imprisoned for more than ten years and always dressed like a noble young master from the last century, actually understood the Muggle world better than many wizards, and understood it so well.
Sirius Black had a mysterious smile on his face.
This earned Harry and Ron their utmost respect.
Well, actually, Sirius learned about the Internet from a blind date he went on. The woman was the Muggle sister of a wizard from a Muggle family, and she asked him that question.
Do you know what the Internet is?
"Looks like my first impression was right, you really are old-fashioned. I'm sorry, I'm not interested in you."
What a shame!
After Sirius returned, he vowed to find out exactly what the damn Internet was, and he even asked a lot of Muggles.
In fact, not every Muggle knows about the Internet in this day and age.
"Maybe this won't affect the competition?" Ron struggled to argue, believing Hermione always liked to exaggerate. "Wizards always find ways to keep Muggles from finding out. Besides, the Aurors might come out to help search for the missing plane crash victims; they should be able to find them soon."
The group started discussing it, unsure whether this would really prevent wizards from hosting the Quidditch World Cup.
If it really has an impact, then it's a major event.
This shows that Muggles still have a profound influence on the lives of wizards, and this has sparked some of the most heated discussions in the wizarding world.
However, no one was able to reach a conclusion.
Arthur thought for a moment and wrote to his colleagues at the Ministry of Magic to inquire about the matter. This World Cup was co-hosted by the British Ministry of Magic, and many of his colleagues were involved in some aspect of it.
Then he called the owl and told everyone to wait patiently for news.
Well, it will be at least tomorrow.
If the colleague receives the email successfully and has time to have the owl deliver a reply, then...
"Yes, we can ask others!"
Hermione's eyes lit up. She found her travel backpack, rummaged through it, and pulled out a small black box-like cell phone from the deepest part.
She quickly pressed the key and held it to her ear, intending to walk outside.
"What is this?" Sirius, Harry, and Ron asked in unison.
"A cell phone! (A mobile phone)!" Hermione looked at them with a disdainful gaze, tilted her head back smugly, and tossed her hair. "Don't talk, I'm contacting Professor Lockhart!"
With that, she snorted and walked out the door.
Ron and Harry looked at each other in bewilderment.
Sirius stood by, heartbroken. Merlin's ripped underwear—once again, he was seen as an outdated bumpkin by a certain lady!
What the heck is a mobile phone?!
Why are there so many strange things about Muggles!
Soon, Hermione walked in carrying the so-called "big brother" mobile phone, saying urgently, "Professor Lockhart said that the Muggle passenger plane—"
She swallowed hard, looking horrified by the incident. "That Muggle passenger plane flew over Weasel Mountain during the Quidditch World Cup and was driven away by a self-important wizard using a Muggle Expulsion Charm."
"That wizard thought this thing was like a Muggle helicopter, and the pilot would fly it away because he was in a hurry to get home."
"But passenger planes are different, even though they look only a tiny bit big from high in the sky."
The result was—
"The passenger plane has crashed—the wreckage is still nowhere in sight—nobody knows how many survivors are still alive!"
"Merlin's beard!" Arthur stood up in shock, bumping into the table and causing the beer bottle to fall to the floor, the beer bubbling and flowing rapidly across the carpet, but he had no time to pay attention to that.
"Something big has happened!" He glanced nervously at his wife, who had already turned to look at him. "Molly, I think I need your help watching the children. I have to go back early!"
Molly clearly understood the seriousness of the matter and urged, "You'd better leave now!"
Even if no one contacts Arthur at this moment.
After all, Arthur's position in the Ministry of Magic seemed so awkward. Many Ministry employees who were unaware that he possessed legislative and law enforcement powers simply thought of him as a parasite who occupied a retirement department by virtue of his pure-blood background, and thus looked down on him.
Besides, it's the British Ministry of Magic; it's quite normal for officials to see in the newspapers that they've been dismissed without any prior notice.
Arthur quickly found the Norwegian Ministry of Magic, where he used the Floo Fireplace to reach the British Ministry of Magic.
He hurriedly took the elevator to a courtroom on the tenth basement floor, knowing that if this matter were to be discussed, it would be there.
Then he saw Dumbledore standing at the front of the crowd with a serious expression, and Lockhart and Grindelwald talking in a corner.
"Did you do this?" Lockhart asked in a low voice. This kind of thing was too much in Grindelwald's style, after all, he was a dark wizard.
Grindelwald shook his head. "In fact, I haven't had a chance to put my plans into action yet."
He gestured to Dumbledore, who was standing not far away. "Just as you said, we must fully respect the will of the most powerful wizard of our time. If I do this, it will only provoke Dumbledore's opposition, and I don't want my plans to be disrupted by something so trivial."
That seems to make sense.
Lohat nodded, but his expression was full of surprise. "Could it be a coincidence?"
Was it really a coincidence?
He thought it was highly unlikely, because he knew this Quidditch World Cup shouldn't be closed in this way.
"I suspect it's Voldemort, he—" Grindelwald guessed maliciously.
But just then, a cold snort came from behind, "It wasn't me!"
Grindelwald and Lockhart turned around at the same time and were shocked to find Voldemort sitting there in his ghost form. The wizards around him and even those sitting next to him seemed not to see Voldemort at all.
Voldemort looked at Grindelwald with a cold smile, "While I wouldn't mind doing such a thing, someone has clearly forgotten that they previously dragged Muggle forces into this for certain purposes, and now many Muggles are eyeing the wizarding community!"
It really wasn't him.
The best he can do now is to manifest a physical image near Lockhart; he can't use much magic, including the Dark Mark to contact the Death Eaters.
He had no way of contacting anyone else, let alone ordering his men to do something that offered him no benefit whatsoever.
He might have done such things out of malice in the past, but he's not brain-dead anymore.
Voldemort had no desire to discuss his current predicament and simply sat there indifferently.
"The Purgers!" Lockhart answered instinctively.
Grindelwald frowned, and one of his heterochromatic eyes began to become crystal clear, its interior seemingly so deep that it could trap all light, turning into a complete black hole.
"As long as wizards continue to live on Earth, even without the Purifiers, other Muggle forces opposing wizards will emerge!"
Voldemort sneered, "The wizarding world under Dumbledore's rule has been at peace for too long, to the point that it has forgotten the long history of wizards being hunted!"
"The Order of Merlin, the traitors to wizards back then, can now openly become the authoritative institution among wizards. How laughable!"
"Not to mention that Dumbledore tolerated far too many Mudbloods receiving magical education, and you have to understand that they aren't necessarily on the wizards' side; their families are all Muggles!"
"A willing Muggle could easily raise an army of Mudblood wizards against wizards."
Grindelwald rolled his eyes and turned away, too lazy to discuss such matters with this junior.
He's done all this stuff—spreading threats, provoking conflict, advocating war—and they're still trying to pull it on him? It's ridiculous, I can't be bothered to argue.
He knew what was going on.
I understand everything I understand.
Lockhart, however, was quite engaged in a lively discussion with Voldemort, saying, "That's true in theory, but on the other hand, the existence of Muggle wizards makes it easier to resolve conflicts between wizards and Muggles, isn't it?"
"We're all human, and there's always a way to gradually build balance around some issues —"
Voldemort interrupted Lockhart with another cold laugh, "All human?"
He curled his lip, glanced at the wizards around him, and gestured to several wizards who looked rather strange. "I ask you, can Muggles interbreed with goblins? Can Muggles interbreed with giants? Can Muggles interbreed with Veelas? — Can Muggles become werewolves from wolf poison? —"
like----
No.
Lockhart shrugged. "But that's because of magic. In my opinion, magical bloodlines are also a kind of magic. You know, I still head the Bloodline Department of the Department of Mysteries at the British Ministry of Magic. I have a lot of research data and a lot of arguments to support my point of view."
"The reason Muggles cannot interbreed with magical creatures is simply because of magical power."
Arguing about this for a year will never yield a result.
In Lockhart's eyes, magical bloodline is a source of magical power that runs through the river of time and is presented in the form of bloodline inheritance. He thus obtained the power of "Snake" and became a Parsleyan who is not a Parsleyan.
He also used this theory to help Lupin evolve into a true werewolf, the kind of adult werewolf cub, who is a very beautiful wolf and also possesses the source power of the werewolf's voice.
But in Voldemort's eyes, bloodline is bloodline, and there are fundamental differences between pureblood, half-blood, Mudblood, and Muggle.
This is based on the life experience of wizards over hundreds or thousands of years, not on some magical theory that ordinary people cannot understand.
Grindelwald grew tired of the two young men's discussion, shook his head, stood up, and walked outside.
"Aren't you going to listen to what happened?"
Lockhart called out to him.
Grindelwald turned around, curled his lip, and said, "No matter what happens, I guarantee the result will be the same: it will be smoothed over by someone who likes to fudge things, making it seem like nothing ever happened."
That's Dumbledore! He likes to defuse trouble, handling all possible major events before they escalate, and then dealing with them slowly and deliberately, like boiling a frog in lukewarm water or a gentle spring rain.
Old Ge was unhappy with this lukewarm approach to the situation, so he slowly walked outside with his hands behind his back.
Voldemort chuckled. "Clearly, Grindelwald's judgment is correct. Dumbledore is just that kind of person. It seems I have no need to stay here and watch the show."
So he left too.
The figure froze abruptly. Even though it was still slowly fading, the magical power had lost its vitality, meaning it was no longer there.
Lockhart was left alone, listening to what was destined to be a boring meeting.
Then, after a while, listening to too many baseless arguments and some politicians taking the opportunity to make accusations, attacks, and shirk responsibility, I got annoyed and simply slipped away.
Too----
No matter what happened, he kept his attention focused on the development of magic.
Then, magic changes the whole era, and everything else will be fine.
However, since we've come to the British Ministry of Magic...
He decided to visit the Fairy of the Wrongfully Killed, who was said to have a chance to compete for the position of Director of the Department of Magical Creatures Management and Control due to her outstanding performance in the House-Elf Placement Office.
Haha, I bet many people in the Ministry of Magic don't know that she's actually a dark magic creature.
Being a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic sounds intriguing.
Of course, when Umbridge mentioned this to Lockhart, he implied that Fudge could help, hoping to use this opportunity to curry favor with him.
They do have some influence in this matter.
In fact, because of the job in the House-Elf Office, which required her to interact with many pure-blood families, and because everyone was happy to befriend her, Fairy Taleer gained many opportunities as a result.
To a certain extent, she even represented herself.
Rita (newspaper), Umbridge (Ministry of Magic), Lupin (amulet products), Percy (Quidditch duels) —
Unbeknownst to many, Lockhart has extended too many tentacles into the wizarding world, gradually forming a force with considerable influence.
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