allendalepharm Chapter 283 Electronic Owls and Emails
Chapter 283 Electronic Owls and Emails
Chapter 283 Electronic Owls and Emails
The reunion after a long period of longing is wonderful.
Each wished the other well for the future and then parted again; it was still a beautiful thing.
Dumbledore and Grindelwald were both wise old men over a hundred years old, who had experienced too many ups and downs in their lives. After meeting Ariana, some things and some emotions finally found their place.
Lockhart could sense that some of the distance between Dunn and Dung had disappeared after this incident.
You can intuitively feel that the atmosphere is quite harmonious.
Silver smoke billowed, and everything rippled like a reflection in a mirror or the moon in the water. Soon, the three of them reappeared on the grass next to the stone house in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts.
Just as the three were about to speak, a figure perched on a treetop not far away caught their attention.
It was a very strange thing.
The tiny white spots of light converged to form the shape of an owl.
The owl keenly sensed Lockhart's presence, spread its wings, and flew towards him. After circling once, it quickly collapsed and exploded, transforming into a huge email that fell to the ground.
"This is……"
Lockhart looked at the large package in his hand, which resembled an email, with two strings of characters written on it—his and Audrey Lemaître's email addresses.
Then he looked at Dumbledore, "This was brought in from outside the school, and it even managed to pass through Hogwarts' castle's protective magic?"
Dumbledore, also filled with curiosity, drew his Elder Wand and carefully examined the faint traces left by the strange owl. He then scrutinized the mail package, remarking, "Magic is called magic precisely because it is full of infinite possibilities, isn't it?"
"This is an electronic owl, used for delivering mail." Grindelwald seemed to know about this kind of magic. "I've heard that magic in the field of modern mysticism is developing quite well in France."
"Electronic owl..." Lockhart's expression grew increasingly strange.
So what is this in your hand, some kind of mystical email?
Oh, this is quite a lot.
He didn't bother to avoid the two of them, and went straight to open the mail package, which contained a book and some documents.
and also……
A magical photograph of Audrey Flamel.
She looked impeccably dressed in the photo, smiling sweetly, and said, "Gidero, you can use this photo to contact me in the future!"
Lockhart quickly put the photos away, looked up, and sure enough, saw the narrow eyes of Old G and Old Deng.
Cough, cough...
He coughed twice, somewhat embarrassed, "He's a friend I recently made."
Even after he transmigrated, he received many fan letters containing magical photos, some quite explicit, but this was the first time he had ever received one that allowed him to communicate and chat with a magical portrait.
"Nico Flamel has an album of photographs, and he can contact everyone in it," Dumbledore explained with a smile. "These aren't magical portraits; they don't need to be relayed. They exist in the person's own state, which is quite magical."
"These alchemical photographs can ignore most of the defensive magic currently circulating, allowing you to chat directly with the other party."
"To trigger its operation, eye contact is required."
Listening to Dumbledore's explanation, Lockhart suddenly realized, "The eyes are the windows to the soul, so is this similar to the concept of the mind and the world you just told me about?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "The mechanisms that the effects follow may be similar, but the magical methods and concepts that achieve them are different."
Everyone is quite curious about this kind of magic, the electronic owl.
Unfortunately, Grindelwald himself only read a few pages of information while gathering intelligence on the current development of the wizarding world, and did not go into detail about this magic.
Then there's no point in discussing it further; we'll only know when we have the opportunity to meet in the future.
Everyone soon arrived at Dumbledore's office for tea. While enjoying the snacks and tea prepared by the house-elves, Lockhart opened the things Audrey had sent.
The book is "The History of Beauxbatons: Magic and Etiquette".
The materials consist of records of exchanges between Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and various Muggle factions around the world regarding classical literature, as well as some papers that were produced.
Grindelwald glanced at it curiously, chuckled, and said meaningfully, "You're curious about Beauxbatons?"
Lockhart didn't hide his thoughts. He put the books and documents aside and explained with a smile, "Someone analyzed the future situation for me and believes that the 'magic school-centered system' will replace the 'Ministry of Magic-centered system.' They strongly suggested that I carefully consider this future."
Grindelwald raised an eyebrow, holding his teacup, his tone full of mockery, "This is truly interesting. Does this approach strengthen or weaken the Secrecy Act?"
This is a very interesting question.
It should strengthen the Secret Service Act, so that the social structure of wizards no longer matches the social structure of Muggles, resulting in a real decoupling.
But in essence, the magic school-centric system is based on the principle that "magic equals power." Moreover, with only 11 magic schools, power is inevitably more concentrated.
This seems to be more in line with the wizarding ecosystem, and the influence of magic masters and the authority of wizarding management institutions will no longer be misaligned.
In today's wizarding and Muggle society, this concentration of power will inevitably lead to further reforms of the Secrets Act. As long as there are reforms, there will be room for maneuver, and even the possibility of completely overturning the Secrets Act and retaining only its name.
Dumbledore didn't say anything, just lowered his head and savored his ice cream cake, seemingly not caring much.
Grindelwald continued, "The emergence of the first magic school, Hogwarts, is of great significance in the long history of wizarding. I think that was what Hogwarts intended to do in that environment."
"Unfortunately, Mr. Slytherin was expelled by his partners, and Hogwarts has not had such an opportunity again for a thousand years."
"Now that some Muggle factions are starting to frequently contact wizards, and with the escalating conflict, will we return to an environment suitable for this system?"
This was hardly a problem for him.
Since the environment doesn't exist, we can create it.
Old Deng finally couldn't hold back any longer, rolling his eyes. "I must remind you, Mr. Grindelwald, compared to the Muggle population, the wizarding population isn't that large. Every wizard who dies is one less!"
"You may not be able to afford the price of pushing Muggle forces to force changes in wizarding society."
"A fire can indeed be a powerful weapon, but how it burns and when it goes out are not things you can control."
Grindelwald chuckled, his tone sarcastic, "Hard to say."
"Hard to say?" Dumbledore's eyes sharpened.
"The Wizarding Fairy Tale Theory," Grindelwald gestured to Lockhart beside him, "Our young master of magic believes that by participating more in magical fairy tale adventures, magic will naturally blossom. He goes further and believes that wizards are born from Muggles on such magical adventures."
"So, can we assume that even if all current wizards died out, a large number of Muggle wizards would quickly emerge from among the Muggles?"
Dumbledore couldn't eat his ice cream cake anymore. He stared coldly at Grindelwald and said, "You know, even if that's the case. It's no longer wizarding. Without the culture of wizards, magic will eventually become a weapon of killing, and the final result will be the proliferation of dark magic, even leading to the destruction of the world."
Wizardry culture—a very general term, but both of them present understood what Old Deng was talking about.
Magic was not always benevolent; violence is always the best way for new witchcraft to be born.
Wizards have gone through a long process to master this power, from ancient witchcraft to the modern magic system, and they have paid a heavy price in terms of training and effort.
Once something is destroyed, it may be impossible to rebuild it without the fertile ground to nurture it.
"So I can compromise."
Grindelwald pulled Lockhart over again. "Giddro said in his Ravenclaw alumni association that magic is power, and everyone must show respect to the greatest and most powerful wizard of our time."
Lockhart chuckled and simply buried his head in his ice cream cake.
"Be gentler, be calmer, be more patient."
Grindelwald didn't bother to hide his thoughts. His eyes, which seemed to see right through people, stared straight at Dumbledore. "Now, in my capacity as the headmaster of Durmstrang School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I extend an invitation to Hogwarts to resume the Triwizard Tournament."
"The Triwizard Tournament..." Dumbledore leaned back in his high-backed chair, frowning in thought.
"I knew you would agree." Grindelwald knew Dumbledore all too well. After spending decades in prison, half of the plans he devised for his comeback were based on respect for Dumbledore, just as Lockhart had said.
Old Deng specializes in this!
Following Dumbledore's train of thought and then achieving what he wanted was not a difficult strategy for him.
"What exactly do you want to do?" Dumbledore sighed, knowing he could no longer stop Grindelwald, and could only begin to inquire about the details.
"Make it a lively event, that's all I ask."
After Grindelwald finished speaking, seeing that Dumbledore remained silent, he continued.
"First of all, the Quidditch World Cup, which is the most anticipated event for wizards around the world this year, will have to be canceled due to some circumstances. The Triwizard Tournament will once again become the show that everyone looks forward to."
Dumbledore finally spoke, frowning. "Was this necessary?"
"Of course it's necessary." Grindelwald swirled his glass, the drink inside having somehow turned into red wine.
He took a sip, smiled, and explained, "The Quidditch World Cup is spearheaded by the International Wizarding Federation and jointly organized by the sports departments of the national magic ministries. I don't need it."
"What I need is a competition jointly organized by magic schools!"
"In this long and grand event, none of the Ministries of Magic can interfere. On the contrary, as long as we hold a large enough event, we will have sufficient reason to draw upon the Aurors, employees, and even resources of the Ministries of Magic from various countries for our own use!"
"The Triwizard Tournament, jointly organized by our three magic schools, has a history of over seven hundred years and is held every five years; this is common knowledge."
"I hope that each of the three magic schools will hold one, which will be every fifteen years. Each of these three events should be more grand than the last, and ideally, the preparation for the next one should take two to three years, so that everyone will forget about the Ministry of Magic and only remember the command and control of the magic schools."
Grindelwald looked at Dumbledore with a smile. "How about that? Gentle enough, calm enough, patient enough, isn't it?"
Dumbledore remained silent. He knew how much room there was to weigh the options, but he couldn't make a decision on the spot, so he still didn't express his opinion.
"second."
Grindelwald continued, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings, "I said, it needs to be more lively."
"So I'd like to make a small change. Having student representatives from three schools participate isn't very lively. Ideally, each school should send ten people, and there should be both individual and team competitions."
"In addition, I also hope to change the venue for each match. I have already decided on the location for the final, which will be in North America."
Dumbledore was both amused and annoyed by this claim. "Three European magic schools holding their grand finals within the sphere of influence of Illumony School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"
Grindelwald narrowed his eyes. "Of course, magic schools also have priorities, right? I think they'll know to maintain a certain level of respect for masters of magic, won't they?"
Hogwarts has Dumbledore, Durmstrang has Grindelwald, Beauxbatons has Nicolas Flamel, but who does Ilvimony have?
There might have been Voldemort, but he's locked up in a dark room now, so he can't play.
"third!"
"And that's the most important point!"
Grindelwald's eyes sharpened. "The Triwizard Tournament needs a clear list of permitted spells! I don't agree with the vague definitions of dark magic and orthodox magic promoted by the various national ministries of magic!"
"A magic school is a place for teaching and nurturing. I hope that through this competition, all students will understand which magic can be used, which magic can only be used when necessary, and which magic must never be used!"
"This requirement includes all Aurors and staff seconded by the Ministries of Magic from various countries, clearly defining the competition standards!"
What is this.
This is stealing the right to define magic.
It will even profoundly impact the judicial system of the magic ministries of various countries.
It just so happens that it has a very reasonable name: competition rules, which is quite interesting.
"I'm done." Grindelwald smiled at Dumbledore, then at Lockhart, who was engrossed in eating his cake. "Gilderoy, what do you think?"
Lockhart grumbled, "Just don't use this competition as an opportunity to launch an attack on the Muggle nation. I'm really afraid that I'll participate in this competition, be enjoying it, and suddenly a missile will hit me, and then everything will change."
"What?" Grindelwald was stunned. "What do you mean? Am I that kind of person?"
Dumbledore burst into laughter, a truly joyful laugh, mimicking Old Grimm's sarcastic tone from earlier, "It's hard to say."
"..."
Grindelwald chuckled, too lazy to say anything more.
This concludes the discussion. Although there seems to be no definitive conclusion, some things have actually been quietly settled.
As he was leaving, Dumbledore smiled and pointed to the books and documents in Lockhart's hands, saying, "You should read this book more often, but it's best to also have your own thoughts on it."
Lockhart raised an eyebrow and looked down at the book cover, "The History of Beauxbatons: Magic and Etiquette".
"Fairy tales are a bridge between magic and etiquette, and I think my idea is a good suggestion." Dumbledore looked at him. "Of course, perhaps you can come up with even more surprises?"
Lockhart shrugged. "You know, nobody knows fairy tales better than me!"
Dumbledore burst into laughter.
(End of this chapter)