Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 665 Candidates for the International Magic Federation
"Oh! No!" Ron's face turned deathly pale in an instant. "Oh, no no no no no!"

"Oh, yes," Ginny replied with a grin, "Yes, yes, yes, yes."

Ginny looked like she was having a good laugh, and Harry couldn't tell if she was laughing because she saw her brother get the short end of the stick or if she was genuinely concerned about his love life.

“By the way, George, Fred, how did you get in?” Harry asked.

“We applied,” George said casually.

“We came to Hogsmeade today hoping to surprise Ron, but after waiting for a long time and not seeing you come out, we took out our tarot cards and asked Tierra about it,” Fred said.

“Then Tyrell said that because things have been a bit unsettled outside lately, the weekly trip to Hogsmeade Village has been changed to once every two weeks,” George added. “Then we said that today is Ron’s birthday, and we wondered if we could go into Hogwarts to surprise him.”

"Then Tiera said it was okay, just fill out a form to register, and then leave the wand with Fitch, the doorman."

“That’s how we got in,” Fred concluded.

"That's...that's actually quite convenient," Ginny muttered. "Why can't we get out, but people outside can come in freely?"

“Don’t ask, it’s just for safety,” George joked.

“But wouldn’t it be safer to restrict us from leaving the school and ban outsiders from entering?” Ron muttered in dissatisfaction. He had clearly been looking forward to his trip to Hogsmeade, which happened to coincide with his birthday, for a long time, only to be suddenly subjected to a security ban by Tierra.

“Who knows?” George shrugged. “But it’s true that things are unsafe internationally lately.”

"Unsafe?" Harry asked, puzzled. "How so?"

“Hmm,” George Weasley gave a long “hmm,” and then said, “You know about the Ministry of Magic War that happened last August, right? It was the war in which almost all the Ministries of Magic, except for the British ones, united to attack the British Ministry of Magic.”

“Yes, I heard about it,” Harry said. “But wasn’t Tyella dealt with quite easily?”

“It’s because he solved it too easily,” Fred added. “And after the war, Tierra forced other ministries of magic to sign unequal treaties, which has led to extreme dissatisfaction among ministries of magic officials and wizards under their jurisdiction, and even rebellions in many ministries.”

"So what?" Ron asked, puzzled. "What does their chaos have to do with us not being able to go to Hogsmeade?"

“This spring is the election for the new president of the International Magic Federation,” George said. “With Tiera’s massive acquisition of precious magical materials from other countries’ Ministries of Magic over the past six months, many Ministries of Magic are now facing an extreme shortage of magical materials.”

"Tierra's unequal treaties and rampant plundering of magical materials have greatly impacted the daily lives of wizards in many countries and regions," Fred continued. "Now, many people in foreign ministries of magic, whether officials or ordinary wizards, are pinning their hopes on the International Federation of Magical Societies (IFMS), hoping that they can elect a strong IFMS president this time to lead them to overthrow Tierra's cruel oppression."

"And then?" Harry asked nervously.

“Then those politicians just kept making a fuss.” George rubbed his hands helplessly. “After all, this election of the International Magic Federation is basically equivalent to being pushed into the highest position of power in the entire magical world outside of the British magical community. As long as the elected person can prove his ability to everyone in a short period of time, he will be able to seize all the power and wealth he can imagine in a short period of time.”

“There must be a lot of people vying for this spot, right?” Harry asked. “A lot?” George chuckled. “Almost everyone!”

“Almost everyone feels they have the ability to save the entire wizarding world from Tiera,” Fred said. “Despite adding countless more options, the number of candidates for the new president of the International Federation of Magical Societies has increased to fourteen, an unprecedented number.”

"So many?" Harry asked in surprise. "How do they ultimately decide the next president? By vote?"

"Vote?" This time it was Ron's turn to exclaim in surprise. "Harry, didn't you know?"

"Know what?" Harry asked, also surprised.

“A Qilin!” Ron said.

“Qilin?” Harry uttered the two strange syllables with difficulty.

"Oh my god, Harry, you really didn't know?" Ginny asked in shock.

"What?" Harry asked in surprise.

“The Qilin, the Qilin!” Ron said. “The Qilin is something we all know. It is a magical animal, a symbol of purity. Whenever a member of the International Magical Federation is elected, a ceremony is held in Bhutan, the sacred city of magic, to summon the Qilin. It will only bow in respect to those who are truly pure of heart. And the new president of the International Magical Federation, who will decide the fate of the magical world, will ultimately be chosen by the Qilin.”

“I don’t know,” Harry said. “You’ve forgotten I grew up in the Dursleys.”

“Oh right,” Ron said sheepishly.

"Does Tierra know about that?" Harry asked immediately afterward.

"Know what?" George and Fred Weasley asked in unison.

"It's... um... it's about their plans to rebel against Tiera."

“You should know,” George said. “Dad has been discussing this with Tierra lately… with one of the Tierras, but Tierra doesn’t seem to care at all.”

"Well, they shouldn't be in any danger to Tierra, right?" Harry asked worriedly.

“Who knows?” George said. “If he himself doesn’t care, then there must be no danger.”

“Oh, right, George, Fred, what are you doing in Hogsmeade? Is it just to celebrate Ron’s birthday?” Harry asked again.

“Because we’re considering buying Zonko’s Joke Shop,” Fred said, both frustrated and relieved. “We want to open a branch in Hogsmeade, you know, that would make our business much better. After all, our main customers are underage wizards. But... now you can’t go out and buy our stuff on weekends anymore, so we don’t have to worry about that until things stabilize in the wizarding world.”

(End of this chapter)