Everyday Players at Hogwarts.

Chapter 391: Changes in the Ministry of Magic (Part )

Finny Dax looked at himself in the elevator, took a deep breath, and pressed the button for the second floor.

Even though it had been six years since graduation, he was still not used to working overtime during the Christmas holidays.

Furthermore, ever since the registration for Muggle item modification was opened, the second floor has been overcrowded.

Since the second floor belongs to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, naturally its subordinate departments, the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office and the Auror Office are on the same floor.

Every day the elevator is filled with wizards who need to register, which forces employees like Dax to use the fireplace in the Auror's office to commute to and from get off work.

The reason why he kept using the elevator now was to meet a long-lost figure - his girlfriend from student days, Charlotte Austen, who was of Muggle birth.

Austin now works for a company that specializes in helping people register Muggle-modified items, and as a Muggle wizard, she does a great job in this area.

But today apparently Dax didn't spot Austin.

They also have Christmas day off.

He walked out of the elevator dejectedly and passed through two heavy oak doors. In front of him was the Auror Office, also known as the Auror Headquarters: an open space divided into several small compartments, each compartment belonging to an Auror.

Dax came to his cubicle, and the walls of his cubicle, like those of his colleagues, were covered with pictures of dark wizards.

If it was during the period when he had just graduated, he would probably look at those photos as soon as he got to work every day, then write a report, and then go to various wizard gathering places to patrol in the afternoon, hoping to catch a dark wizard and win a generous bonus.

But now, Dax is not like this anymore. It’s not because he has been worn down by time, but because they have hardly seen any traces of dark wizards recently.

Even when they went to Knockturn Alley, they could only find some wizard thugs who were committing petty thefts.

Starting from a certain period of time three years ago, those famous dark wizards disappeared without a trace.

People like Carlo and Nott cannot be arrested because there is no evidence.

To be honest, Dax now feels more like a security guard.

Dax actually had some guesses about the whereabouts of these dark wizards. After all, the time when they disappeared was about the same time as the appearance of Skywalker's Alchemy Workshop.

However, it was not the Skywalker Alchemy Workshop that he suspected.

It's their pirated goods, a shop that Bogin and Burke opened after changing their business.

Dax thought that these dark wizards should have gone to Borgin and Burke's.

However, Dax and the entire Auror Office could do nothing about Borgin and Burke - they were running a legitimate business and were major taxpayers.

Moreover, if Borgin and Burke are destroyed and these dark wizards flow into the wizarding society again, who will be blamed for the negative impact they cause?

It was also because of this that Dax almost felt that his wand was rusting.

But he wasn't going to complain, because their free time meant peace for the British wizarding world.

However, they have been busy again recently, ever since Arthur Weasley's promotion, and now they seem to have returned to their wartime style.

On the table of each Auror's cubicle is a high-level portkey that only high-ranking officials could use to go to and from get off work.

In the past, they could only use the fireplace floo network.

Although using the Floo Network would allow dark wizards to notice the Aurors' tracks in advance, allowing them to be avoided or even ambushed.

But people like Fudge don't care. In their opinion, their comfort during commuting is much more important than the safety of the Aurors.

Moreover, they believe that these difficulties can be overcome.

For example, we could find a fireplace in a secluded room, but they didn't provide the funding.

Or he could just Apparate, not caring at all that the Aurors needed to be in peak condition because they might face dark wizards. "Weasley did a good job." Looking at the portkey on his desk, Dax sighed again.

After clocking in at his workstation every day, he would use it to patrol his area until the end of the day, when he would return the door key to his colleague on the night shift.

You know, there was no such thing as night shift in the past.

At night, it is the world of dark wizards.

This also means that there are almost no night markets in the magical world.

Even Dax himself felt very safe with this change - watching the Aurors walking by the window before falling asleep.

However, since it was not his turn to go out on patrol today, he did not need the door key.

After processing the documents, it was already 12 noon.

Looking at the blue sky and white clouds on the enchanted ceiling, it meant that he could go to the cafe opposite the red telephone booth outside the Ministry of Magic for dinner again.

"Hey, Finny, where are we going to eat?" A short, fat middle-aged man poked his head out from the next stall.

"Now that the rain has stopped, of course we should go to NEW EAST. Its tomato beef brisket and snow-capped coffee are unparalleled."

"I'm not going to the main hall on the eighth floor to eat staff meals." Dax shrugged.

But having said that, Dax still had to go to the eighth floor because that was where the exit was.

Soon, a long and magnificent hall appeared in front of the two of them. The floor was a dark wooden floor that was polished to a shine, and the ceiling was peacock blue, inlaid with glittering golden symbols that kept moving and changing, like a huge high-altitude bulletin board.

The walls on both sides of the main hall are decorated with gilded fireplaces: the left one is for arrival and the right one is for departure.

At lunchtime or dinner time, an oak door will appear on the wall next to the fireplace on the left, opening it to the Ministry of Magic employee restaurant.

"Finny, why is the statue of the Magic Brothers Fountain gone?" Dick, the short and fat wizard, rubbed his eyes. The statue in the center of the hall was gone. He usually liked to throw a few copper knuts into the fountain under the statue to make a wish.

"Perhaps the Ministry of Magic and St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries have a falling out? (All proceeds from this fountain will be donated to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.)" Dax patted Dick on the shoulder and joked.

"Okay, okay, okay, let me be serious."

“Isn’t it normal for it to be demolished?”

"You know, our Minister of Magic is a woman." Dax winked at Dick.

Dick suddenly realized.

The Magical Brothers Fountain is topped by a group of solid gold statues of witches and wizards, centaurs, goblins and house-elves.

Streams of water spurt out from different parts of the sculpture.

But the tallest of them all was a wizard with a noble demeanor, holding his wand high and pointing it toward the sky.

Surrounding him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house elf.

Centaurs, goblins, and house-elves all looked up at the two wizards in adoration.

Sparkling jets of water spurted from the tips of wizards' wands, from the arrows of centaurs, from the tips of goblins' hats, and from the ears of house-elfs.

"I understand!"

"The tallest one should be replaced with a witch statue, not a wizard," Dick lamented.

(End of this chapter)