Hermione, join me as Minister of Magic!

Major took a deep breath: "The fire strategy... I'm afraid it's really not about money. If possible, I hope your directors will come to the XX clubhouse."

Lockhart heard the strings and knew the meaning: o I see, it seems that our company makes some people feel very embarrassed, doesn't it?In fact, we do not reject investment. After all, if we only have tens of millions of pounds, it will be difficult to continue to expand our business. "

"Of course it's best." Major's eyes lit up.

If that's the case, I might as well accept the company's offer and save some coffin books for myself.Major thought.

At this moment, Lockhart suddenly had an idea.

So he sat up a little more and put on a more serious expression.

"It's like this... just right, as part of our sincerity, our company is planning to invite a group of people who are well-known in the oil investment circle to take a vacation in a resort in which our company's directors hold 50% of their shares. I hope you can help us Just give us a chance to talk to them... trust me, we'll make them happy."

Major laughed too—wizards weren't all ignorant idiots, it seemed.

"I hope my face is enough," Major said.

Of course, Lockhart would not doubt the question of whether the prime minister of a country has enough face: now he only worries about how to take advantage of this opportunity to complete his political layout in one go without telling Fudge.

So he took out a small leather bag and threw it on the table.

After the cowhide bag fell on the table, there was a dull metal crashing sound, and then the mouth of the bag, which was not tied so firmly, was opened.

"Thank you for attending our grand meeting and delivering a speech. This is the speech fee paid to you in advance. According to our market price, it is about 200 galleons... I will bring Blake over tomorrow morning, goodbye!"

After Lockhart finished speaking, he stood up, apparently not intending to give Major any chance of refusal.

And Major stared at the golden light that was exposed from the mouth of the cowhide bag, and wanted to refuse aloud, but he couldn't open his mouth no matter what.

It wasn't until Lockhart apparated and disappeared from his office that Major glanced at the door guiltily, looked at the empty portraits on the wall, and then quickly put the bag into the drawer of his desk.

Although according to Gringotts' current official exchange rate, 200 galleons can only be exchanged for 1400 pounds, Major didn't know it.

He secretly took out a gold coin and estimated it. A Galleon weighs about 1/8 ounce.

0 galleons should also be worth at least six or seven thousand pounds.

Very good, this is a guy who knows the rules, it seems that this business can be done for a long time in the future

Because it was a complete windfall, while Major was delighted, he automatically ignored the trivial matter of Lockhart's bribery in the office.

Wizards are ignorant!

Major felt suddenly tolerant.

Chapter 240 Six Performance

The next morning, Lockhart dragged Sirius Black into the drawing room of Whitehall as promised.

Because Hogwarts was on vacation now, Sirius returned to London after wandering outside for a few months, and was going to monitor the Dursleys nearby to prevent them from mistreating Harry.

But before he could start threatening Vernon Dursley, Lockhart captured him and asked him to cooperate with the Muggle government's arrest operation.

Sirius didn't want to come, but when Lockhart showed him his wanted notices all over the street, he reluctantly gave in.

If he wanted to find a house near Privet Drive, he would inevitably have to deal with the Muggles around him.As a result, he must find a way to revoke his arrest warrant, otherwise he will have to live a life where passers-by report to the police nine times even when he goes out to buy a newspaper

"Only this time, it's not an example next time." Sirius said with a bad face.

It didn't take Lockhart and the others too much time to hunt down the two escaped prisoners. Sirius used a tracking spell, Lockhart used a group hypnosis, and combined with a total restraint, the two resting escapees were caught without a fight.

If these two people were prepared, Lockhart and the others probably wouldn't have succeeded so easily. However, the two were hiding in a locked garage at the time and were concentrating on eating, so Lockhart didn't bother at all. Jin then caught them, and they didn't even know what happened when they were caught.

Next, Lockhart and Sirius took one person, revealed the prisoner's entourage to the Whitehall reception room, and "each escaped prisoner was handed over to the suspicious chief of Scotland Yard (London Police Department) who came at the invitation of the Prime Minister.

Seeing Lockhart appear, Prime Minister Major was visibly relieved.

He hurriedly introduced Sirius to the director of Scotland Yard, and asked him to revoke Black's arrest warrant according to the caliber agreed with Lockhart in advance.

The director was very surprised to see that the two escaped prisoners were caught.

Although Scotland Yard is only responsible to the Queen in name, in fact they are still under the jurisdiction of the British Home Office, and the status of the London Police Station is relatively detached from the local police stations.

In other words, there is some discord between the central and local governments.

This prison break happened in the north, but it was Scotland Yard who finally caught the fugitive. For the chief, this is undoubtedly a very face-saving matter.

But happy to be happy, some things still need to be clarified.

"Excuse me Mr. Black...why don't we have your file?" asked the Chief.

■■■

Sirius obeyed Lockhart's "don't say a word" confession, mouth

Shut tight.

Major quickly took over the words: "I'm sorry, Charlie, your level of confidentiality is not enough. Originally, we planned to reserve this operator for great use, but for you, I have to overkill. Now let's give full play to his value. ...he can only retire early."

"Not enough secrecy? Come on, John, I'm the Chief of the Metropolitan Police!" Charlie shouted in disbelief.

"Yes, it's just not enough." Major made a serious face, "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, you know..."

Seeing the prime minister's resolute attitude, the bureau chief had no choice but to change the subject: "Well, how did they escape? How did they get arrested? I always have the right to ask."

Major immediately set his sights on Lockhart

Lockhart made a gesture of reassurance to the Prime Minister.

"According to our investigation, the Irish Republican Army bought off the local gangsters near the prison, and then the gangsters sent several locals to work in the food center and hid the parts of the guns in the metal dinner plates given to the prisoners. Collect the parts and assemble them in prison...

After escaping from the prison, they divided into three teams. One team followed the main road to attract the attention of the police; the other team fled to the small road and then went north along the wheat field; side, and then swam to the downstream, according to their confession, this is to avoid the infrared thermal imager used by the police..."

"No wonder the helicopters didn't find them." The director suddenly realized.

What Lockhart said is true, but the way to obtain these things is through probing the memory of the fugitive. Not to mention Scotland Yard, even the fugitive himself may not know how Lockhart obtained this information.

In the face of the credit at his fingertips, the director actually didn't care how the information was obtained. Anyway, the prime minister said that it should be kept secret, so he didn't bother to continue to ask the bottom line.

He happily called his subordinates and asked them to escort the two fugitives back to the police station and inform the reporter that he would swiftly swallow the credit before everyone reacted.

Of course, when narrating his achievements, he must not forget to mention the prime minister.

After the chief of police left, Lockhart officially fulfilled his promise, and he finally won the trust of Muggle Prime Minister Major.

Although Major was still very unfamiliar with the wizarding world at this time, he no longer simply regarded the wizarding world as a "trouble" like when he first came to power.

If you want to say it, it should be regarded as "an interesting existence that can barely talk, can cooperate occasionally, and does not have much conflict of interest."

Although Major was a member of the Conservative Party, his background was not very good, and his family was once

He was also poor and down and out, so he could be regarded as a civilian prime minister.

Compared with those veteran politicians, Major's political resources are really not rich, so someone like Lockhart who can bring him some resources is very precious to him.

Don't look at him doing everything in front of Lockhart, but what he didn't explain to Lockhart-the point is, if there is no Sniff Drilling Company, he actually has nothing to do with those oil tycoons.

Lockhart knew all this well, that's why he dared to make an offer to Major.

Because he knows that the British political scene has undergone a major turning point since 1970.

Before the 20s, that is, before Prime Minister Heath took office, almost all British prime ministers were from land aristocracy.After Heath, Mrs. Thatcher, Major, and Blair are not traditional aristocrats, but "elite management class"

Many people think that Britain has become a bourgeois country since the "Glorious Revolution", but it is not entirely true. According to the textbooks, it still "retains a large number of feudal remnants", which is "one time Incomplete Revolution"

So, how incomplete is this "incomplete"?

In fact, until the new millennium, that is, the 21st century, the British land aristocracy still controlled 1/3 of the country's farmland, even though their power and status were not worth mentioning compared to a century ago.

As we all know, Rowling is just a novelist, and she doesn't understand the social composition of the wizarding world at all (laughs), so the status quo of the dilapidated pure-blood wizarding families in her writings is largely based on references to those on the verge of bankruptcy in the UK today. Described by descendants of land nobles.

If this is the case in the British Muggle political arena, then the political arena in the wizarding world is even more stubborn, and the pure-blood family's control of the political power has reached a frenzied level.

For example, the Diggory family, they were the first Minister of Magic to set up an Auror recruitment system. The reason why Cedric Diggory was able to win the Hogwarts Duel Tournament twice in a row is because his family has hundreds of thousands of dollars. Over the years, all Auror's combat skills are closely related to the summary of experience.

Another example is the Lestrange family, Voldemort’s loyal idiots, whose family, Juradofus Lestrange, once wanted to close the Department of Mysteries when he was Minister of Magic; Draco Malfoy School girlfriend Parkinson, whose family ancestor tried to outlaw Muggle marriage when he was Minister of Magic;

There is also the Flint family, the old captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team-his ancestor Josephine Flint once pointed out that "Muggle telegrams can interfere with the normal operation of the wand" when he was the Minister of Magic. .

Of course, this accusation is baseless. The reason why old Flint did not want the telegraph to enter the wizarding world was only because he was worried that the business of the family-run owl shop and owl post office would be affected. Many Muggle readers of Rowling thought that radio and telegraph could Interfering with the operation of magic was actually a rumor spread by the Flint family.

Hagrid bought Harry's owl, Hedwig, from the Flints' Ella Owl Shop - which was still in operation during Voldemort's reign.

This fact fully illustrates one point—that is, the reason why a pure-blood family like Flint supports Voldemort is, to put it bluntly, for profit, not for some shit idea.

Even Lockhart's current girlfriend, Gemma Farley, and her grandfather, Hector Farley, also served as the Minister of Magic, but was kicked out because of his ineffective response to the Grindelwald Rebellion.

The influence of the pure-blood family in the wizarding world can be described as intertwined. If there is no major change, it is almost impossible for Lockhart to become the Minister of Magic with his own efforts. His half-blood status naturally determines that he will not be able to take the position unless he is willing to change his surname to Farley. .

Don't forget, even after the victory of the second war against Voldemort, the Minister of Magic in the wizarding world is still the holy 28 Kingsley Shacklebolt who was born in pure blood.

A British Muggle political arena that has undergone a change at the top political level, and a wizarding world where traditional landed nobles still occupy high positions, this is the current status quo.

Lockhart needed Major, the Muggle Prime Minister, to help him rise to power, so he was also happy to help him when the other party was in trouble

If possible, he would like to form a "political alliance of grassroots politicians" with Major, and if he wanted to realize this idea, he himself had to take the lead in making a statement and gaining the other party's trust.

It now appears that this first step has been completed fairly well, and Prime Minister Major has begun to believe in his ability.

Chapter 240 Seven Oil Tycoons

That night, Prime Minister Major, who was in a good mood, brought Lockhart to an old club in London, and introduced him to the person Lockhart wanted to meet by name.

The man Lockhart had worked so hard to meet was still unknown at the moment, but he knew that this man would shake the world in the future.

John Brown, an executive under the British Petroleum Corporation.

This person is not a small character. Later, he was named the first of the 50 most influential business leaders in the world by the business community because of the feat of leading BP to become the world's number one. He deserves the title of "Emperor of BP". head.

Even though he retired later, his influence is still among the best in the UK. Not only is he a director of many companies, but he is also employed by several first-class universities as honorary professors.Even Huawei hired this person as a non-executive director when it opened a branch in the UK.

Although Brown hadn't served as the CE of BP in 94, and BP was not yet the giant with the largest annual revenue in the world in the future, it was not too long since he took office in 95. Time, and within the company, he can be considered a high position, and has won the trust of many directors.

So strictly speaking, Lockhart is not a cold stove.

Brown has been working for BP since he was 18 years old, and he is in his forties this year. He is at the age when he is most ambitious. If the prime minister hadn't asked an acquaintance to come forward, Lockhart might not have met him.

In the club, Lockhart had a chat with Mr. Brown, saying that Sniff Drilling Company has unique exploration technology, and as the company's managing director, he is also willing to "jointly advance and retreat" with Mr. Brown

The person who can bring BP to the scale in the future is certainly not a fool

, Brown is very clear that the strength of the sniffing drilling company is much more than what it seems on the surface-accounting for

/\

Although Nigeria is rich in oil, most of its oil exploration and trading are carried out through two foreign companies, namely British Petroleum and Dutch Shell.

BP's sphere of influence has always been in the Niger River Delta. The Nigerian rebels have been staring at it and making trouble here. Local thieves also like to take boats and large barrels to steal from their oil warehouses when they are short of money. Oil is sold, so the cost of extraction has not been reduced.

John Brown is also quite troubled by this—if the company can't make any money from these wells, then these oil wells are not so much the company's assets as they are the company's burden.

But this sniffing drilling company is obviously very skillful-not only do they drill a well in the local area, but also the oil from a well, and the Nigerian rebels and local residents never harass there, which makes John Brown inexplicable Yu was somewhat angry.

He once sent someone to investigate, but the investigator gave him a very unexpected result.

"The Africans told me that the wizards in their village warned them that if they dared to touch the oil from the Nixiu drilling company, then a curse would fall on their heads... It's really evil." The investigator smiled wryly. Say.

Mr. Brown scoffed at the African superstition, but his question was whether the Nigerian oil wells should continue to be mined.

If it keeps going, the company needs to continue to invest, but the company's finances are already very tight, and Brown knows he can't do this.He intends to make the company's finances look good, because only in this way can he make money in the capital market

But if these oil wells are not maintained, BP, which has lost part of its supply, will undoubtedly lose a lot of say in pricing, which will affect the company's overall profitability.

However, the emergence of the sniffing drilling company undoubtedly provided John Brown with a new choice.

"If we sell these oil wells to you, can you take over?" He asked Lockhart very bluntly.

Lockhart didn't intend to hide anything from this future boss, and the company's financial situation couldn't be hidden from these people who have been fighting in the capital market for many years. Relationships with partners.

So he told the truth: "Our company's liquidity is not very rich, and there are no financing channels, so if we take over too much at once, our capital chain will be broken immediately."

John Brown had expected Lockhart's words for a long time - if the sniffing drilling company had strong financial strength, then they would never be able to only drill two or three wells, so he could guess the financial situation.

"So that's how it is..." Brown pretended to think for a while, and then slowly put forward his own suggestion, "If your company is willing to entrust the sales of crude oil to our company with the production in the next few years as collateral, I will You can consider allowing your company to pay in installments, or even to repay the debt in kind of oil."

"Physical mortgage? What about the price? As far as I know, pricing power..."

In terms of business, he was obviously afraid that Lockhart knew that the Sniffing Drilling Company had no sales channels, and that the other party's big package would only benefit him, but he still pretended to be embarrassed.

"Of course, the price is discounted by a fixed ratio according to the real-time market price, and then multiplied by several seasonal influence coefficients... Don't worry, we guarantee your satisfaction. We are a big company and we will never do anything wrong with the price. The reputation of BP than this profit

Much more important. "

Seeing that something was going on, Brown quickly made his own promise, and at the same time gave Major a wink.