Hermione, join me as Minister of Magic!

"They're good at this?"

"Actually not." Lockhart snorted: "It's purely because we wizards are too lazy to spend a lot of effort to deal with them. The goblin forces happen to be in a state where "it's not worth launching a large-scale war" and "ordinary fighting can't expel them." Between their intensity, they've been rebelling and we've had a headache, so might as well include it."

"Got it, just like the Irish." Major understood.

Lockhart pretended not to hear the Prime Minister's casual teasing, and continued: "In short, besides finance and oil, there are many areas where we can cooperate in the future, such as defending national security. We are also happy to serve our country, just like It was the same as before the 17th century." Lockhart was able to fully express his intentions.

You never need to talk too much when talking to smart people, and Major understood Lockhart's general thoughts as soon as he rolled his eyes. After all, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

"So, what do you want?" he asked.

"We want to establish a wizarding self-government, and a wizarding council with voting rights. We hope it can be recognized by the government and the queen."

"This... you mean to add a constituency for the House of Commons, right?"

"The House of Lords also needs a seat, at least one, two would be even better." Lockhart finally revealed his real purpose.

After hearing "House of Lords", Major hesitated for a moment, and did not immediately agree to Lockhart.

Seeing his hesitation, Lockhart emphasized his tone: "Although we have a small population of wizards, we still need responsible MPs to represent our interests. I hope you can understand."

"No..." Major began to have a headache, "For the House of Commons, all you need to do is collect signatures, propose an increase in the constituency in the name of Hogsmeade Village, and then pay taxes to the central government, and I can find a way to help you run it. But The House of Lords...do you have nobility? I mean the kind that are in the records."

Lockhart smiled: "It just so happens that there are indeed nobles among our wizards, and they have been passed down for hundreds of years."

"That's good."

After hearing this, Major was a little relieved, but he still hesitated

"In addition, the MPs we elected should join the Conservative Party." Lockhart added another bargaining chip.

After hearing this, Major knew that he could no longer refuse.

After thinking for two or three minutes, he finally nodded.

"I will raise this matter with my political adviser and secretary, and I can also settle it with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But as for Her Majesty... you may have to let the heir of the noble family find a chance to have a formal audience, otherwise some It's hard to say."

Lockhart understood that when he said "formal audience", he meant to reveal the existence of the wizarding world in front of the Queen.

"This matter needs an opportunity. If Her Majesty the Queen has any difficulties someday, please come and let us solve it."

Seeing that Lockhart agreed, a stone in Major's heart fell to the ground.

"No problem, as long as Her Majesty the Queen is willing to recognize your allegiance, then the work of Whitehall will be entrusted to me, happy cooperation!"

"Pleasant cooperation." Lockhart also said.

The two talked as they walked, and when they reached this verbal agreement, Lockhart found himself out of the Hogwarts grounds.

So Lockhart took out his wand again, ready to reveal his entourage.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have a phoenix. This is the only way I know to move fast, unless you're willing to get into the fireplace..."

When Major saw his posture, he knew that he was going to "dive into the sewer" again.

"Come on, anyway, I will get used to it slowly." He admitted.

Chapter 290 Two Takeover of the International Department

After sending the prime minister back to London, Lockhart was determined.

Although he was sure that British politicians would definitely accept the wizarding world, he really needed a guide to lead him into that circle.

Although the British Prime Minister at this time was still under the control of bureaucrats, it is an indisputable fact that after entering the 90s, in countries with a unitary parliamentary system like the United Kingdom and Japan, executive power has gradually shifted from traditional bureaucrats to elected politicians.

Not to mention Japan, Koizumi, plus the period of the Democratic Party, and then to Amber, this is a history of the struggle of politicians to seize power from bureaucrats.

And the United Kingdom is not far behind. Since the Labor Party "deliberately reformed", the actual power of the British Prime Minister has been increasing, and even a "party boy" like Golden Retriever Johnson has appeared.

The means are actually not very clever, they are just manipulating public opinion with the power of populism and the media, such as the Brexit referendum, which is completely beyond the expectations of civil servants.Although the British civil service class has launched a spontaneous resistance to this, trying to delay the prime minister's term, but the result...

In other words, maintaining a good relationship with the prime minister is important, and will become increasingly important over time.

If Lockhart wants to influence the sentiment of the British public, and thus affect policy, then the importance of a good relationship with Parliament is far more important than that of civil servants.

In the same way, if elected members at this stage want to avoid being fooled by bureaucrats or being shunned, then they also need to seize more social resources and administrative capabilities, and wizards can become their means of bypassing the bureaucracy. a "possibility"

This is the fundamental reason why Major took the risk to agree to Lockhart, the wizarding world and

There is indeed a basis for cooperation between the parliament and the parties. Even if the leaders of different parties are about to play their dog brains in the parliament, this does not prevent them from going to the club to have a drink together after "off work".

Since Lockhart judged that the interests of cooperating with politicians are greater, it seems reasonable to "betray" - the civil servant class in his previous life.

After getting the Prime Minister settled, Lockhart finally started his third phase of work.

In the past, the core idea of ​​his work was "obtaining channels", that is, to gain the trust of the real power class in the wizarding world and the Muggle world.

This kind of work may seem unremarkable, but it is actually very important.

Just like the previous joke, a lobbyist came to visit Bill Gates and said that he would introduce him to a young man as his son-in-law, and this young man was the vice president of the World Bank.Then he introduced the young man to the president of the World Bank, saying that the young man was the son-in-law of Bill Gates, and asked him if he would let the young man be the vice president.And in the end both of them agreed.

How stupid this joke is, I believe people with a discerning eye can see it at a glance, and this kind of chicken soup story is basically used by pyramid schemes and micro-businesses to fool people.

But let's take "Bill Gates needs a vice president of the World Bank as his son-in-law" and "the World Bank needs a vice president with a rich background" as true. This lobbyist has indeed found the needs of both, but the problem is ——Why should they trust you as a lobbyist?

How can you meet these two people?Why do you deserve their trust?What kind of talent can come to the door carelessly and directly meet Bill Gates and the president of the World Bank?

This is the importance of channels. Sometimes even if you see business opportunities, you don't have this channel.Lockhart spent so much energy before, nothing more than to let

I own this channel.

From now on, he will devote most of his energy to the trade and communication between the two worlds, and try his best to build a community of interests before Voldemort makes trouble.

There was no need for Lockhart to worry about the selection of warriors, and the competition itself was managed by the Sports Department. His only job was to promote the first event of the Big Five Tournament and attract tourists as much as possible.

The first project was named "Halloween's Trial of Courage" by Lockhart. When it was publicized to the outside world, this project was sold with "horror" and block monsters, which is very suitable for people who like to read ghost stories.

The wizarding newspapers in Europe and the United States have already publicized the selling points of this project. Judging from the summary of the Sports Department of the Ministry of Magic of various countries, there are as many as 2200 people who are going to buy tickets to watch the opening match. It is a test for both the overall planning ability of Hogsmeade and the carrying capacity of Hogsmeade.

The reason why it is called a test is because there are more than 2200 people from all over the world, and more than 300 portkeys are required.” Even if one of these portkeys fails, it will be enough for Lockhart to drink a pot. "Customs" in the wizarding world is not so easy to be.

Of course, no matter how stingy Fudge is, the Ministry of Magic cannot leave Lockhart alone to do such a big matter, and other staff from the International Department have to help him.

At this time, the importance of the old Barty Crouch came to be seen - from top to bottom in the international department, Batyan inserted his own people. Without his cooperation, Lockhart would definitely not be able to smoothly take over The whole division is gathered.

After the old Batty's downfall, the International Department once fell into an atmosphere of panic, because these old Batty's people were afraid that they would be put on small shoes by Fudge.

Although they don't have to worry about losing their jobs in the Ministry of Magic because of favors, it is inevitable that their careers will be hindered.

The reason everyone came to Crouch was because of his strong foundation and resources, and no one wanted to be excluded when the rising momentum was just right.

Just when people were panicking, Batty Sr. called these people out and held a small party.

At this gathering, the old Crouch clarified the "central idea" of the international department for the next period of time-that is, to fully support Lockhart in his position.

"He is one of his own." Old Crouch praised him in front of everyone, "Gidero is firm and flexible. I am relieved to entrust him with the matter. And for the sake of the business, The pure-blood family will not trouble him either. I believe that even under Fudge's pressure, he will be able to support the International Affairs Department, especially in terms of personnel."

Old Crouch's timely endorsement made the international department quickly unite around Lockhart. Although some old people still refused to bow to Lockhart, for Crouch's sake, they would not go to fight with Lockhart either. Hart was clearly against it, and that was enough.

In the shadow of a famous tree, Lockhart now seems to have become a new political star in the Ministry of Magic, and he is the kind of real power that is almost impeccable.Not only did he handle large projects independently, but also his business ability and connections should not be underestimated, only fools would offend him for no reason.

Therefore, when Lockhart proposed that the International Division should focus on the five-wild power competition and the establishment of a new international trade market, no one in the division objected, so he didn't have to worry about it anymore.

Seeing that his colleagues "support" him so much, Lockhart naturally wants to reciprocate

When they went to the movies with Gemma in the evening, they took time out of the 3 minutes waiting for admission to draw up a copy of "International Division Special Overtime Subsidy", which is

Use profits from the Ministry of Magic properties in Hogsmeade to generate an extra income for the staff of the Department of International Affairs during the Five-wizard Tournament.If all goes well, during the eight months of operation of the Big Five Tournament, each of these employees will be allocated 8 Galleons per month as extra money.

Not surprisingly, after the news was released, the international department was simply grateful to Lockhart.

No one would say no to a door-to-door delivery, especially if it's "extra" income.

Think about it, how many social animals have to "voluntarily" work more than 30 hours of overtime every month for the overtime pay of several hundred yuan, and how many authors have to work hard for the semi-annual award subscription that should belong to them Add more.

Seeing this, you will know how important this "overtime pay" is to these employees.

"In short... the world is home to one's heart."

Watching Hogsmeade and the Ministry of Magic turn into the shape he wanted in the next step of his plan, Lockhart was full of ambition no matter how cautious he was.

When Voldemort returns, let him take a good look at the country I have built for him

Chapter 290 Four Warriors Selection

After handing over the planning of tourists from various countries to other staff of the International Department, Lockhart can finally concentrate on planning the trade market that has been under construction.

During the Quidditch World Cup, Lockhart discovered that wizarding tourists were willing to spend money on souvenirs, and the things didn't even need to be practical, as long as they were fun, there would be a market.

For example, the magic badge of the Irish team that can be called, the spell effect of calling people's names has almost disappeared after a week, and the price is not cheap, but people still buy it

Therefore, even though Lockhart was going to sell some practical gadgets in this market, considering that tourists came for tourism after all, he still made some compromises and stuffed a lot of flashy souvenirs into the market for sale.

He didn't have to worry about tourists being unable to pick up these items, because the Flint's Owl Post Office would provide delivery services.

Probably considering this point, the Flint family sent Marcus Flint, who had just graduated, to be the head of the Hogsmeade Owl Post Office.

Little Flint originally wanted to play professional Quidditch, but his poor skills allowed him to use the Nimbus 2001 given by Malfoy to do his best in school, so he failed several teams in consecutive trials. In the end, he had to go home in despair to inherit the family business.

When seeing Lockhart who came to negotiate with him, Marcus Flint wanted to make a deal of it. By the way, he was angry that Lockhart didn't choose him into the dueling club when he left the school.

But Gemma Farley wouldn't look down on this stupid big man who left the first grade. Under her cold eyes, Flint agreed embarrassingly, "During the Tournament, the cat's head

No price increase for Eagle Post delivery” condition.

There are still a lot of chores like this, but fortunately, the staff of the International Department worked together, and they were quickly settled. What troubled Lockhart the most was that the residents of Hogsmeade were really not good at doing business. .

The last time Muggles came to Hogsmeade to recuperate, these residents were very enthusiastic, but when it comes to their ability to sell... it can only be said that talk is better than nothing, which is far from the Muggle tour guide anyway.

Although this helps to help Muggle tourists establish the impression that "this is a noble village", if wizard tourists come here, they are still so upright, then Lockhart can only be embarrassed and give them a pass first "How to rip off" training.

Just as the International Department and the Sports Department were arranging the competition in full swing, the results of the Goblet of Fire's selection of warriors came from Hogwarts Castle.

Unsurprisingly, the first three, Fleur Delacour, Viktor Krum, and Cedric Diggory, remained unchanged as usual.It seems that the strength and weakness of wizards are indeed there, and they will not be changed by external objects.

In the United States is a 16-year-old boy named Nick Timms Bout, who is said to be a descendant of the Calderon-Bout family, and a distant relative with Terry Bout of Ravenclaw College.

The warrior of Ouagadou is a black guy from Mauritania, surnamed Dembele.Although this guy is only 17 years old, he is married, his wife is even pregnant, and he is a prospective father.

However, his election once aroused controversy among the students of Ouagadou College-because Dembele's Animagus form is an African giant mosquito, and the insect form Animagus is not respected in Africa.

No matter how much controversy there is, this result cannot be changed, because the ancient contract magic attached to the Goblet of Fire stipulates that as long as the warriors are selected, then they will

Entry is required.

Considering the self-will possessed by the Goblet of Fire, several headmasters racked their brains and failed to think of how to add another junior group without damaging the Goblet of Fire.But the commercialization of the competition is unavoidable. This is something that the Ministry of Magic of all countries agrees with, so they thought of another way-that is, the professors of each school will recommend, and then the students will select the warriors of the lower grades Assistants are selected.

Of course, since it is an assistant, this assistant must be affirmed by the Warrior himself.

There is almost no suspense about the "Warriors' Attendants" in the lower grades of Hogwarts - even though Slytherin has some criticisms about this, Harry Potter still became the last choice.

There is no way, Harry is not only the dueling champion of the same grade last year and the year before, but also a hero who resisted the black magic three times in the baby, first grade, and second grade, and he is even the most outstanding genius in Hogwarts for a century Seeker, who has only lost one Quidditch match with him so far, and that was with Dementors interfering.

So when Cedric Diggory announced Harry Potter as his squire, everyone agreed to the result.

Harry himself didn't expect that he was so popular, but he adapted quickly. Except for his friend Ron Weasley who felt disappointed and had a little friction with him, Harry didn't want to refuse this honor.

To put it bluntly, what Harry doesn't like is "glory that doesn't belong to him", that is, the one that defeated Voldemort.In addition, Harry enjoyed all the glory achieved by dueling or Quidditch.

After Lockhart heard the news, he thought to himself that Voldemort and Crouch Jr. had succeeded in the end—no matter how he had planned in advance, Harry Potter's election was undoubtedly what the other party hoped for.

Although Lockhart already has a detailed protection plan, he is still curious

Voldemort's plan.

Because when Crouch left, Lockhart hadn't handed over his game plan to the Ministry of Magic, and since then, he hasn't handed over the follow-up plan to anyone other than the Sports Department. Gewartz's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is the real Alastor, so little Crouch probably won't know what's behind the Tournament.

Without knowing the project, how would Crouch Jr. do it?

To be on the safe side, Lockhart also handed over the map carpet he made to Moody so that he could monitor Hogwarts.

In addition to the original function of showing terrain and secret passages, that map has also been modified by Lupine's simultaneous transformation spell and Sirius' tracking spell, plus Moody's own Hogwarts authority, and now it is a map. A veritable Marauder's Map, I believe this thing will never be dusty in Moody's hands.

In addition to Harry Potter, several other college juniors were also selected

Beauxbaton's was Coco LaFore, a descendant of Fifi LaFore, the author of Encounter Encounter; Durmstrang chose Ingrid Kristofferson, also a Quidditch A girl from the Qi family; Waggadu’s is a young man named Joshua Sankara from Burkina Faso; Ilvermorny’s warrior attendants are personally selected by their warrior Bute, and He came from the Stewart family, which had a great connection with the Bute family.

Of course, these people don't need to be so detailed. Anyway, in this magic feast, these little ghosts are destined to only become a part-timer, but the intricate relationship network of the wizarding world can be glimpsed from the identities of these people.