Hermione, join me as Minister of Magic!

The worst of all are undoubtedly the Hungarian Horntail, and the Hebdriatic Black Dragon.The former means that the risk of death is very high, while the latter means that it is very difficult for the wizard to cause any substantial damage to it. If there is no problem, these two fire dragons will be kept until the end

In addition, we are also preparing to add a little difficulty for the Warriors before the game

Spend. "Fudge continued to add, "We will prepare some innocuous gadgets for the Warriors before the game, and they also need to be selected..."

After hearing this, the warriors already wanted to kill people.

It is difficult enough to deal with the fire dragon alone, but you have to make extra troubles for everyone, which is too difficult for some strong people.

Finally, Fudge announced that between the third and fourth events of the competition, they will also hold an entertaining skiing competition, with only prizes, regardless of ranking, so that the warriors can relax.

Everyone knows that this competition is to promote the "state-run" ski resort in Hogsmeade Village, but this kind of thing is just tacit, there is no need to say it.

The warriors went back to think about how to deal with the next game, and Fudge returned to the temporary office of the Ministry of Magic in Hogsmeade with joy and longing for his own name.

— Entering the room, he saw six or seven directors sitting there.

Fudge thought that they came here to congratulate him specially, because according to the statistical report just submitted by the "Daily Prophet", among the radio stations of 157 countries or regional administrative bodies in the world, there are 20 broadcasting stations of the Big Five Tournament. competition, and the listening rate ranges from 60% to [-]%, it has undoubtedly become the number one brand

"Ha, so many people gathered here!" He smiled all over his face, "But it's really time to celebrate, we all won..."

But none of the directors laughed, and they didn't even offer to agree.

Only then did Fudge realize something was wrong: "What's wrong? Why are you so serious?"

Rufus Scrimgeour dawdled for a long time under the eyes of everyone in the room, and finally made up his mind and stood up.

"Something, Cohen," he said grimly.

Chapter 380 Collective Inaction

"What? It's impossible!"

The news that Voldemort might have been resurrected hit Fudge's head like a bolt from the blue, making him a little dizzy.

After all, the situation in the British wizarding world is so harmonious now. The economy of the tournament brought by the five powers and the benefits brought by a wave of tourism in the future, not to mention the flowers blooming brocade and the fire cooking oil, at least it can be regarded as a rich and prosperous university. , Song Mao bamboo bud, he Cornelius Fudge is counting on this to become "the greatest minister in the history of the magic world"

——In the end, you actually did such a thing for me at this time?

"Wait...let me stroke...that man, isn't he already dead?" Fudge shouted, struggling.

Scrimgeour from the Law Enforcement Department and Bode from the Department of Mysteries exchanged glances, then shook their heads with difficulty at the same time.

"Of course we hope he's dead too," said Scrimgeour dryly.

"But the problem is that he has not been removed from the wizard list of the Department of Mysteries. In the past ten years, this has been the biggest mystery." Bode added.

"But hasn't Rookwood been found out to be his subordinate?" Fudge said impatiently, "He must have taken advantage of his position to secretly tamper with that list."

Bode is a real person. After hearing what Fudge said, he also nodded: "It's not impossible."

"Look!" Fudge seemed to have found a life-saving straw, "We can't think that a dead soul who has been dead for many years will come back to harm people just because of the nonsense of a wild beast... Besides, the Five Powers Tournament was only held for the first time. Three games, our manpower

it's here.

The last sentence exposed Fudge's true thoughts at this time—he is now most concerned about the game and the "prosperity" after the game—that is, whether he can get a "fair evaluation"

At this time, Jones, the new director he promoted, came out to speak.

"Relax, Minister, no one wants to stop the game," she reassured.

When she said this, the others also noticed Fudge's concerns, and quickly expressed their positions one by one.

"Yeah, the game must not stop."

"The sponsors have paid for it, and we have to fulfill the contract."

"And the news should be temporarily blocked. If wizards from all over the world know that something is going to happen here, they may not come to travel."

What you say and what you say, what these officials of the Ministry of Magic talked about made Fudge feel a lot better.

Although Scrimgeour's news is not necessarily false, these officials from the Ministry of Magic have shown astonishing consistency in maintaining the apparent peace.

——Things, haven’t they happened yet?

At this moment, the people in the office were tapped three times.

"Come in!" yelled Fudge.

The door was pushed open, revealing the handsome "young man" behind.

"Ah, Minister, you're here too!" Lockhart pretended to be surprised, "The evaluation of this game by people outside is unbelievable... Huh? Why are you all here? Why don't you go to the Three Broomsticks to drink together?" How about a drink to celebrate? My treat.

Probably out of recognition of people "inside the system", although Fudge was a little wary, he still asked Scrimgeour to tell him what happened just now, and together with everyone

The family just made the decision and told him.

After all, we are colleagues, and he has no reason not to tell Lockhart about it.

After listening, Lockhart restrained his smile.

"So that's how it is... the same as the news I got." He deliberately put a heavy tone on it.

Fudge was frightened: "Same as what news?"

"Principal Karkaroff of Durmstrang, and the Potions professor of Hogwarts, the Death Eater marks on the two of them have recently become magical again, and the former Auror Alastor o Moody claimed just now that he had just met the You-Know-Who himself."

Hearing this, except for a few in the Order of the Phoenix, everyone in the Ministry of Magic put on masks of pain.

Don't be so serious, everyone is here to make a living.

In the original book, Cornelius Fudge's order to block the news of Voldemort was not entirely because of his power, but more importantly, many employees of the Ministry of Magic also opposed the immediate release of the news, so they refused Dumbledore's offer. The blatant revelations they thought would leave "indelible scars" on the British wizarding community

Although the situation is somewhat different now, the nature of the bureaucratic government has not changed, and the purpose is still to take as little responsibility as possible and maximize benefits.Not only are they refusing to make any substantial changes, but they're still taking chances with Voldemort's return, believing there's no "real evidence"

This is a fundamental defect caused by the system, and Fudge can't bear such a big burden by himself.Even if the Ministry of Magic later changed Scrimgeour to the position of minister, Scrimgeour was still a bureaucrat in essence, so he was no different from Fudge in essence.

Although Harry Potter didn't know much about politics, there was nothing wrong with his evaluation of Scrimgeour, and he instinctively sensed Scrimgeour's bravado and incompetence.

Lockhart was well aware of this, so apart from exchanging winks with Bode, Jones and a few others, he did not express any intention of objecting to their actions.

"Of course, the Tournament must not be suspended." Lockhart also echoed.

His statement made Fudge look better. As a minister, Fudge would not allow any of his subordinates to confront him at this time.

"Does Dumbledore know about this?" he asked again.

His question caused a wry smile from the people around him.

"Since Moody and Snape know, then Dumbledore will know," Lockhart replied honestly, "and if that man really comes back, those former Death Eaters will definitely know." Being summoned by their master, I think, in fact, I can tell by sending someone to look around those prisoners in Azkaban, and the Dark Mark on their bodies must be..."

"No." Fudge said with a pale face, and there was a hint of pleading in his tone, "Don't send anyone to Azkaban."

It seems that he is going to make up his mind and carry out the ostrich policy to the end.

Seeing him like this, Lockhart couldn't help but marvel at how far a wizard could go when he wanted to deceive himself.

How much heart does it take to turn a blind eye to this danger?

It's just that Cornelius Fudge still looks ashamed, and he still has a conscience in his heart, and he still feels ashamed when he hides it. This is far inferior to those ministers and secretaries of the Privy Council he has met before. When he said this, his expression was calm and even righteous.

Chapter 380 Authorization

On the way to report to Dumbledore, Lockhart thought over and over several times, and didn't know how to tell him the performance of the Ministry of Magic from an appropriate angle.

Of course, it was just worrying about how to tell him.As for the inaction of the Ministry of Magic, Lockhart is completely understandable.

On the whole, in the face of the crisis of Voldemort's imminent return, the Ministry of Magic should certainly do something to prevent it from happening.

But from an individual point of view, if anyone wants to make a difference in this matter, it is not yet known whether he can prevent Voldemort, but if the matter fails, he will definitely have to take the blame, not to mention there are still people from Voldemort's revenge.

To sum up, it's not that it can't be done, but it's not cost-effective.

Lockhart did not intend to make Dumbledore's people give up their contempt for the Ministry of Magic, or that the bureaucratic system could not afford such a "micro" task.But that doesn't mean that Lockhart intends to cede the administrative authority of the Ministry of Magic, especially to Voldemort.

Not to mention other things, after Voldemort ruled the Ministry of Magic, he forced the Iron Triangle to hide in Tibet, but he actually openly engaged in the theory of blood in the magic world, which is a bit intolerable.

After listening to Lockhart's introduction, Dumbledore who rushed back to Hogwarts from the outside sighed softly.

"I see, it seems that Fudge doesn't intend to take on this responsibility...Is it not surprising?"

Fudge's performance made Dumbledore feel a little regretful. After all, when he was supporting him, he still lacked consideration. He only thought about how to get himself out of the political arena, so he randomly found someone who seemed to be modest and studious. come to support.

But who would have thought that such a fat man who looked careless and cautious when he smiled back then would turn into a minister of magic who is greedy for profit today?

Lockhart saw what he was thinking, and explained aloud: "I think it's not that the minister doesn't know what's right, but after sitting in that position, there are some things he can't help himself."

"Involuntary?" Dumbledore shook his head, "The only thing that forces him is profit, Gilderoy, after staying in the melting pot of the Ministry of Magic for a long time, no matter who it is, it will become like that."

Lockhart agreed with his statement, but at the same time explained it for Fudge: "As a politician, doing what is in your interests is often more important than doing the right thing."

"This can't be more true. If a person can only do what he thinks is right in his life, instead of doing what is most in line with his own interests, then he is a saint.

When he said this, Dumbledore had been staring at Lockhart, and there seemed to be something behind the words.

"You are asking everyone to dig out their sense of gain and loss, and then put them under the concept of right and wrong, which is impossible." Lockhart didn't think about it.

"So, are you the same?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.

After getting old, Dumbledore seldom expressed confidence in any one person or organization.On the contrary, the Ministry of Magic has never disappointed people in terms of not giving people the slightest hope.

Because he believes too much in the role of individual moral values ​​in society, in the eyes of others, Dumbledore often shows traits such as "credulity" and "stubbornness", even if it turns out that Dumbledore is right .

As for Gilderoy Lockhart, Dumbledore thought he could see through him, but recently he found that he seemed to be wrong again.

If a person appears in front of everyone who speaks for his own interests when he talks about his goals, but when he talks about his goals, the first thing everyone thinks of him is that he is a standard hypocrite.

And Lockhart is such a person, who puts great emphasis on rationality and balance of interests in his work, but when he proposes a solution, you can hardly tell that he is doing it for his own self-interest.

People like this are rare. Even if Dumbledore lived to be nearly 120 years old, he didn't remember how many people like this he had in his mind. Among them, they were either ambitious or paranoid.

Although Dumbledore doesn't really care about the Ministry of Magic, he does care about who runs the Ministry.

Gilderoy Lockhart - it might be a good thing if he turns out to be a second Fudge in the future, but if it's a second Grindelwald...

Well, it shouldn't be possible, because the magic strength is far apart.

Dumbledore waited for Lockhart to explain himself, but Lockhart avoided his question.

"I am going to organize an administrative team." Lockhart said, "In the war with Voldemort, we must not ignore the role of public opinion, the army, and diplomacy. Even if the Ministry of Magic cannot be our help, at least it should not be allowed to It becomes the enemy."

Seeing that he didn't want to answer, Dumbledore didn't try to force him.

"So, what are you going to do?" Dumbledore asked.

Lockhart was prepared: "First of all, I think we should figure out who is our enemy and who is our friend.

"Sounds like a cliché, can you be more specific?"

"Specifically, relying on Muggle-born wizards and half-blood wizards one by one,

Unite all wizards engaged in agriculture, handicrafts, and service industries, as well as scholars at home and abroad, neutralize wizards who have interests in Muggle society, and concentrate on combating rogues headed by Voldemort who are not productive, rentiers who want to get something for nothing, and psychopaths sociopaths and evil magical creatures. "

Dumbledore nodded frequently after listening, but at the same time raised a little doubt.

"Very good, even I can't sum it up more comprehensively... But in reality, it is difficult for us to define these people? As far as I know, many of the Death Eaters recruited by Voldemort were originally employed people. They just It’s not going so well.”

"It's not difficult." Lockhart boasted boldly.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows: "Not difficult?"

Lockhart seemed confident: "Yes, the stage is almost set, we just need to use a series of social activities to make all wizards realize where they stand, and then it will be easy."

Dumbledore chose to remain silent in response to this field that he was not very familiar with.

"Since you are confident, go ahead and do it. There are many people in the Order of the Phoenix who work in the Ministry of Magic." Dumbledore agreed.

"Thank you." Lockhart smiled.

With Voldemort's looming threat and Dumbledore not finding enough Horcrux leads, he clearly doesn't want to spend too much time on politics.

So he quickly changed the subject again: "The top priority now is that I hope to let everyone in the wizarding world know that Voldemort is back as soon as possible, but according to what you just said, what Fudge wants to do is completely opposite... Can you imagine Think of a way? For example, let two newspapers interview us and disclose the news?"

Lockhart hastily stopped Dumbledore from this dangerous thought: "It's best not to