Chapter 689： Cenozoic

Chapter 691 New Generation (For Double Monthly Pass!)

When the news from Kingsley came back, everyone was surprised.

"A fireplace kills a war?" Sirius leaned against the door frame, the cat-friendly stick in his hand hanging down, and Crookshanks jumped at the chance to bite.

Ms. Burns felt much more relieved, but still said with a stern face: "It's ten million fireplaces, and the real number will only be more than that."

"Oh, come on," said Sirius in a teasing tone, picking up Crookshanks in his arms, ignoring its fierce face, "the cat won't worry about getting something to eat tomorrow, will it? It's too much of a life. Tired." He kept shaking the big **** cat.

Crookshanks stretched out the cat's paw pad angrily, and flashed it to Sirius' face. There was a smile in Ms. Burns' eyes.

"What's next?" Lupin asked, sitting on the sofa.

Felix thought for a moment, then said one word, "Wait."

"In this crisis, the Ministry of Magic has an information advantage over the Muggle government. In order to eliminate the hidden danger of war, we have been more proactive in the early stage, but everything is too much. We have awakened a huge computer with a population of nearly 60 million. machine."

"Now that Kingsley is staring at the government and Skeeter is at The Sun, it's time to listen to the voices of the people - oh, I don't know, is the special floo network wired up?"

"The Floo network administrators are working overtime," Ms. Burns said. "But it will take time to build a network across the counties across the country."

Felix nodded, indicating that he understood.

This is an extension of a series of proposals he made last time at Hogwarts: There may be hundreds of newspapers across the UK, and tabloids of a local nature are too numerous to count, but they undoubtedly represent a part of the public opinion. There are few wizards by nature, and it is a good way to sort out information through these newspapers.

But there are two difficulties in using Floo to purchase newspapers.

One is how to quickly collect and aggregate newspapers from all over the country. The method given by Felix is ​​Floo. In theory, the Floo network is used to pass people down, allowing wizards to travel on fire with the help of flames and internal wiring, but it must be said by the wizard himself. Felix wanted to build a directional floo network, like a spider web with only longitudinal threads, with the Ministry of Magic at the center and the other ends of the radial pattern set up in the counties of the country.

The advantage of this is that it saves manpower, and a dozen people can quickly fly across the country. Of course, for safety reasons, the wizards in charge of this task must wear special passes. They are separated from the Floo Network Authority and set up a separate department under the management of the Department of Magical Transportation.

It is worth mentioning that because there will be more and more places to deal with the non-magical world in the future, Ms. Burns intends to set up a new Department of Magic, that is, based on the Office of the Prohibition of Misuse of Muggle Objects of the Law Enforcement Department, and then recruited. Some of the staff from the Memory Cancellation Command, the Muggle Issues Mediation Committee, and the Muggle Liaison Office formed the new department.

Because of the accidental exposure of the wizarding world, only the beginning of this plan has been completed, and most of the remaining progress is still on her minister's desk.

The second difficulty is the manpower problem. Of course, it is not enough to get the newspaper, and it is necessary to recruit people to analyze the articles one by one. These people must have a basic understanding of wizards and Muggle society at the same time, and will not be confused by a bunch of unfamiliar terms. The Ministry of Magic has a limited number of Muggle families.

"Haven't you collected a list of students who are willing to help?" Felix said to Harry, "Then ask them to come over and try." Are you seriously teaching students?

To a certain extent, Grindelwald's Defense Against the Dark Arts can be renamed to "Muggle Community Concealment and Weapon Defense".

As it turns out, they're doing pretty well.

On the second day, there were more than a dozen young faces in the Ministry of Magic, and after that, the number of people quickly exceeded one hundred.

The Ministry of Magic suddenly became crowded.

"In the beginning we only called people close to us." Hermione said, blushing slightly, "Harry has the contact information of all the members of the frontline lookout, I was able to contact the Rune Club... and then the word spread. "

"Fred and George helped a lot, too," Ron said. "They've quietly started a radio station for a while, even before the wizarding world was exposed. But they didn't have any good intentions, and they planned to use it. The radio station promotes the products of Magic Trickster, and the secret code is blatantly written under the flyer."

"You've done a great job," Felix said encouragingly. "But there are too many people, even lower grade students."

He was referring to the Creevey brothers. Brother Colin Creevey and Ginny are in the same grade, they are both in fifth grade and can barely come in handy, but younger brother Dennis Creevey is only in third grade, and it is estimated that it will take half an hour to read a newspaper.

"I've asked Colin to persuade his brother to go back," Harry said quickly, warning Ron and Hermione with his eyes that Ron seemed to have thought of something interesting, and he refrained from laughing.

Harry didn't dare to tell the professor that the Creevey brothers were in high spirits, and they were not alone. The two brothers ran the 'Harry Potter Admirer's Club', and Colin swore to him that he could recruit five more. ten people.

It took him quite a while to get Colin to dismiss the idea.

When the number approached two hundred, it seemed out of place to keep them at the Ministry of Magic.

After learning about their problems, Professor McGonagall invited them to Hogwarts. "It's summer vacation, and the school is deserted. There are also hidden dangers in the gathering of wizards."

As the new headmaster of Hogwarts and a veteran of the Order of the Phoenix, she has not had an easy few days.

But not out of the field.

On the one hand, she and the other professors were busy upgrading the defense system of Hogwarts Castle; on the other hand, she found a magical album like an address book in the headmaster's office, which included Dumbledore's best friends and Personal relations, there are also senior officials of the Ministry of Magic abroad, because of the age, some people have been unable to respond to her.

Most important to her are the pictures of the principals of 11 world-renowned schools of magic.

According to the normal process, she should spend a few years visiting these schools one by one after taking over as the principal, but now all formalities are avoided, and all questions and information are conveyed through photos.

In the Hogwarts Great Hall, Professor McGonagall and several remaining professors extended a warm welcome to the students.

"Thank you for standing up at this critical moment. You are not only Hogwarts students, but also a part of the wizarding community, representing the future of the wizarding world..." She said excitedly, halfway through her words, she couldn't help taking out a handkerchief to wipe the corners of her eyes .

All the students feel heavy in their hearts, something is taking root.

"Maybe I should make Muggle studies a compulsory subject for young wizards from wizarding families... This subject may become more and more important, even Alasdair Maddock has publicly stated that he likes the Muggle movement, what else? Can't happen?"

"Who is Alasdair Maddock?" Ron whispered.

"A pretty good Chaser," said Ginny, who is also Chaser. "The papers say he's looking to join the legendary Montrose Magpies next year."

"Professor McGonagall is a fan of the Montrose Magpies," added Harry.

The castle was quiet that night, not as lively as usual. Seamus stared out the window, Harry knew he was a standard half-blood, his mother was a witch, his father was a Muggle, and he had told them about it as a joke—

"Mum didn't tell Dad she was a witch until after she got married. It scared him a lot."

As Harry walked over, Seamus whispered, "My parents had a fight. Because my dad's colleague came over and said bad things about the wizard." Harry paused and patted him on the shoulder.

"It will be fine."

"can you?"

"meeting."

Early the next morning, when everyone gathered in the auditorium, a team from the Ministry of Magic assigned tasks to the students. Harry was surprised to see Percy's figure.

"Shut up, don't talk." When Percy passed Ron, Ron opened his mouth, and Percy immediately warned, "I won't give you any favors." Next stack of Muggle newspapers.

Ron grimaced at him, and when Percy was gone, he picked up the newspaper.

"Hey, we're in Devon," he whispered to Harry, where the Burrow is located.

"I'll keep you on the lookout for news from Autry San Catchipole, if any," Harry whispered as Percy and a few Ministry staff stood in front of the students and told them How to do.

The tasks of the students are important, but it is easy to implement them on an individual basis. They first selected some students to pick out the articles with the words "wizard" and "magic" in the newspaper, then cut them out, and roughly classified them (currently there are only two kinds of good intentions and bad intentions). Sorted newspaper clippings are sent to another group of students, all of whom are Muggle families, and are responsible for picking out more urgent news, usually the media with great influence, or extreme opinions, or statistics. 's article.

"In the face of any group controversy, the first consideration is the base, proportion and probability of different situations," Hermione told Harry and Ron.

"Whose opinion is that?" Harry asked.

"Professor Hepp mentioned it in a report," Hermione said without hesitation.

"It sounds slick, not like his tone." Ron rubbed his chin for analysis.

"That's because you never read serious articles!"

"She's bullshitting," Ron said to Harry, when Hermione turned to leave, "there's nothing more serious and boring than History of Magic, and I've been studying it for five years! If you add Professor Binns's Explain, the effect is almost doubled…”

"It's time to show your talent," said Harry dryly, staring at an obituary in the newspaper:

David, died on June 23, 1997, at the age of fifty-one. He was a lover of occultism and magic before his death, "Actually, I am a vampire." In an interview, he told reporters. In the background at the time were three children who were scared to cry by him. He took it as an honor, but his wife disagreed and asked the reporter whether vampires could develop cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases—a question that the reporter deliberately recorded and asked for answers publicly, given the existence of wizards.

Harry scratched his head, cut it off? But what kind of information should it be classified as? It should be kind.

After nearly two hours, they were finally done, and Harry rubbed his sore neck. The more than 30 pieces of information he collected were good and bad, but they were all within the acceptable range. Ron's side was about the same.

Harry looked up, and suddenly noticed that there was an extra wall in the middle of the auditorium. Percy and a few staff members stood in front, hanging newspaper clippings from time to time, surrounded by students with solemn expressions. Harry leaned in and found a huge map of England hanging on the wall, with lines and symbols with special meanings, which reminded him of the tactical boards hanging on the walls of the players' lounge.

"The more remote the countryside, the more repulsive wizards are," he heard Percy whisper.

"Maybe it has something to do with religion," said another.

Harry's heart sank, he remembered what Seamus said to him last night, his chest suddenly felt like a stone, and he couldn't breathe. His breath hit the back of the student's neck, and the man turned his head - Draco Malfoy looked at him with a strange expression, as if angry, as if hiding something else.

He stepped aside. Harry gave him a surprised look, then took a step forward.

Harry saw it more clearly, and a **** title took up a third of the page, titled 'All wizards should go to hell'. He frowned.

"Oh, never mind that, it's just a third-rate local tabloid," Hermione squeezed in from behind the crowd, holding a stack of clippings in her hands. She said irritably, "I bet it won't be read by more than a thousand people—that's what's really tough to deal with." She waved a clipping in front of Harry and Draco.

'Break down the vicious incidents in history that are suspected of involving wizards. ’

"Is it true?" Harry asked in surprise.

"It doesn't matter if it's true or not, it uses the word 'suspected'," said Hermione contemptuously. "But he's clearly not well-intentioned when he associates wizards with vicious events." She passed Harry and handed the clipping to Pere. West.

"Oh, by the way, Harry—I forgot to say, your letter is in the paper."

…

Over the next few days, all kinds of information will continue to be aggregated.

Ms. Burns put together a booklet of their recent practices and handed it to the International Confederation of Wizards. According to the representative there, more than 200 people were arguing in the lobby of the federation's headquarters, and the African representatives alone took up the space. a quarter of the population.

"Prior to this, African self-governing institutions have gained international support through grouping. That's how Abakind came to power. Of course, he has to admit that he himself has been very capable and trusted by all parties before the crisis." The representative speaks bluntly.

"But as the wizarding world was completely exposed, their thinking was different, and many of their demands were astounding - such as a place I can't name, not even a county in the UK, with only a hundred wizards. They and The local Muggle military regime has good relations and maintains an almost semi-open alliance; but that Muggle military regime is trying to conquer a tribe, and there are wizards in the tribe, albeit in the single digits, but it is still a hindrance."

The news shocked many people.

"Does the International Federation of Wizards care?" Sirius looked surprised. "What about the secrecy laws? Isn't it strictly forbidden for wizards to participate in Muggle disputes?"

Ms. Burns sighed.

"Secrecy laws are not omnipotent, they vary from person to person...Adjust measures according to local conditions! Africa has a special environment, and it is not paid much attention... In short, the International Federation of Wizards has always had very low requirements for them, as long as they don't cause major problems. The mess is fine."

Lupin raised his eyebrows gently.

"If I'm not mistaken - before the secrecy laws became obsolete, wizards of different positions had some restraint, but now..." He paused, "Won't the Muggle military regime openly win over wizards as their weapons? "

"There is already this trend." Ms. Burns said, "The Federation sent people to warn the two groups of wizards, but it is unclear how much they will play a role - the Ministry of Magic of various countries has withdrawn the Aurors sent out, and they are too busy to take care of themselves, so as a target Grindelwald's wizarding coalition is short-lived. The federation is now an empty shell, and the binding force is greatly reduced."

After she transcribed their previous actions and submitted it to the International Federation of Wizards, she could only stare blankly.

"Let's talk about something happy," Ms. Burns suddenly smiled. "Kingsley brought back good news. The Prime Minister finally ended the long meeting and passed a resolution to invite the wizard."

Lupin was slightly surprised, then smiled, Moody's magic eye twitched, the hand holding the crutch kept loosening and clenching, Bill and Fleur hugged excitedly, and in the eyes of all the excitement, Sirius ruthless She hugged Amelia Burns and kissed her.

The tense nerves for a week have made them a little breathless, and now they are all excited when they see the dawn. At dinner, Ms. Burns sat next to Felix and talked to him in a low voice.

"The news won't be announced until tomorrow. The Prime Minister will send the news through the portrait. They will send an invitation in the Queen's name, similar to a private party or afternoon tea... Do you have any ideas?"

Felix thought for a while and asked tentatively, "They don't want to be too formal?"

"Yes, the Prime Minister said there is still a significant number of people in Parliament who have doubts," Ms Burns said. "He said subtly that it would be best if the negotiating team was chosen not to be too serious, and the two sides were not going to enter in the first place. Substantial negotiations. This event is basically the first public appearance of the wizard - well, it's actually the second time, although the saints of Grindelwald have not made a good impression on the world."

"It has to be in sharp contrast with the saints..." Felix pondered and said, his eyes swept across the auditorium, and fell on students such as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny. UU Reading His eyes lit up.

"How about picking a few students to form a delegation?" Borns was about to open his mouth to retort, Felix continued: "I will lead the team myself."

Borns was startled, then lowered his head and thought quickly. The conclusion is... seems to work?

With Felix there, she didn't have to worry about safety at all. She also trusted his wisdom in making decisions on the spot, and Felix was nominally a school professor, and the teacher was very reasonable with the students, and it didn't have obvious political implications. As for her fleeting concerns, such as being harassed by Muggle government officials, they were all resolved, and the Prime Minister would give a warning.

It's better to show strength properly...

"That's it!" Ms. Burns said, and then she hesitated. "Student candidates—"

"Select from more than 100 students, sign up voluntarily, and ask their parents for their opinions." Felix said immediately: "Make it clear to them, after all, not everyone is willing to appear in public..."

A new day begins.