A certain Hogwarts rune professor

Chapter 688 Secret Talks in the Prime Minister's Mansion
"Hello, Prime Minister," said Ms. Burns solemnly, "this is Felix Heap, and he is—"

"I'm the professor of ancient runes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Felix said.The Prime Minister stood up and shook hands with him hesitantly, feeling increasingly unclear about Felix's identity.Maybe bodyguards or staff?
Ms. Burns was sitting on a hard wooden chair directly opposite the Prime Minister, and Felix sat next to her, looking down slightly and fiddling with his fingers, so the Prime Minister had to look at Burns.

"Do you know?" the Prime Minister said with a straight face: "Although we have met twice, including Fudge before you several times, there is even a portrait of nose-picking and yawning hanging behind my office every day... His eyes bulged slightly, "But I still have a glimmer of hope, maybe you are a group of sophisticated liars, or I am exhausted after sitting on the throne of Prime Minister after countless painstaking efforts, and I have hallucinations..."

"Mr Prime Minister—"

"I was careful to hide all this, but all illusions are ruined today! The country is in chaos! More than fifty county chiefs blew up the phone at the prime minister's residence, and they reported to me that a group of guys in strange clothes were overhead Flying around and doing all kinds of magic tricks - a cow in Kent flew over the Thames in full view, with more than 2000 people at the scene! Oh my god, even my niece cried and told me that the gerbil I gave her turned into a teacup and broke I've never been so helpless."

"I'm sorry, what you said was a gerbil?" Felix asked politely. Could it be that the Prime Minister's niece is a potential little wizard? This is good news, and it will be beneficial to the upcoming negotiations.

"Fudge turned the teacup on the table into a gerbil when we first met," said the Prime Minister through gritted teeth.

"Oh." Felix said in a drawl, tapping his index finger on the arm of the chair.

The Prime Minister regained his senses and straightened his tie, but he was out of breath at the moment from talking too much in one breath.

Ms. Burns finally found a chance to speak, and she said straight to the point, "This is what we are here for. Wizards can no longer hide, and the integration of the two societies is inevitable."

"The integration of two societies," the Prime Minister said slowly, "how?" He was completely calm now.

"In the past, we only revealed our identities in front of the current prime minister, which is the most conducive to confidentiality, but after today's incident, the old method is obviously not working," Ms. Burns said gently: "We both need to cooperate closely: you have to submit People explain why there is a group of wizards living on British soil, I also need to reassure wizards who are used to secrecy laws to adapt to a very different environment."

"I did use the power of the prime minister to cooperate with you," the prime minister said bluntly, "for example...such as the arrest warrant for the little gray wolf Black, Tom Riddle's arrest warrant, and a gas pipe leak...It's unreasonable , I paid the price, but what is the result? The whole country is a mess."

"You haven't figured out the seriousness of the problem!" Ms. Burns expressed her impatience for the first time, "It's not a matter of who cooperates with whom. When we first met, I spent an hour explaining to you that wizards exist. The significance of the existence of the Ministry of Magic and the existence of the Ministry of Magic. So you should be aware that more than [-] wizards live on this land, and their ancestors even owned it before you. Before the Act of Secrecy was officially implemented, wizards and Muggles were mixed , These legends are still circulating all over the country.”

"But you withdrew," said the Prime Minister nervously. "I haven't seen any news about wizards in any of the published papers—maybe after today—and now you want the two societies to merge, I want How to convince the public that you are hiding in the dark to maintain British order? What's more, I have to consider the opinions of the parliament, the church and the army. They didn't know anything about you before, maybe one or two families knew about you, but they dared to speak out Shout out? Well, unless—" His expression changes.

"Unless what?"

"Well, I can't just say nothing, maybe you don't know how we treat refugees—"

"Wizards are not refugees!"

"Yes, yes, I know, but in the eyes of ordinary people, there may not be much difference, especially if you go to heaven and earth one by one, who knows if you will suddenly come out of the fireplace one day, my God, wizards can steal things, You may find it funny when you hear it, you can conjure coins, but you can’t stop the people from thinking so..."

Felix didn't smile, and neither did Ms. Burns.Because there are indeed many thieves in the wizarding world, and there are still a lot of them, but most of them are not interested in Muggle property, and the penalty for breaking the secrecy law is much more serious than petty theft.

"...I think," the Prime Minister took out a green diagonally-striped handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his brow, "if wizards can be governed by the government in name, subject to legal supervision, and at the same time swear allegiance to the queen-of course, only Nominally — I think it's going to be a lot easier."

Ms. Bones stared, trying not to turn her head to look at Felix. He had expected the Prime Minister's reaction:

"We have to win over the Muggle Prime Minister." Felix analyzed: "I know he can't fully decide on this matter, the cabinet, the parliament, the military, the people, and the queen who lives in Buckingham Palace , they all have the opportunity to exert influence, but the prime minister is the one who is the most important one, he connects all of them and has the ability to influence those people as well."

"Well, I don't know how to convince him." Ms. Burns rubbed her forehead wearily.

"Persuasion?" Felix looked at her seriously. "This is the result we hope to achieve. But in the process, you have to be tough."

Burns looked at him hesitantly, "But—in case——"

"Oh, Amelia. We are worried about war. Isn't the other party afraid? But when you think about it, we are not afraid of war. war."

"That's not what we're talking about," Burns objected.

"That's a tactic with ordinary people, we can certainly take a softer approach and get broad support. But with politicians? You have to treat them as a completely different creature, you take a step back and you have to take something from them .It's almost etched in the opponent's veins."

"Concessions represent weakness?"

"It could also be a signal of an exchange of interests."

Burns snorted.

"You seem to know them well."

"I just read a few 'story books' before coming here. I can only say that the contents inside are wonderful." Felix said vaguely.

……

"If you insist on that idea, Mr Prime Minister," snapped Ms Burns, "then we can't go on. We accept negotiations, we set out obligations on both sides, but we will never bow to any group or individual." , even in name!"

The Prime Minister did not expect to draw a fierce rebuttal.A moment of silence.

"I recall, you have a United Nations-like organization?" he said cautiously.

"International Federation of Wizards," said Ms. Burns, pursing her lips.

"That's right, the International—ahem, the Wizarding Union, that's it, Fudge told me that once." The Prime Minister asked hopefully, "What do they think?"

"They're still undecided," Felix interrupted suddenly. "They're worried about the war."

"War?" cried the Prime Minister.

"Yeah," Felix blinked, seeming to find something interesting, "You may not know that not all the Ministry of Magic maintains a friendly relationship with the local government, and the UK is quite good in this regard. In fact, The relationship between the Ministry of Magic and the government was once very tense, and they were not afraid to speculate on each other with the greatest malice and measure the balance of power between the two sides. For example, I have heard a word more than once, nuclear bomb..."

"Nuclear bomb?" The prime minister's eyes were completely protruding, he jumped up excitedly, put his hands on the table, and saliva splashed: "Do they still think that a nuclear war will break out?"

"Oh, they do have this concern." Felix spread his hands and said 'frankly': "Some Ministry of Magic have cut off contact with the Muggle government early, and their information channels are quite limited... I have never I was worried about being attacked by a nuclear bomb."

"Of course not!" the Prime Minister roared: "No leader of any country will agree to detonate a nuclear bomb where its own people live, let alone allow other countries to do so! This is completely nonsense. If anyone dares to publish With a similar order, his political opponents will laugh like crazy, and the angry people will tear him apart."

Felix glanced at Burns calmly.

Ms. Burns got the signal, cleared her throat and said: "Mr. Prime Minister, no one wants a war. We hope with the utmost sincerity that the two sides can reach a consensus and do our best to facilitate negotiations. In the meantime, in order to avoid discord. If there is a necessary conflict, we will recall the wizards who live in Muggle society in seclusion, fully shrink, and hide."

The prime minister nodded, he really felt the sincerity of the other party.

"However... I hope you don't take too long to think about it. On the one hand, I cannot suppress the wishes of the wizarding people for a long time. On the other hand, our retreat will also cause a gap in the local wizarding forces. At this critical moment, it may not be possible. It's a good thing."

"Empty power? What do you mean?" the chief asked sensitively.

"During our strict implementation of the closed policy, there may be other wizarding forces pouring in." Ms. Burns warned solemnly: "It may be foreign wizards—such as wizards from Africa and America, as Felix mentioned before. However, their relationship with the local government is not good, and they may flee to England for asylum; the dark wizards who were driven away by the Aurors and could only hide in the gutter may also take the opportunity to make trouble; but the most likely ones are the saints of Grindelwald."

When he heard the first point, the Prime Minister just frowned. Compared with outsiders, he certainly trusted wizards in his country more. However, as a proven politician, he was well versed in the art of negotiation and compromise. He didn't mind using this as an excuse to gain benefits, but when he heard that the Ministry of Magic planned to let the dark wizard go, he immediately couldn't sit still.

"This is a threat!" he yelled, "You are uneasy and kind, you have hidden this hand for a long time, haven't you? Secretly keep dark wizards, just to be able to—"

"What nonsense are you talking about!" said Ms. Burns angrily.

"Don't lie to me, I don't know everything about you," said the Prime Minister, with a wistful reminiscence, "You, that—your previous Minister for Magic revealed a lot of inside information in several conversations. —Knockturn Alley, isn’t it? Once Fudge complained that the Aurors found another batch of cursed items from Knockturn Alley, and they kept banning them again and again...you won’t deny it!?”

"I don't deny it." Ms. Burns said calmly, "In the official definition, Knockturn Alley is another magical business district besides Diagon Alley. Rich. Many of these items have no practical use, or are second-hand, with incomplete functions... Naturally, some dangerous items are also included. Law enforcement officers are cracking down on the transaction of the last type of goods.”

"... Different people have different senses of it. If he is just a student or a law-abiding civilian, he may never step into Knockturn Alley; but if his interest is special enough, such as ancient magic Items, cheap novelty gadgets and rare magic materials, or simply want to get rid of a rare plant pest, conventional methods do not work...you can try your luck there. Of course - you have to Keep an eye on your wallet and your own safety. There are always some weird, scary people walking around there. But they're not breaking the law, and the Aurors can't deal with them."

"Sounds like a large unregulated grocery market," the Prime Minister said dryly.

"Is your grocery market completely free of stolen goods, drugs of abuse and second-hand guns?" Ms Burns asked.

The prime minister fell silent.

"The most common people in Knockturn Alley are some petty thieves - or smugglers, or obsessed with dark magic, the latter are also classified as dark wizards, but they are cuter than the real cruel and evil dark wizards More, at least the Aurors don't have to worry too much about a death curse flying from the opposite side when they are enforcing the law." Burns finally concluded.

"What is a real Dark wizard?" asked the Prime Minister.

"Or to change the question - what is a dark wizard who is strongly hostile to Muggles?" Ms. Burns adjusted her monocle, "You should have seen his abilities this morning, even though he personally He didn’t reveal it, and it was the saints under his hands who caused the disturbance.”

"Grindelwald? Oh, yes, I was about to ask. You mean he is the culprit of the whole thing? An extreme subversive?" I've watched the interview with the guy who made the tornado several times!" He couldn't suppress his anger again, and punched the desk.

"Why didn't you arrest him?"

"If you knew what he had done, you wouldn't ask this question." Ms. Burns said solemnly. She waved her magic wand, and a bulging folder appeared on the desk. "This is our Some materials compiled, his ideas, his ideas, his influence..."

The Prime Minister opened the folder and poured out a piece of newspaper clipping from it. It seemed to be a few years old, and the clipping was a little yellow.

"—It is worth mentioning that there is a big difference in the evaluation criteria of wizards and Muggles in combat. I know that the Muggle army relies more on collective strength, while wizards—" Burns sighed, "Some people only It takes a wand, and it does all sorts of incredible things."

"Like this person?" the prime minister asked uncomfortably, frowning at the evil man in the photo.

"And Dumbledore."

"The guy in the news said he was dead."

"...yes, alas, if only he was still around, he has thwarted Grindelwald's plots for world domination so many times," sighed Ms Bones, seeing the Prime Minister's mouth open and seemingly dumbfounded, she continued Said: "However, this does not mean that he is unstoppable. We also have archmages who have touched the essence of magic in certain fields. He—oh, the researchers in the Ministry borrowed Professor Haipu's knowledge of magic. Grading method, this form is also attached to the document."

"Professor Haipu? Is he a scholar who studies this field?" The Prime Minister turned his attention to Felix, who had no sense of existence.

"No, he is currently the only one who can compete with Grindelwald, even though he is still young, only—" Ms. Burns paused, then turned her head to look at Felix, as if she was equally moved by the number she was about to say Surprised, "If I remember correctly, you are only 26 years old?"

Felix nodded, "If you compare magic to science, the only ones who can master the power are scientists in the magic world, and I happen to be talented. There is no need to make a fuss."

The Prime Minister murmured: "Yeah, 26 years old is nothing. Many scientists published the most important papers in their lives at this age, such as Einstein. I remember that he seemed to have done something earth-shattering at the age of 26." matter……"

"He came up with special relativity," Felix reminded him kindly.

……

"Grindelwald almost destroyed a city in the 20s?" The Prime Minister flipped through the documents and asked in disbelief. He lowered his head and quickly glanced at the parchment. "Or Paris? How did he do it?"

"An out-of-control magic," Felix said softly.

"Fiendfire." He fiddled with a cluster of small flames at his fingertips, "Even in the magic world, it is an extremely evil curse. The reason why it is called a curse is that it can sense living creatures and give priority to attacking them. Extinguished, only to wait for it to burn itself - oh, I mean it cannot be extinguished by conventional means, but it has a counter-spell."

The Prime Minister fixed his eyes on the small flame in his hand and said nothing.

"What I have in my hand is just an ordinary flame, no different from the flame of a lighter." Felix said.

"Felix, are you sure he is using Fiendfyre?" At this moment, Bones asked suspiciously, "There is no conclusion yet in the magic world."

"He trained Fiercefire." Felix said flatly: "Grindelwald seems to be very good at fusion magic, such as the one I saw in the information, I suspect it is the combination of advanced forms of armor protection and Fiercefire Curse .It’s not a random patchwork, but a fusion of the characteristics of different spells, maybe mixed with other things... He must have studied the magic itself very deeply.”

The Prime Minister swallowed, and continued to read the materials with his head down, asking one or two questions from time to time.

……

Coming out of the prime minister's residence, Burns breathed a sigh of relief.

"It was a worthwhile trip. Although the Prime Minister did not agree to stand on our side...but at least he promised to try his best to facilitate negotiations, and he also asked us to continue to maintain the magic order during this period. Uh, we originally planned to do so."

"This is just the first step." Felix raised his eyebrows, and said calmly: "The Prime Minister is considered a half-aware of the existence of the magic world. He has past communication experience. At least he will not shout and kill when he comes up. But what he has to face is a group that knows nothing about wizards, and this prime minister has never been known for his decisiveness and tenacity...just wait and see."

"Oh, I have the heart to retreat."

"It doesn't sound like it came out of your mouth." Felix turned his head in surprise.

"I'm serious," Ms. Burns said seriously, "I'm not planning to escape, I just feel more and more that I'm not capable enough to lead the people to deal with the immediate crisis, why don't you become the Minister of Magic, I'll start again Assisting you as the Chief of the Law Enforcement Division..."

"No, I don't think so."

"Felix..."

"Okay, let's talk frankly." Felix stared clearly into Burns' eyes: "At this moment, I can't stay out of it, and I do intend to grab power-but not the Minister of Magic, you Understand?"

"Then—" Burns blinked and said in shock, "The president of the International Federation of Wizards?"

"Yes."

"But what about Aginbad and Grindelwald's oath?"

"Amelia, of course not now. We might as well take a long-term view: Even if the wizarding society and the Muggle society reach a settlement, will the contradictions and conflicts disappear? From the moment the two sides sign a peace treaty, at least We will have to wait for the new generation to fully grow up to see the initial results.”

Under the dark night, Felix narrated his thoughts, and Ms. Burns listened quietly.

"...Whether it is a little wizard or a Muggle child, they may still be in their infancy, babbling, and toddling. But they will eventually grow up in the new world structure, and that is what I hope to see —It’s not like the current Muggles are unfamiliar and afraid of magic, nor is it like the current wizards who feel at a loss about living in the sun.”

In the silence and stillness, the moonlight shone on Ms. Burns' longing and resolute face.

"Then go ahead and do it, Felix, and I'll give you my full support," she said.

Felix smiled.

"We took the first step tonight: kicking the International Confederation of Wizards and other countries out of the way, and successfully shifting the conflict from the huge issue of Muggles and wizards to an internal matter of the country. If all goes well, we may well Be the first successful example!"

"You will also use this to gain great prestige and step onto a bigger stage?" Ms. Burns asked excitedly.

"Yeah, so you can't be lazy anymore. Aren't you going to give a speech to all British wizards? Add me to it."

"Have you ever thought about getting rid of it?" She widened her eyes.

"Cough, I'm still in the adaptation stage." Felix looked away and said with flickering eyes: "Let's go. Let's talk to the undercover agent who is lurking in the newspaper office, and I will go to Hogsmeade later. ...There are too many things, and many of my research projects have been put on hold."

(End of this chapter)