A certain Hogwarts rune professor

Chapter 700 Sand in the Moon and Forest in a Bottle

In the evening of that day, Ms. Burns and several students walked out of Gringotts surrounded by goblins. Reporters who got the news earlier immediately surrounded them.Flashes flickered blindingly.Ms. Burns announced to the public that the negotiations were going well and that consensus had been reached on some issues.

Gringotts' goblin spokesman agreed, and offered an explanation for the recent dragon escape.

"That dragon has long been overwhelmed. If you know anything, you will find that Gringotts has recently been looking for an alternative. Yes, the dragon has been transferred to another place and is waiting to be dealt with. During this time, the Sphinx is in charge The most important treasuries. We have considered putting the trolls in fairy armor, whose defense is comparable to that of a dragon."

When a reporter asked why the dragon escaped, the goblin spokesperson replied bluntly:

"The Council of Elders temporarily decided to move the dragon so as not to scare the distinguished guests. Unfortunately, an accident happened halfway. The person in charge of this matter was an outsider who was not familiar with the method of controlling the dragon...Cross-eyed Boderick, unfortunately died of an accident , no specific details available.”

After the temporary press conference ended, Harry and the others came out to meet Ron. Ron proposed to have a drink together, so a group of people poured into the Leaky Cauldron. The bar was overcrowded and wizards were talking about it.Just when they were at a loss, Neville poked his head out from a dark, hidden corner and waved vigorously at them.

"Harry, Ron - this way!" he exclaimed excitedly.

After everyone was seated, Ron was dissatisfied with Draco Malfoy sitting next to him. "I thought you were home," he said, frowning.

"The negotiations are not over yet, of course I can't go." Draco glanced at Ron contemptuously, causing him to stare. "That's right, you were excluded from the negotiation and didn't know anything. Naturally, you didn't know the role I played in it."

Ron froze for a moment, then looked at Harry, who nodded reluctantly, acknowledging his role.

"Okay, uh, so—can anyone tell me what happened in the middle of the negotiations? Why did the dragon come out?"

Harry briefly described the entire negotiation process.

"It doesn't sound like an accident." Tonks said, "Oh, thank you, Tom." She took the drink from the bar owner Tom and gave it to everyone, bent down and dropped a bunch of crystal grapes from her pocket. It looks very attractive.

"Oh." Tonks pursed his lips, "I bought it from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, you can try it, it's called multi-flavored grapes, it's a bit like Bibi's Weird Beans."

Neville picked up one. "Purple cabbage," he said with a smile on his face.Hannah picked up one too, flicking her ponytail, "Pumpkin pie flavor." "Spinach tastes good, doesn't it?" Collins said, taking a small bite. "Celery." Harry wrinkled his face and took a glass of water to rinse his mouth.Hermione and Ginny didn't even touch it when they heard it was brought from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

After the episode, they remembered the topic just now.

"It's definitely the ghost of the cross-eyed one," Ron said firmly. "They tried to scare people with the dragon, but they miscalculated. As soon as Ms. Burns gave the signal, the Aurors outside would rush in immediately, wouldn't they?" , Collins?"

Collins nodded.

"What happened after that?" Neville asked curiously, "After the dragon flew away, you talked for another two hours."

Harry turned to Hermione. "There was no accident after that. Hermione did most of the talking, occasionally stopping to ask Ms. Burns's opinion, or to answer a question from the goblin. They often argued a dozen times about a word." For a minute, or even half an hour, I feel like I'm back in my History of Magic class."

Everyone laughed.Hermione rolled her eyes and picked out a few pieces of valuable information. With her explanation, everyone almost clarified the key points of the negotiation.

"We've sidestepped some tough issues," said Hermione. "They're a knot in the rivalry between wizards and goblins that won't be untied easily. Maybe the professor will do it in the end."

They referred again to what the goblin spokesman had said.

"'Dear guest'," Ron said with a disgusted expression, "I've never heard a goblin speak so beautifully."

"If you rented the valuable vaults of Gringotts and put a lot of money in it," Draco Malfoy said with a sneer, "you'd be tired of hearing about it."

"How much money do you have? Just yourself?" Ron countered, "I have more than a thousand Galleons at my disposal."

Draco Malfoy gasped for breath.

"Where did you get so much money?" He couldn't help asking, even a thousand Galleons was a huge sum of money to him.

"I have worked so hard to save it," Ron said without hesitation, "the prize money for the Tournament, the licensing fee for the game video, the manuscript fee--by the way," he slapped his head, "I also deposited a piece of paper in the Muggle newspaper. What about a large amount of money, if the negotiation is successful, I wonder if I can come to ask for it?" He said uncertainly.

"Did you fall for money?" said Ginny.

"That's what I deserve." Ron said dissatisfiedly, "Did I give you less gifts every year?"

Ginny pouted.Draco said triumphantly from the side: "When you graduate, the family will spend a lot of money, a lot of money, you know? At least tens of thousands of Galleons..."

"Does this have anything to do with you being a Nat?" Harry asked in disgust.

"Yeah, Harry has a lot of money in his coffers too, but he never mentions it," said Ron immediately.

"Oh, come on," said Hermione impatiently, "when did you start comparing yourself to this, I don't think money will solve the—"

"Of course a small family doesn't understand the benefits of money." Draco laughed. Head of the United Wizarding and Muggle Hospital."

"Really," Hermione countered sharply, "then can the heir of the big Malfoy family tell me, if this business has a bright future, why no one else gets involved? Is it for the sake of the Malfoy family? Or The money and power you are proud of open the way? Oh, I almost forgot, the only option left for Malfoy is money."

Draco's face darkened.Because Hermione was telling the truth.

The wealth and prestige of the Malfoy family shrank significantly after the war, and their influence was not as good as before.The only reason why there are no pure blood families involved in the hospital is that they all think that the United Hospital is the compensation for Professor Haipu to go undercover for Lucius.

But the truth-

Draco remembered his father's words. "He never promised it, and he may not even know it. Keeping the Malfoy family is his reward for giving me an undercover job." Lucius said in the study.

"That--"

"Because of you. The magic world hadn't been exposed at that time, and you were the only person he came into contact with who showed this tendency, and he was happy to support you." Lucius calmly analyzed: "The wealth accumulated by more than ten generations of the Malfoy family , and a network of connections with Muggles... will make this easier, but remember, you are not the only one, so I will try my best to publicize this matter in public, and secretly warn some pure-blood families. "As he spoke, he sneered twice.

"Noble pure blood family? Now pure blood is worthless, and it has become a residual blood family."

……

Over the next few days, negotiations got on track.Under the mediation of everyone, the two sides entered into a substantive negotiation process, and the difficulties were overcome one by one. As Hermione expected, only some extremely stubborn difficulties remained, such as the ownership of the items made by the goblins, and whether the goblins can hold There is a magic wand.

"Those are details, and the details don't matter to me. We're talking about whether the goblins should join the pan-magic alliance—if most intelligent creatures do." During another negotiation, Felix appeared, He sat down and said.

"A goblin can hold a wand, but there must be a price for what you get. The day a goblin holds a wand is the day the goblin's special method of forging metal is made public." He turned to look at Hermione, "Write this in the terms and conditions." In the notes."

"Oh yes, Professor!" said Hermione hastily, hastily adding notes to the margins of the parchment.

There was an uncomfortable silence.The goblins and wizards present were not very satisfied with this result, and felt that they were at a disadvantage. However, after careful consideration, this was almost the best way to bypass the controversy.

Goblins theoretically have rights that have been fought for centuries.This right has previously been restricted by law, and non-wizards cannot hold wands, and today a hole has been broken.But the price is staggering——

What is the special way that goblins forge metal?

It has something to do with the talent of the goblin, and it has something to do with the special magic system of the goblin.When all this is cracked, the goblin will have no more secrets.

If someone else said this, the goblins would probably sneer, or even swear, and look at the wizard with contempt, because the goblins are deeply proud of their magic and never believe that anyone can do it .But this sentence came from the mouth of an archmage comparable to Dumbledore, and they were skeptical.

Especially—this archmage has a precedent, and almost independently created (or restored) the lost rune system. He is only 26 and seven years old, and the time spent studying ancient runes may not even be ten years, so these words It seems very weighty.

The goblins looked at each other, and they all saw hesitation in their eyes.

And some clever wizards thought of this too.It's just that their thinking angle is different from that of goblins: the swords and armor made by goblins are called magical weapons, and silverware is also widely welcomed by wizards. If they can get this technology, they are willing to exchange it.

Previously, wizards had been unable to replicate the magic of goblins at all.

Several wizards looked at Felix with fiery eyes. Faced with such a huge benefit, they all wanted to start a war, but when they met Felix's cold eyes, their greed was instantly extinguished.

After another round of intense negotiations, the goblin agreed to join the Pan-Magical Alliance, and still retained the right to speak internally, but kept the same caliber as the wizards externally.

"We will reserve the right to appeal. We signed a contract 200 years ago." The goblin elder said half relaxed and half unwillingly.

Felix didn't speak, but the idea of ​​building a magical city grew stronger in his heart.The wizarding world is intertwined with each other, and one thread can lead to the entire wizarding world, and Felix does not want to drastically change the living environment of wizards.This is not necessarily a good thing.He just wants to paint on a piece of white paper, which can be wiped and painted repeatedly. The existing place cannot withstand tossing, the best way is to find another way...

At the same time, the wizard formally contacted the Muggle government in the name of the Ministry of Magic, and still did not talk about business, which is equivalent to the follow-up to the last time Felix brought his students to visit the Queen for the first time. Neither the Muggle Prime Minister nor the Minister of Magic showed up. Each sent officials and representatives, but the standard in name was much higher.

In a situation similar to government reports, the two sides introduced their respective development histories, cultures, concepts, and technologies (magic) in lengthy and solemn language.

The senior official sent by the Ministry of Magic is Mr. Weasley. With the reorganization of the Ministry of Magic, his status has also risen.During the meeting, Mr. Weasley showed a keen interest in a series of technological products. After learning that Mr. Weasley was the father of the wizard who was repeatedly mentioned in the "Wizard Going to School" series of news that is currently popular in newspapers, the government The staff temporarily decided to give him a set of wrenches with various types of bolts and nuts.

"Thank you very much," Mr. Weasley said enthusiastically, "I didn't bring any personal gifts, but when I came, Ms. Burns, the Minister of Magic, entrusted me with two gifts from the Muggle government—" The box opened, and inside was a Plain dishes and a gorgeous crystal decanter.

Inside the crystal bottle was a miniature jungle landscape. The government representative looked at it twice, and then stopped paying attention. He turned to look at the dusty dishes, with incomplete and faded patterns on them, which had no sense of beauty at all.

"Uh," the government representative was a little confused, "does this dish have any special meaning?"

It doesn't look like a work of art.They have also prepared gifts here, which are cultural relics carefully selected from the museum, which are of great collection value in both artistic and historical significance.

"It's not what it looks like, it's where it comes from," said Mr. Weasley. "It came from the moon."

The government representatives stared wide-eyed.

"Moon—the moon?"

"Yes." Mr. Weasley nodded and smiled, but at this moment, the government representative felt that his smile was inscrutable, which was in stark contrast to his vivid expression when he listened to the report before.

When the meeting was over, government representatives immediately went to a conference room to accept questions from all cabinet members.The prime minister seemed impatient, "How is it? What's their reaction?" He turned his head to look at a very unremarkable person behind the representative, "You are the best psychoanalyst in the country, what conclusion do you have?"

The psychoanalyst was in a daze.

"He may need some time to adapt to the psychological impact brought by the magic...Let me say it." The representative opened the box, and as before, everyone was attracted by the contents of the box.

"Scenery in a bottle?" The Prime Minister glanced at the nondescript bowls and dishes, and judged in his heart that they might be some kind of cultural relic. It moves—is it magic?" Others were also amazed.

The representative pursed his lips.

"Maybe it's not the same as what you think. It's indeed the effect of magic, but it's also mixed with other things..." He said with a strange expression: "There is a real forest inside, and the traceless stretching spell is used—you guys It can be understood as the magical application of space expansion technology."

It seemed that someone had pressed the pause button in the conference room. The Prime Minister kept bending over and turned his head to stare at him.

"It is said that this technology - er, I mean the application of this magic is quite mature. Of course, the magic on this bottle we have in hand can only last for a week. When they visited last time, they heard that the council was going to break ground to build a garden. , so gave us a..."

"Give us a garden in a bottle?" moaned one MP.

"It's very simple to use," the representative continued deadpan, though his voice sounded a little unsure, "within a week, smash the bottle in the middle of the intended field, and the Enchanted Garden will return to its original size, complete with trees , there are flowers, and fountains. It is no different from reality."

silence.The ministers in the room were silently thinking about the meaning of this magic, and the more they thought about it, the more frightened they became.After a while, the Prime Minister forced himself to ask, "What about the other one?" He found his throat dry.

"Another thing..." the representative said hesitantly, his attitude made the hearts of others hang. Could it be that this dish is also extraordinary, hiding some magic that they don't know about?
"That plate is very ordinary, it has no magic, the key is its origin, it is said, ahem, I can't judge, I can only repeat what the wizard said," the representative cleared his throat, "Mr. I landed on the moon before, and fortunately found a ruin of a wizard—"

"Are you kidding me?" the Prime Minister interrupted.

"Maybe the wizards are joking with us, but it's up to you to judge." The representative said, "This has been widely publicized in the wizarding community, and Haip—the wizarding professor who visited last time—claimed that for the first time Inadequate preparations for landing on the moon, so only a cursory search of the surrounding area..."

Amidst the crowd looking at each other, the Prime Minister suddenly jumped up:

"Call the best scientists! Immediately! Immediately! Let them put down their work - and, don't we have a lunar soil sample? Find it out and divide it into a dozen, I want to get the most realistic conclusion!"

"Mr. Prime Minister, the lunar soil is very precious, and we only have a little bit." An aide whispered.

Pointing to the dirty dish, the Prime Minister yelled at him: "Precious? If it's true, the moon's soil is almost rotten. What do you think the bottle means? The wizard is telling us clearly that they can take the moon Hollow out!"

"Where do they have enough space to pile up the extra soil?" cried one MP.

Everyone stared at him like a fool.

"That's a real problem," said the Prime Minister darkly. "What do you think of the piles on top of us?"

In the silence, the representative said cautiously: "Thinking about the good, it also means that space travel will become possible. Excuse me, Mr. Prime Minister, Your Excellencies, an ordinary crystal bottle can carry a garden, and the wizard will do his best to It is entirely possible to build a magical spaceship independently - of course, it may also be a meteorite that hits our head, it all depends on our choice. If the wizard's magic is combined with our technology, interstellar migration is very likely to be realized within a few decades .”

"Although my position is humble, I sincerely remind all ministers that only cooperation can have a future!"

……

"Kingsley sent back the news that the Muggle government is ready to negotiate with us." Ms. Burns said to Felix.

"Our strategy seems to be correct: avoid being impulsive, reveal valuable information little by little, let the Muggle government move the consequences of war and the benefits of cooperation to both sides of the balance, and they will weigh the pros and cons themselves. Come to the negotiating table. We are finally past the most unpredictable period."

"It's time to look abroad."

Felix looked in the distant direction, where a lighthouse stood, and he sang softly.

"After the new era came unexpectedly, how many people can decisively seize the opportunity and jump up? Who will be so stupid that they will rashly become hostile to groups they are not familiar with, and never recover? Time will give us the answer."

(End of this chapter)