Chapter 644: Observation Report
Chapter 644: Observation Report
"You didn't spill a word either", Harry grinned.
Ron examined the twins' clothes.
"How much is this going to cost?"
Fred sighed dramatically, shook his head, and waved his wand. Three goblets flew over and landed in Harry's hands. Fred and George Weasley stepped forward, clinked glasses with them, and drank in one go. "Well, we won't disturb you anymore", Fred said.
"People have been talking about you", George said with a grin. "Especially that plump professor. He mentions you at least once every three sentences. We suspect one of you has secretly put a spell on him."
The twins moved aside. "W-wait!" Harry shouted, but it was too late.
"Harry, my boy!" Professor Slughorn, his keen eyes spotting Harry and his friends, immediately waddled over, his large belly constrained by a brown vest, the shiny golden buttons on it staring at them like living eyes.
The office fell silent for a few seconds, and various curious gazes shot from all directions. This was one of the reasons Harry disliked such environments. However, he felt less resistance when Professor Slughorn dragged him along, especially after seeing Mrs. Weasley waving happily at them.
"And you two", Slughorn said to Ron and Hermione as he left, "I had a long chat with your parents about—uh—the importance of family education." However, he didn't bring Harry to the Weasleys or the Grangers. Instead, he weaved through the crowd and joined a conversation with Amelia Bones.
He forcibly placed Harry between Ernie and Cormac Mclaggen, smiling. "Look, you won't find a stronger bond than the friendships formed during school years." Harry's eyes widened, his expression stiff.
He had no idea when he had formed such a 'strong bond' with Ernie or Mclaggen.
For the next while, Harry remained silent.
He noticed that Professor Slughorn mostly steered the conversation toward Mrs. Bones, occasionally throwing in a few questions to Sirius Black. This seemed to align with the thoughts of the Macmillans and the Mclaggens, so Sirius only needed to nod occasionally, using the rest of the time to observe his godson, who was clearly uncomfortable.
Mrs. Bones' responses were brief and to the point. Throughout the conversation, she only smiled at Harry a few times, otherwise maintaining a neutral expression, which suited her role as a tough Minister—Azkaban still held over three hundred foreign wizards.
Harry caught a glimpse of Susan Bones sitting in a corner, crunching on an apple. She seemed to notice his gaze and quickly slipped away, blending into the crowd.
At that moment, Felix and Snape arrived together.
Neville tugged at his father's sleeve. Frank Longbottom was chatting with the Grangers about the wonders of personalized wands. "Oh—how amazing, we've always been curious about which of us our daughter inherited her talent from..."
"What is it?"
Frank's face lit up at first, but it quickly turned cold when he saw Snape following Felix. Snape glanced at them, whispered a few words to Felix, and then turned to find Damocles Belby.
Felix joined the conversation nonchalantly.
On the other side, Mrs. Bones saw him and quickly finished her current conversation, heading over. At the same time, an elderly woman with white hair hurried over. Their gazes met, and they both stopped.
Felix feigned a look of surprise. Mrs. Bones quickly weighed her options and turned to face the old woman. "Ms. Pinkstone, we need to talk." The old woman gave her a disdainful look and followed her away.
"Who was that woman?" Mr. Granger asked curiously.
Felix shook his head, and Mr. Granger continued his story about getting a personalized wand. "We signed up with a try-anything attitude, and the staff told us we might have to wait a long time and go through various checks... but we received a notification the next day, and the whole process was incredibly smooth."
Felix winked at Hermione, who blushed.
"I suppose no one would refuse a favor for an Order of Merlin recipient."
Mr. Granger was taken aback.
"Oh, really?" he said, suddenly feeling uneasy. "I heard that person has been caught? We've been following the news closely in several magical newspapers... Apparently, that Dark Lord—what a strange name—made a deal with the former Azkaban guards, trading human emotions for powerful casting abilities."
"Dad—like I said, you should read less of _The Quibbler_!" Hermione exclaimed, her face reddening even more.
"But it's the only newspaper that offers an explanation..." Seeing his daughter's displeasure, Mr. Granger quickly changed the subject. "Mr. Heap—"
"You can call me Felix."
"…Alright, Felix", he said. "We bought a whole set of magic projectors. I especially like the 'immersive' mode. It's amazing, like we become part of the movie. But when using it, you have to lock the doors and windows and put up a 'No Visitors' sign."
"Hermione", Mrs. Granger deliberately put on a stern face, focusing on other aspects, "look at your hair—didn't you send a quick-smoothing hair potion home? And your clothes, do you always wear the same outfit?"
Hermione let out an annoyed cry and stormed off. Mrs. Granger chased after her.
"My daughter—well, she's been quite stubborn since she was young", Mr. Granger tried to explain.
"…I understand."
On the other side, Harry and Sirius finally found some relief and wandered around the grounds, their hands full of food.
"Is that woman Charlotte Pinkstone?" Harry asked.
"Right, a real pain in the neck. Ignore her, Harry", Sirius said, shoving a strawberry pudding into his mouth and speaking through a mouthful. "As if we didn't have enough trouble already."
"What's wrong?" Harry asked worriedly, thinking about Sirius's investigation mission. "Is the work not going well?"
Sirius clenched his teeth.
"Going well—precisely because of that, the problem is bigger." He had a pained expression. "A lot of things are out in the open now."
"Why is that? You don't look like things are fine."
"Ah, I just confirmed someone's theory. In fact—let's go this way, Harry." Sirius looked up and realized they had wandered over to Felix, who flashed a white-toothed grin. He quickly pulled Harry in the opposite direction and continued, "Like I said, just running errands, delivering those books of Felix's. It's all good."
"But, I've figured out something over the past few months."
Sirius grew serious. "Muggles and wizards are different. They can derive vast theories from simple principles, and because there are so many of them, they have enough people to fully exploit the potential of these theories, which they call 'fundamental scientific theories'…"
"This means the development speed of Muggles can be estimated—there are exceptions, of course, but generally, that's the case. I'm increasingly feeling that there's a line ahead, and once we cross it, it will be very difficult for wizards to keep secrets."
Harry felt a heavy heart, remembering the speech excerpt Professor Basharat had shown him. Had the person from over half a century ago, like Professor Hup, foreseen the inevitable exposure of wizards? Grindelwald, however, chose to start a war and attempt to enslave Muggles.
He subtly described Professor Basharat's perspective to Sirius, who stopped chewing and looked at Harry thoughtfully.
"I don't know what Dumbledore thinks, but by choosing Basharat as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, he must have recognized the issue. Do you think the professor is hostile to Muggles?"
"Not exactly", Harry said, searching for the right words. "I think he believes wizards and Muggles are two separate groups. Once wizards are exposed to the outside world—well, you know, conflicts might arise—" He suddenly caught his breath.
He thought of war.
Sirius caught the anxious look on Harry's face and seemed to guess what Harry was thinking. He spoke seriously.
"Don't worry, the problem isn't that big yet. I agree with Felix; we have at least a few decades to prepare—don't forget, the Minister of Magic maintains contact with the Muggle Prime Minister, so it's not completely isolated."
He lowered his voice, and Harry leaned in to hear more clearly.
"To be honest, I admire Felix—don't tell him, or he'll get too cocky—both for pointing out the problem and for quietly laying the groundwork for us… Amelia has a rough plan."
"What plan?" Harry held his breath, his gaze following his godfather to Professor Hup in the crowd.
"Gradually increasing the connections between the two sides", Sirius said, picking up a rib. "The Squib issue is a good starting point. With personalized wands, the number of Squibs who can cast spells will definitely increase—though we haven't opened it up yet, the trend is there. Conservative estimates suggest there are over a hundred thousand Squibs in the country, maybe more, because Squibs can have children."
"Amelia plans to wait a couple of years until the situation stabilizes, then use this as an excuse to secretly negotiate with the Muggle government to establish a special department, one that remains hidden from the general public."
"Why keep it hidden from the public?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"Take it one step at a time", Sirius Black shrugged. "Collaboration means more government officials will know about the existence of wizards. We start by creating a small opening, sending representatives from both sides to jointly manage magical incidents in Muggle communities. After a few years, once trust is established, we can gradually release more information."
Harry swallowed hard.
"Don't think it's easy just because I make it sound simple. There are countless details to sort out. For example, we’re still in the dark when it comes to relevant laws. Both sides will need to make concessions, and just thinking about it gives me a headache."
This was enough. Although Harry didn’t know the full plan, his tense mood had eased. Just a few minutes ago, he thought conflict was inevitable, but now things had taken a turn for the better. For a moment, Harry felt like he didn’t understand anything at all.
"You’re still in school", Sirius Black smiled understandingly. "There’s a lot you can’t learn in the classroom. I strongly suggest you travel for a year or two after graduation before joining the Ministry of Magic as an Auror."
Harry lowered his head, silent, seemingly considering the feasibility of the plan.
"What if conflict is inevitable?" he blurted out. Sirius Black looked at him in surprise, and Harry explained in a low voice, "I mean, we’re all hoping for the best, right? But what if something goes wrong, like the Muggle government refusing to recognize the Ministry of Magic’s authority—"
"They have to recognize it", Sirius Black said coolly. "Do you think the Ministry of Magic is just about keeping wizards hidden? Who suppresses the power of Dark wizards? Who keeps dark creatures from harming people? The Ministry of Magic can hide or even leave the country if necessary. Then what? This place would become a playground for Dark wizards. Do you really think Dark wizards would be stupid enough to engage the Muggle military in open combat?"
Harry fell silent for a long while, opening his mouth several times but unable to imagine the consequences.
"Let’s talk about something more cheerful", Sirius Black suddenly said, his spirits lifting. "How’s your Animagus training going? I heard about twenty students got an Outstanding on their O.W.Ls in Transfiguration?"
Harry smiled.
"Yeah, you have a real talent for teaching. But—well, we’re stuck at the first step. Even Hermione can’t come up with a foolproof plan."
A smile flashed across Sirius Black’s face, and he made a face at Harry.
"Be honest", he said with a stern look, "do you think we older folks are pretty useless?"
"Of course not—" Harry quickly denied.
"Then what gave you the illusion that becoming an Animagus is easy? James and I spent nearly three years on it, and we even needed a bit of luck. We wouldn’t be confident we could do it again without any hitches." Sirius Black said irritably, "If you manage to complete it before graduation, that would be impressive enough."
Harry was speechless.
"But you said the Animagus transformation is related to Transfiguration grades—"
Sirius Black grinned and winked at him, reminding Harry of Fred and George Weasley when they succeeded in a prank. "I didn’t exactly lie. If you really manage it on your first try, you won’t have to worry about your Transfiguration class grades anymore..."
The atmosphere in Professor Slughorn’s office was warm and pleasant, while not far away, a heated argument had just ended in the bathroom.
Amelia Bones stormed out, feeling like she had wasted her breath. Charlotte Pinkstone’s hostility towards the Ministry of Magic was too deep-seated. No matter what she said, Pinkstone believed she was being deceived, thinking her only purpose was to keep her in line until she died naturally.
Bones took several deep breaths to calm herself, then turned and strode towards the banquet. A short while later, Charlotte Pinkstone appeared, her face dark.
"You two argued quite fiercely, Charlotte", a voice said. Pinkstone whirled around. She hesitated for a moment, then stared at the silver-blue heterochromic eyes, her mouth agape.
"G-Grynd—"
"Shh." The man raised a finger to his lips, whispering. Pinkstone immediately fell silent, her pale face flushing with excitement, her speech becoming stammered. "I-I never thought I’d meet you here."
"But I’ve been waiting for you. From the first time I heard your name, I had a premonition: the British girl who came to me alone half a century ago would appear before me in an incredible way. You’ve had a hard life, but you’ve accepted it, haven’t you?"
"Yes, yes, I only regret that my ideals haven’t been realized", she said, her face full of anticipation as she looked at Grindelwald. "What do you plan to do this time?"
"But—Charlotte—our ideas have some minor differences."
"Yes, but—"
"Can I trust you?"
"Of course! What do you need me to do?"
A moment of silence.
"Wait", Grindelwald whispered. "Just know that our cause has not ended."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
