A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 689 Letter

The next day, the day after the magical world was exposed, the Ministry of Magic...

Felix, Amelia Bornes, and Sirius Black entered a small conference room. They had just finished a meeting with high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Magic and came here directly afterward. Former members of the Order of the Phoenix were seated in the conference room.

"Where's Kingsley?" asked Hestia Jones, with her jet-black hair and rosy cheeks, her voice lively.

"He was ordered to protect the Prime Minister's safety," Ms. Burns said. "We cannot guarantee that Grindelwald or the Saints will not take advantage of the situation, and his role in the coming period will be crucial."

"Oh, Kingsley went to be the Prime Minister's secretary again?" Hestia Jones said in surprise. She had a basis for her words. When Voldemort came on strong, the Ministry of Magic was worried that the Muggle Prime Minister would be hit by the Imperius Curse (especially after the Prime Minister's assistant had already been hit by the Imperius Curse, albeit unsuccessfully). Kingsley was sent to carry out this task. Unaware of this, the Prime Minister was very satisfied with his work efficiency, which was comparable to that of two people.

Of course, the Prime Minister himself was very surprised when he learned the truth.

"So that means the Muggle prime minister is on our side?" Moody asked gruffly.

Ms. Burns cautiously stated, "He promised to strive for a peaceful outcome, but we cannot be complacent. He alone cannot control the situation. Ladies and gentlemen, starting a war is easy; any fool can do it. But peace is hard-won and requires careful planning."

"Well said." Sirius clapped his hands twice.

Felix was thinking about something else entirely. No one knew where Grindelwald was. Everyone—mainly Arkinbad and the Ministers of Magic, including Burns—believed that Grindelwald was hiding in the shadows, waiting for the situation to become chaotic so that he could seize power in the wizarding world.

Felix didn't see Grindelwald either, but he did see Vita Rozier in Hogsmeade, who was again using the alias Nicole Noel. Vita Rozier refused to reveal Grindelwald's whereabouts, possibly because she herself didn't know.

As the second most important figure among the saints, she had two missions: first, to act as a relay station for the saints' members, gathering intelligence from all directions; and second, to teach Felix how to flawlessly impersonate Grindelwald.

"Since you've all temporarily joined the Ministry of Magic," Ms. Burns looked around, "I won't stand on ceremony. I do urgently need manpower right now—first, the Pan-Magical Alliance. Felix has agreed to let 'Futureworld' Company cooperate, with Lupin in charge."

Lupin nodded, took a deep breath, and said with a firm gaze, "Leave it to me."

“Bill will be with you; he knows a lot about goblins,” Ms. Burns continued. Bill, seated, said earnestly, “And Fleur; she’s been wanting to join the Order of the Phoenix for a long time.” “Alright, you can arrange it yourselves. The second thing is the mission. Until the negotiations are resolved, the Ministry of Magic will adopt a withdrawal strategy. Ordinary citizens should stay home as much as possible. The Ministry will send people to check the defenses of each household—”

"Do we have to do this too? It's a bit of a waste of our talents," Mundungus asked, looking like he hadn't woken up yet.

"No need," Ms. Burns said sternly. "You'll be in charge of something else: monitoring, patrolling, and issuing warnings about various gray areas within the country. I've ordered a complete halt to smuggling, theft, and black market transactions operating in the shadows. Of course, all you need to do is lead the way; that shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?"

"Um, um..." Mundungust suddenly came to his senses, and said with a bitter face, "You can't ruin my livelihood."

"Is your livelihood smuggling, theft, and black market trading?" Moody yelled at him.

Mundungus shrank back, avoiding his gaze, and muttered under his breath, "You know what I do—how many times did you arrest me before you retired? This is it, even if the ban is lifted, no one will want to do business with me anymore..."

"A Merlin Second Class Medal," Ms. Burns said curtly.

Mundungus's eyes lit up. He hadn't gained anything during the last war; his contributions were too few, and the few he did have weren't worth mentioning. Unlike the others present, who had all received rewards after the war.

"If that's the case..." His tone softened, and he seemed quite tempted. Sirius chuckled, and Burns glared at him. "You can continue being my secretary."

"I refuse," Sirius said nonchalantly. "I want to go on fieldwork."

Ms. Burns ignored him. "The third thing is that I need some people to go abroad to find out what's going on outside, including the thoughts of the local wizarding community, the attitude of the non-magical community towards wizards, and so on."

"Are you worried that the conflict will come from abroad?" Lupin asked shrewdly.

“That’s right. Our representatives at the Federation are sending back a steady stream of messages,” Ms. Burns said gravely. “But unfortunately, as far as I know, most of them have adopted a conservative strategy.” She glanced at Felix as she spoke. If she hadn’t suffered a series of mental shocks and been mentally prepared for the exposure crisis in the wizarding world, she probably would have made the same choice as those Ministers of Magic—actively retreating and leaving it to fate.

The phrase "leaving it to fate" might be a bit of an exaggeration, but apart from them, no other Ministry of Magic has proactively embraced change. The most radical thing they've done is to revive the proposals she previously submitted and hold a meeting to discuss them. The results are expected in two or three months.

"The living conditions for wizards vary from region to region," Ms. Burns explained. "Wizards in the Americas have strained relations with local governments, lacking a foundation of mutual trust; the situation in Africa is even more complex, due to differences in language and customs, there are multiple wizarding autonomous organizations that function similarly to the Ministry of Magic but are much smaller in scale, and we shouldn't expect them to reach a consensus in the short term..."

After finishing their business, Ms. Burns relaxed, and the group chatted in small groups.

"Where are Harry and the others?" Lupin asked Felix. "When I arrived, I saw you leading them into a meeting room."

"Yeah, right," Sirius straightened up, his eyes darting around, "Why don't we assign Harry to me? We can go on missions together. Aside from lacking experience, his combat skills aren't much weaker than mine."

Felix glanced at him. Harry's current abilities far surpassed Sirius's; Sirius was simply exaggerating. He said slowly, "Don't even think about it. They have a ton of homework to do."

"Homework?" Sirius's eyes widened, seemingly confused.

“Yes, they bear the heavy responsibility of breaking down the barriers between wizards and non-wizards,” Felix said, exchanging a glance with Ms. Burns as they recalled their conversation the previous night in Rita Skeeter’s rented apartment.

After coming close to the tornado in front of Parliament House, Rita Skeeter took half a day off, citing being frightened. The Sun made an exception for her, being very lenient towards the world's first journalist to publicly interview a wizard (even if she wasn't, she would be portrayed as one). They considered it a historic event comparable to a third kind of encounter and prepared to create a series of hot news stories around her.

However, Rita Skeeter was indeed frightened, but not because she was "struck by a wizarding spell" as her superiors believed. Rather, the wizarding world had been completely exposed, and she spent a long time frantically inquiring before she could barely understand what had happened.

"You must stay, Rita." After hearing about her extraordinary experiences, Felix said with delight, "You'll have plenty of opportunities to access confidential information, not just what's written on paper—you have a keen insight into people's hearts and know what they want. I hope you continue to use your talents to extract their true thoughts from people at all levels of society. Also, in the upcoming reports involving wizards, maintain an impartial and neutral stance."

"I can't influence the decisions of those in power." Rita Skeeter's expression was a mix of anticipation and displeasure. She scratched her chin with her long nails and said slyly, "Unless—well, you allow me to use magic."

"We will not do that," Ms. Burns said sternly.

Rita Skeeter rolled her eyes and turned to look at Felix. Felix hesitated before saying, "Using magic to change people's hearts is too risky. This isn't an isolated incident. In modern society, people have all sorts of connections, and a sudden change of attitude from one person will arouse suspicion, especially right now. We'd rather take the trouble; the situation isn't that urgent yet."

"What if the situation is urgent and there's no time to lose?" Rita Skeeter pressed.

"You need to think about this: who holds the power?" Felix gave her a meaningful look. "Do your job well, and you'll become a legend among journalists."

Rita Skeeter fell into thought; she wasn't annoyed, she knew what she wanted.

"How do you plan to influence the attitude of the newspaper's senior management?" Skeeter asked shrewdly. "I need to know this so I can cooperate with you, right?"

"You've gained some fame from your gun control series, so make good use of it. And that wizard Iphamoni who petrified you—I know you want to give him a piece of your mind, but he's actually created an excellent opportunity for you, so put your resentment aside for now… Well, our original plan was to send some basic information to the newspaper; understanding is the first step to lowering our guard. But I suddenly have a better idea. I have some enthusiastic students on hand who would be happy to help."

"Fine, I'll see..." Rita Skeeter clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction and asked, "What about my safety?"

"The Ministry of Magic will send Aurors to provide protection," Ms. Burns said.

……

"This is worse than I thought. I thought I'd at most make tea, run errands, or write a bunch of nonsensical reports like Percy," Ron complained. "But can someone tell me why we have to write papers in the Ministry of Magic?"

"Ron, what we're doing is very important!" Hermione said seriously.

Harry didn't speak; he stared listlessly at the parchment in front of him, not a single word on it. He had witnessed the experiences of thousands of wizards in the Pensieve, but none of them could help—none of them had the skill to submit articles to Muggle newspapers.

He, Ron, Sirius, and the others stayed overnight at the school last night, while Hermione was taken home by the professor. Unexpectedly, they met again in the Ministry of Magic's Great Hall this morning. Instead of making them do chores, the professor led them to an empty meeting room, took out quills and inkwells, and had them write letters. The letters were supposed to describe their lives as students at Hogwarts. Professor Hyp warned them not to reveal their names, addresses, or any confidential information.

Harry looked around. At first, there were only the three of them, but not long after Professor Hyp went out, he brought back a number of people, all of whom were his classmates at school.

These students can be roughly divided into two camps. The first group is related to the Order of the Phoenix, such as Neville and Ginny, and of course, him, Ron, and Hermione; the second group consists of the families of Ministry of Magic officials, such as Susan Burns, Ernie Macmillan, Cormac McLagan, Zacharys Smith (whom Harry and Ron both dislike), Draco Malfoy, and Cho Chang, who brought her friend. Harry can't remember the girl's name, but it seems to be something like Mary.

but--

Harry turned his head, staring at Luna's fluffy pale blonde hair, wondering why she was here. Perhaps it was because Luna's father, Mr. Lovegood, had a working relationship with Professor Hyp? He knew that the magazine "Who Decides the Ancient Runes" was printed alongside The Quibbler; he had once discovered an extra page of The Quibbler content while reading an article, and Ron had kept that issue.

Luna looked at Harry with her light-colored eyes.

"My dad and I stayed at Hogsmeade last night, and he wanted to thank Professor Hyp in person."

"Oh," Harry blinked, "I heard the room with the three brooms is full?" He actually wanted to ask why they were thanking Professor Hyp, but then he suddenly remembered that the professor had lent the Resurrection Stone to Luna, and it dawned on him, so he changed the subject.

“Yes, so we’re staying at the Pig’s Head Bar,” Luna said happily. “Luckily, when we asked around, there was only one room left. Even luckier, when Dad got up to use the bathroom at night, he happened to see Felix through the window. They chatted for a while, and the professor mentioned that he needed a few students to help him, so I came here.”

"That's lucky," Harry said, knowing all too well how awful the Hog's Head pub was. But he couldn't help wondering who the professor was in Hogsmeade to see.

"Is Aberforth alright?" Hermione interjected.

"He's probably never seen so many guests in his life. I wonder if that's a good thing for him," Ron said, frowning.

"He's a good person," Luna said earnestly, "but he's planning to sell the bar."

"What's going on?" Harry asked, looking surprised.

Luna slowly shook her head. "He didn't say. I think he has something more important on his mind."

Harry refocused his attention on the parchment. He glanced to both sides and saw that Hermione had already filled a third of the parchment, and she was clearly writing very seriously, biting her lip and constantly brainstorming. Ron had only written two lines. Harry stared at the freckles on Ron's nose for inspiration, only to find Ron looking surprised and then seemingly bursting with ideas, scribbling away.

Harry couldn't resist his curiosity and leaned closer.

The first sentence was, "I have a friend." Harry paused, then continued reading, "He was abused by his Muggle relatives since he was little—Muggles meaning non-magical people. He lacked food and clothing, and once his uncle locked him up and he almost starved to death. Luckily, I sensed something was wrong and rescued him in my flying car. Don't be alarmed; although we had only just finished our first year, it wasn't our first adventure..."

"Ron," Harry couldn't help but protest.

"What's wrong? I didn't mention your name," Ron said with a grin.

Harry sat back down, sulking to himself. He wondered if he should also write an essay titled "My Muggle Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and Family." If he and Ron were both chosen, they could testify to each other. But he didn't want to give Ron the benefit, so after thinking about it, he also started with "I Have a Friend."

"I have a friend whose whole family are wizards. His parents had seven children, so they weren't wealthy (though they're much better now), but that doesn't matter, because they are the kindest people I've ever met, especially compared to my relatives."

Harry paused, but couldn't help subtly mentioning the Dursleys, feeling he was being a bit petty.

"I met this friend on the train. His two twin brothers helped me with my suitcase. He was the first person my age I met in the wizarding world—" Harry realized something was wrong. The first person his age he actually spoke to in the wizarding world was Draco Malfoy. So he crossed that out and changed it to, "He was the first person my age I met on the train, and also the first friend I made in the wizarding world, but I quickly made a second, a third friend…"

"There's an elective course at school called Muggle Studies. The textbook is incredibly outdated, completely out of touch with the times. But another friend of mine (who also comes from a Muggle family and therefore knows a lot about this stuff) says it's fascinating to look at these things from a wizard's perspective. I've read her paper: Why Do Muggles Need Electricity? My first friend also read it, and he asked a lot of questions, even though he didn't take the course. I think it's a shame..."

Around noon, Felix came over and read through all the dozen or so letters.

"McLagan, there's no need to mention your father's connections at the Ministry of Magic repeatedly in your letter;"

"Smith, the sense of superiority in your writing is too strong. I can't guarantee that its readers won't want to punch you..."

"Luna, your perspective is unique and your observations are detailed, but you mentioned several unverified magical creatures... Oh well, that suits your style perfectly."

"Hmm, Granger—yours isn't quite right. It's too rigorous, analyzing the similarities and differences between Muggles and wizards from both perspectives. It sounds like it was written by an expert in this field. What I need is something written by a sixteen or seventeen-year-old. But you can submit it to the Daily Prophet."

"Miss Burns, your perspective as the 'Minister of Magic' is very interesting. Why not write more about it? You can decide the appropriate level of detail yourself."

"Weasley, you have confessed to your illegal and disorderly conduct, especially those psychological descriptions, which are quite brilliant. It is clear that you are the mastermind. No need to change it, it is quite interesting. However, I suggest you cross out the part where you suspect me of being the heir to the Chamber of Secrets."

"Potter, I'm not sure—well, how did you know Mr. Weasley snores? Oh, Ron told you… well, so Arthur has all sorts of good stuff hidden in his garage—did Molly know?"

Felix supervised their revisions, and finally crafted a very targeted opening for them. He then selected a few letters and handed them to an Auror.

"Send it to the Sun newspaper's office."

……

In the afternoon, the press conference was held as scheduled in the Ministry of Magic's conference room, with countless wizarding families glued to their magical radios. Felix's calm and confident voice resonated throughout every household:

"...We were forced into an unprecedented historical tide, and everyone was caught up in it. I hope that when we look back on this history years from now, each of us can point to the world behind us and proudly tell future generations that it was the era we created."

Meanwhile, the front desk of The Sun also received several letters from "enthusiastic little wizards".

(End of this chapter)