Amosta could tell that Eric probably had a rough time at the Ministry of Magic in the past few years. Otherwise, he wouldn't have caught a classmate he didn't know well and kept chatting for ten minutes. Think about it. , Eric's work is as boring as the horse's office is relaxing.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your reminiscing about old times--"
While Eric was quietly talking to Amosta, he heard from Bertha that Barty Crouch of the Department of International Magical Cooperation had always been furious over trivial matters in the past two days. Suddenly a serious witch's voice came from the elevator hall behind.
The moment he heard this voice, Eric shuddered suddenly and immediately closed his mouth.
Ms. Amelia Bones, who was wearing a solemn emerald wizard robe, walked out of the elevator hall. Her eyes paused on Eric's body and then moved away. She could not hide her tired face. Smiling, he said to Amosta,
"Connelly said your reply said you would be at the Ministry of Magic by seven o'clock, so I came to show you the way -"
Ms. Amelia Bones, who is well-known throughout the European magic world, can come to greet her in person. Not many wizards have this honor. Eric immediately looked at Amosta with envy.
"Thank you, I'm really not familiar with this place -"
Amosta smiled in greeting, and then nodded to Eric.
"Let's talk later."
"Connelly is waiting for you in his office. We need to have a brief meeting before the formal press conference begins."
Ms. Bones said succinctly.
This was not a good place to chat, so Amosta just nodded and said nothing more.
With a ding-ding-dong-dong and a clicking sound, an elevator emerged from the dark elevator shaft. The iron gate opened. After three people walked into the elevator car one after another, the gate closed with a crash. , the car slowly climbed up, the chain clicked, and not long after, the voice of the indifferent woman in the phone booth rang again.
"Fourth level, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures - Beasts, Alien and Ghost Office, Goblin Liaison Office, Pest Advisory Office, Centaur Office, House-Elf Relocation Office, and Dangerous Animals Committee."
The elevator car stopped on the fourth floor. Outside the protective fence, a tall, middle-aged wizard with a stern expression was waiting for the elevator, holding a piece of parchment. When he saw Hagrid, who was half full of the car. At this time, he hesitated and did not choose to open the fence door.
"Come in, Norus, the car can hold you—"
Ms. Bones nodded to the tall wizard outside the door and said.
The wizard named Norus was silent for a moment, then nodded to Ms. Bones, opened the door and walked into the car. His addition immediately made the car become crowded, and Hagrid shrank in the car. In the corner, I wanted to curl up into a ball.
"Which floor are you going to?"
"basement one."
Norus glanced at Amosta, a little surprised why the unfamiliar young wizard looked at him with a strange smile in his eyes. However, he immediately turned his attention to Ms. Bones and raised his eyebrows. Raising the parchment in his hand,
"I applied for an unconscious ghost from the ghost office before. The experiment has been completed. Now I have to go to the logistics office to hand in the receipt."
After saying this, Norus said nothing.
The elevator soon reached the underground floor. The moment the fence door opened, Norus strode out and walked to the passage on the left, while Amosta glanced deeply and walked into an office, and his figure disappeared. The tall wizard followed Ms. Bones to the minister's office on the right.
"This Norus"
The atmosphere on the underground floor where the minister's office is located is solemn and solemn. There is a heavy invisible force suppressing people's hearts. Hagrid is obviously a little afraid of the atmosphere here. He keeps wiping the cold sweat from his forehead and follows step by step. Amosta's pace was steady and there was nothing unusual about his demeanor.
"Norrus Deman, of the Department of Mysteries."
Ms. Bones glanced at Amosta in surprise, as if she didn't quite understand why he was interested in Norus, but she still introduced Amosta a few words.
"The Department of Mysteries."
Amosta smacked his lips and smiled inexplicably.
"I heard this is the most mysterious department in the Ministry of Magic."
"indeed so--"
Ms. Bones nodded.
"The Department of Mysteries is a relatively independent department in the ministry. It rarely recruits staff from Hogwarts. The staff working in it are called silent people. These silent people are basically wizards of the genre. When they are due to When they need to retire due to age or physical reasons, they will arrange for the younger generations or apprentices of the family to enter the Department of Mysteries to continue working. Because of the need for confidentiality, they have a high degree of autonomy, and the ministry generally will not interfere with their work."
interesting.
A strange light flashed in Amosta's eyes. He really didn't expect that he still had acquaintances in the Department of Mysteries.
Mrs. Bones led Amosta and Hagrid into the Office of the Minister of Magic. It was a spacious semicircular room. Although it was located underground, there was a bright sunny day outside the four large and bright windows. .
The tall shelves on one side of the room are filled with books and documents, and file boxes marked top secret. Each file box is protected by a lock with eight golden claws. If anyone approaches them without permission, then I'm afraid it won't end well.
On the other side, the glittering array of furnishings on the exhibition shelves can tell that the contemporary Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, prefers a luxurious style.
"Those are from Connelly's own collection--"
Fudge was not in his office. After Ms. Bones directed Hagrid to sit down on the sofa, she turned around and saw the familiar Amosta standing in front of the shelf, admiring the displayed artworks with great interest. .
Compared with outside just now, Bones's face was much gentler. She walked to Amosta with a smile and introduced him,
"Most of them are made by fairies, and some are antiques with a long history of magic."
"It seems our Minister of Magic is an outspoken man."
Amosta also nodded and smiled, looking away from a gold mask with a strong ancient Egyptian style. If he remembered correctly, he should have smuggled this thing back from Egypt last year. I don’t know why. fell into Fudge's hands.
In response to Amosta's evaluation, Bones just smiled incredulously and didn't say much, but it was obvious that she didn't appreciate Fudge's behavior that much.
Before getting into the topic, small talk is an inevitable process.
"Although I didn't pass your tests, Susan spoke highly of your interesting Defense Against the Dark Arts practical classes. I have to say, Amosta, you are very imaginative and courageous.
Not many professors have the courage to lay down the Inferi in front of young wizards, but I think this is the right thing to do. Hogwarts shoulders the important responsibility of providing talents to the wizarding world, and in recent years, we have discovered that graduates Young wizards.
Of course, excellence is as good as ever, but there is a clear lack of some necessary qualities, such as decisiveness, perseverance and edge. This is a very important issue, but there are always people who don't take it seriously. "
Is this a criticism of Dumbledore or is there something else?
Amosta defended himself modestly, with a calm expression on his face, but his thoughts were changing rapidly.
Ms. Bones has a high status in the Ministry of Magic, and is also the most popular candidate for the next Minister of Magic after Fudge. In the Ministry, the only person who can compete with her is Barty Crouch of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and at that time After what happened next to Sirius was revealed, Barty Sr. was completely out of the picture and unable to become her competitor.
"Indeed, a peaceful life can easily make people addicted, making some wizards who lack foresight not see the hidden dangers within it."
Amosta agreed with a smile.
When war breaks out in the future, people like Fudge will not be of much use except as a hindrance. At that time, Amosta hopes that someone in the ministry will take his opinions seriously, and the use of force to coerce and intimidate is undesirable. That will only lead you down the path of the Dark Lord.
To do this, he must have someone in the ministry who can speak for himself, and now it seems that Amelia Bones is a good choice.
(End of chapter)
