Hermione, Be the Minister of Magic with Me!

"They're good at this?"

"Actually not." Lockhart sneered: "It's just because we wizards are too lazy to put a lot of effort into them, and the goblin forces happen to be in a situation where \'it's not worth waging a large-scale war\' and \" ordinary fighting. Between the strength that they can't be driven out, they have been rebelling and we have a headache, so we might as well include it."

\"Got it, just like the Irish." Major understood.

Lockhart pretended not to hear the Prime Minister's casual ridicule, and continued: "In short, in addition to finance and oil, we can cooperate in many fields in the future, such as defending national security, we are also happy to serve the country, just like It was the same as it was before the seventeenth century." Lockhart was able to say exactly what he meant.

You never need to talk too much with smart people, and Major understood Lockhart's general idea as soon as he rolled his eyes. After all, there is no free lunch in the world.

"So, what do you want?" he asked.

"We want to set up a wizarding self-government, as well as a wizarding council with voting rights, and we hope it will be recognized by the government and the Queen."

\"This...you mean adding a constituency to the House of Commons, right?"

"There are also seats in the House of Lords, at least one, two would be better." Lockhart finally revealed his true purpose.

After hearing "House of Lords", Major hesitated for a while, but did not immediately agree to Lockhart.

Seeing his hesitation, Lockhart increased his tone: "Although we have a small population of wizards, we also need responsible parliamentarians to represent our interests. I hope you can understand."

"No..." Major began to have a headache. "In the House of Commons, you only need to collect your signatures, propose to increase the constituency in the name of Hogsmeade Village, and then pay taxes to the central government, and I can find a way to help you operate. But The House of Lords... do you have nobles? I mean the kind that are recorded in the archives."

Lockhart smiled: "It just so happens that there are indeed nobles among our wizards, and they are nobles that have been passed down for hundreds of years."

"That's good."

After hearing this, Meijie felt a little relieved, but he was still a little hesitant.

"In addition, our elected MPs should join the Conservative Party." Lockhart added another chip.

After hearing this, Major knew that he could no longer refuse.

After thinking for two or three minutes, he finally nodded.

\"I will bring this matter up to my political advisor and secretary, and I can also take care of it at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But as for Her Majesty the Queen... I'm afraid you should let the heir of the noble family find a chance to have a formal audience, otherwise Some things are hard to say."

Lockhart understood that by "official interviews" he meant to reveal the existence of the wizarding world to the Queen.

"This matter needs an opportunity. If Her Majesty has any difficulties, please come and let us solve it."

Seeing Lockhart's promise, a stone in Major's heart fell to the ground.

"No problem, as long as Her Majesty the Queen is willing to acknowledge your allegiance, I will leave the work on Whitehall to me. Happy cooperation!"

"It's a pleasure working together," Lockhart said.

The two talked as they walked, and when they reached this verbal agreement, Lockhart found himself out of Hogwarts.

So Lockhart took out his wand again, ready to show his followers.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have a phoenix, that's the only way I know to move fast, unless you're willing to crawl into the fireplace..."

When Major saw his posture, he knew that he was going to "dive into the sewer" again.

"Come on, I'll get used to it, anyway," he admitted.

Chapter 292 Take over the International Division

After sending the Prime Minister back to London, Lockhart's heart was set.

Although he is certain that British politicians will accept the wizarding world, he does need a guide to lead him into that circle.

Although it is said that the British Prime Minister at this time was still subject to the bureaucracy, it is an indisputable fact that after the 1990s, in countries with a unitary parliamentary system like the United Kingdom and Japan, the executive power was gradually transferred from the traditional bureaucrats to the elected politicians.

Not to mention Japan, Koizumi plus the Democratic Party period, and then to Amber, this is the history of the struggle of politicians to seize power from bureaucrats.

And the United Kingdom is no less so. Since the Labour Party "striving to reform", the actual power of the British Prime Minister has been increasing, and even a "party boy" such as Golden Retriever Johnson has appeared.

Its methods are actually not very clever. They just use the power of populism and the media to manipulate public opinion, such as the Brexit referendum, which is completely beyond the expectations of the civil servants. Although the British civil servants have spontaneously resisted this, trying to drag out the Prime Minister's term, but the result...

In other words, maintaining a good relationship with the Prime Minister is important and will become more important over time.

If Lockhart wants to influence public sentiment in the UK, and thus policy, it is far more important to have a good relationship with Parliament than with the civil servants.

In the same way, if the elected members of the current stage want not to be fooled or shirked by the bureaucracy, then they also need to seize more social resources and administrative capabilities, and wizards can be their way of bypassing the bureaucracy. a "possibility"

This is the fundamental reason why Major took the risk and agreed to Lockhart, the wizarding world and

There is indeed a basis for cooperation between parliaments and parties. Even if the heads of different parties are about to play their dog brains in the parliament, this does not prevent them from going to the club for a drink after get off work.

Now that Lockhart judges that the benefits of working with politicians are greater, it makes sense to "betray" the civil servants in his previous life.

After securing the prime minister, Lockhart finally began his third phase of work.

In the past, the core idea of ​​his work was to "obtain access", that is, to gain the trust of the real power classes in the wizarding and Muggle world.

This kind of work may seem unremarkable, but it is actually very important.

As the previous paragraph said, a lobbyist visited Bill Gates and said that he would introduce a young man as his son-in-law, and this young man was the vice president of the World Bank. Then he introduced the young man to the president of the World Bank, saying that the young man was Bill Gates' son-in-law, and asked him if he would like the young man to be a vice president. And the last two agreed.

I believe people with discernment can see how stupid this joke is, and this kind of chicken soup story is basically used by pyramid schemes and micro-businesses to fool people, and it requires people to be "good at discovering investment opportunities and vision"

But let's take "Bill Gates needs a World Bank vice president as his son-in-law" and "The World Bank needs a vice president with a rich background" as true. This lobbyist has indeed found the needs of both, but the problem is —Why should they trust you as a lobbyist?

How can you meet these two people? Why are you worthy of their trust? What kind of talent can come to the door carelessly and meet Bill Gates and the president of the World Bank directly?

This is the importance of the channel. Sometimes even if you see a business opportunity, you don't have this channel. Before Lockhart spent so much energy, it was nothing more than letting

I have this channel myself.

From now on, he will devote most of his energy to the trade and exchanges between the two worlds, and try to build a community of interests before Voldemort makes trouble.

There is no need for Lockhart to worry about the selection of the warriors. The sports department is also in charge of the competition itself. His job is to promote the first project of the Big Five Tournament and attract as many tourists as possible.

The first project was named "Halloween's Courage Trial" by Lockhart. When it was publicized, this project was based on "horror" and block monsters. It is very suitable for people who like to watch ghost stories.

The wizarding newspapers in Europe and the United States have already promoted the selling point of this project, and according to the summary of the sports departments of the Ministry of Magic of various countries, the number of people who are ready to buy tickets to watch the opening game has reached as many as 2,200, which is very important for Lockhart. Both the overall planning ability and the carrying capacity of Hogsmeade are a test.

The reason why it is called a test is because more than 2,200 people come from all over the world, and more than 300 of them have to be prepared for the door key alone.” Even if one of these door keys fails, it is enough for Lockhart to drink a pot, I can only say The "customs" of the wizarding world is not so easy to be.

Of course, no matter how stingy Fudge was, the Ministry of Magic couldn't let Lockhart do it by himself, and the other staff of the International Division had to help him.

At this time, it depends on the importance of the old Barty Crouch-the International Division is his own person from top to bottom. Without his cooperation, Lockhart would definitely not be able to smoothly The whole division is closed.

After the fall of old Barty, the International Division once fell into an atmosphere of panic, because these old Barty's people were afraid that they would be worn by Fudge.

Although they don't have to worry about losing their jobs at the Ministry of Magic due to human relationships, it is inevitable that their careers will be hindered.

When everyone found such a thigh as Crouch, it was not because of their tough foundation and so many resources that no one was willing to be excluded when the upward momentum was good.

Just when people were panicking, old Batty called these people out for a small party.

At this gathering, the old Crouch clarified the "central idea" of the International Division for the next period of time - that is, to fully support Lockhart's position.

"He is his own." Old Crouch praised him in front of everyone. "Guidero has a firm stance and a flexible wrist. I am very relieved to leave things to him. And for the sake of that business, The purebloods won't bother him either. I'm sure he'll be able to hold on to the International Affairs Division even under Fudge's pressure, especially in terms of personnel."

Old Crouch's timely endorsement made the International Division quickly unite around Lockhart. Although some old people still refused to bow their heads to Lockhart, in Crouch's face, they would not go to Lockhart. Hart was fighting on the bright side, and that was enough.

In the shadow of the famous tree of people, Lockhart has now become a political star within the Ministry of Magic, and is the kind of almost impeccable real power. Not only has he handled large projects independently, but his business ability and connections should not be underestimated, so a fool would offend him for no reason.

Therefore, when Lockhart proposed that the International Division should focus its work on the Big Five competition and the establishment of a new international trade market, no one in the Division objected, so he did not need to press his head.

Seeing that his colleagues "support" him so much, Lockhart will naturally reciprocate

When they went to the movies with Gemma at night, they took time out of the three-minute waiting time for admission to draw up a copy of "Special Overtime Subsidy of the International Division", which is

During the Big Five, use the profits from the Hogsmeade Ministry of Magic's industry to generate additional income for the staff of the International Affairs Department. If all goes well, each of these employees will receive an extra 150 Galleons per month during the 8 months of the Big Five Tournament.

Unsurprisingly, after the news was released, the International Division was simply grateful to Lockhart.

No one turns down money that comes to your door, especially when it's "extra" income.

Think about it, how many social animals have to "voluntarily" work over 30 hours of overtime every month for the overtime pay of several hundred yuan, and how many authors have to work hard for the half-yearly award subscription that should belong to them. Add more.

Seeing these, you will know how important this "overtime pay" is to these employees.

"In short... the world returns to my heart."

Watching Hogsmeade and the Ministry of Magic take their next steps into the shape they wanted, Lockhart was smug, no matter how cautious.

When Voldemort returns, let him take a good look at what I have built for him

Chapter two hundred and ninety-four warriors elected

After leaving the planning of tourists from various countries to the other staff in the International Division, Lockhart could finally concentrate on planning the trade market that had been under construction.

Lockhart discovered something during the Quidditch World Cup, that wizard tourists are willing to spend money on souvenirs, and that things don't even need to be practical, as long as they are fun, there is a market.

For example, the magic badge of the Irish team that can call, the spell effect of calling people's names almost disappeared after a week, and the price is not cheap, but people still buy it

So, although Lockhart was going to sell some practical things in this market, he made some compromises, considering that tourists are tourists after all, and stuffed a lot of flashy souvenirs into the market to sell.

He didn't have to worry that tourists couldn't get these things, because the Flint's Owl Post Office would provide a delivery service.

Probably taking this into consideration, the Flint family sent Marcus Flint, who had just graduated, to serve as the general manager of the Hogsmeade Owl Post Office.

Little Flint originally wanted to play professional Quidditch, but his poor skills allowed him to use the Nimbus 2001 sent by Malfoy to be aggressive in school, so he failed several teams in consecutive trials. Later, he had to go home in a daze to inherit the family business.

When he saw Lockhart who came to negotiate, Marcus Flint wanted to make a difference. By the way, when Lockhart came out of school, he was not angry that he was selected into the dueling club.

But Gemma Farley wouldn't look down on this silly big man who stayed in the first year. Under her cold gaze, Flint shyly agreed to "cat head during the competition."

Eagle Post Office delivery without price increase" condition.

There are many other chores like this, but fortunately, the staff of the International Department worked together to get these things done quickly. What troubled Lockhart the most was that the residents of Hogsmeade were too incapable of doing business. .

The last time the Muggles came to Hogsmeade to recuperate, these residents were warm and enthusiastic, but when it comes to their sales ability... it can only be said that it is better than nothing, and it is far from the tour guides on the Muggle side.

Although it helps to help Muggle tourists to establish the impression of "this is a noble village", if wizard tourists come here, they are still so upright, then Lockhart can only be embarrassed and give them a first pass "How to kill customers" training.

Just as the International Division and the Sports Division were in full swing, the results of the selection of the Warriors by the Goblet of Fire came from Hogwarts Castle.

Unsurprisingly, the first three, Fleur de la Cour, Victor Krum, and Cedric Diggory, remain unchanged as always. It seems that the strength of the wizard is indeed there, and it is not changed by external things.

In the United States, a 16-year-old boy named Nick Tims-Bout is said to be a descendant of the Calderon-Bout family and a distant relative of Ravenclaw's Terry Bout.

The warrior of Vagado is a black guy from Mauritania, surnamed Dembele. Although the young man is only 17 years old, he is already married, and his wife is even pregnant, and he is a prospective father.

However, his election once caused controversy among the students of Vagado College - because Dembele's Animagus form is an African giant mosquito, and the insect form Animagus is not respected in Africa.

No matter how much controversy there is, this result cannot be changed, because the ancient contract magic attached to the Goblet of Fire stipulates that as long as the warriors are selected, then they will

Must compete.

Considering the self-will of the Goblet of Fire, several principals racked their brains and did not think of how to add a lower grade group without damaging the Goblet of Fire. But the commercialization of the competition is unavoidable. This is something that the Ministry of Magic of all countries agrees with, so they think of another way - that is, the professors of each school will recommend them, and then the students will choose the warriors of the lower grade group. The assistant chooses to come.

Of course, since it is an assistant, this assistant must be affirmed by the warrior himself.

There is almost no suspense in the "Warrior's Attendant" in the lower grades of Hogwarts - even if Slytherin has a slight criticism of this, Harry Potter has become the last choice.

No way, Harry is both the duel champion last year and the same grade the year before, a hero who fought against the dark magic three times as a baby, first year, and second year, and even the most outstanding genius at Hogwarts in a hundred years. Seeker, he's only lost one Quidditch match so far, and that's with Dementors interfering.

So when Cedric Diggory announced Harry Potter as his warrior squire, everyone acquiesced to that result.

Harry himself didn't expect that he was so popular, but he adapted very quickly. Except for his friend Ron Weasley who felt lost and had a little friction with him, Harry didn't want to reject this honor.

To put it bluntly, what Harry didn't like was "the glory that didn't belong to him", the one that defeated Voldemort. Beyond that, Harry enjoyed all the glory, whether it was by dueling or Quidditch.

After hearing the news, Lockhart thought that Voldemort and little Crouch had succeeded in the end. No matter how he planned in advance, the election of Harry Potter was undoubtedly what the other party wanted.

Although Lockhart has a detailed protection plan, he is still curious

Voldemort's plan.

Because when Little Crouch left, Lockhart hadn't handed over his game plan to the Ministry of Magic, and since then, he hasn't handed over his follow-up plans to Yuren outside the Department of Sports. The Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Gwarts is the real Alastor purpose, so little Crouch probably won't know what the program behind the Tournament is.

In the case of not knowing the project, how will Crouch start?

To be on the safe side, Lockhart also gave Moody the map rug he made so that he could monitor Hogwarts.

In addition to displaying the terrain and the original function of the secret passage, the map has been transformed by Lupin's Synchronous Transformation Charm and Sirius's Tracking Charm, plus Moody's own Hogwarts authority, and now it is a copy of the map. A veritable Marauder's map, I believe this thing will never be dusted in Moody's hands.

In addition to Harry Potter, several other college juniors were also selected

Beauxbatons was Coco Raffoel, a descendant of Fifi Raffoel, the author of "Encountering Enchanted"; Durmstrang chose Ingrid Christopherson, also a Quidditch A girl from an aristocratic family; Vagado was a young man named Joshua Sankara from Burkina Faso; Ilvermorny's warrior attendants were personally selected by their warrior Bout, while He comes from the Stewart family, which has a lot to do with the Boot family.

Of course, these people don't need to be so detailed. Anyway, in this magical feast, these little devils are destined to be only tricks, but the intricate relationship network of the wizarding world can be glimpsed from the identities of these people.