Chapter 345: Open Government

Led by Bernard, Harry arrived at the long table in the conference room. Jim Hake was still buried behind a towering pile of documents, just as Harry saw him for the first time, wearing thick square-framed glasses, carefully reading something.

"Oh, Harry," the Minister raised his head. It seemed Harry's arrival interrupted him. "I am very happy to see you can come. When Humphrey told me that a group of students was coming to intern, I first asked him 'Will Harry come?'"

"Yes, I can even say I was looking forward to you coming. You must be very clear about these things: what do you think of the Wizarding World now?" The Minister's tone carried a trace of earnestness.

"Ah? Are you asking me?" Harry was somewhat stunned. "But you are the Minister for Magic?"

"That's right, yes. On the surface, or according to consistent tradition, I am after all the dignified Minister for Magic. I am responsible for managing the entire Wizarding World," the Minister complained somewhat dissatisfiedly. "But ever since Yanayev did those things, I have to be dragged to meetings by the Prime Minister every three days to consult on problems. If there is anything slightly bad, even if it's just a typhoon, they suspect it has something to do with the Wizarding World!"

"Then you are really not relaxed," Harry echoed casually.

"Yes, so my news can be said to be quite lagging. I must not be as detailed as you know," the Minister nodded. "So, between the Phoenix Society and the Death Eaters... how is the war going?"

"We haven't started a war," Harry said with a forced smile. "The knowledgeable people in the high echelons of both sides understand that they should avoid rashly starting a war at this time."

"This is really a shocking piece of news," the Minister took off his glasses. "One can imagine how lagging my news is. When someone reported 'Deng Buliduo's Army' to me, I thought the war had already reached a white-hot stage: even the Boy Scouts had to go to the battlefield, that must be how tragic it was."

Harry recalled when the two sides first started to clash, they had to consider how to confuse the Ministry of Magic at every step... Now it seems, I'm afraid those actions were all winking at a blind person.

"To be precise, Mr. Minister," Harry tried hard to explain. "Deng Buliduo's Army is a spontaneous student organization. Students unite together and issue a neutral anti-war declaration. This not only protects students from being involved in disputes, but also happens to step on the brakes for the students' parents, that is, those adults who are at daggers drawn."

"I understand, but I hope you don't talk like this next time," the Minister shook his head. "Use fewer clauses, modifiers, and metaphors. Often when Humphrey does this, it's when he wants to deceive me. This feeling makes me feel very uncomfortable."

"Alright," Harry nodded embarrassedly.

"Then, if you haven't started a war, what are you busy with?" the Minister asked.

"Do you know about the Deng Buliduo family scandal?" Harry wanted to test how lagging the Minister's news was. "That was actually a public opinion attack launched by the Death Eaters."

"What did you say?" the Minister blinked. "I only know about Lewinsky."

Harry ignored the name he didn't know. He changed the question. "Alright, that was just a side-probing. Do you know the secret of Voldemort's immortality?"

"I know, I've heard of it, it's because he drinks malted milk every day," the Minister said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Then let me summarize," Harry swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "We are conducting a series of secret contests around this secret. We want to completely eliminate the possibility of Voldemort's resurrection, and the Death Eaters don't want us to succeed."

"Yes, secret contests, sounds like the Cold War."

In Harry's ears, the Minister seemed to be trying hard to understand all this in his own way.

"It's good that you can understand."

"So that's how it is, very interesting situation..." the Minister pondered for a moment, then he also realized it was best to change the topic. "Anuo De brought you to intern, what position are you preparing to hold? In fact, I very much hope you can agree to be my private consultant."

Harry revealed a slightly confused and reluctant expression, so the Minister immediately added: "To be precise, it's a publicly-funded private consultant. Nominally you are employed by the Ministry of Magic, it's just that the job is to serve as the Minister's private consultant... For example, you've seen Bernard, right?"

"Yes, he is very professional," Harry agreed.

"Yes, a quite professional private secretary, very good at tongue twisters," the Minister put on his glasses again. "But in fact, he is a private secretary assigned to me by the Ministry of Magic, not hired by myself, you know?"

"Oh, so that's how it is," Harry noticed that Bernard was an elegant middle-aged gentleman, and generally speaking, if a big shot wanted to hire a secretary himself, they often would choose a young blonde lady.

"So, you hope I hold this private consultant 'assigned to you by the Ministry of Magic'?" Harry scratched his head.

"I specifically told you about this because I hope you can really... be a bit more private," the Minister glanced at the door. "The things I consult you about, I think it's best not to let others in the department know."

"I understand, I will keep my mouth shut," Harry thought he completely understood the Minister's little thoughts. He didn't want others to think he was a fool who knew nothing.

"Then, it just so happens there is a matter I want to hear your opinion on," the Minister opened a document. "Do you know we are about to reopen the general election?"

Harry's eyes widened instantly. "Is this question suitable for us to discuss?"

"There isn't that much that needs to be kept secret, we are an open government," the Minister said. "Don't say you are the leader of the Phoenix Society, even if you were just an ordinary student, we could fully discuss these problems."

Harry pursed his lips. He knew these problems were definitely not something an "ordinary student" could get involved in.

"Let's talk about the background first. Yanayev has been fighting Chechnya for almost a year. Muggles find it hard to imagine that fighting Chechnya would take so long, so I reminded them that this is mostly testing magical weapons. Currently, the high echelons of the Muggle world are rapidly reaching a unified opinion. They can no longer continue to have no movement, nor can they continue to ignore the voice of the Ministry of Magic," the Minister frowned. "So this general election is highly likely to be won by the Labour Party, but the problem is, the Labour Party hasn't truly determined its leader internally."

"According to my understanding, once the Labour Party wins, this 'internal leader' will serve as Prime Minister, right?" Harry asked.

"That's right, so it must be extremely cautious," the Minister touched the document in his hand lightly. "What attitude should the Ministry of Magic hold? Should I support Eric or Deng Ken?"

Harry didn't know any Eric or Deng Ken at all. He raised a question according to his own understanding: "May I ask, what is the difference in supporting whom?"

"None, in terms of ability I think they are both competent, but I cannot support two people at the same time," the Minister revealed a difficult expression. "If I support Deng Ken and Eric wins this position... then, that's how things are, I'm completely finished! But if I support Eric and Deng Ken wins this position... then things are just like that."

"Can you remain neutral? That is, support no one."

"Then, no matter which one of them wins, things are just like that." The Minister revealed a helpless expression.

"Then which one do you actually want to support?" Harry asked.

"Deng Ken..." the Minister looked very hesitant. "Or Eric."

Harry suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. As a good-natured person, Hofa had to decide whether he wanted to support Lucius or Bella—and once he chose wrong, this would not only mean political ruin, but perhaps biologically, he would also be finished.

Then what was Hofa's choice? He chose Regulus and Sineipu, in other words, chose the side that mastered the army and power. And for the Muggle world—magic is power.

"Mr. Minister, what makes me feel confused is, are you really afraid of them?" Harry asked. "Labour Party leader, or even if it's the Prime Minister, no matter what, they are just two Muggles."

"I am of course not afraid, I mean physically, uh," the Minister blinked. "But administratively, they want to change a Minister for Magic is a very easy thing. The Wizarding World has plenty of people who are willing and able to be Minister, Sineipu is one. Damn it, I have to know if Sineipu intends to support Eric or Deng Ken."

Sineipu might not even know those two, Harry thought so, he tried hard to hold back from laughing.

"But this is not right, not just this, who knows how many people support Eric or Deng Ken? Arthur, Cuthbert, Leslie... even Danholm and Bagman!" The Minister bit his nails. "Once I make a mistake, there are plenty of people eyeing the Minister position. I must not choose wrong."

Harry thought for a moment, then asked again: "Then, is there a way, I mean, is the support of the Ministry of Magic very important? So much so that whoever we support, he will definitely be able to become the leader?"

"This definitely won't work, after all there is the Statute of Secrecy. Even if we support, it can only be internal, quiet, a little bit of hearsay and rumors..." the Minister waved his hand. "In short, we must never let Muggles notice."

"Oh, wait," the Minister suddenly sat up straight. "Let's change our thinking. If we want to oppose someone, he will definitely not be able to become the leader. Is this difficult? This is not difficult, what is difficult is how to bypass the Statute of Secrecy..."

"We had better use legal means," Harry reminded tactfully.

"Ah yes, I understand," the Minister nodded at him. "This is the significance of the Phoenix Society. With you on the side... uh, supervising and reminding, the Ministry of Magic won't be so easy to slide into another abyss."

"Please rest assured, I will consider some legal political means, such as spreading rumors and smearing or fabricating scandals or something," the Minister nodded. "One can say he is a KGB spy, or CIA's, but before that, I still have to figure out who I actually intend to support."

"Mr. Minister, I mean, is it possible that the laws that need to be followed in the world are not just the Statute of Secrecy?" Harry reminded with slight dissatisfaction. ===== CHAPTER 346 =====