Chapter 367: Election Lands

When Harry returned to the dormitory, Luo En was playing Wizard's Chess with Nawei, which was a novelty because Nawei rarely played chess.

"Harry, you're back?" Luo En greeted him.

"Er, Luo En, do you know about something?" Harry sat down beside him. "Or rather, have you received any news?"

"What matter?" Luo En looked blank.

"Jim Hack is preparing to run for Muggle Prime Minister," Harry said seriously.

"Oh, Hack," Luo En was stunned for a moment. "He really has his ways."

"You didn't know?"

"Why should I know?"

"Because," Harry swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "if Hack becomes Prime Minister, who will be the Minister for Magic?"

"Ah?" Luo En widened his eyes. "Oh! I almost forgot, yes, the most common situation is for the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to succeed as Minister for Magic..."

"But you don't have any news here, which means either Hack has someone else in mind for a successor," Nawei said, "or he didn't intend to be Prime Minister at all."

"If he really didn't intend to be Prime Minister, why would he run? And the Ministry of Magic has great energy, which will add a lot of winning chances for him." Harry felt that Hack was likely to win the election.

"Then that's it, he should want to promote Leslie," Luo En said. "The Head of the Department of Mysteries also often becomes Minister, and Leslie seems to be his confidant."

"There is another possibility, I mean, I don't rule out this possibility," Nawei said with a half-smile. "Breaking the rules to promote Harry Potter as Minister for Magic."

"Whoa!" Harry and Luo En exclaimed together.

"No, no, no, I think, even if they have this idea, at least it would have to be the next term," Harry said very seriously. "It's impossible, it's unrealistic! I'm not even an adult."

"Then what did they spend a whole year bragging about you in the newspapers for?" Nawei shrugged. "And didn't Arnold deliberately let you intern in the Minister's office?"

"I won't accept it. I still have a bunch of advanced classes to take next year. To be honest, in the Wizarding World, strength is the most important thing. This Minister thing is completely, anyone can do it; in my opinion, Professor Doudou could do it too. Doing a bunch of meaningless things all day, just going around to meetings, the Cabinet just needs a politician who understands magic—" Harry suddenly remembered something. "Right, now Hack himself understands magic, he doesn't even need to go to meetings anymore."

"Anyway, let's see, it's not something we need to worry about." Luo En's eyes returned to the chessboard and he made a move. "I also think, although Harry will eventually be Minister, it won't be this early. If it's not Harry, it's likely that Pots."

"I don't want my dad to be Minister either, he's busy enough just being a Department Head now, Mom says he doesn't get home until eleven o'clock every day." After finishing the move, Luo En's eyes drifted again. "Even if he becomes Minister, who will manage the Department of Magical Law Enforcement? Can't really count on Professor Doudou."

"Yeah, let's not think about that for now, I still have to prepare for the meeting on Sunday." Harry also temporarily moved this matter out of his mind. "Oh right, maybe I can ask him when I go to the meeting on Sunday."

However, on Friday, Snape used the name of patrolling to check Nagini's state again. After ensuring it had no problems, he told Harry that he needed to participate in the election as Hofa on Sunday. In this way, as Hofa, it might not be convenient to ask Hack about the election and the successor, so Harry could only suppress his curiosity and wait for news slowly.

The reason for not letting Saruman appear is mainly because, after the experience of being captured and then released, Bella's state has become uncontrollable. Since there is no way to safely let her take Delphini to participate in the selection, it is necessary to guard against her jumping over the wall in desperation and hijacking Harry.

After everything was ready, Harry dressed up on Sunday morning, filled a small flask with Polyjuice Potion, and followed his godfather, who had carefully groomed his hair, from the Floo Network to the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic.

The election was arranged in the large conference room next to the Minister's office, and the Ministry of Magic staff had already transported Nagini there in advance. When Harry walked into the conference room, he found that there were far fewer people than he had imagined.

In the seats representing the Ministry of Magic, there were only three people: Minister Hack, Minister's Secretary Bernard, and Consultant Dorothy, who was in charge of Death Eaters. Besides that, there were only empty seats one after another.

And in the seats belonging to the Death Eaters, besides Snape and Antonin who had already sat in the front, Harry only saw one or two people dressed as nobles sitting on the benches in the back.

Harry and Sirius also sat in the front. He noticed that Snape's expression was very calm, while Antonin was slightly excited and expectant.

Soon, the large Ma Erfu brought the large Crabbe and Goyle. They sat in the front row without saying a word; only Lu Xiusi nodded slightly toward Snape, and Snape returned a cold smile.

Some other Death Eaters from small families, or small nobles who claimed to be Death Eaters, began to enter one after another, sitting in separated seats. Among these people, Antonin stretched his neck and looked, and looked, until he finally asked: "Where are the Carrow siblings? Are they late?"

"They went out with William last week," Lu Xiusi said, half explaining and half testing. "And then there was no news, I don't know what happened either."

"Perhaps they ran to America," Snape said calmly.

"What about Bella?" Antonin was still asking questions.

"You should brush your teeth," Snape said coldly.

Antonin muttered a few words and turned his gaze toward the white door.

Finally, at the scheduled time, Bellatrix still did not appear. Harry felt a little disappointed, but Bella not appearing did not mean the election could not proceed. On the contrary, if Bella did not appear, the election would only be more relaxed... and of course, more without suspense.

"My fellow Death Eater friends," the Minister said naturally. "We are gathered here today to carry out the second Dark Lord election work. Perhaps in the past, the Dark Lord did some things hostile to the Ministry of Magic, but as long as you promise to abide by the law, the Ministry of Magic welcomes you to participate in politics and discuss government affairs in the form of social groups. This is also the first time, under the witness of the Ministry of Magic, that key work within the Death Eaters has been formally carried out."

"Oh, right." The Minister picked up a document. "According to the draft submitted jointly by several Death Eaters, I announce that the throne of the Dark Lord should be inherited by his eldest son, Saruman Riddle. Does anyone here have any objections?"

Antonin stood up with a start, his face full of disbelief.

However, he found that everyone else was sitting properly and didn't seem surprised at all, so he sat down again.

"Mr. Antonin Dolohov, do you have any objections?" the Minister asked.

Perhaps encouraged by the Minister, Antonin boldly stated his opinion: "Er, I mean, shouldn't there also be Delphi? Did she give up the right of inheritance? And Bella didn't come either, shouldn't we wait for her?"

"Hmm... okay, we have recorded your opinion," Dorothy said, although she hadn't actually moved her pen.

"Inserting an emergency matter here." The Minister picked up a stack of papers on his left and pulled one out. "According to the emergency arrest warrant signed by the Auror Office, Antonin Dolohov is to be arrested immediately for murder."

The two Aurors who had already stood behind him quickly grabbed Antonin's two arms and then pointed their wands at his neck.

"This isn't right, aren't we—"

"Silencio," an Auror chanted.

After Antonin was carried out, the Minister put the stack of arrest warrants aside and picked up the previous manuscript again. "So, does anyone else have any objections?"

"Okay, if there are no objections, we have passed the first resolution of this meeting. Appointing Saruman Riddle as the new Dark Lord. Next, given that Saruman is not yet an adult, we will elect a Regent for him."

"Next, I will explain the form of the election." The Minister picked up the manuscript and read in a flat tone. "We will adopt the form of animal election, with Nagini, the animal most loved by the former Dark Lord during his lifetime, choosing the Regent for the new Dark Lord for us. After Nagini makes a decision, if the candidates have objections to the election results, they can raise questions. If the challenge is recognized by more than half of the council members present, they can request Nagini to re-elect after stating their views. Each candidate can only challenge once."

"First is the first candidate, Mr. Lu Xiusi Ma Erfu, please sit in the middle seat."

Lu Xiusi stood up and sat in the chair in front of the glass box.

"Second candidate, Mr. Regulus Black..."

"Third candidate, Mr. Severus Snape..."

"Fourth candidate, Ms. Bellatrix Lestrange." The Minister paused. "Given that Ms. Lestrange failed to arrive, we can wait a little while. If she hasn't arrived within fifteen minutes, it will be judged as an automatic abstention."

"Please leave the fourth chair empty. Fifth candidate, Mr. Hofa Bach, please sit in the fifth seat."

Harry took a breath. Letting Hofa be elected Regent was an idea Snape proposed last night. In this way, Harry could control Death Eater affairs himself, and when he was too busy, Sirius could become Hofa to direct everything. And when Harry became an adult and could take charge of the Death Eaters under the identity of "Saruman," the role of Hofa could also "retire" and leave, leaving no room for others to sow discord.

When the glass box opened and Nagini slowly crawled to Hofa's side under Snape's control, everyone showed a knowing smile, and even Lu Xiusi didn't look like he was faking it. ===== CHAPTER 368 =====