Chapter 473: Great Power Ambition

After a short thought, Harry and Hermione shook their heads at the same time.

"Even if the pressure we face from Yanayev is reduced, the economic and energy problems we face after leaving Europe still cannot be solved. Leaving Europe rashly is not a good thing." Harry said.

"From another point of view, if the pressure here is reduced, but the other side is still there, Washington will not sit idly by and let us act according to our own ideas." Hermione added.

Luo En looked at Hermione and suddenly said: "You should just be the Prime Minister, Hermione."

"What?"

"The Prime Minister also said so. He wants to break away from the US-Soviet narrative and be a privileged neutral country." Luo En swung his hands, trying to repeat those terms he didn't quite understand. "Offshore balance between the US and the Soviet Union, sounds pretty good, right?"

"Not at all, instead I think it's very dangerous." Hermione shook her head calmly. "They might unite to suppress us."

"What if they have other things to be busy with?" Zhang Qiu asked.

Harry always felt that she seemed to know some inside information, so he couldn't help asking: "Do you have any news you didn't tell us? Is it related to China?"

"Well, it's better not to say this." She looked away guiltily. "Perhaps you can just follow my assumptions and fantasize about anything. Anyway, it's just banquet chatting, right? Chatting about international wind and clouds is also a very interesting topic."

"Alright, let's think about it, if we have obtained precious, independent development time..." Harry chose to believe Zhang Qiu, but the problem was still severe. "Then what direction should we strive for? What can the Wizarding World do?"

"Just talking about the present, we need to broaden the trade market and do a good job of autonomy in key energy and technology fields. These are the two things we must do well before leaving Europe." Hermione sounded like she had a set of mature goals and matching ideas. "And in the long run, if we want to reproduce the glory of the Victorian era, we must solve three problems: population and economic volume, geopolitical dominance, and global military projection capability. And given that the first problem is limited by the scope of territory, we must do some more radical things."

"Yes, you should start from Northern Ireland, divide into two routes, the army quickly pushes Ireland flat, the navy flashes to Iceland, then lands and occupies Greenland, completely controlling the North Atlantic shipping lane." Zhang Qiu suddenly got energetic and gave a long list of suggestions excitedly. "Then test Washington's attitude. The next step can be to hit the Caribbean and the Falkland Islands, and restore control over Nigeria and Ghana, completely controlling the Atlantic; or you can be more radical, directly kill through Canada, go south to take Washington, if it's too radical, you can also take down Canada first, we will take our time—"

"Stop, stop—" Harry waved his hands repeatedly, and finally let her calm down. "Are you sure this is the radical Hermione was talking about?"

Hermione was also stunned. She took a sip of water to relieve her emotions, and then said in a very innocent tone: "I was just thinking about reorganizing an alliance with London as the core..."

"No, even if what Zhang Qiu said can be realized." Luo En raised another question. "What's the use of these frozen lands for us?"

"If the Statute of Secrecy can really be broken," Zhang Qiu raised her eyebrows, "with the help of magic, frozen land may not be useless. Do you still remember that ancient magic can change the weather?"

"Then if you use the form of an alliance to win over some English-speaking countries, such as, uh, Iceland, Australia," Hermione said hesitantly, "forming an English Treaty Organization (ETO)..."

"ETO, very good idea." Zhang Qiu leaned forward, almost lying on the table. "You might as well be bolder and count the whole of North America in. Believe me, the White House will also bow down to us."

Harry pushed her back into the chair helplessly and shook his head. "Let's talk about pragmatic topics. Hermione, by the way, how is your school application?"

"Failed." Hermione said dissatisfiedly. "If the failure of the Xuanmen Tianzong was indeed because I didn't pass the Chinese exam, but what I can't think of is that Miskatonic also rejected me. I don't know if this has anything to do with Tang Nade—my first round of written test scores was the best, but the interviewer deliberately made things difficult for me."

"Give him face!" Zhang Qiu waved her fist angrily. "Try one last time this year, if you can't pass, then take it for the third time!"

"But after graduation, instead of working, but," Hermione was stunned for a moment at first. "Wait, you mean, flash to Iceland?"

It took another while to pull the topic back to reality, but Harry sadly found that for them, especially for Hermione, there was not much to talk about in realistic topics. Even if they didn't have a headache about the two-difficult European problems, Hermione's own life also faced failure in further studies, separation from friends, and poor popularity in school, etc., depressing topics.

Perhaps, Hermione's extra attention and thinking about state affairs was also because her private affairs were not satisfactory.

If they continued to sit here, they would either chat with Hermione about the realistic content she didn't like, or listen to her talk about the dream of making Britain great again. Harry decided to find an excuse to slip out.

He and Luo En wandered around at the banquet, reminisced with Krum, and chatted about the current Quidditch match by the way; saw Luna and Cui Ge's uninhibited dance, listened to Xenophilius express a kind of sour appreciation for his daughter's boyfriend; saw Doge and Auntie Muriel quarrel about Dumbledore's matter, and they immediately stepped forward to pull the partial frame; finally, they found the drunk Hagrid and Charlie by the wine barrel in the corner, and sang "Hero Odo" with them.

When they played to their heart's content and sent the guests away with full faces of smiles, Harry remembered that he hadn't seen Zhang Qiu and Hermione all along. He and Luo En returned to the table at the beginning. Sure enough, they were still here, and Jin Ni and Eve were also surrounded by the table, plus a Donna who was more knowledgeable and more lethal. These people were covered with red circles on a world map that didn't know where it was touched.

"If Namibia is taken down, Saint Helena will also be revitalized, so this is also necessary. Is it necessary to trade off between Sierra Leone and Nigeria?" "Sierra Leone is easy to control, but its function overlaps with the Cape Verde Islands. We don't have many troops, so it's better not to waste them." "According to you, Nigeria wastes more troops. It has a large territory and is not easy to control." "Might as well not want them all, anyway we still have Ascension Island."

"That's right, if the East Coast is determined, let's talk about the Caribbean problem. If we can't take Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana is just a mediocre substitute, but it's hard for us to find English-speaking countries that can be operated in South America." "Actually, if we are lucky, I remember an article mentioned that the oil-bearing strata of the giant oil field in Venezuela may be traced back to the waters of Guyana." "We can provoke a territorial dispute in Venezuela first, and then enter as reinforcements..."

Harry stepped forward and knocked on the table. "Girls, the ball is over, you can rest."

"We are not dancing." Eve made a driving gesture toward him.

"Harry is right, and it's already late today." Donna glanced around, and the guests were almost gone. "Let's chat at the SPEW gathering next time."

"You also joined their club?" Harry looked at her with suspicious eyes.

"I also care about the rights and interests of house-elves, this is very normal." Donna gave an answer that avoided the important and focused on the light, then carried her small bag and waved goodbye.

After Donna left, Zhang Qiu was about to put away the world map, and Jin Ni suddenly pressed it. "Harry, Luo En, I heard the Prime Minister invite you to the Ministry of Defense that day, perhaps you will use it."

"Right." Eve added. "I can tell you in detail tomorrow."

Before Harry could answer, Hermione pulled Jin Ni's hand away first. "We are just chatting casually, we can't really do this."

This kind of crazy plan should stay in fantasy. Harry just wanted to praise Hermione's upright three views, but found that she carefully folded the map and put it in her pocket. He suddenly felt a bit unsure of her thoughts.

Let it be, think about it in a good way, this is also a beautiful commemoration of the friendship between girls. Harry forced a smile and persuaded them to go back to sleep and rest.

At breakfast the next day, they naturally started discussing when to return to Tang Dun. Harry was of course indifferent, while Jin Ni tried her best to persuade Eve to stay for a few more days—she was afraid of balls.

"But, the old Sir will be back soon, and I don't see him often." Eve pouted. "We will stay for at most one or two more days."

"Oh? The old Sir is coming back?" Zhang Qiu asked suddenly. "He can be considered Harry's guardian, right?"

"Of course." Eve answered casually, and Harry suddenly felt a bit nervous.

"Hmm, that's it, then we should indeed go back early." Zhang Qiu was also a bit nervous. She licked her lips and was silent for a while before saying the second half of the sentence, "My father might come over. He wants to discuss with, uh, Harry's family here... just meet first."

When Harry was so nervous that he didn't know how to answer, Mrs. Weasley, who was in the kitchen at this moment, was the fastest to react. She walked behind Harry, enthusiastically pinched his shoulders with both hands, and said loudly: "Ah, then you should really go back as soon as possible, prepare well, perhaps we won't need long to hold another wedding."

"Right, don't you have to call Sirius?" Luo En prompted. "Let him adapt to the Muggle life there early, don't let people make a joke." ===== CHAPTER 474 =====