Chapter 473

After a brief moment of thought, Harry and Hermione both shook their heads.

“Even if the pressure from Yanayev has lessened, the economic and energy problems we face after Brexit remain unsolved; rushing into Brexit is not a good idea,” Harry said.

“On the other hand, if pressure here eases but pressure there remains, Washington won’t sit idly by while we act according to our own wishes,” Hermione added.

Ron looked at Hermione and suddenly said, “You should be Prime Minister, Hermione.”

“What?”

“The Prime Minister said the same thing—he wants to break free from the U.S.-Soviet narrative and become a privileged neutral state,” Ron waved his hands, struggling to repeat terms he didn’t fully understand, “Offshore balancing between the U.S. and the Soviets—doesn’t that sound lovely?”

“Not at all—I think it’s dangerous,” Hermione calmly shook her head. “They might unite to suppress us.”

“What if they’re busy with something else?” Zhang Qiu asked.

Harry always felt she seemed to know something behind the scenes, so he couldn’t help asking, “Do you have some information you haven’t told us? Is it related to Tianchao?”

“Hmm, it’s better not to say anything about this,” she glanced away guiltily. “Maybe just go along with my assumption and imagine whatever you like. After all, it’s just dinner chatter, right? Talking about global affairs is quite an interesting topic.”

“Alright, let’s suppose we gain the precious time to develop independently…” Harry chose to trust Zhang Qiu, but the problem remained severe: “What direction should we strive for? What can the magical world do?”

“For now, we need to expand our trade markets and achieve self-reliance in critical energy and technology sectors—these two things must be accomplished before Brexit,” Hermione sounded like she had a mature set of goals and corresponding ideas. “In the long term, to recreate the glory of the Victorian era, we must solve three problems: population and economic scale, geopolitical dominance, and global military projection. Given that the first problem is limited by territorial scope, we must do something far more radical.”

“Yes, you should start from Northern Ireland, split into two forces: the army swiftly crushes Ireland, the navy launches a lightning strike on Iceland, then land and occupy Greenland to fully control the North Atlantic shipping lanes,” Zhang Qiu suddenly perked up, enthusiastically listing a long series of suggestions. “Then test Washington’s reaction—next, target the Caribbean and the Malvinas Islands, and reestablish control over Nigeria and Ghana to fully dominate the Atlantic; or go even more radical: smash straight through Canada, march south and seize Washington. If that’s too extreme, first take all of Canada, then proceed gradually—”

“Stop—stop—stop—” Harry waved both hands repeatedly until she finally calmed down. “Are you sure Hermione meant this radical?”

Hermione was equally stunned. She took a sip of water to compose herself, then said in an utterly innocent tone, “I was just thinking about rebuilding a coalition centered on London…”

“But even if all of Zhang Qiu’s ideas could be realized,” Ron raised another objection, “what use are all these frozen lands to us?”

“If the Statute of Secrecy can truly be broken,” Zhang Qiu raised an eyebrow, “with magic’s help, frozen lands might not be useless. Don’t you remember ancient magic could alter weather?”

“What if we use an alliance to attract English-speaking countries—like, uh, Iceland, Australia?” Hermione spoke hesitantly. “Form an English Treaty Organization…”

“ETO—brilliant idea,” Zhang Qiu leaned forward, nearly collapsing onto the table. “Be bold—include all of North America. Trust me, the White House will bow at our feet.”

Harry helplessly pushed her back into her chair and shook his head. “Let’s talk about something practical, Hermione. How did your school applications go?”

“Failed,” Hermione said irritably. “If my rejection from Xuanmen Tianzong was truly because I did poorly on the Chinese exam, I never expected Miskatonic to reject me too—I don’t know if this has anything to do with Tang Nade—my written exam score was the highest, but the interviewers deliberately made things hard for me.”

“He’s got a big mouth!” Zhang Qiu slammed her fist down. “Try one last time this year—if you don’t get in, take it a third time!”

“But after graduation, if you don’t work, then…” Hermione paused, startled. “Wait—you mean a lightning strike on Iceland?”

It took more time to steer the conversation back to reality, but Harry sadly realized that for them—especially for Hermione—there wasn’t much worth discussing about reality. Even setting aside the agonizing European dilemma, Hermione’s own life faced setbacks: failed admissions, parting from friends, poor social standing at school—all depressing topics.

Perhaps Hermione’s intense focus on national affairs stemmed from her personal unhappiness.

If they kept sitting here, they’d either have to talk about the realities Hermione disliked, or listen to her dream of restoring Britain’s greatness. Harry decided to make an excuse and slip away.

He and Ron wandered through the banquet, catching up with Krum and chatting about current Quidditch matches; they saw Luna and Cui Ge dancing wildly, heard Xie Nuofeiliusi express a slightly bitter admiration for his daughter’s boyfriend; they spotted Dobby and Madam Mulligan arguing over Dumbledore and rushed over to take sides; finally, they found Hagrid and Charlie drunk in a corner by a barrel and joined them in singing “Hero Odo.”

When they had played their fill and watched the guests depart with smiles on their faces, Harry suddenly realized he hadn’t seen Zhang Qiu or Hermione. He and Ron returned to their original table—and there they were, still there, with Ginny and Ivy gathered around the table, along with Donna, even more knowledgeable and more formidable. The four of them had covered a world map they’d somehow pulled out with red circles.

“If we take Namibia, Saint Helena naturally follows—it’s essential too. But should we choose between Sierra Leone and Nigeria? Sierra Leone is easier to control, but its function overlaps with the Cape Verde Islands. Our forces are already scarce—we shouldn’t waste them.” “According to you, Nigeria requires even more troops—it’s huge and hard to control.” “Why not give up both? We still have Ascension Island.”

“True. Once the East Coast is secured, let’s return to the Caribbean. If we can’t take Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana is just an average substitute—but we can’t find any viable English-speaking countries in South America.” “Actually, if we’re lucky, I recall an article mentioning that Venezuela’s giant oil fields might extend into Guyana’s waters.” “We could first provoke a territorial dispute in Venezuela, then move in under the guise of sending reinforcements…”

Harry stepped forward and tapped the table. “Ladies, the ball’s over. Time to rest.”

“We’re not dancing,” Ivy waved him off.

“Harry’s right—it’s already late,” Donna glanced around; most guests had left. “We can discuss this again at the next SPEW meeting.”

“You joined their club?” Harry eyed her suspiciously.

“I care about house-elf rights—it’s normal,” Donna gave a vague reply, then slung her small bag over her shoulder and waved goodbye.

After Donna left, Zhang Qiu was about to fold up the world map when Ginny suddenly pressed her hand down on it. “Harry, Ron—I heard the Prime Minister invite you to the Guofang Force. You might find this useful.”

“Yes,” Ivy added. “I can explain in detail tomorrow.”

Before Harry could answer, Hermione pulled Ginny’s hand away. “We were just chatting—we can’t actually do any of this.”

Such insane plans should remain fantasies. Harry was just about to praise Hermione’s sound moral compass when he saw her carefully folding the map and slipping it into her pocket. Suddenly, he wasn’t sure what she was thinking.

Well, perhaps this was just a beautiful memory of girls’ friendship. Harry forced a smile and urged them to go back and rest.

At breakfast the next day, they naturally began discussing when to return to Tang Dun. Harry didn’t much care, but Ginny strongly urged Ivy to stay a few more days—she was afraid of the ball.

“But Grandpa Sir will be back soon, and I don’t see him often,” Ivy pouted. “We can stay one or two more days at most.”

“Oh? Grandpa Sir is returning?” Zhang Qiu suddenly asked. “Isn’t he Harry’s guardian?”

“Of course,” Ivy replied casually, and Harry suddenly felt tense.

“Ah, I see. Then we really should return sooner,” Zhang Qiu also grew tense. She licked her lips, paused, then whispered the rest: “My father might come over—he wants to meet… Harry’s family. Just an initial meeting.”

While Harry was too nervous to respond, Mrs. Wei Silai in the kitchen reacted fastest. She stepped behind Harry, gripped his shoulders warmly with both hands, and shouted loudly: “Oh, you really should go back quickly and prepare well—perhaps we won’t have to wait long before another wedding!”

“Yeah, shouldn’t you invite Sirius?” Ron prompted. “Get him used to Muggle life over there—don’t let them laugh at you.”