Chapter 513: Dancing with the Bear

Harry had to admit that the brand-new perspective on viewing problems that Zhang Qiu proposed that day, along with a shocking, even somewhat outrageous, yet seemingly feasible path, had a profound and indelible influence on him.

He walked up to Draco and earnestly posed this question: "We really have a chance to go to the moon now; do you want to participate?"

Draco's face revealed a complex mix of surprise, disbelief, and a feeling of not daring to agree yet feeling unable to refuse. He said helplessly, "I need to think about it."

And immediately following this, when Harry sat at the long table of the Ministry of Magic and asked the Prime Minister with a smile, "What risks and benefits do you think we would have by cooperating with the Soviets to land on the moon?", the expression on the Prime Minister's face was exactly the same as Draco's.

Initially, Zhang Qiu's idea was based on "helping Pan Xi gain an advantage in the love triangle." Facing Draco's suspected secret dealings and consensus with Astoria, she quickly thought of a way to checkmate him, which was to actually "go to the moon."

In that romance novel, the male and female protagonists meet and fall in love again during NASA's moon landing program, despite having forgotten each other due to an accident, because of a childhood promise to go to the moon. But if this were to be copied into reality, Astoria's frail constitution determined that she could not truly participate in the moon landing program. Therefore, if there were a real opportunity to go to the moon, it would instead cause Astoria to be too clever by half and leave Draco in a dilemma, while Pan Xi could take the opportunity to solidify her position.

Of course, Harry, having just experienced a month-long feasibility study, would soon list various realistic conditions that made a moon landing impossible. But Zhang Qiu was different; she had another behemoth behind her that was already capable of landing on the moon.

"If it's just to send him up for a spin, you can hitch a ride with the Chinese—we have two rockets traveling to the Moon Palace every year; pay a few more Galleons and you can even activate the teleportation array directly," she said nonchalantly. "But obviously, the core of the story lies in the time the astronauts spend together before the moon landing program, so what we actually need to do is support the Prime Minister in launching his moon landing program."

"But the European Space Agency's strength is far too lacking, and the Prime Minister is unwilling to go to NASA." Harry admitted that the Chinese had once again exceeded his imagination, but some more practical problems could not be solved overnight.

"Then, why not cooperate with Yanayev?" Zhang Qiu suddenly threw out a line of thinking that seemed rebellious but, upon careful consideration, was quite feasible and even highly profitable.

Upon hearing this news, the Prime Minister, like Harry, let out a cry of disbelief, but soon they understood this subtle context: if the Prime Minister chose to cooperate directly with the Soviets, the opposition Conservative Party would certainly seize this opportunity to loudly proclaim that every Muggle in the Empire knew that the Red superpower could not be trusted, and the White House would react with the utmost seriousness to such an act of betrayal—but the Wizarding World would not have any ripples.

Yes, if this were a transaction occurring in the Wizarding World, there would be no resistance domestically. The current Wizarding World could be described as a monolith, and Hack happened to be integrated into it quite fortunately: he could safely use this cooperation to gain benefits without being questioned or opposed, and perhaps not even a whisper would leak out.

And would wizards care what the Prime Minister and the Minister for Magic did together? Their entire understanding of the Soviet Union was a Quidditch team that, while having decent results, had an extremely boring style, and in recent years their standard had even dropped, to the point where even Scotland could tie them.

As for the White House, perhaps they could get some information from the Magical Congress, but they could not use it as evidence. The White House could not obtain any evidence from the Wizarding World. Everyone at the Magical Congress would inevitably ask, "Who is responsible for dealing with Potter?" Even if the White House intended to speak out without evidence, the wizards of the Magical Congress, who knew the core of the plan and the disparity in strength, would still ask that same question: "Who is responsible for dealing with Potter?"

Thus, after a month of arguing about "why the European Space Agency won't work," the Prime Minister and his scientific team only took a week to argue why "Korolev will work," and provided a very complete plan and proposal.

"We must clarify the core of this matter; the main benefits are extending and intensifying the Cold War, as well as some technology exchanges. This is a very great... offshore balancing, yes!" When Hack said these words, he seemed completely intoxicated in his own world. "Even in the hegemony between the US and the Soviet Union, we can still gloriously stand on the sidelines and decide the direction of the world..."

After Arthur coughed for the fourth time, he finally returned to the point of the matter: "... Of course, we all know that the core of the plan lies with Harry. Our starting point, or excuse, is that General Potter wants to help his friend realize his wish to go to the moon, a small indulgence of magical power. For this, we are willing to make some deals with Yanayev—including ensuring that that, er, Draco, can board the rocket, though of course, that is secondary."

Yes, in this meeting, Draco did not even attend.

"According to the scientific team's suggestion, we can consider sharing some technology with them; of course, we possess world-leading technology in some fields." The Prime Minister continued happily. "For example, we provide microelectronics technology and high-end chips, which are what they are urgently lacking. And precisely because they are urgently lacking, their software and system integration levels are a mess. These can all serve as our important bargaining chips—I have already learned that their large rockets are prepared to connect thirty engines in parallel, which has very high requirements for system design. Our technology is a very critical help."

"And correspondingly, we hope to obtain some of their unique technology as much as possible, but even if we can't get it, it doesn't matter, because what is more important is to obtain cheap energy and mineral resources. This can effectively boost the economy, which is what we need most urgently." The Prime Minister said impatiently. "And, move some non-core manufacturing to Britain to save jobs."

"That's not right." Harry scratched his head, somewhat puzzled. "How come all these deals you mentioned are running toward the Muggle World? If this happens, won't people know that you are trading technology for resources? And you're trading with Yanayev—this sounds very short-sighted. Even if I don't have any opinion on Yanayev, I still feel this is like a stupid thing."

"Eh, you can't say it like that." The Prime Minister explained. "What do you think the current situation in our country is like? What is the biggest dilemma? Just like the previous analysis, even if we trade for some technology, even if it's the full set of moon landing technology, we don't have a launch site to realize it. But conversely, if we can obtain some cheap energy, or get factories running, this benefits the marginal constituencies—cough, cough—this benefits the general public!"

Seeing the look of opposition in Harry's eyes gradually fading, the Prime Minister began to get carried away again. "How would Muggles know what we actually traded? They will only know that energy prices have fallen, the national treasury is full, and there are brand-new social welfare and public expenditures, thanks to my shrewd diplomacy and steady economic policy, an era of prosperity... Hack's era!"

Now he finally understood—but was there any harm in this? Perhaps not. After all, for Harry, he had no prejudice against Yanayev. If this technology sharing could allow him to shift his energy from the arms race to space development, this would be a fairly good thing for the entire human society.

Of course, Harry admitted that when he asked Draco, "We really have a chance to go to the moon now; do you want to participate?", from Draco's twisted expression, Harry also gained his own private harvest.

Soon, news about the Prime Minister finding a new ally and the moon landing program continuing to advance began to quietly spread in the *Daily Prophet*. A notice recruiting wizard astronauts and some gossip about the "importance of super-wizard power" began to circulate, as if an opportunity within reach was placed before Draco, putting him in a dilemma.

If he continued with that "I don't know why I just want to go to the moon" statement, then why didn't he sign up? If he abandoned this statement, then Astoria's carefully crafted plan to play along would lose its meaning. Could he still continue to perform as a foolish boy who fell into a trap in front of Harry?

Watching Draco fall into a dilemma, Harry had a belly full of schadenfreude he wanted to share with Zhang Qiu—but she suddenly proposed to return home for the Spring Festival. Thus, in the days without Zhang Qiu, he just laughed out loud in the dormitory with Ron.

However, without Zhang Qiu's constant surveillance, Draco soon found a way to break the deadlock from the group of girls.

"What, you want to participate in the moon landing program?" Harry couldn't figure out for the life of him why Hermione would suddenly intervene. "But this program has no meaning to begin with, aren't you still busy with exams?"

"Harry, you don't understand how important participating in the moon landing program will be to my life." Hermione said earnestly. "How many people get into Oxford and Cambridge every year, but how many people can land on the moon?"

"No, first of all, this is a very dangerous thing, even if you have super-wizard power—"

"I didn't say I had to go up myself." Hermione smiled. "Even if I just participate in this team, as an engineer, or project management, to help realize a giant leap for mankind that belongs to us, isn't that great?"

"Moreover, having participated in the moon landing program is a very commendable thing, which is also helpful for my school applications." Hermione gave a more realistic reason. "If it weren't for hitching a ride on the convenience of the Wizarding World, middle school students like us would have no qualifications to join it at all, right?"

"Alright, if you are willing, this is also an opportunity for learning and growth, a rare opportunity..." Harry didn't mean to stop Hermione, but this way, Draco could use that reason which was hard to state clearly but understood by those who knew to escape this program. ===== CHAPTER 514 =====