Hermione, join me as Minister of Magic!

That's not to say Lupine wasn't capable, in fact his spells were much more solid than Sirius', but his nature was simply too lacking in aggression to put pressure on his opponents.

No wonder the Future was killed by Dolohov - Lockhart thought.

Antonin Dolohov was the guy who defeated the old Moody and easily seriously injured Hermione. In terms of combat ability alone, he could be regarded as a Death Eater below Voldemort. Snape is stronger, so it is not so surprising that he can kill Lupin. If Professor Flitwick finally defeated Dolohov before participating in the siege of Voldemort, many Lohov would have made the White Magic Those in the camp pay a greater price.

This is not going to work. The Death Eaters used Azkaban to weaken their own humanity and strengthen their black magic abilities, while the white magicians did not make much progress in confrontation, and even regressed. When the two sides conflicted, they themselves The disadvantage here will be huge.

have to find a way

Chapter 340 Moody's Trouble

After hearing that Lupine was coming back, Moody also rushed over on the last weekend before Christmas.

The three Defense Against the Dark Arts professors at Hogwarts got together in this way, and they were going to discuss the issue of Voldemort's imminent return.

But before that, Moody first had a match with Lockhart and Lupine, and in Moody's own words, he wanted to "get real"

This duel was extremely embarrassing for Lockhart, because that guy Moody didn't talk about martial arts, and he came after drinking Brain Refreshing Potion and Blessing Potion in advance.

Because Moody has the relationship with the magic eye, invisibility, illusion and other magic are inherently useless to Moody, and as an old man who has experienced the war, his determination is definitely not what "young people" like Lupine and Black can do. comparable.

So in the previous sparring sessions, Lockhart didn't use magic in this area at all, not even the fog. Instead, he mainly focused on strengthening his own spirit, increasing his insight, judgment and reaction speed, The purpose is to bully Moody's old man, whose reaction speed is not as fast as that of young people.

In addition, although illusion, invisibility and hypnosis spells are difficult to work, the delay and confusion spells still work, so Lockhart is not at a disadvantage.

But this time Moody came here after taking drugs, so the confusion spell and blinding will not work, and the old man's reaction speed has suddenly become sharper than his own, and many opportunities to confirm the counterattack will no longer be available. exist, the whole tactic needs to be restarted

In desperation, Lockhart once again used his hidden ultimate move, the double magic, and the last time he used it was when he was duel with Snape.

After the duel with Snape confirmed the reliability of this tactic, Lockhart added

After intensive research on this spell-casting technique, he successfully found a spell called "Spell Sequencing" in the book of spells.

The only function of this magic is to superimpose some small magics that the body has used so proficiently that it has developed muscle memory, and the number of superpositions is usually three.

Lockhart thought about it carefully, and felt that this magic was still useful.

Quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes. For example, when using the stun spell, the person hit by the stun spell can be awakened by his companion using the revive spell.But if that person gets two Stunning Spells, the Reviving Spell won't work.Like Professor McGonagall who was hit by Umbridge's team with four stun spells, there is no other way but to send St. Mungo first aid.

As long as Lockhart is willing, he can release two types of magic at a time, a total of 6 spells. The wizard who saw this trick for the first time must not be able to handle it.

Three Confusion Spells and three Stunning Spells were used together by Lockhart. Although he can only cast such a spell in a short period of time, if it doesn't work, he will have to be fired during the next magic window period. Forced to hide around.But so far, he hasn't met anyone worthy of such a deal, so he doesn't know what the result will be after doing this, and Moody is the first.

But Moody obviously wasn't seeing this spellcasting technique for the first time, he recognized Lockhart's magic almost before the rain of spells arrived.

But it has nothing to do with winning or losing, because even if he recognized it, he couldn't deal with it.

After weighing the pros and cons, Moody blocked Lockhart's stun spell with timely "armor protection", and the one that hit his feet did the same, but a metallic muffled sound told Lockhart, The Stunning Charm didn't work.

Compared with the ineffective return of the Stunning Curse, the Confusion Curse showed its power. Moody was completely caught by three Confusion Curse.After spinning around for a while, Moody's body lost his balance, and he fell to the ground sprawled on his back.

If this was an actual battle, Lockhart would have rushed up and pulled out the pistol in his pocket

Take two shots to the head of the second year, or at least give him two punches on the chin or temple while the opponent is free from the confusion spell.

But now it's a sparring session, so it's almost over.

He went to help Moody, only to find that Moody hadn't been able to shake off his Confusion Charms at all, not even a single one.

Could it be that the effect of sequential superposition is so good?Lockhart couldn't help thinking.

But after he lifted the spell for Moody, Moody told him that this was not the case at all.

Under the curious eyes of the students, Moody brought Lockhart, Lupine and Black to his own office at Hogwarts.

After the renovation of this office by Moody and Lupine, the furnishings inside are not as luxurious as before, but the practicability has also increased a lot because of this, large and small cabinets and various gadgets that resist black magic It's everywhere, Lockhart even noticed that the chandelier he made back then was turned into a trap by Moody

In front of the three of them, Moody took off the magic eye he had been wearing all the time, and then confessed to them.

"Originally, I wouldn't reveal this secret to the outside world, but in order to prevent you from misunderstanding me in the future, I think it's better to tell it in advance... about this magic eye.

The three looked at each other, and then Lupine asked: "Dumbledore knows this

thing?

"Of course he knew, because he got me the Eye... towards the end of the First Wizarding War," Moody told them.

When he said this, both Lupine and Black were somewhat impressed.

"Well, I've always wanted to ask you this." Lupine admitted honestly, I saw your face several times and wanted to persuade you to take that thing off. "

It's not for nothing that Lupine said - Alastor Moody's left and right cheeks

There are obvious differences. Although his left face looks old and scarred, at least he still looks like a human being, while the right half of his face with fake eyes is abnormally dry and hideous. Skin that appears abnormal due to necrosis of peripheral nerves.

Almost everyone is guessing that Moody paid a huge price to install his magic eye, but now judging from Moody's attitude, this is not unfounded.

"This is called the 'all-seeing eye', and it's something you get from Muggle religious lunatics. It's usually only conceived by religious leaders who have magical powers but refuse to believe in magic. They see what they see It all boils down to the bestowal of the gods they believe in. ’ Moody explained.

"So... it's not free to use this thing, is it?" Lupine guessed

Moody concedes: Dyke's, it makes you see everything around you, including invisible things and illusions that aren't real.But at the same time, it will gradually disturb your nerves, making a person more and more neurotic and hysterical...

So Lockhart, if you use Legilimency or Imperius on me right now, I probably won't be able to resist.When facing Death Eaters, I will fight to the end, but I don't want you to misunderstand my fighting ability in future battles. "

This is really bad news. After listening to Moody's words, the three of them understood a serious fact - that is, the most trustworthy person except Dumbledore is very likely not so worthy of everyone's trust.

Chapter 340 Report to the Prime Minister

While the Order of the Phoenix was discussing safety issues, No. 10 Downing Street also received a simple report that its owner had been waiting for for a long time.

The reason why it is just a simple report rather than a formal white paper is because Mrs. Rimington said that the information is insufficient, so she can only make a basic assessment based on the existing information

But even with a basic assessment, Mrs Rimington has drawn far more conclusions than the Prime Minister.

Her report started by surprising the Prime Minister—because she believed that the war potential in the wizarding world was huge, but only "potential" was huge.

The implication is that what she admires is the war techniques of the wizards, but she looks down on the war concepts and tactics of the wizards very much.

"Wizards are good at their war 'hardware', not war 'software'

Even just looking at the paper of the report in front of him, the Prime Minister can imagine Mrs. Rimington's calculating and shrewd appearance.

In addition to evaluating the economic scale, demographic structure, and political power of the wizarding world based on the various clues they found, Mrs. Rimington focused most on the military.

:oo It's true that wizards have magical technology that we can't imagine, but judging from their security situation, warriors and audience, their understanding of tactics is still in the Renaissance period, and there is no scientific system.

Judging from those security guards called "Aurors", they don't have standard weapons and spells, and the combat effectiveness of different individuals varies greatly.They do not yet have modern tactical thinking, and generally lack basic education in mathematics, physics and chemistry.

Their society seems to me like that group of African natives and Middle Easterners - they use the artillery, guns, planes and all kinds of advanced weapons we provide, but the tactics they use are still the same as when they hold broadswords and spears the same. "

After reading Mrs. Rimington's evaluation, Major felt a little unbelievable, because whether it was Fudge or Lockhart, they definitely looked down in front of him.

Such a group of arrogant people, but their essence is primitive people?

He couldn't wait to turn to the next page, wanting to know how Muggles should suppress those wizards technically.

Although the information we have at present is only their opening ceremony, two games and the information we have come into contact with from their speeches, I can find a very basic fact-that is, all wizards, including the "great Dumbledore" Principal Lido', if they want to fight, they must complete it within the line of sight, which can be used by us.

Besides the so-called magical power, in terms of body structure, wizards are exactly the same as us ordinary people. When riding a broomstick or falling from a high place, they will be seriously injured, so they are actually not immune to it if they are not prepared. injury of a physical nature.They will also be drowned in water, burned in fire, choked by smoke, and cold when they touch snow...

Therefore, if we want to eliminate wizards, we should try our best to take advantage of beyond visual range combat on the frontal battlefield. Even if we are forced to get involved in street fighting, we still need snipers, embedded explosives, remote control devices, precision guidance and Support from satellites and thermal imagers.On the premise of determining the hidden location of the wizard, no matter which side is the first to strike, each has a huge advantage.

If I were a wizard and I had the misfortune to clash with ordinary people and start a war, I would destroy the government's military command system and communication system in the first place, but I personally doubt that wizards can understand the operation of our organization. "

—After the eloquent comments, Mrs. Rimington did not forget to point out the advantages of wizards—that is, unimaginable destructive power, superb mobility, and unstoppable secrecy.

"...but the overly sparse population of wizards is always the key to restricting them. According to the ratio, the number of wizards who are tactically threatening in the country is likely to be no more than - a thousand people.

To sum up, for the wizards, the most suitable war strategy is "asymmetric warfare", that is, while admitting that the overall war cannot defeat us, use some things that we cannot understand locally to make us Pay a heavy price.

Of course, if there is a conflict, we must win.I can't imagine a scenario where a large and well-established system is defeated by the kinky skills of a few.

After evaluating the combat effectiveness of the wizards, Mrs. Rimington did not forget to point out the possibility of war at the end.

If the wizards are rational and continue to keep most of the time secret as they are now, then I am sure that the war between us and the wizards will not happen.

We can't afford the casualties we have to pay when we eliminate wizards, and we can't control wizards from harming our civilians when they die. Unless wizards have really done something outrageous, we have no excuse to start a war.

At the same time, the wizarding world is absolutely impossible to avoid the political influence brought by wizards from ordinary families. It is also difficult for me to imagine that a rational realist like Lockhart will start a war that is destined to only lead to bloodshed .

As long as the only reward for war is destruction, unless there is a large group of wizards whose value is destruction, it is hard to imagine that they will act unwisely.

From this point of view, I support the deal you made with the wizard, if

They are convinced that if there is more to be gained from war than trade, then war will not happen. "

After reading this conclusion, Major was finally relieved.

Although he doesn't understand military affairs and cannot evaluate the wizarding world, he does understand what political interests are and what positions are.

At this moment, he suddenly felt that he could understand what the director named "Lockhart" did.

That's right, what that guy is trying to do is to control the channels of interest, buy mainstream political forces for his own use, and create a small political group loyal to himself.After all, that guy is from Oxford, so he should be no stranger to this.

According to Mrs. Rimington, the level of humanities and social sciences in the wizarding world should be far behind them, that is to say, Lockhart, who studied from Oxford, should be able to reduce the dimensionality of those wizards politically Just hit.

To tell the truth, Major was a little envious.

Although he is now the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, he does not have much real power, and there are not many people who support him.

Especially after several bad administrations, although the people have expressed some understanding of the Prime Minister's performance because of the external environment, it is impossible to say good things about him.

It's just because the Conservative Party is still in power, and everyone really doesn't want Mrs Thatcher to continue to be in power, so Major's position is relatively stable.

Although Lockhart had fewer people in charge, at least his position in the wizarding world would be unshakable after he got things done, which was much better than Major's situation.

What did Caesar say?

"I'd rather be boss here (in a small village) than in Rome.

After understanding what Lockhart did, for some reason, the Prime Minister suddenly felt a lot more at ease.

As a mature politician, unknown risks are always the enemy.He doesn't believe that a person he has never met will suddenly appear, and then say that he will do you good for no reason, that is called a saint.And the saint should go to heaven, and should not stay in the world like an ordinary person like the prime minister. He only believes that the essence of communication between people is the exchange of interests, and the routine operation is to get and give first.

Therefore, instead of believing that Lockhart is seeking the welfare of wizards, Major is more willing to believe that it is for his own ambition.

But looking at himself, Major felt that if he was also in Lockhart's position, and seeing an incompetent, stupid, indecisive, and vain person sitting in the minister's position, he would also have the ambition to replace him.

——Or, "Even if he doesn't seek a position, he still takes it as his duty to benefit the wizarding world, and if everyone expects him, he has to take up this responsibility"?

Got it, got it all!

Putting the report aside, Major stretched happily.

If he still needs help from the wizard, he will not be as careful as before.Because he knew now that Lockhart also needed him.

On the surface, the Conservative Party does need a vote in the House of Commons, but from another perspective, why don't wizards need administrative resources from the government?And where can they get these administrative resources not through the House of Commons?

Chapter 340 Dynamic Balance

Christmas 1994 was a respite for wizards and Muggles alike.

In the melodious Yule Ball music, the wizards invited to Hogwarts danced, and after one or two dances, they rubbed out many souls behind the curtain, under the mistletoe tree or in the bushes. spark.

Considering that the booming population of the wizarding world is related to the future student population of Hogwarts, Dumbledore told Moody and Snape to relax a bit today and not to meddle in their own business.

Anyway, the little wizards invited to the dance are basically 14 years old. Although they are not old enough to play mobile games casually, at least they can legally do double or even multi-person indoor sports.

Lockhart still received the most gifts this year. In addition to students from the student union and clubs, his colleagues and Hogwarts professors all sent gifts or Christmas cards, plus his foreign book fans The Christmas cards that were delivered, and the Christmas tree he put in his bedroom were half buried with all kinds of presents.

It is a good thing to have a lot of relationships: but it is also a nerve-wracking thing to prepare for returning gifts every year. Fortunately, the wizard population is not large enough, otherwise Lockhart would have to hire someone to help him handle fan replies.

Even the Prime Minister gave him a "big gift", but this gift made Lockhart somewhat emotional.

In the Christmas morning paper, Major announced a piece of "good news to all the people - CityLinks, a time-honored British express company, was acquired by a rich oil consortium in the country under the mediation and planning of the government. This consortium has already submitted to the government Promise that there will be no layoffs, and even recruit [-] new grassroots employees from the society.

Io is in line with the attitude of being responsible to the country, and during the negotiation process, the prime minister wants

Please let us not give an inch on the employment issue...Although the current situation is difficult, we will still face it positively, and the progress of social welfare should not be stagnated because of the international situation..."

Although Lockhart can't remember when he promised to recruit 1500 Muggle grassroots employees, the Prime Minister's Office has made such a statement, and the British people and the media must have responded to this matter. If this happened, then even if it was not the fault of their "Hogsmeade Consortium", the British people would still have opinions on this consortium.

Lockhart continued to read the newspaper, and found that the government had indeed launched a propaganda campaign, vigorously advocating this matter, and blowing up CityLinks, a courier company on the verge of bankruptcy, as a symbolic high-quality British industry, as if The "Hogsmeade Consortium" took such a huge advantage.

This cannot be directly denied.

The prime minister is very familiar with this tactic - the out-and-out "sausage tactic", which is to test the attitude of the wizards step by step, one time at a time, until the bottom line of the wizards is tested.

If it was Fudge and his gang, they probably rushed to the door to question them, or denied the matter in the newspaper, right?

Lockhart thinks this is really interesting—no matter what the Prime Minister has seen from the Five Powers Tournament, his current attitude towards the wizarding world has proved one thing—that is, he has regarded wizards as a whole. A political force that needed to be taken seriously, and that was Lockhart's goal from the start.