Hermione, join me as Minister of Magic!

"Is there anything unexpected?" The clerk of the clothing store next to him immediately retorted, "Have you never read the history of the Tournament? Cheating has always been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament, and it will be the same this time."

"Speaking of which, I heard from my schoolchildren that Karkaroff has disappeared? Could it be that he was secretly arrested for a crime?"

"Really? Why haven't I heard of it? It wasn't written in the newspaper."

"That's the weirdest thing. It's not reported in the newspapers."

Everyone was chattering, talking about Karkaroff's disappearance.After their discussion was over, Mundungus found that everyone's eyes were on him again

So he continued: "Later I heard that when the Aurors interrogated Karkaroff, they found that he had been under the Imperius Curse, and he was also tattooed with a strange symbol..."

"The Imperius Curse!" Everyone was surprised.

Although more than ten years have passed since the first wizarding war, everyone is not so forgetful and knows what the Imperius Curse is.

Is there any more?Who is controlling him? "Someone asked immediately.

They were disappointed this time, because Mundungus shook his head.

"Don't look at me like that, that's all I know." He said regretfully, "My brother is only in the sports department after all, and he only saw Karkaroff being arrested by a few people in black robes in the end. Let's go, he doesn't know what happened later, he just heard about the Imperius Curse..."

Although Mundungus didn't reveal more, everyone found it very believable.

After all, this is just an illegal trader who usually does a little bit of petty theft. Knowing something is already very good. If he and everyone broke the news about a bunch of inside secrets of the Ministry of Magic, then everyone would be suspicious.

But this is enough, because everyone will associate it.

"Speaking of which, the Ministry of Magic must know something." Weizeac said suddenly, "Lockhart suddenly came to buy a lot of supplies, and he paid real money. And asked who he bought it for, He's been hemming and hawing."

But I asked too, and he said he didn't buy it for the Ministry of Magic. "The people in the joke shop also exposed their sources of information.

"The robes he ordered came in a total of seven sizes, obviously not for one person

"And why didn't he buy it in Hogsmeade, why did he have to come to Diagon Alley?"

After discussing for a long time, the doubts in everyone's hearts became deeper and deeper. Although they couldn't draw any conclusions, they always felt a little heavy in their hearts.

After walking out of the Leaky Cauldron, Mundungus walked around pretending to be drunk, and then turned into Knockturn Alley when no one was paying attention.

In front of a divination booth in Knockturn Alley, a person was already waiting there.

"Hey, Munger! How's it going, is it going well?" Lockhart waved at him

Mundungus Fletcher hurried over and sat down with Lockhart.

"Where's my money?" He seemed impatient.

"Don't worry." Lockhart continued to whet his appetite. "Our agreement is to see results... What do those people say?"

The dumplings turned out so well, they had already started to think wildly. Mundungus said proudly, "I have demonstrated the possibility of Karkaroff's disappearance from various angles, but none of them is close to the truth." "

Now Mundungus can be said to be extremely proud. As a person who knows the "truth", he has a sincere sense of superiority in IQ when he sees a bunch of big people who usually need to look up to make wild guesses.

How can Lockhart not understand his current state-many low-level sailors enjoy this job with very little income because of this rare experience of being above others, until they find out Until the time when the job is really lucrative.

So he took out five gold coins and stuffed them into Mundungus' hands.

"So little?" Mundungus was a little disappointed.

Although 5 Galleons is not a small amount for a person like him, at least equivalent to about two weeks' usual income, but after learning that Lockhart just spent a large sum of money on something, he felt a little uncomfortable. A realistic vision - especially in the context of the recent price increases in the wizarding world.

But he didn't know that Lockhart had other considerations - it's not that he can't give more, but for Mundungus, a hungry wolf who just discovered the taste of prey, you really can't - feed it all at once , otherwise something will happen.

"It's just a conversation, this amount of money is enough, I suspect that even if I only get one Galleon, those of your colleagues will rush to do it." Lockhart said.

Mundungus also knew this truth, but he was still a little disappointed.

"Well, five is five, at least you are better than Dumbledore, he never pays me to work." He muttered a few words.

He took the money and turned to leave, but Lockhart held him back.

"Why?" he asked.

"Are you satisfied with only five Galleons? You haven't finished my work yet!" Lockhart pretended to be surprised, "Next we will continue to spread the news...to fight against the evil Dark Lord, and to make money! "

Mundungus was taken aback for a moment, and then hope was rekindled: "How to say?

Mundungus is similar to other people who live in gray areas: lazy, timid, and often forgetful about small profits.

But the reason why he was able to be drawn into the Order of the Phoenix by Dumbledore was not only because he did have his own intelligence network composed of gossip, but also because Mundungus was somewhat moral, or in other words, he was paralyzed. honor.

Despite the gray area, as long as he was working for a great man like Dumbledore, he could continue to lie to himself that he was still a moral man.

Lockhart is very clear about the thinking of this kind of people—it seems that there are also a group of people who call themselves "patriotic navy" in the navy. They never accept overseas political orders, but only business orders.

Although this kind of patriotism seems a bit ridiculous to outsiders, and it is not much better than prostitutes who say they are patriotic, but from a certain point of view, they are really much stronger than Mou Yu who defected.

Lockhart had no intention of delving into the moral and philosophical propositions involved, he only knew that if used properly, people like Mundungus could also play a huge role.

It's like when Dumbledore was alive, he usually only let Mundungus do intelligence work, and would never take him to the battlefield, which is very wise, because he only

Can do this kind of work.

And after Dumbledore's death, Moody let Mundungus fight in the Battle of the Seven Potters, which is outrageous.

As a result, not surprisingly, Moody was escaped and sold by Mundungus, who was hit by the Death Eater's Imperius Curse, during the battle. It can only be said that Moody's vision and means of employing people are indeed worse than Dumbledore.

Of course Lockhart would not make such a mistake, making the best use of people is the minimum quality and ability of a superior.

So he threw a big pie at Mundungus.

"I want you to contact your peers, and in the next half month, you will appear in front of these people in Diagon Alley in various roles and names, and spread the information I formulated...Of course, I will pay you, 80 Galleons per person for activities, and you, as the general manager, I will give you 100 Galleons, and other expenses will be calculated separately, how about that? It’s a good deal to earn that much in half a month, right?”

"Really?" Mundungus was a little moved.

"Of course, it's for the wizarding world." Lockhart said with a serious face, "Those damn Ministry of Magic bureaucrats want to cover up the truth, we must find a way to reveal the truth to everyone, even if the means are not very bright. "

Mundungus nodded again and again: "Yes, we can't let those fat-bellied officials run amok."

Although he was still a thief, when he said this, Mundungus felt that he was unusually righteous.

He is fighting side by side with "The Greatest Wizard" Dumbledore and "Master of Dark Arts Against" Lockhart!

But Mundungus immediately thought of something: "Then, why can't we tell them the truth directly, but solve the problem through this kind of... um, spreading rumors?"

"The reason why rumors and conspiracy theories are believed is because they cater to the cognition of some people." Lockhart did not hide his secrets, "The first step to influence public opinion is to control the source of information, regardless of the source of information we Whether we want to spread the truth to the audience or pollute based on our position, we must first control the information, and the first step in controlling the information is to make it acceptable to the masses and cater to their inherent beliefs. know the concept.”

Judging from Mundungus' expression, Lockhart knew that he didn't understand, but it didn't matter, because he just wanted to make Mundungus give up looking into it with such "unintelligible" words.

It is too difficult for a wizard who has not attended primary school to understand information communication that is only taught in Muggle university classes.

Sure enough, Mundungus surrendered.

"Just tell me what I need to do." He said very bachelorly,

"I don't read much, so just don't lie to me."

"Lied to you? Didn't you get the money?" Lockhart said mockingly, "Whether what I said is true or not, the money you got in your hand can't be fake, right?"

"That's right." Mundungus completely gave up thinking.

Chapter 390 Five Arrangements

Lockhart worked hard, and finally planted a seed of doubt in Diagon Alley, the place where wizards exchange information most frequently. It can be regarded as achieving the goal he wanted to achieve in the first step, that is, "issue control"

As long as he kept the topic within the range he wanted, no matter what the results of the discussions among the wizards in Diagon Alley were, the final result would be beneficial to the Order of the Phoenix.

The reason is very simple - just like the once popular "Han Han fake theory", Fang Zhouzi, a master of manipulating public opinion, used various methods of distorting facts, polluting information sources with partial generalization, and even using pyramid schemes to coerce public opinion This method labels all those who defend the parties as "stakeholders"

So no matter how much Han Han proves himself, no matter what the result is, he has already lost the battle of public opinion.Because as long as the public starts to discuss whether his works are masterpieces, even if only 1% of people believe Fang Zhouzi's rumors in the end, it will be a failure for Han Han.Because no one believed in ghostwriting at all, but now, after all, 1% more people believe it.

This is the advantage of the navy controlling the issue—as long as the goal of making people discuss is achieved, then it is only a question of winning more or less, and there is no question of winning or not.

It was because Yongzheng didn't understand this truth that he came up with "Dayijue Milu", and honestly admitted, "I gave my father a bowl of ginseng soup the night before, but he couldn't do it the next day. "This kind of words, the result is completely different from his purpose of dispelling the rumors.

Fortunately, his son Qianlong understood that when he came to power, he sealed this book, which was not so much a defense as a way to help the rumors spread more widely, otherwise more people would believe the rumors of tampering with the imperial edict.

After completing the issue control, the next thing Lockhart asked Mundungus to do was to

It surfaced, which is the second step of public opinion influence—information mutual verification, and at the same time attacking the enemy’s chain of trust.

The reason why people are deceived by repeated lies is because in people's subconscious mind, a single source of information, that is, "solitary evidence", is not reliable. Only when multiple independent sources of information are proved together, is its credibility It will be greatly improved, but the problem is that this kind of thinking will also bring opportunities to the rumor-mongering trolls.

As the so-called "three people become tigers" and "Zeng Shen kills people", the initial rumors seem so unreliable, but after many people tell them, people will subconsciously believe it, because in this person's view, they / She obtained the "facts" of "there are tigers on the street" and "Zeng Shen killed a man" from many independent sources of information.

But in fact these are not "independent information sources", but many branches of a polluted information source.The rumor that there were tigers on the street was fabricated by the same person. He passed it on to many people, and then many people passed it on to the king. Not many people saw the tiger.

The reason why the navy uses multiple vests and sizes is also because of this—when a navy demonstrates some plausible views, the public will definitely not believe it.

But if there are many trumpets of the navy appearing as netizens in different vests, and after one person "proves" part of the rumors, then bystanders will definitely think that "so many people say that XXX is not good, then there must be something wrong with him ""Even if each piece of "evidence" cannot withstand careful scrutiny.

The group of anti-genes uses this method - because most people do not have biological expertise, do not understand the reason why transcribed DNA cannot directly affect the human body, and the probability of gene transcription mutations producing toxic proteins is very small , subconsciously took the prudence of experts who "do not rule out the possibility of poison" as a "guilty heart"

It is precisely because the public cannot judge right from wrong, so everyone can only choose reliable sources of information.Therefore, as long as anti-genetic people mobilize enough people or media to collectively express their trust in a certain information source (such as a public figure who started a company to grow organic vegetables and collect IQ tax), they will follow the letter under the herd mentality.

It doesn’t matter even if some authoritative experts like Yuan Longping come out and sing the opposite, because in the environment of public opinion, an “authoritative” determination needs to go through a communication process to reach the public’s mind. They only need to control this communication process, and there is no need to control all the authorities. .

Therefore, anti-genetics can also create a group of "pseudo-experts" who have no academic authority to compete with them through the method of mutual verification of multiple information sources.They even distort and intercept part of the views of real experts to cater to the views of conspiracy theorists, so as to achieve their own goals.

Although these methods are not visible, but if these methods are used in the righteous way, they can be regarded as waste utilization.

Because no one is perfect, and every individual in the public has his own work, it is impossible to know every knowledge field in detail and have the ability to distinguish independently

Therefore, in the field of ignorance, the "public" as a whole must only accept some flat views, or believe certain opinion leaders.Therefore, these methods of influencing public opinion are also helpful to the dissemination of real information, it just depends on who uses them and what the purpose is.

Lockhart took this into consideration when disseminating information-if he, like Dumbledore, directly publicized the news that Voldemort had been resurrected to all wizards, then he would first encounter a backlash from the Ministry of Magic, and then There will be a group of ostriches who don't want to believe to go along with the "authority" of the Ministry of Magic, and then the Ministry of Magic will use the power of the media to send members of the Order of the Phoenix—especially core members like Lockhart, Dumbledore, and Harry Shaped into clowns one by one, through a series of "independent information sources" to influence the public's judgment from multiple angles.

In order to avoid this passive situation, Lockhart felt that he had to use plausible rumors to make the Ministry of Magic drop its vigilance, making them think that the public was just guessing wildly without knowing it, and the Order of the Phoenix hadn't leaked the truth yet.

But they will not know that Lockhart is using this method to reduce the Ministry of Magic

Credibility in public opinion, that is, to attack the "chain of trust" of the Ministry of Magic's information sources, and before the Ministry of Magic officials try to control public opinion, they will be branded as "liars" who are not trusted by the public, and "raccoons of the same feather" So does the Daily Prophet.

In this way, when the "conscience inside the Ministry of Magic" like Lockhart and Kingsley jumped out and admitted that "some people have indeed concealed the truth", the angry public already had the cognition and psychological preparation in this regard. , they will subconsciously regard their words as true, and it becomes very easy to speak the truth at this time.

But Lockhart also has to pay attention to one thing, that is, he still has to work in the system of the Ministry of Magic after all, and he can't offend all the officials of the Ministry of Magic and the media because of this.

Therefore, while Mundungus is carrying out public opinion influence activities according to his instructions, he will pull out a vote of conscientious allies within the Ministry of Magic, neutralize some wavering people, and finally put them out when he admits the truth. Also pull them into their own camp, so that they can't refuse.

The same is true for the media. The Daily Prophet will be defeated as a "villain", but Lockhart's Queen's media, "The Witch Weekly", can win them over and let them become the "conscience of the media".

These things seemed complicated, but to him, who was used to seeing the political strife between the two Houses of Parliament and Downing Street, these could only be regarded as basic operations, and Muggles could also teach wizards a good lesson in this regard.

If there were no accidents, Lockhart should be able to see the results of his work within a month, and he would definitely surprise Fudge when the work was completed.

And the next thing Lockhart has to do is to quickly test the gang of pure blood

attitude.

What exactly was their attitude toward Voldemort when he returned?

If they were really just being coerced, then Lockhart wouldn't mind trying to win them over - it wouldn't be out of the question to even show them the way.but if he

They were determined to go all the way to the dark with Voldemort, so Lockhart also had a way to deal with them.

But Lockhart felt that they might not all be determined to go on, at least anyone could guess the small thoughts of Malfoy's family.

Voldemort can too.

Chapter 390

Because the Ministry of Magic wants to continue pretending to be peaceful through singing and dancing, the Ministry of Magic has spent more energy on the Five-Power Tournament not only has it not decreased, but has instead increased.

This is very helpful for Mundungus to spread rumors, because as long as the Ministry of Magic is not aware of the seriousness of the problem, they will not pay attention to Lockhart's small movements.

Lockhart arranged a duel entertainment match between the third and fourth games as a buffer, considering that the warriors of several colleges had already played sparks in the third game, and they must be somewhat dissatisfied with each other.

So this duel entertainment game is actually a "shooting match" for contestants to openly resolve disputes, and the venue is also held in the Slytherin secret room. Only VIPs who pay enough money can enter the game.

In the dueling club, warriors can challenge unconvinced opponents at any time, as long as they meet the dueling rules, they can fight as they please, and even bet a little bit of money.

In addition, in this entertainment competition, students who are not warriors are also eligible to challenge the warriors, and even tourists who come to Hogwarts are also eligible to participate. As long as they are willing to apply in advance and sponsor another sum of money, they can also compete with their favorite The brave warriors come to a duel on the stage.

Although this is not a formal game, in the eyes of Fudge, who is happy to hold a funeral, this entertainment game is as important as the main game.Because the intensity and excitement of this kind of competition are very high, and there are many tourists to participate, the audience and sponsorship that can be attracted are not less than those of the main competition.

Lockhart wanted to see, he had given the chance, would Voldemort dare to exchange his son and let the Death Eaters enter the Chamber of Secrets to challenge Harry.

And Dumbledore also has something to do with Ibi. He believes that under his supervision

, Even if the Death Eaters entered the Chamber of Secrets, they would never be able to sneak attack Harry.

"All the ticket sales and VIP entry fees for this entertainment game will be donated to Durmstrang." Dumbledore said with an unusual atmosphere, and the Uyghurs are very difficult now.