ebookslot Chapter 65 Fireside Chat
Chapter 65 Fireside Chat
Chapter 65 Fireside Chat
Good evening, Reggie.
Lin Qi looked up, closed the book in his hand, and waved to the figure that appeared in the flames.
"Good evening," Regina's flat voice came from the fireplace.
"This is what you meant by 'a little surprise' in your letter?" Lynch leaned forward slightly, his gaze sweeping over the leaping emerald flames in the fireplace. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, and his tone held a hint of inquiry: "We've infiltrated the FlooNet Management Bureau?"
"Unfortunately, not yet." Reggie's hoarse voice came clearly from the flames. "This is thanks to Lucius Malfoy and the pure-blood families behind him."
He paused, as if organizing his thoughts for more precise language: "They used the influence of pure-blood families within the Ministry of Magic to apply for and successfully open a number of long-term FlooNet channels for the Chamber of Commerce, to connect the various branch venues of the Chamber of Commerce."
Lynch listened quietly: "It seems that gaining the upper hand in the power struggle within the Chamber of Commerce has spurred their potential. These purebloods are indeed rare talents when it comes to manipulating rules and exploiting loopholes." A hint of emotion came through Reggie's flat voice. "While opening up a large number of legal channels, Lucius took advantage of a brief gap in the operational process and the 'negligence' of some key personnel to very secretly smuggle in a few—extra channels."
These passages are like undocumented "backdoors" quietly embedded in the Ministry of Magic's vast legal network.
The activation record has been completely erased from the Ministry of Magic's official archives, as if it never existed.
The memory of the low-ranking official from the Floo Network Administration who was specifically responsible for opening the network was also altered. He only remembers that he opened a batch of Floo Networks for the Stone Tower Chamber of Commerce, and the number of openings has been accurately recorded.
The process is compliant and legal, but right now only you, me, and Lucius know about the existence of these FlooNets:
Now we have a more stable and convenient way to communicate.
"Don't underestimate yourself, my dear Reggie." Lynch gently stroked his chin with the fingertips of one hand. "You could easily think of these methods, you just disdain to use them."
:
Reggie did not respond to Lynch's statement.
"How's the stealth?" Lin Qi continued to ask.
"To prevent anyone from monitoring the Chamber of Commerce's Floo network, these few Floo networks were extracted and hidden within the Ministry of Magic's own hundreds and thousands of Floo networks."
Unless someone suddenly decides to monitor the entire Floo Network of the Ministry of Magic, there is absolutely no possibility of a leak.
Even if someone were to go mad and try to monitor the Ministry of Magic's Floo Network, only a handful of people would have that kind of access, and they wouldn't escape our notice.
Lynch nodded, indicating his approval of the answer.
He picked up the slightly cool teacup on the small square table, took a sip, and his gaze deepened again: "So, what's the reaction from the pure-blood families regarding those 'visitors' discovered in the Forbidden Forest?"
He was referring to the six wizard bodies discovered by the eight-eyed giant spider.
Reggie chuckled softly from within the flames: "They were terrified. The thugs they hired at great expense died so silently, and in such a gruesome way."
Their connections were enough for them to know certain facts, such as that there were no magical animals coming out of the Forbidden Forest at all.
Some people believe you were behind it and are reassessing your abilities.
"What about the Ministry of Magic?"
"They paid a heavy price—gallons, antiques, precious alchemical artifacts, and favors owed to those in key positions at the Ministry of Magic."
They even had to give up a portion of their business share before Connelly-Fudge, that greedy fellow, and his cronies finally decided to cover it up and suppress it.
The International Department of Magical Cooperation and the International Wizarding Federation have also been lobbied extensively. After all, six foreign wizards, including some from Vagado, have died; mishandling this could escalate into a diplomatic crisis.
"How do you plan to announce this to the public?" Lynch put the teacup back on the table.
"It's basically the same as what we told the students at the time, but with more details to make it seem more 'real'." Reggie's voice was flat, as if he were repeating an upcoming press release. "The Ministry of Magic will announce in the Daily Prophet that several visiting scholars from Vagabond School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, unfamiliar with the area around Hogwarts, unfortunately wandered into the depths of the Forbidden Forest during their travels and were attacked by some extremely rare and ferocious native magical creature, tragically all of whom perished. The Department of Magical Creatures Control of the Ministry of Magic has intervened in the investigation and strengthened the perimeter of the Forbidden Forest to ensure that such tragedies do not happen again. We express our deepest condolences to Vagabond School and the families of the victims and will provide 'humanitarian assistance'."
Lynch's lips curled into a cold smile: "Humanitarian aid? Using the Gallon 'contributed' by those pure-blood families? Minister, you certainly know how to do favors."
"That's right." Reggie confirmed Lynch's guess. "However, things didn't end so easily."
Barty Crouch, the one from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, wasn't going to let the matter rest; he wouldn't let it go.
He was extremely dissatisfied with this vague and obviously cover-up approach, believing it seriously damaged the Ministry of Magic's rule of law and international reputation.
He wanted to thoroughly investigate the true purpose of these Vargadu wizards going to Hogwarts and the real reasons for their deaths.
He believes this may involve some deeply entrenched illegal activities.
“It makes sense.” Lynch leaned back in his high-backed chair. “What happened in court ten years ago requires Crouch to maintain such a righteous and indignant stance.”
"It's probably not as simple as just maintaining a posture," Reggie offered a different opinion. "Fudge used his authority as minister to forcefully suppress Crouch's public questioning and characterized the incident as an 'unfortunate accident.'"
But Mr. Crouch clearly had no intention of giving up. Leveraging his connections in the Department of Justice and the prestige he had built up over the years, he bypassed Fudge's suppression and was secretly launching an investigation.
According to the inside report, he seemed to have indeed caught something amiss. His subordinates in the Auror office were meticulously combing through all the recent unusual financial flows and personnel interactions of the pure-blood families involved.
Crouch bit down hard, putting immense pressure on the purebloods.
Lucius's message was that they planned to hibernate for a while, keeping a low profile, and wait until they got past Crouch before making any further moves.
"Barty Crouch is that tough?" Lynch narrowed his eyes, slightly surprised by the actions of the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
"Yes, he has maintained a tough and uncompromising stance since the First War. If it weren't for his son being a Death Eater, he would have become Minister of Magic after the war."
Reggie then asked, "Should we absorb him?"