British Ministry of Magic, in the high-level meeting room.
Minister Scrimgeour frowned as he listened to the recent report from Kings, the head of the crisis response team. The actions of the Death Eaters and their minions who were causing chaos in Britain had seriously affected the normal operation of the Ministry of Magic.
A large number of wizards were sent to deal with the mess left by the dark wizards, resulting in the Ministry of Magic being stretched thin in terms of manpower, and everyone was physically and mentally exhausted by the large amount of work and overtime.
Even though Scrimgeour generously provided overtime compensation, it still couldn't solve everyone's fatigue from overtime. Some departments had even been working overtime for two consecutive weeks.
"This is an open conspiracy of the Death Eaters. They are forcing us to spend a lot of energy on solving the problem." After listening to Kings' report, Scrimgeour looked around at the other high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic in the conference room. "As for the reason, I think everyone should have guessed it. They want us to reveal our flaws so that they can better infiltrate the Ministry of Magic."
"They are succeeding." Gadwin Robards looked exhausted and said helplessly, "Everyone is very tired during this period. I am very worried that the Death Eaters have secretly controlled some employees of the Ministry of Magic."
The atmosphere in the conference room suddenly froze. Everyone was very worried about this matter, worried that their families would be threatened. Even though Scrimgeour had been on guard against Death Eaters' infiltration of the Ministry of Magic since he took office, everyone present had to admit that there were still employees in the Ministry of Magic who were often controlled by Death Eaters or whose families were threatened with death.
"How's the protection plan going?" Scrimgeour turned his head and asked his assistant.
"It's progressing steadily. I'm afraid it won't be completed until after Christmas this year." Percy opened the folder in his hand, took out a document and handed it to Scrimgeour.
"Protection plan?"
Everyone cast inquiring glances at Minister Scrimgeour, wanting to find out what kind of plan this was.
"This secret must be kept for now!"
Scrimgeour handed the document to the head of the Auror Office next to him and said, "Adhering to the principle of voluntariness, I will ask Dumbledore to be the confidential keeper when the time comes."
"this… "
After everyone read the so-called protection plan, they all looked at Scrimgeour, surprised that the Minister actually planned to do this.
"This is the worst-case scenario, but we have to admit that it is necessary. No one wants their family to be threatened. The families of Aurors and members of the crisis response team will be given priority."
"If I die in the line of duty one day and the Ministry of Magic falls under the control of Death Eaters, this place can become a safe house to avoid them." Minister Scrimgeour spoke calmly about his own death without any hesitation.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. They had to admit that Scrimgeour was definitely the toughest and cruelest minister in history.
At this moment, someone knocked on the door of the conference room, and the solemn atmosphere inside was broken by the knock.
Everyone exchanged glances and picked up their wands.
Percy Weiss, with Scrimgeour's permission, walked over and opened the door.
A young employee was standing outside the meeting room holding a letter. Perhaps he noticed that everyone was looking at him, and he suddenly became a little anxious.
"What's the matter?"
Percy moved to block everyone's gaze and looked at the somewhat frightened young employee.
"Sorry, an urgent notice from the International Confederation of Wizards."
After the wizard came to his senses, he quickly handed over the letter in his hand.
He also knew that he shouldn't disturb them at this time, but there were some extremely urgent matters that needed the director's handling.
“Leave it to me!”
Percy reached out to take the letter, closed the door of the conference room again, and handed the urgent letter from the International Confederation of Wizards to Lufkin, the Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation of the British Ministry of Magic.
"The International Confederation of Wizards severely criticized and warned British wizards that they had violated the International Statute of Secrecy, which put the wizarding world at risk of being exposed to Muggles." Lufkin handed the letter to Scrimgeour and said self-deprecatingly, "They actually asked us to attend the International Confederation of Wizards meeting held urgently this afternoon and asked us to give a reasonable explanation."
"A reasonable explanation?"
After reading the written notice, Scrimgeour sneered, "Why don't they say that the current chaos is caused by the influx of dark wizards from other countries into Britain?"
The current chaos cannot be supported by wizards living in the gray area of Britain alone.
Don't forget that several waves of dark wizards before them were either executed or imprisoned in Azkaban prison after being hit hard by the Ministry of Magic.
"This time, I will go to Paris in person to explain to them. Gadwin, give me the latest report. I think it is useless to just let them accuse, protest and warn. Maybe we should ask them to send Aurors to help solve the risks that the wizarding world may be exposed to!" There was a sarcasm in Scrimgeour's tone.
There was no way. Ever since that idiot Fudge caused Dumbledore to lose his position as President of the International Confederation of Wizards, the status of the British Ministry of Magic in the International Confederation of Wizards had declined rapidly, and the relationship between the two sides was worse than before.
Who was it that when the You-Know-Who was wreaking havoc in Britain, the International Confederation of Wizards not only did not send Aurors to help, but instead stood by and watched, and even sarcastically accused the British Ministry of Magic of its mistakes.
This happened during the last Wizarding War, and the former Minister Millicent Bagnall had a very unpleasant relationship with the International Confederation of Wizards because they accused the British wizards of violating the International Statute of Secrecy by celebrating their victory.
"Will it work?" Lufkin asked worriedly, "Or I'll go."
"No, I really need to go there in person. The matter must be resolved. If those dark wizards continue to make trouble, the Ministry of Magic will definitely not be able to hold on." Scrimgeour thought of his conversation with Albert a few days ago and said firmly: "You may need to follow up on this matter later."
"I see." Lufkin sighed.
"Let's adjourn the meeting. I need to prepare some documents first."
"Rufus, how sure are you?"
After the meeting, Lufkin stayed to discuss the matter with Scrimgeour. He knew about the minister's plan to seek help from the International Confederation of Wizards, but he felt that the plan had a low chance of success.
Rather than letting the minister be unreasonably accused, it would be better for him, the Director of the International Magic Exchange and Cooperation Department, to go and argue with them.
"We need support. I have no choice." Scrimgeour knew very well that the probability of success was very low, and believed that no one would want to get involved in this matter, but after a brief exchange with Albert, he found that this was their only choice now. Now that the International Confederation of Wizards has sent a stern warning, he sees an opportunity.
That afternoon, under the cover of two teams of Ministry of Magic Aurors, Scrimgeour quietly used the Floo Network to leave Britain and appeared at the Ministry of Magic in Paris to attend a meeting of the International Confederation of Wizards.
President Babajide Akinbade, who was chairing the meeting, was very surprised by Scrimgeour's personal arrival.
Without giving the members of the International Confederation of Wizards a chance to criticize the British Ministry of Magic, Scrimgeour spoke first.
"I know that the International Confederation of Wizards is very dissatisfied with the chaotic situation in the UK, but do you really think this is just a problem of the British Ministry of Magic?"
“…it’s not easy to convince the International Confederation of Wizards to help.”
Scrimgeour did not forget the conversation with his special adviser. Although Albert had never acknowledged this position, he had to admit that Albert helped him reduce a lot of trouble. At least he was much more reliable than another special adviser, Fudge.
"Since the resurrection of the mysterious man, a large number of dark wizards have been recruited by him and have flocked to Britain from all over Europe to become his followers. Even extremely dangerous giants have appeared in Britain and caused serious damage. Although we have successfully killed a small number of giants, there are signs that there are still a large number of giants staying in Britain."
Scrimgeour ignored the other members' comments and continued to speak louder than the others, saying, "You can think of Britain as a powder keg right now... Honestly, could you please stop spouting meaningless nonsense and listen to what I have to say?"
"Minister Scrimgeour, maybe you should calm down. This is not in line with your gentlemanly manners." A member sneered sarcastically.
"If you worked as hard as I did for a month, instead of just saying meaningless nonsense, I think your temper would not be much better than mine." Scrimgeour showed everyone what a bad temper was without any hesitation.
“Things are really bad in the UK?”
Babajide Akinbade frowned as he realized the situation seemed to be worse than he had expected.
"I'm worried that it might explode at any time." Scrimgeour bluntly stated the purpose of his visit. "I think that in order to prevent the wizarding world from being completely exposed to the eyes of Muggles, the International Confederation of Wizards should immediately organize Aurors to go to the UK to help deal with the problem of You-Know-Who, to prevent the British wizarding world from being unable to control the situation and being exposed to the public."
Everyone present was stunned.
They originally planned to severely criticize the British Ministry of Magic, but were confused by Scrimgeour's actions.
"What is Dumbledore doing?"
It was all right for Babajide Akinbade to change the subject and have everyone give a stern warning verbally, but no one wanted to touch the big trouble of the mysterious man.
"Dumbledore can do nothing about it. He has helped the Ministry of Magic fight against dark wizards more than once, but Britain has also paid a painful price. Right now, the Ministry of Magic is really powerless to control the situation in Britain." Scrimgeour took out a document unceremoniously. "Here is a list of the latest dark wizards executed by the Ministry of Magic. There are nearly 200 of them in total. There are far more dark wizards currently active in Britain, and these dark wizards come from various European countries. So you will find that the security in your country has improved, because those bugs have all gone to Britain to follow the You-Know-Who."
"… They must feel that this is no longer a British problem, but a problem of the entire European wizarding world. They must understand that Britain is no longer able to handle the current situation, and if the International Confederation of Wizards is unwilling to send Aurors to reinforce, then they will have to help clean up the mess. They must understand that the wizarding world is completely exposed to the Muggles not because of Britain's problems, but the result of their inaction."
Scrimgeour had to admit that such a threat would likely damage the reputation of the British wizarding community, but the current situation did not allow him to care about that.
Moreover, when Gellert Grindelwald was wreaking havoc on the entire world, the British Ministry of Magic eventually sent Aurors to help. Now that the second generation of the Dark Lord is wreaking havoc in Britain, the International Confederation of Wizards is sitting idly by and doing nothing, which is really infuriating.
Scrimgeour looked around at everyone present with a sharp gaze and threatened bluntly: "If the International Confederation of Wizards is unwilling to send Aurors to Britain to help catch these bugs, perhaps after You-Know-Who kills me and completely controls the Ministry of Magic, causing the situation to completely get out of control, you may have to talk to You-Know-Who about this matter."
"This is a shameful threat." Someone at the meeting roared in dissatisfaction.
This statement immediately received a lot of responses, and many people were condemning Scrimgeour, but the man remained indifferent.
"I am only stating the facts. Don't look at me like that. My predecessor as the British Minister of Magic was murdered by a mysterious man before he took over. I took over the position of Minister in an emergency. According to reliable information, the mysterious man is trying to kill me. After I die, no one in the whole of Britain will be able to stop him.
"Isn't there still Dumbledore?"
Some people ridiculed Scrimgeour's self-righteousness.
"I don't think Dumbledore will stand by and watch the British Ministry of Magic being controlled by You-Know-Who."
"Yeah, that's what I thought, actually."
Scrimgeour's words confused everyone.
However, before anyone else could react, he continued, "But there is only one Dumbledore, and more than fifty vicious incidents occur in the UK every day. Do you understand what this means? So far, more than a thousand Muggles have been ruthlessly slaughtered, and the International Confederation of Wizards has done nothing about it."
“This is a British problem.”
"No, this is no longer a British problem, but a problem for the entire wizarding world, because the people who massacred them are dark wizards from all over Europe. This matter can no longer be covered up, so I came here today to seek help from everyone."
"Seek help?" Many people found this ridiculous.
"If you have noticed, you will find that I have sought help from the International Confederation of Wizards after taking office." Scrimgeour threatened bluntly: "If the vicious incidents continue, the entire British wizarding world will be unable to cover up the problems caused by the Death Eaters. It is only a matter of time before the wizarding world is exposed to the Muggles. When Britain falls into complete chaos, no matter how sternly you warn and accuse them, it will be meaningless. Those dark wizards will not pay attention to you. From the number of Muggles who died in the last wizarding war, it should not be difficult for you to guess their attitude towards Muggles. Don't expect them to help cover up the existence of the wizarding world. In fact, their actions have seriously violated the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy."
"We need to discuss this matter with the Ministries of Magic of various countries." Babajide Akinbade's face twitched slightly. Facing Scrimgeour's threat, they really had no good solution.
Scrimgeour's attitude of not fearing death and being ready to fight to the death with dark wizards at any time, plus the list of names of dark wizards recently executed by the Ministry of Magic, made everyone realize that the person in front of them was not joking.
If the situation in the UK really collapses completely, they will have to clean up the mess. They can't let the wizarding world be completely exposed to the Muggles.
This really made many members of the International Confederation of Wizards feel extremely frustrated.
"You'd better hurry up. Our people have been working overtime for several weeks. I don't know how long they can hold on." Scrimgeour kindly reminded: "If we can get rid of these dark wizards, I think it will help maintain the stability of the European wizarding world."