"How was your summer?"
The two turned into a desolate street with only a few shabby offices around. It was completely different from the bustling street they had just come from.
"Okay, are you planning on going to the Quidditch World Cup this year?"
A shabby red telephone booth not far away caught his attention. He remembered that the Ministry of Magic had one entrance in the public toilet and another one in a shabby telephone booth.
"No, the British team has always played very badly. It has been 30 years since they won the trophy. They will probably lose badly this year." Bud was not optimistic about the British Quidditch teams.
"It's normal. This country has been going downhill. It feels gloomy. There have been a lot of troubles over there with the Muggles recently. I don't even dare to eat beef." Albert found a topic to chat with Bud.
"We're here." Bud pointed to the shabby red telephone booth in front and said to Albert, "You go in first."
"Is the entrance here?"
Albert opened the old telephone booth and walked in. He turned and asked Bud behind him, "Actually, I'm curious, why don't we just Apparate to the Ministry of Magic?"
Bud also squeezed into the phone booth, picked up the broken receiver, and said to Albert, "Just treat it as a novel experience."
"It's really novel. How should we use it?" Albert looked at the dilapidated telephone booth and thought that Muggles would most likely not enter here by mistake. At most, they would be curious about why this broken telephone booth had not been demolished.
"You need to dial 62442." Bud reached out and dialed the number, as a demonstration to Albert. "The main reason is that you are not yet an adult, and there are a lot of people watching you recently. I think it's better to spend some time to go through the procedures to avoid unnecessary trouble for you. I have already said hello to them, and we are just going to go through the process."
"Those guys don't do what humans should do all day long." Albert shook his head and said, "If you are envious, just have more children. Maybe you can produce a few geniuses. Even if you can't produce geniuses, you can still contribute to the fertility of the wizarding world. If the number of wizards was one-tenth of that of Muggles, there would be no need to hide underground like rats."
"You reminded me of someone."
"Gellert Grindelwald?"
"Yes, that guy is an idealist, but unfortunately he is too radical, his mind is not clear, and his methods are wrong. Even if Dumbledore hadn't come out to stop him, Gellert Grindelwald would have failed."
As Bud recalled, the dial whirred back to its original position. Suddenly, a woman's cold voice rang out in the phone booth. The voice did not come from the microphone, but appeared clearly in the phone booth, as if an invisible woman was standing next to them and talking.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and what you are here for."
"Bud Brod, a member of the Wizengamot, is here to help Mr. Albert Anderson with the application for temporary use of magic by underage wizards."
"Thank you," the woman said coldly, "Guest, please take the badge and pin it on the front of your clothes."
A silver badge slid out of the metal chute that was usually used to return coins. Albert reached out and picked it up, looking at the badge carefully. It read: Albert Anderson, processing procedures.
"I guess you probably don't like these. To be honest, I don't like them either. They are too complicated." Bud winked at Albert and said, "Besides, it is easy to leave a bad impression on wizards who go to the Ministry of Magic for the first time."
Albert looked at the telephone booth slowly sinking into the ground, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
To be honest, Albert was actually quite looking forward to the British Ministry of Magic trembling under Tom's shadow.
There are actually many ways to prevent Voldemort from resurrecting. The simplest one is to scatter or replace old Tom's ashes so that Tom can't find his relatives and make soup with his bones to revive.
However, Albert never thought of doing that.
Because in his opinion, the process of defeating Voldemort is very important to the entire British wizarding world. It can be said to be a revolution. Only through this revolution can the pure-blood faction in the Ministry of Magic be completely weakened.
As for bloodshed and sacrifice
There is no revolution without bloodshed.
Just don't shed your own blood.
There was a saying in my previous life: other people’s children will never die.
"What are you thinking about?" Bud asked.
"I wonder how many people died in the Second Wizarding War." Albert said softly.
"That prophecy is about to come true?" Bud was surprised and guessed why Albert said that.
"Yes, very close."
The sidewalk outside the phone booth window rose higher and higher until there was darkness above their heads and they could see nothing.
"Peter Pettigrew is not dead." Albert looked at the darkness ahead and said softly, "He may have gone to Albania."
Bud has understood what Albert meant. It is said that Voldemort is in Albania, which seems to foreshadow the return of the Dark Lord.
"What did you see?" Bud asked again.
"The omen will appear soon, at the Quidditch World Cup." Albert said mysteriously, "I also saw Potter's wanted list. The number one bad guy, with a reward of 10,000 gold Galleons."
"As long as Dumbledore is still alive." Bud suddenly had a bad feeling, "The Ministry of Magic should not..."
yes!
As long as Dumbledore is alive, Voldemort will not dare to openly control the Ministry of Magic. This is what is called "when the sky falls, the tall man will hold it up."
In peacetime, no one would realize this.
Scrimgeour was actually very unlucky. After Dumbledore's death, he didn't realize the seriousness of the problem at all and died directly.
In fact, even if Scrimgeour took measures to deal with the rise of Voldemort, it would be useless. In order to control the Ministry of Magic, Voldemort would definitely get rid of him and find a suitable puppet to replace him.
It would be useless even if he compromised with the Dark Lord, because the Director of the Auror Office was so hated.
"If nothing unexpected happens, the principal should be dying soon."
"That's the cruel truth." Budd asked Albert, "Have you tried to predict Dumbledore's death?"
"No." Albert shook his head. "Besides, I don't think I can change anything."
"The Ministry hopes you have a great day."
The woman's voice sounded again, and the door of the phone booth flew open.
The two men walked out of the phone booth one after the other. Not far away was a magnificent lobby. Albert followed Bud to the security check desk with a sign that read "Security Check".
They were greeted by a middle-aged wizard who looked like a salted fish, but he was very respectful to Bard. When he noticed Albert's name, he stared at him in surprise.
"Please leave your wand there."
The wizard was polite to Albert and asked him to place his wand on a brass machine that looked like a scale.
That's the machine that checks the wands.
"Eric, we have to go." Bud took Albert directly to the Department of International Magical Cooperation to find old Barty Crouch, intending to use the relationship here to skip the Office of the Prohibition of the Improper Use of Magic.
Yes, Bard didn't really want to deal with Dolores Umbridge.
"Oh, well, that surprises me."
Old Barty Crouch looked up and down at Albert beside Bard, and said to Percy who was also a little surprised, "Wetherby, please take this to the Improper Use of Magic Office and ask their director Umbridge to sign it."
"Okay, Mr. Crouch, I'll be right there." Percy walked away with the parchment.
"You look tired," Bud said with a smile.
"Organizing portkeys across five continents is no easy task." Crouch did look tired.
"If I were you, I would definitely find myself an easy job." Bud said with a smile.
"Not everyone is as lazy as you." Crouch shook his head.
"I'm not lazy. I've been training excellent wizards." Bard raised his hand and pointed at Albert, indicating that he was not lazy at all.
"It's a pity that Albert is not interested in joining the Ministry of Magic. Otherwise, I would recommend him to come and help you after graduation. It would definitely be much easier for you." Bud said as if he was selling something. "Albert also masters the languages of many countries. He is very suitable to take over your job after you retire."
"Oh, that's a shame," Crouch said perfunctorily.
While the two were talking, Percy had already returned with the parchment. Crouch glanced at the parchment, stamped it, and handed it to Bard.
"Good luck to you, and it would be even better if you can win an award," Crouch said to Albert. "It's been a long time since Britain has won an international award."