Rita Skeeter had never experienced entering the Ministry of Magic through the visitor's entrance.
In her impression, the only ways to reach the Ministry of Magic were Floo Network and Apparition.
Obviously, this is not a commonly used entrance and exit - Rita walked into the phone booth and found that the space inside was really as small as it looked from the outside, or even smaller... Tonks squeezed in from behind,
He stood beside her and closed the door with his backhand.
The small, old-fashioned phone booth was not designed to accommodate two people.
Rita was pressed against the telephone equipment.
The phone hung crookedly from the wall, as if a vandal had tried to rip it off.
Tonks smiled slightly apologetically, and reached out from behind Rita to pick up the microphone.
"I don't understand why we can't get to the Ministry of Magic in a more dignified way."
"Well, because there will be a visitor record... This record is based on magic and is difficult to delete by conventional means."
Tonks explained casually, raising the microphone above her head and looking at the dial.
"Let me see...6...", she dialed the number, "2...4...another 4...another 2..."
"The Ministry of Magic still has a phone number?" Rita raised her eyebrows and asked in surprise.
"Oh no, this is the password, the Muggle letters - M-A-G-I-C..."
Tonks shrugged and glanced at Rita, who was a little confused.
"Not all wizards can use Apparition skillfully, or have the opportunity to come into contact with floo powder... There are also quite a few squibs, bad wizards, and half-bloods - I mean those with magical blood - and even
There will be non-human visitors, and it is quite necessary to set up a special entrance for their use. Anyway, this is what the file says..."
After a few general explanations, Tonks released her fingers from the dial.
As the dial whirred back to its original position, a woman's cold voice sounded in the phone booth, but that voice did not come from the microphone in Tonks' hand. It was loud and clear, as if
An invisible woman stood beside them.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, please state your name and your business."
"Shh..." Tonks raised her finger, signaling Rita not to speak for the time being.
Then, she cleared her throat and spoke forward skillfully and clearly, "Nymphadora Tonks, Auror Office, I am accompanying Rita Skeeter, a reporter from the Daily Prophet.
Ministry of Magic, she has clues about magical crimes involving an important public figure..."
"Understood," the woman said in a cold voice, "Guest, please pick up the badge and pin it in front of your clothes."
Ding Lingling, clatter.
Rita saw something slide out of the metal chute underneath the telephone.
She picked it up: it was a square silver badge with the words: Rita Skeeter, Informant.
Rita pinned the badge on the front of her green coat, and the cold woman's voice spoke again.
"Ministry of Magic guests, you need to be checked at the security checkpoint and register your wand. The security checkpoint is located at the end of the main hall."
The ground of the phone booth suddenly trembled.
They slowly sank into the ground.
Rita frowned slightly as she watched the pavement rise higher and higher outside the glass window of the phone booth, until finally there was darkness above their heads.
She could see nothing and could only hear the monotonous, harsh grinding sound of the phone box sinking into the ground.
After about a minute, but Rita felt it was much longer, a thin golden light shone on her pair of fashionable high-heeled shoes. Then the golden light gradually widened, expanded to her body, and finally hit her face directly.
, she had to squint her eyes to prevent tears from flowing out.
"The Ministry of Magic hopes you are having a good day," the woman's voice said.
The door of the phone booth suddenly opened, and Tonks walked out immediately, followed by Rita, who felt slightly relieved.
They stood at the end of a long, splendid hall, with a polished dark wooden floor. The peacock blue ceiling was inlaid with sparkling golden symbols, which were constantly moving and changing, like a
Huge high-altitude bulletin board.
The walls on all sides are paneled with glossy dark wooden boards, and many gilded fireplaces are embedded in the wooden boards.
Every few seconds, with a soft popping sound, a wizard suddenly appeared from a fireplace on the left.
On the right, there are several people queuing up in front of each fireplace, waiting to leave.
In the middle of the foyer is a fountain.
In the middle of a circular pool stands a group of pure gold statues, which are larger than life.
The tallest among them is a noble wizard, holding his wand high and pointing straight to the sky. Surrounding him are a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house elf. Centaurs, goblins and house elves
They all looked up at the two wizards with infinite admiration. A stream of shining water jets shot out from the top of the wizard's wand, from the centaur's arrow, from the tip of the goblin's hat, and from the two ears of the house elf.
Wizards...oh no, the magical government concept of wizards supremacy——
Rita Skeeter raised her eyebrows.
In fact, in her past career as a reporter, she had only a handful of opportunities to interview the Ministry of Magic.
There was the sound of ding-dong-ding-dong water all around, the popping and popping sounds of the Apparition, and the chaotic footsteps of hundreds of wizards and witches. With lifeless expressions on their faces that were typical of social animals, they strode towards the end of the hall.
Go to the row of golden doors.
This is the main hall located on the eighth underground floor of the Ministry of Magic - if any wizard dares to cause trouble here, he will be subdued in an instant.
Of course, the premise is... that it is within the defense capabilities of the Ministry of Magic.
"This way," said Tonks.
They joined the crowd and moved forward among the Ministry of Magic staff. Rita looked around. Some of them were holding piles of crumbling parchment in their arms, some were carrying tattered briefcases, and some were carrying tattered briefcases.
People read the Daily Prophet while walking.
If nothing else, the front-page news they are reading at this time tomorrow should be about her.
Rita Skeeter thought with a heavy heart.
The only difference is whether her name appears in the text or in the author column.
"This way, Rita."
Tonks said as they left the stream of Ministry staff heading towards the golden doors. At a table on the left, under a sign that read "SECURITY CHECK", sat a man in peacock blue robes with a beard.
A badly shaved wizard.
As they approached, he looked up and put down the Daily Prophet.
"I brought a guest," Tonks said, pointing to Rita.
"Come this way," the wizard said in a listless tone.
Rita approached him, and the wizard raised a long golden rod, as thin and flexible as a car's antenna.
He used it to sweep across Rita's front and back from top to bottom - for safety reasons, Rita did not carry the Foundation's badge, but when the metal rod swept across her handbag, it still made a beep beep.
The sound is not harsh but obviously not normal.
"Do you have any magic items in your bag?"
The wizard frowned, put his left hand on his waist, and looked at Rita warily.
"Oh, it should be this..."
Rita opened her crocodile leather handbag and pulled out a wand, a long, dazzling green quill and a roll of parchment.
"Here's my wand, and my sketch quill - as a journalist, it keeps me free to have a normal conversation with my interviewer. To be honest, this quill is almost as important as my wand
, you should have read my article..."
"Rita Skeeter? Well, can you prove it?"
The wizard's eyes slowly swept across the silver guest badge on Rita's chest and interrupted.
"I want to confirm that it is indeed a magic quill and not some other dangerous magic item——"
"Oh, of course. It's easy."
Rita Skeeter nodded slowly, looking much more relaxed than before.
She spread the roll of parchment flat on the table, picked up the tip of the green quill pen and put it into her mouth, sucking on it for a while, then placed the pen vertically on the parchment paper with the quill tube standing upright on the tip.
, trembling slightly, but did not fall down even if she let go of her hand.
"So, a quick test... My name is Rita Skeeter, a reporter for the Daily Prophet."
The wizard lowered his head and stared at the quill.
As soon as Rita Skeeter finished speaking, the green quill pen began to write rapidly, and the tip of the pen slid across the parchment dexterously.
"The charming blonde Rita Skeeter, now thirty-eight years old, is the chief reporter of the Daily Prophet. Her unruly quill has exposed many flashy falsehoods..."
"that's it--"
The wizard looked carefully at Rita's quill and shrugged.
"Wand."
He muttered to Rita, put down the golden magic detector, and stretched out his hand.
Rita Skeeter handed over her wand.
The wizard dropped it on a strange-looking brass machine that looked like a single-plate balance.
The machine began to vibrate slightly. A narrow piece of parchment quickly spit out from a hole at the bottom, with the value of Rita Skeeter's wand recorded on it. This is almost the way the wizarding world verifies the identity of a wizard - similar to
A personal passport to the non-magical world.
This round of procedures is one of the reasons why they must enter through the visitor entrance today.
If Rita Skeeter wants to back down, the wand test is her last chance to back down.
"I'll keep this," the wizard said, jabbing the parchment note on a small brass nail. "Take this back."
He handed the wand back to Rita Skeeter, who was hesitant to speak.
"Thank you, Eric."
Tonks, who had been waiting impatiently behind, said quickly, pulling Rita back into the crowd heading towards the golden door.