Mrs. Weasley repeated her husband's words and hummed noncommittally.
"What about your specific position? It won't be the same as before...well, chief technical director, right?"
"Well, not anymore - a lot of very powerful people have joined recently, and I am now considered one of the top technical consultants..."
Arthur Weasley wiped the corners of his mouth, stood up, picked up the hat hanging on the hanger, and said vaguely.
"Okay, Molly, don't keep chasing me. I really can't tell you too much now. After a while, after the big shots come up with the results, you will know by reading the newspaper. In fact, it is different from my usual work.
It’s almost the same, but the technical requirements will be more.”
"That's alright—"
Mrs. Weasley glanced at her husband and asked softly thoughtfully.
"But speaking of which, do you really not have any small vault hidden outside?"
"Even though that 'S.H.I.E.L.D' hasn't been officially established yet, you've been busy these days and done a lot of things. Why didn't you see them give you an extra salary? Percy wrote to tell me, Ginny
I received a new broom some time ago——"
"Well - of course not! I can buy anything from my little vault. You know, I usually tinker with Muggle gadgets."
Arthur Weasley waved his hand and said righteously, "Those Muggle gadgets are not worth much, and besides, don't you know best how much money is in the family vault? Look at everything on my body that looks like it can
Hiding money. As for Percy..."
Mr. Weasley paused and coughed slightly.
"Hmm... I've heard about what Percy said. It's not just little Ginny. All the freshmen varsity teams got new brooms, although the models are different. I'll ask about them when I go to school later.
…”
"Oh, really?" Mrs. Weasley glanced at her husband suspiciously.
Although based on her understanding of Arthur, it did not seem like he was lying, but she still felt that something was wrong.
Forget it, after all, they have been married for so many years, and Molly believes that her husband will not have any problems in matters of right and wrong.
If, as Mr. Weasley said just now, the magical governments of many countries plan to form a brand new magical organization, this will actually be an opportunity for him.
"Well, remember what I told you about the Streep family, and go home early today—"
"Don't worry, even if the Ministry of Magic is in ruins, I won't work overtime today... I'm going to work first."
Arthur Weasley picked up the briefcase, waved his hand without looking back, grabbed a handful of shiny Floo powder and sprinkled it towards the fireplace.
"Ministry of Magic."
The green magic flame instantly rose up and swallowed up the figure of Arthur Weasley.
Just as he disappeared, an owl hooted outside the window not far away.
"Hmm? Has today's newspaper arrived? It's much earlier than usual——"
Mrs. Weasley turned her head and looked back, just in time to see a long-eared barn owl flapping its wings and fly into the living room, hurriedly dropping a copy of the Daily Prophet on the table.
While muttering about how early the newspaper came today, she began to fumble for copper coins in her pocket.
The price of the Daily Prophet is five copper knuts. Although there are recent rumors that the price will increase, these are still rumors for the time being.
But speaking of it, five Copper Nuts is a bit too low. Nowadays, a novel costs several Galleons.
Molly Weasley was thinking as she counted out five copper coins and was about to put them into the leather bag on the hooting owl.
Suddenly, her peripheral vision fell on the open newspaper, and her movements froze.
"The Dark Mark Reappears, the Ministry of Magic is in Ruins"
…………
British Ministry of Magic, main hall corridor.
"Oh my God, what the hell-"
Arthur Weasley stood by the fireplace holding his briefcase, looking around in shock.
The Ministry of Magic seemed to have just experienced a catastrophe, with some ferocious and terrifying traces still remaining on the walls and ground.
The peacock blue ceiling was full of black and gray scorch marks. The original shiny golden bulletin board disappeared, replaced by a scene that looked like words written on it by magic spray.
The Magic Brothers Fountain in the center of the foyer is also missing. Several goblins and wizards have set up tables there, and there is a long queue in front of them, as if they are receiving something——
Huh? Wait, a few wizards and... goblins??
Arthur Weasley looked around and realized that there were goblins almost everywhere, not just around the long tables.
Different from the costumes of the goblins in Gringotts Wizarding Bank, most of these goblins wear elegant suits and carry small briefcases, blending in with the noisy and crowded people in the corridor of the main hall of the Ministry of Magic. They look no different from the surrounding Ministry of Magic employees.
Seems to be……
"Okay, Arthur... just be a little surprised and don't stand in front of the fireplace."
Before Mr. Weasley could finish his thoughts, someone pushed him from behind and he staggered forward several steps.
He turned his head and looked back, just in time to see Ludo Bagman yawning and stepping out of the fireplace, holding a piece of bread in his hand.
"The Ministry of Magic was attacked by mysterious people yesterday. It was a big battle. Of course, we still managed to drive them out - but most of the offices were destroyed, especially the floor of your Magical Law Enforcement Department. There were almost no
What's left? Hmm... don't ask questions. I've explained it to at least ten people today. If you have any questions, go to the queue. They'll be filling out statistical forms over there. There will also be brief explanations..."
Ludo Bagman kept yawning and did not give Mr. Weasley any chance to ask. As he spoke, he pointed not far away.
"However, you guys are a blessing in disguise - the Ministry of Magic has negotiated a cooperation with Gringotts Wizarding Bank. In the past few days, goblins have come to the Ministry of Magic for job interviews, and they have obtained highly discounted reconstruction loans for the Ministry of Magic.
, you can take this opportunity to do it again."
"Uh...mysterious man...a blessing in disguise? Goblin...loan?"
Mr. Weasley opened and closed his mouth. He felt that various words were pouring into his mind, and then several times more questions popped up.
He had an inexplicable illusion that he didn't sleep for one night, but slept for several months at a stretch.
In fact, he is not the only one like this.
Except for those members of the Ministry of Magic who were woken up in the middle of the night, most of the Ministry of Magic officials who went to work this morning felt the same way.
However, the senior officials of the Ministry of Magic have obviously considered this in advance, or to be more precise, Dumbledore and Gringotts have already prepared for this.
After almost everyone arrives at the Ministry of Magic, the first place they go is to be directed to the long temporary tables to collect forms.
After receiving the forms, the goblin commissioner temporarily hired from Gringotts will lead them to the interrogation room below - which has been temporarily converted into a large conference room - to introduce in batches what happened last night.
war.
Of course, in order to unify the caliber, there will be some artistic modifications in the description.
"Anyway, that's about it. Mr. Weasley, do you have any more questions?"
The goblin commissioner pushed up his glasses, raised his head and looked at the man sitting in front of him, and asked extremely skillfully.
Since most parts of the Ministry of Magic were still counting losses, following the advice of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Cornelius Fudge and others finally listened to their ideas and activated the interrogation room floor below the main hall of the Ministry of Magic as a temporary
Answer questions and fill in forms.
The people responsible for reception and answering questions are a group of fairy receptionists who have been rushed to work after simple training.
I have to say that, at least in this era, goblins are indeed quite professional in this regard.
"Uh, let me think about it..."
Arthur Weasley looked at the form in his hand, rubbed his swollen eyebrows, and tried hard to digest the information he had just absorbed.
"Can I understand it this way? The mysterious man has made a comeback. The Ministry of Magic was destroyed in last night's battle. Now it needs to be renovated and rebuilt on a large scale... Let's go back to our homes to renovate first and think about what we need for the new office.
What should I submit with the application when the time comes?"
"In other words, these few days... I am on temporary vacation?"
"It would be more accurate to try to retrieve the data, because the current data loss situation in the Ministry of Magic is particularly serious."
"Well..." Arthur Weasley hesitated a few times and asked tentatively, "Then what if most of them don't remember?"
"That at least proves that we have tried hard-"
The goblin grinned, revealing a sly and malicious smile.
"Reality is always unsatisfactory, right? The mysterious man destroyed most of the data. There is nothing we can do about it."
"Well, well...that's true-"
Arthur Weasley was stunned for a moment, then his brows relaxed and he shrugged noncommittally.
"By the way, where are the Minister and Director Bones? Why didn't you see them?"
"Oh, Minister Fudge and the directors should be holding a joint press conference on the establishment of S.H.I.E.L.D. If you have any urgent matters to contact them, you can tell me to convey it to you, or wait and see in the afternoon -"
"Wait, what did you say...conference?" Arthur Weasley blinked in confusion.
"S.H.I.E.L.D——"
The goblin showed a strange smile.
"This shouldn't require any explanation, right? Dear...Director Weasley..."