Harry Potter: Reunion with the Enemy

"I originally thought this was a non-confidential mission, but it turns out that it is actually consistent with the rating of the Ministry of Magic's mission logo at the time?" Draco asked Minister Kingsley directly after greeting him politely. "The situation is quite complicated now, please allow me to learn more about it..."

The Malfoy family has always been closely connected with successive Ministers of Magic. In addition to the influence of their extensive investments in various fields, Lucius's friendship with his old acquaintances from Slytherin College also played a very important role. The Malfoy family's name is always behind the entanglement of a series of intricate power relations in the wizarding world. Former Minister Fudge not only gave the Malfoy family top box tickets to the Quidditch World Cup, but was also willing to support the execution of the Hippogriff under the instigation of Lucius, which shows that the Malfoy family has a high voice.

As one of the senior employees who has worked at the Ministry of Magic for many years, Kingsley was already familiar with the Malfoy family before he became Lucius's superior, and was familiar with Lucius's personality and what he really cared about. During the war, Kingsley was a member of the Order of the Phoenix and opposed the Death Eaters, but after the verdict on the Malfoy family was settled, Kingsley and the Malfoy family's relationship became closer due to job changes and various other factors.

The arrangement of the Gringotts project was a small favor from Kingsley to Lucius. On the one hand, Lucius's father's love for his son was hard to refuse. On the other hand, although the Malfoy family has long been called "fence-sitters", the value behind this derogatory name cannot be ignored no matter which side they are on. If this "fence" is really provoked, it will be a big trouble.

However, what Kingsley did not expect was the direction of the project's development, and the repair of the relationship between the two Group C members seemed to be too successful.

Kingsley replied kindly, "Originally I just gave you instructions to take out the goblin artifacts, but I didn't expect you to use a more roundabout way. Every time I read the project review, the development of things always surprises me." He pointed to a series of interim reports submitted by Harry. "You know, a few clever spells can also achieve the same effect. But the connection you have established with them by tutoring is also very good."

"..." Draco recalled that the tutoring method seemed to be his idea.

"This mission could have been non-confidential." Kingsley looked at the silent Draco and continued, "If it was just to recover the sword that was given to us. But what you have accomplished exceeded expectations. You even accomplished the goals of some of our colleagues who are actually responsible for confidential content."

"I think the Minister of Magic should have been in contact with the Muggle Prime Minister." Draco looked at the Kingsley mural hanging on the wall. The portrait of the Minister was connected to the portrait of the Muggle Prime Minister on the wall. "Then as a core subordinate of the Muggle Prime Minister, the Chief Whip's actions were not discovered?"

"Andre and the goblin's little tricks have been noticed by the Ministry of Magic, and they have been included in the list of targets of concern - this is why we can accurately arrange the Forsyth family as the mission target for you and Harry, because it is the Forsyth family who have been involved in the circulation of magical items with him recently." Kingsley nodded.

"But dealing with Andre is not as simple as dealing with ordinary Muggles - using a few Obliviate spells and other repair spells will do, because the goblins are determined to continue to contact him, hoping to use his influence in politics and other aspects to blackmail wizards."

"Using Muggles to threaten wizards?" Draco thought this sounded ridiculous.

"If it's a one-on-one fight, Muggles will never be a match for wizards." Kingsley opened a drawer and searched for information. "But what if we use mass media to spread the existence of wizards to Muggles? And spread the evidence of dark wizards wantonly slaughtering Muggles to create new hatred."

"We can't erase the memories of over 100 million Muggles at the same time." Kingsley dug out a bunch of the latest negotiation documents with the goblin leader. "The burning of wizards in the Middle Ages is bound to happen again under this new propaganda of hatred. Perhaps the goblins think that under this premise, we will make some concessions on some treaties."

"Is it good for them to create unrest? Who likes to live in war and hatred?" Draco frowned.

"For goblins, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Moreover, the struggle for power between them and wizards has never stopped. For the few Muggle high-ranking officials currently involved, as a person who is dissatisfied with the status quo and has an infinite desire for power, Andre is likely to think that it is worth a try to join forces with the goblins." Kingsley stuffed a stack of parchment into Draco's hands. "Rather than being the Prime Minister's subordinate, the whip currently wants to replace the Prime Minister more."

Draco quickly browsed through the data files on the parchment, which listed many mysterious disappearances and tragic deaths of Muggles in the past century, cases of short-term memory loss of some Muggles (such as the recent phenomenon that most people around the Prime Minister's Office suddenly lost part of their memory), and mysterious legends about some monarchs in history.

"These - without exception - are all evidence collected by the goblins about the crimes of wizards, and unfortunately, they are all true." Kingsley's tone was emotionless. "They are all tragedies caused by the mistakes made by a small number of wizards. This is part of the evidence that the goblins want to use as a threat."

"Make these public through Muggle high-ranking officials?" Some of the bloody and distorted pictures made Draco feel uncomfortable. He remembered the screams that often echoed in the dungeon of Malfoy Manor.

"You know that little elite circle of Muggles." Kingsley nodded. "There are a lot of media moguls in it, too."

"The Lake Club."

"Don't goblins think that Muggles will join them in hating them?" Draco continued to browse the evidence. "They are also a group that can use magic. With magic, they can easily get a lot of things from ordinary people."

"The goblins' bloody deeds are currently directed at wizards, but in fact they have also done other despicable things to Muggles." Kingsley's eyes rested on an anti-dark magic device at the foot of the table. "But hatred is always easy to generate and difficult to eliminate. We can't predict what will happen. Just like you light a fire, where it will eventually burn, no one knows."

"So their countermeasures should not be limited to releasing news?" Draco closed the thick document.

"Dragons, and other magical creatures and groups." Kingsley sighed, "They may be trying to use these possibilities for their own benefit. And there is also the most difficult part of people to control - the brain. In addition to the Imperius Curse that wizards can cast with the help of wands, which can control a person's thoughts for a longer period of time, items made by goblins cannot achieve this effect. At present, the limit that magical items can achieve is only a buffing effect, or a continuous, uncomplicated evil curse."

"So what we recovered during our tutoring period were the products used by goblins for experiments." Draco had a new question, "Then why can Gringotts still recover products that were released into Muggle society by the goblins themselves? Gringotts is still an institution run by goblins."

"Gringotts can indeed identify whether it is goblin craftsmanship, but regarding this plan to declare war on wizards, my inference is that they have not made it public to all their compatriots. A species that is greedy and likes to go back on its word will not be as united as we think."

"So - my biggest question today," Draco raised his eyes and looked directly at Kingsley, "what does the Ministry expect me to do now that it has come to this?"

Kingsley folded his arms in deep thought. On one side was the savior and the only heir of the Malfoy family, and on the other side was the goblin pressing him step by step...