At the Ministry of Magic in England, inside a high-level conference room.
Minister Scrimgeour frowned deeply as he listened to Kingsley, head of the Crisis Response Team, report on recent events. The Death Eaters and their underlings had been causing trouble all over England, severely disrupting the Ministry of Magic's normal operations.
Large numbers of wizards had been dispatched to deal with the messes left behind by those Dark Wizards, leaving the Ministry desperately short-handed. Everyone had also been worn out in body and mind by the overwhelming workload and overtime.
Even though Scrimgeour had generously provided overtime allowances, it still could not alleviate everyone's exhaustion. Some departments had already been working intense overtime for two consecutive weeks.
"This is an open scheme by the Death Eaters. They are forcing us to spend enormous amounts of energy fixing problems." After hearing Kingsley's report, Scrimgeour looked around at the other senior Ministry officials in the room. "As for why, I think everyone has already guessed. They want us to expose weaknesses so they can infiltrate the Ministry of Magic more easily."
"They are succeeding." Gawain Robards looked utterly exhausted as he said helplessly, "Everyone has been very tired lately. I am worried that the Death Eaters may have already secretly gained control over some Ministry employees."
The atmosphere in the conference room abruptly froze. Everyone was worried about it—worried that their families would become targets of threats. Although Scrimgeour had been on guard against Death Eater infiltration of the Ministry ever since taking office, those present had to admit that Ministry employees were still often controlled by the Death Eaters, or had their families' lives threatened.
"How is that protection plan coming along?" Scrimgeour turned to ask his assistant.
"It is progressing steadily. At the earliest, it probably will not be