"They don't heed the Minister for Magic, and the Auror Office has no influence here. As for the Wizengamot's rulings, they sometimes choose to defy them..."
Fudge led them toward the Auror Office, muttering, "This is the Department of Mysteries. They're always so arrogant."
"Of course, I'm not afraid of them."
As the little ones watched him curiously, Fudge smugly adjusted his purple-red wizard's hat, which was decorated with pink stars, and smiled. "They're just wizards who've devoted themselves to studying magic. Oh, Anton, I don't mean you. They're different from you. They only study Ancient Magic."
Hermione's eyes widened in amazement, and she looked at Fudge with longing. "Is ancient magic all very powerful?"
"Of course, of course." Fudge nodded, then turned to scrutinize Hermione. He smiled and waved his somewhat chubby hand. "The ancient always implies power and mystery, doesn't it?"
"That's a misconception." Anton hadn't seen Fudge's house-elf, Wheatfield. He raised an eyebrow, casually pressed the elevator button, and waited in front of it. "It's not really right to call it Ancient Magic. That's just a gimmick."
As he spoke, he looked at everyone. "Wizards have been developing for thousands of years, and the results of all kinds of magical research are as brilliant as the stars. When we talk about magic that isn't 'ancient,' we're really only referring to roughly the past hundred years."
"A hundred years from now, people will call the magic we're researching today 'ancient, mysterious magic.'" Anton shrugged. "If we're truly dividing magic into eras, then so-called Ancient Magic should refer to the age of Mesopotamia and ancient Greece, when magic first emerged. The magic of that time—oh, I mean Witchcraft—was actually more savage, bloody, and evil. Nowadays, it would all be classified as Dark Magic."
Harry looked at Anton in surprise.