You Seem a Little Too Extreme

Need someone to do the experiment?

As expected of a chaotic and evil transfer student, he can actually say such things.

"Isn't this a bit inappropriate?" Pabbie asked hesitantly. "Having people experiment on is something only Dark Wizard would do, isn't it?"

Upon hearing Pabbie's words, Veratia reached out and pulled her sunglasses down to below her nose.

Her gaze was like a knife, scraping against Pabbie's skin.

Pabbie shuddered and quickly corrected herself. "Ah, that's not what I meant, I just meant... uh, I was just saying..."

"Stop talking, Pabbie," Harry said helplessly, trying to smooth things over. "Actually, Veratia didn't mean it that way. She just wanted to help Anne break the Dark Magic Curse. She didn't do anything wrong."

Pabbie gave a smile that looked more like a grimace.

Yes, what did she do wrong? She's just a pure and innocent little girl, right?

I can't reason with you love-struck fools!

Cassandra suddenly spoke.

"I support Grindelwald's opinion," she said. "If we want to safely remove the curse from Saru, then... we do need to find a foolproof way—and clearly, this is a good one."

"You support Veratia too?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course." Cassandra raised the corner of her mouth. "As Slytherin, I don't have the so-called moral burden of Hufflepuff or Gryffindor —but if you feel it's inappropriate, perhaps we can try finding a few Dark Wizard, what do you say?"

Dark Wizard?

Look around Britain now, where are there any Dark Wizard left? They've all gone into hiding, either with Voldemort or imprisoned in Azkaban.

Finding a Dark Wizard in Azkaban is indeed quite simple, but also quite troublesome.

"I have no objection," Harry said. "But... where do we get the Dark Magic Curse from?"

"While I can't undo dark Dark Magic Curse Dark Magic Curse, I can cast them," Veratia said with a smile. "While I may not be as skilled as Voldemort, I won't be too far off."

At this point, Veratia held up one finger.

"Oh," she said, "It just so happens that a group of Dark Wizard have recently been imprisoned in Vienna's magic prison. I can give special permission to use a few of the most heinous Dark Wizard to test curses."

Look at that, this is the power of the Minister for Magic.

If the Dark Wizard in the Britain magic prisons can't produce it, then surely I can make one in Austria, right?

"Are you sure it's a heinous crime?" Pabbie asked uncertainly.

Veratia reached out and pinched Pabbie's little face.

"Oh, Pabbie, you're so cute."

Pabbie pouted, symbolically expressing her dissatisfaction.

Is "cute" the right word to describe me here?

Is that right?

"Then it's decided, Grindelwald." Cassandra lazily decided while sunbathing. "Tonight or tomorrow, we'll go to Vienna and find a few heinous prisoner so Harry Purification them of the Dark Magic Curse."

"Mmm," Veratia responded with a nasal tone. She reached for the lemonade on the table and took a small sip through the straw.

The two wives, chatting and laughing, finalized their plan, giving Harry absolutely no room for objection.

Cassandra's idea was simple: to let the Dark Wizard suffer, and let the two of them bear the infamy.

Whether or not others find out about this, it wasn't Harry who started it.

But admitting it is impossible. That's just how arrogant people are. They'd rather be misunderstood than not be kind to others in their own twisted and awkward way.

In fact, Harry didn't really want to object, since it involved his best friend's sister.

They spent the afternoon sunbathing on the beach before reluctantly returning to their hotel.

While Cassandra and Pabbie went back to tidy up, Veratia called out to Harry, who wanted to take a shower.

"Don't blame Cass for what happened today," Veratia said softly.

"What?" Harry didn't understand what Veratia meant.

"I just don't want you and her to misunderstand anything, Harry." Veratia smiled. "The fact that she took the initiative to finalize this with me today isn't because she disrespects you, but rather—you should know, she's a rather awkward person. The reason she did this is that if this gets exposed by others, the blame will fall on her, not you. Do you understand?"

"I understand," Harry nodded, "But you two are underestimating me..."

"Listen to me, you're still a student, and you still have to finish your studies at Hogwarts." Veratia smiled and reached out to ruffle Harry's messy hair. "I'm Dark Wizard's sister, and Cassandra is the eldest daughter of the Malfoy family Grindelwald, a staunch supporter of Voldemort... We don't care about reputation."

"But you're the Minister for Magic," Harry said, reaching for the newspaper. "You see, even Fudge cares a lot about his reputation. Look what he published in the Daily Prophet! Not only did he go to great lengths to slander Dumbledore, but he even dragged me into it... So, my reputation isn't very good right now either."

"Really?" Veratia raised an eyebrow, reached for the newspaper, and her face fell.

Very well, you have met a righteous end!

How dare they slander Harry like that!

"This is a part of life, Veratia," Harry said to Veratia as he took the newspaper back. "I think you should maintain a proper image. After all, a Minister for Magic who arbitrarily experiments on prisoner gives off a... well, a brutal impression."

Veratia smiled dismissively, but still accepted Harry's offer.

Things are really different now. A hundred years ago, it was perfectly normal for the Ministry of Magic to randomly select a few prisoners to test drugs.

Has everything changed so drastically in just one hundred years?

"However..." Veratia smiled and looked up at Harry, "I don't intend to interfere in how we deal with Fudge. You should also try to learn how to conduct real political struggles, instead of just relying on the theories Mr. Malfoy taught you, understand?"

"You mean?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"Oh, Harry," Veratia said, crossing her legs, propping herself up on the bed with her hands, and tilting her head, "Don't you think this is inappropriate? Or perhaps...?"

"No, Veratia," Harry said with a smile. "You're right, I really should learn how to fight—in real combat."

"I believe in you, Harry." Veratia beckoned Harry over, hugged him, and pressed her head against his chest. "You're the best, Harry."

Harry didn't say anything, but lowered his head and kissed Veratia.

The two were kissing when Cassandra pushed open the door and walked into the house.

Seeing the two passionately kissing, Cassandra raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, "Oh, it seems it's springtime now, the season of renewal, isn't it?"

"It's summer now." Harry released his grip. "Spring is long gone—but it should be spring within the Arctic Circle, right, Veratia?"

"Mmm." Veratia's eyes smiled like little crescent moons.

"Go eat, we'll go to Vienna after that," Cassandra said with a cold expression. "You still remember the Dark Magic Curse on Saru, right, Grindelwald?"

"Of course," Veratia nodded.

"Then we..."

Before Cassandra could finish speaking, Harry hugged her.

"Cass," Harry said without offering any words of thanks, simply gazing intently into Cassandra's eyes, "I love you."

"Oh." Cassandra curled her lip in disdain. "If I hadn't just seen you kissing Grindelwald, I might have believed you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Harry kissed him.

"Mmm, you..."

Cassandra resisted a couple of times, but seeing that Harry was holding her too tightly, she sighed inwardly and let go.

Forget it, this little devil...

After Harry finished kissing her, Veratia smiled leisurely and asked, "So... I have a question, Cass."

"Speak," Cassandra said dismissively.

"I just kissed Harry, and you kissed Harry too... so..." Veratia suddenly smiled slyly, "Wouldn't that count as us indirectly kissing?"

Cassandra's eyes suddenly widened.

She pointed at Veratia tremblingly, then reached out and vigorously smeared her lips.

"Hahahaha..." Veratia was almost overjoyed to see Cassandra like this.

When Pabbie came in, he happened to see Cassandra wiping her mouth and Veratia laughing happily.

"What's wrong with you guys?" A question mark floated above Pabbie's head.

"It's nothing," Veratia said, suppressing a laugh. "It's just that Cassandra and I... kissed."

"What?!" Papi sat down on the ground in shock.

No, what's going on?

She felt as if her brain had been suddenly struck by something moving at high speed.

You guys were having a really... really good time.

She suddenly felt speechless.

You're not taking me, are you?

"Okay, Veratia was just kidding," Harry said helplessly. "Let's go eat first, and then we'll go to Vienna together, okay?"

"Oh..." Pabbie's eyes were glazed over, clearly not yet processing what Veratia had just said.

The words she just heard have left such a deep scar that she is still unable to think clearly.

After a long while, she finally raised her head blankly.

What should we eat for dinner?

"Let's eat in Vienna," Veratia said. "It's five in the afternoon... well, it should be six in the afternoon in Austria. It's not too late for us to go to Vienna."

Since Veratia had already made the suggestion, no one objected.

Pabbie was also very supportive, since not opposing it was a form of support.

Besides, she's never had Austria food before.

I'd heard that Austria was also a country renowned for its cuisine, so I figured I had to go and see for myself.

After the meal, they went to the Greater German Ministry of Magic, which was headquartered in Vienna.

The Greater German Ministry of Magic was quite impressive; in fact, it was essentially a modified version of Nurmengard Castle.

Inside Nurmengard Castle, it was nothing like the deserted place Harry had seen a few years ago; crowds were bustling about, making it quite lively.

Come to think of it, it makes sense. After all, it's a headquarters-level place that integrates the Ministry of Magic of several countries, so it's only natural to have a lot of people.

The Minister for Magic's office was on the top floor, and the group took the elevator all the way to the top floor.

"We're here." Veratia gestured for them to step out of the elevator.

Veratia's office was in the main hall, and it was incredibly spacious.

Behind the desk is a huge floor-to-ceiling window, outside which is the snow-capped Alps that never melt.

At her desk, Miss Farley was rapidly reviewing documents.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up and said with delight, "Miss Grindelwald? You're finally back... Oh, hello, Mr. Potter, Miss Cassandra, and Miss Sweeting."

"Hello, Miss Farley," Harry and the others returned the greeting.

"Please forgive me," Miss Farley apologized, and walked to Veratia's side with a stack of documents. "These are for your review, Miss Grindelwald, as you see..."

"Okay, let's put it here and take a look," Veratia nodded.

Miss Farley put the documents down, and Veratia picked up the top one, glanced at it, and then frowned.

"What does the French Ministry of Magic mean?" she asked coldly. "Does it think we want to annex them? Really..."

"I'm sorry, Miss Grindelwald," Miss Farley said quickly.

"However, it's normal and understandable that they have such concerns," Veratia said, putting the documents aside. "I do really want to build a unified European Magical Alliance, instead of the current loose structure that has been picked off one by one by the American Ministry of Magic... But I have always adhered to the principle of voluntary self-determination. If someone doesn't want to join the Greater German Alliance, I won't force anyone to make a choice."

"The France, they've always been short-sighted," Miss Farley chimed in.

The animosity between the Britain and the France cannot be explained in just a few words.

Even the most mild-mannered Britain will look at the France with disdain.

"Just leave it here," Veratia said again. "Don't pay any attention to them, but you still need to use proper diplomatic language. Just draft one as usual."

"Yes, Miss Grindelwald," Miss Farley nodded.

Veratia flipped through the documents very quickly, finishing the backlog of tasks in less than half an hour.

"Oh, right," Veratia said as she put down the last file, "I need to go to the dungeon and fetch two prisoner."

"Yes, Lady." Miss Farley didn't ask why; she was always very proper and knew what it meant to not ask what shouldn't be asked.

This is also why Veratia values her; after all, it's really hard to find a subordinate who knows the rules so well.

Miss Farley turned and left, while Veratia gestured for Harry and the others to sit down.

"Have a seat," she said. "Just wait a moment, relax, and treat this place like Hogwarts."

As she spoke, she lightly tapped her fingers on the table.

House Elf Ruby appeared.

"Bring us some dessert, Ruby," Veratia ordered.

(End of this chapter)