Mere Bones in a Tomb-I'll Sooner or Later-
Mr. LeMay's cottage has since moved to Hogsmeade, and there are quite a few staff members there now, so it's still necessary to be near a populated area.
After all, a significant portion of these staff members are Muggle, and they—well, they can't do what LeMay and her husband do.
Of course, the interior of Mr. LeMay's cottage is still protected by the Fidelius Charm, but not far from the cottage lies what is now an industrial park.
The name is "Philosopher's Stone Company".
Recently, the products of the Philosopher's Stone Company have quietly entered the field of vision of Muggle elites. As soon as this mysterious company appeared, business giants keenly sensed that this was a company with even greater potential than Apple and Microsoft.
Lami has always used thuggish methods to try to bring such unstable factors under its control, but clearly, this is not a Europe Muggle company.
The Muggle world's conventions are not popular in the Magical World.
You might be one of the strongest in the Muggle world, but sorry, in the Magical World, Old Europe is far stronger than nouveau riche America.
When clever tactics fail, they resort to force; this is the core of the US's tactics, and it's also why elites like Steve came to Britain.
However, this industrial park was different from the towering chimneys or cold steel factories that Harry had imagined. Instead, it was a seemingly ordinary hedge fence made of thorns and roses.
If you have an invitation or reservation voucher, the hedges will gracefully part automatically as you approach, revealing a completely different world.
The buildings in the park are not traditional square factory buildings, but several towers and domed buildings with a magical futuristic style.
It was quite interesting; Harry even saw an employee being chased by Quill.
Harry.
Lupin, who was sitting idly by the door, greeted Harry with a smile.
"Remus?" Harry exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
"Look," Lupin said with a smile, "Ms. Grindelwald is visiting the Philosopher's Stone Industrial Park in Hogsmeade. As Minister for Magic, Sirius should be receiving Lady with his secretary, Mrs. Black, and I—as an Auror —am also responsible for security here."
"I see—" Harry nodded as if he understood.
"Go inside," Lupin said. "They're talking about the Wizarding Secrecy Law, and it's really giving me a headache. Your girlfriend wants to break the Wizarding Secrecy Law, and coincidentally, your Godfather wants to break Wizarding Secrecy Law too—"
"Oh, because I also want to break the Wizarding Secrecy Law," Harry chimed in, winking at Lupin.
Lupin was taken aback.
How should I say it?
It's true what they say, birds of a feather flock together!
"Thank goodness this isn't the Muggle world," Harry said, pointing to an owl in the distance carrying a package away. "You see, if those animal welfare organizations knew, they'd definitely say wizards are abusing animals—using owls as deliverymen, really—"
"Using owls to deliver items is perfectly normal; there's nothing to be surprised about," Lupin said with a smile. He added, "I've seen those videos you've uploaded online recently. I have to admit, your friends are indeed very talented, and you've trained them quite well."
"The main reason is simply because they work hard," Harry said with a shrug. "Even if I teach them the best, if they don't put their hearts into it, it's all for nothing, isn't it?"
"Indeed." Lupin nodded vigorously.
"Alright," Harry said to Lupin, "I have to go in now—"
"Hmm," Lupin said, pointing in a direction, "It's the fourth room on the right-hand side on the second floor."
Harry followed the direction Lupin pointed and entered the interior of the domed building.
The hall was spacious and bright, with a floor made of smooth, transparent jade stones found in Ancient Magic temples.
Several employees dressed in silver-blue robes stood not far away, discussing in hushed tones around a design drawing made of light that was suspended in mid-air.
In the corner, a House Elf, carrying a tray with several steaming drinks, nimbly dodged a researcher who was walking along, head down, staring at a glowing stone tablet (clearly a first-generation Philosopher's Stone Tablet).
He didn't linger there, but went straight up to the second floor and found the fourth room on the right.
After knocking on the door, Harry went inside.
Inside was a spacious reception room, decorated both elegantly and with a magical atmosphere.
Animated landscape paintings hang on the wall, depicting Hogsmeade village in different seasons, creating a serene and peaceful atmosphere.
A silver teapot was floating on its own, filling several delicate porcelain cups with fragrant tea.
Several people were sitting in the room. Sirius was wearing a formal black robe and leaning back on the sofa, his face showing a mixture of fatigue and excitement.
Beside him, Miss Farley —oh no, now Mrs. Black —was frowning, clearly deep in thought.
In her hands, it was no longer the Notebook that had been with her for many years, but a brand new Philosopher's Stone Tablet.
Sitting opposite them were Veratia, who was wearing a green suit, and Vera Rosier.
Harry raised an eyebrow. Why was it Vera Rosier who came here with Veratia today, instead of Ms. Rosier?
oh----
Then it dawned on him that Gellert's men were also likely to interfere in the breach of the Secrecy Statute.
This is a good thing.
"So, Ms. Rosier, you mean that even if we intend to push for change, the barriers of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy cannot be broken down overnight?"
It was Mrs. Black who spoke; even as Slytherin, she felt that Ms. Rosier's ideas were too radical.
"Break? Oh no----"
Vera's voice was deep and magnetic, like a kiwi—no, like what the Soldier Boy said, women are like wine, getting better with age. Ms. Rosier's voice, refined by the years, undoubtedly added to her charm.
"My dear Mrs. Black, that's too strong a word. What we need is not to violently tear down a wall, but rather—to selectively open a few windows, or perhaps, to make the wall a little more transparent."
Her gaze swept over the tablet in Gemma's hands. "Mr. LeMay's new toy is an excellent window."
"This?" Gemma asked, holding up the tablet in her hand.
"Yes." Vera smiled slightly.
"Harry!"
Sirius's eyes lit up when he noticed Harry walking in, and he immediately waved for him to come in, his weariness seemingly fading away.
They both turned to look at Harry at the doorway.
"Don't look at me," Harry, sitting down next to Veratia and casually putting his arm around her slender waist. "I'll just stand here for a bit; you two continue your conversation."
"We're talking about some really troubling things." Veratia rubbed her temples. "It's really unpleasant, Harry —this is much more troublesome than the idea I initially envisioned: conquering Muggle by force and getting wizards to step into the limelight openly."
"There's nothing we can do about it," Sirius chuckled and shook his head. "Actually, the biggest obstacle doesn't come from Muggle, but from within our own wizarding community. A large portion of wizards are complacent and don't understand what we're doing."
"They think they're right," Harry interjected.
"Correct?" Ms. Rosier raised an eyebrow slightly. "The definition of this term often changes with time and perspective. Take the Wizarding Secrecy Law, for example, which we are discussing now. In your time, we longed to break it so that wizards would no longer hide like rats in the gutter, to establish a new order that belonged to us. But now—"
She looked at Veratia.
The "sir" she just mentioned refers to Gellert.
"It's for survival and progress," Veratia continued. "The products of Philosopher's Stone Company have proven that magic and Muggle technology are not incompatible; they can be combined to create something better. Our stagnation will only cause the wizarding world to shrink. Muggle technology is developing too fast; one day, our magic will no longer be able to completely conceal itself—"
At this point, Veratia's voice sounded tired.
"Muggle ' technological development is also progressing rapidly, and at a much faster pace than that of us conservative wizards—one day, Muggle will surpass wizards, perhaps tomorrow, or perhaps in our grandchildren's generation—we can't leave the trouble to future generations to deal with; rather than being passively hunted by witches," it's better to take the initiative and step forward.
Harry shrugged.
"Yes, hiding is not a good solution; fear and isolation will only breed more conflict. What we need is understanding, communication, and the establishment of new rules, not a fragile wall that needs constant repair."
"Wait a minute," Sirius suddenly raised his hand and said, "We seem to have spoken with some of the 'old fogies' of the International Confederation of Wizards last time, and they still have reservations about breaking the Wizarding Secrecy Law."
At this point, he looked at Gemma.
"During my time in Argentina, Gemma and I also subtly inquired with some wizards from the International Confederation of Wizards —you know what I mean."
Sirius stretched out his hand and twirled his fingers around his temple.
It means someone's mind is very rigid.
"But you should know that Mr. LeMay's window is now open, the elites of the Muggle world have already smelled the scent, and the America ' restless activity is just the beginning." Ms. Rosier put down her teacup, her gaze sharpening. "These new products have also been rolled out into the Muggle World with the tacit approval of these people; they also want to know if it's feasible."
"We want to change the Wizarding Secrecy Law. Having ideals and a few novel products isn't enough; we need power, we need allies, and we need to show those old fogies in the International Confederation of Wizards that the benefits of change far outweigh the risks."
Sirius took a deep breath.
"So I still think that studying in school is much easier than dealing with those old guys."
"But actually, I'm an old guy too," Ms. Rosier said with a chuckle.
"You're different," Sirius said. "You're a representative of the progressives; after all, you were..."
At this point, Sirius suddenly realized that something was amiss with the conversation.
Anyone can praise Gellert Grindelwald, but Sirius can't, because he's the Minister for Magic. If he were to say something nice about Gellert, it could easily be interpreted as some kind of political signal.
"He is a follower of the gentleman." Ms. Rosier smiled gently.
After saying that, she stood up.
"Alright, I won't bother you any longer," she said. "The rest of the time needs to be reserved for the Lady."
She glanced at Veratia, then at Harry, and gave him a warm, aunt-like smile. "Besides her husband, I have some other things to attend to."
"You can stay for dinner," Sirius warmly invited.
"Thank you for your kind offer." Vera smiled slightly, politely declining Sirius's invitation to stay.
After Vera left, Sirius breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, have you come to any conclusions?" Harry asked Sirius curiously. "What I heard for so long was mostly them complaining about the International Confederation of Wizards?"
"What you've heard is only the end," Sirius chuckled. "We've reached a preliminary agreement to gradually roll out the Philosopher's Stone product line across Europe —excluding France, Spain, and Portugal —and to bring the company to the forefront."
"The International Confederation of Wizards has also tacitly approved of this," he said again. "As I just mentioned, they are simply observing the situation for now."
"Just a bunch of spineless skeletons in their graves," Veratia said with a sneer. "I'll get them sooner or later."
"We'll capture him sooner or later?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
He knew this reference; it referred to the Skeleton King from the Three Kingdoms period over a thousand years ago in the Kingdom of Ceres.
"We'll have to get rid of them completely sooner or later." Veratia crossed her arms and grumbled unhappily, "They always hesitate and hold back on everything, calling it 'gradual progress,' but I think they're just complacent!"
"There's no way to expect everyone to be as radical as you," Harry said, giving Veratia a helpless squeeze on the shoulder. "Let's try to look on the bright side. It's precisely because of these dissenting voices that we can make decisions more carefully, isn't it?"
Veratia didn't answer, but just gave a proud and arrogant snort.
"Ahem." Sirius also stood up. "Gemma and I will go for a stroll outside first. We'll leave this place to you two. Speaking of which, we haven't really come here to conduct an on-site inspection since this place was established."
"Actually, it's been a long time since I've visited Mr. LeMay," Harry said with some emotion. "The last time I saw Mr. LeMay was before Christmas last year. I knew they were up to something big at Hogsmeade, but I didn't expect it to be this big—"