Victory of the Purebloods
The atmosphere in the hall changed at this moment, and the differentiation among the seats was becoming visible to the naked eye.
The Pureblood families representatives on the left sat up straighter, with solemn expressions on their faces. Old Nott nodded slightly. An old-faced wizard next to him looked at Crouch with an expressionless face, and his body was slightly tilted towards Orion.
Several members appointed by the minister on the right were exchanging glances with each other. Some people's eyes were turning back and forth on Crouch and Orion. There was no obvious movement on the large seat in the middle, they were silent and waiting.
Crouch took another step forward, the distance was getting closer, and the voice was lowered, making it more oppressive. "Orion, Black family, do you know what you are doing?
You are trying to override Ministry of Magic and organize a planned armed action outside the jurisdiction of Ministry of Magic.
No matter what tradition you use, the essence of this matter is that one family declares war on another family, which is a challenge to order."
His words were not only addressed to Orion, but also to the fifty or so Wizengamot members present.
Ministry of Magic's authority, the bottom line of order, has changed from talking about legal provisions to talking about power.
"Black family abides by an ancient law that has never been repealed," Orion returned to a calm tone, unmoved. "Barty, if Ministry of Magic thinks this law is inappropriate, it should push for changes in advance instead of blocking it when someone uses it legally. This is probably not the scope of Department of Magical Law Enforcement's responsibilities."
He continued, "Black family has never been above Ministry of Magic. Black family is a part of the Wizarding World order. Part of the rules of this order were formulated by the ancestors of Black. Every step of what we do today is within the rules."
Orion looked away from Crouch and scanned the silent faces on the seats. "Black family's seat at Wizengamot, like this law, was established together with this order hundreds of years ago. We abide by it and maintain it. It is like this today and it will be like this tomorrow."
Crouch The muscles on his cheeks bulged.
Of course he knew that every word of Orion was true, that the validity of the contract was indeed independent of Ministry of Magic, that it had never been repealed, and that it was indeed legal within the legal framework of Wizengamot.
If you want to abolish it, you have to go through the legislative process, propose, discuss, vote, and enact.
With Ministry of Magic's work efficiency, coupled with the skills of those bureaucrats and muddy people, plus Pureblood families's resistance, not to mention three days, three months will not be enough. Three years will depend on the situation.
What's more, he himself is Pureblood Wizards. If he really dares to personally promote the abolition of the ancient laws of Pure-bloods, then his position in Pure-blood Circle will be gone.
He may not care about those outdated traditions, but he cannot care about the political costs.
"Mr. Crouch."
A calm voice came down from the top of the stairs, with the calmness of an old politician. Before saying a word, he wanted to turn the attention of the audience before continuing.
"Malfoy family has reviewed all the terms of this filing document," Abraxas's gray-blue eyes slowly scanned from Crouch to the document on the clerk's desk, and then back again. "Every clause is compliant, every clause has a legal basis, and there are no flaws in the procedure."
With just this sentence, everyone here understood it, and Malfoy family endorsed it for Black family.
This is already a public statement. It was at a formal occasion of Wizengamot, in front of about fifty members, Malfoy family and Black family stood together.
Crouch's eyes moved to Abraxas, and Abraxas looked back at him, with a slight arc at the corner of his mouth.
Crouch's eyes twitched downwards, he hasn't lost yet, he still has tricks.
"Three days," his voice hardened again, and he turned to Orion: "Black family gives Rowle family three days of preparation time, and then we will launch a substantial war on the land of UK."
This is the last angle from which to put pressure. If you can't find fault with the procedures, qualifications, or terms, then let's use local security and Ministry of Magic's most basic responsibilities to put pressure.
He wants to characterize this matter as a war, and Ministry of Magic will have legal space to intervene after the fact.
Orion Of course I can hear that three days is not the point.
"The three-day public notice period is the ancient rule of the contract Magic itself," he tilted his head slightly, his tone unchanged. "The mechanism was designed hundreds of years ago to ensure that both parties fight under equal conditions. Black family strictly complied with every rule, including the three-day public notice period. As for UK's native land--
Barty, declaratio sanguinis occurred four times in the twelfth century, twice in the thirteenth century, and once in the fourteenth century, each time on the land of UK.
There are files in Wizengamot's records, you can check them, and those cases were not ultimately identified as matters requiring Ministry of Magic's intervention."
This is of course. When those cases occurred, UK Ministry of Magic had not yet been established. It only existed in 1692.
The contract is at least five centuries older than Ministry of Magic. Crouch used local security to suppress it and Ministry of Magic's jurisdiction to frame it. But when this set of rules started to work, Ministry of Magic didn't even have a desk.
Crouch looked at Orion's face and was silent for a long time.
He did not answer his words, nor did he answer the local war or any hint about the jurisdiction of Ministry of Magic. He only talked about the rules of the contract itself and the terms settled hundreds of years ago.
I just pointed at his nose and said, if you have any objections to this set of rules, you can go to the person who wrote the rules hundreds of years ago to mention it. You can't tell me here, because your rules won't work for me.
Crouch moved his eyes away from Orion and slowly scanned the fifty or so faces on the stairs, the Pure-bloods faction on the left, the minister-appointed faction on the right, and the silent majority in the middle.
Each face has different content written on it, including support, opposition, wait-and-see, calculation, fear, and excitement, but no face can give him enough confidence to make a comeback.
He withdrew his gaze and glanced at Orion for the last time.
"I am very aware of the terms that prohibit third parties from intervening," Crouch's voice returned to a cold tone. "But Department of Magical Law Enforcement has no control over matters beyond the terms.
If this... action affects any wizard who is not within the scope of the contract, even one, I will intervene."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
Orion's voice sounded from behind, "Black family will abide by every rule, but Barty, Rowle family, maybe you should also inform them."
Crouch didn't look back, and continued to stride forward. He walked to the side door and opened it directly. The door closed behind him. Corridor There was a sound of footsteps, gradually getting away.
Orion looked at the closed door with no unnecessary expression on his face.
Chief The same goes for the secretary. As if the scene just now was just a farce, he lowered his head, picked up the document and turned to the last page.
The Magic seal of Black family, the dark blue light pulsating slightly, is next to the signature of Orion. The ink has long since dried, and there are still faint traces of Magic Power in the strokes.
He took out the official seal of Wizengamot from the drawer. It was made of heavy brass and engraved with the overlapping pattern of a scale and the letter "W".
The moment the brass touched the paper, a faint golden light glowed at the contact point, and then faded. He put the documents into Wizengamot's formal filing cabinet, and the cabinet door closed with a dull metal collision sound.
The contract officially came into effect, and the war began three days later.
The last few remaining Latin letters in the air flickered and disappeared completely.
Orion straightened the front of his robe, nodded slightly towards the seat, faced everyone, then turned and walked towards the main entrance of the hall.
Abraxas stood up from his seat and followed Orion out.
Several members of the old Pure-bloods family stood up one after another. Their purple-red robes stood up from their seats one after another and moved to the door, all in unison.
Several members appointed by the minister stayed in their seats and exchanged glances with each other. Some shook their heads slightly, and some spread out the documents in front of them.
In the large seat in the middle, it took a while for several people to slowly stand up, their movements slow and their expressions different.
The hall was mostly empty.
The clerk lowered his head and continued to organize the documents on the table. The matters Floo Powder and Muggle had ordered were put on hold.
Someone in Corridor is already whispering about it, and the news spreads faster than an owl.
Several staff members who were whispering among each other saw Orion coming from the end of Corridor. They immediately fell silent and stepped aside to the wall.
Orion walked straight past them, the hem of the purple Wizengamot robe swept across the marble Corridor, and the figure gradually walked away.
The Magic ceiling in the atrium reflects the afternoon sun, and Fountain of Magical Brethren is still spraying water. The water column shoots out from the wand, the arcs intersect in mid-air, and falls into the circular pool.
He walked out of Ministry of Magic. It was very bright outside.
In London in July, the sunlight at three or four o'clock in the afternoon hit the shabby phone booth at the entrance of Ministry of Magic, making the red patent leather shine.
The golden light curtain in the Diagon Alley direction has long since dissipated, and the sky is very blue and clean, leaving no traces, but something remains in the entire London air.
Maybe it's the aftertaste of Magic's burning, or maybe it's because the news is so shocking, the whole building is buzzing with the same kind of restlessness.
The entire Ministry of Magic knows it, and in a short time, the entire UK Wizarding World will also know it.
<The Daily Prophet> Editorial Department, top floor.
Barnabas Kaf rushed in from the door with Rita·Skeeter, holding a full roll of Magic film in his hand. The bright blue vest was still dazzling under the bright lights of the office.
"Front page! Give me the front page! Additional issue! Additional issue must be added!"
The typesetting editor raised his head from behind the desk with an unlit pipe in his mouth, and several reporters who were immersed in proofreading turned around at the same time.
Kaf slapped the film on the layout and editing table. Rita followed behind him, holding his shorthand notebook in his arms. His body was still trembling slightly, and his eyes were so bright.
She watched as Kaf pulled the films out of the roll one by one and spread them out on the table. Those golden light patterns slowly flowed in the black and white film, and the living sky was trapped in the still picture.