Department of Mysteries
Sandrine, holding Xiwen, followed the crowd toward the end of the Ministry Atrium.
At the far end of the main hall, the narrow space suddenly opens up, forming a spacious circular plaza. In the center is a fountain, and several huge golden statues stand in the middle of a circular pool.
The tallest statue is of a wizard, his wand pointing straight to the sky. Around him gather a beautiful witch, a centaur, a Goblin, and a House-Elf, all three gazing at the two wizards with adoration. Winky water from a fountain flows from the tips of the wizards' wands.
"So this thing is called the Fountain of Magical Brethren?" Xiwen asked, looking at the name on the fountain's base with a strange expression.
This design, which centers on wizards and downplays the status of other species, is clearly unreasonable. As far as Xiwen knows, Centaurs and Goblin are all incredibly arrogant and disdain associating with wizards. Goblin have rebelled several times in recent centuries and still haven't submitted to wizards; Centaurs are even more so, they refuse to accept the identity of "human."
To expect them to look at a wizard with the kind of worshipful gaze depicted in statues is nothing short of a fantasy.
Sandrine glanced at the statue, scoffed, and said, "It looks like it was designed by a foolish wizard sculptor from the last century, who actually thought he could promote equality between wizards and non-human Magical Creatures with this statue? Ha!"
Xiwen shook his head inwardly, thinking of the condescending attitude of Pure-blood wizard towards Half-blood and Muggle-born wizard. Even within the wizarding world, so much inequality existed; how could one expect wizards and non-human Magical Creatures to coexist equally?
He sighed and continued walking with Sandrine.
As he passed the pool beneath the fountain, Xiwen saw many Winky Silver Sickle and Knut at the bottom. Next to them was a small, Scabbers sign that read, "All proceeds from the Fountain of Magical Brethren are donated to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."
Seeing this, Xiwen suddenly remembered the wishing well he had seen in the previous world, and a sense of nostalgia arose in him. He then casually tossed a Galleon into it.
Sandrine gave him a surprised look and said, "If you want to donate to St. Mungo's's, we can contact their dean directly to make the donation in person."
Xiwen shook his head and smiled, "I just thought since I'm already here, it'd be good to leave a souvenir."
Sandrine didn't quite understand Xiwen's thoughts, so she didn't say anything more and pulled him toward the magic elevator at the end of the main hall.
At the end, there are many elevators, crowded together in a semi-circle, roughly no fewer than twenty.
These magical elevators must all be alchemical products; Xiwen could even sense the fluctuations of magic within them.
Sandrine frowned as she watched a group of Ministry of Magic employees shove and jostle their way into an elevator. She didn't want to share an elevator with everyone else.
Just then, a kind-looking middle-aged man wearing a top hat approached and said to Xiwen and Sandrine, "What a coincidence, Mrs. Rozier and Mr. Rozier. Are you on your way to the Courtroom?"
Sandrine nodded and said to the middle-aged man, "It is indeed quite a coincidence, Director Morn."
"Then please follow me." Director Morn smiled and gestured for the two to follow him.
Seemingly noticing Sandrine's dislike of the crowded elevator, he added, "There aren't many employees going to the ninth floor, so there shouldn't be anyone else going with us."
Sandrine finally relaxed her brows and, pulling Xiwen along, followed Director Morn.
Just as Director Morn had said, once they saw that the three were taking the elevator down, no more employees tried to enter the elevator where they were; instead, they would squeeze into other crowded elevators.
The metal folding doors snapped shut, and with the creaking of the elevator and the occasional gust of cool air, the three arrived at the ninth basement level.
The style here is very different from the main hall. The entire floor has only one simple corridor leading to a black door. The floor and walls are covered with dark tiles, and there are no windows or doors on either side of the corridor, making it look bare.
Two rows of torches were stuck in the dark tiles of the wall, shimmering with blue and white light, adding a touch of mystery to the floor.
"The Courtroom can only be reached by going down to the tenth basement level from here, and it's still quite a walk," Director Morn said to Xiwen and Sandrine, before preparing to lead them around a corner and onto the steps leading to the tenth floor.
However, Xiwen suddenly felt a surge of emotion from the bottom of his heart!
He suddenly turned his head and looked at the lonely black door at the end of the corridor. There seemed to be a familiar yet strange power within that door, a feeling of déjà vu.
"What's wrong, Xiwen?" Sandrine noticed Xiwen's unusual expression and asked.
"It's nothing, I was just a little curious." Xiwen resisted the urge to walk over and push open the door, and looked away.
He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart and asked, feigning curiosity, "Director Morn, do you know what's inside that door?"
"That's the Department of Mysteries," Director Morn replied, giving the black door a long, deep look. "It's the Ministry of Ministry of Magic's top-secret agency; I'm not entirely sure what's inside."
"Let's go to the Courtroom first, it's almost time," Director Morn said to the two, intentionally changing the subject.
Xiwen sighed with some regret, glanced back at the black door of the Department of Mysteries one last time, and then followed Director Morn.
When the three arrived at the Courtroom, there was still some time before the trial began. Sandrine and Xiwen were asked to wait in the VIP room until the Judgement started.
"Son, do you want to know about the Department of Mysteries?" Sandrine suddenly asked.
"I am indeed quite curious." Xiwen looked at Sandrine with a hint of surprise. "Do you know anything about the Department of Mysteries?"
"I can only say I know a little bit," Sandrine nodded and said softly. "The Department of Mysteries is a research department within the Ministry of Magic, but it was actually established even before the Ministry of Magic itself. Basically, only a very small number of high-ranking Ministry of Magic in the Ministry know about its research projects."
"Nevertheless, thanks to the connections within our Pure-blood families, we can still learn some inside information." She paused, slightly troubled. "It's quite unbelievable, but neither the Rosier family nor my Selwyn family has ever produced a single Minister for Magic."
"The Rosier Family's knowledge of the Department of Mysteries was acquired through marriage from the Lestrange family, so we don't know much about it."