Barty followed Shawn to the sofa and stood straight-backed before it. Once the conversation turned to his strengths, he grew even more animated.
"My lord, England's progress and prosperity are the envy of most visitors.
Many Ministers for Magic from smaller countries have even told me privately that they want to adopt these advanced methods of governance.
Of course, the pure-bloods of the major powers also understand perfectly well what this prosperity is built upon, so..."
Barty then began giving Shawn a detailed account of how the representatives from the various Ministries of Magic had reacted to England's changes in the period before the Wizards' Conference officially began.
Their reactions were much as expected.
Ministries that had little to begin with, or whose countries were poor overall, were eager to progress and hoped for England's support.
These included the African Federation and small countries in South America and on Europe's fringes.
Russia was one of the few major powers that wanted to emulate England.
Those Ministries ruled by wealthy pure-bloods only wanted to preserve the status quo and keep exploiting everyone else.
These included major magical powers such as the United States, France, Germany, Egypt, and India, along with some smaller countries that followed their lead and cheered them on.
The United States and France were the most vehement.
Shawn had expected all of this, but Barty also reported on one Ministry with unusual circumstances.
Egypt, for instance, had a theocratic Ministry of Magic, with religion and government united from top to bottom. Wizards and Muggles alike obeyed only the commands of their "god."
After hearing this, Shawn began considering a few different possibilities.
Religious faith might still be prevalent in only a handful of places in the wizarding world, but it was enormously widespread in the Muggle world.
Barty