As time passed, several delegations from mid-sized Ministries of Magic on good terms with England arrived early, one after another.
The delegations from smaller countries had also mostly arrived, led by their respective ministers.
They included Ministries of Magic from Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and other regions, all with relatively small wizarding populations.
To put it bluntly, an international gathering like this was no different from a cocktail party. It was all about status.
The more powerful the guests, the later they made their entrance.
The rank of those sent to welcome them mattered just as much.
Hadn't Fudge, the nominal head of England's Ministry of Magic, and Dumbledore, the president of the International Confederation of Wizards, both yet to appear?
The hall had now become an impromptu international reception, where ministers who had not yet gone up to the third-floor viewing gallery were busy socializing.
For an ordinary international assembly, sending the heads of each country's department of international cooperation would have sufficed.
An occasion that brought so many ministers together was rare. Besides exploring possible cooperation, they could also take the opportunity to sound one another out beforehand.
Amid the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, this impromptu social gathering displayed an even greater variety of styles than the opening banquet for the Five-Wizard Tournament at Hogwarts.
Naturally, these high-ranking officials would not dress as casually as ordinary people, so the hall now looked remarkably like an exhibition of traditional clothing from a hundred countries.
While most of the men wore formal attire, the women generally wore whatever made them look most beautiful.
There were white, cloak-like Arabian chalians, South Asian saya skirts and thanons, Japanese kimonos, pleated Celtic kilts from England, and more.
Just as everyone was cultivating connections, a delegation arrived from outside to flaunt