Harry Potter’s Book of Sin Chapter 1778: Visit to Belgium
Today, it is still a sunny day—at least Boothbarton is indeed like this.
However, Hermione and the others have no time to appreciate such a good weather.
The old butler has already discussed with Mrs. Maxim, they are going to several neighboring countries to successively visit some forces worthy of being wooed, and try to persuade them to join the formation of the "Rebel Alliance".
Because Maca is not here, with Hermione's wisdom, he naturally became a representative of Hogwarts and one of the advocates of the alliance.
After sending Harry and the others away, Hermione actually didn't stay in Boothbarton for too long. When the morning sun rose to illuminate the earth, she and the old housekeeper rode Madame Maxim’s huge rune carriage to Belgium, the first destination of their trip.
I have to say that this country, which is also separated from the UK by the Strait of Dover, is actually very dangerous. If Helbo's heart moves and he prepares to invade the European continent, Belgium is very likely to be occupied "by the way."
For the same reason, the Netherlands, north of Belgium, also has the same danger, so Mrs. Maxim’s next stop is to go north, and then maybe she will transfer to Germany, which is adjacent to the two countries at the same time.
In fact, when Harry and the others were still sailing on the English Channel, Hermione had already arrived in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, with Mrs. Maxim and the old butler.
"I have had several exchanges with the Belgian Minister of Magic, Ms. De Quinn... Generally speaking, she is a more emotional person than rational. Since taking office, she has always focused on the rights and welfare of the wizarding people. Originally There is no magic school in Belgium, but with her unremitting efforts, Belgium's first enlightenment school for wizards has finally been completed-it is very small, but at least there is."
In the carriage, Mrs. Maxim introduced Hermione and the old butler about the female minister who was going to see for a while. Of course, these things were mainly for Hermione, because the old butler’s understanding of each other actually Not much less than Mrs. Maxim.
And the extremely smart Hermione did not live up to Maxim's expectations. Although the latter only spoke to the end, she understood the meaning of it all at once-after seeing each other later , The efficiency of persuading from the perspective of "humanistic care" will definitely be much higher than talking about the gains and losses of benefits.
Now the three have gotten out of the car, and after leaving the invisible carriage and the coachman in a large parking lot where the Muggle Deportation Curse has been imposed, they bypassed several buildings and silently Walked into an alley with no passersby.
It didn't take long to see Mrs. Maxim, the leader leading the way, stretching out her wand at a corner and tapping the brick in the corner lightly. In the next moment, the tall girl had to bend over and slam into the wall without hindrance.
Hermione and the old butler saw this and hurriedly followed.
……
This is a wizarding street somewhat similar to Diagon Alley in the UK.
Slightly narrow streets, various magic shops, strange buildings of different heights, and the sky crowded into a line by the surrounding buildings.
The difference from Diagon Alley is that every shop here is decorated with a variety of colorful tarps, tapestries and murals. Although they take up a little space, they all look beautiful.
Of course, the practice of putting tables and chairs on the street like that one is obviously not worth promoting.
It can be seen that Mrs. Maxim is struggling to walk here... Okay! Perhaps it was the Belgian wizards who had to make way for her who worked harder than her!
Mrs. Maxim's arrival has caused many passing wizards to cast their vigilant or curious glances at her. It's just that Maxim has been accustomed to this line of sight, and didn't take it seriously-at least on the surface.
Although... after entering this wizarding street, her words were obviously much less.
"A little further ahead is the Ministry of Magic," the old butler said to Hermione beside him, "I have been here before, but I just Apparated...Oh, it happened to be blocked by the wife. , You will be able to see it in a while."
Sure enough, after they followed Mrs. Maxim for a while, the road seemed to gradually widen. This is not because the road is really widening, but because there are fewer things on the side of the street.
Soon, Hermione finally saw a typical Gothic building that looked old and quite magnificent. The complex and exquisite exterior wall sculptures made people feel rather dazzling.
"This is the Belgian Ministry of Magic," the old butler said. "It used to be an old house of an ancient wizard family, and it is not inferior to our Blois family in terms of inheritance..."
"Unfortunately, it became lonely in the 16th century. The last heir sold it half and half to the chairman of the Belgian Council of Wizards, who was about to establish the Ministry of Magic. He changed a position in the Ministry. In fact, this The street was built later with this old house as the center, so you see, it seems a bit out of place here..."
As the housekeeper of the Blois family, these histories about other famous wizard families need to be kept in mind. At this moment, the old housekeeper introduces Hermione, almost at his fingertips.
And while they were talking, they followed Mrs. Maxim to the gate.
"I'm Orim Maxim, the principal of Boothbatten School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I need to meet with Ms. De Quinn for an important matter. Please let me know!"
After speaking to the guard at the door, she walked in on her own. Hermione saw that the wizard guard had tried to stop him with words, but was quickly stopped by an older colleague on the other side.
"That's Mrs. Maxim! You little idiot from Durmstrand—"
Just as he reprimanded him, he saw the old housekeeper and Hermione also walking up behind Mrs. Maxim~IndoMTL.com~ and suddenly stopped in embarrassment.
Belgium also speaks French basically. Although some vocabulary is slightly different from French, let's not talk about Hermione, at least the old housekeeper can fully understand it.
"Hello," the old butler did not pay attention to his somewhat vulgar words just now, and nodded politely at the other party, "We are here with Mrs. Maxim to meet Ms. De Quinn, may I ask Can I go in?"
He didn't report his identity here because it was obviously unnecessary.
"Oh! Hello, old gentleman, and this beautiful lady...Of course," the other party hurriedly said, "Please come in, please come in!"
In the warm greeting from the other party, the old butler and Hermione also passed the gate together and entered the reception hall of the Belgian Ministry of Magic.
"After seeing the minister for a while, let's not talk. You will find that Mrs. Maxim chose to come here for a reason in the first place."
The old butler whispered in Hermione's ear.