Chapter 317: Staying and Growing
"Sharin Malfoy, Merlin's Special Medal, Merlin's Second Order Medal, Medieval Wizards' Union Youth Representative, Wizengamot UK Youth Representative, Transfiguration Today's Most Promising Newcomer Award, 1994 Triwizard Tournament Champion Warrior..."
Sharin looked at his series of titles and smiled with satisfaction.
Judging from his popularity among the young wizards at Hogwarts, the position of prefect next year and the position of male president of the Student Union should be a foregone conclusion. Even Dumbledore cannot go against the will of the people who have gathered together.
According to this trend, I am afraid that before I graduate, the titles hanging on me will surpass Dumbledore.
Well, I have to find an opportunity to upgrade the Merlin's Second Order Medal to a First Order Medal to satisfy my perverted obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Of course, Sharin collected these newspapers and read all the reports without omission, not to find these articles that praised him with all their strength to satisfy his vanity. The real reason is that he knows that the drastic change of the times is coming. So far, three great wizards have appeared, and Grindelwald's escape from prison is not within his expectations.
How will the next chaotic world develop? Even he, who has always been well-prepared, is not completely sure.
Whether in the Muggle world or the wizarding world, the media has always been the mouthpiece of the ruling party.
Reading these newspapers is the fastest and most effective way to find out the thoughts of the Ministry of Magic in various countries.
Coincidentally, whether it is the British "Daily Prophet", the French "Stone Statue Winged Magic", the German "Silver Bat Daily", or even the North American "New York Ghost", there is no mention of Voldemort's return or Grindelwald's escape from prison.
Let's not talk about what the Ministry of Magic in other countries is thinking for the time being, just take the closest British Ministry of Magic as an example.
Just like the development in the original book, Voldemort did not make the news of his resurrection public. He chose to disappear and lurk in the dark.
Only in this way can he devote himself to regrouping his army and making arrangements for his Horcruxes. This is actually what Schelling hopes for. It can even be reasonably speculated that this is also a good thing for Dumbledore.
No one is ready.
Voldemort needs time, and Schelling and Dumbledore also need time. The real confrontation has not begun.
But the most direct result of this situation is that Fudge is more convinced that Dumbledore and Harry are talking nonsense.
That is why, at the award ceremony, none of what Dumbledore and Harry said was reported.
Harry and Dumbledore, one is the "boy who survived a disaster" and the other is the "greatest wizard in the world today". They are both very topical public figures. In the words of the Muggle world, both of them are "Internet celebrities with their own traffic", and they are top-notch.
It is almost certain that Fudge's operation and suppression are indispensable behind the collective silence of the media.
On the contrary, in these newspapers, if you observe carefully like Schelling, small text reports about Harry's unfavorable rumors have begun to appear.
It was only one night after the award ceremony, and the efficiency of the Ministry of Magic in this regard was very high, which really shocked Schelling.
It can be speculated that the media will start with Harry, and then slowly derive unfavorable rumors about Dumbledore, and then about the education problems of Hogwarts... Then, hehe, the Ministry of Magic can legitimately intervene in the management of Hogwarts.
Thinking of this, Schelling couldn't help but think of the terrible image of the woman who seemed to be a pink toad.
Even Dumbledore, who is as prestigious and wise as he is, is probably powerless to reverse this situation. In fact, Dumbledore can't spare any extra energy to deal with the Ministry of Magic.
Taking advantage of the time when Voldemort is quietly lurking, the Order of the Phoenix must also gather strength again and absorb new personnel to join.
Voldemort is very weak now, but Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix are not much stronger than him.
The members of the previous generation of the Order of the Phoenix died, were injured, or disappeared. Today, only Dumbledore, Moody, Hagrid, the Weasleys, Sirius, Lupin, Elphias Doge, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Podmore, Ms. Figg, Mundungus Fletcher, and Aberforth Dumbledore are still able to carry out missions, a total of 14 people.
Even so, Moody and Doge are already old and their combat power is not as good as it used to be; Ms. Figg is a squib and cannot participate in combat affairs; Sirius is a wanted criminal and cannot show up at will; Aberforth and Dumbledore have a complicated relationship of grievances and are generally not under the direct command of the Order of the Phoenix.
As a result, before Sirius clears his name, there are actually only 11 people who can really participate in the battle.
Fortunately, in the past four years since Harry entered school, Mr. Weasley recruited Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, and Hestia Jones to the Order of the Phoenix in the Ministry of Magic, and then his two oldest sons Bill and Charlie also joined the Order of the Phoenix, which added some vitality to this organization that was lacking in successors.
Among the five new members, Kingsley is the most valuable. He not only has the strength of an elite Auror, but also is steady and reliable. Most importantly, he is from a holy 28 pure-blood family and has his own background and connections, which allows him to have a say in many things in the Ministry of Magic.
But such a valuable talent was wiped out last year under Schelling's arrangement.
This is a major blow to the Order of the Phoenix.
To make matters worse, because of Percy's dereliction of duty in the International Cooperation Department and Schelling's instigation behind the scenes, Mr. Wesley was greatly implicated, and many families that were originally friendly with him, such as the Prewett family, the Longbottom family, and the Diggory family, began to draw a line with them and stay away from them.
The consequence of this is that Mr. Wesley's voice and influence in the Ministry of Magic have seriously declined, greatly affecting his ability to continue to recruit new people for the Order of the Phoenix.
It can be said bluntly that the Order of the Phoenix has no chance of recruiting new people from the Ministry of Magic.
In addition to Schelling, who is hiding, the most powerful force at present is undoubtedly Fudge and his Ministry of Magic, but they will not take any meaningful action. Fudge is unwilling to believe this matter, but instead lists Dumbledore as his biggest enemy at present, because he is worried that Dumbledore is doing so much just to seize his power.
Moreover, the situation of the Order of the Phoenix is even worse than in the original book. In addition to dealing with the smear and suppression by the Ministry of Magic, there is also the unstable factor of Grindelwald who successfully escaped from prison. You can imagine how much headache Dumbledore must be having at this moment.
The situation is already stormy -
It can be said that all the major forces are now trying to survive and develop, and it depends on who develops faster and better!