Chapter 1068 Ministry of Magic (Part 1)

Rita Skeeter had never experienced entering the Ministry of Magic from the visitor's entrance.

In her mind, the only ways to reach the Ministry of Magic were Floo Network and Apparition.

Obviously, this is not a commonly used entrance and exit - Rita walked into the phone booth and found that the space inside was really as small as it looked from the outside, or even smaller... Tonks squeezed in from behind, He stood beside her and closed the door with his backhand.

The cramped old phone booths were not designed with double use in mind.

Rita was pressed against the phone equipment.

The phone hung crookedly from the wall, as if some vandal had tried to rip it off.

Tonks smiled a little apologetically, reached out from behind Rita and picked up the microphone.

"I don't understand why we can't get to the Ministry in a more dignified way."

"Well, because there will be a visitor record... This record is based on magic and is difficult to delete by conventional means."

Tonks explained casually, raising the phone above her head and looking at the dial.

"Let me see...6...", she dialed the number, "2...4...another 4...another 2..."

"Does the Ministry of Magic still have a phone number?" Rita raised her eyebrows and asked in surprise.

"Oh no, this is the password, the Muggle alphabet - M-A-G-I-C..."

Tonks shrugged and glanced at Rita, who was a little confused.

"Not all wizards can use Apparition skillfully, or have the opportunity to come into contact with floo powder... There are also quite a few squibs, bad wizards, and half-bloods-I mean those with magical blood-even There will be non-human visitors, and it is quite necessary to set up a special entrance for their use. Anyway, this is what the file says..."

After a few general explanations, Tonks released her fingers from the dial.

As the dial whirred back to its original position, a woman's cold voice sounded in the phone booth, but that voice did not come from the microphone in Tonks' hand. It was loud and clear, as if An invisible woman stood beside them.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, please state your name and your business."

"Shh..." Tonks raised her finger, signaling Rita not to speak for the time being.

Then, she cleared her throat and spoke forward skillfully and clearly, "Nymphadora Tonks, Auror Office, I am accompanying Rita Skeeter, a reporter from the Daily Prophet. Ministry of Magic, she has clues about magical crimes involving an important public figure..."

"Understood," the woman's cold voice said, "Guest, please pick up the badge and pin it in front of your clothes."

Ding Lingling, clatter.

Rita saw something slide out of the metal chute beneath the telephone.

She picked it up: it was a square silver badge that read: Rita Skeeter, Informant.

Rita pinned the badge on the front of her green coat, and the cold woman's voice spoke again.

"Ministry of Magic guests, you are required to be checked and register your wand at the security desk. The security desk is located at the end of the main hall."

The floor of the phone booth suddenly trembled.

They slowly sank into the ground.

Rita frowned as she watched the pavement rise higher and higher outside the glass window of the phone booth, until finally there was darkness above them.

She could see nothing but the dull, harsh grinding of the phone box as it sank into the ground.

After about a minute, but Rita felt it was much longer, a thin golden light shone on her pair of fashionable high-heeled shoes. Then the golden light gradually widened, expanded to her body, and finally hit her face directly. , she had to squint her eyes to prevent tears from flowing out.

"The Ministry hopes you have a good day," the woman's voice said.

The door to the phone booth flew open, and Tonks walked out immediately, followed by Rita, who felt slightly relieved.

They stood at the end of a long, splendid hall with dark wooden floors that had been polished brightly. The peacock blue ceiling is inlaid with sparkling golden symbols, which are constantly moving and changing, like a huge high-altitude bulletin board.

The walls on all sides are paneled with glossy dark wooden boards, and many gilded fireplaces are embedded in the wooden boards.

Every few seconds, with a soft pop, a wizard suddenly appeared from a fireplace on the left.

And to the right, there were several people lining up in front of each fireplace, waiting to leave.

In the middle of the foyer is a fountain.

In the middle of a circular pool stands a group of solid gold statues, larger than life.

The tallest among them is a noble wizard, holding his wand high and pointing directly at the sky. Surrounding him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house elf. Centaurs, goblins and house elves all looked up at the two wizards with admiration. Sparkling jets of water shot out from the top of the wizard's wand, from the centaur's arrow, from the tip of the goblin's hat, and from the two ears of the house elf.

Wizards...oh no, the magical government concept of wizards supremacy——

Rita Skeeter raised her eyebrows.

In fact, in her past career as a journalist, she had only had a handful of opportunities to interview at the Ministry of Magic.

There was the sound of ding-dong-ding-dong water all around, the popping and popping sounds of the Apparition, and the chaotic footsteps of hundreds of witches and wizards. With the lifeless expressions characteristic of social animals on their faces, they strode toward the row of golden doors at the end of the hall.

This is the main hall located on the eighth underground floor of the Ministry of Magic - if any wizard dares to cause trouble here, he will be subdued in an instant.

Of course, the premise is... that it is within the defense capabilities of the Ministry of Magic.

"This way," Tonks said.

They joined the crowd and moved forward among the Ministry of Magic staff. Rita looked around. Some of them were holding piles of crumbling parchment in their arms, some were carrying tattered briefcases, and some were reading the Daily Prophet as they walked.

If nothing else, the front-page news they are reading at this time tomorrow should be about her.

Rita Skeeter thought with a heavy heart.

The only difference is whether her name appears in the text or in the author column.

"This way, Rita."

Tonks said as they left the stream of Ministry staff heading towards the golden doors. At a table on the left, under a sign that read "SECURITY CHECK", sat a closely shaven wizard in peacock blue robes.

As they approached, he looked up and put down the Daily Prophet.

"I have a guest," Tonks said, pointing to Rita.

"Come this way," the wizard said listlessly.

Rita approached him, and the wizard raised a long golden rod, as thin and flexible as a car's antenna.

He used it to sweep across Rita's front and back from top to bottom - for safety reasons, Rita did not carry the Foundation's insignia, but when the metal rod swept across her handbag, it still made a beep beep. The sound was not harsh but obviously not normal.

"Do you have any magic items in your bag?"

The wizard frowned, put his left hand on his waist, and looked at Rita warily.

"Oh, it should be this..."

Rita opened her crocodile leather handbag and pulled out a wand, a long, dazzling green quill, and a roll of parchment.

"Here's my wand, and my sketch quill - as a journalist, it frees me up to have a normal conversation with the interviewer. To be honest, the quill is almost as important as my wand , you should have read my article..."

"Rita Skeeter? Well, can you prove it?"

The wizard's eyes slowly swept over the silver guest badge on Rita's chest and interrupted.

"I want to confirm that it is indeed a magic quill and not some other dangerous magic item——"

"Oh, of course. It's easy."

Rita Skeeter nodded slowly, looking more relaxed than before.

She spread the roll of parchment flat on the table, picked up the tip of the green quill pen and put it into her mouth, sucking on it for a while, then placed the pen vertically on the parchment paper with the quill tube standing upright on the tip. , trembling slightly, but did not fall down even if she let go of her hand.

"So, a quick test... My name is Rita Skeeter, a reporter for the Daily Prophet."

The wizard lowered his head and stared at the quill.

As soon as Rita Skeeter finished speaking, the green quill began to write rapidly, the tip of the pen gliding across the parchment dexterously.

"The charming blonde Rita Skeeter, now thirty-eight years old, is the chief reporter of the Daily Prophet. Her unruly quill has exposed many flashy falsehoods..."

"that's it--"

The wizard looked closely at Rita's quill and shrugged.

"Wand."

He muttered to Rita, put down the golden magic detector, and held out his hand.

Rita Skeeter handed over her wand.

The wizard dropped it on a strange-looking brass machine that looked like a single-plate scale.

The machine began to vibrate slightly. A narrow piece of parchment quickly spit out from a hole at the bottom, and the value of Rita Skeeter's wand was recorded on it. This is almost the way the magic world verifies the identity of a wizard - similar to the way in the non-magic world. Personal passport.

This round of procedures is one of the reasons why they must enter through the visitor entrance today.

If Rita Skeeter wanted to back down, the wand test was her last chance.

"I'll keep this," the wizard said, jabbing the parchment note on a small brass nail. "Take this back."

He handed the wand back to Rita Skeeter who hesitated to speak.

"Thank you, Eric."

Tonks, who had been waiting impatiently behind, said quickly, pulling Rita back into the crowd heading towards the golden door.

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Great!