Chapter 679: Interview
The main hall of the Ministry of Magic, the dark wood floors on the floor are polished, the peacock blue ceiling is inlaid with glittering gold symbols, and the lobby and reception area are crowded.
The wizarding reporters gathered around the Fountain of the Magic Brothers, with long guns and short cannons, and waited in the elevator on the other side, some armed Aurors separated them and left them in a passageway, and the new director of the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters of the Ministry of Magic, John Barcelona, was assigned to take charge of the reception, and he stood at the door tired and helpless, and said, "Gentlemen and ladies, be quiet...... Don't crowd...... Stay safe. ”
Suddenly, the crowd erupted in applause and cheers, and the Auror quickly turned around to find Alan Harris, the new savior of the wizarding world, who was currently in the limelight, walking out of the elevator with Hermione Granger and Penelope Crivet.
The Aurors immediately raised their guard, straightening their backs and abdomen.
A short, grumpy man with a large black camera jumped around taking pictures, each flash flashing dazzlingly, and puffs of purple smoke erupted from the camera. Not only him, but all the reporters frantically pressed the shutter again and again, and puffs of smoke floated in the air.
Hermione Granger, dressed as a Hogwarts student, and Penelo Clarvat, dressed as an Auror, were half a step behind Allen, who did not return to the modern style after returning to the modern era, just as Voldemort and Dumbledore wore robes, and he always wore the ancient wizarding robes, waving to the media reporters who were excited about their presence.
The reporters were babbling on all sorts of questions, and they were crowding and shouting, hoping that their questions would be accepted by Allen. Among them, those questions about what happened behind the curtain, Allen responded by not seeing clearly, until two pointed questions were asked by a reporter from a foreign newspaper, and the noisy scene was silenced, but everyone was ready to record Allen's answers, and they waited for Allen's answers.
"Mr. Allen, Mr. Harris, what do you think of the recent rumors that the mysterious man was not defeated by you alone?" The reporter who asked the question turned red with excitement, his hand holding the microphone trembled slightly, but his waist straightened up, he felt that he was shouldering the great mission of a media person, not afraid of power, and had the courage to pursue the truth.
Allen didn't lose his temper at all, he looked at the logo on his microphone and the ID hanging on his chest, and replied politely, "Thank you for your question, Bout reporter from the New York Ghost." ”
Allen mentioned that the name of their newspaper was like a bucket of ice water pouring over the heads of reporters who were in a state of frenzy of justice, and he told himself that it was useless to retreat at this point, because their headquarters were in the United States anyway, and the United Kingdom could not control them, and it was also for the integrity of media people.
"I've also heard the recent rumors about this kind of news, which has once again created panic in the minds of many people, and I think everyone here knows who this panic is beneficial, so I thought that instead of trying to argue with you here about the truth at that time, let me tell the others the answer with practical actions, I hereby invite the mysterious half-blood wizard Tom Riddle to come and have a one-on-one duel with me at any time. Everyone is welcome to come to the duel for an interview, and if Mr. Riddle doesn't mind, Harris TV will broadcast the duel live - I guess that's the best way to prove the truth, isn't it?" So please help me publish this invitation to Mr. Riddle for a duel, and if anyone can contact him, please let me know, and if he wishes, just write a letter to the Ministry of Magic so that we can confirm the time and place, thank you!"
After a brief silence, the surrounding media reporters were in an uproar, and Allen's confidence and the plan he gave and the initial hints made everyone present be infected by his confidence - plus the little-known half-blood identity of the pure-blooded mystery man was lightly emphasized by Allen, which made those rumors seem to be just another vicious rogue plot of the mystery man.
The American journalist Boot was soothed by Allen's smile, his heart was full of strength, thinking that his question had helped the Savior to petition the facts, and he was now infected by Allen's self-confidence, and his thinking was also led into the misunderstanding that Allen wanted him to enter: "Thank you Mr. Harris, I see, this must be a conspiracy of a mysterious man, he is trying to distort the facts to make people think that he still has great power!"
"Mr. Reporter, this is just a possibility, I think judging from your style of words and deeds that are not afraid of power, you must also be a good journalist who has the courage to pursue the truth, so I don't think we should write in the newspaper about speculation without evidence, no matter how likely it seems to be, but this is unfair to Mr. Riddle, so I hope that when you report, at most you will only report this speculation, and do not deliberately smear Mr. Riddle......"
"Well, Mr. Alan Harris, I swear by my honor at the Thunderbird Academy at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I promise I will do it!" Bout felt a sense of mission as a journalist fill his body, and his thoughts welled up and he wanted to return to his office and start working on the news content.
"Mr. Alan Harris, first of all, I have to congratulate you, this year's winner of our magazine's selection must be you, and I would like to ask Miss Luna Lovegood, who is good friends with you, it is rumored that her real identity is actually Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of Hogwarts, can you tell us?"
Wizarding Weekly is a magazine that contains articles, divination quizzes, advice columns, recipes, and a lot of celebrity news, and Gilderoy Lockhart's 5 Most Charming Smile Awards were also selected by it, and Alan has been too young to think that Wizarding Weekly is not suitable for the time being, but after the War of the Ministry of Magic, it is clear that Wizarding Weekly has recognized its short-sightedness.
However, Allen, who heard this question, only shrugged his shoulders and smiled helplessly, and did not answer the question directly, and at this time, he learned that he would receive the same award as the liar Gilderoy Lockhart that he rejected him, which was not good news for Allen now.
"Idiot, how can you gossip magazines bother Allen with such a question?" Mr. Harris!" Bout, a reporter from the New York Ghost newspaper who was praised by Allen later, now looked like Allen's fan, and looking at Allen's appearance, he misunderstood that the other party was helpless by this kind of imbecile question, so he immediately refuted the female reporter of "Wizarding Weekly".
Some sophisticated reporters may not be able to ask anything from Alan, so they focus on Hermione and Penelope behind him, trying to dig out some news from these two, especially Hermione, who is still wearing a Hogwarts school uniform, and many reporters have already leaned towards her.
"Miss Hermione Granger, Miss Penelope Crivat, given that Mr. Alan Harris and the two of you are magical creatures, and given the relationship between the wizards who have successfully succeeded or registered the Animagus transformation and the Harris family, can we understand that you have successfully developed a new way to increase the power of the Animagus's transformation? With the exception of Mr. Black's existence, there are only seven Animagus in the world who have registered. The anxious reporters asked, their microphones stretched too close, Penneno's brow furrowed, and he glanced coldly, and the reporter who had almost put the microphone on Penelope's lips withdrew his hand in a daze.
But apparently the other reporters didn't give up because of this, and a wizard dressed as a thick-bottomed scholar in Transfiguration Today asked in an almost self-absorbed tone: "According to my investigation, a human-headed sphin-tailed mantiked beast appeared in England during the Goblet of Fire, and was killed by a member of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures under Mr. Alan Harris's aunt, Ms. Josephine Harris, the director of the Department of Magical Creatures Management and Control, and there were also demon hunting spiders that had been coming from the bottomless abyss and were killed by Alan during the competition?" Mr. Harris has obtained, and the Animagus form registered today by Miss Hermione Granger and Miss Penelope Krivat happens to be a human-headed sphin-tailed manticore, and has the characteristics of a demon hunting spider, is there any connection between this?"
"Yes, I have mastered the new method. Alan admitted directly and neatly beside him.
This simple sentence caused an uproar, although most of the reporters had speculated on this matter before, but such a simple admission still surprised them.
"Merlin's pants! those old pedants should have given you the Most Promising Newcomer Award in Transfiguration Today! Let's see when the results of the Transfiguration class of Ls and . Mr. Alan Harris, please be sure to publish a new paper on the Animagus Transfiguration Method in our magazine!" the old reporter exclaimed, and took the invitation as a matter of course.
"I don't have any intention of making it public right now. Alan shook his head and clearly refused, Minerva McGonagall won this award after completing her studies in 1954 because of Ningren's impressive shape-shifting ability and achievements, so even if Alan wanted this award, he only had to wait until he got excellent grades, which was almost enough.
"Thank you, we...... What do you say...... Why?" the old scholar obviously didn't expect such a response, in fact, Transfiguration Today is an academic journal that focuses on the latest developments in the field of Transfiguration, and this journal will publish both academic articles and papers by some of the more prominent and knowledgeable scholars in the field - this old scholar is usually more of a reviewer of papers than a front-line reporter who is good at interviewing and debating, and he would not have run out himself if it weren't for the registration of two magical creatures Animagus today.
"Why don't you announce it? Aren't you a savior, aren't you more likely to protect yourself if other wizards also learn this ability?" a reporter who was backed by a pure-blood family behind him, thinking of the Bucktooth Patriarch's explanation to him and Jin Garon, seized the opportunity to incite it.
"Then if it is announced, wouldn't it also make the dark wizard learn that it is more likely to harm and successfully hide?!" Hermione was a little angry, she directly grabbed the other party's logic loophole and refuted it.
The reporter didn't debate the topic anymore, and he opened up a new battleground, and decided to go too far in order to arouse greater suspicion of Allen: "Rumor has it that his current skin and hair are due to the erosion of negative energy caused by the overuse of the Necromantic faction in the dark arts, and not something because of the Veil...... What kind of white wizard heir is so selfish, if he really entered the curtain and couldn't see things clearly, why did he change his robe again, the belt is made of the devil's skull, I can't figure out what kind of dark wizard it is. ”
Seeing that Allen was sarcastic, Penelope suppressed the idea of killing him directly, and angrily glanced at the reporter and remembered his appearance: "According to your logic, I will go to your house later and divide all your property equally among the poor." ”
Although he was a little frightened by the female Auror's staring, the reporter obviously knew that the other party would not at least do it now, "Look! This is not a dark wizard pie!"
The scene was chaotic for a while, but after more than ten seconds, the reporters' discussion was interrupted by snapping applause.
Alan withdrew his clapped hands behind his back: "Not bad reasoning, but I'll only correct one mistake you made." ”
"Tell me, then, what mistake did I make?" the reporter replied stiffly, in fact, he had already made up his mind to leave the Ministry of Magic and flee the country, anyway, he had put all his gold gallons on him before he came.
A stout four-legged dragon with five dragon heads and a two-legged wyvern-like tail appeared in the midst of the hustle and bustle, and the somewhat exaggerated size emerged from Alan's hand, flapping its huge wings majestically and beginning to fly around the Magic Brothers Fountain, a group of pure gold statues of witches and wizards, centaurs, goblins, and house-elves erected behind them.
Everyone present was infected by the guardian power contained in it, and Hermione and Penelope were puzzled by the change in the form of Allen's Patronus, but they didn't want to ask much in this case.
The power of the Patronus has nothing to do with its size, but the positive energy contained in Allen's five-headed dragon makes it easy for even wizards with the dullest sense of magic to judge that the power of Allen's new Patronus now undoubtedly matches its image.
"Merlin's mother is embarrassed!" a half-born wizard shouted a mixed-style interjection, "This is bigger than the Patronus summoned by the invincible Andros of the ancient Greek wizard on the Chocolate Frog card!
Bout's eyes lit up as he beckoned his cameraman to take a picture of this spectacle, and when he heard the half-blood's admiration, he couldn't help but add: "The invincible Andros summoned is said to be the size of a giant, which has made him unique in his previous history, and Mr. Alan Harris is now summoning the size of a fire dragon! Dark wizards can't summon such a powerful Patronus! They can only summon magic maggots to devour themselves when they use the Patronus Charm!"
As the Patronus spell dissipated, silence returned.
"I'm not a dark wizard, but I've never admitted to being a white wizard or an heir to a white wizard. Alan stood behind the microphone and shook his head and looked helplessly at the still stunned troublemaker, as if to regret his mistake: "So I'm not Dumbledore, and I won't turn a blind eye to your baseless accusations, Auror!"
All the Aurors present responded neatly: "Here!"
The reporter realized that something was wrong, but he could only borrow the words "What do you want to do?!" The reporters are watching! Do you dare to mess around? Do you really think that the Harris family can cover the sky with one hand in the Ministry of Magic?!"
"You're right, the Ministry of Magic is just the Ministry of Magic, and Harris has never violated the law or misused his private rights......" Alan didn't pay any more attention to the other party, but bowed sideways to Peneloe exaggeratedly, "Miss Auror." ”
Penelope also responded pretendingly: "This gentleman, may I ask?"
Alan said with a straight look: "This gentleman just tried to slander me with unsubstantiated rumors, and I hereby report the case to you. ”
"Understood, sir, we will investigate clearly, please rest assured, if this is the case, we Aurors will definitely give you a clear name. Penelope nodded, saluted solemnly to Alan, and then turned to look at the other Aurors, "Did you hear that?"
"You...... You can't!ouch!" As soon as the reporter opened his mouth, he was stopped by the Aurors, who had no idea that Alan would go through the normal form of a report like a child's play, and immediately arrest him.
Then Alan waved his hand and pulled, and the money bag of the Traceless Expansion Charm that the reporter had hidden on his body was pulled open by Alan with the hand of a mage, and his gold galleon fell to the ground, which made the surrounding reporters immediately focus their cameras on this side.
"Why are you bringing so much money for an interview?!Who paid you to pour dirty water on Mr. Harris?" Bout took the lead in raising questions before the media reporters belonging to the Harris faction, originally he was a little confused about Allen's changed attitude just now, but with Allen's Patronus Charm and this abnormal situation appeared, out of the sensitivity of the reporter and the hearing of this kind of thing, he suddenly thought clearly about the reason for this person's bad attitude from the beginning.
"That's right, those rumors were spread by them before, are they spies of the mysterious people?!" This time it was the turn of the reporter of "Singing the Opposite" to lead the rhythm.
"It's not a family that supports the mysterious people, they can't get away with it this time by saying that they were used with a Imperius curse!" added the Harris TV reporter.
"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Reporter, I accidentally knocked your wallet off while practicing magic in my hands, Aurors, please take the trouble to pick it up for him. Allen, who had detected the other party's thoughts, withdrew his right hand, and then added to the reporters who were already silent, "But Miss Crivat, it is clear that as a reporter with so many gold gallons in the interview, I personally think it is very suspicious, and I suggest that the Aurors carefully check whether this reporter was really bribed by Mr. Riddle or some other family with bad intentions to make this remark, as other journalist friends speculated." ”