Section VI

On the stage in the center of the venue, the band is playing music with a strong rock style and dynamic music, and many people are dancing on the spacious grass.

Sauron stood at the table near the periphery, a glass of mead in his hand, the amber syrup tingling with a faint hint of laurel and a tempting smell. Sauron took a sip, turned to look at the girl on the side, and asked, "Honey, are you sure you don't want to have some?" ”

Fleur shook her head slightly, and she looked at the center of the room, and in the area next to the stage, the officials of the Ministry of Magic had gathered together, with impeccable smiles on their faces, chatting and laughing in the midst of the stalks. The Minister of Magic, Fudge, was also there, and Barty Crouch was standing side by side with him, talking to several Bulgarian Ministry of Magic officials, and not far behind them, several Ministry of Magic field agents in uniform were on guard, invisibly isolating the dignitaries from the rest of the guests.

"What did Epikos do to you just now?" Fleur asked, no emotion in her tone, but from her slightly frowning brow, it could be seen that she was slightly unhappy.

Sauron was stunned for a moment, and then realized that with the intelligence of the girl and her knowledge of herself, although she did not know the specific content of the conversation she had just had with Epikos, she could still guess from the look on his face during the conversation that most of what the two were talking about was something strange and gloomy. Thinking of his earlier promise to the maiden, Sauron couldn't help but feel a little apologetic.

"Dirty things on the political zhì." Sauron said lightly, "I hate it, but I can't avoid it. ”

He took another cup, poured half a cup of mead, and handed it to Fleur. The girl turned her head and said nothing, she looked at Sauron with a little meaning. And Sauron didn't avoid her gaze, looking at her calmly, with a hint of hope in his eyes.

After a long time, the girl snorted lightly, which was a clear expression of her dissatisfaction, but she still took the cup from Sauron's hand and took a sip lightly. The soft, soft liquor slid across her lips, diffusing into wisps of fragrance in her mouth, and the girl couldn't help but smile with pleasure on her face, but when she realized that Sauron was looking at her, she gave him a demonstrative look.

At this point, neither of them continued to dwell on this matter, and instead focused on the party itself, after all, putting aside the motives of the Ministry of Magic for holding the party, this carnival party was still very good. To Sauron's surprise, the dome of the stadium could be opened, and when you looked up, you could see the inky blue sky, the stars reflected the white silver moon, shining brightly in the sky, and soon after, as a huge bonfire in the venue was lit, the golden-red flames several meters high were burning, and the atmosphere of the party was also pushed to **.

"It's beautiful." The girl looked at the fire and said, her long silver hair reflected a golden halo in the firelight, and a few strands of hair on her forehead swayed slightly with the warm air current.

"Well, very delicate magic." Sauron smacked his lips and said, he could feel the faint magic fluctuations in the campfire, although the flames were strong, but in fact they were firmly controlled in a safe area, steadily radiating light and heat outward, and large strands of bright sparks appeared from the top of the flames, and as the rising heat poured into the sky, it did not disperse for a long time.

Perhaps there is a love of fire in human nature, and the crowd began to dance around the bonfire, and the cheerful and enthusiastic dance steps were accompanied by the cheers of the people, and it seemed that even the raging flames became more and more dazzling.

Sauron was still holding the glass, but the contents had been changed from mead to cider, although he had brought yì to the party, but when he got here, he realized that Fleur's interest was much higher than his. Sauron listened to the maiden take his hand and join in the flow of people, dancing to the rhythm of everyone in a casual but cheerful dance, using his magic to make the cider come to rest firmly in the cup, and from time to time raise it to his lips to take a sip.

"Can't you just put your glass down first?" The girl said with some annoyance, "Or do you think I'm not as important as your cider?" ”

"Ugh." Sauron was a little embarrassed, he looked at the girl for a while, smiled evilly, threw the glass into the fire, and then put his arms around her in the girl's exclamation, and put his hands around her waist and hugged her horizontally into his arms.

"Beauty, do you want to dance?" Sauron said with a smile, looking at the beautiful face of the girl from top to bottom, not paying any attention to the eyes of the people around him.

Fleur was held in Sauron's arms, as if she was a little panicked, but she quickly adjusted, although it was the first time she was so intimate with Sauron in public, but in the warm atmosphere around her, the shyness and scruples in her heart were instantly washed away. She looked at Sauron without flinching and said in a slightly provocative tone, "Okay. ”

"As you wish." Sauron said softly, holding the girl firmly in his arms, looking into her eyes, slowly leaning down and kissing her lips hard.

……

Section II

"Thank you, Mr. Minister, for the evening, the lads had a great time." A Bulgarian official with a neat brown beard said happily, his face flushed with whiskey or excitement, and he raised his glass to signal, "Well, I'm sure we'll have a perfect tournament tomorrow, so let's toast to our tournament." ”

The words were spoken in Bulgarian, and Fudge himself did not understand this rap-sounding foreign language, but fortunately Barty Crouch was present, and the director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, whom the Slytherins regarded as a thorn in his side, had an astonishing talent for language, as evidenced by his ease and accuracy in translating the words of the relegation leader into English at the same time.

"I'm sure we're going to have a good game like we've never had before." Fudge said with a smile, the confidence in his tone matched with the smug look on his face, making him look smug.

He looked around slightly, the government officials around him were smiling and focused on him, while the athletes of the Bulgarian and Irish teams were relaxing on the sidelines not far away, looking for fun, and Fudge could almost see that tomorrow would be a glorious stroke in his political career.

Fudge raised his glass and echoed the words of the Bulgarian lead official, exclaiming: "We can expect tomorrow's game to be hot and perfect, and I am sure our lads will not let us down; I am even more convinced that the success of this sporting event will set a new example for international magical cooperation. "Now, for the World Cup, for our wonderful boys, and for the new achievement of international magical cooperation - cheers!" ”

"Cheers!" The crowd shouted, the fragrant syrup sparkling in the crystal glass.

There seemed to be an endless conversation among politicians, and after the toast that had just passed, the atmosphere between the small group of officials, large and small, became more lively, and the language barrier between the two parties seemed to be gone, Fudge was conversing happily with another Bulgarian official, while Barty Crouch, who had been acting as an interpreter from the beginning, stepped aside quietly.

"Rufus." He walked up to a man in a long black fur trench coat and handed him a glass of wine, "How is it, old friend, is it normal to have a qiē tonight?" ”

The man in the black trench coat turned his head to reveal a vicissitudes of life but extremely resolute face, his long brown hair and sharp black eyes made him look like a lion. His name was Rufus Scrimgeur, the head of the Auror Office of the Law Enforcement Division, and he was a man of strong and resolute character, known for his toughness in the Ministry of Magic. Seeing that it was Crouch, Scrimgeour was stunned for a moment, and then took the wine.

"So far, it's going well." He took a sip of his wine, habitually squinting his eyes and scanning the surroundings, then looked at Crouch, "I mobilized the second, third, and seventh action teams, a total of nearly a hundred Aurors scattered inside and outside the venue, this is already the limit of what I can call on personnel, but ......" Scrimgeour paused, looking a little annoyed, "As you can see, this is a grand event, the venue is too big, and there are too many people, we can't take care of all the places." ”

Crouch nodded slightly, as if to understand Scrimgeur's troubles, he hesitated for a moment, and said in a low voice, "In that case, why not call in the special forces?" ”

Scrimgeour was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't understand Crouch's words for a while, he stared into Crouch's eyes, was silent for a long time, his face became stern, he lowered his voice very low, and said slowly: "Barty, I don't think this is a good place to talk about this topic." ”

Barty Crouch didn't speak, he just stared at Scrimgeour with no hint of concession in his eyes. The two of them were at a stalemate for a while, but Scrimgeour finally made a compromise, he shook his head helplessly, and quietly laid a soundless barrier around him.

"I do not have the authority to transfer the special forces, in fact, in peacetime, no individual has the authority to do so." Scrimgeour said, turning his head to look at Fudge, who was standing in the middle of the crowd and drinking, and added, "Not even the minister, the Secret Service can only be dispatched if the Guò Committee decides." ”

Crouch shook his head slightly, seemingly unsurprised by Scrimgeour's reaction, and narrowed his eyes, the kind of look that made Scrimgeour feel uncomfortable.

"Rufus, look around, everybody is having a great time." Crouch said unhurriedly, he raised his hand and pointed to the crowd around him, "But how many people do you think have the courage to stand up to darkness and evil, and defend our hard-won peace today." ”

Scrimgeour stared at Crouch and said in a somewhat stiff tone, "What do you want to say, Barty, I don't like to beat around the bush." ”

"I mean," Crouch let out a long breath and said in a somber tone, "we are facing a crisis, and most of us are still indulging in the illusion of peace and ease, even most of the people in the Ministry of Magic. I hope you can help me change this qiē. ”

"It doesn't convince me." Scrimgeour whispered, his eyebrows furrowed, making his face look a little grim, "You've been so stubborn for so many years, how can I convince you to give up those radical and unrealistic ideas?" ”

"Radical?" Crouch sneered, "Rufus, am I too aggressive, or are you becoming weak." Step by step, our enemies are grabbing strength, plotting to destroy us, and we are turning a blind eye to it. He groaned,

"Hell, Barty." Scrimgeour shook his head vigorously, annoyed and helpless, "There is no conspiracy, no enemies, and no one thinks about overthrowing the Ministry of Magic all day. If you insist, at least you have to show me where our enemies are! ”

"Dark wizard!" Crouch exclaimed, his voice low and determined, and his eyes tinged with a certain fanatical emotion, but he soon calmed himself down, took a deep breath, and continued, "You and I both know that they never give up. ”

Scrimgeour choked and turned to look at Crouch in silence, his expression tense that made it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"You've been avoiding me lately, I'm well aware of that, Rufus." Crouch's tone was unhurried, "When the Dark Lord was in charge, we fought side by side and sacrificed so much to win. ”

"The Dark Lord is gone." Scrimgeour gritted his teeth and said, "He's finished, and that night, he fell into the hands of two children." ”

"Yes, he fell into the hands of two children, which makes the Ministry of Magic seem so insignificant." Crouch said gloomily, "And to this day, a child has become Dumbledore's darling, a hope; And the other ......"

Crouch paused, and said word by word, "He is slowly revealing his hideous minions, ready to tear us to pieces." ”

"It's ridiculous. Did we talk so much that we came to the conclusion that we need to deal with two kids who haven't graduated from school yet! Scrimgeour said exasperatedly.

"We're dealing with demigods!" Crouch did not back down, and said categorically, "Dumbledore has co-opted one of them to become his spokesman, and has used his so-called savior status to cement his high position; The other, with its evil and terrifying power, has become the new master of the Dark Wizards, and if this continues, the Ministry of Magic will one day become insignificant and become a tool for their ambitions. ”

"Wake up, Rufus, the fate of this world should not be in the hands of a few demigods. Power should be in the hands of the government, and only the government is qualified to lead the people. "We need special forces, and only by mastering them will we be able to stand up to the demigods." ”

Scrimgeour didn't reply for a long time, as if stunned by Crouch's words, he looked at Crouch steadily, while the latter patiently waited for his response, and after a while, Scrimgeour slowly came back to his senses, and he looked at Crouch with a complicated gaze, as if trying to read his thoughts.

"Barty, my old friend, I respect you. But I'm still going to sue you......" Scrimgeour began, his voice dry and low, "the Secret Service is not a tool of any one person or any force, and I believe you know very well why it exists. ”

Scrimgeour raised his glass, drank the wine inside, and then exhaled hard, he looked at the glass with his eyes down, and whispered, "Thank you for the wine, Barty, now I'm going to go on a patrol, goodbye." ”

Scrimgeour turned and walked out, and Crouch looked at his back with a gloomy look in his eyes. Just before Scrimgeour was about to walk into the crowd, Barty Crouch said slowly, "You're going to regret it. ”

Crouch's voice was not loud, in fact barely sounded, but every word rang clearly in Scrimgeur's ears, and he stopped, but after a moment he made up his mind, and walked straight into the crowd without looking back.

Barty Crouch stood still, and for a moment, as if his face had anger and disappointment, but soon returned to normal. After a long time, he turned around and walked towards the crowd where the officials were concentrated, and his face was once again filled with the confidence and majesty of his usual life.