Everyone could clearly feel the indifference to life in the magician's words.

They couldn't help but feel a chill down their spine.

The magician saw their fear, and he smiled mildly and said, "Why so serious? ”

"As I said, I didn't come with malice."

"Then why are you here?" Old Tom plucked up his courage and said, "I don't have anything here!" ”

"Why am I here?" The magician repeated Old Tom's question, looked around, and whispered, "This is an important question, but to make it clear, we have to play a simple game of deduction." ”

He raised his cane, pointed to the door of the Leaky Cauldron, and said, "I'm sure everyone has noticed this interesting point, this pub is open in the downtown area of London, but no Muggles have found it here." ”

"Why?"

The crowd looked puzzled, but no one spoke.

The magician then casually nodded to one of the guests and said, "Sir, could you please answer this question?" ”

The man was a little overwhelmed and said cautiously, "Because. Muggle Confusion Charm? ”

"That's right." The magician looked satisfied and said, "It's obviously because of the power of magic, so please keep telling me what if the Confusion Charm doesn't work?" I mean, what would happen if the existence of wizards was known to Muggles? ”

"Erase their memories with the Oblivion Charm." The guest's shoulders shrunk down, "The Ministry of Magic has a department dedicated to this kind of thing."

"Oblivion, that's right." The magician nodded approvingly: "This is a handy spell that can easily play with human memory, and the existence of the Muggle Confusion Charm and the Oblivion Charm has formed the cornerstone of the wizarding world's ability to hide." ”

"Let's go a step further, what would happen if too many people knew about wizards, even most Muggles in the world?" The magician said, "I can remind you that there are billions of people living on this planet, and the number of wizards is probably not more than half a million, even if it is exaggerated. ”

"That's not going to happen." Because the magician did not show any malice in the conversation, the guest was a little bolder, and retorted: "The ministries of magic in various countries have perfect regulations for dealing with emergencies, which can ensure that any news that may reveal the existence of wizards spreads. ”

Another guest couldn't help but say, "Moreover, Muggle prime ministers and high-ranking politicians are aware of the existence of wizards, and they are able to cooperate with the actions of the Ministry of Magic and control the means of communication such as newspapers and television. ”

"Oh, this gentleman obviously has some understanding of ordinary people's society." The magician nodded: "You are right, if according to the current situation, as long as the International Wizard Secrecy Law is still in place, then it is impossible for ordinary people to know about the existence of wizards." ”

"Wizards can use the power of magic to prevent the spread of news within half a day, or even an hour or two, of a leak, and in such a short period of time, not many Muggles will know about it."

The magician paused: "Unless, there is something that can spread a message or a picture to the whole world in an hour." ”

"There can't be such a thing." Old Tom couldn't help but say, "This world is too big for even the most powerful wizards to do, let alone those Muggles." ”

"Really?" The magician smiled and looked around, "So, everyone here thinks so?" ”

Everyone nodded in silence.

Just then, a voice rang out.

"Yes."

Everyone was startled and looked towards the place where the voice was made, only to see that the Hogwarts divination professor was still sitting in front of the bar, looking at the magician, and said, "Actually, it exists now, but very few people know about it, even if it is a lot of Muggles, they don't know about it." ”

"Professor Tang!" Old Tom was taken aback and said, "You don't have to—"

"Mr. Tom." Townsend raised his hand to interrupt Old Tom's words and said, "I've seen some pictures of the future, so I'm pretty sure that there really is something that can be done in an hour. No, it may even be possible for most of the world to see what is happening at the same time it happens. ”

He took a deep breath and said solemnly, "It's called the Internet." ”

“.”

The Leaky Cauldron fell silent for a long time, until Old Tom asked in an uncertain tone, "What is the network?" Is that a magical item? ”

"It's technology." The magician took over, looked at Townesend, and praised, "I didn't expect that there was a person here who could see the situation a little clearly, and you said that you had seen some pictures of the future, so you are a prophet?" ”

"No, I'm a soothsayer." Townsend replied.

"I admire you." The magician said this, looked back at the crowd, and said, "I suppose all of you here grew up in a wizarding family, right?" Even if not all of them come from pure-blood families, you have never lived in a world of ordinary people. ”

"So, you probably don't know much about technology—"

"Of course I do!" Old Tom said unconvinced: "I've been through the wars in the Muggle world, those guns, those bombs, and even the cars that are running all over the streets now, those TVs. I know what technology is, and I have to say that there are some smart people in Muggles, who have no magical powers, but they can create some magical objects. ”

"The Leaky Cauldron has been here for a long time, and I've been watching the streets in front of me little by little, and seeing how Muggle technology is developing."

"But, what kind of web did you mention—"

"Internet." The magician reminded.

"Yes, the Internet, maybe Muggles will really work out this kind of thing one day, but that must not be now, a hundred years? Two hundred years? At that time, of course, there was magic that could deal with this thing. ”

Bang bang bang.

The magician applauded and said, "That's right, magic is not static, Muggle Confusion Charm is not a spell that existed from the beginning, magic has always been a spiritual force, if you give wizards time, then it is not impossible to study a spell to deal with the Internet." ”

"The only question is, is there that much time?"

The magician said lightly, "I can explain to you what the Internet is in a language that everyone can understand. It's a technology that connects humans instantaneously, and any information can be delivered on it with almost no delay, for example, if you say a word here, people on the other side of the world can see it-"

"Phone." Old Tom said, "It's not a new thing. ”

"Similar, but more advanced." The magician patiently explained: "It's not one-on-one, but one person can speak to many people at the same time, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, or even a hundred million people, each of whom can be linked with more people to form a map that spreads all over the world."

"Net." Old Tom finally showed a solemn look, but still said, "It's incredible, but it's not as easy as you say, isn't it?" If this were the case, the International Wizarding Secrecy Law would have been invalid long ago. ”

"That's right." The magician nodded: "The Internet is not mature now, and in the whole of the United Kingdom, there are only a million people who use the Internet now. ”

"It's only a hundred. Wait, a million?! Old Tom almost jumped.

"It's a huge number for a wizard, but not a lot for the average person, isn't it?" The magician said slowly, "However, I see something creepy in it. A couple of years ago, that number might have been in the hundreds of thousands, a little bit earlier, maybe even a few thousand, and I mean, the number of people using this stuff is growing exponentially. ”

"This is a monster that is expanding wildly, and I can expect that this thing will soon spread to the lives of all ordinary people, and when the time comes, will the existence of wizards really be hidden?"

The magician's face was full of solemnity, and he said: "I realize that this day will not be too far away, at the current rate, ten years, not more than twenty years!" ”

He looked at Townsend and said, "This soothsayer, if you do see the future, you might be able to confirm this, right?" ”

Tang Sen was silent, and his whole expression looked even more solemn than that of a magician.

The magician was stunned for a moment: "Shorter? ”

"Shorter." Townsend nodded, and said, "In the picture of the future I've seen, this thing is already very popular, I mean, almost most Muggles know about it."

Tang Sen slowly raised three fingers, and his voice was a little hoarse: "Less than three years." ”

The soothsayer's words were convincing, especially to the regulars of the Leaky Cauldron Bar, who fell silent.

Until the magician broke the silence, rubbed his staff, and said, "It seems that time is more urgent than I thought." ”

"Let's move on, gentlemen, and I think you'll be able to understand what I'm saying, so let's go back to the original question."

He asked in a calm tone, "What would happen if the existence of wizards was known to most of the ordinary people in the world?" ”

No one answered this question, in fact, wizards had never thought about it, before today, they would only think that it was nonsense, that there was magic, and even if magic was discovered by Muggles, it was an easy thing to deal with, and they could not have realized that there were many wizards hidden in the world they lived in.

But what if that day does come?

"Will everyone live together peacefully?" The magician asked lightly, "Can ordinary people gladly accept that there is a group of wizards with extraordinary power to share this world with them?" ”

"When they know that the power of magic only flows in the bloodline, and that ordinary people will never learn these magical magics, can they accept the gap between themselves and the wizard?"

"Are they willing to give up control of this world, willing to admit that they are weaker than wizards?"

The magician straightened up, his posture no longer resonating with the affinity of conversation, and his whole body exuded an awe-inspiring and sharp aura.

"Let me tell you, gentlemen."

"No, they won't."

"No one wants to accept that they are inherently inferior, that they are born with inequality, that their memories can be tampered with at any time, that their bodies and souls can be manipulated at any time."

"They will be upset, they will be afraid, they will be angry, and ultimately, these emotions will push wizards and ordinary people into complete opposites."

"Gentlemen, think about it, what will come next?"

The magician said word by word:

"War!"

(End of chapter)