Find someone to experiment on?
Truly worthy of the title 'Chaotic Evil Transfer Student' to say such things.
"Is that really okay?" Poppy asked hesitantly. "Finding someone to experiment on... that's completely something only Dark Wizards would do, right?"
Hearing Poppy's words, Veratia reached up and pulled her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose.
Her gaze was like a knife, scraping against Poppy's skin.
Poppy shivered and hurriedly corrected herself, "Ah, I didn't mean that, I just meant... uh, I was just say-say-saying..."
"Stop talking, Poppy," Harry rescued her helplessly. "Actually, Veratia didn't mean it that way. She just wants to help Anne break the Dark Magic curse; she hasn't done anything wrong."
Poppy forced a smile that looked uglier than crying.
Right, what did she do wrong? She's just a pure, innocent little girl, isn't she? There's no reasoning with you lovestruck fools!
Cassandra suddenly spoke up.
"I support Grindelwald's opinion," she said. "Since we want to safely lift the curse on Sallow... we do indeed need a foolproof method—clearly, this is a good one."
"You support Veratia too?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course." The corner of Cassandra's mouth quirked up. "As a Slytherin, I don't have the so-called moral baggage of Hufflepuffs or Gryffindors—however, if you think it's inappropriate, perhaps we could find a few Dark Wizards to test it on instead. What do you say?"
Dark Wizards?
Look around, where are there any Dark Wizards left in Britain? They've all shrunk back, gone into hiding with Voldemort, or been thrown into Azkaban.
Trying to find a Dark Wizard in Azkaban is simple enough, but also quite troublesome.
"I have no objection," Harry said. "But... where do we get the Dark Magic curses?"
"I may not know how to lift Dark Magic curses, but I know how to cast them," Veratia said with a beaming smile. "Although I might not have Voldemort's mastery, I'm not too far off."
Saying this, Veratia held up a finger.
"Oh," she added. "It just so happens that a batch of Dark Wizards was recently imprisoned in the magical prison in Vienna. I can grant special approval to use a few heinous Dark Wizards to test the curses."
Look at that, this is the power of the Minister for Magic.
If I can't get Dark Wizards from the British wizarding prison, getting them from Austria works just fine, right?
"Are you sure they are heinous?" Poppy asked uncertainly.
Veratia reached out and pinched Poppy's small face.
"Oh, Poppy, you are truly adorable."
Poppy puffed out her cheeks, symbolically expressing her dissatisfaction.
Is 'adorable' the word you should be using to describe me here? Is that right?
"Then it's decided, Grindelwald." Cassandra, sunbathing, made the decision lazily. "Tonight or tomorrow, we go to Vienna, find a few heinous prisoners, and let Harry purify the Dark Magic curses on them."
"Mm," Veratia hummed in agreement, reaching for the lemonade by the table and taking a small sip through the straw.
The two dominant partners chatted and laughed, settling the plan without giving Harry any room to object.
Cassandra's idea was simple: make the Dark Wizards suffer, and let the two girls take the blame.
Whether or not others found out, it wouldn't be Harry who started it.
But admitting it was out of the question; that's just how tsunderes are—they would rather be misunderstood than admit they are being nice in their twisted, awkward way.
In fact, Harry didn't really want to object, since it concerned his best friend's sister.
After sunbathing on the beach all afternoon, they returned to the hotel, still wanting more.
While Cassandra and Poppy went back to pack, Veratia stopped Harry, who was heading for a shower.
"Don't blame Cass for today," Veratia said softly.
"What?" Harry didn't understand Veratia's meaning.
"I just don't want any misunderstandings between you and her, Harry," Veratia smiled. "She took the initiative to finalize this with me today not out of disrespect for you, but because—you should know, she is a rather awkward person. Her intention was that if this matter were exposed, the infamy would fall on her, not you. Do you understand?"
"I understand," Harry nodded. "But you two underestimate me too much."
"Be good, you're still a student and need to finish your studies at Hogwarts." Veratia smiled and reached out to ruffle Harry's messy hair. "I am the sister of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald, and Cassandra is the eldest young lady of the Malfoy family, loyal supporters of Voldemort... we don't care about reputation."
"But you are the Minister for Magic," Harry said, reaching for the newspaper. "Look, even Fudge cares deeply about his reputation. Look at what he published in the Daily Prophet? Not only did he slander Dumbledore as much as possible, but he even dragged me into it... so, my current reputation isn't very good either."
"Is that so?" Veratia raised an eyebrow. She picked up the newspaper, her small face sinking.
Good, very good, you have signed your own death warrant!
How dare you slander Harry like this!
"This is also a necessary part of life, Veratia," Harry took the newspaper back and said to her. "I think you should still maintain your image properly. After all, a Minister for Magic who casually experiments on prisoners will create a sort of... well, tyrannical impression."
Veratia smiled indifferently but accepted Harry's kindness.
Times really weren't like they used to be. In the Ministry of Magic a hundred years ago, taking a few prisoners to test potions was a completely normal occurrence.
Has it really changed so much in just a short century?
"However..." Veratia looked up with a beaming smile at Harry. "I don't plan to intervene in how to handle this Fudge. You should also try learning how to conduct actual political warfare, rather than staying stuck on the theories Mr. Malfoy taught you, understood?"
"You mean?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"Oh, Harry." Veratia crossed her legs, leaned back on the bed with her hands, and tilted her head. "Do you think it's inappropriate? Or is it that..."
"Not at all, Veratia," Harry smiled. "You're right. I really should learn how to fight—in the real world."
"I believe in you, Harry." Veratia beckoned Harry over, hugged him, and rested her head against his chest. "You are the best, Harry."
Harry didn't speak; he lowered his head and kissed Veratia.
While they were kissing, Cassandra pushed the door open and walked in.
Seeing the two passionately embracing, Cassandra raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, "Oh, it seems it must be spring, the season when all things come back to life, isn't it?"
"It's summer now." Harry released his lips. "Spring passed long ago—though it might be spring in the Arctic Circle, right? Veratia?"
"Mm." Veratia's eyes curved into crescent moons with her smile.
"Hurry up and eat; after we eat, we're going to Vienna," Cassandra said with a cold face. "You still remember the Dark Magic curse on Sallow, right? Grindelwald?"
"Of course," Veratia nodded.
"Then we..."
Before Cassandra could finish, she was hugged by Harry.
"Cass." Harry didn't say any extra words of thanks; he just looked steadily into Cassandra's eyes. "I love you."
"Oh." Cassandra curled her lip in disdain. "If I hadn't just seen you kissing Grindelwald, I might have believed that..."
Before she could finish, Harry kissed her.
"Mmph, you..."
Cassandra resisted for a moment, but seeing that Harry was holding her too tightly, she sighed internally and lowered her hands.
Forget it, this little rascal...
When Harry finished kissing her, Veratia asked with a leisurely smile, "So... I have a question, Cass."
"Speak," Cassandra said with disgust.
"I just kissed Harry, and you just kissed Harry... so..." Veratia suddenly smiled slyly. "Does that count as an indirect kiss between us?"
Cassandra's eyes suddenly widened.
She pointed tremblingly at Veratia, then reached out and wiped her lips vigorously.
"Hahahaha..." Seeing Cassandra like this, Veratia was practically dying of laughter.
When Poppy came in, she happened to see Cassandra wiping her mouth and Veratia laughing happily.
"What's wrong with you guys?" A question mark practically floated above Poppy's head.
"Nothing much," Veratia said, suppressing her laughter. "It's just that Cassandra and I... kissed."
"What?!" Poppy slumped to the floor in shock.
Wait, what is going on?
She felt as if her brain had been suddenly hit by something running at high speed.
You guys play pretty... pretty...
She suddenly felt at a loss for words.
Without me?
"Alright, Veratia is joking with you," Harry said helplessly. "Let's go eat first. After dinner, we'll go to Vienna together, how about that?"
"Oh..." Poppy's eyes were glazed over, obviously not having recovered from Veratia's words yet.
The shadow that sentence cast on her was so large that she couldn't organize her thoughts normally yet.
After a long while, she looked up blankly.
"What are we having for dinner?"
"Let's eat in Vienna," Veratia said. "It's 5 PM now... Hmm, it should be 6 PM in Austria. It's not too late to go to Vienna."
Since Veratia had proposed it, no one had any objections.
Poppy was also very supportive; after all, not objecting meant supporting.
Besides, she had never eaten Austrian food before.
She had heard that Austria was a land of gourmet food, so she had to see for herself.
After eating, they arrived at the Greater German Ministry of Magic, headquartered in Vienna.
The Greater German Ministry of Magic was very impressive; it should be said that it was purely a converted Nurmengard Castle.
Inside Nurmengard, it was nothing like the desolate state it was in when Harry visited a few years ago; crowds were shuttling back and forth, very lively.
It made sense; after all, having integrated the Ministries of several countries, it was only reasonable for a headquarters of this level to have more people.
The Minister for Magic's office was on the top floor. They took the elevator all the way up.
"We're here." Veratia gestured for them to exit the elevator.
Veratia's office was in the main hall, incredibly spacious.
Behind the desk was a huge floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the eternal snows of the Alps.
In front of the desk, Miss Farley was reviewing documents at high speed.
Hearing footsteps, she looked up and said in surprise, "Miss Grindelwald? You're finally back... Oh, hello, Mr. Potter, Miss Cassandra, and Miss Sweating."
"Hello to you too, Miss Farley," Harry and the others returned the greeting.
"Please forgive me." Miss Farley apologized and walked over to Veratia holding a stack of documents. "These require your review, Miss Grindelwald, look..."
"Mm, put them here, let me see." Veratia nodded.
Miss Farley put the documents down. Veratia picked up the top one, flipped through it, and frowned.
"What is the meaning of the French Ministry of Magic?" she asked coldly. "Do they think we want to annex them? Really..."
"Sorry, Miss Grindelwald," Miss Farley said quickly.
"However, it is normal for them to be guarded; it's understandable," Veratia said, setting the document aside. "I do indeed want to establish a unified European Magical Alliance, rather than being so loose that we get defeated one by one by the Magical Congress of the United States of America... but I have always upheld the principle of voluntary self-determination. If they don't want to join the Greater German Alliance, I won't force anyone to make a choice."
"The French, always shortsighted," Miss Farley chimed in.
The malice between the British and the French couldn't be explained clearly in just a sentence or two.
Even the mildest Englishman would look disdainful when mentioning the French.
"Leave it here," Veratia said again. "Ignore them, but keep up the normal diplomatic pleasantries. Just draft something according to the usual rules."
"Yes, Miss Grindelwald," Miss Farley said with a nod.
Veratia read through the files very quickly; in less than half an hour, she had finished handling the backlog of affairs.
"By the way," Veratia said as she put down the last file. "I need to go to the dungeons and extract two prisoners."
"Yes, Ma'am." Miss Farley didn't ask why; she always understood the rules and knew not to ask what shouldn't be asked.
This was why Veratia valued her; after all, such a disciplined subordinate was hard to find.
Miss Farley turned and left. Veratia beckoned Harry and the others to sit.
"Sit down," she said. "Just wait a moment. Make yourselves at home; treat this place like Hogwarts."
Saying this, she tapped her finger lightly on the desk.
The house-elf Ruby appeared immediately.
"Serve us some desserts, Ruby," Veratia ordered.
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)