Well, Harry had fully understood the work attitude and willingness of the Muggle government leaders. It was quite subtle—the Muggle government actually had no desire to reveal the existence of magic to the public.
Harry had originally assumed that in the past, it was the Ministry of Magic that had required the Muggle government to help keep things hidden.
Revealing it would mean dealing with more issues. The Muggle Prime Minister and his secretary certainly wouldn't turn down the chance for their own power to grow, but they resisted surprises and changes—or more precisely, they resisted reform. As the secretary put it, reform meant the bad times weren't over yet.
Other concerns, like the riots or protests that ordinary people might spark upon learning about magic, hardly needed mentioning. Knowing more would only fuel greater desires, and many government employees themselves craved magic, not minding the idea of wielding it personally.
Ordinary people gaining control of magic would be like handing them a firearm that could go off at any moment—one that couldn't even be inspected beforehand... In short, it was dangerous. Extremely dangerous.
The Muggle Prime Minister wasn't incapable of grasping the current situation; he simply refused to accept it. Meanwhile, Scrimgeour was unwilling to expose too much of the Ministry of Magic's incompetence, so he could only keep emphasizing that the elemental revival was inevitable, and incidents of magic leaking out would only become more frequent in the future.
But the Muggle Prime Minister and his secretary's stance on the matter was that they had to keep it hidden for a few more years, until the next government took over—at that point, whether it involved reforming to handle magic or restructuring things, it wouldn't matter. It would have nothing to do with them.
Scrimgeour was nearly furious enough to curse right there on the spot.
He hadn't expected Fudges everywhere.
The negotiations hit a deadlock for a time, and just as Harry was starting to get a headache, someone suddenly knocked on the door, entered the conference room, and whispered a few words into the Prime Minister's ear.
"What?!" Hacker bolted upright, eyes bulging as if he'd seen the sun rise in the west. "The Soviet Union has dissolved?!"
One of the Muggle world's two superpowers had vanished just like that. The reasons for the Soviet Union's collapse hardly needed elaboration, but the impact extended far beyond Muggle society—it deeply affected the wizarding world as well, since the Soviet Union had its own Ministry of Magic, one formed by a union of several ministries.
In places most ordinary people knew nothing about, the Soviet Ministry of Magic had dissolved too.
But that wasn't the key point. The real issue was that with the Soviet Union's collapse, the existence of the magical world had been directly exposed to ordinary Muggles—those unwilling to accept the dissolution had promptly revealed every secret they could get their hands on, and the biggest secret in the world right now was the elemental revival and the existence of magic.
It was broadcast directly via radio and live television to the masses. Well, that settled it—Scrimgeour no longer needed to argue with the British Prime Minister about this.
At the quickest pace, the details of the new Triwizard Tournament were finalized. The British Prime Minister would personally attend and watch, accompanied by a large number of Muggle spectators, not limited to government officials.
After a long absence, Harry returned to his Muggle uncle's home, invited back by a letter from Aunt Petunia.
"So, does that mean the world is going to stay like this forever?" Uncle Vernon said from his seat at the dining table, his big belly protruding as he stared wide-eyed. "Things around the house could start moving at any moment, the fire in the fireplace might suddenly spit out words—Jesus, the other day I even saw garbage from the bin running across the lawn. This is a nightmare!!"
For someone like Uncle Vernon, who saw all magical things as freakish nightmares, the world had already taken on the shape of a nightmare.
He'd thought that once his magical nephew was gone, the family could finally live a normal, harmonious life—but Uncle Vernon had never imagined the world could be filled with them everywhere.
"It really is a nightmare, Harry," Aunt Petunia's expression was hard to read, neither happy nor regretful. "You have no idea how terrifying it was when the neighbors knocked on the door asking if we'd noticed anything strange at home."
"Yeah, Mom nearly had a heart attack—she thought your secret had been found out," Dudley mumbled, chomping down the sausage on his fork in one bite. "Now it's all good; everyone knows magic exists in the world."
As he spoke, Dudley flipped on the TV.
"A very good piece of news: we have already made contact with the magical society existing in Britain..."
Channel change.
"...It's quite astonishing—wizards actually have their own Ministry of Magic. I mean, they even have their own government..."
Channel change.
"I imagine many of you have noticed those little sprites appearing in your homes from time to time lately? Now we know the formal name wizards give them: elemental spirits..."
"....."
"See? It's all anyone's talking about now," Dudley said, tossing the remote onto the sofa and shrugging. "I think it's pretty cool."
"Shut up, Dudley," Uncle Vernon snapped at his precious son for once. "Eat your dinner properly!"
"The important thing is our safety!" Uncle Vernon slapped the table irritably. "Do you get what I mean, boy? Do you have any way to stop those weird, dangerous—inexplicable elements from suddenly showing up at home?! I don't want to get crushed in my sleep by the house suddenly coming to life!"
He wasn't sure why that metaphor had popped into his head, but Uncle Vernon truly felt a deep-seated fear.
Harry knew the reason, but he couldn't say it.
"It's tough," Harry said after a moment's thought. "Even I can't completely prevent elemental spirits from appearing on Privet Drive."
More accurately, Harry could do it, but he'd never consider it... No normal shaman would ever extinguish the elemental activity in an entire area like that.
As long as the elements in a region weren't excessive enough to disrupt the world's balance, a shaman had no need to intervene.
"You're just too on edge, that's all. Relax—the other neighbors on Privet Drive don't know you already knew about magic beforehand. Don't scare yourselves," Harry reassured them. "Or... um, would you be interested in visiting Hogwarts?"
"Hogwarts?!" Aunt Petunia's eyes widened instantly.
"Visiting?!" Dudley perked up excitedly.
"Us?" Uncle Vernon held his breath.
"That's right," Harry replied to all of them. "For certain reasons, I've become the Headmaster of Hogwarts now, and soon the British magical community and the Muggle government will have a major—um, what's the word? Cooperative project?"
"Anyway, not only will the Muggle Prime Minister be going to Hogwarts to watch the competition, but we'll also temporarily allow Muggles to broadcast the events, so most Muggles can get a general sense of magic and wizarding society. Are you interested?" Harry explained. "Uncle, you're only this panicked because you don't understand it. Think about it—even the Muggle Prime Minister is going to Hogwarts."
"The Prime Minister?" It had to be said, that word hooked Uncle Vernon's attention perfectly; he couldn't refuse. "Jim Hacker?"
It was oddly fascinating—titles like Minister of Magic or Headmaster of Hogwarts meant little to Uncle Vernon, but Prime Minister—the British Prime Minister!
That word held unusual significance and authority for him.
"That's right. Scrimgeour—oh, that's the Minister of Magic—and I just finalized this with the Muggle Prime Minister a couple of days ago. There'll be a group of influential people from the Muggle world coming to Hogwarts to tour and watch the competition," Harry continued. "If even they have accepted magic and plan to cooperate with the magical world in the future, what reason do you have not to join in?"
Uncle Vernon nodded with effort.
"Wait—you became Headmaster of Hogwarts?!" As if her reaction was delayed by more than a beat, Aunt Petunia only now let out a startled cry. "You?! Headmaster of Hogwarts?! Doesn't that mean—doesn't that—oh my god!"
"Just to clarify upfront, Aunt, I can't enroll you right now," Harry said quickly. "But a visit is fine."
"Of course I don't want to attend a school like that!" Aunt Petunia's response was a bit heated. "I'm just— just going to visit!"
Shaking his head slightly, Harry didn't call out Aunt Petunia's fib.
After all, he'd heard from his mother about what happened with his aunt back then, so he knew Aunt Petunia had once been full of longing and yearning for magic—she'd even written to Dumbledore begging to enroll, only to be turned down by the old man... Being able to see Hogwarts in person now would at least fulfill that wish.
The Dursleys excitedly accepted Harry's invitation, and after making the trip himself, Harry realized what his aunt's family really wanted was simple: a sense of security.
The ripples from the Soviet Union's collapse had hit their family too, leaving them disoriented by the magical world exposed so abruptly.
The Muggle government had urgently announced contact with the wizarding society's Ministry of Magic. Per the plan, the initial phase would involve simple introductions to magic and wizarding society via television and radio, aimed at ensuring ordinary people didn't develop aversion out of ignorance.
At the same time, the wizarding community would provide basic introductions to Muggle society through newspapers and broadcasts, preventing wizards from making baffling blunders in future interactions with Muggles.
This phase would likely last two or three months, roughly until school reopened in September.
Only then would both governments launch large-scale promotion of the new Triwizard Tournament. On the wizarding side, the focus would be on the tournament's return, emphasizing that it wasn't limited to students but would include professors and headmasters from the three schools, with Muggles attending as visitors.
On the Muggle side, the promotion would center on a deep dive into wizarding society, allowing viewers to witness magic's wonders through live broadcasts in a documentary style—helping Muggles understand wizards' lives and the differences between wizard schools and Muggle ones. Overall, the goal was to show that wizards were people too, with children and schools; they weren't mysterious or terrifying.
Um, those child-eating witches from fairy tales? All made up.
...At least most of them.
The Ministry of Magic staff were already preparing the events for this new Triwizard Tournament. To accommodate the wizards and Muggles who would come to watch, Harry planned to construct a dedicated building on the large open area near the mountains outside Hogwarts for the audience.
It had originally been slated for the Quidditch pitch, but considering student safety, it was better not to place so many outsiders too close to the castle. With magic, accommodating a large crowd in the venue wasn't difficult—they could even stay overnight there.
The Ministry employees were brimming with enthusiasm for these tasks, as they finally didn't have to spend days, weeks, and months working overtime to conceal the magical world's existence. The Statute of Secrecy was effectively just one official announcement away from being defunct.
And that announcement arrived formally soon enough.
"...Given the increasingly active elemental spirits and the signs of magic appearing everywhere, along with the growing difficulty of hiding the magical world, I, Rufus Scrimgeour, as Minister for Magic of Britain, hereby formally declare—the International Statute of Secrecy is officially invalid in Britain!!"
For Scrimgeour, this was undoubtedly a day of profound significance, because no matter where the magical world headed in the future, the names of the two Ministers who had announced the Statute's implementation and its termination would be etched into magical history, never to be forgotten.
Released alongside this declaration was a photo of Scrimgeour shaking hands with British Muggle Prime Minister Jim Hacker. In the immediate aftermath of announcing the Statute's invalidation, the Ministry of Magic and Muggle government jointly issued a statement.
The specifics didn't need to be listed out one by one—it was essentially a public recitation of wizarding laws, informing Muggles that wizards were bound by legal restrictions too, with things they could and couldn't do.
It also sternly prohibited using magic for profit or to bully Muggles. Of course, if a Muggle shot a wizard with a gun or exploited wizards' lack of familiarity with the Muggle world for gain, that Muggle would face extremely severe punishment.
Overall, it wasn't complicated, as these rules had existed in practice for a long time; previously, only the Muggle Prime Minister and his inner circle knew them, but now, even ordinary Muggles could look them up if they wished.
Beyond that were clauses establishing cooperative ties between the two sides: wizards would brew targeted potions that Muggle bodies could handle and sell them, while Muggles would help wizards better integrate technology with magic.