As one of the twenty-eight sacred pure-blood families, the Malfoy family has held a powerful position in the wizarding world since ancient times. Not only has one of the Ministers for Magic been a political puppet of the Malfoy family, but the Malfoy family also has a stake in Hogwarts, the cradle of all British wizards, as one of the twelve Board Members.
This meeting between the Board of Directors and Roger was initiated by Lucius Malfoy on his end.
There was no choice. He had personally handed over a crucial Horcrux to Voldemort, and that leverage was too significant. Once exposed, the Malfoy family would suffer a severe blow in the current social climate, leaving him no room to refuse Dumbledore's request.
Forced? Acting out of fear and necessity? Not knowing it was a Horcrux? Others would have to believe that. Lucius Malfoy, as a former Death Eater, had too dark a past. He was fortunate to escape punishment the first time; he wasn't sure he could escape again. He certainly didn't want to end up in a place like Azkaban.
For this meeting, Lucius had initially intended to approach it with a perfunctory, business-as-usual attitude. But after truly understanding what Roger intended to do, he changed his mind.
In the grand conference room at Hogwarts, Roger sat opposite the twelve Board Members who governed Hogwarts. He had just finished describing the prospects of the virtual reality industry.
After a moment of silence.
"Virtual reality technology… Seer, you've truly developed something formidable," a Board Member, seated diagonally opposite Roger at the long conference table, remarked after listening to Roger's introduction of the virtual reality device and his plans.
"I smell war. Since you are a Seer, you must understand the potential impact of virtual reality and thought acceleration on wizards, mustn't you?" another Board Member chimed in.
Lucius Malfoy, however, stood up directly, fixing his gaze on Roger's eyes. "I don't know about the others, but I personally am willing to fully support what you are doing. If you don't mind, I'm even willing to invest in you in the name of the Malfoy family, without any return, as long as you continue to research this technology and make it available to everyone as you are now!"
Roger had always believed that sincerity was the key to interpersonal communication. Therefore, he had explained in detail what the virtual reality technology could do now, its future development direction, and his true intentions behind developing and promoting this technology. This even included his plan to study the Mystery of Ageless Mind using the power of virtual reality.
However, Roger noticed that the Board Members' focus seemed to be different from what he had anticipated.
"Malfoy's boy, don't think about hogging all the benefits. Seer, if you need anything, you can always come to me. I don't require any return either," an old Board Member with a long beard, who seemed to be at odds with Lucius, spoke up.
Hogwarts was the only magical school in Britain, and nearly all British wizards came from here. As the owners of this academy, the twelve Board Members were either distantly related to the Four Founders with extraordinary bloodlines, or possessed significant power and social standing, which allowed them to hold their positions. With this status, they knew many secrets of the wizarding world that ordinary people did not. Naturally, they were more aware than anyone of the fact that the three major schools of wizardry had all fallen before the Weeping Wall for thousands of years, and had never broken through the upper limit of wizarding power. They knew more about the attempts wizards had made throughout history than Roger did. In their long-standing despair, many had even given up on further exploration, but today, they suddenly found that hope had been born!
In Roger's view, virtual reality enhanced realism, incorporated thought acceleration, and its most important function was to explore the mystery of mental aging. But in the eyes of the Board Members, magic was a miracle of the mind, and virtual reality could allow people to experience all sorts of incredible things, leading to immense growth of the mind. If a wizard infant lived in virtual reality from childhood, making them believe that the virtual was real, and providing them with a life more spectacular and dramatic than a collection of fairy tales, spanning ten thousand years, what kind of terrifying mental power would they possess upon returning to reality?! Even if the limit remained difficult to break, this meant that from this moment on, wizard civilization had the potential to mass-produce 'Dumbledores' and 'Voldemorts'! If every wizard could become a Dumbledore, then the Muggle civilization and wizard civilization would instantly shift the balance of power.
"Actually, I also..." Lucius and another bearded Board Member started, and the other Board Members immediately followed suit, all expressing their willingness to generously support Roger. Apart from a few exceptions who entered through professional ability and reputation, the other Board Members were representatives of pure-blood families. They faced the same problems as Lucius Malfoy. In the current era of explosive population growth on Earth, with the Muggle faction of wizards gaining power, the trend of pure-bloods gradually being submerged by the tide of the times was evident to all discerning individuals. They were not as radical as Lucius Malfoy, attempting to gain hope through the methods of Death Eaters, but they were not without a desire to resist. If virtual reality technology developed to a certain extent, they believed it might be possible to cultivate a large number of powerful individuals who were absolutely loyal to wizarding interests, which could change many things.
"So, you are willing to agree to the on-campus recruitment matter?" Roger asked with a smile.
Looking at the Board Members, who treated virtual reality as a treasure without knowing about the existence of the Three-Dimensional Theory or what the future might hold, Roger realized that his plans might just work out.
"Of course! We will do our utmost to support you!" With boundless imagination for a bright future for wizards, the Board of Directors unanimously agreed to cooperate with Subspace Magic Technology Company.
"But there are still some details to discuss." The details mentioned by the Board Members were not meant to nitpick minor points, but rather to continue the previous topic and increase investment in Roger. The new wave of the era was about to surge, and it was a matter of acting quickly. While their actions were the same, their intentions varied. Some were for the overall interests of wizard civilization, some simply wanted to build a good relationship with Roger, and others, like Lucius, wanted to gain some intangible benefits while also 'whitewashing' their family's reputation. Roger could also see their intentions. He pondered for a moment, considering whether to let these people in.
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