After visiting the Berlin Wall a few days prior, Roger and Harry toured West Germany.
Traveling through time via the Time Phantom Shuttle, the two witnessed Germany's establishment, prosperity, decline, hunger, misery, and madness.
As well as its subsequent fall and resurgence.
Roger gained something, while Harry became even more taciturn, appearing to be deep in thought.
Roger was pleased by this.
Magic is a miracle of the mind; one can advance quickly on the path of magic with yearning and desire, as well as contemplation and obsession.
Harry's mind was developing from simple courage and love for his family towards a more complex direction.
After touring parts of West Germany, Roger and Harry went to East Germany.
To be honest, East Germany was very different from West Germany.
Although the two Germanys had unified, two short years clearly weren't enough to bring about significant changes here... or rather, changes in a positive direction.
"So you're saying that because of the currency exchange between the two Germanys, factories lost their competitiveness, and you became unemployed as a result?" Roger looked at the flushed middle-aged man in front of him.
"That's right! This was all a conspiracy by West Germany. They wanted to destroy our industry. It's either death or privatization, spit!"
Roger had his accompanying tour guide conduct street interviews under the guise of 'social research' to gauge ordinary people's views on the current societal changes.
As the middle-aged man was speaking enthusiastically, a passing youth couldn't help but stop. The youth walked over and said, "Don't talk nonsense. The initial intention of the currency union was good. It's just that your East German products were too inferior and couldn't withstand the impact. How can you blame us?"
"What! The initial intention was good? Are you saying the West German government is stupid? They didn't understand the social reality of East Germany and blindly implemented it just because it looked good? Are there no smart people in the country? Damn you..."
Roger's interview was cut short halfway through, as the situation devolved into an argument between the East German man and the West German youth, and he couldn't even get a word in.
Watching them argue until veins bulged on their foreheads, Roger recalled seeing the people of East and West Germany sitting together, laughing heartily, and smashing the concrete wall together a few days ago in the Time Phantom Shuttle.
Not just that scene.
And not just the two arguing in front of him.
Roger had encountered too many contradictions between the two Germanys during his days touring Germany.
West Germans looked down on East Germans, considering them lazy and foolish.
East Germans also harbored animosity towards West Germans, attacking them with the excuse that they had let the "Sissies" go.
It was as if the events in the phantom were not real, but had actually happened in the past.
... It had only been two years.
"Let's go." After listening to their argument for a while, which started with policy examples but quickly devolved into baseless insults targeting each other's ancestors, Roger decided he had no interest in continuing to listen.
Roger called Harry and Charlotte and they left.
Not long after Roger turned away, he suddenly realized that the argument was no longer confined to those two. More and more East and West Germans gathered, some watching the spectacle, others joining the fray.
"Honestly..." Roger stopped again, deciding to observe for a while longer.
It wasn't that he enjoyed watching the commotion, but this situation had arisen because of a question he had asked. It was fine for them to argue amongst themselves, but he didn't want it to escalate into a brawl that resulted in bloodshed.
If it showed any signs of heading in that direction, he would intervene.
Roger, having experienced much in the age of information overload, was unfazed by the scene. Charlotte, being German, also didn't pay it much mind.
However, it had a profound impact on Harry.
"They all have the same blood, they were so happy to be reunited, so why now..." Harry couldn't understand what he was seeing.
"Because their interests are different," Roger said casually.
The economic development of the two Germanys was unbalanced; one was the world's 12th largest economy, and the other was the 3rd.
After the reunification of the two Germanys, East Germans had expected to enjoy the good life of the third-largest economy, but they found themselves worse off than before.
In the past, East Germans lived quite well, able to afford necessities, but their lives were very monotonous.
For example, West Germany had dozens of different varieties of ham and sausage available in large supermarkets at reasonable prices, while East Germany only had a few types, but they were very cheap.
West Germany was vibrant with nightlife, while East Germany's nights were for eating and sleeping.
To put it in terms modern people can easily understand, it was like a normal city versus a city where daily necessities were readily available, but there was no internet, no mobile phones or computers, no bars or nightclubs, and no toys for sale – a city without entertainment.
Since the integration of the two Germanys, life in East Germany had become slightly richer, but far from West German standards. Their low-price system had been shattered by West Germany, and social unrest due to systemic reforms had led to increased unemployment.
Ordinary East Germans felt they had lost out, which was why that middle-aged man spoke so passionately.
In fact, this rift had not been healed even by the year Roger time-traveled, and right-wing forces similar to those of the "hair washer" had re-emerged in 21st-century East Germany.
"I still don't understand," Harry shook his head.
He understood what Roger meant; what he didn't understand was why the same nation and same country had to split internally into opposing interest groups.
During this time, he saw a large number of East Germans flocking to West Germany, settling there with the wealth they had earned in East Germany.
He also saw many West Germans, unable to bear the pressure of life, fleeing to East Germany.
Even after prices rose, real estate and commodity prices in East Germany were still much lower than in West Germany. Some people even bought houses in East Germany and commuted to West Germany daily for work.
He also saw ordinary East Germans who went to West Germany, but lacking the capital to settle down, fled back to East Germany.
The 'strong' constantly flocked to prosperous lands for pleasure, while the 'weak' constantly flocked to barren lands for survival.
West Germany was using desire as a sickle, harvesting the wealth and talent of East Germany.
"If you want an 'opponent,' there are so many outside. Why can't the strong help the weak, so everyone can become strong together and then attack others?"
Roger chuckled after hearing Harry's question, "They are unwilling, and they dare not."
Unwillingness stems from selfish greed. As for daring not, Germany was just dismembered once. You want to unite them so quickly, what are you trying to do? Do you want to be 'annihilated' again? "If one day you become a true powerhouse, will you be willing to help the weak become strong?" Roger asked.
"It's the right thing to do," Harry said earnestly. Mustering the courage to do what he believes is right is his current path of the mind.
"I hope you can remember what you've said now," Roger said with a slight smile, neither confirming nor denying.
Roger intended to spread the Three-Dimensional Law in the future, but his goal was not to turn this place into a world like One Piece, where the strong do as they please, the weak are miserable like slaves, and even survival is difficult.
What he wanted was a world where all beings worked together, climbing the divine long steps, and everyone became an aid to their path to Eternal Life.
It was good that Harry could think this way.
This trip to Germany had shown him many unpredictable changes in human hearts and the flaws in institutional policy design.
When implementing his plans in the future, Roger would try to use methods to prevent Wizards and Muggles, great powers and small nations, from becoming like the two Germanys today.
The arguing crowd did not gather for too long. After attracting the attention of the patrol officers, they dispersed.
Seeing this, Roger turned to the blonde witch Charlotte, "Let's go, our next stop is the German Ministry of Magic."
Originally, Roger had wanted to go to the battlefield first, then visit Grindelwald's past, and finally go to the German Ministry of Magic. But since some people were 'impatient,' he would... go and meet them!
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