Chapter 127 125. Bribery and Privileges
At the moment when the silver light came on, the dementor obviously stopped moving forward.
It didn't continue to move forward, nor did it retreat, as if it still didn't want to give up on the delicious food in front of it, until the silver light on the tip of Dumbledore's staff became brighter and brighter, it had to go back the same way and floated down the third floor.
Dumbledore and Jon looked at each other without saying a word, and soon there was a sound of hurried footsteps from the stairway, and Ern Pulan, who was a driver and part-time conductor, walked up the stairs with a pale face , I was relieved to see that they didn't have any accidents.
"Sorry, gentlemen, these monsters want to check the inside of the car. I can't stop them. Their actions are all promised by the Ministry of Magic."
Dumbledore waved his hand.
"It's okay, now is a special period, we can understand, hurry up, Mr. Poulan, we still want to taste Baba Rum Cake in Paris tonight."
Plan bowed his head again to apologize to them, and then walked down the stairs.
After the sound of his footsteps completely disappeared, Jon turned to look at Dumbledore and whispered.
"Looks like these dementors have great privileges."
"There are no prisoners in Azkaban, and they will lose their food." Dumbledore said in a deep voice, "The Ministry of Magic allows them to come to the British mainland to search, and it is very unlikely that they will succeed in catching escaped prisoners. , more to appease them in this way. As long as they don't directly **** the soul, eating a little wizard's enthusiasm is not a big deal in the eyes of the Ministry of Magic."
Jon smacked his lips and didn't speak again.
They stayed in the car for another hour or so and arrived in Wales on time at four o'clock in the afternoon.
Dumbledore took Jon out of the car, and in front of them was a somewhat dilapidated manor.
This manor is located in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, on the edge of the Muggle city. There are occasional Muggles passing by here, and they seem to turn a blind eye to this building. It is obviously blessed with a powerful Muggle expulsion spell. .
Dumbledore stood in front of the rusty gate and rang the bell, and then a man's voice seemed to ring from above their heads.
"Visitor name, lineage, purpose of visit."
"Richard Williams and Jack Williams, of mixed descent, plan to leave for Paris, France."
The men were silent for a moment, as if they were looking up information to verify their identities. After about ten seconds, the iron gate in front of them was suddenly opened.
"Go directly to the main hall along this road, don't go to other areas, or you will bear the consequences."
The voice issued a warning, and then disappeared completely, while Dumbledore and Jon walked into the manor together.
After they entered, the iron door closed by itself, and they walked straight along the stone road, and they walked into the main hall of the manor.
As soon as you enter the door, you can see that there are more than a dozen fireplaces on the wall opposite the gate, dancing with the fire of green snakes. From time to time, wizards come out of the flames of the five fireplaces on the left, and the fireplace on the right is lined up. There is a long line, and they are pouring Floo powder into the fireplace one by one.
This place is far from being as deserted as it looks from the outside. There are people coming and going in the main hall, and most wizards are in a hurry.
But one of the venues was deliberately left empty, where two dementors were floating quietly, watching everyone in the main hall silently with their vision shrouded in gray cloaks.
Dumbledore and Jon didn't stay in the main hall too long, they continued to the registration office, and an impatient witch received them.
"Brother Williams? Want to go through the exit procedures for France? Go to Room 5, register first and wait in line. There are 13 people waiting for approval in front of you."
Dumbledore calmly took out 5 gold Galleons from his pocket, placed them in front of the witch at the bottom of the registration desk, and asked with a smile.
"Ma'am, we have a very important business to discuss in France. Excuse me, is there any channel for quick application?"
The witch looked up at Dumbledore, then turned her gaze to the 5 brand new gold Galleons, her face was expressionless, and she didn't reach for the 5 gold coins.
"If you read the newspapers recently, you should know that something big happened a few days ago. The Ministry of Magic has more strictly restricted the entry and exit management of wizards, especially half-blood wizards. Look at those two annoying dementors I know. So if you want to apply for a special channel, it will be more troublesome than before."
Dumbledore put 10 gold Galleons in front of her again without changing his face.
"I don't know if these can solve the trouble?"
"There are two of you."
Dumbledore showed hesitation, but in the end he gritted his teeth and took out 10 Galleons.
This time the witch didn't keep her hand anymore, Jon only felt a blur in front of his eyes, she didn't even take the initiative to reach out, the total of 25 gold Galleons on the table disappeared in front of his eyes in the next second, and then the witch moved quickly Handed Dumbledore two badges.
"Take it and go to Room 3, someone will save you time."
Dumbledore took the badge from her, and walked towards Room 3 with Jon.
Compared with the main hall, there are much fewer people here, Jon whispered beside Dumbledore.
"Are they accepting bribes so openly?"
"This is not called bribery." Dumbledore said calmly.
"What's that called?"
"Bribery means that officials in this position can ask for money when doing business, but if the witch just now was a half-breed, she would not dare to do so." Dumbledore said softly, "So this is not called bribery, it is It should be called a privilege."
Jon shrugged, his thinking has not yet changed, the magic world is inherently unequal, and he really can't apply the previous conventional thinking.
They came to the door of Room No. 3 with their badges, knocked on the door, and waited for the sound of permission to enter, and then Dumbledore took Jon and pushed the door and walked in.
In room three sat an elderly wizard with eyes. He saw the two badges that Dumbledore had put on his desk after entering the door, so he took a form from the side of the desk , asked without looking up while filling out.
"destination."
"Paris, France." Dumbledore replied
"I plan to leave the country for a few days. Do you have any plans to return to the UK in the near future?"
"In about three to five days, I will come after the business negotiation is over."
(end of this chapter)