Volume 3: A Tombstone Stained with Sin and Blood Chapter 126: Isolation
The wizard quickly filled out the information on the form and then pushed the two forms in front of Dumbledore and John.
"Sign and pay. The cost of using the Floo Network across borders is 10 Galleons per person, so it's 20 Galleons total for the two of you."
They signed their pseudonyms on the form, and then Dumbledore took out twenty gold coins and placed them on the desk.
After the money fell on the table, it suddenly disappeared, as if there was some magic attached to the table that allowed the money to collect itself.
The wizard helped them open a door at the back of room three, behind which there were also two unburned fireplaces.
"The Floo network of the fireplace on the left is connected to the Floo network in France. It can reach any fireplace that is registered in the French Ministry of Magic. And don't forget the return entry time you submitted. If you haven't returned after five days, you will have to pay a fine of 12 silver Sickles for every day of delay."
After explaining all the precautions, the wizard left the room with the fireplace.
Dumbledore and Jon stood together in front of the fireplace on the left, and then Dumbledore handed Jon the Floo powder box on the fireplace and asked him to pinch out a small handful.
"Go into the fireplace. Our destination is [No. 126, Place Montmartre]. Shout out the name of the place and sprinkle the Floo powder."
Following Dumbledore's instructions, Jon followed the steps he said and then sprinkled the Floo powder in the fireplace.
The next moment a ball of rising green flame spread from under his feet, instantly enveloping his entire body, and then he disappeared.
And 500 kilometers away in Paris, France, at 126 Place Montmartre, in a wizard bar, the flame in the fireplace turned from yellow to green, and then John's figure appeared here.
Using Floo powder to travel long distances is not as comfortable as Apparition, but at least Jon is used to this feeling, so he didn't make a fool of himself after landing.
Less than three or four seconds after he walked out of the fireplace, the flame, which had turned from green to yellow, turned back to green, and Dumbledore walked out shortly after him.
Their destination was a busy tavern filled with robed wizards.
The appearance of Dumbledore and John did not attract anyone's attention. The atmosphere in the pub was obviously relaxed. They sat in an empty seat, and soon a witch with a tray came over and asked them in French what they wanted to order.
"One Baba Rum Cake, two steaks, a glass of cider and a glass of juice."
"Would you like some mayonnaise eggs and cream of onion soup?"
"Well, that's a good recommendation. Let's have two. And don't wait for the cake to be served last. You can serve it together with the steak."
"I'll have the kitchen do it as soon as possible, sir."
Dumbledore spoke French so fluently that Jon even suspected that the witch hadn't noticed that they were actually two British people.
He first observed the surrounding environment, and then took the opportunity to express his doubts to Dumbledore while the food was being served.
"If wizards want to leave England, shouldn't there be many ways for them to do so? Even if Floo powder and portkeys are restricted, why don't they just use Apparition to get out? Given the distance from England to France, there shouldn't be any accidents when using Apparition, right?"
Dumbledore explained to him.
"As long as you don't go to places like Scotland and Ireland, you can use Apparition directly from Wales to the western coast of France. However, Apparition can be detected throughout the United Kingdom. The Ministry of Magic will conduct random inspections of these Apparition locations. Once a British wizard is found to have illegally crossed the border, his name will be recorded and he will be punished accordingly. The minimum fine is 20 Galleons and he will be imprisoned in Azkaban for three days."
John understood what this meant. No matter how strong Voldemort's desire to control the entire magical world was, there was no way for him to guarantee that he could monitor the actions of every wizard at all times.
This is just like the regulations in the Muggle world regarding running a red light as a violation. The violations are clearly defined, and if you run a red light and are caught, you have to admit defeat. If you are not caught, it only means that you were lucky enough this time.
Moreover, now at the end of the 20th century, the flow of information is far less smooth than in the future. Wizards can only rely on the Daily Prophet to obtain information. Now the Ministry of Magic has full control over the Daily Prophet, and it has almost become the default official daily newspaper. As long as the newspapers publish reports about the capture of a few stowaways every day, it will have a strong deterrent effect, making British wizards dare not leave the country without reporting.
But if they want to report now, like Dumbledore and John did, and want to leave the country on the same day of reporting, the bribes and handling fees for both of them will cost a total of 45 gold Galleons.
You have to know that the monthly salary of a regular employee of the Ministry of Magic is only a few dozen Galleons, and this is still a middle-level position. It costs so much money to go abroad, which is not something that every wizard can afford.
This is basically equivalent to a semi-mandatory blockade of the British wizarding world.
John could understand why Voldemort did this. After all, his slavery policy was a step backward in history. If British wizards could still communicate with the outside world as smoothly as before, there would definitely be many problems within the British wizarding world.
The most intuitive thing is that there will definitely be an outflow of Muggles and half-blood wizards who cannot accept his rule. Once the population decreases, that is definitely not what Voldemort wants to see, so he will take such a move.
As for leaving the country through Muggle means, such as airplanes, trains, and ships, given the personalities of Voldemort and his men, they probably don't take Muggle travel methods seriously at all. Unless the phenomenon of escaping through Muggle means becomes particularly serious, they will really face up to the problem in this direction.
In fact, in John's opinion, this method is already very mild compared to the madness shown in the original Voldemort. After all, if he really wants to leave, he can still escape by spending money. If he can't even afford the money, he can also forcibly fly a broom across the country, but it is more dangerous, and the Ministry of Magic cannot fail to think of this.
But if he were to do things the way he did in the original book, he would probably directly ban anyone from leaving the country, which would then lead to complete chaos within the British wizarding community.
The dishes they ordered arrived quickly, and although they were close together, the difference in gastronomy between Britain and France was as great as the difference in military power between France and Germany in the early 1940s.
Whether in terms of craftsmanship, taste or style, French cuisine can beat British cuisine eight hundred times over.
For example, the Baba Rum Cake that Dumbledore had been looking forward to for a long time made him very satisfied. He even said that there was wine in the cake and only gave John a little cream, not letting him eat too much, and he bought the whole thing himself.
Just when they were about to have their fill of food and drink, a quarrel coming from the next table suddenly caught their attention.
