Volume 7: A World with Bad Consequences Chapter 472: If Soft Measures Don’t Work, Use Hard Measures
It’s not that it’s bad to win easily, and Jon himself knows very well that Hunter and other idiots are not wrong in some things.
In the war between wizards, the situation cannot be established by relying solely on the small-scale fighting of these people. Whether it was the wizarding party led by Grindelwald more than fifty years ago, or Voldemort's final rule over Britain more than ten years ago, the key to victory lies in the final single duel.
Just like the story of Grindelwald, the Witch Party was unprecedentedly powerful at the time. After losing the duel with Dumbledore, even the largest organization faced collapse.
The current situation is the same. The wizarding front has an absolute advantage and has even reached Diagon Alley, but as long as Voldemort is still there and he has not shown up, it means that the current victory is not certain enough.
But at this time it was obvious that the British Ministry of Magic had no way to resist the attack from the Wizarding World, so what was Voldemort doing?
Just reading the news in the newspaper, John certainly couldn't figure out what was going on. However, he didn't need to worry about Voldemort's affairs. All he needed to do now was to complete the task assigned to him by Dumbledore.
So in the next two days, he intentionally or unintentionally tried to get close to the pure-blood named "Dandy" who stayed in the Department of Mysteries.
This middle-aged wizard, who also came from a new-style pure-blood family , did not seem like someone who was easy to get along with. Even though he knew that Jon was already one of them, he still had a lukewarm attitude towards him, as if he treated him like those idiots like Hunter, and warned him not to cause trouble.
At this point, things were becoming difficult for Jon.
It seemed that the close relationship was not going to work, and Jon felt that he couldn't hang himself on a tree, so he found a time to discuss the matter with Slughorn.
"Dumbledore sent me a message."
Before Jon could speak, Slughorn spoke first.
"He received intelligence that he didn't know if it was accurate or not. It was very likely that Voldemort would personally lead the Death Eaters to launch a counterattack on Christmas Day a week later. He couldn't hold back any longer."
Jon also frowned at this time.
"The professor agreed to give us this time. He said that we must find the thing before he duels with Voldemort. If Voldemort shows up in person at that time, the professor will definitely face him directly."
"How's the progress on your end?"
Jon shook his head.
"We did get inside, but Hunter and his gang are a bunch of idiots who know nothing. The only ones who know a little bit about what's going on in the Department of Mysteries should be Dandy and his gang. But I've been trying to contact Dandy for three days, and he doesn't want to talk to me any more. He's very tight-lipped, so I'm thinking if soft tactics don't work, we can only use hard tactics."
Slughorn understood what Jon meant.
"You mean just give him Veritaserum?"
Jon nodded.
"We have to find an opportunity to lure him out alone. If anyone among these people really knows something in the Department of Mysteries, it is likely that it is Dandy. We need to start with him, even if we have to take some risks."
Slughorn responded decisively to this.
"Then keep trying. We still have a week until Christmas. I'll make some arrangements. If you don't get any useful information from him in two days, I'll find a reason to have him come to the office alone, and you and I will control him together!"
After talking things over with Slughorn and settling everything, John continued to try to communicate with Dandy. He then discovered that there were fools among the pure-bloods as well as capable people. Dandy and Hunter were fundamentally different.
He may not be someone who can study advanced magic, but his behavior is like that of a professionally trained person. John also found out through indirect inquiries that before Voldemort ruled Britain, he was a well-trained Auror in the British Ministry of Magic. Even though he became a Death Eater over the years, he was not corrupted by the extravagant life.
It is really not easy to deal with such a person. Two days later, Jon completely gave up on gaining anything from words. The current situation on the battlefield did not allow him to wait that long.
He made an appointment with Slughorn, and four days before Christmas, Dandy was called to the director's office alone.
"I heard you have something important to talk to me about, Mr. Director."
Dandy still showed the most basic courtesy to Slughorn, but Slughorn was much more enthusiastic. He asked the wizard, who could be said to be the leader of all pure-blood wizards in the Department of Mysteries, to sit down, then poured him a cup of tea and placed some desserts on the table.
"Dandy Collison, I've always wanted to have a good chat with someone as outstanding as you."
After some meaningless greetings, Slughorn said meaningfully.
"Well, Coles and the others talked to me before. It seems that you guys are in some special circle together... He also invited me to join, saying that he would give me unexpected surprises. I have been thinking about these things these days. Can you tell me in detail?"
Dandy frowned slightly. Of course he knew about Laslaghorn joining the gang.
But there is a reasonable division of labor among the purebloods. Social work like this is basically left to those who only know how to eat, drink and have fun. Dandy has never been involved in such things.
But a person like Slughorn has a very special identity. Now that he has expressed his intention to join, Dandy feels that he should not refuse.
But before he started talking formally, he looked around the director's office, and his eyes finally stopped on the door of the private bedroom.
Slughorn saw his wariness and smiled.
"Are you worried that there might be a third person? If you are worried, you can open it and take a look. I don't mind."
However, the more Slughorn said this, the less suspicious Dandy became. As Voldemort's former head of house, Slughorn's status was always more transcendent.
"Do you have any doubt that our master is the one we serve now?" Dandy asked, staring into Slughorn's eyes.
When talking about such a major matter that is almost equivalent to treason, no one will take it lightly.
Slughorn's face showed a bit of confusion and solemnity at the right time.
At this moment, the bedroom door was quietly opened a crack, and a finger and a magic wand stretched out from it!
