In the afternoon, everyone once again sat on opposite sides of the long table.
Old Harris gave everyone a very short lunch break, less than an hour.
This urgency, through Old Harris's actions, was passed on to the French delegation and further confirmed the guesses in their hearts.
Soon, as the huge floor-to-ceiling windows in the meeting room were covered by magical curtains, and the magical lamps hanging from the ceiling released bright but not blinding white light, this meeting concerning the future of the British Ministry of Magic and the French Ministry of Magic officially began.
But unlike the earlier hostility, the atmosphere of the formal mediation meeting was surprisingly good.
Link and Dumbledore remained silent as before.
To be fair, they were not the kind of people who were especially aggressive with words.
If Old Harris and the French Ministry people had not provoked them first during lunch and humiliated themselves, Link would not even have bothered saying those things.
Old Harris had also returned to his earlier smiling appearance.
As if the one who angrily left at noon had not been him at all.
As for the French Ministry representatives, there was even less to say.
Their whole bodies radiated gentleness, and warm smiles filled their faces. When they occasionally made eye contact with Link or Dumbledore, they even nodded kindly in greeting.
In their view, the result of this negotiation had already been decided.
Link's provocative behavior at lunch had already tilted victory toward them.
Winners always had to show some mercy toward losers.
And this was their pity toward Link and Dumbledore.
Consider it a little compensation for the loser's dignity.
Holding all sorts of thoughts in their hearts, Link and the French Minister of Magic cooperated with Old Harris and read the greeting statement to the International Confederation of Wizards word by word.
Next came the compensation issue.
This was something the French Ministry could not avoid.
The French wizard Link captured during the previous anti-terror arrest operation had already become a witness.
Under Dumbledore's arrangements, he directly submitted all the evidence to the International Confederation of Wizards, completely confirming Professor Norton's crimes at Beauxbatons.
So the moment Old Harris announced the topic, the French Minister of Magic stood up and said, "As for Professor Norton's crimes, our investigation after the incident has also confirmed them."
"Professor Norton is indeed guilty, but according to the authority granted to the French Ministry of Magic under the International Confederation of Wizards Statute of Secrecy, the right to judge Professor Norton belongs to our ministry."
"Therefore, before coming here, our Department of Magical Law Enforcement had already handed down the appropriate punishment."
"Oh? What kind of punishment?"
Facing Old Harris's question, the French Minister's smile remained unchanged as he picked up a document and read aloud, "Respected Mr. Harris, according to the public trial held by the French Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the jury's final verdict was that Professor Norton would be fined ten thousand Galleons and sentenced to twenty years imprisonment, with the imprisonment location being Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. This was the people's choice. I swear on my life that we did not interfere in any way."
At this point, the French Minister paused and carefully observed Old Harris's reaction.
Because honestly, this punishment was barely different from no punishment at all. Norton was already a professor at Beauxbatons, and now he was even the acting headmaster. Whether he left Beauxbatons or not meant nothing to him.
Moreover, if Norton really wanted to leave, nobody would stop him.
It was practically treating everyone present like fools.
Yet Old Harris merely nodded calmly. Link and Dumbledore also showed little emotional reaction.
The French Minister let out a sigh of relief and continued, "We deeply regret the attack suffered by the British Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts."
"Out of the principle of international mutual aid, we are willing to provide a certain amount of humanitarian compensation."
"The specific amount is equal to the losses calculated by the British Ministry of Magic from this attack... uh, how much was it again?"
The French Minister flipped through the documents in his hands, looking rather anxious.
But soon, he heavily closed the documents and looked up at Link with slight mockery.
"Well, no need to look for it. It's just a small number anyway. How about this, Professor Norton's fine was ten thousand Galleons, and on behalf of the French Ministry of Magic, I'll add another ten thousand. That makes twenty thousand Galleons in total. How about it?"
Link said nothing, only looked at the French delegation with a faint smile on his lips.
As if he were watching a group of monkeys performing tricks.
Meanwhile, Old Harris at the head seat nodded and said, "Not bad. A very reasonable amount."
"I must emphasize again that this money is a humanitarian donation from the French Ministry of Magic to the British Ministry of Magic, not compensation of any kind," the French Minister said again.
"This means our ministry does not acknowledge any improper actions by the French Ministry toward the British Ministry. Therefore, we also do not need to make any formal apology to the British Ministry of Magic!"
Old Harris still nodded.
Seeing this, the French Minister instantly became overjoyed.
He had only two goals in coming to the International Confederation of Wizards.
First, Professor Norton could not be handed over.
Second, they could not apologize to or show weakness toward the British Ministry.
These two points concerned the dignity of the French magical world and the public support for the French Ministry.
And now, it looked like both tasks had already been completed?
Since it was this easy, couldn't he ask for more?
Once this thought appeared in the French Minister's mind, he could no longer suppress it.
He licked his lips and forced down his excitement.
"In addition, our ministry has clear evidence showing that in July, Mr. Link Flamel and Professor Dumbledore infiltrated Beauxbatons out of jealousy toward the rapid development of the French magical world and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and launched a horrifying terrorist attack against Beauxbatons!"
"Therefore, I request that the British Ministry of Magic publicly apologize to the French Ministry of Magic and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, compensate all losses caused by the incident in the amount of roughly seventeen million Galleons, and sentence Link Flamel and Albus Dumbledore to death!"
After saying everything in one breath, the French Minister panted heavily and looked at Old Harris nervously.
The absurdity of this request far exceeded the earlier French judgment of Norton.
But based on Old Harris's previous behavior, he felt there was a good chance Harris would approve this proposal.
"I think... this is very reasonable."
As Old Harris spoke again, the French Minister and the French representatives around him became so excited they nearly jumped out of their seats.
No one understood the significance better than they did.
By completing this impossible mission and forcing the British Ministry to submit, they would become heroes of the French magical world, forever engraved in its monuments for future generations to admire.
This was supreme glory.
"I believe the French Ministry has finished presenting its position. Then Committee Member Link Flamel, as the representative of the British Ministry of Magic, do you have anything to say?"
Old Harris swept his gaze across the excited French representatives before turning to Link.
His face still carried that warm and gentle smile as always.
Dumbledore nearly failed to hold back his laughter.
Link, meanwhile, shifted into a more relaxed posture and said, "Norton caused serious damage to the British magical world. I must extradite him back to the British Ministry of Magic for trial."
"Mr. Link Flamel, perhaps I wasn't clear enough earlier, so I must remind you again!" the French Minister interrupted.
"The authority to judge Professor Norton belongs to the French Ministry of Magic. This is a right granted to us by the International Confederation of Wizards Statute of Secrecy."
"And Professor Norton has already completed his trial within our ministry and begun serving his punishment."
"That means your British Ministry has no authority to extradite him and no authority to conduct a second trial!"
Link completely ignored the French Minister. His gaze remained fixed on Old Harris.
After a moment of silence, Old Harris finally nodded.
"Agreed. I support this decision."
He turned to the French Minister again.
"Minister, I hope you will hand over the criminal Norton to the British Ministry of Magic within one week. This is the decision of the International Confederation of Wizards."
"I hope there will be no unexpected complications, otherwise the consequences will be beyond what you can bear."
"Now then, Committee Member Link Flamel, do you want any additional compensation?"
"Hah! Since you put it that way, I'll ask for a little more." Link sneered as he looked at the French Minister.
"The French Ministry of Magic should publicly apologize in the newspapers to the British Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Then just casually compensate us with around one or two million Galleons."
"That's already very generous, right? You people just demanded seventeen million from me earlier."
The French Minister no longer had time to care about Link's mockery.
All his attention was now focused on Old Harris.
Unlike before.
He now had an extremely bad feeling.
Under the pressure of that feeling, he felt like all the blood in his body had stopped flowing.
His hands and feet turned ice cold, his face became deathly pale, and large drops of sweat constantly appeared on his forehead.
"That is indeed very generous. Then let's settle it that way. The public apology and compensation amount will also be added into the conclusions of this meeting and must likewise be completed within one week. That shouldn't be a problem, should it, Minister?", Old Harris finally spoke.
The words from his mouth were not too different from what the French Ministry expected.
But even with mental preparation, hearing them directly still felt like sharp swords stabbing into his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.
He collapsed against the back of his chair, weak as if he might die the next second.
Yet soon, a flush appeared on his pale face.
He suddenly slammed the table and stood up again.
"This is unfair! What about Link Flamel and Dumbledore attacking Beauxbatons? How can you ignore this fact and make such a careless judgment!?"
"We... Professor Norton only thought of retaliation because they invaded Beauxbatons first. What did he do wrong? Why are only we being punished?"
Old Harris looked at the incoherent French Minister and patiently waited for him to finish before saying, "Then regarding this matter, do you have any concrete evidence to submit to the International Confederation of Wizards?"
"Of course we do! Every survivor from that disaster is a witness, they all saw it! And Beauxbatons... the remaining ruins of Beauxbatons Academy are physical evidence, those..."
"Minister, these do not count as concrete evidence. I believe that if you truly had concrete evidence, you should have submitted it to the International Confederation immediately after the incident happened."
"But you did not. And now, too much time has passed, enough time for you to fabricate an entire chain of evidence. Therefore... I reject your request."
Old Harris suddenly became serious.
"Additionally, I must remind you, Minister, that slandering the leaders of other Ministries of Magic carries legal responsibility, though I imagine Committee Member Link Flamel will not pursue the matter."
"Also, I think you should pay more attention to etiquette and manners. Earlier, when you were explaining your requests and situation to me, Mr. Link Flamel did not interrupt you at all."
"But what about you? Since Committee Member Link Flamel began speaking, how many times have you interrupted him?"
The French Minister had no way to answer Old Harris's question.
Now, faced with such an enormous reversal, he had been completely crushed and collapsed.
If the French Head Auror beside him had not quickly stepped up to support him, he likely would have fallen beneath the table.
Looking at the chaotic state of the French delegation, Old Harris slightly shook his head with ridicule on his face.
He turned and smiled slightly at Link and Dumbledore before standing and loudly announcing, "Then the preliminary conclusion of the meeting is decided. I assume none of you object, since this is quite a fair agreement."
As he spoke, Old Harris's gaze swept across Link and the French delegation as if asking their opinions.
Link merely smiled silently, while the French delegation had completely fallen into chaos and retreat after the French Minister lost the ability to handle matters.
The remaining officials, such as the Director of Magical Law Enforcement and the Head Auror, did not even have the courage to meet Old Harris's eyes.
Old Harris was quite satisfied by this.
He smiled and nodded before continuing, "The progress of our first day's meeting has truly been fast. Of course, there are still many detailed matters left to discuss, that's procedure."
"But considering the terrible condition of the French Minister right now, we'll end today's meeting here. The remaining matters can be discussed tomorrow and the day after."
"Now then, ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy your free time."
"Although you cannot leave this guest building of the International Confederation of Wizards and visit the Sky City outside."
"I believe you can still have a wonderful experience within this building."
"I wish you all an enjoyable time."
After speaking, Old Harris's body gradually distorted before completely disappearing.
Seeing this, Link clicked his tongue in amazement.
As a wizard whose combat power had already reached the legendary level, he could confirm that the Old Harris sitting there earlier had been the real person, not some projection.
Which meant the disappearance he used was truly some kind of Apparition-like magic.
Sky City's spatial technology really was impressive.
As Link thought this, his gaze naturally fell onto the French delegation opposite him.
They had now slightly recovered from their initial chaos.
But the French Minister was still not fully conscious. His eyes were blank as he muttered things like "This is unfair."
As for the other officials, they glared furiously at Link and Dumbledore.
"You people definitely made a deal with Harris beforehand, didn't you!? You reached an agreement long ago and treated us like monkeys!"
The hot-tempered French Head Auror shouted while clenching his fists.
Hearing this, Link and Dumbledore exchanged a glance and smiled helplessly before shaking their heads.
They were sighing at the stupidity of the French delegation.
How could people in this world be this stupid?
The so-called mediation meeting had actually ended the moment Link and Dumbledore appeared together at the International Confederation of Wizards.
Even if the French delegation failed to notice at first, they should have realized it during lunch when Link openly used pressure from his magical aura against them.
After all, this was the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards.
Could an ordinary wizard openly cast magic and attack another delegation here right in front of Elder Harris?
What were they thinking?
That was an enormous breach of etiquette and should have gotten him thrown out immediately.
Yet Old Harris endured it all and even gave him a way out.
Why?
Of course because both Link and Dumbledore were legendary-level wizards.
A normal Ministry of Magic having even one wizard at that level would already be incredibly lucky.
Yet the British Ministry now had two, and one of them was so young.
Ridiculously, the French delegation had earlier looked down on the British delegation for not being important enough.
Little did they know that the personal arrival of two legendary wizards carried far more weight than all these so-called highest-ranking French officials combined.
In the magical world, hard power ultimately spoke the loudest.
Even the International Confederation of Wizards had to obey that rule.
After all, although Sky City's spatial technology was absurdly advanced, they were not actually skilled at dealing with single overwhelmingly powerful individuals.
If Link and Dumbledore became enraged and joined forces, then probably half of Sky City would be burned to the ground.
So right and wrong had long since stopped mattering.
The ending had also long since been decided.
Link smiled disdainfully and directly stood up with Dumbledore before leaving the meeting hall.
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