With extraordinary comprehension, I built a floating city at Hogwarts.

Page 87

The chairman of the Merlin Medal Awarding Committee at the Wiesengamo Conference raised this question during a conversation with the applicant, Gianna.

"Of course there are examples to support this, and quite a few at that."

Jaina, well-prepared, spoke calmly and deliberately.

She always strives to do her best in everything she does, and that's always been her personality. To that end, she had already prepared the case files in advance.

"The most typical example is the 'Ilfulacomb incident,' which is also a major event in the history of the Ministry of Magic."

"The incident occurred in 1932. At that time, a mischievous ordinary Welsh green dragon attacked a group of sunbathers in Ilfordcombe, Devon, England. The Tork family, who were traveling there, prevented the casualties and used the largest forgetting spell of the 20th century on the local residents."

"Subsequently, the entire family was awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, by Hector Foley, the Minister of Magic at the time."

"Twenty-five years after this incident, Norwell Donk was also awarded a First Class Medal, but he did not save as many people as the Tork family. He saved a Muggle child from the claws of a man-headed lion-bodied scorpion and sacrificed himself for it."

"If you'd like, I could give you many more examples. Awarding medals to wizards who save Muggles from magical creatures has always been our tradition, hasn't it?"

"But that's a first-class medal, not second-class, not third-class..."

The chairman of the awards committee was still somewhat reluctant, and even the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, who was standing next to him, had some doubts.

"But that's a chimera!"

Jaina had anticipated this situation, so she offered a second reason.

"I probably don't need to elaborate on the danger of such magical beasts. If we let the chimeras run rampant on the beach, I can't even imagine how many Muggles would die and how much chaos they would cause—it might even lead to the sacrifice of an Auror."

Upon hearing this, Fudge nodded repeatedly.

According to Tonks' report, Levin did not hunt the Chimera on his own initiative, nor did his aggressive behavior force the smugglers to release the monster.

According to the Ministry of Magic's records, Levin and Ciri were simply taking a walk on the beach when they happened to encounter a crazed dark wizard attempting to attack Muggles with an artifact creature, which forced them to intervene.

This is essentially no different from mutual destruction.

"But Levin Green was different. He killed the Chimera with his own hands and was unharmed, something no wizard had ever done in thousands of years."

"Most importantly, he belongs to the magic world of the Underworld and has a close relationship with the newly emerged Auror Tonks who made a big splash last year."

After hearing this, Cornelius Fudge nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, killing the Chimera is of great significance. For that reason alone, awarding a first-class medal is fair. If you're really worried about over-issuing medals, you can just award his partner a second-class medal."

Seeing this, Jaina was not surprised at all.

She had already figured out the Minister of Magic's background.

She knew very well that, in the minister's eyes, whether her words were reasonable or well-founded was unimportant.

The important thing is the extraordinary significance behind this, and Levin can barely be considered half an ally.

This will be very beneficial to the Ministry of Magic's propaganda efforts.

A young wizard from the Underworld single-handedly killed a Chimera, accomplishing a feat that countless wizards had failed to achieve in thousands of years, and he was trained by the Underworld's Ministry of Magic.

How good would that sound? How prestigious would that make you?

Given the precedent and the minister's endorsement, the chairman of the awards committee ultimately agreed to raise the issue of "awarding the Order of Levin Greenmelin First Class and the Order of Cerilla Rayaner Greenmelin Second Class" in the awards committee for discussion.

In the awards committee, the mere raising of an issue usually signifies its approval.

This is just a matter of going through one more formality with the remaining time.

Jaina told Tonks the news, and the Tonks family was overjoyed for Levin.

Afterwards, the Tonks invited Levin, Ciri, and Hermione to visit their home and warmly took them to choose dresses for the awards ceremony.

If Levin hadn't repeatedly said he had money, they would have even offered to pay for the dress.

In the eyes of this good couple, since Levin and Ciri had no elders in their family, they had an obligation to guide these two poor children on how to navigate the upper echelons of wizarding society.

Andromeda Tonks, the young lady from the Black family, is best qualified to speak on this matter.

The day for the awards ceremony is fast approaching.

The Tonks family personally led Levin and his two companions Apparating to the Ministry of Magic.

However, after Apparating, the group did not appear inside the Ministry of Magic, but instead found themselves on a desolate little street.

There were only a few dilapidated-looking offices, a small pub, and a dump truck that was about to overflow.

It's hard to believe that the entrance to the Ministry of Magic is here.

“We’ve arrived, kids. Don’t worry, we’re actually near Westminster Avenue in London. The entrance is here because it’s more discreet and less likely to be found by Muggles.”

Mrs. Tonks introduced the three young wizards...

"In fact, our Ministry of Magic is located downstairs from Whitehall, the central building of the British Muggle government."

“Normally, we can enter the Ministry of Magic through the Floo Network.”

Tonks walked ahead, leading the way and explaining as he went.

"But we're here for a ceremony, so we need to go through the visitor entrance...it's here."

She pointed to an old, red telephone booth, missing several panes of glass, with a wall behind it that was covered in graffiti.

The telephone booth looked small, but it had been enchanted with a sophisticated, seamless expansion spell, so that its interior could always accommodate 643 people.

Tonks stood by the telephone, recalling the number as he entered it.

As the dial spun back to its original position, a woman's indifferent voice rang out from the phone booth. But the voice didn't come from the receiver; it was loud and clear, as if an unseen woman was standing right beside them.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and the purpose of your visit."

“We are here for the awards ceremony, six of us in total,” Tonks replied to the empty glass, “Nifadora Tonks, two of her family members, two award recipients, and one companion who is here to observe the ceremony.”

“Thank you,” the cold female voice said. “Guest, please take the badge and pin it to your clothes.”

A silver medal slid out of the metal slot used to dispense coins in a normal phone booth and landed in Tonks's hand.

The female Auror pinned it to her chest.

Then the female voice said again:

"Guests from the Ministry of Magic, you will need to undergo security screening and register your wand at the security checkpoint. The security checkpoint is located at the far end of the main hall."

The floor of the phone booth suddenly began to tremble, and they slowly sank into the ground, like riding a Muggle elevator.

Gradually, Levin could no longer see anything, and could only hear the monotonous friction noise of the phone booth passing down the ground.

They stopped descending when the dazzling light pierced Levin's eyes.

"The Ministry of Magic hopes you have a pleasant day," the female voice said.

The door to the phone booth popped open, and the crowd filed out.

Then, the three young wizards saw the magnificent Ministry of Magic for the first time.

Chapter 93 Heading to the Ministry of Magic

Seeing the scene before him, Levin couldn't help but sigh.

Apart from Hogwarts, there is no place that better embodies the beauty of magic in this world than the Ministry of Magic right before our eyes.

They stood at one end of a long, magnificent hall with gleaming dark wooden floors and a peacock-blue ceiling inlaid with shimmering gold symbols that moved and changed constantly, like a giant high-altitude bulletin board.

There is a fountain in the middle of the foyer.

In a circular pool of water stands a group of pure gold statues, larger than life-size.

The tallest of them was a noble-looking wizard, holding his wand high, pointing it straight to the sky.

Surrounding him was a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf.

Centaurs, goblins, and house-elves all looked up at the two wizards with boundless adoration.

Glistening jets of water shot from the tip of the wizard's wand, from the centaur's arrowhead, from the tip of the goblin's hat, and from the ears of the house-elves.

The walls on all four sides were covered with dark, glossy black wood panels, and many gilded fireplaces were embedded in the panels.

Every few seconds, with a soft "poof," a wizard would suddenly emerge from one of the fireplaces on the left.

On the right, several people were queuing in front of each fireplace, waiting to leave.

As she passed by, Tonks seemed very happy. She cheerfully greeted everyone she knew and introduced them to the two who were about to receive their medals.

"Yes, I brought them here to receive the Order of Merlin medals."

Levin could see envy and jealousy in the eyes of every wizard.

It seems the wizards at the Ministry of Magic value the Order of Merlin's medal highly.

The Order of Merlin was originally an organization founded by Merlin in the Middle Ages.

Merlin believed that wizards should coexist peacefully with Muggles, so the Order of the Jazz established a rule prohibiting the use of magic against Muggles.

After its founding, Wizengamo awarded its first medal in the 15th century, named the Order of Merlin in honor of Merlin.

Incidentally, Merlin graduated from Slytherin at Hogwarts, hence the green ribbon representing Slytherin is used on his First Class Merlin Badge.

Wizards of the Ministry of Magic and members of high society particularly admire the Order of Merlin.

For the former, this is a brilliant achievement on their resume, a symbol of their promising future.

For the latter, this is a display of their noble status.

Levin himself didn't care much about this stuff; for him, knowledge was the real power.

Ciri, a visitor from another world, was completely oblivious to this—she was the inheritor of the Elder Blood, the princess of Cintra, and the daughter of the Nilfgaardian emperor. Was she proud?

Levin was only willing to accept the offer because he needed sufficient fame and connections for his future career.

At the security checkpoint, they passed the wand test without any problems.

They then passed through another large door and came to a smaller hall where at least twenty elevators were blocked by exquisite gold-plated gates.

Tonks chose a queue with fewer people and quickly entered the elevator.

The elevator doors slammed shut and began to slowly ascend.

The elevator stops once on each floor as people come and go.

"We've reached the fifth floor: the International Magic Trade Standards Association, the International Office of Magical Law, and the UK branch of the International Wizarding Federation."

Inside the elevator, the same emotionless female voice as in the phone booth announced the address.

"We've arrived. The fifth floor is the territory of the International Magic Cooperation Department. The same hall is used for awarding medals to the Order of Merlin and for diplomatic cooperation."

Tonks stepped out of the elevator first, leading everyone forward. Sunlight streamed through the corridor windows, bringing warmth to the corridor.