Chapter 542: Chapter 542: Revisiting Hacker (Edited)
Relationships between people require constant maintenance. Neglected relationships will only gradually fade away.
As the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tom's relationship with Hacker was still worth maintaining.
Tom glanced at his watch and realized that if he hurried, he could make it to Downing Street in time for afternoon tea.
"I'll be stepping out for a moment."
Without wasting time, Tom left the Granger's house and hailed a taxi to Downing Street Number 10.
The taxi driver found nothing unusual; in fact, many tourists visited the area every year. Of course, tourists couldn't get close to Number 10's door; they could only admire it from behind the iron gates on Downing Street.
Tom was treated like just another tourist.
A black-clad security guard with a bobby helmet stood in front of Tom and said, "Hey, young man, this isn't a place for strolling; you should stay over there."
He pointed to the iron gates not far away and said, "If you're here to take photos, please stay behind the iron gates."
Here is where we must praise Tom's personal appearance. After being admitted to Hogwarts and becoming friends with Hermione, Tom greatly improved his quality of life and was no longer a disheveled vagabond. Now, he looked like a well-dressed and wealthy young man, his appearance was attractive and left an excellent first impression.
To the extent that the security guard was patient with him and didn't show any suspicion. If Tom had been recognized, he might be surrounded by plainclothes police now.
"I'm not a tourist; I'm an old friend of Mr. Hacker and wish to see him."
Security Guard: ...
He looked at Tom and professionally asked, "I'm sorry, sir, do you have an appointment?"
Tom: ...
"No..."
Previously, when seeking Hacker, he simply "apparated" directly onto his balcony, but their close relationship made Tom disregard Hacker's current position: the Prime Minister of the British Empire.
"Then I'm afraid I can't let you in."
"So, how can I make an appointment?" Tom scratched his head, feeling that it might be more convenient to go directly to Hacker's house. Teleport directly inside Number 10? He didn't dare; who knew what anti-theft mechanisms might be there? It would be front-page news if he got caught.
"Write a letter and wait for the approval process, or if you have Mr. Bernard's approval," the guard patiently explained. In the end, he glanced at Tom. "But if you're a friend of Mr. Hacker, why don't you call him personally?"
Suddenly, Tom felt very embarrassed: what a foolish impulse he had acted on! His actions were truly foolish. Apparently, his way of acting was too carefree.
Tom still didn't understand that his behavior, instead of being free, was the result of a subtle change in his mindset since becoming a wizard: he no longer cared about the governments of the Muggle world.
This was an inherent part of wizard arrogance. Regardless of whether they were pure-blood, half-blood, or Muggle-born, all wizards had that arrogance, because arrogance was contagious! Tom, as a Muggle-born wizard, had only spent a few years at Hogwarts, but his mindset had changed without him realizing it.
Suddenly, a phrase came to Tom's mind: "Only women and commoners are difficult to raise; when you approach them, they don't respect you, and when you distance yourself, they complain." His current relationship with Hacker was more like that of "commoners"; there was no respect when approaching!
"I'm sorry; I was reckless. I'll call Mr. Hacker and make an appointment." Tom felt ashamed of his recent behavior. He decided to return home first and find a way to contact Hacker.
The security guard looked at the young man somewhat strangely and felt a slight change in his heart. He couldn't really be an acquaintance of Mr. Hacker, could he?
"Cough, I can call Mr. Bernard for you." The guard changed his mind within seconds and called Bernard, Hacker's secretary.
At that moment, Hacker and Bernard were discussing a trivial matter.
It really was a trivial matter: a Scottish sheepdog had mistakenly entered a minefield. However, this matter had attracted a lot of media attention.
Attracting so much attention for something like that was quite strange and made one wonder if there were no other news to report in the UK? However, for Hacker, it was a good opportunity to boost his support: he would simply order the military to intervene and rescue the dog from the minefield.
"Yes, Prime Minister, it's certainly a good opportunity to boost your support, but I must remind you that this will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds." Bernard was analyzing the pros and cons for Hacker.
At that moment, the phone rang.
Bernard answered the call and listened to the report from the security guard outside.
"Bernard, what's going on?" Hacker adjusted his glasses and looked at his personal secretary.
"Well, Prime Minister, there's someone named Tom Yodel outside Number 10 who wants to see you. He claims to be an old friend of yours."
Hacker raised an eyebrow. "Ah, it's Tom. Quick, let him in!"
A few minutes later, Tom was sitting in front of the Prime Minister's desk.
"So, what brings you here?" After "requesting" his secretary to leave, Hacker looked at Tom with curiosity. He was also wondering why this visitor from the wizarding world was interested in seeing him today.
"Have you seen today's news? The mysterious forest fire in northern Scotland." Tom decided to start the conversation with the day's news.
"Do you mean the sudden forest fire that ignited and went out in northern Scotland? Yes, I saw it. Reading the news is an essential skill for any Prime Minister, of course, it also has a lot to do with the free time I have since becoming Prime Minister."
Hacker was telling the truth. When he was a minister, he had to deal with various boxes of documents every day, but as Prime Minister, he had fewer things to deal with. Most of his time was spent attending meetings, meeting with leaders of various groups, and promoting his policies. Of course, he also had to think about how to increase his popularity.
"That fire was really strange. Wait a moment..." Hacker raised his head and looked at Tom in surprise. "Is this fire related to wizards?"
"Not only is it related, but I was the one who caused it." Tom told Hacker what happened on the night of the Quidditch World Cup match.
"Is there a group of wizards who hate Muggles?" Hacker almost jumped in astonishment. "Then you... no, surely you're not..."
He nervously looked around, as if there was a dark wizard hiding in some corner of the office, ready to jump out and take his life.
"Don't worry, it's the responsibility of the Ministry of Magic to protect the Prime Minister." Tom's words reassured Hacker.
But seeing Hacker's expression, Tom added, "The Ministry of Magic is not surveilling you; we've just put security measures in place to ensure that there are no dark wizards who might harm you."
At that moment, the office door swung open.
"Sir Humphrey, you can't..." Bernard's voice could be heard from behind the door, trying to stop someone named Sir Humphrey, but he had failed.
Chapter 543: Chapter 543: Rescuing the Dog (Edited)
Tom looked towards the door and saw a middle-aged, well-dressed man carrying a black folder confidently entering.
"Sir Humphrey, the Prime Minister is currently in a meeting with a guest," Bernard said as he entered.
"Oh, Bernard, but this is the time I scheduled with the Prime Minister," Sir Humphrey replied, not paying much attention. As he spoke, he also scrutinized Tom, trying to guess who this individual who had suddenly been received by the Prime Minister was.
Very young, couldn't be more than eighteen, handsome in appearance, and well-mannered and dressed... that was the first impression Tom gave to Sir Humphrey. But what was most unusual was that this person was in the Prime Minister's office.
Being so young and able to see the Prime Minister could only mean that he had a close relationship with him or represented some school. However, there were no scheduled meetings with student representatives in the Prime Minister's agenda for today. Therefore, this young man's relationship with the Prime Minister was out of the ordinary.
Within seconds, Sir Humphrey came to a conclusion.
He had suddenly burst in here for no other reason than to observe this individual who had unexpectedly been received by the Prime Minister. This person who had suddenly appeared was an unexpected factor. As an official seeking stability, Sir Humphrey disliked unexpected factors, so he felt the need to investigate.
"Well... this is my Cabinet Secretary, Sir Humphrey." Humphrey had put forth a good argument, and Hacker had no choice but to accept it and introduce Sir Humphrey to Tom.
So, this is the Prime Minister's Cabinet Secretary? He seems like a crafty and elusive type, thought Tom.
"Well then, I won't disturb you further. Carry on, I can wait," Tom said.
"Ah, do I bother you? You go on, I can wait."
Upon hearing that, both Tom and Hacker couldn't help but think sarcastically: if you can wait, why not wait outside instead of barging in here? Basically, you just want to eavesdrop on our conversation as an intruder. They were both surprised by Sir Humphrey's audacity.
With Sir Humphrey present, Tom couldn't continue the conversation with Hacker, so he chose to leave Hacker's office.
The waiting room wasn't far from the office. Bernard prepared a tray of biscuits and poured a cup of tea for Tom; he wasn't old enough to offer a drink.
However, after doing all that, Bernard showed no signs of leaving. He looked at Tom, wanting to ask something but not daring to.
"Is something the matter? You seem to have something to ask me," Tom had a favorable impression of this younger official. He wasn't as cunning and calculating as Sir Humphrey.
"Well, uh..." Bernard seemed to hesitate, as the question he wanted to ask was difficult to formulate. Finally, he gathered his courage and posed a question that made Tom almost choke on his tea.
"Is Mr. Hacker your father?"
Tom did his best to swallow the tea that had remained in his throat and then looked at Bernard in astonishment. "Of course not! I'm an orphan."
Bernard appeared somewhat embarrassed. "Oh, I see... How can I put it, aren't you really...?"
"I'm not!" Tom didn't expect his meeting with Hacker to lead Bernard to believe he was Hacker's illegitimate child.
Hacker was really falling victim to baseless rumors.
Although it was understandable that Bernard would think that way, given Hacker's special treatment of Tom and considering that politicians must always maintain their personal image, an illegitimate child would be an explosive rumor.
While Tom tried to prove his innocence and Hacker's, the meeting between Sir Humphrey and Hacker was coming to an end.
Sir Humphrey approached with a very valid reason: to persuade Hacker to send troops to rescue the Scottish sheepdog that had ventured into a minefield.
"I think time is running out for Bonnie, we must make a decision as soon as possible."
Sir Humphrey wasn't an advocate for animal rights, but he cared deeply about this sheepdog. His motivation, of course, wasn't kindness but self-interest.
At this moment, Hacker was trying to cut military spending, something Sir Humphrey didn't want to see. Driven by the interests of all parties, he had to convince Hacker to abandon that idea, and this sheepdog was an excellent excuse.
He planned to persuade Hacker to have engineers sent to rescue the sheepdog from the minefield. The benefits for Hacker were evident: he could boost his popularity with this issue, although the downsides... would be spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on it.
If you're willing to spend hundreds of thousands to save a dog, how can you justify cutting military spending?
Once he had Hacker trapped with this, the next time he mentioned budget cuts, Sir Humphrey could say directly, "Prime Minister, I suppose you don't want the public to find out that you spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on saving a dog, do you?" At that point, Hacker would have no choice but to abandon his budget-cutting plans.
"Sometimes one has to act according to their conscience," Sir Humphrey left this phrase before confidently leaving the office.
Then, Tom was called in again.
At that moment, Hacker was in an internal struggle. He felt something was not right, but he couldn't explain it. Rescuing the dog seemed like a decent option, but involving the army and state institutions to save a dog didn't seem justifiable.
Seeing Tom enter, Hacker casually mentioned his concerns.
"Don't you think using the military to rescue a dog would cost a lot of money?" Tom immediately felt that the action was very unreasonable.
"Maybe," Hacker showed a dilemma expression.
"It would definitely cost a lot of money, we're talking about rescuing a living being from a minefield! We would need to involve mine-disposal specialists, veterinarians to sedate the dog, and maybe even a helicopter..." Tom despised the idea; to him, spending so much money to save a dog was simply absurd, something only Western countries like the UK might do.
But... wouldn't it be an issue for wizards? A simple spell could solve the problem. In principle, underage wizards are prohibited from using magic outside of Hogwarts, but Tom had no concerns about that, as he had many ways to circumvent that restriction.
Listening to Tom, Hacker's face grew even more somber. He also knew it was a bad idea, but the votes were tempting! It was real reputation, and besides, if he did nothing, the opposition parties would seize upon it!
Hacker was worried. However, he had a sudden idea.
"Tom, do you think wizards could 'retrieve' it with magic?" Hacker showed an expression of hope and excitement.
"I'm a wizard, this is magic. Are you really asking me to use magic to do this?" Tom pretended to be angry.
Hacker showed an embarrassed smile. "Yes, you're right; it would be excessive to ask a wizard to save a dog."
At that moment, Tom sighed and changed the subject: "But well, we're friends, right? I'm willing to help you to the best of my personal ability, as long as you can keep it a secret."
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