บท 6: Chapter 5: The Glamorous Ministry of Magic
"Being a year younger is no big deal. What matters is learning magic," George mused as he put down his newspaper, enjoying his breakfast.
He had thought about which house he might be sorted into during the Sorting Ceremony. He felt that Gryffindor was the most likely.
Gryffindor valued courage, and George considered himself quite brave. Just yesterday, he had managed to successfully take down an old wizard while occupying this body and devising a plan.
"Good morning, Dave—oh no, I should call you George now!" The door to the small café swung open as a young, lively witch walked in. It was Tonks, the Auror from yesterday.
"Good morning, Miss Tonks," George greeted with a smile, setting down his breakfast.
Tonks, without any formalities, sat down opposite George and reached out to ruffle his hair. "No need to be so formal. From now on, you can think of me as your older sister."
George sighed and tidied his now-messy hair. He didn't resist Tonks's closeness, instead he brought out a second breakfast that he had prepared in advance. "I made an extra portion this morning. Why don't we eat together?"
"How did you know I hadn't had breakfast yet? Hmm, this is really good!" Tonks took a bite of the egg pancake and her eyes lit up. The soft pancake, filled with vegetables and sausage, had a unique flavor.
Her own cooking skills were terrible, so she never made breakfast. She usually just bought something quickly or skipped breakfast altogether, planning to eat lunch later.
Although there were various cooking spells in magic, you first needed to know how to cook to use those spells to make good food quickly. Without cooking skills, even with cooking magic, the ingredients and utensils would be all over the place, and the result would still be unpleasant.
This was similar to household magic; you needed to know how to do housework to use housework magic effectively.
"This is called an egg pancake. It's made with eggs and flour, and filled with ingredients like bell peppers and carrots..." George gave a brief explanation of his breakfast.
He didn't know if Tonks had eaten breakfast, but preparing extra food would surely improve his likability.
"I didn't expect your cooking to be so good. If I had to guess, you'll probably be sorted into Hufflepuff," Tonks said, giving him a thumbs up, despite not understanding George's explanation fully. This left George momentarily stunned.
"Could I really end up in Hufflepuff?"
He shook his head. If he ended up in Hufflepuff, it wouldn't be a big deal. He personally preferred Gryffindor, but he knew that no matter which house he was sorted into, there were pros and cons.
He still felt that Hufflepuff was less likely. Many witches and wizards who graduated from Hufflepuff ended up in the catering industry, but the house's emblem was not about cooking—it represented qualities like integrity, loyalty, honesty, and perseverance.
Choosing the catering industry might just be due to their dormitory being close to the kitchen and being influenced by it.
As for the qualities, he didn't seem to align much with most of them, except perhaps the last one.
After finishing breakfast, George followed Tonks to start the various procedures for inheriting his estate. Their first stop was the famous Ministry of Magic.
"Hold onto my arm tightly. It might feel a bit uncomfortable, but bear with it. It will be over soon," Tonks instructed as they prepared to leave.
Tonks guided George to hold onto her arm and, after a quick explanation, began chanting an incantation.
"Apparate!"
A soft pop echoed as Tonks and George vanished from their spot in an instant.
The distance between Diagon Alley and the Ministry of Magic wasn't far, so Tonks could easily Apparate them there, saving the trouble of using Floo Powder.
"No wonder not all wizards like to Apparate," George thought as he experienced the sensation of instantaneous travel. He was enveloped in darkness and then subjected to a squeezing pressure from all sides, making him feel as though he could hardly breathe.
It was as if his chest were being compressed by iron bands, his eyeballs were being pushed back into his head, and his eardrums were being forced deep into his skull. The sensation was extremely uncomfortable and awkward.
But the feeling only lasted for a second or two before he was greeted by light again.
"The first time can be a bit uncomfortable, but you'll get used to it," Tonks's cheerful voice reached his ears.
"Let's go. I'll take you to get registered."
Tonks led George to the central reception area of the grand hall, and he took the opportunity to look around with curiosity.
"It's really quite magnificent," he exclaimed after a moment.
The floor was polished to a mirror shine with dark wood, and the ceiling, in a peacock blue, was adorned with sparkling golden symbols that moved and changed like a massive high-altitude bulletin board.
On either side of the hall were walls embedded with many gilded fireplaces. Wizards in various attire were coming in and out of these fireplaces.
At the center of the hall was a magical fountain featuring five statues: a distinguished wizard holding a wand aloft, a beautiful witch, and figures of a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf surrounding them. The centaur, goblin, and house-elf looked up at the wizard and witch with admiration, hinting at some special significance.
The most striking feature was that these five statues, which appeared two to three times larger than real people, were made entirely of pure gold.
"Daily Prophet! Get your Daily Prophet here!" A wizard stood by the fountain, selling newspapers.
By noon, after four long hours, George finally completed all the inheritance paperwork and was once again Apparated back to the shop by Tonks.
"An impressive facade, but it's no wonder Voldemort managed to dismantle it so easily," George grumbled about the Ministry of Magic.
Though the Ministry looked incredibly grand, the wizards working inside were rather lazy, with very low efficiency and a high level of corruption. Without Tonks's assistance, George thought it would have been quite challenging to complete the inheritance process.
However, it wasn't without its rewards. George had seen many interesting things in the Ministry—magical items imbued with alchemical powers and various fascinating small spells developed for office convenience.
He gained a broader perspective and realized that although magic in the Harry Potter world often lacked large-scale destructive power and was more functional, it wasn't necessarily weak. In fact, in some ways, it could be even more dangerous and formidable. Many magical effects were subtle and not easily judged by external destructive capability alone.
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