Chương 142: Chapter 139

The Wizengamot, to an outside observer, would appear as pure organized chaos.

Bills that were totally against common sense were voted in, and those that seemed obviously important were voted out. It looked almost as if the entire organization was working based on some massive coin flip that decided a law or motion would pass or not. It was sure to be incomprehensible to anyone who couldn't see the very well hidden patterns and clues about what was actually going on.

Harry saw it in minutes.

The subtle hand signs, the quiet murmurs passing through the entire halls, the nervous stutters, the victorious looks. Harry's keen Gamer's Mind saw and analyzed them all.

He couldn't help but think that it was like watching a bunch of spiders work their webs.

It was about an hour later when the Wizengamot was adjourned for a break. A majority of the members either hadn't seen him or didn't care enough to come over and greet him. They all went on their way to the refreshments room through a small side door in the chamber, and soon, the only people in the chamber were the Minister and Dumbledore amiably talking. Harry saw Dumbledore give a smile towards him before he shook hands with Fudge and made his way to the refreshments room.

The Minister climbed up to the guest seats and made his way over to him.

"Harry! So glad to finally see you. Did Ludo show you around the place?"

"Yes, sir. He was very nice and informative. It was fun" Harry said with a smile.

"Yes. Yes. Good man Ludo. Anyway, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave now Harry. The criminal trials will be starting after the break, and that is very grim stuff. No child should have to hear or see all that"

"Of course sir," Harry said, although he did feel a bit curious.

"Good. Good. Now, do you need me to get somebody to drop you home or . . ."

"I'll be fine by myself sir. I might even just walk home sir. The Ministry is under Whitehall isn't it? It isn't too far from our house."

"Ah yes," Fudge said, chuckling, "Walking is good for the body. I reckon I need to get in the habit myself, eh?" he asked, patting his belly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Minister," Harry said with a smile.

The minister chuckled, "Good lad, good lad. Now off you go."

Harry left the chamber and made his way over to the lift. A few seconds later, the elevator crankled to a stop in front of him. He opened the grill and stepped inside. He was just about to press the button to go back to the surface, but something stopped him.

There was something that he needed to find. Something he hadn't found even in the Flamel library.

He needed to find more information on that House-elf Pain curse.

There were only a few libraries in the world that predated and were more vast than the Flamel's Library. There was the Hogwarts Library, but that was moderated and censored for students. There was the Library of Alexandria, but that was half burnt down. And then there were Libraries of the assorted Ministries around the world.

The British Ministry had in its possession the only Library that not only predated the Flamels, but was also larger and better maintained than it.

And if there was any place that he would be able to find any information on the curse, it would be there.

Ping!

Quest Alert!

Sneak into the Ministry library and find out more about the House Elf curse!

Rewards,

10,000 Exp

5 stat point

Failure,

House elves remain slaves

Possible death…are you even surprised?

YES/NO?

Pressing Yes, Harry quickly slipped out of the elevator and made his way to the stairs that Ludo Bagman had used while showing him around. Nicholas had once told him that the library was open to public, but large parts of it were blocked off due to security reasons and whatnot.

Quickly jogging up the staircase to the entrance of Level Three, he let himself in through the decently sized door of the library.

Rows upon rows of shelves greeted Harry as he looked at the library uneasily. There was no way he could search all he wanted all by himself.

The aged looking librarian was asleep and snoring in his spot. About half a dozen Ministry workers were walking about in the archives section. Harry quickly pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and covered himself with it before anybody saw him, not wanting to get caught researching a Dark Curse.

He decided to approach the search for the curse systematically. First, he eliminated the archives section from his search since that was sure to not have anything remotely related to what he was looking for. Then, carefully making sure the cloak covered him fully, he made his way to the restricted parts of the library, where he began systematically eliminating sections before he finally narrowed his search down to a single shelf.

Thankfully, the books seemed to have been ordered by age on this shelf, so Harry simply made a beeline to the far end of the shelf and started reading the titles on the bindings of the books.