International reaction

A few days later.

All the wizards present shuddered when the dozens of translation charms scattered throughout the amphitheater were activated.

Silence in the room. I declare the 587th meeting of the International Confederation of Wizards open. Please rise to welcome the venerable President Babajide Akingbade.

The hundred wizards gathered in the chamber stood up and applauded as a stern-looking 60-year-old man entered, replacing Dumbledore at the head of the Confederation.

Thank you for your hospitality. As tradition dictates, I would have liked to start this session with a minute of silence in honor of the death of my illustrious predecessor. However, I fear we have no time to lose. As you know, England is in a critical situation. Its ministry has practically collapsed and the majority of the territory is now controlled by the dark lord.

At these words, a wave of protest swept through the room. This did not surprise Babajide. He knew that many members of the confederation had sided with Potter. Even he, despite the admiration he had for Dumbledore, found it hard to believe that a child could pose a threat. Not to mention that the lucrative trade and reconstruction agreements Potter had been promising since he took power would have convinced any hesitator to side with him.

Yes, I know that many do not want to believe it, but it is the truth. As you all know, the agents we sent to try to protect the magical secret or establish the truth about the tragic events that have mourned our two worlds have mysteriously disappeared.

We know very well what happened. Umbridge… One of the delegates interrupted him, but Babajide silenced him with a look and continued, raising his voice:

Except for one who, at the risk of his life, completed his mission and joined the Hogwarts enclave to communicate the results of his investigation to us. It is therefore with full knowledge that I have weighed my words. But I fear that at this stage no speech can convince you. They did not convince me either. I therefore propose that you see the evidence collected by our agent at the risk of his life. I would specify before anything else that upon his arrival our agent was captured by the Dark Lord. And yes, I insist, it was indeed Potter and not Umbridge who attacked her. Her memories and her interrogation under veritaserum are clear on this point. She owes her survival and her escape from the Dark Lord's dungeons only to the courage of the rescue team put together by the British Minister of Magic.

It's a bad spy novel he's telling us there. Exclaimed the same voice with sarcasm, but everyone ignored it.

Babajide snapped his fingers and immediately, the mural behind him, which depicted wizards shaking hands, became a huge mirror where Constance's memories were projected, horrifying all the delegates present in the room. Once the memories ended, a file with a copy of all the photos and evidence brought by Constance appeared in front of the delegates. The delegates merely skimmed through it quickly, lingering over the photos showing Death Eaters rampaging in Muggle villages.

I think her images speak for themselves and for those who still have doubts, Constance is ready to answer all your questions. However, I must point out that the situation poses a risk to all theMembers of this assembly. The chaos currently reigning in Great Britain and the imprisonment of our agents make it impossible to obliviate the Muggle witnesses of magical acts. Despite the efforts of the English Muggle government, rumors are spreading. And even in our lands, more and more Muggles are questioning the sudden isolation and contrary to our most fundamental laws that the Dark Lord imposes on the United Kingdom.

Babajide chose this moment to pause, which the delegates used as he had anticipated to express their indignation and demand immediate action. Then, when he felt he had achieved the desired effect, he continued:

That is why, for the first time in our long history, I propose that the confederation declare war and establish a large army capable of quickly restoring order and security.

The reactions were much more nuanced. Instead of the applause he had hoped for (without really believing it), the room filled with a murmur of discussions, then a few shouts were heard.

Who tells us that this army will not be used against us once the English problem is resolved?

Who will lead it? There is no way our Obeathe warriors will obey a Thazarein!

Anyway, you are too cowardly to be useful. We will do without your services.

Who will pay?

Repeat what you just said to see?!

This is completely against the law.

If we declare war on them, what will happen to our nationals?

We must try to negotiate before declaring war!

SILENCE!

The voice of the president of the assembly resonated in the room and put an end to the various disputes that had begun to break out.

Before we continue our discussions in a more courteous manner, I would like you to listen to Miss Umbridge, who leads the only enclave still resisting the Dark Lord in the United Kingdom.

He snapped his fingers again and the image of Umbridge's office appeared on the large mirror.

Ladies and gentlemen, delegates of the different communities, for those who do not know me yet, let me introduce myself. I am Dolores Umbridge and I have the honor of speaking to you as the new Minister of Magic of the United Kingdom. In doing so, I will undoubtedly violate all conventions, but I beg you to kindly send us all the help you can gather.

Believe me, it is not with a light heart that I beg today, but you are our last hope. We are not only facing a former group of Death Eaters, but Harry Potter. Like many of you, I thought he was a mediocre wizard who just got very lucky, but it turned out that his victory at the age of one owed nothing to luck. His powers (...), they have nothing in common with those of You-Know-Who. Even Merlin himself would not be able to oppose him.

But do not think that I am telling you this to elicit your pity. If I am telling you, it is to convince you that it is your duty, but also in your interest, to intervene as soon as possible. This army of Inferi that he is so carefully assembling, who do you think it is intended for? Do you think he will be contentTo rule over England? No. If you do not help us to exterminate the evil at its root, it will strengthen, and when it is ready, it will launch a great assault on the rest of the world.

One last thing to those who would downplay the threat by making jokes about the age of our adversary. First of all, know that he is no longer alone. Most of the nobles support him, and he has built a large army by instituting conscription in all the territories he controls and...

Umbridge was then interrupted by the violent opening of the assembly door, through which a sweating man who seemed panicked ran in. The voice of the president of the confederation thundered with fury:

What does this interruption mean? I had requested that the doors be locked until I adjourn the meeting.

I am sorry, Mr. President, but the session is suspended. All delegates are urgently recalled by their government.

The room filled with a hubbub where panic began to rise. What could possibly motivate such a decision?

What does all this mean? Could this be a very bad joke?

Sir, you should switch the mirror to channel 57.

The Muggle information one?

Yes sir.

I hope for your sake that I will find there a justification for your inexcusable disregard of my instructions.

The president snapped his fingers and immediately, the mirror showed a room located far enough from the main building so that the magical waves would not interfere with the functioning of the TV there. On the screen, the delegates saw an Umbridge, furious with anger, hurling insults at the two star presenters of the BBC while men wearing auror uniforms pointed their wands at the technical team to force them not to interrupt the broadcast.

Do not deny it. Do you know how many wizards have lost their lives because of your ridiculous quarrels? For all my fellow citizens, this cowardly and unjustified attack was a demonstration of the inferiority and danger of the non-magical parasites that inhabit this land. It was not enough for you to condemn us to hide. Now, you murder us in the most cowardly way possible with your most shameful creation. Enough is enough. As the new Minister of Magic, I have come to tell you on behalf of all the wizards on the planet that from now on, we will no longer flee. From now on, it will be an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. And it starts today. Avada Kedavra!

The Aurors following him also uttered the deadly incantation, and everyone present on the set died under the horrified eyes of the viewers.

It is 3:33 PM and you are still on CNN. We want to inform you that, as surprising as it may seem, these images are authentic. Following the events in London, the president has declared a curfew and instituted martial law. He calls on all citizens to remain calm and assures that everything will be done to ensure the safety of American citizens and to shed light on what actually happened in London earlier this afternoon. However, following the loss of contact with the British capital, riots have formed in most cities across the country. Ha! I am being informed right now that images have reached us from London. They were filmed at the risk of theirviewed by our colleagues from Channel 4 and sent via their satellite antenna. I want to warn you that they may shock sensitive individuals.

The presenter faded away and a flickering image of London trampled by giants appeared. The ground was no longer visible due to the massive cloud of debris and ash, but it was clear that most of the towers had been toppled like Lego bricks by the colossal titans. One of them passed in front of the camera. In its hands, it held a woman in her thirties who was screaming. It brought her to its mouth and swallowed her with a terrible noise.

Then a terrible explosion occurred and the giant collapsed. Fighter jets of the English army swept past the camera like a gust of wind and launched two more missiles at another giant, but this time, they were stopped before reaching their target by a huge energy shield that had materialized in front of them.

4 men perched on brooms and wearing the uniform of aurors chased the royal-air-force and the decima without suffering any loss. The missiles or machine guns seemed to have no effect on them. Then, the video stopped.

It's being broadcast on all the Muggle channels around the world. Commented the official who had taken advantage of the astonishment that accompanied these images to catch his breath.

Immediately, the delegates regained their composure and began to leave the room. But before they could exit, the doors closed again and the supreme leader of the confederation spoke in a calm and steady voice that resonated magically throughout the room.

Gentlemen, the congress is not over. Please sit down!

It's over for me. That bitch Umbridge really screwed us over with her ridiculous dark wizard stories. Open this door, Babajide. My family lives in a Muggle neighborhood. I need to get them to safety before the Muggles go wild, declared one of the delegates.

The others approved loudly.

These are not far-fetched stories. You know Constance as well as I do. If she is working with Umbridge, it means all of this is true.

I also know Umbridge. I worked with her a lot when she was Fudge's right-hand woman. She is as racist as she is sadistic. I don't even understand how I could have believed her nonsense for a second. Open this door. I swear if anything happens to my family (…)

Baxter, I know your wife. She is perfectly capable of handling this situation alone. Not to mention that you shouldn't assume the reaction of the Muggles. They have changed a lot in 500 years. If you think the most worrying thing is that the international magical secret has been broken, you are gravely mistaken. The most worrying thing is that for the first time, a dark wizard is not afraid to break the law of secrecy. And this, while he knows full well that it is the only thing capable of forcing foreign wizards to unite against him. For the first time, a dark wizard is not afraid to face all the wizards of the world united against him.

Not having to face all the allied magical creatures. Said a goblin delegation that had just forced its way into the meeting of the international magical confederation, despite the spells cast by the supreme manitou to lock the door.

What does this intrusion mean?

You are not aware? So much the better, we still have time to act. Right after his stunt in London, Voldemort gave us an ultimatum.

Some of the delegates shuddered upon hearing the cursed name. The goblins ignored them and continued:

Either we opened our vaults to him, stopped funding the Hogwarts enclave, and provided him with warriors, or he would annihilate us. Of course, we refused. A few minutes later, atomic bombs exploded at the heart of our branches in Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Istanbul, Timbuktu, New York, Moscow, Beijing, and New Delhi. He must have asked his accomplices among the nobility to place them in their vaults before the hostilities began. In any case, the result is undeniable. 80% of the magical community's gold is either buried under rubble or irreparably irradiated. As soon as the rumor spreads, the magical financial system will collapse.

Following this announcement, the delegates were struck with astonishment.

At least now we know where the other nine bombs that had disappeared were located, Baxter tried to joke.

Another delegate harangued the goblins

What are you talking about? You-Know-Who is dead. He particularly insisted on the last words. It's another lie from your treacherous race. You are trying to take advantage of the disorder created by Umbridge to seize our gold!

And then, after a while, you should come to an agreement. Who exactly are we fighting against, You-Know-Who? Potter? Umbridge? All three at once? Aren't we being made a bit of a fool? shouted another delegate.

If the situation were not so serious, I would have killed you for such disrespect to the proud Goblin race. But if you are foolish enough to continue denying the return of the Dark Lord, I won't even bother to waste my time despising you. Is this an isolated case or have all wizards decided to bury their heads in the sand hoping that a baby will save them again?

I will not let myself be insulted like this. I'm leaving. Anyway, if you lack gold, you just have to borrow some from your friend the Oracle of Omaha. And don't deny it. Everyone knows he helps you illegally sell our gold on the Muggle markets in exchange for access to centaur divination.

These are just unfounded rumors. However, if that were the case, it would only be the logical consequence of the ridiculously low exchange rate of wizarding gold that you impose on us to avoid subsidizing Muggle-born students. In any case, after the destruction of the City, Muggle finance is also collapsing. The goblin fumed.

But no one was listening to him anymore. Everyone had either left or was arguing. In the end, only a small number of delegates remained to try to agree on a common action on behalf of their nation, but without knowing if they would be followed by the rest of their government.

At the moment when the confederation would have been most useful, it had almost dissolved due to dissensions among its members and lies spread by Voldemort.