In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 125: Bribery and Privileges

At the moment when the silver light shone, the dementor obviously stopped its advancing movements.

It did not proceed to move forward, nor backward, like the delicious food in front of you, and you don't want to give them up until the silver light at the tip of Dumbledore's wand became brighter and brighter, it was compelled to float back down the path to the lower level.

Dumbledore and Jon looked at each other and neither said anything, soon there was a rush of footsteps coming from the staircase, and Ernie Prang, who was the driver and part-time conductor, came up the stairs with a somewhat pale face, and was relieved to see that they hadn't had any accidents.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen, these monsters wanted to inspect the interior of the bus, and I was unable to stop them, they were all permitted to do so by the Ministry of Magic."

Dumbledore waved his hand.

"It's fine, this is a special time, we can understand, hurry up Mr Prang, we would like to taste the baba au rhum in Paris tonight."

Prang once again bowed his head and apologized to them before walking down the stairs.

Only after his footsteps had completely disappeared did Jon turn his head to look at Dumbledore and whisper.

"It looks like these Dementors have many privileges."

"Without the escaped prisoners in Azkaban, they have lost most of their food." Dumbledore said in a deep voice, "the Ministry of Magic permitted them to come to the British territory to search, the possibility of trying to entrust them to successfully capture the escaped fugitives is very small; it is more likely they are trying to appease them in this way. As long as they don't directly suck up souls, eating some wizard's positive emotions is not a big deal in the eyes of the Ministry of Magic."

Jon smacked his lips and didn't say another word.

They remained on the bus for another hour or so, arriving in Wales exactly at four o'clock in the afternoon.

Dumbledore led Jon out of the bus, and a somewhat dilapidated manor appeared before them.

The manor is located in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, on the outskirts of the Muggle city, where muggles occasionally pass by, but they also seem to ignore the whole building, which is obviously enchanted with a powerful Muggle-Repelling Charm.

Dumbledore stood in front of the rust-scarred gate, rang the bell, and then a man's voice sounded as if it came from above their heads.

"Name of visitor, bloodline, purpose of visit."

"Richard Williams and Jack Williams, half-blood, planning to travel out of the country to Paris, France."

There was a moment of silence on the man's side as if he was reviewing data to verify their identities, and after about ten seconds or so had passed, the iron gate in front of them was suddenly opened.

"Go straight to the main hall along this path, don't go to other areas, or you will suffer the consequences."

The voice issued a warning, then completely disappeared, while Dumbledore and Jon together walked into the manor.

After they entered the gate, the iron gate closed itself, and they walked along the stone path and stepped into the main hall of the manor.

As soon as they entered, they could see a dozen fireplaces on the wall that was opposite the entrance with green snakes of fire jumping, and from time to time wizards were coming out of the flames of the five fireplaces on the left side of the wall, while the fireplaces on the right had a long line of wizards who were sprinkling Floo powder into the fireplaces in turn.

The place was not as deserted as it seemed from the outside, the main hall was full of people, and most of the wizards walked in a hurry.

But there is a space deliberately left empty, where two dementors are floating quietly, with a grey cloak shielding their eyes and most of their faces as they silently watched everyone in the hall.

It is because of their existence, even if more than a dozen fireplaces are burning, the main hall which should be hot at this time was cold as a harsh winter, which also resulted in no one willing to stay here, and someone constantly walking out of the various rooms and immediately use the fireplace to leave.

Dumbledore and Jon did not stay in the main hall, they continued to walk forward to the registration desk, where they were greeted by an impatient-looking witch.

"William Brothers? Want to go through the departure procedures to France? Go to room five, go ahead and register first then wait in line, there are 13 people ahead of you waiting for approval."

Dumbledore did not move and took out 5 gold-galleons from his pocket and placed them before the witch at the registration desk while smiling and asking.

"Madam, we have a very important business to negotiate in France, please, is there any channel to quick approval?"

The witch looked up at Dumbledore, and then her eyes turned to the 5 brand new gold-galleons, there was no expression on her face, and she did not reach for the 5 gold coins.

"If you read the newspaper recently, you should know that something serious happened a few days ago, the Ministry of Magic tightened the supervision of the entry and exit of wizards, especially half-blood wizards, just look at those two repulsive dementors. Therefore, if you want to apply for special channels. It requires more trouble than before."

Dumbledore's face did not change as he placed another 10 gold-galleons in front of her.

"I wonder if these might be enough to solve the trouble?"

"There are two of you."

Dumbledore showed a hesitant look, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and took out another 10 galleons.

This time the witch did not delay, Jon saw a flash before his eyes, she did not even take the initiative to reach out, but the total of 25 gold-galleons on the table disappeared before his eyes in the next second, then the witch quickly handed Dumbledore two badges.

"Take it with you, then go to room three, someone will help you save time."

Dumbledore took the badges from her hands and walked with Jon in the direction of room three.

There were a lot fewer people here compared to the main hall, and Jon muttered in a whisper beside Dumbledore.

"They are taking bribes so openly and honestly?"

"It's not called taking a bribe." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Then what is it called?"

"When the officials in this kind of public service are allowed to demand money while doing their supposed job isn't a bribe, she wouldn't dare to do this if she is just a half-blood." Dumbledore said softly, "So it's not bribery, it should be called privilege."

Jon shrugged, his mind still hasn't fully adjusted to the fact that this magical world is inherently unequal even more than the muggle world, he really shouldn't apply his old normal thinking.

They arrived in front of room number three with their badges, knocked on the door, and waited for the sound of permission to enter from inside before Dumbledore led Jon to push the door and walked in.

In the third room, there was an older male wizard with glasses sitting behind the desk, he saw the two badges that Dumbledore put on his desk after entering, so he got a form from the side of the desk and asked without looking up while filling it out.

"Destination."

"Paris, France." Dumbledore replied

"How many days are you planning to leave the country, and do you have any plans to return to Britain in the near future?"

"Three to five days or so, and will come back right after the business deal is over."

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