The five-person barbecue dinner lasted until midnight. After enough fun and play, they returned to their respective rooms and fell into a daze.
This caused them to still feel heavy-headed and light-footed when they woke up the next day. Gary felt it most clearly; his eyes were sore and dry, and he felt a sensation as if they wanted to pop out of his skull.
"You guys went too wild last night, didn't you?" This was the first thing Apolline said when she saw them today.
"Luckily, I prepared mental replenishment Potions. Drink them quickly; we have a lot of work today." She pulled five tubes of orange-yellow Potion from her palm-sized handbag.
"Undetectable Extension Charm?" Gary's eyes lit up.
"This is my wedding gift... my husband gave it to me." Apolline showed a happy smile.
Howard looked sad.
"Our first agenda this morning is to go to the French Ministry of Magic. You stay here and don't move. I'll take the two of them over first." Apolline reached out to Gary and Alfrina.
Using the same method as when she brought them back yesterday, Apolline finally delivered all five people to their destination after three trips.
"Welcome to Place Fürstenberg," Apolline turned and introduced to them, "The French Ministry of Magic was established in 17anté, Envouté, Conjuré. Our emblem features the French tricolor, cockade, and Phrygian cap."
Apolline took out a Ministry of Magic emblem from her pocket to show them.
"Isn't it much better looking than the British Ministry of Magic's?" Apolline asked deliberately.
"Indeed, the colors and design are more beautiful than the British Ministry of Magic's." Gary nodded in agreement. The British Ministry of Magic's emblem design was simply too ordinary, just a large 'M' with no artistic beauty to speak of.
"Our French Ministry of Magic has the strongest administrative team and Aurors in all of Europe..." Apolline introduced to them while leading them to the fountain in the middle of the square.
"Isn't the strongest Ministry of Magic in Europe in the Soviet Union?" Gary taunted her. "I heard they directly follow the instructions of the supreme leader, are financially strong, and technologically advanced, capable of countering the American Magical Congress."
"Uh..." Apolline was speechless. "The Soviet Union's Ministry of Magic isn't doing so well now..." She stammered in rebuttal, but no one believed her nonsense. The Soviet Union's Ministry of Magic, since its establishment, has been tasked with the significant mission of blocking West Europe Wizards. For fifty years, it has not allowed West Europe Wizards to step one inch into Soviet Union territory.
Their defense system is said to be capable of stopping Dumbledore. Although there are no records to prove this, Wizards worldwide firmly believe it because the Soviet Union's Ministry of Magic once successfully stopped Grindelwald's eastward advance.
Apolline herself didn't believe the nonsense she was spouting. "Okay, the Soviet Union's Ministry of Magic is very strong... but you can't join, can you?"
"The French Ministry of Magic provides all employees with free medical care, staff apartments, overseas allowances, wand repairs, borrowing rights for books from the Beauxbatons Library... everything you can think of, we can provide." Apolline had them stand together.
"Can you also provide a girlfriend?" Howard was like a contrarian.
"Incanté, Envouté, Conjuré." Apolline softly chanted towards the fountain.
They felt the ground tremble slightly, and then a pile of branches emerged from underground, forming an ornate tree cage that surrounded them.
"What's going on?" Howard was dumbfounded.
"This is the French Ministry of Magic's guest entrance," Apolline explained to the five, "Don't worry, Muggle cannot see us. As long as a Wizard recites the French Ministry of Magic's motto by the fountain, it will trigger a Muggle-Repelling Charm, causing Muggle to selectively ignore you."
The tree cage enveloped them and sank underground. Their eyes last saw a sliver of light from the ground, then entered darkness.
"This journey will last about three minutes," Apolline looked at Howard, "You said girlfriend? Our Ministry of Magic has many young and beautiful female staff. Whether you can succeed depends on your own abilities."
Howard chuckled twice, looking around to find only darkness, not even a speck of light. He was a bit nervous, and the muscles in his face twitched slightly.
"Don't you consider adding a Lumos Charm inside this tree cage?" Gary knew Howard was somewhat afraid of the dark.
"...That was an oversight on our part," Apolline felt a bit apologetic seeing Howard's frightened expression with his eyes closed. "I'll report it to the higher-ups later, and it can be installed this afternoon."
As they spoke, the tree cage had already reached the bottom. The branches spread apart, and they could finally see the full view before them.
A magnificent hall, brightly lit, with people coming and going. The clothes of the passersby seemed rather strange to Gary. Gary saw several Black individuals wearing colorful, floral robes that barely covered their bodies walking through the hall. The hall's decorations were predominantly in cool silver and blue tones. The floor was so polished that it reflected the figures of the crowd, and there was a giant blue crystal ball in the sky, its purpose unknown.
"Welcome to the French Ministry of Magic." Apolline led them through the hall to the main reception desk, where a beautiful Witch in a dark blue uniform robe greeted them. "Hello, Apolline." She nodded in greeting to Apolline, using English for the first sentence, then French for the next.
"Hello, Claire. These are the guests Mr. Bonaparte, Head of the Sporting Goods Department, wishes to meet," Apolline said.
"Let me check the time..." The Witch, Claire, waved her hand in the air, and a thick black book on the table began to flip by itself. "You have ten minutes until the meeting. Take the elevator over there to the fifth floor. Mr. Bonaparte is in his office."
"Thanks. I just got back from a business trip. Let's have a late-night snack together tomorrow night." Apolline said in French, winking at Claire. Claire giggled. The five, not understanding French, were confused. Led by Apolline, they bypassed the main reception desk and walked further into the hall.
"Your wands need to be inspected here. Once there are no issues, we will enter the Ministry of Magic's office area," Apolline informed them.
"Need to check wands?" Gary asked, his dragonhide wand resting quietly in his pants pocket.
"That's right, wand inspection is mainly to prevent malicious attacks and various accidents," Apolline led them through the crowd, directly to two gates similar to Muggle security checkpoints. Everyone was lining up behind the first security gate; there was no one queuing at the second security gate.
Next to the security gate, a serious-looking Witch with a tightly furrowed brow sat on a chair, recording the visitors' wand details.
"Alder wood, Unicorn hair, eleven inches, number one hundred ninety-one..." She was mainly responsible for checking wands. Beside her, an automatic quill recorded every word she spoke, and the slips of paper piled up in a long stack on the floor.