With the arrival of October, Hermione's article was soon published in The Daily Prophet.
However, even with Tver pulling a few quiet strings to get it onto the front page, Rita's feedback showed that only a small portion of readers were interested. Those willing to engage in deeper discussion were even fewer.
It seemed he had still underestimated the wizarding world's deeply ingrained prejudice against magical creatures…
Tver let out a helpless sigh.
Challenging prejudice against magical creatures had really been a test. He wanted to see whether wizards could eventually accept Muggles as well.
The result was obvious.
It reminded him of how, not long ago, Professor Burbage had tentatively raised the idea of integration with Muggles at his suggestion. This time, even the wizards who had always been Burbage's strongest supporters voiced doubts.
Still, it wasn't all bad news.
The inexpensive goods he had introduced into the wizarding world were already beginning to show results. At the very least, the goblins at Gringotts had noticed that far more wizards were coming to deposit money than to withdraw it.
This kind of "invisible" increase in wealth hadn't yet spread to other areas of consumption, so only those goblins who managed money had noticed the trend.
By coincidence, those goblins were on good terms with Tver and were more than happy to see the gold in the vaults steadily growing.
As a result, it hadn't attracted the Ministry's attention for the time being.
Or rather, it hadn't drawn the attention of anyone outside the Ministry officials under Tver's control.
...
Under cover of night, Tver arrived at the door to the Headmaster's office. He spoke the password smoothly—"Cockroach Clusters"—and strode inside.
Ever since the Wizards' Confederation Congress, the focus of their discussions had shifted to advances in Muggle technology and the changing mindset of wizarding students.
Even Dumbledore had to admit that if one day life in the Muggle world became noticeably better, wizarding students' interest in learning magic would continue to decline.
In other words, when mathematics became more capable than magic of putting food on the table, the inheritance of wizardkind would face a severe test.
To Dumbledore, this was a far more realistic concern than provocative topics like war.
It was also the issue most frequently raised in correspondence from the Confederation's wizards. Those old wizards had even pestered him with questions about televisions and electronic computers.
Fortunately, Tver came here like clockwork every week and promptly threw those same questions back at Dumbledore.
When it came to foreseeing the future, Tver was better than anyone else.
But as for explaining the current state of televisions and electronic computers, he had no interest in digging into that.
Besides, if he accidentally mentioned technology that was ahead of its time, it would be incredibly awkward.
"Dumbledore stepped out for the moment. He asked you to wait here," boomed Phineas Black, the only Headmaster the Black family had ever produced.
"Boy, Sirius says he's been relying on your help lately to keep himself out of the Ministry's clutches. I should thank you for that!"
"You're welcome."
Tver sat down without much concern.
Sirius had become the newest battleground between Fudge and Barty Crouch.
According to information Marvolio had passed along, simply because Barty insisted on clearing Sirius's name, Fudge was planning to throw Sirius back into Azkaban, even though he already knew Sirius was innocent.
That was politics. Opposition for the sake of opposition.
Fudge was clearly the more unhinged of the two, but without a decisive incident to bring him down, Barty could only let him snap at everyone for the time being.
Fortunately, Barty's faction wasn't weak either. With Cynthia and Marvolio involved, Sirius had remained safe so far.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Dumbledore hurried in through the doorway, his movements remarkably agile for his age.
Tver lifted the cup of drink in his hand and gestured toward the opened snack wrappers on the table.
"I was hoping to try some of your treasured sweets."
Dumbledore shook his head with a laugh, returned to his seat, and produced a small basket filled entirely with cockroach-shaped candies.
"These are all my treasured sweets. Care to try one?"
"Let's pass," Tver said, watching him nibble at the Cockroach Clusters with a look that said everything. "Why don't you tell me why you were suddenly late instead?"
"Oh, what else could it be?" Dumbledore sighed, setting the candy aside.
"Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will be arriving on the evening of October thirtieth, but our competition events still aren't fully prepared."
"Is it that troublesome?" Tver asked casually.
"It's mainly the venue for the First Task. According to the plan, it's supposed to be held at the edge of the Forbidden Forest," Dumbledore explained.
"But construction there is, frankly speaking, far more difficult to enchant than anywhere else."
Well, of course. Helga's magic still lingered in the Forbidden Forest.
Tver let out a small chuckle and took a sip of pumpkin juice.
"Let's leave that aside. Let's talk about this newspaper instead." Ever the professional, Dumbledore avoided leaking any details about the tasks and smoothly changed the subject.
That newspaper, however, looked very familiar.
Tver glanced at it and immediately recognized the issue featuring Hermione's article.
"You want wizards to acknowledge the equal status of magical creatures?"
"That was Hermione's idea. I only gave her a bit of guidance…"
"Don't be naive. Granger is clever, but not clever enough to write something so… manipulative."
"That's called writing technique."
Realizing that Dumbledore had already seen through him, Tver stopped pretending and softened his wording.
"Heh," Dumbledore chuckled softly. "Your teacher said the exact same thing to me the first time he published his ideas in the newspaper."
"Ahem." Tver laughed awkwardly. He hadn't expected that explanation to work against him.
Speaking of his teacher, it had been quite a while since they'd last met.
"I suppose you don't know where your teacher has gone?" Dumbledore said coolly.
"Judging by your expression, it's probably not anywhere pleasant," Tver replied, feeling a little helpless when it came to his teacher.
After all, the thoughts of the First Dark Lord were not something he could control.
"He came to Britain. During the summer holidays, I saw him in Godric's Hollow. He claimed he was visiting his great-aunt, Bathilda Bagshot."
Dumbledore's imposing face was filled with obvious displeasure as he stared straight at Tver.
"You did not tell him where my bottom line lies."
"Well… my teacher isn't exactly the mischievous type who runs around causing trouble, and his movements aren't something I can control…"
"He also attended the Wizards' Confederation Congress."
This time, even Tver's mouth fell open in shock.
"I… but… I didn't see him there at all?"
"Which means his power has recovered to the point where, if he doesn't want to be noticed, no one will detect him."
Hearing this, Tver didn't know what expression he should be wearing.
His teacher's strength had actually declined quite a bit after years of imprisonment. Now that it had recovered, it did at least give him an extra layer of security.
Still, looking at Dumbledore's anger, Tver had no desire to provoke him further.
"Maybe… my teacher was just reminiscing about the past," Tver said carefully. "I think you've spoken with him. You should know he doesn't have much ambition anymore."
Because all that ambition is with me…
Tver pressed his lips together to keep the corners of his mouth from lifting.
A hint of nostalgia flickered in Dumbledore's eyes before he took a deep breath.
"I very much agree with your wish for wizards to acknowledge magical creatures," he said slowly. "But I hope you are genuinely thinking about the future as a whole, rather than using manipulative methods to pursue some unspeakable personal agenda."
Tver smiled easily.
Judging by that reaction, Dumbledore was already growing more and more aligned with his views.
"As you wish, Headmaster."