To help Joanne understand the wizarding world, and to give her some time to digest the story of Harry Potter, Tver rented a house in Hogsmeade specifically for her and Catherine, while Bulstrode stayed behind to protect them.
To Catherine's disappointment, however, Tver and Barty could not keep accompanying her around Hogsmeade.
The words "holidays really are wonderful" seemed to work like a spell, driving both men back to their respective jobs.
...
"The United Nations will hold the 3rd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Geneva, Switzerland. Interestingly, the Conference of the Parties was originally agreed to be held once a year. But as we all know, the 2nd Conference was already held this July. Now, less than four months later, another one is being held. Professor Zhang, how do you view this phenomenon?"
The man being addressed smiled slightly. He knew he was the only person in the studio who understood the truth behind this conference, and his purpose was to conceal that truth in a reasonable way.
"Such a direct violation of procedure is indeed rare at the United Nations, but we have to remember that the last Conference of the Parties did not pass a resolution."
"You mean this conference is meant to make up for the shortcomings of the previous one?" the host guessed, though the confusion on her face was still obvious.
"But from what I've seen, an unusually large number of countries are attending this conference. Even many countries that have not signed the climate framework treaty are present."
"Not only that, but the level of the representatives attending this time is far higher than in any previous conference. We can see that even the Prime Minister of Greece is attending in person. What kind of issue requires a climate conference of such high level and broad scope to resolve?"
She kept feeling that this conference was anything but simple. Whether in terms of its scale or the importance various countries attached to it, it far exceeded an ordinary meeting.
One could even say that last month's United Nations General Assembly had not been this grand.
The man had not expected the host to be so perceptive. Of course, with something this unusual, it would have been unreasonable for a host who dealt with international politics all year round not to notice anything.
That was precisely why his superiors had needed him to handle this personally.
"As you said, this is a climate conference. We have to understand that climate issues have always been something that all countries around the world need to participate in and care about." The man spoke smoothly, sounding as though he had said a great deal while revealing nothing real.
"We should be pleased that countries are taking climate issues seriously, and we should hope to see a climate agreement beneficial to all humanity reached as soon as possible, instead of the kind of endless wrangling we saw before."
Seeing that he had already led the host off track, the man felt even more pleased with himself.
"For such an important conference to be convened, there must be someone with great courage and vision coordinating things behind the scenes. Personally, I have very high expectations for the results of this meeting."
Thinking back to the top-secret file his superiors had shown him, this professional surnamed Zhang still found it unbelievable.
A young man not even twenty-five years old could actually influence the world situation to this extent.
...
Tver had no idea what kind of image he had among the upper ranks of various countries. Nor did he know that, out of curiosity, many countries had even gathered all information related to him, trying to study his psychology and behavioral patterns inside out.
Of course, even if he had known, he would not have cared.
"The United Nations has already agreed to publicly define this conference as being about 'climate and other issues.' The media in various countries have also begun shifting public attention."
Walking through the lobby of the United Nations Office in Geneva, Cynthia sorted through the information in her mind while passing it on to Tver, who was walking in front of her.
But all of this was within Tver's expectations and did not catch his attention.
However, a man who had been waiting in the lobby for some time noticed their arrival.
"You must be Mr. Tver Fawley. My name is Duyef. I am Saudi Arabia's representative at this conference, as well as Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United Nations."
An Ambassador to the United Nations was different from a plenipotentiary ambassador stationed in a specific country. Although both represented the will of their country and its leader, the latter had greater independence, while the former was basically the leader's mouthpiece.
So Tver studied the Saudi ambassador with interest. Only when the smile on Duyef's face was about to falter did he finally shake his hand.
"My apologies. I still don't understand many of the United Nations' mechanisms. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ambassador Duyef."
"I understand. The Saudi Joint Operations Office often makes a few jokes of its own, but that doesn't hinder friendly cooperation between us."
Duyef quickly hinted at his understanding of wizards while sending a friendly signal.
In politics, provoking enemies for no reason was the stupidest thing one could do.
"Understanding and tolerance are the foundation of our cooperation. I'm glad you recognize that. But if there's nothing else, I think I need to prepare for the meeting shortly."
Put more crudely, he was telling him to get to the point.
Although Tver could easily chat with the ambassador for an entire day using every sort of polite phrase, that did not mean he was willing to waste his precious time that way.
So Duyef stopped with the courtesies. His expression turned solemn as he resumed his usual serious and proper manner.
"It is like this, Mr. Fawley. Our king is very concerned about one question. If the Sixth Middle East War truly breaks out, how will the wizards in that region respond? Will they participate, or will they stop it?"
Yes, the reason Tver had urgently pushed this conference into existence was that signs of war had once again appeared in the Middle East.
But although the representative had offered the option of stopping the war, in reality, for a war where the two sides were far from evenly matched, stopping it meant supporting the weaker country.
So this representative's question, or rather, the question troubling the King of Saudi Arabia and governments around the world, was which side the Wizards' Confederation would take.
And this was also the most important question the Joint Operations Office had had to consider since its establishment.
If doing good clearly favored one side, should the supposedly neutral Joint Operations Office do it or not?
If it did nothing, that would clearly go against the original purpose of the office. But if it acted, the office's neutrality would be damaged, making it an object of suspicion for every country.
This was a world where doing good did not necessarily lead to good results.
The problem was so thorny that even Tver could not immediately give an answer.
He thought for a moment, then said somewhat vaguely, "This war was provoked by malicious dark wizards. Naturally, wizards must eliminate the effects caused by dark wizard crimes."
"As for how the war between your countries proceeds, that has nothing to do with wizards."
Duyef was not very satisfied with that answer. Saudi Arabia was a country that desperately wanted peace in the surrounding region so it could do business in stability.
The peace and stability provided by wizards was exactly what they wanted to see.
But Tver did not give him another chance to ask questions. In just a few steps, he left the place and headed toward the final destination of this trip.