After dealing with that reporter, no one raised any more difficult questions. Of course, the Prime Minister had no intention of giving them another chance to put him on the spot.
He wrapped up the press conference in a hurry, though without losing his poise, and quickly caught hold of Tver.
"Tver, I wanted to ask. Those St. Mungo's Healers from last night, I believe that's the term, the wizards who call themselves Healers. Would they be interested in joining the Joint Operations Office?"
One look at the Prime Minister's slightly ingratiating smile told Tver exactly what he was after.
"St. Mungo's Healers are usually very busy, and most of their work involves injuries caused by magic. There wouldn't be much point in having them join the Office."
Seeing the Prime Minister's disappointment become visible almost at once, Tver shook his head helplessly.
"As for healing magic, many wizards actually know some of it…"
"Including you?" the Prime Minister asked in delight. He had already caught the implication in Tver's words.
"Of course. I checked your health long ago. You're in excellent condition."
Tver was not a professional Healer. How could he possibly conduct a proper medical examination?
He had merely noticed the medical report in the Prime Minister's memories, so naturally he knew the man was in very good health.
"If you ever ran into any health problems, how could I, as a friend, stand by and do nothing?"
The Prime Minister immediately broke into a broad, silent grin.
Since last night, he had realized just how useful magic could be for health. Compared to that, an attack hardly seemed worth mentioning at all.
"You're right. As friends, how could we possibly stand by when a friend is in trouble?"
He took Tver's arm with easy familiarity and led him toward a more secluded corner.
"As for that Voldemort still at large, please do tell me if there is anything you need."
"Of course. This is a problem we all need to solve." Thinking back to the massive attack the night before, his expression grew heavier. "I certainly don't want attacks that are so impossible to guard against happening one after another."
"None of us want that to happen," Tver emphasized. That was also why he had agreed to stand with the Prime Minister today.
Although Voldemort had lost a group of Inferius giants, the return of the Death Eaters under his command, especially the most fanatical among them, would only bring greater trouble to Britain.
And judging from Voldemort's intentions, exposing the wizarding world was clearly not just an empty threat. He truly meant to do it.
Even if Tver wanted to do the same, he would never use Voldemort's method of causing massive casualties.
To be honest, he was now somewhat conflicted over how to deal with Voldemort.
If he got rid of Voldemort directly, Tver would lose this once in a lifetime opportunity. But if he left Voldemort alone, the destruction Voldemort unleashed would undoubtedly make muggles hate wizards and magic.
The best solution would be to let Voldemort create magical incidents that could not be covered up, while saving as many of the muggles caught in them as possible.
In simple terms, future attacks by wizards on muggles had to be turned into the Dark Lord's destruction of humanity, while wizards became the righteous force that saved humanity.
"Tver?" The Prime Minister looked worriedly at his friend, who had fallen into thought.
Tver was the person he relied on to handle those strange magical incidents, and even more importantly, the guarantee of his future health. He absolutely could not afford for Tver to lose confidence over one Voldemort.
"You're right. Since Voldemort may launch reckless attacks anywhere in Britain, we must strengthen the Joint Operations Office."
Tver came back to himself and decided to put his focus on the Office. Of course, that would also ensure Voldemort would not go mad enough to seize control of the British government and start a war.
After this incident, he was prepared to view Voldemort's every move with the greatest possible suspicion.
"Naturally," the Prime Minister said as though it were only to be expected. "Now that your identity has been brought into the open, I can grant the Joint Operations Office more authority as well."
"Thank you very much for your understanding. I believe the British people would be very willing to support you if they knew the protection you, as Prime Minister, had brought them."
Tver's casual-sounding words sent a surge of warmth through the Prime Minister's heart.
There was less than a year left. Although he had delivered fairly good economic results over the past few years, the Irish Republican Army tearing up the peace agreement had given his opponents an opening to attack his hardline stance toward the enemy.
So as long as he could successfully deal with those terrorists, there would be no obstacle left in front of him.
"Exactly!"
The Prime Minister thought for a moment, then finally clenched his fist as if he had made up his mind, as though he intended to use this one move to knock down his rivals.
"As a Major in the SAS, it's perfectly normal for Evans to have the authority to command small military units!"
Tver cast the determined Prime Minister a rather surprised glance.
Evans had left the military long ago. It was strange enough that his rank had been retained, but now he was even being given the authority to command military units personally.
It seemed the Prime Minister's resolve was even greater than he had imagined.
Since the Prime Minister had offered something in return, Tver naturally knew what to do.
"I remember that we are currently in a state of war with the Irish Republican Army. In that case, it would also be perfectly normal for the Joint Operations Office's military units to take action against the enemy, wouldn't it?"
"Yes, yes, exactly!" the Prime Minister agreed at once, excited.
Back when the Office had first been established, he had wanted to use the power of wizards to deal with those terrorists, but Tver had refused him on the grounds that wizards could not interfere.
But now…
The wizards still were not interfering. It was merely the army, under wizard guidance, carrying out a normal mission.
The two old foxes thought of this at the same time and immediately burst into delighted laughter.
Evans, who was standing guard for them, looked toward the corner with a slightly odd expression.
Although he could not quite hear what the two of them were discussing, he somehow felt that the Office he belonged to was looking more and more like the evil organization in a film.
Only after the sinister smiles on their faces eased and they stopped discussing business did Evans quickly suppress the strange feeling in his heart and step forward.
"Mr. Fawley, the Office just sent word that a man named Cornelius Fudge has come to see you."
As for how the message had been sent, in any case, it definitely had not been by phone.
"Oh?"
Tver looked puzzled.
After such a major incident, it was impossible for the Ministry of Magic and the Confederation not to respond. But in order to get a clearer picture of the situation and handle the aftermath, the Ministry had scheduled the meeting for the afternoon.
So why had Fudge come looking for him now?
He did recall something Percy had mentioned in passing.
Apparently, the group who had run to Hogwarts had made Dumbledore furious. Even Dumbledore himself, who had dealt with them personally, had no idea how long those Death Eaters would be lying in St. Mungo's.
As for Fudge, saying he was in a sorry state would already be putting it mildly.
For him to come looking for Tver now was very interesting indeed.