"Mr. Wilson, here are your visa and wand permit." An official from the Department of Magical Transportation handed the newly issued documents to Alan, then separately gave him two pieces of parchment. "This is the Floo Network usage list. Please keep it safe. The list records the public fireplace directories for East Germany and West Germany separately. However, the Floo Networks of East and West Germany here are not interconnected. I'm not sure if you're aware of that?"
"I was informed beforehand, thank you." Alan put away his documents, then reluctantly accepted the two Floo Network lists and walked out of the Portkey office.
He had now completed his visa processing at the German Ministry of Magic, but looking at the tangible, separate Floo Network lists, he still found it quite absurd. Being the same Germany, yet one couldn't directly travel from one side to the other using the Floo Network—this was truly quite magical.
Meanwhile, during the procedure, he used his spare time to carefully observe the Department of Magical Transportation. Currently, in this Ministry department, every office had two distinct administrative sections. The Floo Network Administration Office he had passed earlier was the East Germany section's office. While wandering around with Fuchsie, he had also discovered another West Germany section, which was equally filled with noise. From the current state of the Department of Magical Transportation, it was already evident from the side that although the German Ministry of Magic was still unified in management on the surface, it was showing clear signs of division.
*Right now, I don't understand the underlying dynamics, and the situation is quite unclear. I still need to gather sufficient information first.* After silently calculating in his mind, Alan left the Department of Magical Transportation.
But after returning to the main hall of the German Ministry of Magic, Alan did not leave directly. Instead, he headed straight for the fireplace in the hall—he needed to find a place to stay first.
"East Duden Building!" After shouting into the grate, Alan disappeared into the green flames.
The Duden Building, serving as Germany's primary commercial center, had a total of seven floors, each with an area of over a thousand square meters. Perhaps from the outside, it looked like an ordinary, small building, but once inside, one would discover it was a different world altogether. There were all kinds of shops here, with a variety comparable to Britain's Diagon Alley. Moreover, while inside, Alan felt it was similar to the large shopping malls he had visited in the Muggle world, except that now, in the middle of the marketplace, there was a very discordant wall that directly cut the building in half.
However, on each floor, this wall had an always-open door installed. People could directly see the situation on the other side through the doorway, and there were no guards, seemingly allowing free passage. And when Alan personally tried crossing through the door, he found no physical obstacles appeared.
Only, Alan could feel a special magic fluctuation sweep over him. At the same time, the region marked on his active visa changed to: Germany (West Germany). When he walked back, it changed back to: Germany (East Germany). So, this wall's main function was more to demarcate the East and West Germany areas, but it did not completely prohibit wizards from moving and communicating between the two sides. Of course, for wizards, a simple wall indeed couldn't prohibit much.
However, the sensitive Alan understood that the psychological impact of doing this was actually significant. Dividing the Duden Building with a wall and prohibiting interaction between the Floo Networks on both sides—although it didn't actually serve much practical purpose—this behavior was essentially continuously labeling the minds of Germany's wizards.
Are you an East German or a West German?
Are you entering East German territory or West German territory?
This continuous suggestion imposed on wizards would subtly change their own definitions and identities. Initially, a German wizard would first acknowledge being German, but now they might clearly identify themselves as either an East German or a West German. Even the young witch Fuchsie, whom Alan had met earlier at the Ministry, although she herself didn't believe Germany would completely split, when introducing herself, she also said she was an East German, not a German.
*Using this soft division to gradually accustom the people to a state of division, until they completely reject wizards from the other side? That Minister Peter is quite politically astute, not nearly as straightforward as Fuchsie described,* Alan muttered quietly after observing.
Moreover, after lingering by that completely unguarded wall for quite a while, Alan didn't see anyone actively crossing through that door. It seemed the Ministry's strategy had already taken effect; everyone had grown accustomed to living on their own side.
Silently shaking his head, Alan crossed through the door again back to the East Germany side, then entered a bar directly opposite the threshold.
"Kid, we don't welcome West Germans here. I advise you not to cause trouble!" A wizard sitting at the bar entrance, holding a glass of wine, shouted at Alan.
"Which eye sees me as a West German?" Alan glanced at this drunkard quite speechlessly.
"I saw you come from the door side with my own eyes. I'm not blind. If you're not a West German, who is?" Seeing this young man actually dared to talk back, the man sprang up from the bench at the entrance, approached Alan with a displeased expression, and glared fiercely at him.
"Then you should consider taking your eyes out, washing them, and putting them back. Or you could ask me to help you. I guarantee that besides pain, your vision won't be affected in any way." Alan glared back at this unreasonable wizard, while faintly releasing a Fear Spell from his eyes.
The wizard affected by the Fear Spell felt as if he were being stared at by a vicious dragon, involuntarily stepping back twice. But soon, he became annoyed by his own timid behavior and, in a fit of pique, started fumbling around his robes, seemingly preparing to draw his wand to teach this person a lesson. But he was clearly quite drunk; after fumbling a few times, he still couldn't locate his wand. Meanwhile, Alan stood by and watched him coldly.
Alan wouldn't take the initiative to attack. In any country, counterattacking counts as self-defense. As long as the other dared to cast a spell on him, he guaranteed to let this fool experience the taste of turning into a slug.
"Enough, William, you're drunk. Don't make a fool of yourself here."
Before Alan could defend himself successfully, a short but quite sturdy male wizard in his thirties rushed out of the bar, grabbed the drunkard called William, and turned with an apologetic look. "Sorry, sir. William's mind isn't quite right when he's drunk. He didn't mean to offend you."
"Don't stop me, Feng. This kid is a West German. He's clearly here to provoke. Watch me break his nose bridge!" The drunkard William still couldn't find his wand, but his words remained relentless.
"You idiot, can't you see he's waiting for you to make a move so he can justifiably teach you a lesson? And this gentleman is clearly not a local; he's not someone you can mess with!" The short, sturdy wizard angrily whispered a few words in William's ear, then pressed him back onto the bench.
"Really? Don't lie to me. I, Fierce Tiger William, am not to be trifled with. Last time when those West German brats came to cause trouble, I led the charge to drive them away!" William lowered his voice upon hearing this and muttered quietly.
"Yes, yes, you're the greatest. Last time, it was all thanks to you driving away those troublemakers. It was absolutely not that you were knocked flying at first sight and stuck to the ceiling with a Sticking Charm," the short, sturdy wizard placated him helplessly.
Meanwhile, Alan watching this farce slightly raised his eyebrows. Although their conversation was very quiet, with his keen senses, he still clearly heard their dialogue. *This man in front is somewhat unusual. Could he recognize my background at a glance?* Alan pondered for a moment but didn't press further to hassle that wizard. He wouldn't bother seriously with a drunkard.
After calming William, the short, sturdy wizard walked up to Alan, humbly taking off his hat. "I'm very sorry, sir. Please excuse this spectacle. Although William has a bad temper, he's not a bad person. Please don't hold it against him. I'd like to buy you a drink as an apology."
"He offended me. Why are you apologizing? Is he your relative?" Alan asked noncommittally in return.
"No, he's not related to me. Just a friend I often drink with. William is a brewer at the Dino Magic Winery. The Fire Whisky he makes is a well-known good wine, even exported overseas," the short, sturdy wizard smiled apologetically.
"Alright, let's go inside and chat." Alan sensed that this stranger seemed to have recognized him, so he definitely wasn't simply apologizing for that drunkard.
"Please, come in!" The short, sturdy wizard pushed the door open, politely letting Alan in, then found an empty table in a corner and ordered him a light drink.
"I heard that William call you Feng? I don't think I've ever seen you before, but you seem to know me?" Alan didn't like playing guessing games with others and asked very directly.
"Truly worthy of the founder of the Silver Lightning Trading Company, the youngest ever recipient of the Order of Merlin, Second Class, and the International Alchemy Conference Gold Award winner, Britain's famous combat hero, Mr. Alan Wilson. I didn't expect you to realize I know you at a glance."
After listing Alan's titles one by one, Feng very politely introduced himself. "My name is Feng. That's my full name. You can just call me Feng. It's a great honor to meet you here."
Watching the other calmly state his information, Alan didn't show any dissatisfaction or surprise, but he still felt somewhat astonished inside. Although Alan was now somewhat famous in Britain, it wasn't strange for someone to recognize him, but he didn't think he was famous to this extent. To think someone in Germany also knew his background clearly. Although most of it was public information, the combat hero matter was several years ago. He didn't expect Feng to know even that.