They do want to manage it, but it's also very troublesome to deal with.
Feng shook his head helplessly. "These civilian groups are basically made up of ordinary wizards, and strictly speaking, they are not criminal organizations. It's hard to say who is responsible when the two sides start fighting, so the Ministry of Magic can only stay out of it. After all, the law doesn't punish the masses."
"Hmph, there's a saying that the law doesn't punish the masses even when violent incidents occur? If you ask me, they should all be locked up and educated, and their organizations should be banned while we're at it!"
The actions of these civilian groups were not much different from a color revolution in Alan's eyes, so it was best to deal with them decisively; otherwise, they would sooner or later cause a great disaster.
"Your idea is very similar to Director Andre's; he also suggested direct intervention." Feng chuckled after hearing Alan's words. This young wizard in front of him looked polite, but his ideas were mature and decisive.
"Director Andre?" Alan's expression showed a hint of curiosity when he heard the name Feng mentioned.
"Ah, Director Andre is the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. He has always been against the division, so he is very disgusted with these civilian groups. He has repeatedly proposed in the Ministry of Magic to severely punish the rioters and has led the Auror Headquarters multiple times to arrest troublemakers. However, Minister Peter has disagreed with him and has repeatedly issued inter-departmental orders to release those arrested civilian groups."
When Feng mentioned Director Andre, his expression immediately became animated, showing both admiration and a hint of fear. He had also suffered under this short-tempered Director who hated evil like fire, as he was involved in gray industries and had many dealings with those Aurors.
"Oh? According to you, there's quite a big disagreement between them, right? With Director Andre's approach, wouldn't Minister Peter get angry?" Alan was genuinely curious about Director Andre at this point. This Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement seemed to be completely at odds with Minister Peter.
Feng shrugged helplessly. "It's more than just a disagreement; these two high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic are almost fighting. Minister Peter has always tried to promote the division of East Germany and West Germany in the Ministry of Magic, while Director Andre has always been singing a different tune."
"Really? Can you tell me more about these two?" Alan said, then took out another ten Galleons and placed them in front of Feng.
"No problem; in fact, many people in the Ministry of Magic are aware of those matters." Feng's face immediately lit up when he saw the Galleons, and he began to narrate enthusiastically.
Under Feng's narration, Alan also gained a basic understanding of the German Ministry of Magic and a certain understanding of Peter and Andre.
Minister Peter's resume was quite special; he was not originally an employee of the Ministry of Magic. He was actually a Charms expert who became famous in the German academic world for developing and optimizing many spells. His status in Germany was similar to Newt's in Britain. However, unlike Newt, Peter was very enthusiastic about politics. Having obtained the qualification for the Wizengamot Council early on, he frequently frequented the Ministry of Magic, participating in the approval of various bills, and had good relationships with most high-ranking Ministry officials and other Wizengamot members.
The wizarding world's Wizengamot was somewhat different from the Muggle parliament Alan knew. The Wizengamot had a fixed membership of fifty people; any excess could only be listed as alternate members, who would fill seats when original members retired or resigned. Alan was an alternate member; he would probably have to wait a few more years to become a full councilor. The members also included many well-known wizards in the country, most of whom were actively invited to join. Although Wizengamot members had considerable power, most of the invited well-known wizards did not have particularly strong political enthusiasm. Aside from participating in major events, they were mostly busy with their own affairs. In any case, these well-known wizards did not account for too large a proportion in the Wizengamot, so it did not significantly affect the daily work of the Ministry of Magic.
But Peter was different; he was very fond of participating in political work. Given this situation, the former Minister for Magic invited Peter to formally join the Ministry of Magic about ten years ago. The position initially given to Peter was in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, which was one of the few departments with real power in the Ministry of Magic. This was enough to prove that the former Minister for Magic trusted Peter greatly, and it also showed from the side that Peter had quite a few tricks up his sleeve—at least he had a good reputation.
After joining the Ministry of Magic, Peter did a good job, and due to his excellent charisma and good interpersonal relationships, he successfully became the new Minister for Magic five years ago.
On the other hand, Director Andre was quite different from Minister Peter.
Director Andre had worked in the German Ministry of Magic for decades. One could say he had been employed by the Ministry of Magic ever since graduating from magic school, becoming the Auror Headquarters Captain thirty years ago, and taking charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement twenty years ago. Thanks to his powerful magic and his nature of hating evil, he remained as stable as a mountain in his position as Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
However, Director Andre had one major flaw: his temper and popularity were very poor. He never showed mercy to anyone who committed a crime, which meant that despite being Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for twenty years, he could not advance further. Speaking of which, Director Andre's personality was similar to Moody's. Of course, Alan thought Andre probably wasn't as crazy as Moody, who was a guy who could decisively use Unforgivable Curses on dark wizards.
After Minister Peter took office, many of his decisions were opposed by Director Andre. For example, Andre expressed dissatisfaction with the division bill submitted by Peter and had multiple verbal clashes with Peter within the Ministry of Magic. However, Director Andre's emotional intelligence was really not very high. He often made sweeping generalizations in the Wizengamot for no reason, causing dissatisfaction among a large number of members.
In contrast, Minister Peter was much more adept at social maneuvering. He used both overt and covert exchanges of interests, as well as the good reputation he had accumulated, to gain the support of many Wizengamot members, and the division bill progressed quite smoothly.
According to Feng's inside information, Minister Peter's influence within the Ministry of Magic was growing. First, the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, where he originally served, was his power base and completely loyal to him. And after the former Director of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures resigned due to serious illness, the newly appointed Director was also Peter's person.
Additionally, the Director of the Department of Magical Transportation was also appointed by Peter after he became Minister, and this department could be said to be the most proactive in promoting the division of the Ministry of Magic. Now, each office within the department has been split into two separate offices according to East Germany and West Germany, something Alan had already experienced firsthand.
As for the International Magical Cooperation Department, it leaned toward neutrality, or rather, its Director was a coward who dared not offend anyone and could only bury his head in the sand like an ostrich.
Currently, the only department in the Ministry of Magic that relatively supported Andre was the Department of Magical Games and Sports. However, Quidditch was not a particularly popular sport in Germany, so this department's influence was inherently limited.
After a brief understanding, Alan knew what was going on. It seemed the German Ministry of Magic was almost completely infiltrated by the Silver Spears.
Regardless of whether Peter was Golden Knight, he was definitely a member of the Silver Spears. And the Directors of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and the Department of Magical Transportation were most likely also members of the club, and it was even possible that the three of them were themselves Silver Spears.
But then again, it made sense. As the headquarters of the Silver Spears, Germany was where most of the magical creatures smuggled from Europe and America were transported for potion-making. If the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures wasn't controlled by their own people, they wouldn't have been able to operate safely for so many years.
After learning a few inside secrets of the Ministry of Magic, Alan felt that he might be able to make use of Director Andre.
Minister Peter being a member of the Silver Spears made it difficult for Alan to use too many strong-arm tactics, as he wasn't one hundred percent sure he could take Peter down without alarming anyone. If he were discovered, he'd be charged with attacking the Minister for Magic, no doubt about it.
Given this, it's better to use a two-pronged approach: openly cooperate with Andre to strike at Peter's forces, and secretly act as a Silver Spear, then see if there's an opportunity to follow the club's lead to find Rune Serpent.
In fact, when Alan came to Germany, he had two basic goals. The primary goal, of course, was to find Rune Serpent and eliminate him. But this was not something that could be done so easily. This guy showed no trust even toward his adopted son, making it impossible for Thunderbird and others to catch a glimpse of him for decades, which showed how cautious he was.
The secondary goal was to deal with the Silver Spears led by Golden Knight and to take over the resources of the Silver Spears headquarters. After all, the Silver Spears' headquarters and storeroom were right there, and he certainly wouldn't let them go.
As for the Ministry's request to find the leader of the Silver Spears...
Anyway, they don't know who the specific leader of the Silver Spears is. Alan can just say it's Golden Knight, and it will be convincing, right? Look, the leader of this evil organization has even become the Minister for Magic of Germany, so the credibility is quite high.
Moreover, the Ministry only knew that this organization was connected to the Acolytes and that their leader was brewing some conspiracy. Alan estimated that they probably didn't know about the Elixir of Life. At that time, Alan would just use the fact that the other party intended to overthrow the German government as an excuse, and those officials would probably thank him.
After making up his mind, Alan quickly wrote two invitation letters and gave them to Feng, asking him to deliver them to Director Andre and Minister Peter.