Okey, if you feel like it's dragging, just stack the chapters and come back in a week or so. If not, drop the novel. It's not that complicated.
I put a lot of effort into these chapters. Every single sentence was worked on more times than I can count before you guys see the final version.
Also, this is basically the climax of the Harry Potter part of the fanfic, nearly 400 chapters in. I'm not going to half-ass it just to make things move faster.
Again, if you feel like it's dragging, just stack a few chapters and read them once a week or something. Four chapters are like 8k+ words. And FREE!
Sigh...
Otherwise, just drop the novel!
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President John F. Kennedy once said that change was life's only constant, and that those who fixed their eyes only on the past, or only on the present, were bound to miss the future entirely.
Perhaps his words weren't meant with the magical world in mind, but they weren't far from the truth of it either.
When the International Statute of Secrecy was first established, it was not born of fear alone, nor of prejudice, but of necessity.
Although magic made witches and wizards undeniably more powerful than ordinary humans, they were, quite simply, too few in number. Power alone was never enough to guarantee survival, especially in an age when the thinking of the general masses ran so primitive that anything beyond their understanding was branded, almost at once, as something that did not belong.
Hence the era of the so-called witch hunts, or whatever else it might have been labelled. Of course, the powerful among the magical could have answered with a bloody massacre of their own. But they didn't. Perhaps it was mercy. Or perhaps they had, in fact, considered it, only for some third party to intervene.
Or, perhaps, they simply understood that, regardless of who emerged the ultimate winner, the price would be far too great a burden to bear.
And so the solution became isolation. The rest, as history would remember it, followed naturally. The International Statute of Secrecy became the foundation upon which the modern magical world would stand for centuries to come.
Free, at last, from the need to watch their backs, the magical world began to function, for the first time, as an actual unified civilisation.
And now, after centuries of growth, that society stood very different from the one that had first embraced the Statute. It was not perfect, nor did it mirror the non-magical world. The two civilisations had evolved along different paths, each with its own strengths, and its own way of governing.
The magical world was no longer a collection of isolated enclaves struggling to survive. It possessed a central governing body, independent national governments, international law, and institutions capable of responding when its people were threatened.
Time, of course, did not stand still for the non-magical world either. It, too, evolved. Gone were the days when the unexplained was met with blind fear and persecution. Curiosity had gradually begun to take the place of ignorance.
Curiosity, however, was also a double-edged sword. It expanded humanity's understanding of the world, but it gave birth to something else besides.
Where the magical world made up for its lack of numbers with unity, organisation, and a centralised system of governance, humanity overcame its lack of magical power through relentless scientific and technological advancement.
So it would be more accurate to say that both sides had evolved to a point where each was now capable of posing an existential threat to the other. Their strengths were different, but the deterrence was also comparable.
This was the reality of the present day.
Unfortunately for the magical world, their non-magical counterparts had stepped into an age where technology advanced at a pace without precedent, each new breakthrough arriving faster than the one before it. Magical society continued to evolve too, but at a mere fraction of that speed.
History stood on the verge of repeating itself. Sooner, not later, the balance of deterrence would tip once more toward the non-magical world, and the magical world would find itself returned to the very predicament that had given rise to the Statute of Secrecy centuries before.
Only this time, there would be no Statute of Secrecy left to hide behind. No act, no treaty, no agreement of any kind to shield the magical world from what would follow. War would become inevitable, and its aftermath was not one either side wished to see.
Unless... unless, of course, both sides could set the past aside before it was too late, and choose another path instead.
That was the future Maverick imagined, for the whole world, not merely his own corner of it. Whether that vision sprang from conviction alone, or from ambitions he kept concealed even from himself, was a story for another time.
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From the far left, Takamura Ryunosuke rose slowly, his aged gaze sweeping across the countless faces before him. From the gallery above, the clicking of camera shutters intensified, and he spared it the briefest glance before turning to his right, toward the long table where his colleagues sat, his eyes resting on Maverick a moment longer than the rest.
Everything the boy had said had come to pass, more or less exactly as he had described it, and all without so much as a hint of force.
How terrifying, Takamura thought. Gifted with unfathomable magic, and an even more unfathomable foresight.
The wisest wizard among them had followed his lead without a flicker of doubt. The stubborn woman, too, seemed thoroughly convinced. And that mad fellow Garling, well, that went without saying. Perhaps that was the boy's most terrifying gift of all, not the magic, but the ability to draw in those every bit as powerful as himself.
For some reason, Takamura found himself glad even, that he had once come into conflict with Maverick. Whatever the compromise had cost him then, it had also opened the door into the boy's circle, and he had no wish, tonight, to find himself standing outside it.
"I, Takamura Ryunosuke..."
His voice, aged yet unwavering, carried through the chamber without the smallest hesitation, not a hint of doubt to betray him.
Across the world, millions unconsciously leaned forward in their seats. Conversations fell away, glasses hung suspended halfway to waiting lips.
"...Archmage, representing the Magical Congress of Japan, cast my vote in support of Archmage Maverick Caesar's proposal for the repeal of the International Statute of Secrecy."
Seated on the opposite side of the table, one elbow resting on the arm of his chair and his head supported by his palm, Maverick stared ahead with an absent-minded look.
The moment Takamura voiced his declaration, the corner of his lips curved almost imperceptibly.
The Assembly hall broke at once into a wave of murmurs, and not without reason.
Everyone in that chamber, and no doubt millions beyond it, had been keeping their own silent tally.
The hundred and ninety-eight accredited magical governments held a total of one hundred and ninety-eight votes between them. Of those, one hundred and one had declared their support.
The hundred and two Great Mage councillors commanded a further two hundred and four votes. Eighty-three had voted in favour, adding a hundred and sixty-six more to the count.
Together, that brought the proposal's total to two hundred and sixty-seven.
It still wasn't enough.
The Assembly's full voting strength, the seven Speakers included, stood at four hundred and seventy-two. Under the Confederation's Charter, any proposal to repeal one of the Confederation's fundamental laws required no fewer than three hundred and fifteen votes to pass.
That threshold had not yet been reached. Forty-eight votes still stood between the proposal and the majority it needed.
And so every eye in the chamber turned to the seven Speakers, for the outcome now rested entirely in their hands.
Five of them had to declare their support, four now, with Takamura's stance made clear.
Master Weiguo cast a sideways glance to his left, the faint look of suprise slowly fading, replaced by quiet understanding.
When the Japanese Magical Government declared its support earlier, he had already suspected Takamura's vote would be no different.
In fact, he himself had also quietly instructed the magical head of his own motherland to vote in favour of dismantling the Statute of Secrecy, a gamble made in advance, just in case things began moving in a direction he did not want to find himself on the wrong side of.
He had watched the expressions on many faces waver visibly across the chamber when Maverick gave his address earlier, some of those surprising him to the point that he even thought they might be imposters.
The boy was good with words, he admitted to himself. Very good, just like the man fifty years ago had been, turning heads and changing convictions with nothing more than an eloquent tongue and the quiet confidence of someone who believed entirely in what they were saying.
But convincing a supermajority, two thirds of the total vote, was still a considerable threshold, even accounting for the Great Magi associated with Albus Dumbledore, Edward Garling, and Olympe Maxime.
In all the years the seven of them had existed as a body, they had rarely moved in the same direction on anything of significance, let alone four of them working in concert toward the same end. What the young man had accomplished in that regard alone was, if he was being honest, nothing short of remarkable.
He found himself genuinely curious about how it had been done. He regretted, not for the first time recently, that he had not approached the boy earlier, back when his name had first begun spreading through the upper reaches of the magical world.
In any case. The numbers spoke for themselves.
At this point, Maverick needed only forty eight more votes, and had Takamura, Guimarães, and Master Weiguo himself all chosen to vote against or abstain, the proposal would have fallen short of that number.
He had genuinely expected Takamura to abstain at best. The decisive clarity with which the man had spoken had caught him off guard, though in hindsight perhaps it should not have.
He sighed quietly to himself. The outcome was no longer in any real doubt.
"I, Olympe Maxime, Archmage, representing the French Ministry of Magic, declare my complete support for Archmage Maverick Caesar's proposal for the repeal of the International Statute of Secrecy."
Of course, Master Weiguo thought. When the four of them walked through the main entrance together at the start of the evening, that alone had made their intentions clear.
"I, Matheus Guimarães..."
He turned his head slightly, genuinely curious how this particular colleague of his would land.
"...representing the Brazilian Magical Congress, vote in favour of Archmage Maverick Caesar's proposal for the repeal of the International Statute of Secrecy."
Surprised? He considered for a moment, honestly, he was not. If he could see where things were heading, then so could anyone else in that room, and Guimarães was many things, but stupid was not one of them.
Naturally, he would not back the losing side when it was blatantly clear.
Master Weiguo turned his gaze back to the hall, settling into a quiet, unhurried absentmindedness.
"Will you blame me, old Zhang?"
The voice came from beside him, low and unhurried, Guimarães's, without looking at him.
Neither did Master Weiguo turn. He did not answer, only shook his head slowly, and felt a faint, resigned smile settle at the corners of his lips.
He said nothing further, and rose to his feet.
The hall was deathly silent as he rose. He did not declare immediately, his gaze moving slowly across the assembled faces below, taking his time with it.
To think that the Statute of Secrecy, that sacred and ancient law, would after tonight simply cease to exist. He still could not quite comprehend that it was actually happening, that he was standing here watching it happen in real time, in a single evening, driven by what had in many ways been a sequence of extraordinary coincidences that had somehow aligned themselves with the precision of something carefully planned.
However it had come about, it was happening, and it was happening cleanly, by the book, down to the very letter of the laws.
He found himself wondering, in the brief silence before he spoke, what the magical ancestors who had first established this very law would have made of this moment. Whether they too, given everything, would have been convinced that the time for it had simply passed.
A resigned breath escaped him, his expression settling into something firm.
Regardless of all of it, now that things had come to this point, he had no desire to be the only one left standing against the entirety of his own kind.
"I, Zhang Weiguo..."
The declarations that followed came one after another without pause.
It was in itself an unprecedented moment in the entire history of the organisation. Never before had all of its highest authorities arrived at the same conclusion over a matter of genuine dispute, and yet here it was, happening in a chamber full of witnesses, being recorded by every enchanted quill and camera lens in the room, broadcast to every corner of the wizarding world in real time.
"I, Albus Dumbledore..."
"I, Edward Garling..."
And finally, last of all.
"I, Maverick Caesar..."
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Author's Note:
Please leave your feedback... I really hope I handled this arc well.
It was a difficult one to write. I put a lot of thought into these chapters, and I think they've been the most challenging ones I've written so far.
Up next are the reactions, more meetings involving the UN, the World Security Council, and a whole lot more.
Lastly, a huge thank you to all my Patreons. Seriously, thank you so much for sticking with me, supporting me, and appreciating my work. It genuinely means the world to me.
I promise the story won't become boring after the Harry Potter arc. If anything, it's only going to get better. I'm really excited to show you what's coming next.
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I've posted an auxiliary chapter about the rewrite, so do check it out if you haven't already.
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