bookbashuk Chapter 423, Section 422: The Layout Witnessed Firsthand
Chapter 423, Section 422: The Layout Witnessed Firsthand
Chapter 423, Section 422: The Layout Witnessed Firsthand
A comprehensive look at the worldview of the Harry Potter universe.
The conflict between wizards and Muggles is not a simple battle between good and evil, but a profound tragedy actually rooted in fear, misunderstanding, and the desire for power.
"No wonder it aroused fear and rejection among many wizards, which allowed radicals like Gellert Grindelwald, who advocated wizard supremacy and were wary of the threat of Muggle technology, to gain so many followers." Ian knew very well that what frightened Grindelwald was actually the nuclear bomb of the Muggles.
If we shift our perspective to the wizarding community, especially the extremists represented by Gellert Grindelwald, we will find that their advocacy of "wizard rule" is not some mad tale that arises out of thin air, but rather stems from a deep-seated, generation-old existential fear. This fear has been quietly brewing since the advent of modern technology.
Grindelwald's prophetic abilities foresaw exactly the scenario that wizards didn't want to see—Muggles using their imaginations to surpass the wizards.
How can a Muggle defeat a wizard?
This disparity.
It exists in the heart of almost every wizard.
In the eyes of most wizards, wizards are the most powerful group, a group of more "superior" evolutionaries. They view Muggles just as mutants view ordinary people.
Even those with good intentions will still feel that Muggles are inferior to themselves, at least deep down. Because of this, once they realize that Muggles are also a choice for "evolution".
Most wizards couldn't stand it.
It was this fear of Muggles, and the resulting imbalance, that paved the way for Grindelwald's rise, enabling him to command a massive following and unleash a global phenomenon.
of course.
It's not just about personal superiority; the roots of this fear can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Before the signing of the International Law of Secrecy, the wizarding world existed openly. However, Muggle society's fear of the unknown reached its peak, viewing wizards as heretics and servants of the devil.
The shadow of the witch hunts, like a nightmare, is etched into the collective memory of every wizarding family. Wizards burned at the stake, witches chained and tortured—these tragic histories are not legends, but real collective traumas. Muggles systematically persecuted and slaughtered wizards through ignorance and violence.
no way.
Not every wizard possesses exceptional magical abilities, capable of single-handedly taking on an army. Especially before the academy became mainstream, wizards' skill levels varied greatly, and many adult wizards might not even be as skilled as second-year students at Hogwarts.
In addition, the intermarriage among pure-blood families leads to a lack of genetic diversity, resulting in many pure-blood family descendants being quite intellectually disabled, which further reduces the number of followers in the wizarding community.
It is precisely this common situation that makes many wizards, even those with the idealistic ability of magic, no match for the scheming and sheer numbers of Muggles.
Well, it's understandable. Just like how even well-equipped American mechanics couldn't withstand the onslaught of millet rifles, many gaps in firepower can be bridged by sheer numbers.
If this is the case even amidst a hail of bullets, imagine how it is in a magical era where the average magical ability is roughly equivalent to that of a new student at Hogwarts. Wizards in that era were either incredibly powerful or incredibly weak. It's similar to the Africa Ian is currently in, or even worse than the general situation in Africa today.
After all, times have changed. Whether it's the survival rate of apprentices in the traveling school's educational methods or the circulation of various learning books after the widespread use of paper.
People in the past didn't have many ways to "learn on their own" like we do now, so whether in the West, the North, or the South and East, many who weren't capable enough to become wizards were easily persecuted by Muggles.
Such a past.
This subconsciously instilled in wizards a sense of arrogance, as well as a genetic wariness similar to that of mice encountering cats, in their attitude towards Muggles.
For wizards.
Muggles are no longer simply "non-magical people".
Rather, it represents a threat of ignorance, cruelty, and destructiveness. This historical trauma has been passed down through generations, making the perception that "Muggle = Danger" an almost instinctive one.
The wizards' desire to "eliminate" Muggles is not driven by a simple sense of racial superiority, but by a survival logic fueled by fear. They view Muggles as perpetrators of their historical persecution, as threats to their secrets in the present, and as "savages" who may wage a devastating war in the future.
Grindelwald's success lay in his ability to package this deep-seated fear as an idealistic "savior" movement. He convinced his followers that eliminating Muggles' autonomy, or even their very existence, was not an atrocity, but a "necessary evil" for the sake of all wizards' safety and freedom.
As the 20th century dawned, although the signing of the International Law of Secrecy allowed the wizarding world to develop safely in the shadows, this security was fragile. The Ministry of Magic repeatedly emphasized that wizards must conceal their identities, use forgetting spells to erase Muggle memories, and any act of revealing magic would incur severe punishment.
This constant state of "hiding" is itself a profound sense of insecurity. It constantly reminds wizards: your power is forbidden, your existence is illegal, and if discovered, the tragedies of history may repeat themselves. How can such a situation align with the self-perception of most wizards?
Shouldn't wizards be high and mighty?
This forced hiding fostered resentment and humiliation.
Many wizards also become arrogant, and then ask themselves: Why should wizards who possess real power hide like rats in Muggle society? Why should we, who have the ability to change the world, submit to a group of "squigglies" who know nothing about magic? Resentment breeds in this way, in unnoticed fear.
Grindelwald astutely captured and amplified this pervasive fear and resentment. He did not create hatred out of thin air, but rather distilled the long-suppressed traumas and grievances deep within the wizarding community into a highly inflammatory political program.
He declared.
"For the Greater Good," wizards should no longer hide, but rise up to rule Muggles and protect the entire magical world from potential future persecution. In Grindelwald's view, the technological advancements of Muggles—airplanes, cars, radio—symbolize an out-of-control, destructive force.
Muggles are using technology to control powers that should only be possessed by wizards.
He prophesied that Muggles would use these weapons to kill each other, ultimately threatening the safety of wizards. Therefore, eliminating or ruling Muggles was not out of malice, but a preemptive act of self-defense, a necessary means to ensure the perpetual survival of magical races.
Grindelwald's speeches resonated so strongly because they provided an outlet for countless ordinary wizards to vent their fears.
He transformed vague, individual anxieties into clear, collective goals for action. He told the wizards living in the cracks of Muggle society that their fears were legitimate, their humiliations were real, and the solution was to unite and take the initiative.
It is on this basis that we find the argument.
The vision Grindelwald paints is incredibly alluring.
A world led by wise and powerful wizards, orderly and free from ignorance and chaos. In such a world, the tragedy of witch hunts will never be repeated.
Magic will shine brightly and openly.
I ask you.
What wizard, living in constant fear, could resist such temptation?
"The times shaped Grindelwald's ideals." Ian could sense the unease in the hearts of the wizards who watched Muggle novelties these days, even if they seemed quite intrigued.
If someone could step forward and guide this sentiment, perhaps another Grindelwald could emerge in Africa—of course, Ian certainly wouldn't be that kind of person.
He doesn't belong to this era.
He was fully aware of how history would unfold, and it hadn't had much impact on either Muggles or wizards, so he wouldn't arbitrarily manipulate history.
After watching for a while, Ian lost interest.
These things, which were incredibly novel to ordinary wizards, he had witnessed for a large part of his long life.
Especially in the previous life.
The Muggles' technology has even reached the highest levels, with projects like the Southern Heavenly Gate being a development speed that wizards wouldn't even dare to dream of.
In the 1920s-1940s setting of the Fantastic Beasts series, Grindelwald's fear of Muggle technology is primarily focused on the "devastating" forces visible at the time: poison gas, tanks, and machine guns in World War I, and the even larger-scale carnage he foresaw in World War II.
The Muggle development he saw was linear, progress centered on physical violence and war machines. However, if we shift our perspective to the 21st century...
That is, the era before Ian traveled here. He would then discover that the development of Muggles had long surpassed Grindelwald's wildest nightmare imagination, entering a dimension he could not have foreseen at all—a new era that blends mythology, science fiction, and cutting-edge technology.
Grindelwald's limited understanding lay in his continued view of Muggles as primitive beings "without magic," whose threat was confined to chemical explosives, steel torrents, and incendiary bombs. He failed to comprehend that while Muggles did not possess spells or wands, they possessed a far more terrifying power—collective intelligence and an infinitely evolving scientific rationality.
This power does not rely on individual talent, but rather achieves exponential growth of knowledge through education, collaboration, and systematic research. The "South Heavenly Gate Project" is the pinnacle of this power. The "South Heavenly Gate Project" is not a single weapon, but a grand and systematic concept for aerospace defense and combat.
It envisions building a three-dimensional network consisting of large space carriers, variable-speed space fighters, and orbital defense platforms. This far exceeds the bombers or airships that Grindelwald feared.
Imagine, in Grindelwald's eyes, flying broomsticks and Apparition are already exquisite magic, yet Muggles can design colossal warships that can freely traverse the atmosphere and beyond, achieve hypersonic flight, and may even be equipped with directed-energy weapons. These "steel dragons" do not require magical power; relying solely on the laws of physics unraveled by human ingenuity, they can establish mobile fortresses above the clouds, their scale and power dwarfing any wizarding castle.
Ian had seen these things with his own eyes; it was more real than any prophetic ability.
Therefore.
In comparison.
It was just a telephone from the early days of technological development, something like a mobile phone, and for Ian, it really didn't pique his interest in joining in the fun.
He turned and left the bustling exhibition area, heading towards the dimly lit, deserted corners at the edge of the market. At the end of a dead-end alley piled with discarded wooden crates and miscellaneous items, Ian stopped. It was quiet and deserted, save for the faint sounds of the distant market.
"It seems the time is about right." He checked the animal hide map in his arms again, then took out the black wooden box. Opening the lid, he found something that looked like an ordinary pebble, smooth and cool to the touch—this was the key to the door leading to the African Ministry of Magic.
"Let's see how Newt's interrogation is going."
Ian took a deep breath and placed his hand firmly on the pebble, while infusing it with a trace of pure magic as Babua had instructed.
A familiar sensation, as if a hook had suddenly snagged my navel, came over me, and the surrounding scenery instantly began to distort, rotate, and stretch into blurry bands of color.
The wooden crate, the walls, and the floor all vanished, as if he had been swept into a dazzling vortex. This feeling didn't last long, perhaps only a few seconds.
As his feet touched solid ground again and the surrounding scenery stabilized, a slightly pungent smell, a mixture of disinfectant and some cheap air freshener, filled his nostrils.
"It seems there are quite a few people with body odor here in Africa too." Ian knew very well that perfume was invented to mask body odor; otherwise, why would Easterners not use perfume while Westerners do?
It's because Westerners have a stronger body odor that perfume was invented. Easterners simply admire floral scents, so they use many fresh flowers to make natural perfumes.
"Let me see if this key is a sting operation." Ian steadied himself, looked around, and realized he was clearly overthinking it.
He was standing in a small, white-tiled space, in front of a ceramic toilet, with toilet paper rolls hanging on the wall beside him. A single energy-saving light shone a pale white glow overhead; there were no law enforcement officers lying in wait.
This was, in fact, a toilet stall.
No one is empty.
However, he quickly regained his composure. At least the key had delivered him in correctly, without triggering any alarms or leading him into a sting operation.
"This is actually even more absurd than being caught in a sting operation, which shows that corruption is indeed rampant in the African Ministry of Magic." Ian gently pushed open the stall door and walked out. Outside was a public restroom with a row of sinks, which looked clean and tidy, but was empty.
The clock on the wall showed that it was a little past 2 a.m.
The night shift at the African Ministry of Magic officially welcomed an uninvited legendary visitor. Ian straightened his robes, his eyes sharpening and focusing, like a cheetah blending into the shadows, and silently pushed open the bathroom door, stepping into the quiet and empty corridor outside.
No alarms were triggered.