The Intelligent Potter

*** International Confederation of Wizards Conference, Ottawa, Canada

With Voldemort's return closely followed by the raid on Greengrass Manor, the public had been frenzied into a panic, while this level of openness may not have been exactly in Voldemort's plans, and gave the Ministry time to prepare for the almost-certainly oncoming war, it did serve to send the Wizarding World of Britain into a mood much like the previous war with Voldemort.

Albus himself was finding himself increasingly busy fighting for aid for Britain's plight against Voldemort on the international stage, using his many positions to the advantage of their political situation, which had been worsened significantly by the country's political leadership over the last couple years and the way they had handled the previous war with Voldemort, where they had all but crumbled at the hands of the Dark Lord and a tiny army.

As Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Albus held a significant amount of power on the international stage, which was precisely why he found himself on the pedestal, speaking on behalf of his own country, rather than in his position as Supreme Mugwump.

Albus cleared his throat, "For the span of my speech, I yield my position of Supreme Mugwump temporarily to The Delegate of Nigeria, Mr Babajide Akingbade."

Akingbade nodded his consent and spoke up, "As Supreme Mugwump, I call upon Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore to speak on behalf of The British Ministry of Magic."

Albus smiled at Akingbade, "Thank you Supreme Mugwump Akingbade, I would like to start by calling upon all of you to remember the terror caused by the first regime of Lord Voldemort. Not only did his reign threaten Britain and it's Ministry of Magic, but he showed every intention of extending his dominion into Europe and the rest of the world, and showed no intention to comply with the regulations of this international body."

At this, a hand was raised, that of the Brazilian Delegate, Nicolau Moutinho.

Akingbade called upon Moutinho to speak.

"With all due respect, Mr Dumbledore," began Moutinho, "How does Lord Voldemort really pose a threat to the rest of the world, all that The Delegation of Brazil has observed from the first 'reign' of Voldemort, as you call it, is an astonishing level of incompetence on behalf of the British Ministry of Magic, and a lucky break, being saved by a child."

The question created murmurs amongst the rest of the delegates present at the meeting, with some looking to be in agreement with Moutinho's position.

Akingbade did not seem to be very content with Moutinho's clear statement of intent, but couldn't do much except yield back to Albus, in his current position functioning as the temporary Supreme Mugwump.

"Voldemort poses a very real threat to the entire world, his strength is unprecedented, and he has already proven to be individually far stronger than many of the Wizarding World's strongest wizards and witches, including myself." Albus said strongly, causing heavy murmuring to break out once more, as many people in the room knew of Albus' magical prowess.

Some, like Moutinho didn't seem convinced.

The Brazilian Delegate simply muttered, "You are but a retired general, posing as a school-teacher and resting on the laurels of past victories."

"That may be," Albus said, not denying the scathing words of the Brazilian Delegate despite the obvious outrage on behalf of the entire Confederation, even those on Moutinho's side, at the slight to Albus, "but Voldemort's power outstrips every other individual in Britain too, and not only that, in his fall into the Dark Arts, he has become a vessel of The Darkness, it is not just a Dark Lord that we are fighting now, but a portion of The Darkness, small it may be, but insignificant it is not, and the more we allow it to fester, the more it will grow to a point where it may just end up being impossible for the combined might of the Wizarding World to be unable to take on the opposing force. We must strike early, while The Darkness' presence is still small enough that we are fighting a fight that can be won."

At mentions of The Darkness, it was almost like a shadow seemed to fall over the entire room.

The nervousness felt by the delegates was palpable, but Albus continued to stare piercingly at the delegates.

Moutinho chose to speak again, "If what you say is really true, then past experience shows that The British Ministry cannot be trusted to spearhead such an important operation, especially in the weakened state that they are in after the previous war against Voldemort."

Albus spoke again, "The British Ministry knows it cannot handle this threat alone, which is why I am here asking for aid in the form of magical might to help combat the forces of Voldemort, as they will undoubtedly fall into old patterns, fighting a war of attrition via raids on magical hotspots over the country, leading up to a seize of power, the likes of which The British Ministry is ill-equipped to combat without reinforcements from our international allies. We agree with your assessment which is why we are here. If you believe we cannot be trusted on our own, then do as we ask, send us Brazilian battalions which can help combat the forces of Voldemort. Brazilian battlefield-healers are unparalleled the world over, The British Ministry would appreciate their aid." Albus finished strongly, moving a large amount of his audience with his apparent humility and ability to accept his weaknesses, the likes of which had never been seen with The Fudge Administration or indeed any British Administration of late.

Moutinho smirked, Dumbledore had played right into his hands, "No, you misunderstand me, Mr Dumbledore, I believe that The British Ministry is not capable of managing their own country in these troubling times, I believe it would be best for the ICW to take temporary leadership of the country until such time as this conflict is over or this body deems the British able to take leadership of their own country once again."

There was a huge uproar after Moutinho's statement, both in support of him and against him, though it was hard to tell which.

Albus felt a feeling of cold dread encroach upon himself.

"That procedure would be encroaching upon Britain's sovereignty." Albus said with a sense of finality, "The British Ministry would not accept such extreme measures and neither would the British people, and it would be against the ICW code of conduct until and unless an emergency is declared."

"I think that the possibility of a war with The Darkness is plenty cause for a declaration of emergency." Moutinho said.

The rest of the committee devolved into Albus having to fight for Britain's autonomy, but unfortunately for his case, Magical Brazil was incredibly influential, being the leader of the entirety of Magical South America, and the MACUSA was always a bit sore about the entire colonization thing, apparently sore enough to support an ICW administration over Britain.

However, Albus himself was quite influential, influential enough that along with the support of Magical Europe, Britain was likely to survive such an outrageous proposal.

Too late did Albus realize, that installing an ICW administration in Britain was never really a goal that The Brazilian Delegation thought they could achieve.

Rather, its outrageousness would make their follow-up 'compromise' seem extremely reasonable.

"Since our first proposal has been shot down by committee, as a follow-up, I would like to propose that the ICW at the very least sends representatives to make sure that the British are governing themselves satisfactorily." Moutinho said oilily.

After an unsuccessful attempt to vote himself into the representative role, which Dumbledore's opposition managed to defeat, Moutinho finally managed to push his idea through, by the means of picking a much-liked personality to be the representative.

"If I am unacceptable for the role, I propose Mr Babajide Akingbade as a bipartisan choice, to take a team of his own choosing to monitor the British Ministry."

Albus cursed interally, by choosing Akingbade, he was likely to pass it. Akingbade held similar prestige to Albus himself, and his support for Britain's autonomy, alongside that of Albus was paramount to stopping the movement for passing, but nobody on his side would vote against Akingbade.

As he'd thought, even his own influence could not stop the motion from passing.

"So it is settled then," Moutinho said, "Mr Akingbade, you are to propose your team to this Confederation at an impromptu meeting to be held at this time next week."

Albus felt a headache coming on.

This was bad.

*** End of Chapter