Ever since the international magic community began to fight openly and covertly, facing the pressure of the Hogwarts, the people of the British magic community began to feel the impact of the embargo on various aspects of life and economy.
The anti-British Magic Alliance led by the German and Bulgarian Magic Circles in this operation was more targeted at the trade blockade against the British Magic Circle, focusing on cutting off all kinds of imported raw materials from the British. They used their country's influence on other countries and stirred up fear of the rise of the British Magic Circle. The alliance against the British embargo was quickly expanded by them to other small and medium-sized countries around the world, forming a trade blockade net that shrouded the British Magic Circle from all directions like a black cloud.
The corresponding embargo measures were further refined and quickly implemented. Just like how the British banned flying carpets from the Arabian magic region, the magic ships of the Hogwarts were also boycotted by other countries and were banned from entering their territories. Although the Traceless Expansion Spell was not a problem for the wizards, this attitude still showed the determination of the other countries.
They took stronger measures against Harris's Umbrella Group and targeted the pharmaceutical industry that started out as the most powerful. Under the circumstances of controlling the input of raw materials, they focused on increasing the cost of making Umbrella's potions. At the same time, they wantonly suppressed the price of finished potions in order to make Umbrella's potions unable to gain profit. They tried to make Umbrella's potion production cost so high that there was no profit to be made at all. The end result of these alliances was not only to make Umbrella lose its economic support, but also to attack Umbrella's most advantageous project without regard to the cost, in an attempt to make Harris lose the confidence to fight back.
In the beginning, these countries did not receive the support of some of the adept merchants in their own countries. However, after the pureblood magic departments of these countries put pressure on them and passed a new restriction order, they had no choice but to stop trading with the United Kingdom in the face of the decrease in profits and the risk that came with it.
But before these things developed to this point, Umbrella had already made preparations. They carried out a large number of purchases and introduced some rare plant seeds to try to use the energy nuclei to produce on the floating city. Under the disregard of gains and losses, and with the support of friendly countries like France, they did not show any disadvantage. However, this further gave Harris' opponents a reason to criticize Harris: they could protect themselves, but they did not care about the lives of others.
After this new public opinion attack, these allies further expanded their offensive. Under the plan of Muggle and the mixed-blood wizards, the pureblood families behind these countries and the fairies who stood on the opposite side because of the establishment of the Harris Wizard Bank formed an alliance. They consolidated their funds and began to contact the British magic world and the pureblood families in Britain who were against the Harris Wizard Bank. They bought the raw materials of the British magic world without regard to the loss of land, further destroying Britain's production and economy. This did have some effect. The lack of raw materials caused the production of some enterprises to decrease significantly. Some who did not participate in the anti- Family Harris movement were in a predicament of having to stop production.
This also caused more wizards in Britain to lose their jobs after the pureblood families who were against Harris shut down their businesses. Some pureblood families who did not want to take sides and only wanted to live a normal life were forced to consider joining the anti- Harris camp because of the loss of business.
This was the purpose of Harris' opponents' attack. Their next step was to wait for the British Ministry of Magic and Harris to come forward. According to the plan announced by the Wizard Bank, they began to fund the rescue of these enterprises and individuals. However, no matter how strong the financial power of a single country or individual was, it was bound to be inferior to the combined strength of the allies. If they were caught in a long-term economic struggle, it would cause the British social system to fall into chaos. After more variables were added, it could further attack Harris and even cause them to lose control of the Ministry of Magic.
Therefore, the recent news in the wizarding media, whether it was the headlines of various magazines or the news on Harris' own TV station, seemed to be related to the economy. This topic had become the most popular topic in the British magic community and even in other magic communities.
In the old Three Brooms Bar in the floating city of Hogwarts, Ms. Rosmerta, who had a graceful figure and a beautiful face, was taking care of a group of noisy male wizards at the bar counter. Compared to her new shop in the commercial square, which had a lot of people, she preferred to take care of this old shop and communicate with the regulars.
At this time, the wizards' attention was not on the charming female owner like most of the time. Instead, they were focused on the news that was being broadcasted on the wizard TV hanging on the bar counter.
"The news in this country is only about shit, shit, shit, shit, and rain …" A wizard slammed the wine glass in his hand on the table. "What the hell is the United States of Magic doing? Let's not talk about the European countries. Dirk, other than your fairies, what did we do to offend them? Why did they take the lead to pass such a law … "
"They're imitating the Muggle government's' Torricelli Law. 'Countries that have traded with the United Kingdom will not be able to do business in the United States for half a year. Fortunately, we wizards don't need those Muggle ships to transport goods …" Dirk Claithway, who was in the Fairy Liaison Office, was having a hard time recently. Wizards and fairies were harassing him, but there was nothing he could do about it. All he could do was to hide in the bar.
"Even our tea is banned from trade … Oh, Ravenclaw above … These Americans must have planned this beforehand to train themselves to drink coffee … I tasted this foamy, gray coffee under the recommendation of an American student in the commercial square … I still feel disgusted when I think about it." The wizard seemed to be disgusted by the bad memories that came out of his mouth. He quickly took a sip of wine and seemed to remember something. He raised his glass and looked around at his companions. "But doesn't this also mean that the United Kingdom's strength and development potential has scared the world? As long as we survive this difficult period … Come, let's have a toast to our powerful Hogwarts."
After the crisp clinking of glasses and a slap on the table that was even louder than applause, the male adept put down his wine glass and belched.
Dirk Claithway looked worried after putting down his glass. "But if the United States made such a law … If other countries that oppose us follow suit … Our neighbors across the ocean, those French people are not reliable. Do you know that they have the Muggle government's flag? I heard that they cut the two ends of the tricolor flag and left the middle for the purpose of surrendering … "
The commotion outside the tavern interrupted their discussion. They moved to the window and looked out.
It turned out that on the streets of Hogsmeade Village, the unemployed adepts and merchants who couldn't work due to the trade embargo had gathered together. They stared at the dark clouds above their heads, holding up wooden signs with constantly changing words and loudly expressing their protest.
It had been a few days since these anxious and angry protestors appeared in various areas of the bustling and prosperous floating city. The despair and dejection on these people's faces made many foreigners, who came to experience the prosperity and advancement of the floating city, feel the sharp contrast of dejection.
"We protest that the Ministry of Magic's recent unscrupulous actions have made our lives difficult and difficult to support."
"The soaring production and operating costs and the plummeting price of goods have made our production and life difficult. Our Ministry of Magic has done nothing about it. It seems that they want to leave us alone and don't care whether we live or die!"
"The Umbrella Group's promise of help from the Wizard Bank is still nowhere in sight. No one has come forward to offer us help. This is infuriating and disappointing."
… …
The media's cameras focused on the protest slogans, banners, and other items held high by the protesting wizards. "Strongly urge the Hogwarts to compromise and let foreign countries cancel the embargo", "Bullsh * t decision rips the economy", "Embargo chief Harris is the leader" …
While the armed forces of the Umbrella would increase or decrease their manpower according to the number of protesters, they only maintained a high level of vigilance. None of them stepped forward to stop the adepts. Obviously, there was nothing they could do. The protesters did not show any real signs of violent resistance, nor did they cause trouble to other adepts or shops. Moreover, under the unusual request of the head of the Red Umbrella department, Miss Krivat, there was nothing they could do to stop the actions of these people.
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