Chapter 155: Arc 4: Chapter 42: First Cooperation

Despite making mental preparations beforehand, Fury and Hill still had an indescribable feeling as they stepped into the front hall of the Magical Congress.

From the exterior, the area of the Magical Congress should at best be the size of the Woolworth Building, yet as they passed through the quaint door, what appeared before them was a hall about the area of the Times Square.

The impact brought by the change in the spatial area confused Hill, she raises her head and looks at the reliefs placed around the palace-like front hall; those stone statues were not as rigid as those of the outside world, as they could move.

One could not help but feel fearful toward such a scene.

And while Hill did not recognize most of the faces on the reliefs, there were some she was familiar with.

She looks back at the fat Auror Essinus and asks softly:

"You wizards respect President Lincoln as well?"

"Of course."

Essinus smiles and says:

"President Lincoln was one of the few muggle presidents who knew of the Magical Congress' existence, he's maintained a good relationship with us before his death. During the most crucial moment of the American Civil War, the wizard president of that time even cast a vote in a request for the wizards to join the battle and ensure the victory of President Lincoln's forces; that vote was eventually dismissed, though."

"Was it dismissed because wizards could not interfere with the muggle world?"

Hill asks again, to which Essinus shrugs:

"No, that's not it, it's because there are those among the wizards who oppose President Lincoln's ideals, and the President was worried that forcibly interfering with the war would cause the wizarding world to break apart. Miss Hill, there are not that many differences between you and me, trust me, there are many amongst us who secretly celebrate Independence Day."

"There are many of us who are curious about the muggle world."

Essinus reaches out and points to the opening elevator door, he says to the people behind him:

"President Samuel G. Quahog is waiting for you."

Fury walks into the old-fashioned elevator, many oddly-dressed wizards and witches were looking at him curiously in front of him, causing Fury to feel like he was being watched in a zoo.

At the end of his sights, across the bustling hall, Fury could see wizards and witches holding wands or brooms flashing in and out from the glowing-green fireplaces.

This scene surprised Fury, he looks at Merlin and asks in a low tone:

"Those fireplaces..."

"Those are the entry points to the Floo Network."

Merlin did not want his superior to embarrass himself, so he explains:

"You can think of them as portals, you can go to any place that's been linked to the Floo Network from these fireplaces, even places hidden within large wards."

"Mmm, sounds familiar."

Fury nods, but as the elevator door closes, he asks again:

"But why fireplaces? Can't they make them into doors?"

"Err, probably because of tradition."

Merlin did not know how to answer Fury's tricky question, he says:

"You know, wizards are a group of people who respect traditions."

"Swish"

The elevator closes and activates, and as Fury prepares for it to move up or down, contrary to his expectations, the elevator moved horizontally!

The elevator's sudden movement caused Hill to lose balance and fall into Merlin's arms.

As she stood up awkwardly and was about to pick up her documents, Merlin gently waves his finger in the air, and the fallen documents are lifted by invisible mana and quickly returns to Hill's arms.

The elevator carrying 4 people quickly moves like it was traversing through a maze, one could tell from the passageways that the Magical Congress was far larger than Fury had previously anticipated.

It was like a small city that's been hidden.

A few minutes later, following the ringing of a bell, the elevator door opens once again.

Essinus walks out of the elevator, what appeared before them was a quiet room similar to a conference room, at the end of the hall, an elderly man similar to Dumbledore but was wearing a black robe and holding an owl head-shaped cane was waiting for them there with a smile.

"This is President Samuel."

Essinus introduces to them:

"This is the Wizarding President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, he's the direct superior of all Aurors as well as the most respected grand wizard in North America. He advocates that wizards should share the world with muggles and has been attempting to found an organization that's responsible for the conversing between muggles and wizards, and this talk today is permitted under President Samuel's insistence."

The senior Auror says to Fury next to him:

"Mr. Nick Fury, the cooperation you seek is right in front of you, but first you must persuade President Samuel to support you."

As he finishes, Essinus waves Merlin goodbye, he turns back into the elevator and disappears behind the wall.

Fury tidies his clothes and steps forward.

He had been through his fair share of large events, and though he was still curious about the wizarding world, he would not let his curiosity affect his job.

"Hello, President Samuel."

Fury walks in front of the elderly wizard and extends his hand, the elderly wizard nods with a smile, he then holds Fury's hand and points to the round table next to him, saying gently and concisely:

"Sit, my guests, we can talk slowly."

They get seated, Samuel looks at Fury and Merlin with his light gray eyes and says:

"Firstly, I must thank your organization, SHIELD, right? I must thank you for helping the Magical Congress deal with the trouble during the incident a few days back."

The expression of this wizarding president turns serious as he says:

"Whether it's our somewhat chaotic peers in England or the reappearance of Death-Eaters, they are all major events that can affect the North American Wizarding World; especially with the appearance of the horntail that should not have appeared in the first place, a chaotic disaster would've ensued if it wasn't taken care of."

"Luckily, you appeared in our time of need."

Fury says:

"It's nothing, it's also SHIELD's duty to uphold the current order of the world; even without the Ministry of Magic's involvement, SHIELD could not stay put the moment when the horntail appeared in New York City."

"We're helping ourselves too, of course, it's an honor that we were of aid to the wizards."

"Nonono."

Samuel shakes his head and tells Fury:

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"Not just helping us, Director Fury, I appreciate the quick response and process of dealing with dangerous incidents, the operations department under our Magical Congress has much to learn from it."

As he spoke, the president complained:

"It's good that wizards respect tradition, but most of the time, we're bound by traditions. You may not know this, but the Aurors of the Magical Congress still work with the action guidelines from the American Civil War, and that stuff is outdated even in the eyes of wizards."

"For a whole 20 years since me taking office, I have been trying to change the old rules that tie us down, but so far it has had little effect."

Samuel sighs and says:

"Wizards are used to living away from the world, they won't welcome any change. But this time's an exception."

The elderly wizard raises his head and smiles at Merlin:

"Wizards oftentimes underestimate the power of the muggle world, and your way of handling the Horntail and Death-Eaters have allowed us to see the advantages which the muggle civilization holds; compared to your quick response, the reaction of the Aurors was disappointing, so after comparison between the two, there have been fewer objections about internal reformation."

"This is why we can sit here and discuss the possibility of cooperation."

He extends a finger and gently waves it, a few cups of coffee emitting a fragrant smell appear before Fury, Hill, and Merlin; he taps on the table and a few plates of fresh fruit and sugar cubes appear on the center of the table.

The elderly wizard rubs his forehead and says apologetically:

"Look at me, how impolite of me to not prepare refreshments for the guests, I hope you don't mind."

"Err, it's nothing."

Fury sees the cups of coffee and plats of fruit that appeared out of thin air, he reminds himself in his heart that he was dealing with a legendary wizard.

He organizes his words and tells Samuel:

"This is also what we're seeking, Mr. Samuel."

"SHIELD is given a duty by the World Security Council to uphold the world order, but that duty would be meaningless if we cannot establish communication with wizards. There are many species different than humans in this world: mutants, irregulars, aliens, etc; wizards are one of them too."

Fury says sincerely:

"SHIELD hopes to build a framework that aims for peace, but we can't build that framework alone."

"I understand." 

Samuel answers:

"But for now, I don't know where to start, since this is the first cooperation between the wizarding world and muggle civilization, there had been no precedent like this before; for me, I need a highly probable plan to persuade my rather stubborn peers."

He knocks on the table and tells Fury:

"Then, Mr. Fury, do you have a plan regarding our first cooperation?"

"Hill."

Fury glances back at his assistant, Hill immediately puts down the cup of coffee she was drinking and takes out a small device from her bag, she places it on the table, turns it on, and a projection appears in the air in front of them.

Fury stands up and points at the simple structure on the projection, he introduces so to Samuel:

"We have a small team in SHIELD that specializes in dealing with supernatural events, led by agent Merlin. This team is experimental, and it currently deals with events caused by low-level irregulars around the area of New York."

"Over the past few months, we've dealt with demonic cult groups, vampires causing trouble, succubuses disrupting the order, some werewolves who've lost control, along with some ghouls that appeared in the sewers."

As Fury waves his finger, Hill continues to project images of cases that had been dealt with into the projector, to which Samuel nods slowly.

"We can say that Merlin's team has proven its worth, and for the next step, I'm upgrading this team into a specialized department that will be responsible for monitoring and interfering with supernatural occurrences caused by magic."

Fury tells Samuel:

"From my conversing with some Aurors, I noticed that the Magical Congress has problems dealing with these affairs and is losing its grip on maintaining the order of the wizarding world; this is because there are too little resources you can utilise, and that will be the foundation of our cooperation."

"We'll grade those supernatural events, and from my idea, we grade them between ranks E to S, with the appearance of the Death-Eater and Horntail this time as a rank A event; SHIELD will handle all events ranked B and below, while the Aurors of the Magical Congress handle serious events ranked A and above."

Fury spreads his hands and says to Samuel:

"We can assimilate the advantage of the human resources that SHIELD has with the advantage of high-class power that the Magical Congress has with such a system."

"This can not only effectively minimize the pressure on Aurors, but it can also build a new order in the wizarding world following our cooperation. What I mean is, not all irregulars and supernatural creatures are evil, we can screen them, file them, and conduct full-on monitoring and interference."

"As I said, a large framework in which all supernatural creatures can find the order and safety they need in."

"The villains outside this framework will be dealt with and cast away by warriors from our side."

Fury was filled with confidence, his words full of charm, he introduced his future plans clearly in a short few minutes.

President Samuel nods, he did not immediately reply, but from his contemplating eyes, one could tell that he had been persuaded.

But there may still be some details to be discussed.

But those can be dealt with in time.

And a few minutes later, President Samuel tells Fury:

"A very valuable suggestion, Mr. Fury, but I cannot give an answer immediately, I need some time to think. How about this, if I have the need, then please send your assistant here to persuade my colleagues in a more detailed manner."

He takes off a ring from his finger and gives it to Fury, saying:

"If there's news, I'll contact you through this ring. Oh, right, I have one last question."

"If this department is to be created, then we'll need to dispatch representatives from both sides to participate in it; have you anyone in mind?"

"Of course."

Fury sets his sights on Merlin, who was eating fruit while watching casually, Merlin immediately gets a bad feeling, and then Fury points at him and says to President Samuel:

"Agent Merlin will act as SHIELD's representative to join this new department, and as the commander serving under SHIELD's wing."

"Oh, Mr. Merlin!"

The elderly wizard Samuel looks back at Merlin with eyes of praise.

"My old friend Dumbledore also thinks that Merlin is one worth trusting, there's no one more suitable than him to act as the bridge of communication between wizards and SHIELD."

"Mmm, I have no further problems."

 

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