In contrast, Director Andre had a very different path. He's been with the German Ministry of Magic for decades, practically since he graduated from magic school.
About thirty years ago, he became the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, a position he's held ever since. His rise was largely due to his powerful magic and strict, no-nonsense attitude. He's known for being harsh and unyielding, never showing mercy to those who break the law.
While his long tenure proves his capability, it also shows he's hit a ceiling, his personality makes it hard for him to move up any further. Andre's temperament is often compared to that of Alastor Moody, though Alex believes Andre isn't quite as paranoid or extreme.
Still, he's the type who won't hesitate to use an Unforgivable Curse on dark wizards if necessary. Since Eisenberg became Minister, he and Andre have clashed more than once.
Andre strongly opposed Eisenberg's proposal for the split bill and didn't hold back in expressing his views. Their disagreements sometimes turned into heated arguments right in the halls of the Ministry.
One of Andre's biggest weaknesses is his low emotional intelligence. He frequently makes broad, offensive remarks during Wizengamot sessions, which has rubbed a lot of members the wrong way.
On the other hand, Eisenberg has proven to be much more politically savvy. He has skillfully used both public alliances and behind-the-scenes deals to win over key members of the Wizengamot. Thanks to his charm and the strong relationships he built during his earlier career, Eisenberg managed to push the split bill through with surprising ease.
Rumors, especially those spread by Franz, suggest that Minister Eisenberg's influence is growing steadily within the Ministry. The Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters, where he started, has become his stronghold, fully loyal to him and supporting his leadership without question.
After the former director of the Department of Management and Control of Magical Beasts stepped down due to a serious illness, his replacement turned out to be another one of Eisenbergr's people. In fact, since Eisenbergr became Minister of Magic, he's been quietly placing his own allies in key positions.
For example, he also appointed the new director of the Department of Magical Transportation, which has become one of the most active departments pushing for the division of the Ministry of Magic. Each office within that department is now split into two branches, one for East Germany and one for West Germany. Alex had experienced this divide firsthand.
As for the Department of International Magical Cooperation, it tries to stay neutral. In reality, though, its director is more of a coward than a diplomat, someone who keeps his head down and avoids getting involved. No one bothers to challenge him, probably because they don't see the point.
The only department that still seems to lean toward Andre is the Department of Magical Games and Sports, but unfortunately, that doesn't carry much weight. Quidditch isn't especially popular in Germany, so the department's overall influence is pretty limited.
After getting a clearer picture of the situation, Alex realized just how deeply the Silver Wand has infiltrated the German Ministry of Magic. Whether or not Eisenbergr is the Golden Snidget, it's almost certain he's a member of the Silver Wand. The same likely goes for the directors of the Departments of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, Magical Beasts Management, and Magical Transportation.
It wouldn't be surprising if all three were members. It makes sense, too, Germany is the Silver Wand's headquarters, and most of the magical creatures smuggled in from Europe and the Americas pass through here to be used in potion-making. If the Department of Magical Beasts wasn't under their control, they wouldn't have been able to operate so smoothly for all these years.
Now that Alex had some insight into how things worked behind the scenes, he started to consider using Director Andre to his advantage. Since Minister Eisenbergr is clearly tied to the Silver Wand, confronting him head-on was too risky. Alex didn't have enough certainty that he could bring Eisenbergr down without drawing attention.
If he got caught, he'd be facing serious charges, possibly even accused of attacking a Minister of Magic. So instead of relying on brute force, it would be smarter to take a more strategic, two-pronged approach.
On the surface, Alex planned to work with Andre to launch an attack on Eisenberg's faction. But behind the scenes, he intended to infiltrate the Silver Wand organization, using the opportunity to trace any leads that might bring him closer to the Horned Basilisk.
When he first came to Germany, Alex had two main goals. Ideally, he wanted to find and eliminate the Horned Basilisk, that was his top priority.
However, he knew that wouldn't be easy. The Horned Basilisk was extremely cautious, to the point of not even trusting his own adopted son. That level of paranoia had allowed him to stay hidden from Thunderbird and his team for decades.
Given that, Alex's backup plan was to take down the Silver Wands, especially the group led by Golden Snidget, and seize the resources of their headquarters. Since the Silver Wand base and warehouse were located in Germany, he definitely wouldn't pass up the chance to secure them.
As for Sir Merlin Bloc's request to uncover the leader of the Silver Wand, Alex wasn't too worried. No one actually knew who the real leader was, so if Alex claimed it was Snidget, who had now become Germany's Minister of Magic, that would be a convincing explanation. After all, it made sense that such a dangerous organization could place someone in such a high position of power.
Even Sir Merlin Bloc only knew that the Silver Wand had ties to the Saints and that their leader was plotting something big. Alex figured they probably had no idea about the Rebirth Draught.
So when the time came, he could just say that the group was trying to take over the German government. That alone would be enough to pin the blame on them, and the higher-ups would probably thank him for it.
Having settled on his plan, Alex quickly wrote two greeting cards and handed them to Franz, asking him to deliver them to Director Andre and Minister Eisenberg.
The reason Alex wanted to meet with the two senior officials from the Ministry of Magic was to use the opportunity to get a better read on where their loyalties truly lay. He couldn't rely solely on Franz's intel, after all, appearances could be deceiving.
Take Andre, for example. For all anyone knew, he might be playing both sides. He could be pretending to oppose Eisenberg just to gain trust, only to secretly be working with him behind the scenes. It wouldn't be the first time someone pulled that kind of stunt, publicly acting like an opponent while quietly pushing things in Eisenberg's favor.
As for Minister Eisenberg himself, Alex still wasn't sure about his true identity or role. Based on what Franz had found out, this Eisenberg had been trying to infiltrate the Ministry for at least a decade.
That alone made it unlikely that he was simply someone using Polyjuice Potion to impersonate the real Eisenberg. That technique has limits, especially when it comes to maintaining appearances over long periods.