Charles tore open the envelope and began to read. His brow quickly furrowed.
The letter came from his company in London.
Since electronic devices couldn't be used inside Hogwarts, Charles had made sure that if anything happened at the company, his employees could still contact him.For that purpose, he'd left an owl stationed in the office.
Of course, in the 1990s, using owls to deliver letters was unthinkable in the Muggle world. At first, his employees were convinced their boss had gone completely insane.
But after he quietly cast a Confundus Charm, no one thought it was strange anymore.
What made him frown now was the content of the letter itself.
"The animation company in Japan has unilaterally terminated the Pokémon manga adaptation project, and the manga is also being taken down?"
Up until now, the Pokémon manga had been doing quite well in Japan. Thanks to a bit of magical assistance, the quality was top-tier, and the production volume was enormous. It had been immensely popular there.
But this sudden termination of cooperation left Charles baffled.
It was just an ordinary manga—hardly something that should've threatened anyone's interests.
"Could the wizarding world have interfered?"
Though suspicious, Charles didn't rush off to Japan. With the upcoming tournament, he already had his hands full.
Just setting up the venue was a huge ordeal, not to mention training the commentator.
Naturally, the one he'd chosen as commentator was Lee Jordan.
Over the past weeks, Lee had participated in every meeting of the Pokémon Masters Club, using his emotionally charged and blatantly biased commentary to get under every Slytherin trainer's skin.
On several occasions, things nearly escalated into all-out brawls whenever Charles wasn't around.
That sort of chaos couldn't happen once the official tournament began—otherwise, Dumbledore's reputation would be in shambles.
In short, while the manga and anime projects were important—part of his broader plan to popularize Pokémon—they weren't urgent matters.
If the issue stemmed purely from the Muggle side, it wouldn't be too big a deal.But if the Ministry of Magic or the Statute of Secrecy were involved, then things could get complicated.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, another owl flapped through the window, dropping a letter on his desk before helping itself to his fruit bowl.
Before Charles could even pick it up, a third owl barreled in, colliding head-first with the second and sending it tumbling out the window.
Still, for all its clumsiness, the newcomer was at least polite—it waited patiently until Charles offered food before pecking at it.
Charles sighed and began opening the letters one by one.
The second was from Cornelius Fudge.
Dear Mr. Gold,
I apologize for disturbing you, sir!But we have a rather serious problem. I've heard that you've published some sort of "manga" among the Japanese Muggles—something that may have violated the International Statute of Secrecy.
You know how seriously the International Confederation of Wizards takes that law. Half a century ago, the Dark wizard Grindelwald tried to challenge it and ended up opposing Dumbledore. He was ultimately imprisoned in Nurmengard—though that case was, of course, far more complex, as it involved numerous murders.
Now, the American Ministry of Magic's Aurors are seeking permission to investigate the matter. I've refused their entry application for now, but the situation is grave—the Confederation itself might intervene.
If those "manga" works aren't essential, might you consider halting their publication? The British Ministry of Magic could then handle the matter internally. I'm sure Dumbledore would be willing to vouch for you, so you'd bear no real responsibility. As for the Muggles who've already seen the Pokémon, we could cast a large-scale Memory Charm to erase their recollections.
I hope to hear back from you soon.
Yours sincerely, Cornelius Fudge
In his office, Fudge had been shouting at Crouch to tell the Confederation's representatives to get lost—but truthfully, he couldn't afford to offend them.Especially not when their president was Albus Dumbledore himself.
Breaking the Statute of Secrecy was something Fudge wouldn't even dream of attempting.
"So it was interference from the wizarding world," Charles murmured with a cold smile. "But what's it got to do with the Americans?"
He sneered. The Japanese Ministry hadn't said a word, yet the Americans were the first to throw a fit. Did they really think they were the world police of the wizarding world too?
The third letter was from Lucius Malfoy, and its contents were much the same.But unlike Fudge, Lucius had a clearer idea of Charles's strength. As such, he was careful to sound cooperative—offering to pull a few strings and have allies within the Confederation speak on Charles's behalf.
Of course, he also admitted that this wouldn't be easy. Charles had managed to offend half the pure-blood families in Britain, and their relatives stretched across Europe and even America. Those networks could easily unite against him.
But in truth, Charles had already accounted for the Statute of Secrecy when he first decided to release Pokémon-related media in the Muggle world.Even if things escalated to the level of the Confederation, he had countermeasures prepared.
Legal issues, after all, could always be argued.Whether his arguments would be accepted—or whether the Confederation might simply target him out of spite—was another matter.
Still, he wasn't worried in the slightest.As Voldemort once said:
"Magic is power."
And Charles, who possessed more than enough of it, had no reason to fear their threats.
If reason failed, then he'd just have to speak to them in another language—Not physics, but magic.
Of course, there was still one complication: Dumbledore.
On one hand, Charles didn't want to show his brutal side in front of the old man who had treated him so kindly; he didn't wish to break that man's heart.On the other hand… Dumbledore's "fist" was enormous.
Even now, Charles couldn't confidently say he could defeat him.Sure, he had Pokémon on his side—but if things truly reached that point, he'd find himself facing every Auror in the world.
Luckily, Dumbledore was far too wise to ever let things go that far.
One Dark Lord had already consumed half his life's efforts.Would he really want to drive out another one?
What, was Dumbledore planning to spend his entire life fighting Dark Lords?
Chuckling at the thought, Charles dipped his quill and penned three letters in reply—then sent each one off with a waiting owl.
(End of Chapter)