Chapter 109

After finalizing the sand table plan, the children’s enthusiasm surged as they eagerly imagined how incredibly cool it would be to complete such a project.

“But I think while the sand table is cool, the blueprint still has to be drawn by hand,” Harry said. “We can make a plan, divide the work, and carefully draw the entire school map to scale, then build the miniature model based on the construction drawings.”

“Then, Ginny and Ivy, you’ll handle the maps for the fourth to eighth floors—just the prominent structures, but measurements must be precise,” Malfoy began assigning tasks after a brief pause. “Crabbe and Goyle will cover the first to fourth floors. Luna and Cui Ge will map the hidden passages and stair trajectories.”

“Harry, you need to figure out how to track people inside the school, while Pansy and I will handle the secrecy charms, including concealing the headquarters’ entrance and optimizing the interior.”

“It’s a reasonable division of labor—we can start next week,” Harry said. “But no rush—we can take it slow, just don’t let it interfere with regular studies.”

After that, the children chatted about other school gossip, and amid laughter, Malfoy declared the week’s salon over.

Early Monday morning, Harry and Ron hurried to the Muggle Studies classroom; after Harry’s account, Ron had developed a strong interest in Professor Doudou and couldn’t wait to attend his lecture.

But when they arrived, they found someone had gotten there even earlier—Hermione, already seated in the front row, calmly flipping through her textbook.

“Oh, Hermione, are you taking Muggle Studies?” Harry greeted her. “What about Divination?”

“Huh? Harry?” Hermione looked surprised. “Why would you ask that? I thought you knew.”

“Know? Know what?” Harry was baffled.

“Uh, I’ll explain later,” Hermione said, barely suppressing a smile.

“Well, I’m just curious why you’re even taking Muggle Studies,” Ron scratched his head. “You should know plenty about Muggles already.”

“Precisely because I know Muggles well,” Hermione said confidently. “Who could refuse an extra class with a guaranteed top grade?”

“But you, Ron,” Harry pointed to his textbook. “You don’t know much about Muggles—this class will be very useful for you, and if you don’t study hard, you might fail.”

“Is it really that serious?” he muttered, flipping through his textbook for preview.

“Oh, children,” Professor Doudou walked in beaming. “I’m delighted to see your interest in Muggle stories—we can begin anytime. But first, let me introduce myself.”

“After graduating from Hogwarts, I pursued electrical engineering at a Muggle university and ultimately earned my Ph.D. in electromechanical engineering from Oxford,” he said. “So you may also call me Professor Doudou.”

“Is that true?” Ron whispered.

“Fake,” Harry whispered back. “After graduation, he became an Auror and supposedly served as the Queen’s bodyguard for years—he only retired recently.”

“Actually, this course aims to teach you how to identify Muggle objects and survive in Muggle society,” Professor Doudou said. “But I’d like to start earlier—how Muggles adapted to life without wizards after the Statute of Secrecy was enacted.”

“Of course, most professors and parents want you to learn how to disguise yourselves in the Muggle world—but it’s actually very simple,” he shook his head. “You could just wear your wizard robes and hat, carry your wand, and stroll down Muggle streets declaring you’re a wizard.”

“No one will believe you,” he chuckled. “As long as you don’t cast spells, of course—even if you do, most Muggles will assume it’s some trick, and they rarely report it; even if someone does, just say it’s a street magic show.”

“Unless—unless you’re insane and determined to break the Statute of Secrecy, endlessly telling every Muggle policeman you’re a wizard,” Professor Doudou said in a chilling tone. “Then the Ministry will send the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to beat you senseless and wipe those Muggles’ memories.”

“Believe me, they hit hard,” he said with a shudder.

The children laughed.

“Alright, back to Muggle stories,” he wrote three lines on the blackboard. “This course has three parts: first, the difficulties Muggles faced after losing wizards; second, how they joyfully discovered substitutes for magic; third, their astonishing achievements today.”

“So we’ve prepared three textbooks: *Early Records of Muggle Domestication*, *High-Quality Humans*, and *The Great Muggle Confusion Showcase*—representing three shifts in Muggle Studies academia,” Professor Doudou held up the books. “Wizards went from pitying Muggles, to marveling at their ingenuity, to now nearly failing to understand them at all.”

“In fact, there’s now a subtle fear of Muggles in academia—so much so that the infamous Dark Lord openly advocated eliminating them,” Professor Doudou objectively assessed Voldemort’s views. “That’s inaccurate. Fear stems from ignorance—if he’d studied at a Muggle university like I did, he’d realize Muggles are harmless, even beneficial to wizards.”

“Because Muggles can’t cast magic—but wizards can easily use any Muggle object. If you study this course well, you’ll see that.”

“Now, let’s begin properly. Open your books to Chapter One: *Early Records of Muggle Domestication of Wild Armor*,” Professor Doudou raised his textbook.

In the following lecture, he vividly described how Muggles, without wizard help, solved the problem of enchanted armor wandering through castles after the Statute of Secrecy.

They tried securing armor with wooden frames, even hiring strong knights to wear the self-moving armor, convinced that if the armor grew tired, it might stop wandering.

Harry stared at the illustration of “armor wielding a sword against a knight” and barely held back a laugh.

Eventually, Muggles ingeniously devised misaligned armor—swapping parts between different suits so each armor’s components came from different sources; when it tried to stroll, its limbs wouldn’t respond properly because they weren’t its own.

After that, he turned to Chapter Two, explaining how early Muggles tamed dancing cutlery. They introduced spoons, making knives and forks feel their status as formal tableware was threatened, forcing them to compromise and promise never to disturb diners at meals.

At the end of class, Professor Doudou feigned emotion: “Muggle wisdom is no less than wizardry. Oh, humanity—how magnificent.”

As they left the classroom, Ron sighed with awe: “I had no idea early Muggles faced so many problems—and overcame them all without magic. How amazing. Hermione, does your armor still move around?”

“We don’t have armor at home,” she replied stiffly.

“So the problem isn’t fully solved,” Professor Doudou patted Harry’s shoulder. “Many Muggles simply chose the easier solution: don’t put armor in the house.”

Hearing that, Harry began to wonder: was the absence of armor in Tang Dun due to modern aesthetic shifts—or because armor sometimes moved on its own? Or had the armor’s restlessness actually inspired the modern design trend of avoiding armor altogether?

A single Muggle Studies class opened Harry’s eyes to a new perspective: the histories of the two worlds were never separate. Before the Statute of Secrecy, human history could be viewed as a whole; even after it, the two worlds influenced each other in countless ways.

After Transfiguration, Harry and Ron enjoyed a hearty lunch. Hermione looked starving—she ate more than both of them combined, and many at the table stared at her in surprise.

In the afternoon was Hagrid’s Care of Magical Creatures class, which Harry also looked forward to. They trudged across the slippery grass toward Hagrid’s hut, Hermione walking beside them; since term began, she’d been deliberately avoiding Neville, and Harry said nothing—he couldn’t imagine what he’d even talk to Hermione about.

Hagrid waited at his hut’s door, clad in his mole-skin coat, his enormous dog Fang pacing impatiently at his heels.

“Come on, children,” he boomed. “This term we’re exploring the real Forbidden Forest. Of course, we’ll start with the easier parts.”

Hagrid led them toward a familiar direction; Harry nearly thought he was taking them to see Aragog—if that old spider saw him and Ron again, Harry feared it might faint from rage.

He stopped in a clearing. Harry noticed fuzzy little things scattered on the trees and ground.

“I’m grateful for the thoughtful suggestions from some of you,” Hagrid said. “I think you’ll love the Puffskeins.”