Chapter 268: Student Group

Snape's answer made Sir Arnold stop his speech all of a sudden. He nodded slightly at Snape, then revealed a knowing smile to everyone, and then continued: "Of course, these are just some shallow thoughts. Before we make any changes, we all need sufficient discussion and democratic voting. It must be admitted that Hogwarts' traditions have been tempered through thousands of trials. If not necessary, they should not be rashly changed. I say this, hoping that the teachers and students in the school don't need to worry too much about what the Ministry of Magic will or will not do, and continue to live as before, as if I were just an ordinary Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"And, just like the style of all previous professors or headmasters, my Defense Against the Dark Arts class will also be full of distinct personal style. If any student doesn't like it very much, I express my deep apologies in advance."

After saying this, Arnold sat down with a smile. The students and professors applauded politely, and then Snape stood up again.

"Thank you very much, Sir Arnold, a very inspiring speech." He nodded slightly. "Next, I want to remind everyone that the Quidditch tryouts will be on..."

"He's feinting," Hermione whispered. "What exactly does the Ministry of Magic want to do?"

"Hard to say, I think he might have reached some kind of agreement with Snape," Harry shrugged, not taking it to heart—in his cognition, the Ministry of Magic was a behemoth that wasn't very useful, but at least it was loyal to Britain.

Snape was always sparing with words in his speeches. Before they could figure it out, a sound of tables and chairs colliding rang out around them: he had already announced the dismissal.

Neville stood up and shouted: "First-year freshmen! Please come this way!"

"Oh right, I should go and point the way for them," Hermione stood up hurriedly. "Let's talk next time, right, I'll come to find you when I have any discoveries."

"I don't quite understand why she cares so much about this kind of thing," Luo En looked at Arnold, who was still sitting at the teacher's table. "No matter what the Ministry of Magic intends, he will stay for at most one year."

"Clearly it's jealousy," Ivy leaned over. "She doesn't want to see Harry gain such huge prestige, preferring to believe that there is some conspiracy hidden behind this. Isn't it? Last year she finally managed to get on the newspaper a few times because of gossip, but now everyone is still discussing Harry."

"If I hear you speak ill of your classmates again!" Harry said angrily, "I'll tell Snape that all your Potions homework was written by me!"

Ivy wisely closed her mouth, but revealed an unconvinced expression.

"Being a brother, why is the gap so big?" Jin Ni spread her hands.

"No, no, seriously, I think Hermione is out of guilt," Luo En pulled the topic back. "She had to help Harry's competitor because of her internship work last year. Since she returned to Hogwarts this year, of course she wants to do her best to provide help to Harry. This counts as a kind of compensation, right?"

"What you said is not unreasonable," Harry nodded. "And she might be because she is eager to help me that she is so suspicious. In fact, I just remembered, didn't the newspapers report about me like this before? Otherwise, how would Colin have known me? It's just that for the past two years, the Ministry of Magic has kept its mouth shut for a while so as not to annoy Voldemort."

"That's right, I also remember seeing you in the newspapers since I was a child," Luo En breathed a sigh of relief. "Look, Fat Lady, we're here."

After they entered the common room, Jin Ni and Ivy slipped back to their dormitories. Harry looked around. Fred and George were posting advertisements for the joke shop. They hoped to use their last time in school to carefully investigate the students' preferences.

When he entered the dormitory, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan were talking, but suddenly stopped talking as soon as they saw them. Harry looked at them suspiciously, and then Seamus walked up, his face turning into a liver color.

"My mom said," he twisted his fingers and said, "she hopes I can become your good friend. She tells everyone she meets that I am Harry's roommate."

"Aren't we friends?" Harry revealed a polite smile.

"We don't know each other well. Of course, I think this is because I am too timid, and, not excellent enough," he said intermittently. "I'm not sure if I'm qualified to participate in your great cause."

Harry didn't know how to answer this question for a while. However, Neville happened to come back, so he immediately said: "Why not? Isn't Neville's Dumbledore's Army part of the great cause?"

"What's the situation?" Neville looked at Seamus.

"Oh, no, it's nothing," Seamus stepped back a few steps and sat on the edge of the bed, starting to stick a poster of the Kenmare Kestrels.

"He's in the Dumbledore's Army, right?" Harry asked.

"Indeed, Seamus has performed quite well," Neville nodded. "However, I am considering one thing."

"What?"

"Whether the Dumbledore's Army still has a need to exist," Neville said very seriously. "You see, our original intention for establishing the Dumbledore's Army was to guard against the Death Eaters attacking Hogwarts, but now this matter has passed, and it seems unlikely that the school will encounter any new crises."

"The Dumbledore's Army makes everyone nervous, and people often get hurt during the practice process," Neville took stock of the drawbacks of this student club. "Most importantly, everyone has lost a clear goal. Even if you say it's to fight against the Death Eaters, this is too far away, and many people might not necessarily intend to fight against the Death Eaters."

"We have promised not to provoke war, but we still have to be prepared for war," Harry said seriously. "Only if we have the strength to win the war can we gain the power to avoid war."

"What are you talking about? Every time it's our people who provoke first," Neville subconsciously retorted, and only then understood Harry's meaning. "Oh, you mean the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters? That is indeed the case. We must make them feel that the student group doesn't stand on their side, right?"

"The student group is still very powerful. The next generation of the wizarding world is all here," Neville said. "I don't think there's anything bad about the four houses being united. Maybe it's just the hat worrying about unemployment."

"Indeed, if it weren't for the sorting, how could it enjoy this kind of treatment?" Luo En sighed. "The hat also has selfish motives."

"But in that case, how should we organize subsequent activities?" Neville sat on the edge of the bed. "If there is no external threat, we can't continue high-intensity activities, cohesion will also decline, and everyone has lost a clear goal."

"Indeed, for those of us, the Order of the Phoenix or the Death Eaters have nothing to do with us," Dean interrupted. "I joined the Dumbledore's Army just because I am Neville's friend, that's all."

"How about this," Harry clapped his hands suddenly. "The advice given by the hat is actually a very good suggestion. We should focus on the conflicts between the houses next. Perhaps people don't care about the Death Eaters, but they will definitely be willing to compete with Slytherin."

"But isn't this moving the external conflict into the school?" Luo En said in surprise. "Isn't this what you don't want to see?"

"No, Gryffindor cannot represent the Order of the Phoenix, and Slytherin cannot represent the Death Eaters. You are the leader of the Dumbledore's Army, but you haven't joined the Order of the Phoenix yet, right?" Harry said. "And similarly, Malfoy hasn't completely agreed to serve the Death Eaters yet. Especially since he quarreled with his family about this recently, he will soon realize that the student group is his only, but also very useful, bargaining chip."

"The students in Slytherin, or even the entire school, are an irresistible force for the strength comparison between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters. And as students graduate and grow, this force will continue to become stronger," Harry continued. "Old Malfoy might have already regarded the power of Slytherin as something in his pocket, and young Malfoy will definitely grasp this point and hold the Slytherin students in his own hands. This is his confidence in speaking loudly to his family."

"But why does young Malfoy want to go against old Malfoy?" Neville asked with some confusion.

"Perhaps because young Malfoy is not optimistic about the future of the Death Eaters, perhaps because he doesn't want to be manipulated by his family, doesn't want to marry into the Greengrass family, so he will deliberately let the students cut off from the Death Eaters," Harry analyzed. "But there is also a possibility that he sincerely wants to maintain the independence of Hogwarts. In that case, I will have a trace of respect when I use him."

"I think the latter possibility is greater," Luo En said. "If it were me, marrying anyone is better than marrying Pansy. Didn't Lu Na say that Greengrass is still quite beautiful?"

"Oh, since Lu Na said so," Neville revealed a sudden realization. "Then it seems it's because Malfoy doesn't want to marry Greengrass."

"Do you have any opinion on Lu Na?" Harry was a bit puzzled.

"I can only say that she is at the forefront of the road of practicing diversified aesthetics," Neville said tactfully.

"Alright, no matter what, I need to talk to Malfoy as soon as possible," Harry nodded. Then, he suddenly remembered another thing: the diary was still stored at the Torchwood headquarters, and it must be that all Torchwood members cast spells together to take it out.

If Lucius wasn't pretending to be stupid but was really stupid in previous meetings: what if he didn't know the diary was a Horcrux? Should he use the diary to increase bargaining chips for Draco?

Or perhaps, actually Draco didn't know the diary was a Horcrux either, or he didn't know about Horcruxes at all, or he didn't know his father valued Horcruxes so much. These were all possible.

Harry felt he needed to probe, of course, he also needed to be vigilant that this was their father-son double act preparing to probe and use him. He lay on the bed thinking, he had to prepare well before the conversation. ===== CHAPTER 269 =====