Chapter 281: Politics and Love

Seeing Harry's faint melancholy, Eve seemed to guess his thoughts and suggested, "Should we still call it Dumbledore's Army? Or change it to something like the School Defense Force?"

"That won't do," Pansy said immediately. "Students need a name that sounds impressive, or their enthusiasm will plummet."

"Besides, Dumbledore's Army still implies protecting the school—after all, all that remains of Dumbledore is his portrait hanging in the Headmaster's office," Luna said softly.

Harry assumed Luna meant the portrait, though the image supposedly sealing Dumbledore's essence was also displayed near the Headmaster's office.

"We're going to accomplish something big this year—I'm already thrilled just thinking about it!" Cui Ge let out a strange noise. "Do we have a more detailed plan yet?"

By now, though Harry emotionally resisted sharing the secret of the Room of Requirement with Malfoy, he felt there was no longer any need to hide it—he gave the students present a general explanation so they'd know they had a perfect venue for their activities.

"What about timing?" Ernie asked. "When do we go there to train?"

"Let's do it at night," Pansy suggested. "To avoid clashing with Quidditch practice."

Harry only then remembered Quidditch was part of his school schedule—he truly regretted it. If only the Time-Turner still worked.

"Then have your Auror come once a week," Ginny said. "Saturday nights for Auror lessons; the rest of the time, we practice on our own."

"Just once a week?" Hannah asked, but quickly realized, "Right—we can still teach each other and exchange skills at other times."

"Every Saturday at six p. ., I'll have Krämer come to teach advanced dueling techniques," Harry concluded. "At any other time, the Room of Requirement opens at six p. . every night—any student wishing to practice alone or exchange skills may go."

"Harry's right," Malfoy agreed. "We can't let the Room of Requirement become common knowledge—we must conceal it. For instance, each meeting should be opened by one of us personally, with flashy gestures and spells as cover."

"But according to how the Room of Requirement works, if someone copies your movements, they can still open the door," Crabbe scratched his head. "After all, when they copy, they're still thinking of entering the room to practice spells."

"You're only clever when you're undermining me, aren't you?" Malfoy stepped on his foot irritably.

"Impressive, Crabbe," Goyle said with a touch of envy. "The boss says you're smart."

"Perhaps Malfoy means," Luna said, "to conceal the fact that it's the Room of Requirement, and make people believe it's just a hidden room dedicated to spell practice."

Harry felt a pang of regret—why hadn't he thought of that himself? He had to admit, in matters of cunning, he still had much to learn from Malfoy.

"By the way, do you remember what Arnold said?" Ginny suddenly exclaimed. "Members of Dumbledore's Army should have a way to send messages to each other—so if one is in danger, the others can immediately come to their aid."

"Like tattooing a phoenix emblem on your arm?" Ernie trembled.

"I'll get a tattoo!" Cui Ge immediately perked up.

"I'll design the emblem!" Luna followed right after.

"No, no, no—no need for that," Harry hurried to dissuade them. "Let's find a non-permanent marker instead. After all, this is just a student-led school defense movement—once we graduate, can we still call it Dumbledore's Army?"

"Make it a ring," Eve suggested. "When someone wants to summon everyone, the ring heats up and shows the location—that would work well."

"Then I'll design the ring's style!" Luna's enthusiasm didn't wane.

Watching the children begin debating ring designs, Harry hesitated slightly, then pulled out his Potions homework and began writing furiously, as if no one else were there.

When he finished writing the final letter, satisfied, he realized the gathering was nearly over—the snack table was almost empty.

"Oh, Harry," Pansy whispered, "could you stay behind for a moment? I need your help with something."

Harry looked into her eyes, then at Malfoy, who sat between Crabbe and Goyle, avoiding eye contact. Though the two hulking followers had scattered crumbs all over his robe, the blond young master remained silent, even refusing to move to another seat.

"I understand," Harry realized their relationship had indeed hit trouble—and if Pansy was turning to him for help, it was undoubtedly tied to external politics.

As the others finished their gossip and began taking their leave, Harry simply sat there smiling, mentally reviewing his plans over and over.

"I'm sorry, Draco," Pansy said softly after everyone had left. "I still need Harry's help."

"It's fine," Malfoy replied with a forced smile. After his two bulky followers left, he seemed insecure.

"You've heard, haven't you?" Pansy said. "About Miss Greengrass."

"Yes, Luna told me," Harry said carefully. "But since it was Luna, I didn't take it seriously. So—is it true?"

"My father wants to seize the Greengrass family's assets and connections," Malfoy said, his expression troubled. "Since they only have two daughters—he's ordered me to court Daphne or Astoria this year."

In front of Pansy, Malfoy might not reveal his true thoughts. Harry suspected he wasn't as reluctant as he appeared.

"This puts Draco in a difficult position," Pansy explained. "My parents support Pure-Blood Supremacy, so the Parkinsons lean toward the Lestranges."

"Pure-Blood Supremacy?" Harry heard the term for the first time.

"Pure-Blood Supremacy means they want to build a wizarding world with only pure-bloods," Pansy said. "To do that, they must expel—and even kill—all Muggle-borns."

"But if Muggle-borns are forced to live in the Muggle world with no chance to cast spells, it easily triggers a Obscurus," Harry shook his head. "This so-called Pure-Blood Supremacy sounds naive."

"So my father proposed Pure-Blood Nobility," Draco said. "Maintain the current wizarding order, but unite pure-blood families to seize power and ensure pure-bloods remain the ruling class."

"But because of our families' conflicting political stances, our relationship faces external difficulties," Pansy said, troubled. "I want to find a way to reconcile them and make them stand together."

"So you came to me because you plan to use the Order of the Phoenix as a force to unify the Death Eaters internally?" Harry began to understand their logic—but he disliked this approach intensely.

"The Order of the Phoenix hasn't done anything," Draco said. "So the Death Eaters inevitably began infighting."

From a higher perspective, Harry knew both sides were engaged in a battle of wits over Horcruxes—but the high-level currents wouldn't reach the children, which explained why Pansy and Malfoy were still trapped in family and love conflicts.

"The Order of the Phoenix is stretched too thin," Harry said. "But I think Torchwood is already strong enough to stand against the Lestranges."

"If you, Pansy, and the pure-blood descendants from Slytherin unite, you'll form a voice. Most importantly, your slogan of 'Defending Hogwarts' will make the Death Eaters think it's under Snape's orders," Harry decided not to mention Horcruxes yet—this card could be played later. "And your demand is simple: just ask the adults not to interfere with school romances."

This would simultaneously weaken Lucius and Bellatrix—and morally, Harry preferred that the two Greengrass sisters choose their own lives, not be manipulated by other noble families.

"For the Parkinson family," Harry turned to Pansy, "if your relationship with Draco appears strong enough, they might switch sides to the Malfoys—after all, the two ideologies aren't irreconcilable. Pure-Blood Nobility is merely Pure-Blood Supremacy's compromise with reality."

"It's hard," Pansy said. "Because the Lestranges' core belief is that the Dark Lord can crush all opposition. As long as they haven't abandoned reviving him, they won't give up Pure-Blood Supremacy." As she spoke, she frowned. "Draco, did your father propose that idea because he no longer serves the Dark Lord?"

"The truth is," Draco said, turning to Harry, "the Dark Lord's methods are too extreme—they don't serve the noble families' real interests. Without him, we actually got along well with Dumbledore. Now another opportunity presents itself—we get along well with Harry. Do you want the next generation of the wizarding world to remain divided and hostile?"

"I want to use this friendship from our school days to explore a more reasonable, inclusive pure-blood theory," Draco said with sincerity. Harry believed he might truly mean it.