Chapter 313: Donald

"When I wrote to Anna asking her to send the dress, she told me they won't be having Christmas break this year," Ivy explained. "The servants are gossiping that Grandfather should be back on the twenty-fourth."

In past years, whenever the old knight was traveling, Harry and Ivy would stay at school for Christmas and give the servants time off to visit their families. This year, the butler's firm declaration that no one would be on holiday clearly meant only one thing: the old knight planned to return home for Christmas.

"I'll go check the owlery," Harry said. "He might have sent us a letter."

When Harry reached the tiny, feather-strewn shed atop the tower, he indeed found two undelivered letters. By protocol, he was supposed to receive the family letter at breakfast tomorrow, but Harry didn't care—he tore them open immediately.

"Harry, I expect to return to Tang Dun soon. If you have no pressing matters in the magical world, I hope you and Ivy will come home for Christmas. I've invited your godfather Sirius Black, and he has gladly accepted, eager to celebrate the holidays with us."

"I've made excellent progress in Albania—so much so that I'd call it the fulfillment of my life's ambition. If you're interested in these stories, we can discuss them in detail once we're home."

The other letter was from Sirius Black, who endorsed the old knight's arrangements, expressing his delight at spending Christmas at Tang Dun, and he praised George Crowley as "the most refined and intelligent Muggle I have ever met."

Sirius's letter also mentioned another matter: "... hope you can bring your friends to visit Lupin on Saturday, the day after the dance. He's spending Christmas with the werewolves in Gilneas, but he misses you very much."

After reading both letters, Harry felt warmth spread through his chest. No matter when, receiving care from family always brought comfort.

When he returned cheerfully to the common room and told them the plans, Ivy nearly jumped for joy, and Ron also looked eagerly forward to it.

Yet on Wednesday, Zhang Qiu told him something: "Donald is expected to meet us in Gilneas on Saturday. He specifically instructed us to bring Elina."

"Oh? I'd forgotten, you didn't remind me," Harry suddenly felt a pang of disappointment. "Elina is one of Donald's subordinates."

"Relax. They're just investor and employee," Zhang Qiu patted his shoulder. "Focus on the dance first."

They did indeed pour serious effort into the dance—but neither was directing it toward the other.

Harry focused closely on the visiting students. He spoke with Krum and learned that Rodolphus had increased and extended the holidays, greatly reducing student opposition—even Krum himself was slightly swayed by the forty-five-day Christmas break. Beauxbatons was holding up reasonably well, but Stuart was an overly rigid and aggressive hawk who denounced all conservative figures opposing LGBT, inadvertently targeting followers of the Dark Lord. Though conservatives included Dark wizards, they also encompassed far too many innocent people. Ilvermorny's student organization appeared under Donald's control, as their current strategy mirrored his own exactly: build strength without taking a side. Coudrestritz and the Magical Institute had both chosen neutrality, though the former seemed burdened by constraints preventing involvement, while the latter simply kept its distance. Representatives from other Third World magical schools were fully immersed in the dance; Harry believed they had sensed the undercurrents but chose to pretend ignorance to avoid entanglement.

Zhang Qiu focused on the movements of the school's professors. She found Snape's decision to dance a highly intriguing signal, especially since he chose Professor McGonagall as his opening partner. Professors' dances weren't about romantic gossip like children's—they carried political meaning. If anyone in Hogwarts still held enough weight to challenge Snape, it was only McGonagall. Now that McGonagall and Snape appeared united, the message to the outside world was clear: Hogwarts was now a solid bloc. McGonagall's second dance partner was Arnold, signaling that the school's cooperation with the Ministry ran deeper than most imagined.

During a brief break, they exchanged thoughts. Zhang Qiu pointed out this dance was a prelude to Snape's impending forceful declaration—he had already built his faction and publicly announced it. Harry believed they could turn the tables, using this momentum to elevate the students' voice; he had long wanted to reform the Order of the Phoenix.

When Harry returned to the dormitory, Ron was pacing excitedly around the room, clearly acting strangely.

"They kissed," Neville whispered.

"Hey, Harry, you're back? What were you and Zhang Qiu doing?" Ron's tone carried a hint of smugness.

"We were discussing reforming the Order of the Phoenix," Harry said naturally. "I think Kingsley and Moody are in an awkward position—whether the Order and the Auror Office should cooperate or separate is a serious question. And people like Dedalus and Emmeline simply lack sufficient capability. Either we change the Order's membership standards, but I'd prefer to establish a more comprehensive internal training system..."

Ron gradually calmed down. He scratched his head sheepishly and muttered, "Ah, you always think so thoroughly... I... damn it! Let's talk tomorrow. I'm going to bed."

"Tomorrow? There's plenty to talk about tomorrow," Harry thought of Donald, his emotions growing complicated.

The next morning, Harry counted all the students preparing to go to Gilneas: besides himself and Zhang Qiu, there were Ron and Elina, Ginny and Ivy, Cui Ge and Luna, and Neville and Hannah. It was quite a group, largely because Lupin had earned considerable respect during his time teaching at Hogwarts.

Then, in the empty classroom where they had gathered, the wardrobe door suddenly burst open, and Nymphadora Tonks, with her bubblegum-pink hair, grinned at them.

"Ha! Kids!" she said. "Looks like I arrived just in time. Shall we go?"

This wasn't Harry's first journey in the TARDIS, but it was many of the other students' first. Ginny struggled to restrain herself from touching everything and asking questions, but Elina did not.

"What's amazing is that temporal theory includes the study of fate," Tonks said without hesitation. "I decided to depart precisely when you all finished gathering—not mere coincidence, but fate guiding us. That's why we truly understand now: when you need the Doctor, he always appears."

"Even now... does fate's guidance still function?" Harry asked.

"Fate's power lies in its omnipresence across time and space. Defying fate means defying both your past and your future," Tonks said casually. "Fate still exists now, but it's weaker—you can break it easily."

"Alright," Harry didn't press further. He admitted that perhaps temporal theory still held some function after time had frozen, but it remained beyond his understanding—especially given how cryptic everyone's tone was.

After arriving in Gilneas, they chatted briefly with Lupin before Tonks took them on a tour. After the tour, she led them in a game called "Werewolf," similar to Donald's invented board game Avalon—both relied on speech to identify or disguise different roles.

Only at dinner did they see Sirius, Lupin, and Donald again. Seeing their weary expressions, Harry realized Donald still treated him like a child—he'd been playing games while the adults had already finished their serious talks.

Fortunately, Sirius didn't truly see Harry as a child. When Donald began leading the children to the bonfire that night, he and Harry sat in Lupin's office, and began a serious discussion of Donald's proposal.

"Strategic Weapons System Deployment Plan?" Harry picked up a thick file. "Is this just a draft?"

"Before reading this, we must first understand the Greymane Wall under construction," Lupin said slowly. "It's a medieval-style high wall built of red brick, reinforced with strengthening charms. Most importantly, we've placed multiple magical nodes inside the wall, creating an unbreakable anti-Apparition barrier over Gilneas, along with Muggle-repelling charms and other protective spells."

"The anti-Apparition barrier forces magical enemies to attack from the ground, forcing them to confront this massive wall," Sirius added.

Harry's mind flashed with images of powerful Muggle weapons. He didn't believe the Greymane Wall's defensive capability would be as strong as Sirius imagined.

"The Greymane Wall illustrates that we've turned Gilneas into a fortress nearly impregnable. If we possessed a powerful enough long-range strike weapon," Lupin smiled slightly, "then, however childish this sounds, we'd be invincible."

"No one can breach our walls, yet we can strike any enemy from beyond visual range," Sirius murmured. "Gilneas itself becomes a deterrent."

"If you want to build a magical nuclear deterrent," Harry said calmly, "first we need a weapon powerful enough, and second, we need precise delivery methods—both are indispensable."

"Delivery can be achieved by reverse-engineering the TARDIS technology—Tonks has nearly completed it," Lupin said.

"And this weapon is what Donald plans to deploy for us: combining ritual magic with the magical power of over a hundred people, channeled through large-scale equipment," Sirius's voice carried a hint of fervor. "He calls it the 'Focus Rainbow.'"