Chapter 316

Harry fully agreed with the old knight's assessment. If the magical world during Dumbledore's era had still carried a faint echo of the Victorian age through its medieval atmosphere, then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland—the Muggle world—though outwardly peaceful and prosperous, had not achieved any real progress since hitting its developmental ceiling in 1956.

Any new reform, policy, or legislative amendment ultimately ended up as empty gestures; they might make the nation appear renewed, but the deep-rooted problems of this decaying giant had never been resolved.

Yet now, with the Statute of Secrecy crumbling, Harry saw a possible path toward hope. If the integration of the magical and Muggle worlds was to become the future's trend, then at least this time, they could still keep pace with the times.

Unlike those concerned intellectuals who worried about the future, Harry preferred to believe that wizards and Muggles could coexist peacefully. The continued existence of the Statute of Secrecy—its supposed justifications of inevitable conflict, human greed, and so on—might merely be surface-level excuses; the true reason lay in Death's existence: He supported the Statute, and so the Statute endured.

From the repeated appointments of wizards to high-ranking Muggle government posts across nations, and from Yanayev's deployment of wizarding troops to suppress Muggle rebels, Harry suspected they had begun testing the waters to break the Statute. Thus, Britain's decision to appoint a wizard as Minister of Defense was surely a small piece of good news—at least the previous Minister had only been responsible for guarding the nuclear launch button.

Once he understood this, Harry naturally turned his attention back to the magical world. Clearly, Mr. Weasley's appointment as Head had a touch of forcing a duck to climb a tree. True, Jim Hacker might have been trying to appease the Order, but the more important reason was likely the point Sirius had once made: Everyone knew Johnny English was a fool—even he probably knew it.

Of course, based on his third-year experience, Harry believed that Sir Johnny, though mediocre in ability, possessed extraordinary luck.

Thanks to this political shift, both Tang Dun's household and the Burrow enjoyed a relatively pleasant Christmas holiday. Yet when Harry returned to school, he learned that Ron himself felt slightly disappointed.

"Elena stayed at my house for only a short while—she seemed uncomfortable," Ron muttered. "It's wonderful that Dad became Head, and it's nice that Elena came to visit, but why do these two things together feel… off?"

"You say Elena felt uncomfortable? That seems unlikely—she's usually so easygoing." Harry was puzzled, but then he noticed the issue, "Perhaps it's because of your father becoming Head."

"Huh?"

"Remember last year's ball? She mentioned her background. Though she seems close to Donald, strictly speaking, she's just an orphan he sponsors." Harry said, "She gets along well with Hermione—probably because she, too, was a bookworm at Ilvermorny."

"Exactly. So she must have earned her place as a Champion through sheer effort." Harry didn't voice the unspoken part: Since Donald was training Elena to draw Ron in, he'd naturally made her as similar to Hermione as possible.

"That makes sense. So she feels out of place because of Dad's position." Ron sighed. "Funny—I thought I wasn't good enough for her when I first met her, and now she's the one feeling she's overreaching."

"Relax. Didn't Donald arrange her exchange student papers?" Harry patted his friend's shoulder. "You'll still see her at school—you can get to know each other properly here."

At the first feast of the new term, Harry and Ron focused all their attention on Elena at the far end of the table, guessing today would hold a solo Sorting ceremony for her.

But the first words Snape stood to say were: "We are honored to welcome a new teacher, Professor Slughorn, who has agreed to return to his former post as Potions Master."

A balding, pot-bellied old man rose and bowed to the assembly.

"Meanwhile, I shall no longer teach Potions, to free up more time for my duties as Headmaster." Snape finished, offering a faintly apologetic expression before sitting down.

"But what about Elena?" Ron stared in disbelief at the end of the table; the white-haired girl looked just as bewildered.

"That doesn't make sense—even for political theater, Snape should've—"

"It makes it look like we don't want her!" Ron fumed.

Snape ate in silence, then rose and left immediately. Professor Trelawney, clad in black robes (no matter what her actual name was), followed closely behind—clearly now one of Snape's confidants.

As they passed Professor Slughorn, he chuckled, rose, and departed with them.

Then, Professor McGonagall—who had remained seated—stood and walked to the Gryffindor table, speaking in a flat tone: "We are pleased to welcome a transfer student, Miss Elena Kaslana from Ilvermorny, who will be studying here for six months as an exchange student. Based on her Ilvermorny Sorting records, the school has granted her provisional Gryffindor affiliation."

"Hello everyone," Elena stood and spoke clearly, "At Ilvermorny, I was in the Panther House—though the Thunderbird also lit up. Technically, I could have chosen Gryffindor, Slytherin, or Hufflepuff as my house during this exchange. But after careful thought, I decided to spend these pleasant six months here, with the Lions."

The Gryffindor students burst into applause. Nothing accelerated integration into Gryffindor faster than disparaging Slytherin.

"I see you're getting along well. Then, enjoy your time, Miss Kaslana." Professor McGonagall delivered the remark without warmth, then turned and left without looking back.

Though the students warmly welcomed Elena, the teachers' coldness unsettled Harry. Was Donald's influence ineffective, or was Snape deliberately opposing him?

Even if handled purely as official business, at least a bit more introduction was warranted. Even if McGonagall didn't mention Elena's Champion status, she should have noted Elena's own choice of Gryffindor—instead of forcing Elena to announce it herself.

Harry found the whole affair deeply suspicious, and Elena, of course, wasn't blind to the atmosphere. As the children cheered for her, her smile carried a visible trace of bitterness.

After watching Elena enter Hermione's dormitory, Ron and Harry returned to their own. No sooner had they stepped inside than Ron blurted out: "I don't understand—the professors seem unwelcoming, even outright hostile!"

"Perhaps they're not truly unwelcoming, but they're certainly acting that way." Harry sighed. "Why should Elena bear this?"

"I never thought McGonagall would be this cold," Ron snapped. "I always assumed she'd do the right thing—turns out she's just like Snape!"

"Grandmother once said, a man must remain calm—boiling water only evaporates," Neville suddenly spoke up.

"What did you say?"

"Professor McGonagall is a kind person—there's no doubt about that." Neville stood by his bed. "So either she doesn't believe Elena is a good person, or she doesn't believe her transfer is a good thing."

"Neville's right," Harry began to think aloud. "At the ball, she seemed welcoming to exchange students—so she doesn't have any personal issue with Elena."

"Then the question is," Harry said naturally, despite Ron's disgruntled glare, "what has Donald done to make the professors hostile toward Elena? And deeper still—why would he deliberately let them cold-shoulder her? After all, he surely had ways to prevent this."

To the Magical Congress, Snape was a Death Eater; Donald's stance opposed Death Eaters, so Elena's cold reception was expected—Snape in power would naturally reject Donald's protégée. Harry's mind raced: To the Death Eaters, Donald was an ambiguous figure, likely leaning toward the Red Faction. Snape's coldness toward Elena not only justified his own position, but if McGonagall followed suit, it proved Snape's firm control over the school.

But as Zhang Qiu had analyzed, Snape needed to ally with Donald to strengthen his voice—why then push him away? The only possible source of the problem was Slughorn. He seemed highly experienced; perhaps Snape believed his support was sufficient. After all, an alliance between Snape as a Death Eater and Donald still felt odd… though nothing was odd in Anglo-American relations.

"Even if he has some clever plan!" Ron sat down angrily on his bed, "why should Elena suffer?"

"It's possible," Harry said softly, "that he deliberately made Elena feel unwelcome—so she'd rely on you even more."