I'm not here to find food. Hermione thought indignantly in her heart - although her principles had been polished and flexible by continuous adventures, it was strange that there were always people around her who took breaking school rules (sometimes laws!) as easy as eating and drinking -

unless there was a good excuse, she would try her best to behave decently.

So she hesitated whether to say that she had accidentally made a sniffing mirror, inspired by Grindelwald, who had given a sniffing mirror to Neville. But the words stopped at her lips, well, it sounded like there was an ulterior motive...

"I'm not hungry--" Hermione opened her mouth, and the next second her stomach growled. Her face suddenly felt like it was on fire.

The fire in the fireplace was burning. Hermione didn't know how she sat down, it seemed that the professor had invited her. When she came to her senses, she found herself sitting upright on a small round stool (provided by the house elf), staring at the sizzling fish in the fireplace, her face was burned by the fire.

Hermione lowered her head and saw Valen looking up at her, blinking his bright little black eyes.

"I've been quite busy lately and haven't been to school often," Felix said. "I heard that students quite like to take classes in classroom seven?"

"Oh, yes. Professor, what have you been busy with these days?"

"I've been running around the world. I also dealt with a magical incident yesterday," Felix explained when he saw Hermione's surprised look. "I came across it by chance. A farmer picked up an automatic stirring crucible discarded by a wizard. Although the magic on it had expired, the crucible still contained the failed water of life and death. The farmer used the crucible to prepare an anthelmintic. The next morning, he found thirty cows unconscious... This incident was even reported in the news."

"Was the abandoned crucible an accident, or was it left there on purpose?" Hermione asked with a frown. "I know some wizards like to tease Muggles. Ron's father has dealt with similar situations."

"It's hard to say," Felix thought for a moment and said, "I guess it was an accident. During this period, many wizards living in Muggle communities have returned to the wizarding world. Hogsmeade alone has doubled in size. It might have been left behind when they moved."

"Mr. Hep, Ms. Granger." At this time, a house-elf wearing a large white headscarf appeared, holding a plate of small cookies and three goblets of pumpkin juice on a silver tray in his hand. "Thank you, Yunbo." Felix picked up a cookie, and Hermione also thanked him. Then Felix keenly realized the difference in address.

"Do you know each other, Yunbo?" he asked. But obviously, the focus of this address is not on the surname.

"Yes," the house-elf Yunbo said respectfully, "There was a period of time when Ms. Granger came often. At that time, we were confused, and some elves were dissatisfied with it. Later, we understood that she was fighting for our rights."

Hermione waved her hands repeatedly, asking the house-elf to stop talking, so Yunbo bowed deeply and left. In fact, Felix really wanted to know what the house-elves thought of the Pan-Magic Alliance. He didn't know what the staff of the Ministry of Magic said. It might be a few more days of vacation plus funds for buying gifts. The

kitchen was a little quiet for a while. Then Hermione heard the sound of metal colliding. She turned her head and saw Valen take out a pocket knife and fork from his small pocket, and then took out a palm-sized emerald green handkerchief and tied it around his neck. When he saw Hermione staring at him, he hesitated and took out another red handkerchief and handed it to Hermione.

"Chi?"

"Oh, I don't need it, and it's too small, it won't fit--" Hermione whispered, but Felix said, "Give me one too." Valen shouted in dissatisfaction, slowly took out a bright yellow handkerchief and stuffed it into his hand. Felix shook it in the air, and the handkerchief became bigger as if by magic, and there was an extra circle of magic decoration.

He put the handkerchief that had grown several circles larger on his knees and turned his head to look at Hermione.

So Hermione also took out her wand and pointed at the handkerchief, and it immediately transformed into a wide tablecloth. Then the fireplace in front of them lit up, and more than a dozen fragrant grilled fish were hanging in front of them, greasy and appetizing.

Felix, Hermione and Valen each got a grilled fish, and the rest was given to the house-elves. The house-elves did not refuse, but diligently moved three small tables and placed them in front of them. Then they hid aside to enjoy the food.

This behavior that went against the character of the house-elves surprised Hermione, but it really happened. There could only be one reason: the same thing had been repeated countless times, and the house-elves knew that persuasion was hopeless and no longer wasted their efforts.

Hermione took a bite of the fish meat. She didn't feel the fishbone, and couldn't help but admire the magic of the fishbone removal spell in her heart.

This midnight snack was extremely strange.

There were many people, like a dinner party, but the house-elves basically didn't make a sound. From their satisfied shaking of their bodies and the small movements of their bodies, they were in a very happy mood, which made Hermione have the illusion of being in a mysterious tribe participating in a celebration.

And she also learned a secret from the way the house-elves swallowed their food - thanks to the fact that she was sitting on a stool less than a foot high, she could see clearly - for wizards, it is difficult to distinguish the gender of house-elves from their appearance. But today Hermione learned that the Adam's apple of male house-elves is slightly protruding, while the neck line of female house-elves is softer and not easy to detect. Exactly the same as humans. Hermione

suspected that this was because house-elves always lowered their heads when talking, which prevented this secret from being discovered. Seeing that the plate was empty, Hermione finally remembered why she came here after eating and drinking.

"Well, professor?" She wiped her mouth with a napkin and said, "The children you rescued from the US government..." Felix turned to her, and his plate was already empty. "...There are a lot of discussions in the newspapers, but generally speaking, there are both good and bad comments."

"It's normal," Felix muttered, "When you put yourself in the public eye, unless you are extremely bad, you will always receive both praise and criticism. But I think few people should question the necessity of rescuing those children, right?" "

That's right. With the publication of the book "Providing Support for the Publicization of Magic", many anthropologists and historians have recognized ancient wizards as one of the early humans. The director of the British National Museum claimed to have found evidence from the murals of primitive people: it is believed that wizards were first born from two groups of brave warriors and priests. The former gained magical powers by fighting magical animals, and the latter used the blood and bones of magical animals for rituals..."

Felix did not comment on this conjecture. He had similar conjectures, but they were just conjectures. The specific origin of wizards is too long ago, and no one knows the exact truth. Moreover, the judgment criteria are not unified. What exactly marks the emergence of wizards? Is it to use part of the body of magical animals to make "magic tools", or to count from the first appearance of mysterious powers in ancient humans? Or - is it only true when magical knowledge is summarized and flows to other gifted individuals?

Each of these three examples is significant. The first example represents humans trying to control magic; the second example is about magic emerging in wizards, and the third example shows that magic can be taught, which means that the people who master magic have changed from individuals to groups.

It is also possible that none of the above is correct. Why can't magical beasts and wizards appear at the same time?

Felix does not attach too much importance to the answer to this question. When negotiating, he asked to add this "unverified history" only from the perspective of human morality, which can avoid many problems.

After Hermione explained the content sorted out from the clippings, she finally concluded:

"The controversial part is the method used by the professor - they hope to solve the problem through the law, rather than direct confrontation, and they have been arguing about whether wizards have the right to investigate and enforce the law."

Felix said in a low and firm voice: "They can discuss, but I don't intend to compromise on this issue."

Hermione bit her lip. But her purpose tonight was not for this, and Grindelwald's attitude was much more radical - he advocated complete revenge, believing that once a country or an individual stole the power of a wizard, the wizard could take all means to retaliate, just like the witch who lost her daughter and burned the laboratory with fierce fire.

"Are those children okay?" she asked in a low voice.

"It's okay, except that they were a little scared." Felix glanced at her and didn't elaborate on the inside story. "The healers at Ilvermorny will take good care of them and conduct necessary examinations - magic is not the only way to modify memory, but other means are more cumbersome and require a long-term stay in a closed environment." "

So, I just simply checked whether they have positioning devices on them."

"Positioning devices?" Hermione said in surprise: "Won't those magic substitutes fail? I saw in "Hogwarts, a History of the School" -"

"When the other party is determined to investigate, it seems too negative and passive to hope that they will automatically fail," Felix said, and then paused, as if he was hesitating whether to reveal more, but he still said: "In fact, I suspect that the local government knows the general location of some wizard gatherings. The relationship between the Magical Congress of the United States and the Muggle government is not good. As potential enemies, they will naturally try to collect useful intelligence. It is difficult to keep it completely confidential."

"But -" Hermione was surprised.

"Are you worried that they might follow the map and take the initiative to provoke disputes?"

Hermione nodded.

"The possibility is very small." Felix smiled and said, "All magic communities, especially schools, are shrouded in magic. At worst, they are protected by Muggle-repelling spells and warning spells, and the coverage area is very large. I don't know if it is feasible to crack it with pure technological means, but it will definitely take time, and the wizards inside can evacuate quickly; as for using heavy firepower weapons... maybe there was such a possibility at the beginning, but now it has almost completely disappeared."

Hermione looked at Felix in confusion, and Felix waved his hand, so that the sound could not spread out and could only be heard by the two

of them. "Granger... Since your career direction is the Minister of Magic, and you have indeed shown potential in this area, we can talk about this issue in depth. I don't want this conversation to be made public, and Harry, Ron and your parents cannot be revealed, not a single word... Do you agree?"

Hermione agreed nervously.

"Very good, let's take the United States as an example. Due to historical reasons, the number of their wizards is much lower, about 40,000 to 50,000. Let's discuss the most extreme case - these wizards suddenly suffered a devastating blow and suffered heavy losses, but the possibility of half of the wizards surviving is still quite high. This is the result of the American Magical Congress being stupid enough not to find any clues."

Hermione imagined the scene. She had watched human war documentaries and had a clear concept of the horror of intensive artillery fire. Her body shook violently and her face turned pale.

"But what then?"

Felix said in a calm tone: "This is the beginning of the war, not the end. Once this happens, there will definitely be a large number of wizards fleeing, but there will also be a considerable number of wizards staying to die, because they have lost their loved ones and friends, and lost everything... A person who has nothing and is only full of thoughts of revenge will become an irrational beast, but also the most tenacious warrior. We know from past history that weapons are updated the fastest during war years, but I am 100% sure that wizards will grow faster than this, especially when they choose to let hatred fill their hearts. War will make people cold and numb, and then the fierce fire will only be the most merciful means..."

"No, that's terrible, we must never let this happen." Hermione whispered.

Felix looked at her quietly, and after a moment he said, "This is what we are doing. Well, forget it. The above is just an academic discussion, a hypothesis, and it is a hypothesis that will basically not happen. Otherwise, what have we been working hard for these months? You should go back, it's almost time to turn off the lights."

Hermione walked out of the kitchen silently, and Valen yawned and curled up in Felix's arms. They came to the hallway, and Hermione suddenly said, "Wait, Professor, I have something very important to tell you. That's why I came to you - I went to your office, but you were not there."

She had just been shocked so much that she almost forgot the real purpose of this trip.

"What is it?"

"While sorting out the clippings this morning, Harry, Ron and I discussed a possibility..." Hermione quickly recounted what happened during the day, and Felix shook his head slightly, "The American Magical Congress will guard against this, and they have had some conflicts with the Muggle government for this. As for the little wizards who have not yet enrolled, it is indeed a breakthrough, but Ilvermorny -" "

Professor, you want to say that Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has accepted their names, right?" Hermione said first.

Felix's expression gradually became serious. Hermione obviously wanted to say that there was a loophole that could be exploited... A picture suddenly flashed by. It was what Professor McGonagall said to him: "Three students refused to enter the school."

In fact, refusing to enter the school was not a big deal. He didn't take it too seriously before.

The process is fixed. Generally, when this happens, Hogwarts will send several professors to communicate with the parents. If the communication fails, it will be reported to the Ministry of Magic, and the Ministry of Magic will send another person to deal with it (using the Oblivion Charm when necessary), accompanied by several years of supervision. This process usually lasts until adulthood (the later it is, the less it cares), that is, 17 years old, which means that those who give up magic will basically not accidentally cast spells because of emotional out-of-control, and their magic power will gradually become dormant because it has not been exercised for a long time.

This is different from the Obscurials. The Obscurials usually suffered physical or mental abuse in childhood, and they became hateful and suppressed their magical abilities and refused to cast spells. They basically have no intersection with those who give up magic, because it is difficult for the Obscurials to live past the age of ten.

It was only after Felix learned about what happened to Dumbledore's sister and that some rare Obscurials might live past the age of ten that he mentioned this to Professor McGonagall.

"...The light in Hagrid's hut was always on, making us think he was in the house, but in fact he was out. Harry's Marauder's Map has a limited search range. Once Hagrid went deep into the Forbidden Forest, he couldn't find him at all." Hermione continued, and then her lips began to tremble, "But the question is, was he really in the Forbidden Forest at that time? What happened to him? We don't know all of this..."

There was no need to continue.

Felix completely understood her thoughts, but because of this, his expression was unprecedentedly solemn.

The range covered by Harry's Marauder's Map was the range that the Magical Congress of the United States of America could monitor. Hagrid represented those little wizards who had not yet entered school. If these little wizards had stayed in the local area, they would naturally not encounter danger, and even if they did, they would be quickly discovered. But what if one day their family decided to immigrate? Or for some other reason? The vast ocean is a place that wizards' magic cannot reach.

At this moment, while they were talking, would there be one or two ships or submarines carrying wandering little wizards? Before they set foot on land, no one knew what happened to them. Naturally, this also included the possibility of never being able to dock.