While the students were still deep in discussion, a sudden commotion broke out near one side of the Great Hall.
Amid a wave of startled cries, a shabby, ragged-looking wizard rushed into the hall. He swept his eyes across the room, immediately spotted Harry at the Gryffindor table, and strode straight toward him.
"That's Professor Lupin. He looks like he's in a hurry," Ron said curiously.
"He's coming this way. Is he looking for Harry?" Hermione guessed.
Harry already knew why Professor Lupin was so emotional. Most likely, he had heard about the Werewolf Potion, or perhaps he had even taken it already and become a legal, fully self-controlled werewolf.
The moment Lupin reached Harry, he stepped forward and wrapped him in a tight embrace. Only after a long while did he finally let go.
Harry looked at the professor, whose eyes were visibly red, and smiled. "Professor, what's wrong? Why are you suddenly this excited?"
Professor Lupin had already guessed that Harry knew he was a werewolf, and now that Harry was pretending not to understand, Lupin immediately caught on to what he was doing.
The Werewolf Potion had only just appeared, and people's acceptance of werewolves was still far from high. If his identity were exposed right now, it would likely cause a panic.
Professor Lupin looked at Harry with overwhelming gratitude. He gripped Harry's shoulder and patted it hard, his voice choked with emotion.
"Harry, I... I don't even know what to say."
A nightmare that had lasted for decades had been shattered in an instant by the boy standing in front of him. Even now, Lupin still felt like he was living in a dream.
After pulling back, he wiped the corners of his eyes with a trembling hand and forced out a smile. In a voice low enough for only Harry to hear, he whispered, "You didn't just give me hope. You gave every werewolf hope.
"From today onward, you're not only my student, you're my savior.
"No matter when, no matter where, if you ever need me, I'll stand by your side without hesitation."
Harry did not bother being polite about it. Instead, he gave Lupin a meaningful look and said, "Professor, that's convenient. I actually do need someone's help with something. You know about the proposal Headmaster Dumbledore recently sent to the Ministry, right?"
Professor Lupin: "???"
"That letter?"
He stared at Harry in disbelief. From Harry's tone, it sounded like he had played a part in that proposal too.
Lupin's expression turned serious at once. The Werewolf Potion had already shocked him enough, but what he had not expected was that Harry had managed to stir up two enormous storms at the same time.
Not only had he created the Werewolf Potion, something the whole wizarding world already knew about, he had also taken part in Dumbledore's proposal to the Ministry, perhaps even as one of its key architects.
Lupin said gravely, "Harry, this is far too dangerous. Headmaster Dumbledore is already powerful enough to bear the pressure of the Ministry and the pure-blood families, but you aren't.
"If they find out you were involved, they'll do everything they can to destroy you."
Harry replied, "Professor Lupin, did you forget that I've already defeated Voldemort twice?"
Lupin fell silent for a moment, but his concern did not lessen.
"You are extraordinary, Harry, that much is true. But what you and Dumbledore are doing now is dangerously close to what Grindelwald was doing decades ago. You're trying to overturn the entire wizarding world."
"Don't worry, Professor Lupin. Right now, Dumbledore is carrying almost all of the pressure. They don't even know I exist in this. Besides, we have deeper reasons for doing this."
"What reasons?"
"I can only tell you if you join us."
Lupin looked at him. "That's the favor you want from me?"
"Of course."
Lupin was quiet for a moment. Then he broke into a bright smile. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go. We'll speak to Dumbledore together."
...
After telling Professor Lupin part of what he and Dumbledore were planning, Harry went back to his normal routine.
The younger students were required to take practical lessons and venture into the Forbidden Forest.
For most students, that was a serious challenge, but for Ron and Hermione, it was hardly anything at all.
Back in their first and second years, Harry had already taken the two of them into the Forbidden Forest for live practice, so when these practical lessons came around, their performance left Professor Lupin thoroughly impressed.
In fact, the practical lessons had been folded into Defense Against the Dark Arts. Starting in third year, the overall level of that class clearly rose quite a bit.
Then Christmas dinner arrived, and the students gathered in the Great Hall for the holiday feast.
This year's Christmas decorations were more lavish than ever, but every student could feel the stifling tension hanging over the hall.
There were unwelcome guests present, Minister Fudge, wizards from the Sacred Twenty-Eight families, elderly hardline traditionalists who looked like they could barely walk, and a large number of Aurors.
Outside Hogwarts itself, dozens of Dementors stood guard.
The last time the Great Hall had been this crowded was when Harry had been awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, so what was the reason this time?
Even if they did not know the exact answer, most students could still make a good guess.
It had to be connected to Dumbledore's proposal.
Artificial silver snow drifted down from the enchanted ceiling as Dumbledore slowly stepped up to the raised platform, leaning on his carved wand.
His robe, embroidered with stars, shimmered softly in the candlelight. The blue eyes behind his half-moon spectacles swept over the cheering students, and his white beard trembled faintly with his smile.
"My dear students, honored guests, on this evening of holly and mistletoe and hope, I hereby declare the Christmas feast officially begun."
The moment he finished speaking, Dumbledore snapped his fingers. Mountains of food appeared out of thin air in front of everyone, including the witches and wizards who had arrived with hostile intentions.
The students happily dug in.
The adults, however, were in no mood to enjoy themselves.
No matter how delicious the food was, it tasted like dust to them. Every one of them was focused entirely on Dumbledore, already thinking about what methods they might use to force him to withdraw that proposal and abandon his ideas.
And if Dumbledore insisted on pressing forward, then perhaps, just perhaps, they could gather enough courage to take down the greatest wizard of the age.
Dumbledore was powerful, yes, but he was also old now, and some of them believed his mind had begun to go soft. Who knew how much of his former strength he still retained?
More importantly, the people gathered here tonight were themselves some of the most powerful witches and wizards in the wizarding world. Even if Dumbledore had been in his prime, it was not impossible that they could have challenged him together.
They had barely been eating for a few minutes when Minister Fudge, nudged on by several of the pure-blood families, rose to his feet and turned to Dumbledore.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, I think we need to have a word, yes, about that proposal..."
But Dumbledore stopped him from continuing.
Even though he could clearly sense the deep malice radiating from all sides, Dumbledore's expression did not change. He simply smiled with his usual warmth and said, "Minister Fudge, our matters can wait a little longer. First, I have something I would like to announce."
The moment Dumbledore stood, the entire Great Hall fell silent.
Fudge's face darkened at once. When he himself had stood up moments earlier, he had received no such response.
Dumbledore merely clapped once, and every student's attention was on him. Then he snapped his fingers, and the candles on the tables suddenly burst into seven-colored light, tinting even the foam on the butterbeer with a rainbow glow.
"This year, Hogwarts has witnessed many miracles. The arrival of the Werewolf Potion has transformed the place of werewolves in the wizarding world. The Gryffindor Quidditch team has broken Hogwarts records and achieved the highest score ever seen in a single season. And more importantly, all of these miracles are closely connected to one particular student.
"I believe you all already know who that student is. Harry, come. Step forward and say a few words to your classmates."
Every student turned to look at Harry.
Harry rose calmly and made his way toward the platform.
This had all been arranged beforehand between Harry and Dumbledore. If the earlier proposal had been the warning bell, then tonight's feast, and the speech he was about to give, would be the moment the horn of reform truly sounded.
Harry stepped onto the platform and gave the assembled witches and wizards a bright smile.
They smiled back, but no one in the room dared underestimate him, not even for a second.
A genius who had defeated Voldemort in his first year was not someone they could look down on. More than that, Harry's current strength might already rival their own.
Harry drew his wand and tapped it lightly against the floor. A perfectly round stage rose slowly beneath him.
Standing on it, he began to speak.
"My fellow students, on what should be a joyful Christmas feast, I want to talk to you about the wizarding world we live in.
"On the surface, it seems like a happy and cheerful place. But have any of you ever stopped to think about how much rot and injustice lies hidden underneath it all..."
The instant Harry began, Minister Fudge and the others realized something was terribly wrong.
This was bad.
Harry Potter and Dumbledore were working together.
That was the worst possible news.
As members of the wizarding world's upper class, they were not fools. They immediately understood the purpose of Harry's speech.
He was trying to stir the students, to make the younger generation rise up with Dumbledore and overthrow the current class structure.
Young blood was the foundation of the wizarding world, and Dumbledore, as the master of Hogwarts, held that foundation in his hands.
If these students were all moved by Dumbledore's ideas, then Dumbledore would not even need to act directly. Once the current generation of leaders aged out and the next took power, the entire wizarding world would reshape itself into exactly what Dumbledore wanted.
So they reached for their wands at once, intending to stop Harry's speech.
But Dumbledore moved even faster.
With a simple flick of his wand, a transparent white light swept across the hall and covered every one of them.
Their bodies instantly locked up. None of them could move.
That alone made their pupils shrink in shock.
So this was Dumbledore's power?
He had immobilized all of them in an instant without harming a single other person in the room.
Struck by Petrificus Totalus, these hostile witches and wizards could only glare furiously at Dumbledore and Harry, trying to force them into backing down through sheer hatred.
Most of that venomous attention turned toward Harry.
In their minds, he was still a child. No matter how gifted he was, surely he was easier to deal with than the legendary Dumbledore.
But Harry, who had once personally destroyed three tenths of a Hell dimension, was hardly going to fear a few hollow, blustering stares. He did not even blink. The smile on his face remained bright as he continued.
"...My fellow students, we cannot keep turning a blind eye! We must tear down these unjust class systems!
"Tonight, on this Christmas holiday, let us make a vow. From this day forward, we will fight for a wizarding world that is fair, just, and full of love!
"Each of us may be small on our own, but together, we will become a blazing fire, one that burns all this decay to ashes!"
At first, while Harry was speaking, the students had only thought his speech sounded a little unusual.
But as he continued, they suddenly understood. His words lined up perfectly with Dumbledore's proposal.
And by the time Harry reached the end, students from every House except Slytherin's pure-blood scions had erupted.
Amid thunderous cheers, Harry raised his wand high. Golden light shone from its tip and illuminated the entire Great Hall.
A deafening wave of applause and shouting burst forth. Students leaped to their feet and waved their wands in answer to Harry's call.
Together they shouted, "Change the wizarding world! Change the wizarding world! Change the wizarding world!"
By then, the effects of Dumbledore's Full Body-Bind had faded, and the adult witches and wizards could move again.
But none of them made another move.
It was over.
Everything was too late.
The savior and the greatest wizard of the age had acted together, and their ideas had already been stamped deep into the hearts of the students.
Even if they seized Harry Potter and Dumbledore now, there was no guarantee that thirty or forty years from now, when this generation graduated and rose to power, the wizarding world would not still be shaken to its foundations.
Worse, these ideas might keep spreading.
Minister Fudge exchanged looks with the pure-blood wizards around him. Every one of them understood the meaning in the others' eyes.
No.
Even now, they could not give up.
They had to stop Dumbledore and Harry Potter, no matter the cost.
If the two of them succeeded, their own interests would face an enormous threat, and that was something they would never allow.
...
After the Christmas feast ended, the students returned to their respective common rooms and headed back to their dormitories to rest.
But the clever ones all knew the feast might be over, yet the night's real party was nowhere near finished.
At Hogwarts, on the Quidditch pitch, dark clouds rolled across the sky, covering the moon from time to time and dragging the field into even deeper darkness.
The stadium, which should have been empty and silent, was now anything but.
Two groups faced one another from opposite sides of the pitch, their wands raised, tension crackling between them.
One side held the advantage in numbers, Minister Fudge, a large number of Aurors, pure-blood family wizards, and even dozens of Dementors.
The other side had only a handful of professors, Headmaster Dumbledore, and Harry, who still looked far too young to be standing there.
And yet, as the two sides faced off, it was the Ministry's larger force that seemed to be losing the battle of nerve.
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