Meanwhile, Link followed Dumbledore directly to the massive floor-to-ceiling windows.
Through the thick glass, they gazed at the scenery before them.
Just as Link had predicted earlier, the giant castle serving as the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards truly deserved to be called a small city.
What spread before Link and Dumbledore now was an endless expanse of skyscrapers and airships drifting across the sky.
They stood scattered among the clouds like floating islands, connected by thick chains and suspension bridges.
Link even spotted islands specifically designed as parks, filled with lush vegetation.
And massive areas decorated to resemble seaside beaches.
Large numbers of white-robed wizards played and laughed throughout them. Though the distance made them appear no larger than ants in Link's eyes, he could almost hear their laughter regardless.
There were also dedicated commercial districts and theaters.
The floating airships in the sky were covered in magical advertisements.
Link even spotted a gigantic magical humanoid projection farther away.
It appeared to be an advertisement for some clothing brand. The model in the projection was posing seductively in an outfit so bizarre it defied description.
"Quite shocking, isn't it? I had the exact same reaction the first time I came here." Dumbledore stared at the scenery before him without turning his head.
"This is the city of magic, a pure wizarding nation, the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards. Honestly, it's no wonder they look down on us. Compared to this place, we really are country bumpkins."
"It is interesting." Link neither agreed nor disagreed. "How about this, Skofen? Why don't you introduce it for us? As a local, you should be able to explain things more clearly."
Hearing this, Dumbledore nodded as well and turned together with Link to look at Skofen standing behind them.
Under the attention of those two gazes, Skofen looked somewhat uneasy.
Link continued, "Was I wrong? You knew that Iyeta from earlier. More than that, actually. You two were quite close, weren't you?"
For Link and Dumbledore, both masters of Legilimency, it had been easy to notice.
That Iyeta's arrogance was so thick it was almost painful to look at.
And yet, the moment her eyes landed on Skofen, that arrogance vanished completely.
In its place appeared a strange, indescribably complex emotion.
There was admiration mixed with hatred, anger, and even hope.
For a young woman whose very bones were carved with arrogance to harbor such complicated feelings, the answer was obvious.
"Haaa..."
Skofen let out a long sigh.
Realizing there was no point in pretending anymore, he finally raised his head and admitted, "That's right. I really did grow up inside this International Confederation castle."
"Or to put it another way, I'm actually a member of the Harris family. And Iyeta was once my arranged marriage partner."
"Whoa! Never saw that coming, Skofen. So you're actually some noble lord!" Newland shouted dramatically beside Skofen's ear.
"So your real name should be Skofen Harris! Tell me then, Lord Harris, just how prestigious is this Harris family of yours?"
Skofen said nothing. He stood expressionless, like an emotionless machine.
But the slight twitching in his face and his tightly clenched fists clearly showed that at this moment, he very badly wanted to punch Newland in the face.
"The Harris family is one of the founding families of the International Confederation of Wizards. Generation after generation, they have lived within this castle and dedicated their lives to the Confederation. Their status is extremely high."
Dumbledore suddenly spoke up, answering Newland's question.
"Oh? Is that so?" Link asked with a smile. "How high?"
Dumbledore raised his brows slightly and continued in a playful tone, "We'll find out soon enough. If nothing unexpected happens, the person presiding over this mediation conference should be the current head of the Harris family, Old Harris himself."
"Woooow!"
Hearing this, Newland deliberately let out another long gasp of amazement.
Skofen, meanwhile, stared at Dumbledore in shock, clearly not expecting him to join Newland in teasing him.
Faced with Skofen's disbelieving gaze, Dumbledore merely blinked playfully.
Truthfully, in this matter, Skofen should have been grateful to Dumbledore.
Because Link had actually investigated Skofen's family background in detail a long time ago.
Although the Harris family's location within the International Confederation prevented Link from uncovering highly detailed information, he still understood the general picture of Skofen's origins.
And it was precisely because his identity had proven largely unproblematic that he had been allowed to remain within Link's inner circle after graduation and even hold an important position within the Auror Command Headquarters.
So at this point, there was no meaning in hiding it anymore. In reality, Dumbledore was helping Skofen out of an awkward situation.
But at this moment, Skofen clearly had no mind left to think about such things.
Because Newland, having finally processed everything, was now staring at him with blazing eyes.
"So the person hosting this conference is your elder? Doesn't that mean we can pull a few stri..."
"Don't even think about it!"
Skofen suddenly raised his voice and cut Newland off.
The reaction surprised Newland. Patting Skofen on the shoulder, he said, "Don't be stingy, Skofen. We're on the same side here."
"When family connections are useful, you use them. A mudblood like me doesn't even have connections to use! Besides, if you help out this time, I'm sure Mr. Flamel won't treat you badly."
"Look at me. I caught a little spy last time, and I already got a raise. Your contribution this time would be way bigger than mine!"
After saying that, he even winked at Link, signaling that he absolutely couldn't shortchange Skofen.
The whole thing left Link both amused and helpless.
Skofen, meanwhile, shook Newland's arm off irritably and frowned.
"Old Harris really is my father. But this isn't about whether I want to help or not. It's that I simply can't."
"Why not? What kind of father doesn't help his son?"
"Because besides being my father, he's also the patriarch of the Harris family! And I'm no longer a member of the Harris family anymore! Between the family and his son, which do you think a clan head would choose?"
It was a question that didn't even need answering.
For clan heads, especially those of great families, the family always came above everything else.
Forget sons. They would even sacrifice their own lives for it.
That was a deeply rooted belief among magical families.
But what truly confused Newland, Link, and the others was why Skofen had left the Harris family in the first place.
Newland was especially curious about this.
As a Muggle-born wizard who had grown up at the bottom of society, he dreamed of having a powerful family to support his ambitions.
Yet Skofen had been born with all of that and still chose to abandon it.
Skofen looked at the expressions on everyone's faces and finally sighed.
"I should probably start from the beginning. It'll also serve as an introduction to the International Confederation headquarters."
"Beginning in the fifteenth century, Muggle persecution of witches and wizards spread throughout Europe. Before that, relations between wizards and Muggles were actually quite good."
"Wizards frequently used magic to help Muggles. At the smallest scale, they healed the wounded. At the largest, they even aided certain lords in warfare. The most famous example was the great wizard Merlin."
"But as Muggle persecution intensified, more and more wizards were harmed."
"Many modern wizards probably can't even understand how Muggles could possibly hurt wizards."
"Wizards wield magic. In front of them, Muggles are as fragile as ants."
"But the truth is, not every wizard was highly skilled in magic."
"Many weaker wizards were completely powerless against heavily armed wizard hunters, the Purifiers."
"Not to mention young wizards."
"Back then, child wizards under eleven were frequently kidnapped and burned alive, even when their parents were wizards too."
"Faced with such brutal persecution, the vast majority of wizards stopped helping Muggles and began isolating themselves."
"Then, in the seventeenth century, the International Confederation of Wizards was established."
"They proposed and enacted the International Statute of Secrecy and, with public support, reorganized the Ministries of Magic around the world in order to hide the magical world away. The headquarters where we are now came into existence because of that."
"Of course, in the beginning, the headquarters was merely a headquarters, a simple administrative organization responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Statute of Secrecy in various regions."
"The only people living here were officials working for the Confederation, along with a small number of their family members and attendants."
"But later, the nature of the headquarters changed."
"As the creators of the Statute of Secrecy, the Confederation naturally had the best secrecy measures in existence. You've probably already realized that yourselves."
"This headquarters exists high in the sky where Muggles cannot reach it, drifting randomly through the skies above different parts of the world."
"Not only that, but the outer layer of the headquarters is protected by massive defensive systems, along with Muggle-Repelling Charms, Unplottable Charms, and countless other warning and life-sustaining spells."
"That is enough to ensure the wizards living here can carry out normal lives while remaining completely undiscovered by Muggles."
"To wizards, this place is paradise!"
At this point, Skofen paused and turned his gaze toward the skyscrapers and drifting airships outside the window, his expression complicated.
Link's expression, meanwhile, had become extremely strange.
Compared to the paradise Skofen described, this so-called International Confederation headquarters felt more like a gigantic mobile space station.
He truly had not expected wizarding technology to advance to the point of creating something like this sky city.
In a sense, this was all thanks to the Muggles.
Because they feared persecution from Muggles, the wizards had taken to the skies.
Technology on the scale of this sky city definitely could not have
In a sense, this was all thanks to the Muggles.
Because they feared persecution from Muggles, the wizards had taken to the skies.
Technology on the scale of this sky city definitely could not have been developed in a short time. In the beginning, the maximum altitude it could reach was surely much lower.
But as Muggles gradually advanced their exploration of the skies, the wizards had likewise been forced to continuously research and improve sky city technology, increasing its speed, altitude, and defensive capabilities, resulting in a technological race of pursuit and escape, or perhaps a bizarre equilibrium.
Even now, that balance still had not been broken.
And it was easy to imagine that the balance and competition would continue into the future.
Which raised a question.
The Earth's atmosphere, after all, had a limit.
When the wizards here were eventually driven into a corner by Muggles with nowhere left to retreat, would they suddenly have some explosive technological breakthrough, turn this sky city into a cosmic carrier, and flee into space?
Link felt that was entirely possible.
After all, the potential a species could unleash during a crisis was terrifying.
Still... the whole thing was just absurd.
The more Link thought about it, the stranger his expression becсате.
"The paradise-like headquarters of the International Confederation naturally became the dream destination of all wizards," Skofen continued with deep emotion.
"Almost every wizard who knew this place existed longed to move here. Faced with such overwhelming demand, the Confederation responded.
They expanded the living space of the headquarters and accepted the first wave of immigrants. Then naturally came further expansion, followed by more immigrants...
Within the Confederation headquarters, wizards gained a safe environment, while magic gave them extraordinary productivity.
And once the danger disappeared, wizards naturally began reproducing rapidly and developing needs beyond mere survival.
For example, entertainment.
Or a more comfortable living environment.
Even culture.
And so, after several hundred years of development, the headquarters of the International Confederation evolved from that original small flying castle into what you see before you now.
Alchemy technology became highly advanced and could be displayed publicly without restraint.
Industries related to it, along with various forms of culture, flourished tremendously."
"So what does any of that have to do with you leaving your family?"
Seeing Skofen pause again, Newland frowned and pressed him further.
"You were the ones who asked me to explain the headquarters. Besides, it does relate to why I left my family.
Skofen shook his head and continued, "The concentrated population and constant sense of crisis led to a technological explosion."
"That technological explosion then pushed the already superior productivity of wizards to entirely new heights."
"Together, those two factors brought enormous power to the rulers of the Confederation, namely the various wizarding families represented by the Harris family."
"The Harrises, along with the other families living here, once upheld ideals of kindness and justice."
"And it was precisely because of those ideals that they gathered together, overcame countless hardships, and established both the International Confederation and the Statute of Secrecy amidst impossible circumstances, allowing wizards to continue developing in a relatively safe environment."
"But after the passage of endless years, that kindness and those ideals were corroded by immense power."
"Those families have now completely lost the character their ancestors once possessed."
"What keeps them ruling over the Confederation now is their desire for power and profit."
"The achievements and kindness of their ancestors have become nothing more than a flag wrapped around themselves to hide their ugliness while continuing to deceive and exploit the wizards living in this city."
"That is not the kind of goodness I seek."
"So I left this place."
As Skofen's words fell silent, the entire lounge suite sank into quiet.
Link, Dumbledore, and Newland exchanged glances, their expressions all deeply complicated.
Skofen's ideals were both noble and pure. That conviction and awareness alone deserved respect.
People like that should not be mocked simply because their actions seemed unreasonable. In a sense, they were walking the path toward becoming "heroes."
And most people lacked even the courage to step onto that road.
Yet Link, Dumbledore, and Newland also did not want to encourage him.
Because the road to becoming a "hero" was destined to be tragic and brutal.
As friends, as teacher, as leader, what they truly wished for was to see Skofen live on happily as an ordinary person, rather than becoming a "hero," burning his own life away like a comet just to bring light into the darkness.
And so silence became the only response.
Then, amidst that silence, a voice suddenly rang out.
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