Tamara put down her quill.
She stood up elegantly, her hands braced on the desk, her deep black eyes looking directly at the semi-transparent ghost on the podium.
"I have a very big problem, Professor."
Tamara spoke, her voice crisp, calm, and carrying an unquestionable sense of authority.
"You just mentioned that the 1612 rebellion was because Wizards refused to acknowledge Goblin ownership of silver products, and that it was a misunderstanding, correct?"
"Uh... yes." Professor Binns seemed never to have encountered a student who dared to question him like this in class.
"I do not believe that is correct."
Tamara interrupted him coldly.
The entire class gasped.
"The fundamental cause of the Goblin rebellions was never silver, nor was it dignity."
Tamara slowly stepped out of her seat and paced in the aisle, her black robes billowing like a spreading storm cloud.
All eyes were focused on her.
"It was because they wanted wands."
She turned around to face the group of bewildered Slytherin first-years and began giving them their true first lesson.
"Goblins possess unique magic; they can forge metal implements that even we cannot match—but that doesn't hide one fact."
Tamara extended a finger and gave it a slight wag.
"They are jealous because they are not permitted to use wands."
"They watch Wizards wave wands, they watch us control the rules, while they can only hammer away underground. This jealousy fermented over long years into greed and hatred."
"In 1612, Ragnar I did not go there to negotiate. He brought three hundred fully armed Goblin guards and attempted to kidnap the most famous wandmaker of the time—Gervase Ollivander."
"That was the true trigger for the rebellion."
Draco Malfoy listened with wide eyes.
He had never seen these words in a textbook, but his father had expressed similar views when hosting guests at home—about the inferiority and greed of non-human creatures.
Tamara turned abruptly to look directly into Professor Binns's hollow eyes.
"Professor, peace is never signed with ink on a negotiation table."
"If the Wizarding Council of that year had not chosen to compromise, but instead made those greedy creatures understand who the master of this land truly is, then the subsequent rebellions would never have happened."
The classroom was pin-drop silent.
Every gaze was concentrated on the ghost in mid-air.
Professor Binns did not appear surprised or flustered as everyone had expected.
On the contrary, he stopped flipping through his dull lecture notes, and those pearly-white eyes hidden behind thick lenses truly focused on Tamara for the first time.
That look was very calm, as calm as a pool of stagnant water, revealing an indifference that had seen through thousands of years of rise and fall.
"The 1612 Wizengamot Trial Records, Volume 7, Page 42."
Professor Binns suddenly spoke. His voice was still monotonous, but it gained a trace of precision that made one's spine tingle.
"As well as the accounts in 'The Secret History of the Ollivander Family'."
"You are correct, Miss Riddle."
Professor Binns slowly drifted down, passed through the podium, and stopped in front of Tamara.
"The official records of the time indeed covered up the fact that Ragnar I attempted to kidnap the wandmaker. To maintain the fragile financial stability after the war, the Ministry of Magic chose to define this period of history as a 'cultural conflict'."
The Slytherin students were shocked.
So the Professor knew all along!
"But history textbooks do more than just record the truth; they also serve the current order."
Professor Binns looked at Tamara, his gaze seemingly seeing through this eleven-year-old girl to some familiar, dangerous quality.
"Most people only need to know the results and the dates. As for those bloody motives, that cruel human nature..."
Professor Binns let out a faint sigh, a sound unique to ghosts.
"...That belongs to the realm of politicians, not the required coursework for first-year students."
"However."
The ghost's tone shifted.
"Given that you have read those original dossiers that are not on the book list, and were even intentionally forgotten..."
"This spirit of digging for historical truth is worth encouraging."
"Five points to Slytherin."
Professor Binns drifted back to the podium, turning back into that script-reading machine that only knew how to recite books.
"Now, let us turn to page 14 and continue with the signing date of the Greengrass Treaty..."
Tamara narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at the ghost who had become boring once again.
This old fellow.
He was doing it on purpose. He knew everything, but he chose to let the students become stupid.
"Thank you, Professor."
The bell for the end of class rang.
When Tamara packed her books and walked out of the classroom, Draco Malfoy was the first to rush up.
"Tamara! You were amazing just now!"
Draco was so excited his face turned red: "I must write to my father and tell him! He's right, the current History of Magic textbooks have been changed beyond recognition by those fools who preach equality for all beings!"
"It was nothing, Draco."
Tamara held her books, her pace steady and her tone flat: "Recognizing history is to avoid repeating the same mistakes."
She stopped and glanced back at the Slytherins following behind her.
"When you hold power in the future—I mean, if you get the chance."
"Never try to reason with the greedy."
"Crushing them is the only mercy."
Having said that, she turned and walked down the stairs.
At the corner of the corridor, the black cat named Nagini was crouching in the shadows, watching this scene and letting out a bored yawn.
"Meow."