Chapter 203: The Incident
Fleur's hair was teased by the night breeze, but she made no move to smooth it down, letting the silver-white strands flutter in the wind, like silver threads pointing towards a distant destination. "I'll go."
"Because apart from you, I don't really trust anyone else to lead a team to Hogwarts. They don't meet my standards for outstanding students. In my eyes, only you are the most brilliant student Beauxbatons has seen in years."
Like a mother comforting a shy daughter, Maxime used the "decline in student quality" as an excuse to reassure Fleur. Though neither said it outright, both understood.
Just as Maxime knew Fleur loved opulent decorations, magnificent clothes, and lighter French cuisine, she naturally knew Fleur would dislike Hogwarts Castle.
But she was certain Fleur would be willing to go.
"It seems I also need to meet Mr. Dumbledore. It's a good opportunity to discuss the details of specialized magical research fields. I support Hogwarts becoming the core and high ground for this project."
Fleur asked, "Are we going now?"
"My lovely Flower of the Court, you are too impatient. Didn't Ryan say we'd meet the day after tomorrow?" Maxime combed through Fleur's long hair. "For such a major event, official procedures must be followed. I need to write to Headmaster Dumbledore first to ask when he is free, and he needs to set a time to receive me as a visitor."
"So I cannot go now. Showing up unannounced would be rude and not the proper procedure for important matters. Unlike the passionate and casual nature of France, for British gentlemen, decency and etiquette are essential."
"Do you understand?"
She patted Fleur.
"But I don't think he cares about that," Fleur recalled their interactions. Whether at their first meeting or during subsequent holidays, Ryan had never displayed the stereotypical decency and etiquette of a British gentleman. Instead, he was casual, occasionally giving small gifts to everyone.
His gift offensive, combined with his easygoing nature and ability to joke around with anyone, had led all the staff and students of Beauxbatons to believe Ryan was very approachable.
"Politeness never hurts."
"That is true."
The two chatted as they walked, nodding politely to the Beauxbatons staff and students greeting them along the way.
It had to be said that the sight of the Beauxbatons Headmistress walking with the school's top beauty was something students took for granted, yet found incredibly eye-catching.
The reason was simple: power and beauty were huge temptations for any intelligent being. There were quite a few women in Beauxbatons who fancied Fleur.
Fleur and Maxime arrived at the Headmistress's office. Maxime began dictating the letter for Fleur to write.
Elegant handwriting filled the parchment line by line, as if the writer herself could be seen between the words.
"Why do you want me to write it?"
"Because Ryan is an orphan."
Fleur's hand froze. She looked up in surprise, her azure eyes filled with confusion.
What does being an orphan have to do with writing a letter?
Hogwarts Castle, Eighth Floor.
Dumbledore's Office.
Ryan gave Dumbledore a detailed report on Quirrell's current situation.
The three men present each had their own views.
Dumbledore believed Quirrell had found a new direction and might achieve even greater things than before.
Flitwick was gratified that his student was on the right path, willing to do something beneficial for the world rather than playing clever tricks or scheming with tigers.
As for Gellert, not only did he look down on Quirrell, but he also didn't care much about Squibs becoming Magi-Metal Wizards.
Even if turning Squibs into Magi-Metal Wizards doubled the wizarding population, and even though his frequent contact with Ryan made him aware that the collective work of many Squibs might not be inferior to that of elite wizards...
As a Dark Lord who had always looked down on incompetent wizards, even if his personality had improved, it didn't mean he would deign to look at those beneath him.
In the vastness of Hogwarts, apart from the four Heads of House, only two or three students caught Grindelwald's eye.
"There is one more major matter." After finishing with Quirrell, Ryan handed a document to each of the three mentors present. "This is an idea born from the Magi-Metal Wizards' desire to learn spell inscription techniques separately. I call it 'Academic Specialization.' It involves subdividing major disciplines into smaller sub-disciplines, lowering the entry barrier for each, raising the overall level of the wizarding world, and allowing different sub-disciplines under the same major umbrella to interact. With each person responsible for a part, complementing each other, we can effectively lower the requirements for magical research."
Just listening to Ryan, the three could already envision a wizarding society with specialized functions and clear divisions of labor.
Their eyes lit up with realization as they picked up Ryan's proposal.
Facing his mentors' reactions, Ryan didn't feel overly proud or superior for proposing this idea.
Ultimately, the root cause was the small wizarding population. With only a few thousand people, if you could learn, you learned; if not, forget it.
If there were tens of millions, disciplines would inevitably be subdivided because everyone has different strengths. Just like the French alchemists Maxime mentioned—each having their own specialty was a precursor to functional specialization within a field.
Unfortunately, constrained by population, these ideas couldn't form institutionalized disciplines. Unless someone forcefully and proactively pointed the way, subsequent wizards wouldn't follow different paths according to their talents.
"Truly a genius concept." The first to speak was Gellert. He saw things in Ryan's proposal that weren't written down. "Population, energy, institutions, cohesion... Pity you weren't born a hundred years earlier..."
As a pioneer who had challenged the Statute of Secrecy, he naturally saw the related schemes behind this proposal. Combined, these plans would create an irreversible impact on the Statute of Secrecy.
Because this impact wasn't driven by one or two individual wizards. Compared to the order of the magical world in peacetime, the charm of an individual wizard might win or lose.
But compare the peacetime order with the surging historical tide formed by all wizards who came into contact with and conformed to these plans... faced with such a trend, all wizarding laws were destined to be mere paper tigers—meaningless.
Flitwick, who had wanted to praise the meticulousness and unique vision of Ryan's plan, shut his mouth. He read the proposal repeatedly but couldn't see anything Gellert had just mentioned. He could only remain silent and listen to Dumbledore's insight.
"This is indeed a good thing. Employment at Hogwarts has always been a big problem. Many graduates can't find suitable jobs and end up trapped in industries like the Ministry or Gringotts, wasting their time." Dumbledore had complicated emotions about this; he genuinely felt his students' talents were being eroded. "Perhaps deeper magical research, opening new paths for magical careers, pioneering new applications... that could utilize their talents."
A silver phoenix soared into the air and vanished from the Headmaster's office.
"I'll contact Minerva and the others to come and discuss this matter together."
In the cellar of the abandoned building where the Portkey was kept.
Martin's pain was evident in his voice. As if disturbed by something, noisy sounds erupted from outside.
"Who is it?!"
"Who's there?!"
The Magi-Metal Wizards, guarding their shared secret, all looked towards the entrance. They couldn't accept their secret base being discovered.
Only Hawke's face turned deathly pale.
~~~
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