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"Once students are sorted into the four Houses, they begin carrying those labels on themselves. In other words, exactly what I mentioned before. The truth is, unless there are special circumstances, the students in this school have no conflict with one another at all. They only act that way because everyone else does, so they end up following the same pattern."
"Secondly, this system also creates a psychological suggestion in every student. Especially at the moment of sorting. It is practically hypnosis applied to every child who enters the school. Because you aren't clever enough, you ended up in Hufflepuff. The moment you enter that House, that kind of suggestion has already been planted in your mind."
"When in reality, perhaps your personality simply leans more toward honesty and loyalty."
"Because you desire power, know how to plan before acting, and have a strong will, you were sent to Slytherin."
"Look, that person is from Slytherin, so he must be evil by nature. As righteous Gryffindors, we should teach them a lesson."
"Professor Dumbledore, how many people in Gryffindor think that way?"
You pick a fight on purpose, exchange a few harsh words, and just like that, the divide is already there, isn't it?
And that was nothing more than humanity's famous tendency to follow the herd.
In fact, among the ways Godric once described his great friend Salazar, there was one in particular:
"A man with a sense of justice."
The more you read A History of Magic, the more ridiculous the four-house system starts to look.
Hearing all of this, Snape gave a deep nod, as though he agreed with it from the bottom of his heart. Of course, that did not change the fact that he would continue deducting points from Gryffindor in the future. That was already a matter of principle for him.
"Is Slytherin truly evil by nature?"
Dudley threw out another question.
Throughout all the time he had spent in Slytherin, the people there, aside from their sharp tongues, irritating habits, and obvious tendency to cling to the powerful, were not nearly as terrible as their reputation made them out to be. Among them, older students like Carrow were actually fairly reasonable to get along with.
As for the idea that Slytherins studied Dark Magic and were therefore evil... on that point, all one had to do was ask that Dark Lord whether he knew more than the greatest wizard of all.
Of course, it could not be denied that some people were simply born bad.
But those were extreme cases.
Extremely rare cases.
As for Slytherin's tendency to attach itself to the powerful, most of that was the result of family influence and the surrounding environment.
Environment had an enormous effect on a child's growth.
Rather than saying they already possessed those traits from the very beginning, it was more accurate to say that, after entering one of the four Houses, their minds gradually grew closer to the traits associated with that House.
If you spend your years in Slytherin, or spend them in Gryffindor, then by the time you graduate, although you remain the same person, you will still have become someone different.
The old lesson of Mencius's mother, who changed environments three times for the sake of her son, had already proven beyond doubt just how much environment influenced a child's growth.
The way Dudley laid out example after example, argument after argument, left both the Headmaster and the professor stunned.
These were ideas they had never once considered.
"On top of that, there is also Hogwarts' educational philosophy. I don't know what Professor Dumbledore thinks, but in any case, I don't agree with it in the slightest."
When it came to the hostility between the four Houses, Hogwarts' professors generally cared very little. As long as it did not become too blatant, the attitude they usually adopted was simple: they did not know, they did not care, and they did not interfere.
In other words, complete neglect.
But neglect was practically the same as allowing it to happen.
And that made it all too easy for the darker side of things to take root.
It was precisely in that kind of environment that violence between students came to exist.
To be at Hogwarts was to receive an education.
And what was education?
"The foundation of education is to shape people!"
Teaching knowledge alone while failing to teach character was an education destined to fail.
Especially because the age at which young wizards entered Hogwarts was exactly the stage when their worldview could still be rebuilt.
During those years, aside from summer and winter holidays, the time they spent at Hogwarts far exceeded the time they spent at home.
There were seven whole years in which their worldview could have been shaped.
And all of it had been wasted.
Just look at Slytherin.
It was already on the verge of becoming a training ground for future dark wizards.
Perhaps all it would take was a single order from a certain person for all of them to rush to place themselves under his command.
This was Hogwarts, the finest magical school in Europe, practically the main source of new wizards on the continent. And yet the people who came out of it ended up joining the enemy, and in large numbers at that...
Was that normal?
Obviously not.
If you told ordinary people about it, they would laugh until they could not breathe.
Hogwarts seemed to teach a great many things.
And at the same time, it seemed to do nothing at all.
On one hand, it criticized their bad behavior.
On the other, it never taught them the right way to act.
In the end, to sum it all up, this group of wizards simply lacked the sense needed to properly educate the next generation. They had created a school that only knew how to pass on knowledge, but not how to teach people how to be decent human beings.
The wizards who came out of it ended up with completely uneven worldviews.
Perhaps Dumbledore was an incredibly powerful wizard.
But honestly, when it came to teaching the next generation, he left a great deal to be desired.
Those words, heavy with meaning, caused Dumbledore to sink once more into deep thought.
At that moment, he seemed to see the shadow of someone in Dudley.
And without even realizing it, he asked,
"Then what do you think should be done?"
Dumbledore had already gone far beyond the curious interest he had shown at the beginning and reached the point of genuine reflection.
He listened to Dudley with complete attention.
The first time they met, he had already thought Dudley was different.
But he had never imagined he was this extraordinary.
If anyone asked Dudley, he would say that, in truth, he was only standing on the shoulders of giants.
Everything he was saying had already existed long before him.
"I have three strategies: the upper one, the middle one, and the lower one."
"The superior strategy is to break the old rules, get rid of bad customs, prohibit discrimination, integrate the four Houses into one whole, manage and teach everything in a unified way, and eliminate the separation between the four Houses."
"Teach without distinction!"
"Education should not distinguish between high or low, noble or ordinary. Everyone should be treated equally!"
"Each young wizard is an independent individual. All of those labels need to be stripped away from them!"
"Teach them knowledge, but also teach them character, and truly commit to raising an outstanding new generation."
His voice rang out firm and powerful.
If that succeeded, then the wizards shaped afterward would undoubtedly become the pillars of the magical world.
Integrating the four Houses of Hogwarts was such an audacious idea that not even that person had ever considered it.
After a long silence, Dumbledore shook his head with regret.
"I'm sorry... I can't do that."
"That is something the four great founders already established when they created Hogwarts."
"I only possess the authority of Headmaster. Unless I could somehow gather the authority of all four at the same time, it would be impossible to do such a thing."
Dumbledore was the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
But only the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
And the problem was not merely a matter of authority. The restraints placed upon him were simply too many.
"Then the middle strategy is to reform the school's system."
At its core, the logic led to the same destination: break the current rules and rebuild a new order.
"I'm sorry, Dudley, but that as well, I..."
Dumbledore shook his head again.
They called him the greatest wizard in the world, yet when the time came to act, he seemed bound on all sides.
That made Dudley frown.
And for the first time, it made him wonder whether the man standing before him truly was the most powerful wizard in the world.
After several moments of silence and hesitation, Dudley spoke again:
"I still have the lower strategy."
"Create a disciplinary group!"
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