With Xenophilius's whispers, the legend of Benitez began to spread throughout the school.
No matter how proud and stubborn the pure-blood wizarding families were, they ultimately couldn't answer the most direct question—why it was wizards, not Muggles, who lived hidden on the other side of the world.
On the other hand, some ghosts in Hogwarts Castle were even more vivid evidence: Nearly Headless Nick's and the Fat Friar's causes of death were not secrets. Older students, curious and eager, would hear about these things, and when people realized that half of the resident ghosts at Hogwarts had died directly or indirectly at the hands of Muggle clerics, rumors and unease naturally spread.
Muggles in the non-magical world may not be able to threaten wizards one-on-one, but when they formed an entangled and complex society, they would form a force that could not be ignored.
Facing the existence of the non-magical world was what Ellinor and the others had always wanted to promote, and Father Benitez's appearance was simply a matter of going with the flow.
Leaving the Transfiguration classroom, Ellinor led Benitez down the stairs towards the Hufflepuff common room, located below the castle.
The arrangement for Hogwarts' "Family-School Collaboration Day" was not complicated. After the afternoon's parent-teacher conference, there was only free time left.
Dinner was set up on the grounds outside the castle, with a theme of a parent-child bonfire barbecue, which would not officially begin until around seven or eight o'clock.
Therefore, during this time, students usually choose to take their parents to tour the dormitory, the castle, or find a quiet place to discuss and digest their school life.
Due to time constraints, the professors did not comment on each student's grades individually at the parent-teacher conference, but gave a rough introduction to the importance of each subject.
Almost all subjects that had been "updated," as well as traditional old subjects, were the focus of attention...
Of course, the professors would mostly also take the opportunity to emphasize the course they were teaching.
As for the most tedious and troublesome in-school grades, this data had long been stored in each little wizard's "magic book."
The professors only needed to tell each parent how to access the content, and the rest would follow naturally—the school had specially set aside family time for everyone.
On the way, Ellinor skillfully exported her in-school grades for the past two years and generously displayed them in front of Father Benitez.
Benitez was initially taken aback when he saw the straight-A grades for several years, but when he saw the "signature" of the invigilator for the Defense Against the Dark Arts practical exam and Dumbledore's personally written exemption statement, he immediately realized another issue: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was clearly part of the magical world, so was Ellinor a student or...
"These scores... you didn't fill them in yourself, did you? Have you been studying properly?"
Benitez said with some suspicion, finally unable to resist raising his hand and tapping on Ellinor's course grades for this year.
"Transfiguration exempt, History of Magic exempt, Defense Against the Dark Arts exempt... you're exempt from three of the seven required courses?"
"I know you're very smart, but I have a question, if you know almost all the knowledge of the magic world, then why don't you apply for skipping a grade or graduating early?"
"And I heard Professor McGonagall mention just now that the field of Transfiguration is in an important stage of basic theoretical updates. Self-study alone may not be able to keep up with the latest theories. Hogwarts kitchen chef, Potions assistant, Defense Against the Dark Arts practical assistant, Hogwarts Head Girl... aren't you devoting too much energy to things other than studying?"
Different from other students' ordinary "student handbook," Ellinor's "magic book" was clearly several grades better in terms of various functions.
And the most eye-catching thing was undoubtedly the partitions printed on the table of contents—Benitez opened the first page and saw that pile of titles, each title corresponding to a part of the magic page.
You should know that this was just her identity at Hogwarts.
In the mouth of her "cheap old man," Ellinor also managed at least two or three mysterious organizations outside of school.
"You're only twelve years old this year, aren't you taking on too many adult responsibilities?"
Benitez closed Ellinor's magic book, rubbed his eyebrows, and looked worriedly at the well-behaved little fluffball next to him.
"You know? The reason I agreed to let you study at a magic school was to make you feel more relaxed. Really, Ellinor, I don't want your childhood to be all about these things—"
Ellinor knew that Benitez's words couldn't really change anything, but she still felt very happy.
Perhaps only with Father Benitez could those gorgeous crowns on her head temporarily disappear, even Grindelwald would not be so pure when he cared about her.
Ellinor pondered for a moment, stopped, and sighed lightly towards Benitez.
"The intersection of the magical world and the non-magical world is inevitable. Running away like an ostrich will not make me feel the slightest bit relaxed."
She gently wrapped her fingers around her long silver hair, raised her head and looked seriously at Benitez, her lake-blue eyes containing a bottomless depth.
"The chain reaction of the collapse of the Soviet Union should have caused tens of millions of people to be displaced and starving, but because of the appearance of magic, their story was rewritten into a fairy tale."
"Decades ago, magic and non-magic briefly intersected for a moment, and the two worlds broke out into a world war—I don't want hell to descend because of me."
She paused slightly, leaned on the smooth, cold marble railing of Hogwarts, and looked at the surging, noisy crowd below the stairs.
"I can't stop, Dad—the potential of the magic world that has been dormant for centuries has been awakened by me."
"This power is so great that it can destroy human civilization hundreds of times, and any accidental spark could set the whole world on fire."
"And at this dangerous moment, I may be the only one who knows which direction the safe path is in, and who has the ability to change the direction of the tide—"
Obviously, Dumbledore saw this, which is why he temporarily chose to "retire."
With the disappearance of the dark magic cloud, the uncertain factors surrounding the magic world were almost completely eliminated.
Intentionally or unintentionally, the loose magic civilization was twisted together, and if there was even a slight accident, then what awaited the world would not be the advent of a fairy tale, but the cruel invasion of a magic empire.
The responsibility on Ellinor's shoulders was much more than ever before. The Great Arcana Council had completely become the place dominated by her and Grindelwald.
Grindelwald was the fuse when the war broke out, and Dumbledore was the brake when the war was uncontrollable. As for her... she had to try her best to let those two old guys retire peacefully.
She had to take on Dumbledore's stabilizing role at the same time, as well as promote the innovation and guidance of magic civilization—Ellinor couldn't help but tell Benitez in detail the pressure she couldn't retreat from, as well as the appearance of the new world she was hoping for. She had to consider what aspects, how to find a balance between the various forces, and carefully maintain peace.
"Well, that future sounds pretty good—"
Benitez was silent for a long time, then raised his hand and smiled, ruffling Ellinor's hair.
"Ellinor, you are indeed a very important leader of the new world, so you should learn to balance work and rest even more."
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Yay!