HP: For a better world

"Mr. White," Professor McGonagall took off her glasses, put down the test report in her hand, and stared seriously at Winster who was sitting obediently in the chair opposite.

"I remember I've already told you... Since your physical condition is not good enough to support long-term use of the Time Turner, you can no longer apply."

Winster said obediently: "But I have recovered now," he said, "I always hope to learn more knowledge."

"No." Professor McGonagall said flatly: "Mr. White, even if I agree, the headmaster and Professor Snape both agree that you should no longer be given the ability to use the time turner."

Professor McGonagall said calmly: "I think... they have their own considerations. The headmaster saw something that we don't know yet."

Winster couldn't hide his disappointment and silently crossed out his original study plan in his mind.

Although he was very disappointed... Dumbledore's consideration was not excessive. After Winster's "magic vision" could see the magic color and energy on people, the risk of using the time converter became even greater. Just by accidentally looking around, you might see "yourself" in another timeline.

The possible results cannot be used for experiments.

That is... Winster fell into deep thought... He didn't seem to have told anyone about this ability? How could Dumbledore know?

There must be some other reason, Winston thought. Snape was busy with receiving new students and other activities recently, and had little time to talk to him privately.

Sometimes Winster would leave a light on at night and wait for him at his home in Spinner's End, only to be driven away tiredly by Snape... It wouldn't take that long to pick up the new students, right?

Snape's face clearly said "I don't want to tell you", maybe there was some other "activity" from Dumbledore.

In the year leading up to the Triwizard Tournament, it's understandable. I can just ask directly later.

Winster turned around and motioned to Hermione, who he had pulled over, that she could ask.

Although the course selection notice had already arrived at everyone's home before the holidays, it was inevitable that some people were reluctant to give up.

A time-turner is a nice thing, everyone wants one.

Professor McGonagall rubbed her head, sighed, and shifted her gaze to Hermione beside her.

"What about you, Miss Granger? Are you here to apply as well?"

"Yes, Professor McGonagall." Hermione stepped forward and inquired, "I also want to apply... I still have several courses to take. Without it, I can't finish so many subjects at the same time."

"This just goes to show one thing, Miss Granger. You should learn to make choices." Professor McGonagall sighed, "You are aware that both of you have a very obvious violation record on your time turners, right?"

She pulled out a report from the Ministry of Magic from the shelf behind her. "At the end of last semester, the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic sent this report the next day. Considering that Mr. White was attacked at that time, and after investigation, it was found that the time converter was not in his possession at that time," Professor McGonagall said, "Therefore, Mr. White was rejected only for physical reasons, and you were rejected for violating the rules, Miss Granger. Given the special time point -"

Professor McGonagall glanced at Winston from behind her glasses. "Although I want to say it's well done - but I think you should have anticipated this consequence."

Hermione was somewhat prepared, but still accepted the answer with some sadness. Or rather, she was prepared when Dumbledore made this decision before.

"Actually..." Professor McGonagall paused for a moment and revealed a little more information.

"It's not just you. Because the school is hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year, other applicants have also lost their eligibility to apply... In order to avoid violations, so..." Professor McGonagall said truthfully, "Even if you are qualified, the Ministry of Magic will not approve your application."

"Human energy is limited, and the time turner can't give you extra time." Professor McGonagall said, "Hurry up and modify your course selection schedule," she urged, "The course schedule will be distributed to every student tomorrow."

"I see..." Hermione opened and closed her mouth several times, as if she wanted to say something, but she finally gave up in frustration, sat aside with the cookies that every professor loved to give her, and began to discuss the course selection schedule that needed to be modified with Winchester.

Winster: "I'm not going to choose Muggle Studies anymore...what about you?"

"Maybe... I also..." Hermione stared at her watch, her expression gradually becoming annoyed. She muttered to herself and moved her pen around on the schedule, "I like this class, and I also like this class."

Winston reached out and took some cookies, chewing them while looking at them, "...Would you like some, Hermione?"

Hermione's expression became more depressed: "...No," she said sullenly, "...slave labor."

It's not time for dinner now.

Winster blinked in surprise. He looked back at Professor McGonagall, then turned around and whispered, "Have you never noticed house-elves before?"

"Honestly... no!" Hermione crossed out the Divination lesson heavily, and then moved her pen hesitantly over several other lessons.

"What about the kitchen?" Winston was really surprised: "You have never been to the kitchen?" He thought for a moment, "Don't tell me you don't even know what the secret places in Hogwarts are?"

Winster was a little skeptical, "Haven't you ever been there when you and Harry were on an adventure?"

"I... have been in the kitchens! Of course I know about the magical rooms at Hogwarts, most of them are vaguely mentioned in Hogwarts: A History. I just -" Hermione blushed, looking a little ashamed: "... I just thought they were all paid."

"What era is this? There is still slave labor——"

"…If I remember correctly," Winster muttered, "slave labor seemed to have been abolished only in the last century."

The implication is that The Witcher has always given people the feeling of living in the Middle Ages. Isn't it normal to have slaves?

"Yes!" Hermione said forcefully, "So wizards should also stop doing this!"

Winster thought of Slytherin's attitude towards this... and the kitchen at Hogwarts that was completely operated by the cheap labor of house elves... In fact, even the basic laundry of Hogwarts teachers and students required magical control. Even if magical items were used to replace labor, there needed to be a source to trigger them.

A wizard, or spellcaster, is this source.

What's more, Hogwarts has been like this for hundreds of years. It serves as a shelter for young wizards and the last resort for the wizarding world.

Over a long period of time, an unspoken agreement has been reached with the school board composed of pure-blood families.

That is, they must provide Hogwarts with a certain level of funding sufficient for operations every school year in exchange for the right for their offspring to be sheltered in times of crisis.

If these cheap laborers were replaced with expensive wizards, not only would the possibility of Hogwarts being exposed greatly increase, but the annual maintenance costs of the castle would also increase significantly. Such expenses would definitely be outside of Hogwarts' budget.

You have to know that the house-elves actually have a completely personal dependence relationship with Hogwarts. They exist as long as Hogwarts exists, and if Hogwarts disappears, they will disappear as well, or flow into wizarding families as another kind of property... If the initial concerns of the Big Four are followed, they may not even be wizarding families, haha.

And if they were to flow into the market as labor... the size of the British wizarding world might not be able to withstand such an impact. Whether they received normal wages, low wages, or even no money after liberation - it would affect the wizarding world's mobile labor force. A house-elf can do much more work than a wizard.

A healthy society must have unemployed people. Right now, most of the unemployed people in the wizarding world are werewolves. If house-elves flow into the market, it may cause a large number of wizards to lose their jobs... It is the same as the problem of introducing refugees.

...and no matter which side loses their jobs in the end, the gathering of a large number of idle people in society will cause unrest...The Ministry of Magic does not want to see such a scene.

What's more...house-elves are not human.

It's a good thing, but it may not be for the vested interests of wizards. Winster coughed twice and quickly changed the subject to avoid being discovered by Hermione - he would definitely be scolded.

Anyway, he will have money soon... Wait until Malfoy starts operating. It's just that Hermione wants to create her own club to raise some money, and Winston is of course willing to support her...

However, when it comes to actually liberating the house-elves... I can only wish you all the best, understanding and respect -

Winster gave an innocent expression.

"Hermione, which subjects are you going to take?"

He leaned over to take a look at Hermione's course selection schedule.

Hermione subconsciously wanted to cover it, but then let go.

On the divination lesson that she had smeared back and forth, there was a bright red mark——P[bad]

Winster was stunned, "What? Is she crazy? She gave you a P? Need to retake???"

"..."

Hermione bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes, but she blinked them back stubbornly.

"…What the hell?" Professor McGonagall looked up when she heard the voice.

Winster turned to her and told her, "It was Divination class. Professor Trelawney gave Hermione a 'poor'."

Professor McGonagall was visibly surprised as well.

Winster turned around and asked with concern, "What happened? I remember you told me during the final exam that all your other steps were correct! How come it turned out to be P?"

Hermione raised her head with red eyes, her voice trembling slightly, as if it was no big deal - "Nothing, she just said I have no talent for divination at all." Hermione tried to make a very relaxed tone, "If you ask me, I don't care about this course! There are many classes we can't attend, and I was thinking of changing one. It's no big deal."

Winster had keenly grasped something - if there was nothing on the transcript, Hermione wouldn't have to emphasize again that she had no talent for divination. Trelawney often brought this up, but it was obvious that Hermione, who had been holding back her breath to prove herself, didn't take it to heart at all... Apparently there was something extra on the transcript...

"Have you appealed, Hermione?" Winston asked.

"Of course I did." Hermione's voice was slightly hoarse, and she held her head high: "-I sent her a letter to ask."

"What's going on?" Professor McGonagall said seriously. "What has Sybil done?"

Hermione's lips trembled, opening and closing several times, as if she had lost her voice.

Professor McGonagall was so anxious that she looked like casting a spell.

Winster gently went over and held her shoulders.

Hermione's lips trembled as she finally spoke out

"…She said I was lying!"

Hermione's well-maintained exterior cracked, as if she could no longer bear the worry and comfort from her friends and most trusted teacher.

Her voice suddenly became shrill, and she couldn't help crying out of her throat. "She said that I didn't see anything in the crystal ball, and that I was making up the prophecy to deceive her - I don't deserve a full score -" Hermione's shoulders trembled with fear, and Professor McGonagall came over and held her in her arms.

"——She said I have no talent!!!"

Hermione buried herself in Professor McGonagall's arms and cried at the top of her lungs. She was so excited that her whole body was twitching.

Professor McGonagall quickly patted Hermione's shoulders to comfort her and calm her down.

"Do your parents know about this?" Professor McGonagall gritted her teeth, looking like she wanted to duel with someone, "Let them make suggestions to the school."

Hermione sobbed as she lay in her arms.

"No… they don't know - they're just Muggles, a couple of dentists."

Hermione said.

"Because of Quidditch - I didn't go back this holiday."

Professor McGonagall looked as if she had said something wrong. She had almost forgotten about it and quickly patted Hermione on the back to calm her down and divert her attention.

"So where did you live before you came to school?"

Professor McGonagall pulled at her robes, trying to wipe Hermione's tears with them.

"...Ron's house, living with Harry and the others." Hermione refused to let go, but buried herself deeper like a small animal.

A muffled voice came from behind the thick cloth: "...They don't know. I kept it a secret very well..."

Winster stood there at a loss, and after a while, he carefully handed a tissue to Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall took the paper and carefully coaxed Hermione to turn her head so that she could show her face and wipe her tears.

Hermione's red face was revealed, her eyes had just been washed, revealing an aggrieved and dependent look. One hand tightly grasped Professor McGonagall's clothes.

She carefully stretched her head out and saw Winster, then retracted it in shock, her watery eyes revealing an embarrassing timidity, hiding herself tightly.

Professor McGonagall held her face and wiped her snot and tears, folding the tissue again and again until it was unusable, so she rolled it up and threw it away.

Throw it into the trash can aside.

——The trash can is also emptied by the elves...(⊙x⊙*)

Stop thinking about it, I was wrong...

Winster humbly handed Professor McGonagall another tissue.

"You go out first, Winster." Professor McGonagall ordered, and then she lowered her head and coaxed Hermione: "I will go to the headmaster to deal with this matter and let her give you an explanation... There is no such thing as you have no talent... Everyone is the same, you see, she also said that I have no talent for divination, isn't it the same?"

She persuaded her patiently.

The warm light melted into a dim yellow.

Professor McGonagall's face was a little blurry under the light, the wrinkles on her face faded infinitely, revealing new anxiety and worry.

"...Don't cry, Miss Granger. Let's finalize the class schedule first. Maybe you don't want to go back to the dormitory tonight, so you can sleep in my office and go back tomorrow... If you want to prove yourself, I think digital divination is also an option. It is more accurate than that old liar Sybil and more suitable for you..."

Professor McGonagall's soothing voice brought a warm feeling like charcoal fire. Winster seemed to see a quietly burning fire, and a sad woman sitting next to it...

Winster looked back and saw Hermione's red eyes half exposed from Professor McGonagall's arms. She kept her mouth shut and said nothing, but shook her head slightly.

"…You should leave, Mr. White!" Professor McGonagall noticed Winston dragging his feet: "Remember to hand in your course selection form tomorrow morning."

crunch--

The door is closed.

Winster closed the door carefully and breathed a sigh of relief.

He sighed as he walked down the corridor, took out his course list, looked at the Divination class, sighed, and crossed it out of his course list.

Thinking about Hermione's self-esteem that she wanted to maintain after her illusion was accidentally exposed by him, it was impossible for her to attend Professor Trelawney's class again, whose predictions seemed to be right and wrong.

…After crossing it out, he sighed again.

Let's go and have a look at digital divination.