I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 513 If you want

Seeing Hermione's insistence, Owen didn't say anything more.

His hair was quickly styled.

Then, Miss Granger added, "By the way, the Prime Minister also hopes to send some young wizards into the government to serve as magical advisors."

"A magic advisor?" Harry exclaimed in surprise. "Can wizards hold positions in the Muggle government?"

"Isn't Tonks here?" Owen said, rubbing his neck comfortably.

“She’s not suitable,” Hermione said, looking at Harry. “This isn’t an official, it’s a civil servant, like Percy’s assistant minister position.” Then she rushed to Owen. “Kingsley said her personality is too impulsive, and Dumbledore also thinks she’s not quite right for the job; they need someone more stable.”

"And—" she hesitated for a moment, "Tonks herself isn't too keen on staying in England; she seems to prefer going to Sweden and joining the Federation."

Hermione, of course, would not reveal that she had witnessed Tonks confessing his feelings to Professor Lupin after the war.

She was stunned when she heard those sincere words.

She and Ginny had long suspected that Tonks had someone he liked, but neither of them had guessed that Tonks's affections would be directed at Professor Lupin.

"Oh—I know," Owen said softly.

"Hmm?" This caught Hermione's attention, and she wondered if Owen already knew about Tonks.

"The Prime Minister has some other requirements." Suppressing her doubts, she continued, "They want to send some young wizards, preferably recent graduates who have fought Death Eaters, have sufficient knowledge of the Muggle world, know the history of the country, are not pure-blood supporters, are mixed-race, Muggle-blooded are preferred, gentle, kind, responsible, and finally, wizards with an 'advantage' in appearance."

"."

"What kind of requirement is this?" Ginny was indignant, feeling offended. "What does 'advantageous appearance' mean? Are they choosing consultants or prostitutes?!" the red-haired witch said bluntly.

"Uh—" Hannah, standing to the side, looked at the bold Ginny and felt a momentary embarrassment, but that's just Ginny, that's her personality. "Also, having to be a recent graduate and have experience fighting Death Eaters... isn't that a bit too demanding? Although most of us have fought them, we were just observers. There aren't many who have actually faced Death Eaters alone."

Upon hearing this, the others present—Harry, Ron, Neville, Susan, Justin, and other DA members—all nodded.

That's true. If we're talking about people who have actually fought against Death Eaters, it seems like only Owen, Hermione, Harry, Ron, and perhaps Cho Chang, Cedric, Fleur, and Krum could be included, since they all experienced the battle at the top of Azkaban Tower.

These demands are absurd and contradictory.

Hermione explained, "Muggle stories often portray wizards in very stereotypical ways, and we need to break that prejudice. Choosing young, handsome, or beautiful wizards is good for publicity. It allows Muggles to see the true face of wizards, rather than the dark and terrifying image they have in mind."

The Death Eaters have already made a deep impression on most Muggles, so quickly converting them will certainly require some other tricks.

Ron snorted, clearly annoyed by the Muggle prejudice: "Muggles are so stupid. Wizards are people too, old and young, beautiful and ugly. How could they all be those withered old witches? That's just discrimination against us."

"Furthermore," Ron suddenly became serious, "these reasons sound very weak, and they certainly weren't what you came up with, Hermione. What exactly is their purpose?"

"Yo—" Owen raised an eyebrow, a slight smile playing on his lips. "I must say, you've gotten smarter, Ron."

"People say that being in love lowers your IQ, but you actually gain it. That's quite rare."

"Hey!" Hermione said unhappily, sticking out her leg and kicking Owen's shin.

Don't think she can't tell—that guy who lowers IQ is talking about her, isn't he?

"Heh." Owen ignored Hermione and continued, "Looks like your other half is just too smart, like water flowing downhill, some of it got shared with you."

"You agree, don't you?" He turned to look at Koyatl.

Despite Owen's aggressive gaze, the girl's expression remained unchanged. "He's not stupid."

"Yes, yes, yes," Owen replied. "He's not stupid, he's just too impatient. Once he calms down, he'll definitely show his intelligence. Well—that's a common reason girlfriends use to defend their boyfriends."

"Alright, this demand—it's practically written all the obedient geniuses on their faces."

He looked at Hermione. "So, has Dumbledore been chosen yet?"

"Some," Hermione nodded. Although Owen's words weren't very pleasant, they did make sense from another perspective, though she preferred the original one: "Bill and Percy are both good choices. Perhaps we could add George and Fred; if they don't cause trouble and are just putting on an act, it's actually not bad."

"What are you doing?" Ron quickly interjected. "Why are you only picking people from our family? And—are you serious? What's so 'good-looking' about Hermione, George, and Fred?"

"I think it's quite funny and humorous." Hermione glared at him. "It's much better than some idiot who hasn't made any progress in over a year."

Ron, who had been hit right on the vital spot, immediately deflated and was speechless.

Upon hearing Hermione's answer, Owen felt a sense of enlightenment, as if he had discovered a lotus flower in a patch of mud.

Dumbledore's wisdom is indeed evident.

He naturally saw through the Muggles' scheme and went along with it.

Perhaps he held onto the hope that George and Fred would learn the Muggle weapons and then invent a way to counter them.

"We chose the Weasleys because your family is more loyal. If it were anyone else, Justin? He wouldn't last more than a few days before being swayed by the smooth talk of Muggles, completely swayed into Muggle ways through numbness and self-righteousness."

"Hey! I'm not that stupid," Justin shouted, annoyed.

"Do you even believe what you're saying?" Owen stared at him lightly, his captivating emerald eyes reflecting the sea of ​​death in Geng Gu, and his ambiguous smile gave off an eerie sense of evil and fear.

"There's already one here that's about to fall for her. Do you think you're more rational and smarter than her?"

I don't think so.

Justin looked up at Hermione, then sighed somewhat reluctantly.

"Owen!" Miss Granger looked at Owen sternly. "That's a very harsh remark." Her brows furrowed. Her voice was full of displeasure with Owen's words; she sensed that he seemed to have changed somewhat in the few months they hadn't seen him.

A very bad change.

"I've noticed a contradiction in your stance on Muggles. On the Hogwarts Express, during Professor Binns's History of Magic class, you expressed your hope that in the future, as the magical and Muggle worlds merge, wizards would take a leading role. But Mr. Hack told me that you personally told him on Downing Street that wizards are not capable of leading a country."

What are you really thinking?!

"What are you thinking?" Owen suddenly reached out, his slender fingers, carrying a faint warmth, landed on the little witch's hand holding the teacup. "Wizards really don't have the ability, my dear Granger. You should know this very well. Whether it's Fudge, Barty Crouch, or now Rufus Scrimgeour, to put it bluntly, even my grandfather Grindelwald and Dumbledore, they don't have much talent for governing a country with tens of millions or hundreds of millions of people."

You should agree with that, right?

A small, magical British world of tens of thousands of people, a group of simple-minded citizens with few ulterior motives, a rule that lasted for five or six hundred years, and a governance level that remained almost unchanged. Believe me, Diagon Alley is pretty much what it was like five hundred years ago.

My dear. The leadership I'm referring to has always belonged to only one person. And that person is a wizard.

"You..." Hermione's eyes widened. She suddenly realized who Owen was talking about.

"I—no—that's why you—I'm willing to be the person Mr. Huck and the others want, that's why you're so dissatisfied."

"Yes." Owen smiled, but his expression was strange.

"No—" the witch said seriously, "Leaders should be elected. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Magic are examples of this. We need democracy."

Upon hearing this, Irving leaned back abruptly, burying himself in the sofa.

"Democracy? Ha, democracy," he scoffed.

"They don't need democracy; they've never even considered it."

Can you vote on the appointment of the Minister of Magic? That's decided by the Wizarding Council, which is controlled by several wizarding families.

The British government spent three hundred years completely ousting the people from the institutions of power, and now they can be self-satisfied by simply voting every few years, while also diverting attention from other problems—oh, this is simply the most ingenious and greatest invention!

"Democracy? My dear, most countries on this planet do not have the foundation to support democracy."

Some small things, like we should be tolerant of those who disagree with us, or those who disagree with our beliefs, or that a journalist should be able to contradict the damn president. Do you really think that, based on fundamentalism, overthrowing a dictator and dropping a few bombs can establish a democratic country?

Ah—perhaps we all realize that people don't want freedom. They want rules, boundaries, order, and protection. Protection from threats, both internal and external.

People need a leader who can provide both restraint and support to quell chaos, end wars, and lead them to prosperity. If you can provide that, they will follow you.

"."

He always granted requests; the room fell silent.

Everyone looked at Irving, staring at him as if they were seeing him for the first time.

Hermione's reaction was particularly strong.

Her eyes flashed with a complex array of emotions: fear, anger, incomprehension, confusion, and more.

It was as if she had only just met Irving today.

After a long silence, she finally spoke: "I suddenly feel that you remind me of someone."

The little witch looked at him with awe.

"Grindelwald?" Irving replied, seemingly with a smile.

"Just like him, she's skilled at bewitching and captivating people," Hermione said.

"Thank you for the compliment." The boy said dismissively, "I was just telling the truth."

"Before that—your attitude toward house-elves, Dobby, Kreacher, the movies they made, and your agreement with my protection of elf rights. You said yourself that you couldn't stand oppression." As she spoke, her voice rose higher and higher, and the last sentence was almost shouted.

"Yes, I do indeed hate oppression the most. That's true. I hope that all civilized, intelligent life has equal status and life, and that's also true," Owen said calmly. "All the people under your rule, everyone, must be equal."

"My people?" Hermione found it amusing. "What do you take me for? A god?"

"If you wish." The strange tone sounded flat, like a bleak wind blowing from the wilderness. Invisible yet chilling.

"What did you say?"

"No—it's nothing." Owen suddenly composed himself, and his expression returned to normal.

"Let's discuss our personnel selection. Aren't the present matters more important than the uncertain future?"

Before anyone else could react, the boy said, "Professor Dumbledore was right to choose his men from the Weasleys. If it were the Ministry of Magic, and they selected a group of people, believe me, they would be fighting with the Muggles within a day."

The Ministry of Magic didn't really have many good candidates. Most wizards had an innate prejudice against Muggles. Even within the Order of the Phoenix, which supported Dumbledore, most wizards had never interacted with Muggles. However, there were some candidates, such as Tonks' mother and Sirius' uncle, who both chose to marry Muggle-born wizards and had some contact with Muggles, so they could be considered to have some understanding of them.

Alternatively, choose Professor Kareddy Bubbage, a professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts. She has dedicated her life to advocating for the elimination of racial discrimination and calling for equality between wizards and Muggles. She's an excellent choice; she has a certain understanding of the Muggle world, unlike Ron's father, who didn't even know what a rubber duck was for. Besides, she's on Dumbledore's side.

"But—Professor Kereddy Bubbage is just an ordinary witch, not very skilled in magic, and in fact, not even as good as Quirrell. Quirrell is an outstanding graduate of Ravenclaw, and he was the one who previously served as Professor of Muggle Studies."

In 1991, he took over as professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and then had a sudden idea to go to the Albanian forest to find some dark creatures to use as teaching materials, and that's when he encountered Voldemort.

While Quirrell's tragedy is classic, it's undeniable that his courage to seek out the dark creatures alone demonstrates that he had a clear understanding of his own abilities.

Ordinary dangers are no match for him.

Professor Kerridine Boubagi—she would have a very difficult time surviving or escaping a fight with Death Eaters.

(End of this chapter)