A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

“I think I’ll become a magizoologist and travel all over the world,” Luna said calmly. “I can use my free time to search for undiscovered magical creatures in different places, draw them, and record the process of discovering them in writing. I already have my first goal.”

"Where is it?" Hermione asked in surprise.

“The Arctic,” Luna said excitedly. “Felix said there’s a magical ferret-like creature there that loves to eat hot dogs.”

“That’s impossible!” Hermione exclaimed. “How could magical creatures like to eat human food?”

“Nothing is impossible,” Luna unexpectedly retorted. “Isn’t Valen an example?”

“That’s different. Valen was raised by the professor,” Hermione said instinctively. She suddenly had an urge to drag the professor over and ask him what he had said to Luna.

Luna paused, then mumbled, "I'll prove it to you." She then became absent-minded, seemingly pondering what kind of hot dogs to prepare, before suddenly snapping back to reality and asking, "What about you?"

"Me—what?"

"I heard you want to be Minister for Magic."

"Oh, oh, yes."

“I hope you succeed,” Luna said earnestly. Then, as if remembering something, she asked, “You don’t like fairy pies, do you?”

“Luna,” Hermione said softly, “there is no such food.”

The conversation fell into an awkward silence again. Hermione decided to change the subject before Luna brought up the Aurors' rotten tooth conspiracy; perhaps she could say a few words about it? Hermione considered herself an expert on gum disease, but she reluctantly gave up the tempting idea.

“Have you ever thought about joining the Ministry of Magic? Working in the Department of Magical Creatures Control? If it weren’t for Ms. Burns creating a new department, I would have chosen to go there after graduation—and you would see many old friends, Harry, Ron, Neville… even though they are in different departments.”

“I’ve always been friends with them,” Luna said.

Hermione knew Luna only talked to people about topics that interested her; when she wasn't interested, she would immerse herself in her own world, appearing absent-minded, or, like now, veer off into other topics—Hermione gave up trying to persuade Luna, staring at her as she enthusiastically counted on her fingers, rattling off a string of club members' names, "...and Ferrenze, Hagrid, Groop, Wunder, Uru—"

“Who’s Ulru?” Hermione asked reflexively. “I know the others. I didn’t expect you to know Gromp too. Did you know him through Hagrid? And Wren, I saw him when I went to the school kitchen. He likes to study recipes.” She rattled off the list as if answering a question in class.

Luna waited until she finished speaking before saying, "Uru is a Thestral, Hagrid calls him Uru."

Hermione pondered for a while, "It seems like that's true, Hagrid mentioned it in class... Oh, by the way, did you find the King of the Thestrals?"

“Found it,” Luna said.

It was a strange feeling. Hermione had never imagined that she would one day open up to Luna (she thought Luna's topics were all too abstract), but when it actually happened, she found it wasn't so bad, like whispering to a Halloween pumpkin.

Luna left, wandering to a corner of the courtyard. The crowd gradually dispersed, and Professor Hyp handed the lunar soil and two containers to Ms. Burns. "I'll take them to Gringotts for appraisal first. Just then, Bill talked to me about the Pan-Magical Alliance during the day; the goblins' attitude was ambiguous." She shook her head.

Pan-Magic Alliance?

Hermione's eyes lit up. She chased after Ms. Burns in the direction she had gone.

Felix cautiously stopped her, hesitatingly saying, "Granger—" "I understand, Professor!" Hermione said, and she dashed off. Felix was somewhat bewildered. What was going on? Had he misunderstood?

He stared at Hermione's retreating figure. The moon in the sky and the torches in the courtyard cast two shadows, which first overlapped and then separated. Then Hermione turned into Hogwarts Castle.

A moment later, Harry furtively pulled Ron aside and stood guard in the foyer.

"What's going on?" Ron looked towards the door. "Neville and Dean went to the kitchen to get some food. They said they're going to have a good celebration."

"We'll talk about it later," Harry said, not entirely sure. "By the way, are you still in contact with Collins?"

"I think so?" Ron thought for a moment and said, "I saw her at the Ministry of Magic just two days ago. She's become a squad leader now..."

"Ah."

A few minutes later, Hermione returned.

“Ms. Burns has agreed!” she announced excitedly.

“Promise—what—” Harry asked in surprise.

“I asked Ms. Burns, and she said the Pan-Magical Alliance was progressing slowly, so I asked if I could help, and she agreed!” Hermione said as she walked up the stairs. “The Ministry of Magic’s staff are at a standstill in their negotiations with centaurs and goblins. The former aren’t interested in an alliance, you know, they prefer to keep to themselves and don’t give anyone a friendly look, and they especially dislike the presence of she-wolves and vampires in the alliance…”

"But the biggest problem lies with the goblins. They want to remain neutral, but Bill has learned that there's more than one voice within the goblins, and they could change their minds at any moment. This stems from the centuries-long, volatile relationship between goblins and wizards, with the earliest conflicts dating back to the early days of the school—"

“How come I didn’t know?” Ron interrupted.

“The sword of Gryffindor,” Hermione said briefly, and Harry and Ron immediately understood. Goblins had a morbid view of ownership; they insisted that anything made by a goblin belonged to them, even if the wizard had paid for it. Once the wizard died, the goblins had the right to reclaim the item.

The sword of Gryffindor was forged by the goblin king at the time. Would Hogwarts hand over the sword of Gryffindor to a goblin? Absolutely not.

"The Ministry of Magic will not agree to the idea that the fairies are neutral in name only but are actually a secession from the magical world, especially since they control the magical world's economy and the right to mint coins! We must reach an agreement with the fairies before negotiating with the government."

“Okay, I think I understand,” Ron said slowly, “but what does this have to do with you?”

“I drafted the earliest paper!” Hermione exclaimed as if her tail had been stepped on. “I’ve also spent a lot of time researching the cultures of different races and their taboos. Now all I have to do is find a narrative that both sides can accept…”

“That’s not easy,” Ron muttered. “And I didn’t say anything, so don’t get agitated.”

“Yes, Hermione, you’ve been a bit sentimental lately,” Harry interjected, half-jokingly adding, “I thought you were in love.”

Ron was taken aback, then looked at Hermione with shining eyes, "Really? With whom?"

Hermione glared at Harry fiercely.

“That’s not important,” she retorted fiercely. “If you think that all the books I’ve read, all the magic I’ve learned, and all the hardships I’ve endured since I was a child were just to fall in love with someone, then you’re wrong! The current situation is far more complex than what Voldemort has brought us. The slightest mistake could destroy everything we value. This is a change that hasn’t happened in a thousand years since Hogwarts was founded. We can’t expect the professor to do everything by himself.”

“I spoke with Luna, and she plans to become a magizoologist and go to the Arctic to find ferrets that love to eat hot dogs,” Hermione said. Harry and Ron's eyes widened. Had they heard her right? Hermione raised her voice: “If the world is full of war, can this wish still come true? Will she be forced to join the Ministry of Magic, wielding a wand and fighting Muggles? And ultimately die in some conflict?”

Harry's heart sank; he couldn't imagine that scene.

Luna Lovegood, eccentric and quirky yet intelligent and kind, always seemed calm and unmoved by anything. But if Mr. Xenophilius Lovegood were to die in the conflict… He shook his head violently, unwilling to think about it further. He didn’t want to know what Luna would become.

“Luna wants to become a magical creature expert, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I want to become Minister for Magic and participate in the series of major changes that will inevitably occur in the magical world after the move towards peace. You two want to become Aurors—which happens to allow us to protect the ideals of others while realizing our own—”

She suddenly turned her gun on Ron. "Didn't you ask if our names would appear in Professor Hyp's legendary tales?" Ron paused, then desperately tried to recall, "Um... yes, that's true. Neville said more than one character appears in the storybooks."

“Actually, there’s another way,” Hermione said.

"What is it?" Harry asked quickly.

“Everyone—” Hermione pointed to Harry and Ron, then to herself, “you, me, everyone in the wizarding world, we are all part of this legendary drama, we are all legends!”

Let me say a few words from my heart.

This book is nearing its end, and in order to write a complete story, the issue of the female lead must be addressed; it can't be ignored. It has to be either a single female lead or no romantic pairing. Now it's confirmed that Hermione will be the female lead.

Some readers may recall that until near the end of the fourth-year storyline, it was still uncertain who would time travel. Harry and Hermione both received the same information: anyone could go. This was because the author himself was undecided and only finalized the decision at the last minute (if Harry had been chosen, the Jane Foster storyline would have been scrapped).

The entire sixth-year storyline was added at the last minute; it wasn't in the outline. The original plan was for Dumbledore to die in his battle with Voldemort, and for Grindelwald to escape from his cell and wreak havoc. Why did it change? Because they couldn't bear to leave Dumbledore with any regrets.

And so, the sixth grade came about.

This part of the plot is actually a bit thin, so resolving the previous foreshadowing, the intersection of wizarding society and Muggle society, and the trio's coming of age (growing up) are all important parts.

Out of concern, Hermione's growth was moved to the present.

The author previously stated that he wouldn't write ambiguous plots, and I indeed don't think the previous chapter was ambiguous. Just like writing about Ron's character flaws was to show his growth.

Of course, there's another reason: since Hermione is confirmed to be the female lead, there needs to be some flashback scenes to avoid a jarring ending.

Why choose a single female lead over a no-romance pairing? It's because I couldn't bear to. The protagonist lives for many years, and everyone can predict that he will become the principal, remain behind the scenes, explore the stars, and overlook the vicissitudes of the world. It would be too lonely if he were alone.

Chapter 696 Gringotts' Dragon Roar

At the Futureworld Corporation headquarters, Felix, Sirius, and Lupin were scattered in three corners of the office. Felix was reclining on the sofa reading a newspaper, Sirius was leaning against the door frame and tossing a ball of yarn around, and Lupin was sitting behind his desk, facing a thick stack of documents.

"That's what she said?" Felix read a newspaper article from a couple of weeks ago, which contained an obituary written by Ephias Dorji, his finger pausing in the middle.

“You gave her the inspiration,” Sirius said absentmindedly, his eyes fixed on the window. “That public appearance made Amelia realize the role of students, and she thought it was worth a try—last time, when she brought a group of Aurors, the goblins almost released the dragons from the vault.”

"Is the situation that serious?" Lupin looked up and asked seriously.

“I judged they wouldn’t dare, but the appearance of the Fairy Brotherhood has complicated things,” Sirius said with a gloomy expression. He had participated in the last round of negotiations, during which the two sides were at loggerheads. “Their spokesperson—that guy named Cross-Eyes Bod—demanded a new Fairy Rights Bill and talked at length about the great history of the Fairy Kingdom, how a certain king had utterly defeated the wizards…”

Fairy Kingdom? Felix thought for a moment; it was basically a term that only existed in books and exam papers.

Because of their different appearance from humans, fairies actually appeared in groups earlier than wizards. Although they were called kingdoms, they were not much different from centaur tribes and mermaid tribes. In ancient times, there may have been more than a dozen fairy kingdoms at the same time.

Unlike other magical races, fairies are more ambitious. They not only developed their own language and magical system, but also appeared as skilled metalworkers, exchanging knowledge with wizards and learning from and imitating their strengths.

Wizards' current dominant position in the magical world has not been without its challenges. They have faced challenges from various races, some of which have even disappeared forever. Among them, fairies resisted the longest, with rebellions erupting as late as the 17th and 18th centuries, only subsiding in the last century.

Therefore, in general, the period during which wizards held an absolute advantage over fairies was not long, and it was closely related to the non-magical world—with the increase in productivity, ordinary people have experienced several population booms in the last few hundred years, and the number of wizards has naturally increased as well.

……

"...There are quite a few organizations like this in the magical world, and many of them are founded by wizards." Lupin said calmly, "For example, a witch named Heliotop Willis came to my door to promote her troll security service. She is also the leader of a troll rights organization."

"The Troll Rights Organization?" Felix asked curiously. "Can they read the organization's bylaws?"

“It’s obvious that the woman did it,” Sirius scoffed, his voice a mocking bark. “All the trolls had to do was stand behind her with their clubs.”

“Or stand behind the goblins,” Lupin continued. “I rejected her. We have our own defense system. She revealed that she will be discussing cooperation with Gringotts next.”

“I wish her good luck,” Felix said, holding up the newspaper and shifting his piercing, light blue gaze toward Gringotts. His eyes seemed to be the same color as the sky.

A few streets away from them, in Gringotts, which faces Sword Castle, Ms. Burns and several students sat on one side of a long table, while on the other side sat twelve goblins in suits and ties.

One of the fairies was examining a simple, crudely shaped plate closely with a magnifying glass.

Ms. Burns' expression was flat. Hermione sat to her left, her hand trembling slightly under the table from nervousness. Her gaze kept shifting between the goblins and the thick stack of documents in front of her. To Ms. Burns' right was Harry, and one seat away was Draco Malfoy, whom Ms. Burns had chosen against all odds when she came to school that morning.

Her reasoning was that Malfoy's ancestors had facilitated negotiations between fairies and wizards, and that Lucius Malfoy knew many secrets that might come in handy.

They were facing away from an area that resembled a window, but the place where there should have been a window was now empty, and it was pitch black outside. Faint growls could be heard rising from the ground, sending chills down their spines.

“The workmanship is terrible, there’s no beauty in it at all,” the fairy with the magnifying glass kept finding fault. “It can’t compare to our carefully crafted silverware. But, without a doubt, it’s a very old antique, and the clay used seems to be a bit special… Gringotts is willing to pay fifty Galleons to buy it.”

"This is not for sale."

Ms. Burns breathed a sigh of relief, then realized something: the disc was real, the wizard's relics were real. A surge of courage welled up within her.

"...Strange, I can't even tell where it came from," the fairy said in confusion. "The fairy community has records of soil from all over the world, but the soil used for this pottery dish contains some special components, the role of which in the forging process is still uncertain—where did you get it from?"

Ms. Burns smiled slightly. “You’re right, Nagnock. This was brought back from the moon by Felix Heap, who was lucky enough to discover the ruins of an ancient wizard.”

The fairy Nagnok stared at her. "You mean this thing comes from the moon?"

Ms. Burns nodded demurely.

The fairies whispered among themselves.

A cross-eyed goblin said with a grim expression, "I don't believe you! Let me check again!" He jumped up from his chair. Although the goblin was short, his fingers were unusually long. Just as his fingernails touched the plate, Harry, sitting opposite him, suddenly reached out and moved the plate away from the goblin.

"Bodrick, stop causing trouble!" a fairy scolded angrily.

Bodrick, who was cross-eyed, caught nothing but air and reluctantly sat back down in his chair.

“Mr. Harry Potter,” the goblin who had just spoken up to stop him greeted him coldly, “it feels like just yesterday that you first came to Gringotts.”