The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

Before Grapland could speak again, he continued, "I will seek advice from the professors on this matter and give you an answer in the next class on the protection of magical creatures."

As he spoke, he flicked his wand and dispelled the soundproofing spell.

Good night, Miss Grappleland.

He then turned and called to his three roommates.

"We should go."

His three roommates immediately ran to his side, looking at Grapland with some wariness.

Grapland simply waved goodbye to them, "Goodnight, boys."

Scott glanced one last time at Kacchini standing on the other side before walking out of the activity room first.

In the darkness, no one spoke.

Led by Scott, the four of them successfully passed through the corridor and arrived at the ground floor of the castle.

"Phew, finally out." Eddie patted his chest and said in a low voice, "Even just passing by Snape's office, my heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest."

Milton also spoke to Scott, "Scott..."

"Don't speak yet," Scott raised his hand to stop him. "Let's talk when we get back to the dorm."

Milton nodded.

Scott led them around the castle several times, successfully avoiding Mrs. Lorris who never sleeps at night and Peeves who doesn't need to sleep at all, and they made it back to their bedroom in the Ravenclaw Tower.

As soon as Eddie entered the dormitory, he couldn't wait to say, "Scott, quick, tell us, what did Miss Grapland say to you?"

Scott first took off his robe and hung it on a hanger, then sat on the bed and took off his shoes and socks.

"Hurry up and say it, bro!" Eddie urged impatiently.

“Scott, you didn’t agree to any conditions, did you?” Milton asked worriedly. “I think we’d better not believe what Cachney and Miss Grapland say for now.”

Roger added, "We should tell Professor Flitwick about tonight's events. Our Magical Creatures Protection Assistant, Miss Glapland, is acting strangely. Maybe Kachini was fooled by her too."

Scott listened to their conversation, slowly changed into his pajamas, and got into bed before repeating his conversation with Grapland.

After hearing his words, the dormitory fell into a brief silence.

After a while, Eddie spoke first again.

"Do you think what she said is true?" he asked in a strange tone. "Does such a large and ancient magical society still exist in the magical world?"

Roger said, "I think she's talking nonsense. I've never heard of any scholars' alliance. Milton, what about you?"

Milton said, "I haven't heard of it either, but I think it must be true, after all, Miss Grapland told Scott that Professor Dumbledore also knew about the organization."

“Alright,” Roger said. “Even if it were true, neither Professor Dumbledore nor Professor Flitwick joined them, which shows that the organization isn’t as good as she claims.”

“Scott, you should just reject her outright. Even if what she says is true, I think you'd better not join any organization.” Eddie also disapproved of Scott joining the Scholars’ Union.

Before anyone else could ask why, he offered his own thoughts: "If what she said is true, how terrifying must the so-called Scholars' Alliance be? That organization keeps recruiting wizards who are called geniuses, gathering all their intellectual achievements, is it really just for the sake of preserving wizarding civilization?"

Roger added, "While I don't think most wizards would readily share their original knowledge, there will always be wizards who encounter problems they can't solve. Once they have access to such resources, they can't resist exchanging them for so-called credits."

Eddie chimed in, “Knowledge is money, it is power. The wisdom of just a few people combined is enough to create a far greater force than the foundation of a pure-blooded family.”

Roger exclaimed in astonishment, "If the Scholars' Union is really just an academic exchange organization, that's fine. But if the wizard who runs this organization is ambitious, then its power could potentially overturn the world."

As the two men's speculations grew increasingly outrageous, Scott quickly interrupted their horrifying thoughts.

“It’s not that serious,” he said. “I’ll go talk to Professor Dumbledore about it, but let me hear what our headmaster has to say first.”

To everyone's surprise, Scott received a letter from Dumbledore the very next morning.

The letter contained an invitation to afternoon tea written in a unique cursive script with circles connected to circles.

"Afternoon tea?" Roger glanced at the invitation in Scott's hand. "There's a Potions class this afternoon."

“Of course, I’ll go after that Potions class.” Scott put the invitation away.

After a potions class in the afternoon, Scott went to the principal's office for his appointment.

Dumbledore prepared a wide variety of desserts.

“Come and sit down, Scott,” he greeted Scott warmly. “I can’t wait. Enjoying delicious food always makes me happy.”

Scott thanked him and took his seat.

Dumbledore smiled and said, "I knew you would want to come and talk to me, so I invited you first."

Scott was not surprised by his words.

Even if Dumbledore couldn't monitor what happened last night in real time, the portraits scattered throughout the castle would tell him what happened.

“Yes, I would like to speak with you,” he said, “about Miss Grapland.”

"Oh, eat up!" Dumbledore said, picking up his knife and fork to cut the small cakes on his plate, while gesturing to Scott.

He took a big bite of the sweet, creamy cake and squinted his eyes contentedly.

He said to Scott, “Miss Grapland, you already knew her identity, didn’t you? I remember Ms. Gray came to ask me about it; it was you who asked her to do it.”

“Yes.” Scott lowered his head, picked up his teacup and took a sip. “Because Ms. Gray said that you knew Miss Grapland’s true identity, I didn’t pay any more attention to it.”

“Oh, I see. Thank you for your trust, Scott,” Dumbledore said cheerfully.

“You’re welcome. You’re always trustworthy, Professor Dumbledore,” Scott said.

“Thank you for the compliment. I remember you preferred this.” Dumbledore waved his hand, and several fragrant beef patties jumped onto Scott’s plate.

"It seems Miss Glapland has extended an invitation to you?" he asked.

“Yes, a magical society she called the Scholars’ Union,” Scott said. “While her introduction sounded good, what struck me as odd was that none of the Hogwarts professors were members of that organization.”

After saying that, he took a bite of the delicious and meaty beef patty and waited for Dumbledore's explanation.

“The Scholars’ Union is indeed an ancient magical society,” Dumbledore said. “I remember being invited to join them when I was a student.”

Scott, chewing on a beef patty, looked at him with some surprise.

Dumbledore seemed to be lost in his memories.

“I asked the wizard who invited me, since the Scholars’ Alliance has accumulated incredible knowledge, why not use this knowledge to power for greater benefits? The wizard immediately regretted inviting me.”

At this point, he chuckled to himself.

"He told me that the existence of the Scholars' Alliance was to ensure the continuation of wizarding civilization. Unless wizarding civilization was on the verge of extinction, they would not participate in any form of struggle."

Scott swallowed the food in his mouth and asked curiously, "Do you think he's telling the truth?"

“I don’t think he’s lying,” Dumbledore said. “I also think that the man’s words only represent his own thoughts.”

"I understand," Scott thought. "No one can guarantee that everyone in an organization thinks the same way."

Dumbledore added, “The Scholars’ Union closed its doors to me, but the one who invited me did not. He became my teacher and friend and helped me a great deal. You should have heard of him, Nicolas Flamel.”

“The most famous alchemist of modern times.” Scott’s eyes widened. “I never imagined he was also a member of the Scholars’ Union, and that his lifespan predates the history of the Scholars’ Union. Could it be…”

Dumbledore dismissed his guess, saying, "Nick was not the founder of the Scholars' Union, and he had little interest in reviving ancient magic."

Scott nodded to indicate that he understood.

It seems that the famous alchemist joined the Scholars' Union after it stopped restricting the research directions of its members.

“A knowledge bank,” he said. “Is the so-called knowledge bank a work in which Nicolas Flamel was involved?”

Dumbledore nodded and said with a smile, "Nick told me that although it was a collaboration, that large magical device was a work he was more proud of than the Philosopher's Stone."

Hearing him say that, Scott became even more curious about the so-called "knowledge bank".

"As for the other professors at Hogwarts," Dumbledore shook his head, "I don't know if they've received any invitations; perhaps they've all declined."

Scott thought this answer was unreliable; how could everyone refuse an invitation? It would be more reasonable to say that no one had received an invitation.

He said directly to Dumbledore, "I need your advice on this matter, Professor."

Chapter 273 Advice from the Principal and Dean

Dumbledore put down his knife and fork, picked up his silver teaspoon, and stirred the black tea in his cup.

“My advice is…” He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked at Scott, “Your decision is up to your heart.”

Scott returned a questioning look.

Dumbledore put down his teacup, smiled, and said, "What I mean is, you can join the Scholars' League."

Under Scott's surprised gaze, he continued, "But remember, you'd better just treat their [Knowledge Bank] as a trading platform, making necessary transactions in a measured way, and of course, always be careful to keep your rationality and not be tempted by greed."

He said seriously, "If you can do these things, then joining the so-called academic alliance will not have any negative impact on you."

Scott nodded, wanting to know more, so he said, "It seems this organization is not as harmless as Miss Grapland said."

"The Scholars' League is led by seven wizards who have earned the title of 'Great Scholar,' and Nico was one of them," Dumbledore said. "Since Nico's death, I have been unable to obtain any information about them."

Scott listened quietly to his story.

Dumbledore then gave him some more useful information.

"I can tell you two things."

“First, Nicole once hinted that there were also ideological differences among the [great scholars] who led the scholars’ union.”

"Secondly, Nico once showed me some things that could be redeemed with credits within that organization, and after seeing them, I was actually glad that I didn't join them."

"Could you please elaborate?" Scott requested, as he was not satisfied with such vague information.

Dumbledore did not refuse Scott's request and explained the situation to him in detail.

“Nico initially joined the Scholars’ League simply to exchange alchemy knowledge, but as he lived longer and his fame grew, he eventually earned the title of ‘Great Scholar.’”

"More than a hundred years ago, at the initiative of another [great scholar], seven [great scholars] at the time worked together to create what they called the greatest masterpiece of fusion magic rituals and alchemy—the [Knowledge Bank]."

"The emergence of the Knowledge Bank was initially a good thing for the Scholars' Union. That magical device, which could be called a great one, facilitated communication among members of the society and brought together members of the previously loosely organized society more closely."

"More importantly, its existence allows the Scholars' Alliance to better preserve the wisdom of wizarding civilization, and also makes it easier for this magical society to achieve its goal of passing on wizarding civilization."

"But there must be a 'but' next," Scott thought.

As he expected, Dumbledore immediately said "but".

"However, in the decades following the emergence of the [Knowledge Bank], two different schools of thought emerged among the members of the scholars' alliance."