“Caccini is not a member of the League of Scholars, and you should know that she is not qualified,” Graplan said.
No, I don’t know, Scott thought.
Who knows what the criteria are for recruiting new people?
“But one of her relatives is,” Grapeland quickly added.
Scott glanced at Graplan with confusion, “Then let her relatives earn enough credits to fulfill her wish.”
“He’s dead.” Grupplan shrugged.
“…”
At this moment, Scott wanted to ask, what does all this have to do with me?
“Caccini got some credits left by that person, but they were not enough to exchange for what she wanted.” Grapeland glanced at Milton again as he spoke, “That boy also does not meet the recruitment standards of the Scholar Alliance.”
Afterwards, she looked at Scott with a smile.
“If it were you, you should be able to redeem some credits.” She said in a bewitching tone, “In this way, the wishes of the two children can come true.”
Scott also turned to look at Milton.
Milton, who was standing ten steps away, was looking here nervously, holding his wand in his hand.
When he caught Scott’s gaze, he quickly shook his head at Scott.
Scott read the look in his eyes.
[Please don’t agree to any of her conditions because of me! ]
This was what Milton was eager to express.
“That child is your good friend, he is very worried about you.” Graplan continued, “Don’t you want your good friend to realize his wish?”
Scott withdrew his gaze and looked at Graplan again.
He suddenly grinned and said, “Miss Grapeland, do you think I am a guy who likes selfless dedication?”
“But he is one of your best friends.” Graplan said, “And Caccini’s ex-boyfriend, that tall boy over there, is also your good friend. He feels sorry for her.”
“What does it have to do with me?” Scott said calmly.
At this time, even if he cared about his friends, he wouldn’t let Grapeland see the clues.
Grapeland looked at him for a while, as if he wanted to confirm the truth of what he said.
Although he did not notice any traces of Legilimency being used by the other party, Scott had already used Occlumency to be prepared.
In Scott’s calm eyes, Grapeland looked like he had no choice but to compromise.
She said to Scott with a very painful look on her face: “Well, as long as you join the Scholars Alliance, I can make up some credits for Caccini, so that those two children can get their own talents back!”
“No rush.” Scott was still unmoved.
He reached out and handed the parchment back to Graplan.
“I think I still need time to think about it,” he said.
Graplan stared at him for a few seconds, then reached out and took the parchment.
She took a deep puff of her signature sage cigarette into the pipe and slowly exhaled the smoke.
“No problem,” she said, “I can give you time to think about it.”
Scott smiled with satisfaction and said to her: “Since Professor Dumbledore knows your identity, he should also know about the so-called League of Scholars.”
“Of course.” Graplan said affirmatively.
Scott deliberately asked her, “So is Professor Dumbledore a member of the League of Scholars? Probably so. After all, he is the greatest wizard of this century. Maybe he is a wizard who has won the title of [Grand Scholar]?”
“No.” The friendly smile on Graplan’s face became a little forced, “Unfortunately, Professor Dumbledore is not one of us.”
Seeing the disappointed expression on Scott’s face, she quickly explained: “Although Professor Dumbledore is great, he has been active on the front line against dark wizards all year round and is not a pure scholar.”
Scott asked again, “What about Professor Flitwick? Professor Barbling? Professor Victor? They are all scholarly wizards who will not participate in politics. Or you can tell me directly, except for Miss Grapeland, which other professor has joined the Scholars Union?”
“Unfortunately, it’s just me.” Graplan said a little discouraged.
Scott said in a puzzled tone: “Don’t tell me, these professors do not meet the recruitment standards of the Scholars Alliance.”
Before Grapeland could speak again, he spoke again, “I will seek advice from the professors on this matter and give you an answer in the next Care of Magical Creatures class.”
As he spoke, he flicked his wand to remove the soundproofing spell.
“Good night, Miss Grapeland.”
Then he turned around and greeted his three roommates.
“We should go.”
The three roommates immediately ran to his side quickly and looked at Graplan with some caution.
Grapeland just waved goodbye, “Good night, boys.”
Scott took one last look at Caccini standing on the other side and walked out of the activity room first.
In the darkness, no one spoke.
Under the leadership of Scott, the four people smoothly passed through the corridor and reached the ground floor of the castle.
“Huh, it’s finally out.” Eddie patted his chest and lowered his voice and said, “Even if I just passed by Snape’s office, I was still so nervous that my heart almost jumped out of my chest.”
Milton also spoke to Scott, “Scott…”
“Don’t talk yet.” Scott raised his hand to stop him, “We’ll talk about it when we get back to the dormitory.”
Milton nodded.
Scott led them around the castle for several circles, successfully avoiding Mrs. Norris who didn’t sleep at night and Peeves who didn’t need to sleep at all, and successfully returned to the dormitory on the upper floor of Ravenclaw Tower.
As soon as he entered the dormitory, Eddie couldn’t wait to say: “Scott, hurry up, tell us, what did Miss Grubbly say to you?”
Scott first took off his robe and hung it on the hanger, then sat on the bed and took off his shoes and socks.
“Hurry up, brother!” Eddie urged again, impatient.
“Scott, you didn’t agree to any conditions?” Milton also asked worriedly, “I think we’d better not believe what Caccini and Miss Grubbly said first.”
Roger also said: “We should tell Professor Flitwick about what happened tonight. Our assistant teacher of Care of Magical Creatures, Miss Grubbly, is a little abnormal. Maybe Caccini was also deceived by her.”
Scott listened to them talking, slowly changed into pajamas, and after lying in bed, he began to repeat his conversation with Grubbly.
After hearing his words, the dormitory fell into a brief silence.
After a long while, Eddie spoke first again.
“Do you think what she said is true?” He asked in a strange tone, “Does the magic world still have such a large and ancient magic society?”
Roger said: “I think she is talking nonsense. I have never heard of the Scholars’ Union. Milton, what about you?”
Milton said: “I haven’t heard of it either, but I think it should be true. After all, Miss Grubbly-Plank told Scott that Professor Dumbledore also knew about this organization.”
“Okay.” Roger said, “Even if it is true, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick have not joined them, which shows that this organization is not as good as she said.”
“Scott, you’d better reject her directly. Even if what she said is true, I think you’d better not join any organization.” Eddie also disagreed with Scott joining the Scholars’ Union.
Without waiting for others to ask why, he took the initiative to express his thoughts, “If what she said is true, how terrible is the so-called Scholars’ Union? That organization constantly recruits wizards who are called geniuses and gathers the wisdom of all of them. Is it really just to pass on the wizard civilization?”
Roger added: “Although I don’t think most wizards will easily come up with their own original knowledge, there will always be wizards who will encounter problems that they can’t solve. After they have such a channel, they can’t help but exchange the so-called credits.”
Eddie continued, “Knowledge is money and power. It’s just that the wisdom of some people gathered together is enough to create a huge force that is much deeper than the foundation of a pure-blood family.”
Roger said in an amazed tone: “If the Scholars’ Union is really just an academic exchange organization, it’s okay. If the wizards in charge of this organization have ambitions, then the power it possesses may subvert the world.”
Listening to the two people’s increasingly outrageous speculations, Scott quickly spoke up to interrupt their terrible associations.
“It’s not that serious,” he said. “I’ll go talk to Professor Dumbledore about it. Let me hear what our headmaster has to say first.”
Unexpectedly, Scott received a letter from Dumbledore the next morning.
The letter contained an invitation for afternoon tea written in a unique cursive handwriting with circles connected to each other.
“Afternoon tea?” Roger glanced at the invitation in Scott’s hand. “There is a potion class this afternoon.”
“Of course I’ll go after that potion class.” Scott put away the invitation.
After a potion class in the afternoon, Scott came to the headmaster’s office to keep the appointment.
Dumbledore prepared a bunch of snacks with various varieties.
“Come and sit down, Scott.” He greeted Scott warmly. “I can’t wait. Tasting delicious food always makes people happy.”
Scott thanked him and sat down.
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 failed to monitor what happened last night in real time, the portraits throughout the castle would tell him what happened last night.
“Yes, I want to talk to you.” He said, “About Miss Grubblyn.”
“Oh, eat quickly.” Dumbledore picked up the knife and fork to split the small cake on the plate, and greeted Scott at the same time.
After taking a big bite of the sweet cream cake, he squinted his eyes comfortably.
He said to Scott: “Miss Grubblyn, you already know her identity, right? I remember Ms. Grey came to ask me, and you asked her.”
“Yes.” Scott lowered his head, picked up the teacup and took a sip, “Because Ms. Grey said you know Miss Grubblyn’s true identity, so I didn’t care about it anymore.”
“Oh, I see, thank you for your trust, Scott.” Dumbledore said happily.
“You’re welcome, you are always trustworthy, Professor Dumbledore.” Scott said.
“Thank you for your compliment, I remember you like this more.” Dumbledore waved his hand, and several beef patties with meaty aroma jumped onto the plate in front of Scott.
“Miss Grubbly-Plank has invited you?” he asked.
“Yes, a magical association she calls the Scholars’ Union.” Scott said, “Although her introduction sounds good, what makes me feel strange is that no one among the professors at Hogwarts has joined that organization. organize.”
After speaking, he took a bite of the delicious, meaty beef patty and waited for Dumbledore’s explanation.
“The League of Scholars is indeed an ancient magical association.” Dumbledore said. “I still remember that when I was a student, someone invited me to join them.”
Scott, who was chewing beef patties, looked at him in surprise.
Dumbledore seemed lost in memories.
“I asked the wizard who invited me, since the Scholars Alliance has accumulated incredible knowledge, why not turn this knowledge into power for greater benefits? The wizard immediately expressed regret for inviting me.”
Having said this, he smiled to himself.
“He told me that the Alliance of Scholars exists only to ensure the continuation of wizard civilization. Unless wizard civilization is on the verge of collapse, they will not participate in any form of struggle.”
Scott swallowed the food in his mouth and asked curiously, “Do you think he is telling the truth?”
“I don’t think he lied.” Dumbledore said. “I also think that the gentleman’s words can only represent his own thoughts.”
Understand, Scott thought, no one can guarantee that everyone in an organization has the same idea.
Dumbledore added: “The Scholars Union closed the door to me, but the inviter did not. He became my teacher and friend and gave me a lot of help. You should have heard of his name, Nicolas Flamel.” ”
“The most famous alchemist in modern times.” Scott opened his eyes wide. “I didn’t expect that he was also a member of the Scholars Alliance. His lifespan is longer than the history of the Scholars Alliance. Could it be…”
Dumbledore denied his speculation, “Nick is not the founder of the League of Scholars, and he does not have much interest in reviving ancient magic.”
Scott nodded in understanding.
It seems that the famous alchemist joined after the Scholars Alliance later did not restrict members’ research directions.
“Knowledge Bank.” He said, “Is the so-called Knowledge Bank a work in which Nicolas Flamel participated?”
Dumbledore nodded and said with a smile: “Nick told me that although he was working with others, the large magic device was the work that made him more proud than the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
Hearing him say this, 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 have received invitations. Maybe everyone has rejected them.”
Scott felt that this answer was not very reliable. How could everyone refuse the invitation? It’s reasonable to say that I didn’t even receive an invitation.
He addressed Dumbledore directly: “I need your advice on this matter, Professor.”
