"Hmph. They would have to be caught first, wouldn't they? Besides, I'm the victim here. You can go now. Contact me if anything else comes up," Alan said dismissively.
Rozier could only nod and turn to leave Alan's room.
"It seems my guess was correct. Those boys haven't dared to use direct force in the school recently. Professor Bones has indeed been monitoring the entire academy. But this afternoon, he was clearly unaware of what I did in the lavatory. Does that mean his focus is primarily on the older students?" Alan pondered the situation, forming a clearer picture of the school's internal security.
"I need to act quickly. They won't let this go. Over the next six months, I have to put that plan into motion," Alan thought, his mind made up.
A few days later, the Christmas holidays began. Alan decided to stay on campus this year, dedicating all his energy to arming himself and maximizing his combat effectiveness. He moved back to the Forbidden Forest cabin to be closer to his training grounds. Through several letters with Augusta, he learned the grim reality of the Longbottoms' condition. Due to the prolonged torture of the Cruciatus Curse, Frank and Alice had suffered irreversible damage. Their memories were shattered, and they were confined to St. Mungo's Hospital for permanent care.
Reading between the lines of Augusta's replies, Alan could feel the weight of her agony. She was forcing herself to remain pillars of strength because little Neville needed her now more than ever.
"If they move first, they shouldn't blame me for the fallout," a cold, dangerous glint flashed in Alan's eyes.
Hagrid was delighted to have Alan back at the cabin for the holidays. However, apart from meals, Alan spent nearly every waking hour in his small room. Sharp, rhythmic banging sounds frequently echoed from behind his door.
Since it was Christmas, Alan asked Hagrid for a specific gift: a Chimera hide. The Chimera, a bloodthirsty creature native to Greece, possesses the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon. Hagrid had been using a piece of the tough, magically resistant skin as a pillow cover.
At dinner one evening, Hagrid noticed Alan buried in a book detailing the history of pure-blood families. He couldn't help but ask, "What's got you into those, Alan? You're not usually one for that kind of reading."
"It's best to know your enemy as well as yourself, Hagrid," Alan replied indifferently.
"Know your enemy? Why do I get a bad feeling when you say that?" Hagrid frowned.
"It's nothing," Alan said, shaking his head. "Did you know that the International Statute of Secrecy has been opposed by most pure-blood families since the day it was signed? They've tried to gather followers more than once to launch an all-out war against Muggles."
"Really? That sounds catastrophic," Hagrid said.
"But over the centuries, many of them have started to uphold the Statute quite strictly. That's why several of the 'Old Guard' families haven't sided with the Death Eaters," Alan explained. He had been devouring every periodical and gossip magazine he could find in the library to map out the wizarding social web.
"Oh? Why the change of heart?" Hagrid asked.
"Money, mostly. Many pure-blood families uphold the Statute while quietly intermarrying with the Muggle aristocracy or trading in their markets to swallow up assets and land. Many of these families hold high-ranking positions in the Muggle world's upper echelons. They have no intention of letting a few radical Death Eaters destroy their investments," Alan scoffed.
"And the other reason?"
"The other reason?" Alan looked at Hagrid and blinked. "Which side do you think would win if the wizarding and Muggle worlds actually went to war?"
"How should I know? But wizards have magic, so we'd have the upper hand, wouldn't we?" Hagrid answered honestly.
Alan shook his head. "No. If it came to open war, the wizarding world wouldn't stand a chance against a Muggle offensive. You're not a Muggle, so you don't realize that the power of their weaponry is beyond anything most wizards can imagine. We'd be lucky to survive the pursuit. Many pure-blood families who have maintained contact with the outside world understand this perfectly. They aren't interested in a suicide mission."
"What? Are Muggles really that terrifying? I've seen them; they don't even have magic. They can't make things vanish or turn a mouse into a teacup," Hagrid said, startled.
"Wizards have the advantage of supernatural power, yes, but in terms of raw destructive capability, we aren't even on the same level. Have you ever seen magic that can vaporize a small island with the flick of a finger?" Alan asked with a thin smile.
"Hiss... you're joking, right? No magic is that powerful." Hagrid looked incredulous.
"But Muggle weapons are. Protecting the Statute of Secrecy is the only way the wizarding world survives. However…" Alan paused.
"However what?"
"However, if wizards remain ignorant of the Muggle world—if their understanding stays frozen in the Middle Ages—they develop an ignorant sense of superiority, just like the Death Eaters. That is the real danger," Alan shrugged.
"You mean that kind of thinking is what starts groups like the Death Eaters? That's terrible! Does that mean even if they're gone now, another group just like them will show up in a few decades?" Hagrid asked, eyes wide.
Alan nodded. "Exactly. It's happened before. Grindelwald exploited that exact sentiment. Even now, organizations like the Purifiers in America and the Pure Land Society in Northern Europe are active. Because many wizards never see the reality of the Muggle world, they feel an unearned sense of superiority toward people who can't use magic. They become easy targets for someone with an agenda to mislead, exploit, and pull into depravity."
"Merlin's beard!" Alan's words were turning Hagrid's worldview upside down. The idea that the peaceful stability of the magical world was constantly threatened by these lurking ideologies was a shock he wasn't prepared for.
Would you like me to move to Alan's first successful use of the Chimera hide in his alchemical crafting or show his next training session with Charles?