"Good morning, everyone."
Bathed in the bright morning sunlight, Tver strode into the long-unused arena. Compared to him, however, the students were even more excited for today's class.
"Hm?"
Tver blinked. Only when Dumbledore and Grindelwald, seated in the stands, smiled and waved at him did he realize this was not an illusion.
For some reason, a large crowd had appeared in the stands to observe the class.
All the school staff, former staff members like Lupin, officials from the Ministry of Magic such as Barty and Marvolio, members of the Wizards' Confederation like Fudge, Babajide, and Viktor Krum...
Tver even saw Rita Skeeter taking photos, and Frost hurriedly setting up a camera.
So Catherine clapping excitedly and Joanne holding her by the neck were already not worth being surprised about.
"They heard you were personally giving the students a graduation lesson and thought this might be the final class of your teaching career, so they all came over."
Cynthia appeared behind him at just the right moment and explained quietly.
"...Thank you."
Tver looked at the massive crowd with complicated feelings.
Originally, to take care of the students who had not made it into the advanced class, he had already made an exception and allowed all seventh-year students to attend this lesson.
As a result, a whole group of adults had appeared out of nowhere, along with a child who would only start school in a few years.
Fortunately, Tver was already used to speaking in public. If it were anyone else, they would probably have panicked.
"P-Professor, we don't have to do anything today, do we?" Seamus asked, stammering.
"No. Why?"
"N-nothing." Seamus and the students around him immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "With all these people watching, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to hold my wand properly."
"..."
Looking at the panicked students, Tver's mood instead improved a little.
"This is society, everyone. Especially after the repeal of The Statute of Secrecy, every action we take as wizards will be watched by hundreds of millions of people through a magnifying glass."
"But before you step into such a society, are you ready?"
"Or..."
Tver swept his gaze around and noticed that some students became deeply uncomfortable under his eyes.
"Are you going to be like you were just now, panicked and at a loss, waiting for your professors or your families to guide you?"
"That won't happen anymore, everyone. This is society. From the moment you graduate, you'll need to think about your own lives."
"You'll think about whether this month's wages are enough to buy bread, whether there is still room in your budget to replace your torn robe, and even what you should eat for dinner tonight."
"I don't need to think about those things..." Draco muttered quietly.
Tver immediately glared at him, but seeing the students' confused expressions, he did not rush.
"Actually, I probably shouldn't be the one saying this." He spread his hands helplessly. "After all, I only graduated seven years ago. I'm not even twenty-five yet, and I haven't really experienced much of society myself."
"To many of the elders in the stands, the social troubles I'm talking about probably sound like whining over nothing."
"..."
For some reason, the students suddenly wanted very badly to go up and punch the professor.
The professor was only twenty-five, yet he already possessed world-class magical power, could strategize on the global political stage, and had protected the peace of both the wizarding world and the entire world.
Ordinary people could not do those things even at fifty-two.
"Ahem."
Noticing the sudden resentment in everyone's faces, Tver quickly put that line of thought away.
"But no matter what, before you face the unknown future, the only guidance I can give you is this."
"Don't give up easily."
Looking at the thoughtful crowd, Tver suddenly laughed for no apparent reason.
"Do you know what I used to hate most? People being deliberately mysterious."
"Especially those so-called successful people. What everyone wants to hear is the secret to their success, but they stand there arrogantly and say that as long as you keep going, you will naturally succeed. It really makes you want to punch them."
Hearing the professor mock himself, the students burst into laughter, and much of the solemn atmosphere faded.
Once they had laughed enough, Tver spoke again.
"Exactly. Who hasn't heard the line that persistence leads to success? But in the end, how many people truly succeed?"
"Unfortunately, I still ended up becoming the kind of person I once hated most."
"Because this is the truth, everyone. Society is very practical. If you want to achieve your goals, you will always have to give something."
"The techniques, abilities, and everything else I can teach you, I have already taught you. Now that you are about to graduate, what I can tell you really is only persistence."
"You could even say that persistence is the simplest thing in the world, and also the hardest."
"Of course, for most people, if you don't have some grand goal you want to achieve, there is no need to cling too stubbornly to anything."
"But when you step into society and find yourself lost, helpless, unsure of what to do, unsure whether what you are doing is right, unsure where the future lies..."
"Then you might as well try to persist in what you believe is right. Persist in the ideas within you that others may not understand. Persist in the goal you first wanted to achieve."
"When you're tired, you can rest. When you encounter an obstacle you cannot overcome for the moment, you can try another direction. No matter what, do not give up on yourselves too easily."
"Perhaps such a life will be tiring and difficult, but I believe that after you get through the hardest moments and look back, you will surely thank yourselves for not choosing to give up."
"It is not that we have done something great. The fact that we were able to keep going is already great enough."
Looking at the students' still somewhat confused and youthful faces, Tver knew that most of them would only become ordinary members of society, living ordinary lives.
But life was like that. There was no rule saying that anyone had to live brilliantly. Being able to live the life one wanted was already the best result.
With that in mind, Tver let out a soft breath and looked at them with an encouraging smile.
Though his heart was filled with reluctance, he understood that it was time to say goodbye.
"Everyone, the future is still waiting to be written. But for now..."
"Happy graduation."