The moment the newcomer stepped into the classroom, John's whole body trembled.
He reached out, pointing at the boy in disbelief. After a long moment, he said in surprise, "You're okay!?"
"Yes, John! It's all thanks to you this time. You're really a good person!"
The boy was emotional too, eyes red, and as he spoke, it became clear he was the same young boy who had been drenched in boiling syrup earlier and sent to the hospital, horribly burned.
Today's entire uproar had started because of that boy, and John had suffered terribly because of it.
Now, meeting again, John grabbed the boy excitedly, greeting him and carefully checking over his head and face.
But as he looked more closely, confusion appeared on John's face.
"Your injuries… how did they heal so fast?"
John hesitated.
He wasn't a specialist in healing magic, but since potion-making and healing shared some overlap, he knew a bit about it.
From his experience, injuries like the boy's shouldn't have healed so quickly. Even if he wasn't bedridden for several days, it shouldn't have been possible for him to walk into the room perfectly fine right after being sent to the infirmary.
Hearing this, the boy's expression quickly shifted from gratitude to guilt. He lowered his head and said softly, "I'm sorry, John."
John froze. That sudden apology made a bad feeling rise in his heart. He frowned, gripped the boy's shoulders, and asked in a low voice, "What on earth is going on?"
The boy kept his head down and stayed silent.
At that moment, Link spoke from the side.
"It's simple, because he was never really injured."
"How is that possible? I saw it with my own eyes, he..."
"That's exactly what I'm asking you," Link interrupted.
"Can you be sure that what you saw was real? Wake up, John, you were deceived."
John looked dazed, as if his world had tilted.
After all, the only thing that had kept him going earlier, through everything that happened, was his desperate determination to save that boy.
And now Link was telling him it was all fake.
Then what was the meaning of everything he'd done?
Clinging to one last shred of hope, John turned toward George and Fred.
"Sigh… John," George said, "I'll be honest with you. Today's incident was a performance we put on."
"That boy was an actor we paid well to play his part. The cauldron he knocked over wasn't filled with syrup at all, it was another kind of sticky fluid. It could cause a mild burn, but nothing serious. The worst it would do is look dramatic."
George and Fred explained, taking turns speaking. When they noticed John's face growing darker and darker, they hurriedly changed their tone.
"But you were amazing today! We all admire you!"
"Yeah, John! From now on, you're our new hero! One man standing up to dozens, you're even more Gryffindor than we are! The Sorting Hat putting you in Hufflepuff was a total waste of your talent!"
John didn't respond to their flattery at all.
Right now, his heart was filled with fury over being deceived.
He clenched his fists, teeth grinding as he glared at George and Fred and asked, word by word, "Why did you do this!?"
"Ah… well…"
The twins immediately fell silent and turned their heads toward Link in unison.
Link smiled slightly, rubbed the yo-yo hanging from his neck, and calmly explained the cooperation between himself and the Weasley twins.
Of course, he didn't mention anything about his real plan, to use money to win people over. He simply said he wanted to create a new platform that would let students earn some income.
Link didn't want Cedric or John knowing too much about the true reason yet.
It wasn't that he didn't trust them, but in a world where spells like Legilimency and Cruciatus existed, secrets could not always be kept by willpower alone.
After hearing Link's explanation, John looked even more lost.
After a long silence, he stammered, "I… I still don't quite understand. If you just wanted to start a new factory, why not apply through the Student Council and Headmaster Dumbledore directly? Why go through all this trouble?"
Hearing that, Link's smile deepened.
He had expected that question. Sitting upright, he asked in return, "After everything that happened today, you saw how those students treated you, didn't you?"
"Yeah," John scratched his head, confused. "But wasn't all of that arranged by you guys?"
Link shook his head without answering.
George and Fred gave wry smiles and said, "John, you know us. Do you really think we'd spend that much money hiring so many actors?"
"Exactly. The only actor we ever hired was that little boy."
"Our original plan was simple, have the boy pretend to get badly hurt, then we'd jump out and stop people from taking him to the infirmary. After that, we'd throw out some sarcastic, provocative remarks."
"That would stir everyone's anger, and once things got heated, Link and his group would step in to calm it down. The whole thing was never meant to target you."
"Who would've thought those guys would be that shameless? Except for you, not one person stood up, not even a whisper of protest. Worse, they even sided with the crowd."
"In the end, we really owe you, John."
"If you hadn't held your ground, we wouldn't have known how to end it."
John sat motionless, eyes empty, completely dazed.
The repeated twists of the day had shaken him to the core.
First, the friends he worked with every day had abandoned their conscience and turned against him. Then, he'd found a glimmer of hope through Link and the Weasley brothers. But in the end, that hope was mercilessly shattered too.
After everything, even the pain of betrayal had dulled.
All that remained was speechless numbness.
"I know you're confused right now," Link said, taking over the conversation again.
"But that's just human nature. Under self-interest, it's hard to make people see their mistakes. The Muggle world has done a lot of research on this, maybe you can read up on it."
John nodded blankly.
Seeing that, Link stood, grabbed John's arm, and gave it a shake to make him look at him.
"I'm telling you all this for two reasons. One, because I don't want my brother being kept in the dark and tricked like this. And two, because there's something very important I need you to do."
Before John could react, Link continued, "The new factory we're setting up, I don't have the time or energy to manage it properly. So, I want you to be the one to take charge."
"And if you're going to be a good manager, you need to understand something, troublemakers always exist."
"Even when you truly mean well and want to do something good for everyone, there will always be people who, for one reason or another, oppose you. So, if you want to manage successfully, you must learn to see these people clearly, and you can't afford to be soft-hearted."
"I know your head's a mess right now. Go home, think about it carefully, and give me your answer when you're ready."
John still looked dazed.
He nodded slowly and stumbled out of the classroom, his steps unsteady.
Everything that had happened, everything Link said, it had shaken him deeply.
He really did need time to think.
Meanwhile, George and Fred seized their moment to speak.
"Link, what about us? You've achieved what you wanted, so what do we do next?"
But Link's tone toward them was much colder.
He shot them a sideways glance and said, "What else? Keep running your workshop. The paperwork issues have all been sorted, haven't they?"
Fred wanted to argue, but Link cut him off with a cold tone.
"Don't forget, we have a contract."
Hearing that, George and Fred finally gave up on pressing for more benefits. Under Link's watchful eyes, they left the classroom with the boy.
Bang!
The classroom door slammed shut behind them, echoing through the room.
Now only Link remained.
Their discussion had gone on for several hours.
Outside, the sky was already pitch-black.
In the darkness, Link let out a long sigh and slumped back into his chair, relaxing completely.
There weren't many people in Hogwarts he truly trusted, John was one of the few.
And since John's financial situation was dire, Link genuinely wanted to help him.
That, in truth, was Link's main reason for wanting John to manage the factory.
Most of what he'd said earlier had been clever persuasion, even manipulation, half-truths wrapped in logic.
But since the essence aligned with the idea that "a kind man shouldn't lead an army, and a righteous man shouldn't hold the purse," John hadn't noticed the inconsistencies.
At this point, it didn't matter.
Everything was already unfolding exactly as Link had planned. Even if John later figured it out, he wouldn't be able to walk away from the help Link had given him.
———
At the same time, in the Headmaster's office, another conversation was still underway.
The heads of the four Houses and Umbridge sat around a long table, silently watching Dumbledore at the head seat.
Earlier, Professor McGonagall had already explained the details about Link and Cedric's plan to establish a new factory.
She personally supported the idea, and in her account, she had deliberately phrased things in a way that favored Link.
But though her support mattered, the final decision rested with Dumbledore alone.
After a long, thoughtful silence, Dumbledore finally spoke.
"What do you all think, can this work?"
"Of course it can," said Professor Sprout immediately.
"This plan doesn't just benefit the students, it's good for Hogwarts too. According to the proposal, the Student Council's factories will sell their products to Hogwarts at cost price, as long as they break even."
"That'll greatly reduce Hogwarts' operating expenses. Besides, Dumbledore, Link's doing this out of pure goodwill. We can't discourage such selflessness."
As soon as she finished, Professor Flitwick, perched on a chair stacked with books, added, "I agree. Beyond what Professor Sprout said, having workshops and factories on campus will give students a taste of real-world labor. It'll make them tougher and more appreciative of their current lives."
Professor Sprout and Flitwick's strong support moved Professor McGonagall, and she nodded at them gratefully.
What she didn't know, however, was that Sprout, Flitwick, and even Snape had all already been persuaded by Link and Cedric beforehand.
Of course, they would now back her up.
As for Snape, he didn't voice support, but neither did he oppose it. His silence, in itself, was the greatest support he could give Link.
After hearing the others' opinions, Dumbledore nodded.
Just as Link had expected, Dumbledore could never reject something that clearly benefited Hogwarts far more than it harmed it.
Moreover, with the Death Eater situation keeping him endlessly busy, he needed the school to remain stable, and Link's project contributed to that stability.
Still, even though Dumbledore had already made up his mind, he didn't announce it right away. Instead, he turned to the corner, where Umbridge sat silently, and asked, "Professor Umbridge, what do you think?"
"Ahem…" Umbridge clearly liked Dumbledore's tone. She cleared her throat delicately and said, "The three professors have made excellent points, and I, of course, support this plan as well."
Then she changed tone. "However, regarding the implementation, I don't think the Student Council alone should supervise the workshops and factories. We need stronger oversight. For example, assigning a supervising professor to manage the system."
She smiled sweetly. "As for who that supervising professor should be… hehe, I believe I'd make an excellent choice."
"No way!"
Before she even finished, Professor McGonagall cut her off sharply. "I have full confidence in our Student Council. They are perfectly capable of handling this themselves. And even if a professor must be assigned, it should be one of the four House heads, not you, a mere Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
As soon as McGonagall finished, the other professors quickly voiced their opposition as well, even Snape.
The regular staff might not know that Umbridge was a Ministry representative, or her true mission at Hogwarts, but the House Heads certainly did.
They already despised her and would never allow her to interfere in the still-developing workshop system.
Otherwise, given time, that system would stop being a charitable, win-win project and turn into a weapon for Umbridge and the Ministry to use against Hogwarts.
But despite the barrage of objections, Umbridge's face remained perfectly calm.
Her small, beady eyes swept across the professors before finally settling on Dumbledore.
"Headmaster Dumbledore," she said softly, "what do you think?"
"My opinion?" Dumbledore lowered his head slightly, thinking for a moment before smiling.
"Let's proceed as discussed. The workshops and factories may be established, but they will require oversight from a supervising professor. That professor will be… Professor Umbridge."
As soon as he spoke, McGonagall and the others' faces turned dark.
While Umbridge's lips curved into the smug smile of a victor.