That Hufflepuff boy had just barely gotten the words out of his mouth when he immediately felt something was wrong.
Standing in front of him right now was Link, last year's Triwizard Tournament champion, the one who had also driven away the Dark Wizards who attacked Hogwarts, a holder of the Second-Class Order of Merlin, and the one known as the strongest student in Hogwarts
Not to mention, even if you ignored all those titles that could make anyone straighten up just by hearing them, Link was also the most respected person within Hufflepuff House.
Over the years Link's behavior wasn't as friendly as Cedric's, and he wasn't the type to respond to every request, but overall he had definitely taken good care of them.
When the M.O.M.H.L factory was established recently, he had even deliberately reserved many good positions specifically for Hufflepuffs.
Even he himself had been working at the M.O.M.H.L factory lately and had earned a considerable amount of money.
'Where did I get the courage to speak to Link in that tone?'
Thinking that, the Hufflepuff boy felt extremely ashamed. He lowered his head and stammered, "What I mean is, my mother always told me the Dark Lord is already dead, that it's impossible for him to come back. I didn't mean to contradict you, I just…"
Before he could finish speaking, the surrounding Hufflepuffs who had realized what was happening had already encircled him.
Because thanks to Link's reputation within Hufflepuff House, the majority of the students Hermione brought this time were all Hufflepuffs.
The angry gazes of the surrounding classmates made the blond Hufflepuff boy choke halfway through his sentence and unable to continue.
At this moment Link walked over.
The crowd that had gathered instantly and instinctively parted, opening up a path for Link to walk straight to the blond Hufflepuff boy.
"I know, I understand. Longing for good things is the most basic instinct we have as humans. Sometimes, when I'm half asleep, I also try to imagine things in the best possible way, since that usually gives me a nice dream."
"But when I wake up the next day, I often use the exact opposite way of thinking to consider what I should do if things really develop toward the worst possible outcome."
"I believe that is the kind of thinking a mature man should have."
Link lifted the blond Hufflepuff boy's head, forcing him to make eye contact as he said, "Right now I must tell you, and everyone here, that Voldemort, the demon who tore countless families apart more than ten years ago, has really come back!"
"I can guarantee this using my surname, using the nearly thousand years of honor of the Flamel family!"
"And I believe Dumbledore can likewise guarantee it with his own reputation!"
"Whether you believe me and Dumbledore, or choose to believe Fudge, that Ministry of Magic Minister whose reputation is already in ruins, that is something you must judge for yourselves!"
The entire hall fell silent. Everyone had been shocked by Link's speech.
After a long while, the blond Hufflepuff boy who had questioned Link earlier raised his tightly clenched fist and shouted in a trembling voice, "Of course I believe you! Link! You're the best Hufflepuff!"
His roar was like a signal.
The surrounding Hufflepuffs quickly followed him, raising their arms and shouting, "Of course we believe you! Link!"
In the end, even students from the other Houses were influenced.
The roaring, wave-like shouts swept through the entire hall. And at this moment, standing at the very center of the crowd, Link made a gesture for quiet.
A shocking scene unfolded.
It was as if the students inside the hall were a perfectly trained symphony orchestra. Link had only just raised his hand in a conductor's gesture, and the people who had been enthusiastically shouting instantly went quiet again.
Of course, some students at the outermost edges didn't see Link's gesture.
But that didn't matter, their companions beside them would immediately cover their mouths, forcing them to cooperate with the "orchestra."
"Thank you all very much for your trust!" Link bowed calmly to the surrounding crowd, then pointed toward Hermione not far away.
"Next, Miss Hermione Granger will explain the specific process for joining our self-study organization and the things you need to pay attention to."
"Huh?"
Hermione had been so moved by Link's speech that she was on the verge of tears, gripping her sweaty palms tightly.
Hearing Link suddenly say that, she couldn't help but cry out in surprise.
And for Hermione, this was only a small scare.
Even worse was that the moment Link said it, all the surrounding gazes instantly turned and focused on her.
That was a bit too much.
Although these people had been recruited by Hermione, she had approached them one by one to talk to them.
Being stared at by this many people all at once, this was her first time experiencing something like that.
It made her suddenly not know what to do.
"Don't be nervous. Didn't you already prepare a complete plan the last time you came to find me?"
Link smiled encouragingly.
And his words really did seem to have some effect.
Hermione's blush spread from her cheeks down to her neck, but she still mustered the courage and stammered, "F-First is the place for our meetings. Right now we really have already found a suitable place for our activities. B-But we still need to further improve and examine the safety and secrecy of that location. When we officially confirm the first meeting time, we'll send out a notice."
When she got to here, Hermione seemed to have regained her confidence, or perhaps she had completely immersed herself in the work she loved.
In any case, she no longer seemed that nervous.
Then she took out a long piece of parchment from her robes and continued, "Also, I… I want everyone to write down their names, so we'll know who came today. I also believe,"
Hermione took a deep breath, "that we should all agree not to spread what we're going to do. So once you sign, it means you agree not to tell Umbridge or anyone else about our matters."
After speaking, Hermione took out a quill and signed her own name on the parchment first.
Then she handed it to Harry.
Suddenly having a piece of parchment shoved at him, Harry looked a bit lost.
But under Hermione's "intimidating" stare, he still very "naturally" signed his big name on it.
After that came the Hufflepuffs.
They practically snatched the parchment away, fighting to sign first.
Of course, there were plenty of people who didn't want to sign.
After all, although this was something Link initiated, it still sounded incredibly rebellious.
And right now Umbridge's power was surging, they had to consider the consequences if this was exposed.
But honestly, those people didn't exactly have the right to choose.
For their own safety, not to mention Link and Hermione, even the people who had already signed would absolutely not allow them to leave the hall without signing the agreement.
And so, after about half an hour, under everyone's "civilized" persuasion, every single person in the hall had signed the parchment.
Hermione carefully rolled up the parchment full of dense signatures and finally handed it to Link.
Seeing this, everyone finally relaxed again.
Such an important list, only if Link held onto it would everyone feel reassured.
After accepting the list, Link didn't speak immediately. Instead, he snapped his fingers.
The floor of the hall slowly split open on both sides. Under everyone's astonished gazes, a long table piled high with all kinds of food and drinks rose up.
"Thank you very much for squeezing time out of your busy schedules to listen to my rambling. Since the time of this gathering conflicted a bit with dinner, please help yourselves to some food first."
Link said loudly.
Before he finished speaking, George and Fred, who had been squeezing in the corner, cheered and immediately rushed toward the long table.
Each grabbed a bottle of butterbeer and shouted, "Cheers!"
"Link is the best!"
With the chaos they stirred up, the previously tense atmosphere loosened. Many people happily ran toward the table.
As Hogwarts students, their magic might not be great, and their moral character might be a bit skewed, but when it came to throwing a feast, they were absolute professionals.
But in this joyful scene, Link exchanged a look with Cedric in the corner. Then he and Emily retreated into the passageway they had entered from.
"Whew! It's time, let's go."
Cedric said this to Scarfing and the others, then simply walked toward the passage as if fully confident the people he brought would follow.
Scarfing and Newland nodded and cooperatively followed.
None of them ran, but their steps were still fast, as if competing with each other, none wanting to fall behind.
The Kennedy siblings hesitated.
Big Kennedy kept looking back and forth between the table full of delicious food and the gradually disappearing figures of Cedric and the rest.
After a long while he finally complained, "Seriously! We want to join the feast too! We're starving!"
But after complaining, he still dragged little Kennedy, who was already drooling, to catch up with Cedric.
When they had all entered the passage, the entrance quietly lowered behind them.
———
Inside the hall, Hermione and Harry didn't notice Link leaving, nor did they pay much attention to the huge table of food.
They were still immersed in the enormous success earlier. A feeling called excitement filled their brains completely.
"We did it! Harry! I can't believe it, we actually did it!"
Hermione said excitedly, and as she spoke, she pinched Harry's arm with her right hand.
Poor Harry, who was also excited, had wanted to say something, but suddenly sharp pain shot through his arm.
"Ow! Hermione! Why are you pinching me?!"
Harry jumped away, rubbing his arm and complaining.
"Sorry, Harry! I just… just wanted to see if I was dreaming!"
"Can't you pinch yourself?!"
"It's just… you were closer."
Hermione scratched her head, looking apologetic.
At that moment George and Fred walked over with their arms around each other's shoulders.
"Hey! Harry, and Miss Know-It-All, you two did great today!"
Facing George's praise, Hermione instinctively nodded and smiled, "It was mostly thanks to Link. Without Link's speech earlier, everyone definitely wouldn't have…"
Hermione froze halfway through her sentence.
She was staring at the butterbeer bottles in George and Fred's hands, her expression stiffening as she abruptly changed the subject, "Hogwarts forbids drinking!"
"Don't get so worked up, Hermione. On a day like this, just let it go," Fred waved his hand.
"Besides, don't belittle yourself. This gathering succeeded thanks to Link, sure, but you and Harry contributed a lot too. Most of the people here were recruited by you."
"R-Really?"
The blush that had begun to fade from Hermione's face returned even stronger. She lowered her head and whispered.
George and Fred exchanged a glance and quickly kept praising her, coaxing Hermione until she was beaming, and the matter of the alcohol had obviously been forgotten.
Watching this scene, Harry secretly swallowed. His eyes drifted toward the section of the long table where the drinks were placed.
He had been curious about butterbeer for a long time.
Unfortunately, Hermione was too strict. Even when chances appeared, Hermione would block him.
But today Hermione was in such a good mood. Maybe she wouldn't stop him?
Just as Harry debated sneaking over to grab a bottle, George suddenly asked thoughtfully, "By the way, did you two see Ron?"
Harry and Hermione stiffened, blurting out simultaneously, "Ron?"
"Yeah, didn't he get an invitation too? So we brought him in," George and Fred explained one sentence after another.
"But things got too chaotic earlier, and when we came to our senses, he was gone."
Hearing this, Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance, delight sparking in both their eyes.
Heavens have mercy, recently the two of them had been so worried about Ron that their hair had started falling out.
Now that Ron was willing to come to this gathering organized by Link, didn't that mean, Ron had already figured things out?
Overjoyed, Harry and Hermione didn't bother with George and Fred anymore and started running around the hall to search for Ron.
Meanwhile, Ron himself had no idea he had once again been set up by his two unreliable older brothers.
He was standing alone in a corner of the hall, holding a roast chicken leg.
Even though he was starving, he had no desire to take even one bite.
He only looked from afar at the door at the end of the hall, the one that had already closed again.
Ron was one of the very few people who noticed Link and the others leaving.
What kept his eyes fixed on Link was his dissatisfaction toward Link.
Or rather, his jealousy.