Harry Potter and the Hidden Treasure (Volume 3)

Chapter 533 Step By Step

Finally, Evan accepted Hermione's proposal and agreed to become the president of the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.

Although success seemed nearly impossible, upon reflection, Evan appeared to have been doing the impossible and embracing what seemed foolish to most all along.

Whether facing Voldemort or malicious spirits, it was far more challenging to defeat them than to advocate for the rights and interests of house-elves.

If outcomes were to be directly judged by a simple comparison of strength, it would be in Evan's best interest to surrender quickly rather than to resist.

It was enough to labor and strive. Not everything had to be done with the final result in mind from a practical standpoint.

Evan and Hermione deliberated for a while. In contrast to Hermione's anxious approach, he believed that the matter should be addressed step by step. After all, these were concepts that had been ingrained for centuries in the magical world, and it was impractical to change them all in a short time.

Fortunately, as the proportion of wizards born to Muggles and wizards of mixed heritage gradually increased, many inherent concepts were shifting.

Hermione's vision was not lacking in supporters. On the contrary, it could embody the voice of some wizards.

What the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare needed to do now was to develop its membership base. Evan assisted her in refining their articles to garner more understanding and approval from people.

Judging by Hermione's thoughts, it seemed she had other plans to do something for the house-elves through her own efforts.

The next morning, the displeasure between Ron and Hermione was quickly resolved. Both apologized to each other, realizing they had been a bit too heated the night before.

Finally, Harry and Ron, along with Evan, paid two sickles as an admission fee.

The mundane school life continued to progress, but the involvement of other wizards in the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare was not without challenges.

Just to halt Hermione's constant persuasion and stern displeasure, Colin, Ginny, and Neville also reluctantly paid but were hesitant to take on a more active role in the campaign. Instead, they viewed it all as a jest.

Everyone's negative attitude did little to deter Hermione's determination to seek justice for the house-elves.

It was true they had paid two sickles for an S.P.E.W. badge, but they had only done so to keep her quiet. However, their sickles seemed wasted; if anything, they made Hermione more vocal.

She had been badgering Evan, Harry, and Ron ever since, first to wear the badges, then to persuade others to do the same.

She also took to prowling the Gryffindor common room every night, cornering people and shaking the collection tin under their noses, asking them to pay for the badge and join the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.

Despite Hermione's hard work, there was little interest in the matter. Several meetings were held to listen to Hermione read the Society's constitution.

Soon after, Hogwarts Magic began publishing her articles on protecting the rights of house-elves.

This seemed to have an impact, with readers consistently writing to Hermione.

Many deemed her crazy for her absurd idea of paying house-elves, yet there were still some who supported her.

They believed Hermione's approach was ethically correct, giving her a significant boost and motivation to carry on.

As she often told Evan, this was enough to start. Their badges and the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare were no longer confined to Hogwarts.

Regarding the school curriculum, Moody had begun using the Imperius Curse on every young wizard in Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Currently, only Evan in the school could fully break the curse and resist it.

After many attempts, Harry and a small number of older students successfully resisted and were not easily controlled by the dark wizard.

Ron was the poorest performer in this aspect, having no resistance to the Imperius Curse. It was likely due to the impact of his past experiences.

He faced far more challenges than others in dealing with this curse and was the easiest to control.

According to Professor Moody's words, Ron lacked strong will.

This made Ron feel very dissatisfied, and every Defense Against the Dark Arts class became a torment for him.

He complained that Moody was paranoid, and it's no wonder people wanted him expelled from the Ministry of Magic.

Moody spoke as if someone could burst into the school and attack them at any moment.

But Evan believed it was necessary for everyone to learn to resist the Imperius Curse as soon as possible.

So far, there had been no trace of Bartemius Crouch, Jr. hidden in the shadows. Either Barty Crouch Jr. had not yet arrived at Hogwarts, or the Marauder's Map was not functioning. The former assumption seemed highly likely. As Caresius said, Crouch planned to start with the Triwizard Tournament.

By then, Hogwarts Castle would have shed most of its protective magic, making its defense the weakest. Additionally, many outsiders would be coming in.

Bartemius Crouch, Jr. could be among these people, waiting for the opportunity to act.

After confirming that it was impossible to quickly find Barty Crouch through the Marauder's Map, Evan set this matter aside.

He was now dedicating most of his energy to studying ancient magical texts and had also started to try to learn the language of the Merpeople.

The pressure of the third-year curriculum was evidently much greater than that of the second year, and now Evan was busy every day.

As for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, they were even busier, and the amount of homework to be done in the fourth year overwhelmed them. This was because upon entering the fifth year the following year, they would be taking their Ordinary Wizarding Levels.

In Professor McGonagall's words, this was the most crucial phase of a wizard's magical education and required proper attention.

However, it was evident that everyone's performance could not satisfy the teachers.

Their task was becoming increasingly difficult and demanding, heightening the dissatisfaction of Harry and Ron.

The only thing that made them feel happy was that they had received the highest grades for their tasks in Divination class. Ironically enough, it was one of the few pieces of good news they received.

Indeed, even Evan was praised.

Professor Trelawney even read large portions of his predictions, praising him for his steadfast acceptance of the horrors that awaited him.

Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class remained a disaster, especially because as part of his "project," he suggested they come down to his cabin on alternate nights to observe the Blast-Ended Skrewts and take notes on their extraordinary behavior.

These explosively ended Skrewts were growing at a remarkable rate since no one had yet discovered what they ate.

Hagrid had placed them in separate crates, and a hundred wooden crates continued to tremble in front of his cabin.

It may not be long before these Blast-Ended Skrewts emerged from their crates.

It was foreseeable that no one would dare to approach them, except Hagrid.

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