A Powerful Lineup

Noah had no intention of provoking the Slytherin prefects, and Kate had likewise failed to win over any Slytherin students.

Of course, that might have had something to do with how difficult the Slytherins were to deal with.

Noah did not blame Kate. By his reckoning, there were probably very few people in Slytherin who did not support the pure-blood system.

Finding someone like that would require time and effort. In any case, there were still six months left, so Noah was in no hurry.

Moreover, Noah had realized something: why did he have to seek out future prefects?

He had such excellent conditions here. As long as he screened people carefully and made sure no idiots got in, they had every reason to believe they could cultivate a prefect themselves!

Of course, Noah would not turn away anyone who came to him willingly.

The next day, Noah got up early. There was no real need to, but since it was the first class after the holiday, he habitually rose a little earlier.

It could not be helped. It was a habit Noah had developed during his student days, whether in the high school years when he had studied desperately or the university years when he mostly muddled through.

Their first class that day was Transfiguration class, and by coincidence, they were sharing it with Hufflepuff.

That made things much easier. At least Noah would not need to run to another classroom to find him after class.

Ernie found Luns's invitation rather strange. Naturally, he knew that Luns's dormitory was attracting an enormous amount of attention these days.

The four of them, Luns included, were all renowned geniuses in their house! He was not surprised that they had such excellent grades; after all, they were Ravenclaw students.

But these top students had come looking for him and were asking whether he wanted to join them?

Ernie found it baffling, but children's curiosity was always stronger than adults'. Though his heart was full of questions, he still chose to follow Noah and the others to the eighth floor.

There, he saw Hermione, who seemed to be waiting for Noah and the others. In fact, she really was waiting for them.

That puzzled Ernie even more. He knew that this not-very-Gryffindor-like Gryffindor student often followed Noah and the others around, but he had no idea when they had become so close.

Could this Gryffindor student have joined them too?

Ernie was filled with doubt, but when he saw Noah suddenly produce a door on the eighth floor, his expression began to resemble Hermione's from that day!

What was this? Some kind of illusion like Platform Nine and Three-Quarters?

When he followed them inside with a confused look on his face, his expression became exactly like Hermione's had been when she first entered and saw everything!

It had to be said that the shelves upon shelves of books and the unknown number of volumes were truly breathtaking. There were also all kinds of experimental equipment here. It was practically a wizard's dream place!

"Wh-what is this place?" Ernie stammered.

"This is the Room of Requirement, and it is also the meeting place of our Mage Alliance!" Luns explained proudly.

"The Room of Requirement? Does it fulfill every request? And the Mage Alliance? What is that?"

"The Room of Requirement is more or less what you think it is. Mage Alliance is the name of our organization."

"Granger joined you too? What exactly does your organization do? Is it allowed under school rules?"

Ernie had rather a lot of questions, and Noah noticed that the boy had begun to grow wary.

Pure-blood education truly was exceptional. Ernie was a pure-blood, and he saw things far more clearly than ordinary wizards did.

In particular, he loathed Voldemort's lot and was deeply wary of organizations like the Death Eaters. So when he suddenly heard about an organization formed by students, he immediately became extremely cautious.

He was worried that it might be something Voldemort had secretly set up.

Seeing that something was off with Ernie's expression, Noah knew he had to explain things properly.

So he repeated to Ernie what he had told Hermione before. Naturally, he placed particular emphasis on Dumbledore's task and his promise.

Sure enough, after hearing Noah's explanation, Ernie looked much better. He trusted Dumbledore greatly, and he also strongly supported Dumbledore's attitude toward wizards from the Muggle world.

"So, you recruited me in order to complete Professor Dumbledore's task and make him fulfill his promise?"

"Yes. Of course, the reason we chose you rather than someone else is mainly because we think you are an outstanding person. Don't you want to become even more outstanding?"

"Of course I do. But I have one question. If I refused, would you really cast a Memory Charm on me?"

"Of course. I was not joking in the slightest. A Memory Charm is difficult to control, but I am confident I can flawlessly make you forget exactly what I need you to forget, without any aftereffects."

What a joke. Noah's magical power was still low, but his control over magic was absolutely perfect.

He could achieve the best results with limited magical power. That was one of the little benefits the system had given him.

"All right, I understand. I'll join you!"

Ernie's mouth twitched. Clearly, that answer had made him rather uncomfortable.

Still, he understood certain things. This place was hidden, but they could not keep coming and going every day without eventually being discovered.

So until they received Dumbledore's approval, keeping a low profile was the inevitable choice.

Of course, dissatisfied as he was, Ernie still chose to join for the sake of his future.

He was no fool. This Mage Alliance was purely a student organization, and practically none of its members supported Voldemort.

Noah was a wizard from the Muggle world, so how could he possibly believe in that nonsense? Hermione was the same. As for Kate and Evan, Ernie had heard about them too; they had always disliked Slytherin's way of doing things.

And there was no need to mention his childhood friend Luns. Luns had once said, "If the Sorting Hat put me in Slytherin, I'd drop out on the spot." Naturally, they could not be followers of Voldemort.

Even if that was not enough of a guarantee, was Professor Dumbledore not enough?

Seeing that Ernie had ultimately chosen to join, Noah was delighted.

He had finally secured another member. Now their organization had a future Minister of Magic and a future Hufflepuff prefect. Their lineup was quite impressive.

Of course, Noah had not forgotten that they still faced their most troublesome choice: the little snakes of Slytherin.

But Noah was in no rush. It was still early, and he had plenty of time.