Madmen, Layabouts, Brutes, Fools

After Andrew gave a brief account of what had happened, the person in charge of the new students told him to go to the main gathering place and call for people while hurrying over himself.

However, by the time Andrew had gathered some people and rushed over, it was already too late.

The three older students had long since vanished, and nearly half the students left in the room had been scammed.

"I sensed that something was wrong too, but they said they couldn't cause any more trouble for the original owner, and one show of goodwill was enough."

"After casually selling half their things, they pretended to go to the bathroom and ran off. They didn't even take the rest of their things—I thought they wouldn't abandon them, so I didn't realize what was happening."

"When they temporarily left, they even said they weren't worried about us stealing anything, because anyone who dared take things would be ready to get expelled..."

From the words of those who remained, the truth was quickly pieced together.

After Andrew left, those people quickly realized something was wrong. They began stalling for time while preparing to flee, and three unlucky fools who couldn't resist the temptation handed over their Galleons.

Some people had also noticed something was off and tried to leave like Andrew, only for the others to seize the opportunity and put on an act of intimidating them into buying things, causing them to misjudge their intentions.

Then, in the brief interval between their excuse to leave and everyone realizing what had happened, they used their familiarity with the school's routes to escape.

"We need to find those bastards and report them to the school!"

"On what grounds?"

The older student Andrew had brought over snorted. "The prices of notebooks weren't transparent to begin with. Since they agreed it was a fair trade, this little bit of Galleons can't be dealt with. And—you think it was really just those few people?"

He inspected the remaining goods. "They're all common junk. They probably used Polyjuice Potion too... They just wanted to make fools of us and recoup some of their costs. What a luxury. Even if they scammed everyone, they still wouldn't make back the cost of the potion."

With a trace of disgust, the older Ravenclaw identified the people responsible.

"That bunch who worship loopholes and love exploiting them—they thought they'd found a loophole in our system and wanted to pull off something they could brag about.

"But they never expected to be exposed so quickly. They even let go of someone who was very likely to see through their plan—so they swiftly changed their strategy and got away."

After giving the person who had exposed the scam an approving look, he said regretfully to those who had spent Galleons, "The group will reimburse the Galleons you were scammed out of, but you won't need to attend any further gatherings. You'll have assessments every year until your fifth year. If you still hold on to your previous ideals, you can try taking the assessment again later."

"As for the rest of you, you'll take a second assessment. As for Andrew," the older student held out his hand, "welcome to our Mutual aid group. If you don't mind, we'll proceed with the simplest kind of admission interview."

As he led Andrew away, the older student seemed to remember something and called to the person who had been responsible for guiding them earlier. "Thank Andrew, Dan. You didn't completely botch the guidance this time... Pay a thirty-Galleon fine afterward."

"I was in too much of a hurry earlier to introduce myself. I'm Connie, Connie Bruce, a sixth-year student."

In another empty classroom, Andrew sat facing Connie as they began the so-called admission interview.

"Very few new students pass the assessment and join on their first day. If we're judging by aptitude alone, you're probably the first."

He sat there with a very gentle tone. "What do you think of the Ministry of Magic?"

"It is the legal and only legitimate authority."

Andrew gave an answer that could never be wrong.

"A very cunning answer..." Connie smiled. "But entirely correct."

"If I had to describe it, it's an institution that governs a world made up of madmen, mediocrities, the intellectually deficient, and the hot-tempered..."

You could've just said it's made up of madmen, layabouts, fools, and brutes...

Andrew mocked him inwardly, but he put on a puzzled expression and invited him to continue.

"The madmen are, of course, us—" Connie pointed at himself and Andrew. "Most Ravenclaws."

"Wisdom breeds endless harm. Everyone directs their intelligence toward whatever they enjoy, especially those who exploit loopholes in the rules.

"If you ask me, there'd be nothing wrong with sending all of Ravenclaw to Azkaban...

"But the Ministry of Magic obviously won't do that. Do you know where the backbone of the Ministry comes from?"

Andrew thought for a moment. "Hufflepuff?"

"Absolutely correct. Hufflepuff, because they have the greatest numbers—but they aren't particularly good at dealing with people from Ravenclaw, so we joined."

"And you need to understand, Andrew, Hufflepuff not only has the most people in the Ministry of Magic, but also the most ordinary wizards. So they are the most peaceful. In fact, the vast majority of Hufflepuffs come to Hogwarts simply to live through their school years and find a job."

"As for Gryffindor, they hate peaceful days the most. They are brave enough to face change, and sometimes they try to change something regardless of the consequences... They will never quietly wait for change. They always want to get involved."

"As for the remaining Slytherins... what they hate most is change." Connie shook his head. "Because they are the majority by circumstance... Many wizards have realized that development requires accepting Muggle-born wizards, but Slytherin resents it the most... because they can't ensure that they'll maintain their current strength once fresh blood joins them."

"If you ask me, Slytherin is a group of clever people leading vast numbers of fools... And in order to retain the fools' support, the clever people have to pretend to be fools most of the time..."

"Sometimes, I have this illusion," Connie said, waving a hand. "There are actually very few fools, but most Slytherins pretend to be fools to make sure they aren't driven out—because they're too rigid. Fools can't become clever and lead fools; they can only pretend to be fools so they won't be excluded."

So no matter how you put it, you always see a bunch of fools, huh...

"So, at Hogwarts, we can't offend Hufflepuff, the majority, because there are too many of them. We can't offend Gryffindor, because they don't weigh the gains and losses before fighting. And we can't offend Slytherin..."

So we start infighting...

Andrew did not agree with him, but he would not say so to his face. Aside from being good at blaming others, this sort of paranoid person would spare no effort in attacking anyone who opposed him.

"It seems we've reached a preliminary consensus—welcome aboard, Andrew. The first regular meeting will be Wednesday afternoon in a classroom on the second floor."

"All right. I'll be there on time."

"Finally, let's talk about your impressions. You're a very good listener, but I'd like to hear your thoughts."

Andrew paused slightly, then summarized the older student's views with a hint of mockery.

"We Ravenclaws discriminate equally against every House."

"Haha."

To his surprise, Connie burst out laughing. "That's right. We discriminate equally against every House."