Different Magical Schools

Dumbledore's words struck Manus as somewhat novel.

After all, in his past memories, magical academies existed to pass things down, but that inheritance was institutional, even somewhat cold.

One person's talent, one person's ability, one person's time—before the grandeur of magic, all of it was far too insignificant.

The deeper one delved into magic, the more profoundly the greatest Archmages and Lords of Planes understood this. That was why there were floating cities and magical academies standing everywhere.

Measured in tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of years, they sought only to nurture some result that held value even for them. If they could find someone who could explore the unknown alongside them, so much the better.

That was precisely why the purpose of these magical academies, and the thoughts of the great mages who truly ran them, were not so complicated.

After all, whether they existed or not, whether it was them or someone else, those magical academies would continue to exist.

Unless it was a master-disciple relationship involving the inheritance of a school of magic, there would not be much emotional attachment between teachers and students in a magical academy. You studied to gain knowledge and improve; I taught to gain resources and improve. We were simply at different stages.

Naturally, there was no question of love or pride or anything of that sort.

With that thought, and having finished the book in his hands anyway, Manus looked at Dumbledore curiously.

"Professor Dumbledore, may I talk with you?"

"Oh? Of course."

Curiosity flashed through Dumbledore's eyes as well, especially after it met the curiosity in Manus's gaze.

Dumbledore had accepted the invitation to come here in order to stabilize the situation.

Though he did not wish to force the families and wizards who had chosen neutrality to take sides, neither could he watch Voldemort force those neutral wizards over to the Death Eaters' side.

So he had come. He stood here, and even his agreement to attend this birthday banquet was itself a signal.

After receiving Dumbledore's reply, the King Family had not concealed the news. Instead, they had deliberately spread it.

They were not trying to stir up trouble. There was no need to hide the news and wait for the Death Eaters' side to come knocking, forcing them to face Dumbledore directly. That would only offend both sides.

It was enough to release the news that Dumbledore was coming and let the Death Eaters' side retreat in the face of difficulty.

The effect was remarkably clear. As an important figure on the Death Eaters' side, Abraxas Malfoy had originally intended to bring his son to the birthday banquet.

His son, Lucius Malfoy, had just entered Hogwarts. Judging by their ages, Lucius would not have graduated by the time Manus King enrolled in the future, making this a rather good excuse for an uninvited visit.

But after learning that Dumbledore would attend the banquet, Abraxas Malfoy canceled his original plan.

For Dumbledore, there was nothing else for him to do after arriving. He had no interest in discussing the distribution of benefits with others, so he had come to see the birthday banquet's guest of honor.

Now that Manus had taken the initiative to ask, Dumbledore did not mind chatting with the child for a while.

Taking the small sofa opposite Manus, Dumbledore looked at the child, who seemed especially calm.

"So, what would you like to talk about?"

"Um... could we talk about Hogwarts? I know it's the school I'll attend in the future, but I don't know what kind of place it is."

Manus tilted his head.

"I want to know what Hogwarts is like in the eyes of Hogwarts's headmaster."

Dumbledore could not help feeling surprised.

Without the latter question, he would have simply thought this was a child's curiosity about Hogwarts. But with that question added, it suddenly became an extraordinarily profound one.

Was it a coincidence?

His inner surprise did not make Dumbledore hesitate. After a brief consideration, he decided to begin with Hogwarts's founding.

At the time, Britain's wizards had no systematic education. Their knowledge was passed down through their families.

Muggle-born wizards had no way to receive an education. Their uncontrolled and abnormal magic often drew the hostility of Muggles, forcing them to live miserable lives and sometimes even costing them their lives.

The wizarding families did not have it much better either. As hostility toward wizards continued to build, Muggles at the time would even actively seek out and kill wizards, dragging anyone with even the slightest suspicion away to be burned alive.

Though some wizards possessed powerful magical abilities and could ignore flames or prevent Muggles from discovering them, not every wizard had such strength. In fact, most wizards of that era did not.

With family-based magical education, how well one learned, or even how much one learned, depended entirely on one's own initiative. And those with such initiative were always few.

One had to know that even the Ministry of Magic had not yet appeared. If there was any career path that demanded magical ability, it was the Wizengamot, but Pure-blood wizards did not need to worry about starving even if they did not join the Wizengamot.

Since that was the case, if children did not want to study, then they did not study. Knowing a few spells for daily use was enough.

Thus, when faced with the Muggles' unreasonable hunts, wizard casualties were devastating.

Under such circumstances, four powerful wizards who shared the same ideals and possessed such resolve stepped forward. They believed the wizarding world could not continue like this, or wizards would have no future.

And to change the future of the wizarding world, they had to begin by changing the next generation of wizards and reforming education.

Rowena Ravenclaw followed a warthog in her dream to a lakeside cliff, and she believed it was some kind of omen.

When she led the other three along the path from her dream, through forests and swamps, across the lake, and onto a stretch of high ground, the four decided to establish their ideal school there.

They would recruit underage wizards from Britain and provide them with a unified, systematic education.

"That was how Hogwarts first came to be."

Dumbledore picked up the hot milk from the small table and took a sip.

Manus had asked a house-elf for it while Dumbledore was telling the story. Though Dumbledore had not drunk milk in a long time, the taste was indeed not bad.

The milk had been heated perfectly. It had no unpleasant smell while retaining its rich fragrance, and the added sugar made its sweet milky flavor seem to smooth out many of his wrinkles.

"So that was how Hogwarts was founded..."

Manus sighed softly. Unlike those stories that existed only in books, leaving behind merely a few remnants and traces for people to lament over,

the result born from this story had endured to the present day and was still playing a crucial role. He had heard that, even now, all of Britain had only this one magical school.