Chapter 325: History of Statute of Secrecy

Ron shook his head, clearly unimpressed by Hermione's suggestion. "Oh, come off it. He's practically lost his mind."

He was talking about Grindelwald.

"Wandering around the castle every day, filthy and ragged, like some walking corpse. Do you even know how many days it's been since he cleaned himself up?" Ron said in disbelief. "If people weren't afraid he'd go berserk, someone would've kicked him out by now."

And he wasn't wrong.

Honestly, Harry felt that Grindelwald now reminded him of someone else. Those once-beautiful eyes of his had long since lost their light. They looked hollow, as if someone had dug them out entirely.

He was like a lifeless shell. Even when standing in the sunlight, it was as if he were lying in some cold, filthy gutter.

When Harry voiced his feelings about Grindelwald, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron immediately thought of someone else—Severus Snape.

By now, the story of the Prince was no secret between the four of them.

Snape had even used the Resurrection Stone to see Harry's mother once again, and this time, Lily had finally forgiven him.

She had no reason not to forgive him. Though Snape had, in a way, been responsible for destroying her family's happiness, back in those days under Voldemort's reign, even if the Dark Lord hadn't known about the prophecy, they still might have died fighting the Death Eaters.

At least now, Harry had survived, and Voldemort was finally dead.

Snape had played a crucial role in that outcome—Lily was glad that her old friend had managed to find his way back from the darkness. The regrets and bitterness of the past had long since vanished in the face of death. Besides, not all her memories of Snape were painful.

At the very least, back in 1971, the boy from Spinner's End had given her wonderful childhood memories. He had kept her from feeling isolated because of her abilities and had shown her that having magical talent was not something to be ashamed of.

Now, Snape seemed much better than before.

He had finally clawed his way out of the dirt, and from that decayed shell of a man, new life was sprouting once again. Perhaps he would never love anyone again—but at least, he knew he was still alive.

"Maybe Grindelwald will get better if he sees Professor Dumbledore," Ron said.

"No!" Harry shook his head forcefully.

He knew what Ron meant—there was a Resurrection Stone in Cyrus's possession.

"Have you forgotten the prophecy?" Hermione scolded. "And that fairy tale—if Grindelwald really uses the Resurrection Stone to force Professor Dumbledore to stay in this world, then Death won't even need to act. He'll go mad all on his own."

A cold, lifeless Dumbledore—just the thought of it was suffocating.

"I'm most worried about Cyrus," Harry said. "I gave him the Cloak."

This made Ginny and Hermione cry out in alarm.

"What are you doing, Harry?!" They couldn't understand why he would do such a thing. "The prophecy said that even the Cloak wouldn't help him escape Death's fate!"

"You're putting him in danger!" Ginny said angrily.

But Harry shook his head.

"Haven't you noticed?" he said. "Some prophecies—the more you try to stop them, the more likely they are to come true."

"Over ten years ago, Voldemort thought he could kill me as a child, snuff me out before I became a threat. But what happened? His soul fragment ended up inside my head, and I became his weakness, the key to his downfall."

"It was his own choice that brought it all about," Harry continued. "But if we do the opposite—if we go along with the way things are meant to unfold—maybe we'll find a way out."

After he finished speaking, the others fell silent for a while. Then Ron said, "You're starting to sound more and more like Dumbledore, Harry."

And with that, the conversation fell quiet again.

Harry wondered—was it true? Was he really starting to sound more and more like Dumbledore?

Soon, he realized it was.

If it had been the past, he wouldn't have thought so much about it. But now, he was trying to think from different perspectives, trying to seek answers in a different way. Yet, he also realized there was still a difference between himself and Dumbledore.

It wasn't that he had grown as wise as Dumbledore—it was that he had grown afraid.

He had to admit it: he was scared.

But hadn't he already faced death and overcome it? He had been willing to give up his own life. What was there left to fear?

He questioned himself, and soon, the answer came.

It wasn't his own death that frightened him. In fact, he had already died once. What truly scared him was waking up one day to hear news of Cyrus's death—or not just Cyrus, but Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville… and so many others he cared about.

Until now, he had never really considered the possibility that any of them might leave him.

But Dumbledore's death had shown him otherwise. Anyone could die. Even the greatest wizard couldn't escape death.

That was Death—the very Death who had created the Deathly Hallows, the Death who had killed Dumbledore…

...

Ilvermorny.

As the headmaster of this school, Cyrus could honestly be considered a bit negligent in his duties.

He spent most of his time away from the school, and all sorts of daily affairs were handled by Boot.

Fortunately, Boot had already been headmaster before, and managing these matters was second nature to him. It didn't add to his burdens at all.

It was worth mentioning, though, that a batch of students had already graduated from the school.

Cassandra was one of them, and she had now become one of Cyrus's most trusted assistants, working alongside Bellatrix.

She was even more outstanding than Bellatrix.

In terms of combat ability, of course, Bellatrix was unmatched. Even the best Aurors struggled to defeat her in a duel. But outside of battle, Bellatrix wasn't nearly as capable.

Her temperament was fiery, and though she acted obedient in front of Cyrus, she was often unpredictable and moody with others. By contrast, Cassandra, while not always pleasant in her words, handled many things with far greater competence.

A large number of last year's Ilvermorny graduates had chosen to follow in Cyrus's footsteps.

They had formed a group of their own initiative, calling themselves the Wallbreakers, with the goal of "breaking down the wall between wizards and Muggles." One of the leading figures of this group was Cassandra.

She was beautiful, capable, and thanks to her outstanding performance during the Tournament, she enjoyed great popularity.

Alongside her was another former champion, Fischer, who had also become a member of the Wallbreakers.

They traveled across the wizarding world, giving speeches to spread Cyrus's vision of breaking the Statute of Secrecy, emphasizing that it did not mean harm or war, and making it clear that Cyrus had no intention of forcing others into submission like Grindelwald once had.

"Many people equate Mr. Cyrus with Grindelwald, equate us Wallbreakers with the old Purist Alliance," Fischer said, standing before dozens of wizards, speaking loudly. "And some, even more foolish, might believe that Mr. Cyrus and Grindelwald conspired together to murder Dumbledore."

"That's pure nonsense!" he declared. "In the British Ministry of Magic, Grindelwald even tried to attack Mr. Cyrus, didn't he?"

"Of course, he lost." At this point, a smile appeared on Fischer's face, and those listening to his speech exchanged knowing smiles as well.

Then, Fischer shifted his tone and continued, "Of course, I'm not here to repeat tales of Mr. Cyrus's power. What I want to speak about is what he aims to achieve—a great cause, one that will benefit all of us."

Sometimes, convincing people wasn't about forcing your views into their heads—that would only have the opposite effect.

The right approach was to guide their thoughts.

Fischer did this skillfully. He said, "We are not the same as the Purist Alliance Party, nor are we like Grindelwald. We do not seek war. This world is vast. Wizards and Muggles can live together in the same world."

"We do not claim that one side is lesser or superior—we want to break down prejudice."

"How should we handle the relationship between wizards and Muggles?" he asked. "Whether or not we gradually abolish the Statute of Secrecy has never been for one person to decide—it is the decision of the times."

In different eras, the relationship between Muggles and wizards had clearly been different. If you went far enough back—thousands of years ago—wizards were revered by Muggles, worshipped almost like gods.

Then, during the time of the Four Founders, most adult wizards didn't become enemies of Muggles, but young children with magical abilities could still suffer persecution.

More importantly, the widespread emergence of Obscurials, born out of fear and ignorance, had become a great threat.

And after that came the era of the witch hunts in the Middle Ages.

It was only then that wizards truly decided to vanish from the public eye, and the Statute of Secrecy was born.

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