This high school was planning some entertainment activities for their anniversary celebration in early July. Harry and his classmates were eager to sign up and put on a stage play.
Jennifer: "Hey, don't we have Jess's story ready to use? I think it would be fantastic and can be adapted into a script!"
Many students in the class liked that story, so everyone agreed unanimously, except for Harry, who expressed opposition: "I don't think it's a good idea..." However, his objection was ineffective.
After a group discussion about the division of tasks, Jess enthusiastically took on the role of director for the stage play. He loved the feeling of being surrounded by others. Jennifer started helping with the script adaptation and even volunteered to play the role of the main antagonist. She always believed that playing a villain could be quite spectacular if done well.
Because Harry was good-looking, had excellent grades, and had skillfully defused bullying incidents on campus, not to mention his impressive performance in the televised puzzle-solving game, he had become quite a celebrity at school. So, Jess, the director, was very eager to have Harry involved and wanted him to play a role.
However, Harry firmly refused, feeling extremely embarrassed. He had long grown tired of playing a role in this "story."
"But I suggest you portray Dumbledore as a good person; otherwise, the balance of power will be off, won't it?" Harry interjected opportunistically.
"Oh, right!" scriptwriter Jennifer agreed readily, "Ah, I also want to give the Dark Lord some more scenes. Any suggestions? You seemed to like him, didn't you?"
"No, I don't," Harry replied curtly.
"It would be better if Dumbledore were truly a good person," a frustrated Jess said, "Now, even I don't know how this story will unfold... How could he deceive us all?"
"I, on the other hand, wonder," Harry slowly spoke up, "If he genuinely had everyone's best interests at heart, working so hard to save everyone, and yet you treat him like this, don't you think it would break his heart?"
"Are you saying that if he were defamed and everything in the newspapers were false? That would be too much of a conspiracy theory..."
"But isn't the Dark Lord himself a schemer?" Harry shrugged.
"Oh, that's a good point!" Jennifer, the melodramatic teenager, understood what Harry was thinking, "The ignorant world doesn't deserve to be saved. I'll incorporate that into the Dark Lord's lines!" She scribbled down this memorable quote.
"Do they not deserve it?"
"Throughout history, those who made the world a better place are still remembered by people." Mr. Cotton, with his gentle voice, interjected. Although he was a teacher, he always had a good relationship with the students, often chatting and playing with them. "Haha, I've always been optimistic and enjoyed helping others. I never think others are unworthy."
Harry opened his mouth but then closed it. He remembered the first time he met Mr. Cotton, who had been genuinely helpful. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder if Mr. Cotton knew about the terrible things he had done, perhaps he would indeed consider him unworthy of help...
Jess's story was still being updated daily, and now Jennifer was the most enthusiastic in urging updates. She saw the new story as a source of inspiration. Sometimes she asked, "Jess, why don't you become the scriptwriter yourself?" But Jess insisted on wanting to be the director.
In the past month, Jess had been actively updating the reports of the fairy clan's battles. What began as internal discord escalated into a civil war, and now the casualties were devastating. Then the evil You-Know-Who started intervening, attacking the fairy clan. It became a story of wicked racism, just like how You-Know-Who hated Muggles, he also hated fairies, according to the Prophet.
However, just a week later, the tone of the newspaper changed. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Magic began to vehemently denounce the evil fairies for usurping the financial power of the wizarding world. They claimed that wizards should reclaim what was rightfully theirs. By this time, the internal war among the fairies had reached its final stages, and the fairy clan was scattered and weakened throughout the UK.
Harry could see that his father was involved in this from the beginning, subtly manipulating the situation. Perhaps this fairy civil war was somehow related to You-Know-Who. The shift in the newspaper's stance was likely due to the bureaucratic officials of the Ministry of Magic realizing the fairies' failure and starting to side with the victors. Perhaps there was some collaboration between them.
If his father were to comment on this, he would probably give a mocking smile and say, "There is no 'right' except for victory."
Although Harry disliked that statement, he had to admit that it was often the reality. History was like a young girl, allowing the victors to dress her up and always portraying themselves as the brightest and most righteous. But did that mean that "bright and righteous" didn't exist? What was it that he himself wanted to uphold?
Harry also felt a sense of unease. It seemed like his father was gradually distancing himself from his plan to collect deaths, reaching out to a wider and broader scope.
"Harry! I thought of you as a friend! Can't you help me out with this favor?" Jess has been pestering Harry these past few days. He had already given up on getting Harry to participate in the play, as Harry's refusal was too firm, and the other actors had already started rehearsing. However...
"I mean, could you sing a song for me? We need to record a song for theme music—"
Jess thought that having Harry lend his voice would be a selling point. He had heard Harry sing in music class and knew he would be capable.
"Well..." Harry slung his backpack over one shoulder, intending to escape to the library. However, at the end of the corridor, he accidentally stumbled upon Oscar and Romancia kissing. Not wanting to disturb them, Harry blushed and stepped back, intending to take another route. Unfortunately, Jess caught him right then and there.
For a moment, Harry thought about using a Disillusionment Charm and escaping. But he felt it would be impolite to use magic on classmates, and besides, Jess was aware of the magical world, so it wouldn't be easy to fool him. Plus, he couldn't use magic recklessly due to the injury to his magic core. And Jess always managed to catch him anyway, so he decided against it. "I already said I'm not participating, why do you insist on involving me?"
"Because you're popular! Don't you know? I bet many people in school have secret crushes on you! If you're involved, we'll have a better chance when the audience votes—"
"W-What? No..." Harry looked away, feeling his face growing warm.
"Please, I'm the director, and this stage play is important to me... Harry, do you hate me? Since the beginning, you've been avoiding me." Jess's tone became more and more aggrieved. "Why is it that people always inexplicably dislike me? It was the same before. I was bullied by classmates in my previous school, and many people hated someone like me. I had no choice but to transfer here..."
"..." Harry knew that the previous school was Hogwarts. Jess was a Muggle-born and had been bullied by supporters of pure-blood supremacy before choosing to leave the school. But it was all because of this war... Faced with a victim of the war, Harry suddenly lost all his resistance. He quickly spoke to console him, "Alright, alright, what song do you want to sing? I'll help you. I don't hate you, so don't overthink it..."
"Really?" Jess was happy to hear that. He actually quite liked Harry. "Then why did you avoid me when you first transferred here? I thought I had offended you."
"I just... didn't want to hear that story. It's not that you tell it badly, it's just... it happens to remind me of some unpleasant memories." Harry was being truthful.
"Oh... so that's the reason. No wonder you..."
Anyway, Harry ended up singing the song for him. They used the professional recording equipment from the school's music teacher, and Jess was quite satisfied with the final result.
After a few more days, the script was almost finalized, and the classmates were in full swing with rehearsals.
Harry firmly declined any involvement in the stage play, but he became increasingly active in following Jess's daily updates. Jess was confused by Harry's attitude and asked, "Do you like it or not?"
Harry didn't answer but instead asked, "What happened in the wizarding world today?"
"Today, the Ministry of Magic introduced a new policy. Unlike You-Know-Who, they don't discriminate against Muggle-born wizards but treat all magic users equally," Jess said cheerfully. He then explained the new legislation by Skringley, which included some highly unequal laws, such as wizards not being held responsible for harming Muggles. "And to ensure the maximum protection of wizarding interests, wizards have been given more rights. I think it's great."
"But isn't that still discriminating against Muggles?" Harry pointed out.
"Muggles can't do magic after all... The Ministry of Magic isn't their government, so they don't need to be responsible for them," Jess replied matter-of-factly. He seemed to quite like this policy.
"But shouldn't everyone be equal?" Mr. Cotton asked. "Not being held responsible for harming Muggles is going too far. Laws in various countries do hold their own taxpayers accountable, but it doesn't mean they can harm foreigners at will."
"Well... but wizards can do magic, and Muggles can't," Jess struggled to come up with a reasonable response, scratching his head. "Compared to You-Know-Who, this is the right path. Muggle-born wizards are also wizards, why should they be discriminated against?"
"...," Harry looked at his righteous partner Jess and thought to himself, "This is a typical case of 'everyone is equal above themselves, and class distinctions are clear below themselves'."
Jess continued, "Moreover, this policy is very popular in the wizarding world. The majority of people agree with it. Many editorials have been written, arguing its reasonableness from various angles. So it must be a good policy, even though... I can't explain it very well." He seemed a bit embarrassed by the question.
"Isn't it the same for most people? They talk about fairness and justice, but it's actually for their own interests," Harry said mockingly. "They hate being oppressed by others but enjoy oppressing others themselves."
"Oh! That line is not bad!" Jennifer, the scriptwriter next to them, typed excitedly on her keyboard. "This line could be a line for the Dark Lord!"
"...," Harry was taken aback. He didn't expect his words to be used as lines for the Dark Lord. He suddenly became hesitant to speak further.
Jess also fell into a somewhat gloomy mood and remained silent. Later in the day, he said to everyone, "I think those editorials have misled me. This policy doesn't seem right..." He shrugged and smiled awkwardly. "Well, let's not talk about it anymore."
The days of peace and tranquility passed quickly, and the school anniversary arrived. The stage play was performed as scheduled and received enthusiastic praise from the entire school audience.
Harry didn't go to see it, so he had no idea what Jennifer, the chaotic and evil person, had turned the script into. If Harry had seen the Dark Lord confessing his love to the Dark Prince on stage... he wondered what he would think.
During the curtain call, in the staff acknowledgments, the scriptwriter Jennifer specially thanked Harry Vance and said that Harry had given her some inspiration for writing the Dark Lord. Oh, what would Harry think if he heard that?
In the blink of an eye, September arrived, and a field trip to the museum was arranged for the new semester.
The mood of the entire class was relaxed, except for Jess and Harry. While the early autumn weather was beautiful, the magical world was embroiled in a fierce battle. Professor Dumbledore had gone into hiding, and the situation was not improving as promised by the Ministry of Magic. Frank Longbottom from the Order of Phoenix was severely injured and hospitalized, and attacks were increasing in other places. Recently, there were even reports of large groups of zombies attacking Muggle villages, leaving the Ministry of Magic in a state of panic. When Jess reported the news, he cursed the Death Eaters for their insanity, saying that they not only killed people but also created armies of zombies.
Zombies? Could they be Inferi? "There's no reason for him to do such a thing. Those creatures don't bear the Dark Mark," Harry couldn't help but comment on the news, only to be sharply retorted by Jess, "What reason do those lunatics need for their actions?"
Harry still didn't believe it was something his father would do, but he couldn't help but worry. The situation in the magical world seemed to be getting increasingly chaotic.
"Hey, Harry, what's on your mind?" Mr. Cotton, as always, cared about the child he had taken in. "You seem deep in thought. Are you feeling unwell?"
"Ah... no, I'm fine," Harry snapped out of his contemplation. He looked at the bright afternoon sunlight, the concerned physics teacher, and the classmates sitting together on the school bus headed for the museum. Were these days truly real? It suddenly felt like a dream.
In the evening, the setting sun hung over the spires of the ancient buildings to the west of the city as the students excitedly emerged from the museum.
At that moment, a child ran up to Harry, tugging at his clothes. "Can you help me? My cat ran away from home, sob..."
Due to this unexpected event, Harry temporarily left the group to help the child named Tom find his cat.
"Hey, Harry, we'll be in the park over there. Come find us after you're done!" The other students shouted, heading to the nearby park's open-air plaza for a picnic. The atmosphere was lively and peaceful.
It was until a sudden scream shattered the tranquility.
Explosions echoed from several directions, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass. The picnic-goers stood up in alarm, looking towards the source of the noise. Panicked people fled from the park's café and small shops, congregating in the large central plaza. Emerging from the smoke and dust of the explosions was a group of strange individuals wearing robes and masks.
Jess screamed.
More terrified people attempted to escape the plaza but found an invisible barrier blocking their way. A burly man pounded the air, each of his punches landing as if on cotton. The invisible wall remained unmoved, cruelly revealing that no one could escape.
"Don't run away, Muggles. You're always so dull. Why not play with us?" A robed figure with an elongated tone of voice said, seeming to thoroughly enjoy the panic of the crowd.
"Muggles?" Romancia repeated the word, frozen in place. Everyone had heard Jess's stories and was familiar with certain terms from the wizarding world.
"Death... Death Eaters..." Jess, in a state of panic, couldn't control himself. He even forgot to take out his wand that he always carried. "The wizarding world is real, it always has been... We... we're definitely going to die... We're going to die..."
A/N: Leave me some comments please~ tell me what you think~