Chapter 9: Mediation
Salim left without waiting for Snape to speak. He believed that the terms he offered were irresistible to Snape. If Snape refused, then the person in the office just now wouldn't have been Snape.
It's Thursday, and tonight Hermione and Neville are coming to Salim's place to have a private talk. However, due to the flying class this afternoon, Salim had some other thoughts. He wasn't very enthusiastic about the so-called "plot." This is the world of wizards and magic, not the world of Harry Potter. Salim's background determined that his worldview was much broader than that of "Harry Potter." Voldemort? Ha, if he did anything that harmed the real interests, he would be crushed in an instant, regardless of whether he had a Horcrux or not.
Every time he ate, Salim always ate quickly. You ask me why? This is britian and wizard food isn't much better than what Muggles have.
"Draco, eat quickly, and then come with me," Salim said to Draco, who was dealing with a chicken leg.
"?" Draco had something stuffed in his mouth and gave Salim a look.
"Come with me to Gryffindor, and don't speak when we get there." Salim stood up. "Okay, hurry up and finish eating. If you're not full, call the house-elf to bring you a cake later."
Salim led Draco, who still had a question mark on his face, to the Gryffindor table. Hermione was having soup, and it seemed like she was almost done. Neville was dealing with a cake, and not far from them, Ron's eating habits were a bit unsightly: his cheeks were swollen as if he had been slapped by a giant, both hands were holding a chicken leg, and before he could even swallow what was in his mouth, he was putting more in.
"My goodness, does the Weasley family usually not let their children eat?" This was the first time Salim had seen Ron's eating habits.
Hermione and Neville looked up when they heard Salim's voice, and then they saw Draco's face full of disdain.
"Why did you bring him too?" Hermione had a very poor impression of Malfoy, especially after what happened in the flying class. She later learned what "Mudblood" meant.
"You'll see in a moment," Salim shrugged. "The two of you take Weasley and Potter to the 'usual place' later. I have some things to say to them." Salim glanced at Ron, who was eating heartily, not noticing that two Slytherin students had come to the Gryffindor table. "You better hurry, it's Thursday, don't let them take up your study time." With that, Salim walked away with Draco.
Hearing that their private time with Salim would be shortened, Hermione immediately stood up, dragging Neville, who still had a mouth full of butter, to Harry and Ron's side.
"Harry! Ron! Stop eating and come with us, quickly." Hermione was as action-oriented as ever.
Salim and Draco walked in the corridor near the Trophy Room on the third floor. Portraits lined both sides of the corridor. They reached a portrait of a door, and Salim touched the doorknob in the painting three times, and then a real doorknob appeared.
"What is this?" Draco had been watching Salim's actions.
"A hidden room, there are many rooms like this in Hogwarts." Salim opened the door and walked in, with Draco following hesitantly. When the door was closed, the doorknob on the portrait also disappeared, returning to its original appearance.
After Draco came in, he began to observe the hidden room. It didn't look like a classroom here. He was in a circular room, and there were three door frames without doors leading to other rooms.
"What is this place? I never knew there were rooms like this in the school." Draco turned back to look at the door that had just closed.
"I come here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to tutor Neville, and Hermione as well." Salim brought Draco to another room that looked like a lounge. There were several chairs in the room, and Salim and Draco sat down.
"What were you thinking this afternoon? Creating such a big scene?" Salim propped his foot on another chair.
"I thought you were a clever person, why do you act foolishly when you see Potter?"
"Never mind, when Potter and Weasley arrive later, let me do the talking first." Salim saw the door to the circular room open and Hermione led a group of people inside.
"Draco, don't let me hear the term 'Mudblood' from you again," Salim lowered his voice and said to Draco, who was staring at Potter.
Clap, clap, clap. Salim saw everyone had arrived, so he clapped his hands. "Since everyone's here, let's sit down."
Harry and Ron exchanged glances and obediently took their seats. Hermione must have said something to them on the way because they were surprisingly well-behaved.
"You all know each other, so I'll get straight to the point." Salim put his foot down and sat up straight.
"First of all, Draco did make a mistake, and I apologize on his behalf." Salim gave a stern look at Draco, who was about to speak.
"Couldn't he speak for himself?" Ron glared at Draco too.
"Harry, can I call you that?" Salim didn't pay attention to Ron's remark, smiling as he addressed Harry. "Of course, you can call me Salim. I think you should know who I am."
Harry nodded, "No problem, Salim." Harry had a favourable impression of Salim. At least he wasn't like some other Slytherins who mocked him in Potions class.
"In fact, you were involved today, and on the train as well." Looking at everyone, Salim continued to explain, "The hostile relationship between Malfoy and the Weasleys is well-known. You just happened to be caught in the middle of them."
Raising his hand to signal Harry to listen to him first, Salim continued, "I'm sure you've noticed that most pure-blood wizards have a negative impression of the Weasleys. In school, pure-blood students don't show kindness to the Weasleys, nor do they interact with them. Those who get close to the Weasleys are generally half-blood or Muggle-born students, right?"
Salim then turned to Draco, "And among them, Malfoy and the Weasleys often clash. Why is that? Draco, can you tell me why you dislike the Weasleys? And over there, Weasley family, can you tell me why you detest Malfoy?"
"Why even ask! Their whole family are traitors, scum among wizards." It was obvious who was speaking.
"Hmph! The Malfoy family are all evil dark wizards! Why do you think I hate Malfoy!" Ron was still glaring at Draco.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, listen, what self-righteous reasons," Salim pointed at Draco, "Come on, Draco, tell me, how are the Weasleys traitors, how are they scum?" Then he pointed at Ron, "And you, from the Weasley family, tell me why you despise Malfoy. Vincent
Crabbe and Gregory Goyle's father, like Lucius Malfoy, were all under the command of that maniac, right? What about your Gryffindor Macmillan, McLaggen, and even Longbottom's family? They also had dark wizards. Why don't you hate them?"
"The Weasleys associate with Muggles, and they..." Draco was interrupted before he could finish.
"It's not just the Weasleys among pure-blood wizards who associate with Muggles. Should I give you a few examples? Dilys Derwent and Bonnets in Hufflepuff have Muggle connections. Why don't you call them traitors or scum?"
Looking at the speechless group, Salim sneered, "I guess your families have always told you, 'The Malfoys are all dark wizards, you must be cautious of them,' or 'The Weasleys are all scum, don't associate with them.' Right? Am I wrong? You've heard these words a lot since you were young, right?"
"Now, the two of you think about it carefully. You two didn't have any grudges, to begin with. It's just that you were educated by your families from a young age, telling you that the other side is untrustworthy. Over time, even if there were no grudges, they developed. "
"Your families' feud is something I'm familiar with. To be honest, the feud between your families has been going on for a long time. It's time to let it go." After considering his words, Salim continued, "The price to be paid has been paid, and the losses have been endured. How about it? Do you want your descendants to continue like you? Meeting and immediately quarrelling, dissatisfaction turning into disgust, and disgust fermenting into hatred. What then? Are you planning to continue killing each other?"
"Salim, are you saying you know the reason for the mutual hostility between Malfoy and the Weasleys?" Hermione leaned forward, eager to hear Salim's plan to resolve the enmity between the two families, or at least ease the tension between Ron and Draco.
"I know, and their fathers know too," Salim stroked his chin, "But I doubt they've explained the whole story to their sons."
"Why?" Hatred is something you either explain clearly: how the other side wronged us, and why we hate them. Or you don't say anything, so the next generation doesn't have to bear the hatred. In the case of the Malfoys and Weasleys, saying it without explaining clearly just leads to mutual animosity. From Hermione's perspective, the feud between these two families was utterly absurd.
"It's a long story, Hermione. I believe you now have a rough understanding of the wizarding world. Let me ask you, how much do you know about the true history of wizards, the history of ancient wizards fighting for survival against various magical creatures and magical races?"
"Is that the history where wizards fought against various magical creatures and magical races to establish the wizarding world?" Since finding out she was a witch, Hermione had been very interested in the history of wizards. She read professional magical books as well, but she was more interested in history, culture, and various oddities, or biographies of important figures.
Ancient wizards lived miserably. Of course, only for a while. Before wands were invented, any magical species that knew a bit of magic could bully humans. The magical talent of human wizards was really not that great compared to those creatures. Moreover, many magical creatures have long since become extinct and used to eat humans.
Luckily, wands were invented. And then came the use of offensive magic - this meant that wizards had the power to fight back. Numerous spells were researched and applied in the wars between wizards and other magical races. Wizards gained a significant advantage until they encountered the Elves.
Elves were a humanoid species, the darlings of magic. Their theoretical lifespan is years, and elves are born with magic. This means that elves have much greater magical power than wizards. Accumulation of magical power depends on time. Imagine, an elf hundreds of years old fighting against a wizard in his twenties. Given an elf's terrifying affinity for magic and the enormous magical power accumulated over their long lives, how can a young wizard like you possibly stand a chance? Wizards' magical affinity is definitely inferior to elves, and even the worst elf, who starts accumulating magic from the moment of birth, can surpass most adult wizards.
Fortunately, elves are extremely rare compared to human wizards. In the ongoing wars, the social structure of wizards gradually improved. The most important developments were the establishment of the Elder Council and the founding of Schuyler.
In earlier times, educating the next generation of wizarding families went like this: the Zhang family excels in potions, the Li family excels in curses, the Wang family has secrets in magical applications, and the Zhao family masters many spells. Members of different families would gather to teach the next generation of young wizards. This was the precursor to Schuyler.
If the Elder Council's establishment unified the wizards into a fist, then Schuyler was the force that was wielded. Yes, human magical talents were poor, magical affinity was weak, bodies were fragile, and lives were short. These were objective facts. But humans had their own advantages, namely insatiable desires and powerful reproductive capabilities. In the unending wars, most magical races were defeated, and some were even completely wiped out by the wizards. But the Elves still existed, and both sides learned from each other during the wars.
The unique magic of the Elves, which wizards later researched and turned into the Dementor's Kiss spell. The Elves also discovered secrets to unleash destructive magic from captured wands. The war escalated, as Elves also learned offensive magic from wizards. Given the Elves' powerful magic, these spells were extremely potent, and wizards did indeed suffer significant losses in the beginning. However, the Elves' numbers were limited, and their long growth cycle made them ill-suited for a protracted battle with humans.
Gradually, the Elves disappeared from the wizards' sight. They hid, recuperated, and licked their wounds. But they did not forget their grudges. Elves were intelligent beings, and they used their unique magic to manipulate a wizard. When this wizard led a group of wizards into the trap that the Elves had carefully prepared, the result was self-evident.
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