Complaining and reporting are actually things that require a great deal of skill.
The first point to achieve here is to make sure that the party receiving the complaint takes you seriously enough.
Otherwise, what awaits you may only be perfunctory.
After all, in the other party's eyes, your complaint or report doesn't really bring about any serious consequences.
This point is especially important for a student like Link.
You must know, the status between student and professor is already unequal. What's more, Moody is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor whom Dumbledore went through great trouble to bring in, while no matter how special Link may be, in Dumbledore's eyes he is nothing much.
Normally, when facing such a situation, brewing public opinion, inciting a large group of classmates to protest together, thereby guiding the matter into becoming a collective incident, would be a good choice.
But this requires time.
And Link had a better, more direct way.
Directly find a powerful external helper, like Snape.
Thus, as soon as class ended, Link did not hesitate at all and went straight to the Potions professor's office.
He had studied the timetable, and at this time Snape had no class, so he must be in his office fiddling with those cauldrons.
Perhaps worried that Link might take things badly, John closely followed behind Link.
"I admit I misjudged, Link, Professor Moody is completely a bastard! My God! He actually used the Imperius Curse on you!"
"Maybe the rumors are right, he really does have paranoia!"
"What are you going to do next? Go straight back to the common room? That's a good idea! Sleep it off, everything will pass."
"Don't feel too bad, Link, all of us are on your side… uh, wait, isn't this Snape's office?"
Along the way John kept chattering words of comfort, while Link remained silent the whole time.
Only when they arrived before Snape's office door did Link finally stop, turn to John, and say, "Don't worry, John, I don't feel sad. Because very soon, Moody will have bad luck."
John looked at the arched stone door of Snape's office, and only then suddenly realized, "You're going to Snape to complain?"
"No, it's to drag Professor Snape together with me to complain to Dumbledore. Snape alone is no match for Moody."
"But… will this work?" John asked uncertainly.
"Who knows. But one thing is beyond doubt, Moody is going to be unlucky." Link smiled as he pushed the stone door.
"To borrow Draco Malfoy's famous line, I'm the son of a Hogwarts governor. And besides, the Flamel family is way stronger than the Malfoys!"
With that, the stone door closed again, leaving John alone in the empty corridor.
———
When Link entered Snape's office, the atmosphere here was a bit strange.
Because Draco was actually here, crying and whining about something to Snape. And Snape, surprisingly, was not fiddling with his potions and cauldrons, but was standing across from Draco, quietly listening.
"Professor! You must teach Moody a harsh lesson! He not only tormented me, he even called you a shameful traitor, a coward, right in front of me!" Draco spoke through sobs, looking extremely aggrieved.
Snape's expression was equally unpleasant, his face so dark it seemed it might drip water.
But he did not reply to Draco. Instead, he looked at Link and said, "What are you here for?"
At those words, Draco was startled, and quickly turned his head.
"Ah!"
The moment he saw Link, Draco let out a sharp cry, then desperately began wiping his tears, wanting to stop crying.
Unfortunately, once tears flow deeply from emotion, it's not so easy to stop them. So after wiping for a long time he still hadn't cleaned his face. Finally, he could only panic and hide behind a cabinet, hoping Link wouldn't see him.
Link said nothing, just quietly watched Draco doing this "covering his ears while stealing a bell" act, the corners of his mouth holding a mocking smile.
Only when Draco was fully hidden did Link stretch his neck, smiling as he told Snape everything that had just happened in Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
This made Snape's eyes light up at once.
After a long silence, he finally asked in a cold, emotionless voice, "What do you plan to do?"
"I need you to accompany me to the headmaster's office." Link's smile grew even brighter.
"After all, dangerous elements like Moody really are unfit to stay at Hogwarts. Don't you think?"
This time, Snape was silent even longer.
But in the end, he too revealed a meaningful smile, and said to Link, "You're right. Hogwarts does not need lunatics like Moody. Let's go now."
With that, Snape and Link exchanged a smile, ready to leave the office.
At this moment, Draco, who had been hiding behind the cabinet, suddenly rushed out.
Now he had finally stopped crying, and put on an excited smile, following behind Snape and Link as if to go out together.
"Stop!" Snape suddenly turned and said coldly, "You cannot go. Stay here honestly."
"But, but I came first, I…"
Draco spoke aggrievedly, but before he could finish, Snape's icy glare silenced him. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as Link and Snape left the office.
The moment the stone door shut completely, tears flowed down Draco's cheeks once more.
He couldn't understand what was going on.
Clearly he was Snape's godson.
Yet after crying and pleading for so long, he still couldn't persuade Snape to teach Moody a lesson.
While that Link Flamel just said a few words, and Snape agreed without hesitation, not even allowing Draco to go along.
Why was that?
In the empty office, Draco cried even harder.
Of course, Link and Snape knew nothing of Draco's thoughts. And even if they did, they wouldn't care.
Because they both knew Draco was nothing but an arrogant fool, a complete spoiled brat.
For someone like that, just getting by muddle-headed was already his limit.
But someone clever like Link, or rather, someone full of cunning, was different.
He keenly grasped the fact that as a former Death Eater, Snape deeply hated Moody. So he placed in front of Snape a chance that might drive Moody out of Hogwarts.
Faced with such a fine opportunity, even if Snape knew Link was manipulating him, even putting aside their personal bond, Snape would still willingly let Link make use of him.
Because this was a win–win.
Bang!
The great doors of the Hogwarts headmaster's office were suddenly kicked open.
Immediately after, expressionless Snape and Link, carrying a gust of cold wind, rushed into the office.
At this moment, Dumbledore was playing wizard chess with a former headmaster's portrait on the wall. Startled by the noise, he quickly waved his hand to vanish the chessboard and pieces from the table.
Only when he saw it was Snape and Link did he breathe a sigh of relief, patting his chest and saying, "Oh! Severus, and Link, perhaps next time when you come in you'd best knock. My old bones can't handle such a scare."
Having said this, Dumbledore grinned and pulled a face at the portrait on the wall.
The bearded old man in the painting was furious, scolding Dumbledore in archaic English, if Link and Snape hadn't burst in, he was just about to win.
Link and Snape completely ignored Dumbledore's antics with the portrait.
Link walked over by himself to the bird stand in the corner, teasing the phoenix perched there.
Snape, on the other hand, strode forward, slammed both hands onto Dumbledore's desk, and shouted sternly, "We're not here to joke with you! The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor you chose has a serious problem!"
"Uh," Dumbledore instinctively leaned back a little, then adjusted his expression and said, "Go on then, tell me exactly what happened."
Naturally, Snape wasn't one to dawdle. He immediately repeated the story Link had just exaggeratedly told him, this time adding even more fuel to it, speaking with vivid emotion.
The bearded old man in the portrait, who moments ago had been hopping mad, was now staring at Snape in shock.
Only now did he realize Snape had such talent for fabricating stories.
Though some parts were a bit over the top, Snape didn't care at all.
By the end, he was even shouting at Dumbledore with righteous indignation, "Just look at what he did! Link, such a good child, was terrified by his Imperius Curse, completely shaken!"
"He ran straight to me after class crying, and he's suffered great psychological trauma, look at him now, still dazed and broken! Moody must be expelled from Hogwarts immediately!"
Dumbledore wiped the flecks of spit from his face, glanced at Link, who was happily playing with the phoenix beside him, and felt speechless.
No matter how he looked, Link didn't seem to be suffering any psychological trauma.
"Sigh!" Dumbledore let out a deep sigh.
Even if he knew Snape and Link were putting on a show for him, he had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill.
After all, what Moody had done was real.
After a moment's hesitation, Dumbledore said sincerely, "I admit Alastor's teaching methods are indeed somewhat excessive, but I believe he truly wishes from the heart…"
"The Flamel family is already Hogwarts' largest board member." Link's voice cut off Dumbledore's unfinished words.
Dumbledore turned his head, and saw Link had at some point walked up close, with the phoenix Fawkes perched on his shoulder, eyes half-closed, enjoying Link's strokes.
Dumbledore's gaze lingered long on both the phoenix and Link's excessively handsome face. At last, he slowly said, "Hogwarts strictly forbids students from bringing in dangerous pets, especially dark magical creatures like basilisks, winged demons, or lethifolds."
Link acted as if he hadn't heard Dumbledore at all, still playing with Fawkes. Yet at his collar, a tiny snake's head poked out, its vicious eyes fixed firmly on Dumbledore.
Arkam indeed couldn't understand human speech, but still he felt deep malice from Dumbledore's words.
If he could, he very much wanted to pounce and bite the old man's throat, so that hateful bearded fellow would die.
On this, Arkam had full confidence, because Link had already removed the seal on his head back in summer.
Being stared at by a venomous snake was unpleasant, yet Dumbledore didn't seem to care at all. He only kept gazing at Link's overly handsome face.
After a long while, Link finally said, "Although you spent the whole summer clearing up those loose ends in Hogwarts' accounts, this year's funding still hasn't all come through, has it?"
"If some problem arose with that money mid-way, delaying things for a few months, what do you think would happen?"
Here, Link deliberately struck a thoughtful pose, then said, "Ah, for the lower-year students it wouldn't matter. They're only receiving low-intensity learning anyway, as long as they're fed it's fine."
"But what about the upper-years? Especially those studying alchemy, potions, and herbology, those soon-to-be graduates?"
"Without the board's financial support, where will you get so many materials for them to practice? And when the NEWTs come, what then?"
At these words, Link clearly saw Dumbledore's pupils shrink sharply.
This made Link feel extremely pleased, the corners of his mouth rising uncontrollably.
The greatest difference between the wizarding world and the Muggle world lies in the existence of magic.
This may sound like nonsense, but it explains how fundamentally different the two worlds are.
For example, because of magic's existence, in the wizarding world personal power can actually override public authority.
And Dumbledore is currently the most powerful wizard in all of Europe.
So powerful that if he wished, he could, through force alone, topple the entire British Ministry of Magic.
What's more important, such a strong man also has extremely high prestige and noble character.
That's frightening.
So in essence, the whole of Britain actually runs by Dumbledore's say.
The only reason Fudge could become Minister of Magic is simply because Dumbledore doesn't want to bother with those trivial affairs.
In such circumstances, wanting to drive Moody out, or even throw him in Azkaban, first requires Dumbledore's approval.
Normally, this would be hopeless, because in the original story Moody was one of Dumbledore's generals.
But just as even mighty Achilles had his heel, Dumbledore too has one weakness that cannot be avoided.
That is, Hogwarts' students.
Dumbledore may be able to endure his own death, or his past honor trampled into the mud.
But he absolutely cannot bear for his students to go without learning, without food.
He is a very pure person, and a very great one.
Link sincerely admired Dumbledore.
In the words of Link's previous life, Dumbledore, in a certain sense, is truly a gentleman.
And a gentleman can be deceived by what is right.
Thinking this, Link's smile grew ever brighter.
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