Penelope explained the causes and dangers of the Obscurus, and the students in the room fell silent.
Perhaps because their lives had always been relatively peaceful and they hadn't experienced much danger, the young wizards thought very differently from adults.
While many adult wizards worried that an out-of-control Obscurus could cause enormous casualties and potentially expose the magic world, the young wizards pondered what the child who became an Obscurus had gone through.
"So pitiful," Vid heard someone whisper, "She must be in a lot of pain."
"What happens if she's caught? Will she be killed?"
"Probably... I heard she killed a lot of Muggles."
"But those Muggles were bad. They deserved it!"
"The Wizengamot might not think so..."
The crowd discussed animatedly, and Percy coughed loudly twice; seeing that everyone was looking at him, he put on airs and said:
"So now you should also know that among Muggles, there are some people who target young wizards. Those who are taken by them can be said to be better off dead."
Someone raised a hand and asked, "How do those people choose their targets?"
Percy explained, "It's said that the young wizards who are taken almost all have Muggle blood—because they exposed their magic ability before entering school, and were noticed by some people in Muggle society, and then taken away."
Someone else asked, "Don't they fight back? They have magic!"
"Yeah," another girl said in confusion, "even if they haven't learned spells, when being forcibly taken, if their magical power surges, it would surely attract the Ministry of Magic's attention, right?"
"Of course, they're not taken by force!"
Percy, eager to show his greater knowledge, told everyone:
"Those people might say—it's demonic possession, or a disease, or say it's a special power awakening—using all sorts of absurd reasons to take the child away from their parents."
"Muggles have no judgment; they can be easily deceived by lies, and then those people use the Forgetfulness Spell to make the parents forget their child's existence, and from then on, they become tragic experimental subjects."
"The Forgetfulness Spell?" A Ravenclaw student frowned and asked, "You said it was a Muggle organization, don't they also have the Forgetfulness Spell?"
"That's right, it's confirmed that a small number of wizards are used by those people."
Percy shared his guess:
"Perhaps some young wizards grow up under the control of those people from a young age, and even if they learn magic, they become a puppet controlled by them."
Seeing the pale faces of everyone, looking somewhat scared, Percy quickly added:
"Of course, those of you who have entered the school don't need to worry about this. In fact, very, very few children have been harmed in the entire United Kingdom, probably only a few."
Percy puffed out his chest proudly and said:
"Even the Mysterious Man fears Dumbledore, let alone a Muggle crime organization."
There was a low sigh in the room, and some of the frightened children looked a little better.
—That's right... we are protected, different from those children who were tricked away...
In fact, Percy didn't feel much of a sense of crisis either. He hadn't seen the terrible situation on that island with his own eyes, nor had he had a particularly complex experience; to him, it was just a story that happened far away, just a series of numbers, without any real feeling.
He was about to emphasize his concern and contribution to everyone when he suddenly met Penelope's gaze and was reminded of his girlfriend's prior advice.
Right, this was the key point they had gathered the students to discuss.
"But remember, to maintain the safety of all of us, we must strictly adhere to the Confidentiality Law! Only by keeping the magic world completely hidden can we avoid persecution from Muggles."
"Most of you here have Muggle relatives or Muggle friends, and some of you like to flaunt magic in front of Muggles—"
Percy said this while giving the twin brothers a glance.
Although students weren't allowed to perform magic outside of school, the twins would occasionally pretend to perform magic tricks to show off in front of Muggles using some props.
While their intention was merely to make more friends, gain praise and applause, Percy was disgusted by such rule-breaking behavior.
Under his gaze, the twins uncharacteristically did not cause trouble, but instead looked thoughtful.
Percy continued:
"—This is a very, very, very dangerous behavior. Maybe your trusted aunt or distant cousin will talk about your magic, and some dangerous guys will notice it."
"You are certainly safe at school, but what about when you go home for the holidays? Or when you go traveling? Or visiting relatives? If someone has already made up their mind to do bad things, danger can descend at any time!"
"So, following the Confidentiality Law is not a lack of freedom; it is protecting ourselves!"
...
The lunch break was actually very short, and Percy felt that he hadn't gotten the chance to give a good speech before the meeting had to end.
The young wizards trickled out of the student council president's lounge in groups of threes and twos, discussing the news they had just heard along the way.
"I feel like it's all a bit unreal," someone whispered to their friend, "You see, there's nothing about it in the newspapers, the professors haven't said anything either, we don't even know if this news is true or not!"
"It's true, Susan's aunt is in the Ministry of Magic, and she heard some things," his friend said, "but to say that so many people were harmed, it feels a bit exaggerated to me."