"Yeah, she escaped… perhaps I shouldn't be saying this from my standpoint, but I think… fortunately, she escaped."
Professor Sprout sighed deeply and said.
"What happened?" Vid asked.
"The Ministry of Magic wanted to execute that girl, even the children rescued alongside her—they weren't going to let them off easily either."
Professor Sprout remembered the argument she overheard on the ship a few days ago and couldn't help but feel incensed. She said:
"They planned to imprison those children, and I heard someone say they would have to wait until they were adults and confirmed not to be dangerous before they could be released."
"But if that's the case, how are they supposed to survive when they are put back into society?"—No one cares! Absolutely no one thinks about this!"
She finished angrily, her nostrils flaring as she took a deep breath and said:
"After that girl escaped, the Ministry finally realized—anger and hatred can breed even stronger Dark Creatures. They're afraid of being retaliated against by the Obscurus and suddenly changed their tune saying they could consider treating those children with more leniency."
She said sarcastically, her expression nearly resembling that of Professor Snape.
Vid asked, "But there's still disagreement on what to do?"
"Yes," Professor Sprout said, "Dumbledore wants to send the children with magic to Hogwarts, but… sigh… but it's opposed by most of the Board of Governors."
"I can sort of understand their stance… and some of those kids are indeed quite old. Even if they enter the school, they will soon graduate but most likely won't be able to pass the Wizarding Level exams."
"Later, they both compromised. Children over eleven cannot be exceptionally admitted into the school. However, the Ministry of Magic specially approved some funds for them to enroll in introductory magic correspondence courses. This way, after graduation, they can grasp some basic magic and at least find a way to sustain themselves."
"Correspondence courses?" Vid asked in confusion, "I thought Hogwarts was the only magic school in the United Kingdom!"
Professor Sprout smiled kindly, "In the United Kingdom, Hogwarts is the only one, but some wizards do hold magic correspondence classes in their backyard, enrolling a few poor students, teaching some basic household magic—which is actually a load of nonsense."
"But with the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore stepping in, hopefully, they can find a reliable teacher for those children."
"Once they're all settled, maybe by next week, Dumbledore should be back at the school."
Vid had originally intended to ask about the whereabouts of the ordinary children without magic, but seeing the next class of students starting to enter the greenhouse, he thanked Professor Sprout and bid her farewell.
Outside the door, Vid met up with Michael.
"There's still over an hour before Magic History!" Michael said, "Why not go to the maze and have a competition?"
"Alright."
Vid also felt a bit down lately and thought about relaxing for a bit.
The two took a detour and headed towards the maze.
Ron and Harry, who had just come out of the castle, saw the two men turning afar.
Harry immediately said sympathetically, "The people going to the maze today are in for trouble."
"Hmm... yeah..." Ron absent-mindedly looked in that direction and said.
…
Vid wasn't at all like Harry imagined, using enlarged insects to bully young kids in the maze.
Most of the students who could play in the maze during regular class times were lower-grade students with fewer classes. They scattered as soon as they saw Vid, afraid they'd be caught if they ran too slowly.
"Hahaha… Vid, you're practically a plague… hahaha…"
Michael laughed loudly and mocked him as he laughed so hard he bent over, while Vid sheepishly touched his nose.
"I didn't plan to use insects to bully them today…," Vid said helplessly.
"Alright, the next batch can come in!"
Today, it happened to be Hagrid who was guarding the maze. He shouted after opening the maze entrance but didn't see the eager young wizards usually rushing in."
Hagrid, puzzled, rested his hand on the hedge and looked out, only to see Vid and Michael standing outside.
"Where's everyone else gone?" Hagrid asked, confused, "Why is it just you two?"
"Ahem!" Michael coughed to stop laughing and said solemnly, "They've all gone to class."
"Ah well…" Hagrid murmured in disappointment, "Looks like there's no one else; do you two want to come in?"
"Uh…" Michael hesitated for a moment before saying, "Sure, since we're here…"
Vid took the lead, and Michael quickly followed, "First of all, Vid, we're only going through, not competing, OK?"
"What's the point of just going through." Vid said, "Since there's no one else, I'll take you to see something new."
"What's that?"
Michael asked curiously but Vid just smiled mysteriously without answering.
At the entrance, the vines extended to close up like weaving, restoring the wall gap to its original state.
Behind the wall, Hagrid, who sat on a stone, put down his pink umbrella and picked up a ball of yarn and a bunch of fur from unknown animals at his feet.
"What are you doing, Hagrid?" Michael asked him.
"Oh, I'm going to weave a belt using Chimera Beast's mane; the old one is about to break."
While Hagrid was wrapping the yarn and fur together with his large fingers, he asked, "Do you guys want one? I can also make one for you."
Michael looked at the belt thicker than his arm and quickly waved his hand, saying, "No, no, I wouldn't be able to use it."