There's something strange.
For some reason, these people's gazes made her feel more uncomfortable than Malfoy's provocative insults.
They climbed all the way to the sixth floor, winding back and forth, and finally reached a place they had never set foot in before.
It was a very ordinary-looking wooden door, with a proud-looking wizard statue beside it, posing as if giving a speech, with a wide cloak draped over his back.
"What is this place?" Vid asked.
"The Student Council President's Lounge."
Theo finished speaking, raised his hand, knocked three times, and the door opened, revealing a room full of people who all turned their attention towards them.
The decoration of this room was very luxurious, with two or three dozen candles lit on the chandelier, casting a soft and bright glow.
The walls and floor were made of snow-white marble, and several huge gilded landscape paintings hung on the walls. The deep blue curtains were all closed at the moment, but if drawn open, they would surely provide a view of the distant Black Lake.
Under everyone's gaze, Theo quickly pulled Vid and Hermione inside. Luckily, Harry and the others had saved them some seats—a few cushions on the floor, apparently conjured by magic.
As for the soft sofas and armchairs, they had long been occupied by some senior girls who arrived early.
Vid also saw the Ravenclaw female Prefect, Penelope Clearwater, who smiled and waved at Vid, looking very relaxed.
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.
The students' behavior here was the familiar classmates she knew, unlike those strange Slytherins from earlier.
The two of them sat down on the cushions and immediately noticed that most of the students gathered in this room were Muggle-born or half-blood, with only a few pure-bloods.
Like several of the Weasley siblings.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked Harry in a low voice.
Harry also looked baffled: "I don't know either."
Ron leaned over and said, "Percy received a letter from my dad. He didn't tell me the contents, but I guess it might have something to do with you guys."
He pointed to Vid and Hermione, saying, "Fred and George argued with him about it. I happened to overhear him mentioning your names."
Hermione: "…Mr. Weasley's letter? Mentioning us?"
She turned to look at Vid, as if hoping to find an explanation on his face.
Then she looked at Theo, realizing he was the true insider.
"I have indeed heard some news, but Percy Weasley surely knows more comprehensively." Theo said, "After all, Mr. Weasley is the head of the Ministry of Magic's Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."
"Anyway, let's have something to eat first." On the other side, Michael handed over a plate full of sandwiches, asking: "Would you like some carrot juice?"
"Yes, please." Hermione immediately took a sandwich, and Vid did the same.
Food and drinks were handed out, and everyone sat around casually eating. After a while, Percy Weasley walked in holding a long roll of parchment.
"Sorry, everyone, before I formally explain the seriousness of the situation, I need to first confirm if everyone is here."
He divided the parchment into several parts and handed them to people sitting in the front.
Penelope also received a sheet; she took it and got up to check the Ravenclaw students.
"Wait." Mandy Brocklehurst said softly: "It seems Lisa hasn't arrived yet?"
"She's a pure-blood." Penelope said: "She should have already received the news."
"Oh… oh." Mandy said, somewhat confused.
Before long, after the Prefects finished confirming the list and handed it back, Percy cleared his throat and said:
"You all must be curious why I'm gathering you here today."
"Why not the Great Hall, not a classroom, not the lawn, but my Student Council President's Lounge!"
Saying that, Percy slightly puffed up his chest, and the President's badge shone even brighter under the light.
"—Because this matter concerns the safety of all of you!"
Everyone naturally became serious, and some students seemed a bit frightened.
The change in the pure-blood students' attitude was naturally noticed by all.
At this moment, Percy saw many students looking up at his face, saw Penelope listening intently, and even saw Fred and George not causing trouble, a huge and swelling joy surged through Percy's chest.
—He originally didn't want to gather so many students and cause trouble for himself, because he felt starting such a thing might affect his future in the Ministry of Magic, making people think he was a troublemaker;
But when the twins said they weren't afraid of offending people and were willing to lead the charge, Percy didn't want to hand the matter over.
Because it was both a responsibility and an honor, bringing the goodwill and support of many students with Muggle blood.
Which side's interest was more important, which side's harm was greater, Percy debated and hesitated before standing out.
But at this moment, all doubts vanished, and Percy's face flushed slightly with excitement.
"Everyone, this morning, I received a letter from my father, revealing some very shocking news. Some of you might have already heard—"
"Not long ago, the Ministry of Magic dismantled an island hiding countless evils and corpses, and you, my friends, you almost became part of it…"
Percy Weasley was deeply moved for a while, and when everyone began to show impatience, he took out a stack of folded letters from his pocket, opened them, and read the important points.
The Ministry of Magic had gathered many wizards to clear the island, naturally unable to keep everyone's mouth shut. Compared to that, Arthur Weasley received the news quite late.
But since he usually handled many Muggle-related matters, even after most Ministry officials withdrew from the island, Arthur Weasley still had to organize the various equipment and documents on the island, so he had a more detailed understanding than most.
He wrote a long letter to Percy, subtly mentioning his discoveries on the island, saying that he would remain busy over the Christmas holidays, advising his siblings to stay at school.
Mr. Weasley also urged Percy to take care of his younger siblings at school, especially the twins, advising them not to sneak out of school. And also to give Harry Potter a heads-up to avoid any harm when he returns to his Muggle relatives.
Of course, when Percy read it aloud, he naturally skipped the parental advice and only mentioned what Mr. Weasley found on the island.
"A Muggle crime organization did some very cruel things on the island… very cruel… I can't tell you in detail what they did, but I can tell you that as of now, we have found nearly a hundred bodies on the island, none older than twenty-five…"
"Most are Muggles, but young wizards were more favored targets… the live experimenters were tortured to live worse than death… they called it experimentation, but in my view, it was undoubtedly criminal…"
After Percy, others added their own information they had heard.
"I heard an underage wizard transformed into an Obscurus and escaped, heading towards the UK." Penelope said: "You know what that means, now Hogwarts is still safe, but elsewhere may not be."
In the crowd, several kids gave an involuntary shiver, while a thin arm was raised high.
"Sorry." Colin Creevey said blankly: "I don't know what Obscurus means… a mute magical creature?"
Harry nodded silently.
Colin Creevey's question was also something he wanted to ask, just intending to inquire privately with Ron later.
Amidst the looks of others treating him like a fool, Colin Creevey seemed somewhat uneasy, sheepishly lowering his arm.
Penelope didn't mock him and patiently explained: "An Obscurus is indeed a kind of magical creature, but unlike a Hippogriff, it is bred from a wizard's pain and hatred…"