Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Chapter 969: Persuasion and Protection

His series of questions changed the atmosphere suddenly, and everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

Even Aberforth was listening, and he kept wiping the same glass with the filthy rag, it was becoming steadily dirtier.

“What is the truth?” Zacharias asked proudly, looking at Evan provocatively, as if asking him if he dared to say it.

“The truth is that Voldemort is back, and Harry and I saw him come back with our own eyes!” said Evan, looking at Zacharias straight in the face. “Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, including Cedric’s transfer, and if you didn’t believe him, you don’t believe us, and Harry and I are not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to talk about the situation back then,” said Harry. “Dumbledore has made it very clear!”

“Hmph, Dumbledore didn’t actually say much last term. He only gave a conclusion. He didn’t tell us the specific details or what really happened with Diggory,” said Zacharias dismissively, “I really want to know……”

“That’s enough. I think he didn’t let you know the specific situation because you don’t have the corresponding strength. Knowing more is of no use but to satisfy your meaningless curiosity and provide a boring after-dinner conversation,” said Evan bluntly. “Think about it, what can you do? Are you rushing to fight Voldemort, or to avenge Cedric? You can’t do anything, people have the right to know the truth, but with your current level of magic, you have no qualifications to know the truth.”

Evan’s words left Zacharias alternating between pale and red on his face. He was far from the overbearing attitude he had just exhibited. He seemed to want to retort, but thinking about Evan’s past experiences and the rumors in the school, he truly didn’t know what to say.

However, he continued to gaze intently at Evan without showing any weakness, as if he wanted to see just how outlandish Evan’s lies were.

“I’ll repeat, if any of you came here for this reason, you can leave now. I won’t teach magic to someone like that, and I don’t welcome such individuals,” Evan continued, shifting his gaze away from Zacharias. “I also hope you understand that my promise to teach you magic isn’t contingent on you fighting Voldemort or doing anything for me. You don’t need to worry about that, as it’s not necessary at the moment. Your current abilities are utterly useless against real Dark wizards. To be frank, you’re all nothing more than trash right now. Besides throwing your lives away or burdening others, you’re useless trash. I don’t need the help of trash.”

The atmosphere was extremely tense, and under the oppression of Evan’s sudden burst of momentum, no one spoke.

Although what he said was ugly, the fact was true. Whether they were willing to admit it or not, their strength was indeed very poor.

If Evan wished, he could easily defeat everyone present.

This was a display of dominance based on strength; he had the right to speak these words to them. In his eyes, these students were all trash!

“I’m willing to spend precious time teaching you magic, because you’re students of Hogwarts. I hope that when danger strikes, you can have the strength to protect yourselves and the people you hold dear. I hope you can stand up and fight like true wizards, even if it means dying in battle, because it would be honorable and remembered. You will have struggled and fought, not helplessly kneeling begging for mercy. You’ll be surviving, not crawling under the robes of Voldemort or Death Eaters, shivering.”

As Evan spoke, everyone’s expressions were obviously much more serious than before.

As long as there was courage and uprightness, no one wanted to beg for mercy or flee. If possible, everyone would want to fight to the end, giving their all to protect what mattered to them. Many people in the room felt a deep resonance with this sentiment.

Most of them had already agreed with Evan’s words, even the girls.

Only Zacharias seemed a bit unwilling. He still retorted, “If you’re talking about danger from You-Know-Who…”

“It’s not just Voldemort. In the past few years, I’ve experienced many things you haven’t, and I’ve witnessed evil and terrifying forces that surpass Voldemort by countless times. These dangers could strike at any time,” Evan interrupted. “That’s why I’ve decided to teach you magic, help you with combat training. I can tell you plainly, the Ministry of Magic and Umbridge wouldn’t approve of this. I know some of you might succumb to pressure and report this, but I don’t care, because when that dreadful evil arrives, all these petty disputes will be nothing more than a joke.”

“A greater danger? A danger more evil and terrifying than Voldemort?”

Everyone murmured in interest, many seemingly skeptical, yet unable to refute Evan.

At least the aura Evan had just exhibited was beyond their means to contend with.

And what he said was also very reasonable. Evan’s willingness to spend time teaching them magic was already an unimaginable opportunity for them.

Behind the bar, Aberforth stopped bothering to clean the dirty glass, tossing the rag aside.

His mouth hung open, his bright blue eyes locked onto Evan, as if he thought he had gone mad.

“If you have no more doubts, I hope we can continue…” Evan lightly nudged Hermione with his foot.

“Yeah, that’s right!” Hermione reacted immediately, and her voice became sharp and thin again, “Evan made it quite clear just now. I think you should understand. Let me ask again, do you all agree to let Evan teach us?”

There was a brief silence, and then everyone murmured agreement, except for Zacharias, with his arms folded and disdain on his face.

“Come on, you’re not seriously buying into his nonsense, are you? Greater danger than You-Know-Who…”

“Of course, we’re willing to believe Evan. He’s never let us down,” said Colin. “If he says You-Know-Who is back, then he’s definitely back. If he says a greater danger is looming, it’s bound to arrive. Evan’s right. I want to learn more magic before that day comes, to protect my family, friends, and Hogwarts!”

“You’re crazy…”

“Oh, shut your mouth!” Ron shouted, raising his voice. “Evan made it clear. Either leave now or stay quiet. And you better keep your distance from my sister. You’re sitting way too close to her.”

He was now looking at Zacharias as though he would like nothing better than to thump him. Zacharias flushed.

Ginny flushed too, and she glared at Zacharias before leaning closer to Hermione.

She really regretted it now, why did she bring this idiot here? …

Hey there! Translating_Wizard here! Chapter 1190 just dropped on Patreon! If you've enjoyed reading and want to read more, I'd greatly appreciate your support ♡

THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM