A sharp Hogwarts

"New students who are not on the list? I don't understand, Dumbledore."

Lucius Malfoy snorted slightly, turned his head to look at Dumbledore, and spoke in a long tone.

"Is this still happening in Hogwarts? I don't remember seeing it in the school charter, and there are new students who are not on the list."

"Did I miss it when copying it? From the book of admission to the freshman roster."

Mr. Greengrass frowned and glanced at Professor McGonagall who was standing next to Dumbledore.

"What I mean is...since Miss Dursley has received a letter from Hogwarts, the problem should lie in the manual transcription process."

"No, the biggest problem now is-"

Professor McGonagall shook her head and looked at Dalia solemnly.

"Miss Dursley, where did you get this letter?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I ever sent such a letter - I'm pretty sure of that."

"Well, it's in my living room...this letter appeared together with Harry's letters."

Dalia replied quickly without any dodge in her eyes.

It was foolish to lie in front of a crowd of wizards, and she knew exactly how to say it.

"Harry? Which Harry? Harry Potter?"

Professor Flitwick said suddenly, looking at Dalia with a confused expression.

"Lily is Mrs. Dursley's biological sister, Filius."

Dumbledore said calmly, and before Dalia could answer, he took the initiative to briefly explain to everyone.

"Yes, Miss Dursley is Harry's cousin and they have been living together since that incident."

"Harry Potter's cousin? This is the first time I've heard of-"

Greengrass nodded thoughtfully and looked Dalia up and down.

"When is your birthday? How old are you now?"

"On June 6, I just turned 23 years old." Dalia said.

"Then how do you confirm that you are a witch?" Greengrass continued to ask.

"I can do magic."

"Oh?"

"I cooked according to the school textbook before going to school and learned a simple light magic, but..."

"but?"

"Well, my light isn't too bright yet—"

"It doesn't matter. After all, you haven't officially started learning magic yet."

Greengrass shook his head and said with a smile, "In short, you first try to recite spells and cast spells——"

In the wizarding world, nothing is more convincing than the direct release of magic.

"Well, no problem."

Dalia said calmly, while opening her robe and taking out her magic knife.

"French fries," Dalia said seriously.

A faint gleam of fluorescence flashed across her blade.

Well, compared to the past few days, it seems a little brighter.

However, under the illumination of the strong fire, almost no one except Dalia could see anything - the reflection from the blade was brighter than it.

Dalia blinked, walked to the corner of the room with the kitchen knife, pointed at the fluorescent light that was so weak that it was almost invisible.

"I just said...for the time being...it's a little bit...not very bright..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Sorry, I didn't see anything-"

Lucius Malfoy raised his eyebrows and said impatiently, "I think this farce should be about as good as -"

click.

At this moment, Dumbledore suddenly raised his hand and flicked a silver lighter in his hand.

The surrounding magic torches went out.He clicked again - and the blazing fireplace dimmed.

The surrounding light sources disappeared, leaving only the dim light of the magic knife in Dalia's hand in the entire room.

Dumbledore observed the steady light on the blade with great interest, and asked gently and gently in the direction of Dalia.

"You seem to have good proficiency. Can you control the light spots on the magic knife to fly out, Miss Dursley?"

"Can--"

Dalia shook her wrist lightly, and a small ball of light floated out tremblingly.

It dances in mid-air like a newborn firefly.

"Oh, that'll do, thank you very much."

Dumbledore said as he took out the Deluminator and fiddled with it.

Click.

The four or five fireballs returned to their previous positions, and the flames in the fireplace began to burn brightly again.

"It seems," Dumbledore said with a smile, winking secretly at Dalia, "Miss Dursley is not a Muggle who accidentally entered the magical world."

"What's the point?" Lucius Malfoy said, his cold gray eyes flashing with disgust. "If you are not on the freshman list, you are not eligible for admission. That's the rule."

"If my memory is correct, the admission list of Hogwarts depends on the judgment of the 'Book of Admission' and the 'Pen of Admission', Dumbledore?" Greengrass frowned and glanced at the nearby Dalia gave a short laugh, "Otherwise, I will definitely let Astoria come to school, at least her name is still on the list."

Greengrass paused for a few seconds, turned his head and exchanged glances with Malfoy, then looked at everyone leisurely and said.

"All in all, the advice from Lucius and I, or to be more precise - the Hogwarts School Board, is to follow the rules..."

"Things are different now, Mr. Greengrass."

Professor Splett suddenly spoke. She showed a gentle smile towards Dalia and spoke softly.

"Hogwarts will not reject the application of a witch of appropriate age to study. This is the oldest and most basic rule of Hogwarts."

"Oh? Why didn't I know there was such a rule——"

Lucius raised his eyebrows and asked unceremoniously, "Don't I read the school regulations carefully enough? Can you tell me where this school rule is written?"

"Oh, it's not written in the school rules, Mr. Malfoy, it's recorded in the house's heritage..."

Professor Sprout said softly, with a hint of tenacity in her gentle voice, "In the story of Hufflepuff House for over 1000 years."

"If a young wizard goes through all kinds of hardships and follows in the footsteps of the four founders to come to Hogwarts, even if she is not brave enough, smart enough, or ambitious enough, at least Hufflepuff House will still take her in, and she will not be Let her leave this castle disappointed - Hogwarts will never turn away those underage wizards who rise to study..."

"I understand, so Hufflepuff House plans to continue to carry forward..."

Lucius Malfoy snorted mockingly, "Oh, the old tradition of caring for and housing the mediocre."

"Yes, from the moment she showed her magical talent, she gained the right to study in this magic school-"

"Thanks for the explanation, Pomona."

Dumbledore interrupted, raising his hand and gently patting Professor Sprout's shoulder.

"But the situation has not reached that point yet. What we are discussing now is whether Miss Dursley's normal and legal admission status should be recognized."

Dumbledore turned his head and looked at Dalia, and Dalia looked at him - she knew that the other person was the most outstanding Legilimency master in the world, but she didn't care about it, even if Dumbledore read her memory, At most, knowing the plot that will happen in the future in advance will not be harmful to her from any perspective.

However, Dumbledore didn't seem to activate his "mind reading" ability. He just looked at Dalia seriously.

"Have you ever attended any other wizarding school, Miss Dursley?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"No," Dalia replied.

She realized that the people present were clearly divided into two groups, and Dumbledore was undoubtedly on her side.

And for her, understanding this is enough.

"Did you personally select the magic knife from Ollivander, and cook the 'french fries' yourself?"

"That's right," Dalia said firmly.

"The letter from Hogwarts..."

Dumbledore paused, a strange look shining behind his half-moon lenses.

"Didn't you or your parents ask other wizards to forge it? Did it really arrive with Harry's letter?"

"Yes." Dalia said decisively.

"thanks--"

Dumbledore smiled and nodded, turning to look at everyone, "I believe Miss Dursley is not lying."

"Wait, wait, but this is wrong!" Professor McGonagall frowned, "Dumbledore, I am sure I have never sent such a letter -"

"It's possible that the Book of Access is wrong, or there are some magical phenomena that we can't understand for the time being."

Professor Sprout said, shrugging his shoulders, "Or maybe, Professor McGonagall, your hand slipped and wrote the wrong one. I heard that Harry sent a lot of letters."

"It's absolutely impossible. All the letters sent to Harry later were generated by the copying spell. There can be no mistakes."

Professor McGonagall retorted quickly, and said with a serious face, "The problem now is not Miss Dursley, but the forged letter - it perfectly imitated Dumbledore's and mine's handwriting and signatures. and a seal, it can even deceive me and Professor Dumbledore himself... This is the serious problem! If someone can do this, then theoretically he can also forge other letters and send them out. I think everyone here Everyone knows the dire consequences this can have, it’s no joke!”

"Professor Sprout...Professor McGonagall," Lucius Malfoy said, his voice becoming oily, "Why don't we just vote?"

He glanced meaningfully at the people in the small room and spoke softly and unhurriedly.

"I remember that Hogwarts has this rule: when an educational incident that is difficult to decide occurs, the principal can initiate a consultation, which will be voted on by the deans of the four houses and the Hogwarts school board. It happens to be right now. Can it be used? Mr. Principal, what do you think of this? Each of the four colleges and the school board has one vote."

"Of course, I think this is okay -" Dumbledore replied with a smile, "Then, can everyone express their opinions directly?"

"My opinion is no, the school cannot set a precedent of breaking the rules."

Lucius Malfoy raised a victorious smile on his lips, glanced at Dalia in the distance, and spoke first.

"In fact, I suggest that Miss Dursley leave directly first. It is best to leave it to the Ministry of Magic to figure out what happened as soon as possible."

"Well, I agree with Lucius-" Mr. Greengrass nodded.

"I stand by my opinion that Hogwarts should not turn away students," Professor Sprout said, her voice no longer so gentle.

She turned her head and looked at Professor McGonagall seriously, "Minerva, no matter what is fishy about this, I don't think students should be involved in it..."

"I……"

Professor McGonagall pondered for a few seconds, her eyes wandering over Dalia and the letter in her hand.

"It shouldn't be like this...Albus, the students at Hogwarts are magically bound, and their names have a deeper connection with the castle."

“Since the inception of the Book of Admission and the Pen of Admission, we have never admitted an off-roster student.”

"What do you think we should do, Minerva?" said Dumbledore.

"Stop for now. This is definitely not a coincidence or a mistake. This is a dangerous temptation."

Professor McGonagall said in a deep voice, "No matter how well the magic letter is forged, it cannot change the fact that it is a clever forgery."

"We can recommend Miss Dursley to go to other schools first, such as Beauxbatons and Durmstrang... instead of enrolling her in such a haphazard manner."

"Hey, Professor McGonagall knows your priorities very well," Lucius said, a smile spreading across his face. "Oh, so now it's two votes to one -"

"I choose to abstain from voting."

Before Lucius could finish speaking, Professor McGonagall said coldly.

"Hogwarts will not reject underage wizards, let alone leave such a young child in the hands of the Ministry of Magic."

"Of course, I respect your choice." The smile on Lucius's face disappeared and he turned back to look at Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape.

Not surprisingly, the Head of Ravenclaw House should be on Dumbledore's side.

Of course, Snape is most likely on their side - Muggle blood, which is what Slytherins hate the most.

In this case, there is a high probability of a two-to-two tie.

"I also abstain from voting——"

At this moment, Professor Flitwick spoke first, and he looked at Dalia apologetically.

"I admit that you are a witch, my dear. But having magic power does not mean having enough magical ability..."

"The Book of Access will sense the magic power and talents of wizards, and select wizards suitable for learning magic, saving some unnecessary efforts."

"Hogwarts may not be suitable for you, but if you insist on staying..." Professor Flitwick shrugged, "Your magic is too weak."

As a professor of Charms, Professor Flitwick immediately identified the problem with Dalia's magic.

It’s not that Dalia’s magic dishes are of insufficient quality, her magic manipulation ability is top-notch.

However, her magic power is only slightly stronger than that of a squib.

"Headmaster, I also think there is a lot of fishiness in this. At the same time, Miss Dursley's magical power seems to have some flaws..."

Snape stood outside the light of the fire, his face half hidden in shadow.

He looked a little strange, that half of the shadow made him look much older, almost like a ghost hiding in the shadows.

However, when he spoke, his voice was as inhuman and stiff as ever.

"So if we really want to maintain fairness and order and lift the fog that surrounds these events..."

"Maybe it's best..."

Snape slowly stepped out of the shadows and stared at Dahlia in front of the fire.

Apart from her hair color and eye color, she is almost identical to Lily - Petunia Evans'... daughter?

"...As if nothing happened, just wait and see what happens."