John observed the woman in front of him; her gaze would be on par with her dignified and elegant posture; they denoted a presence of authority that was accentuated by her clothing, a black robe and cloak containing the Hogwarts and Gryffindor house logo; all this made one inadvertently ignore the other features that characterized her, whether it was her black hair pulled back in a bun, her tall and slender figure, or the wand skillfully hidden in the sleeves of her robe.

For her part, Minerva McGonagall was also analyzing the boy in front of her; she was no stranger to the contempt or hatred shown by certain members of the Quelrathar for wizards, so she was relieved when she noticed that the boy in front of her, while he felt a little uncomfortable and his eyes showed a certain degree of contempt upon meeting her, was able to maintain a polite attitude and attended to her with the utmost politeness.

"Have you had any difficulties lately?" asked Minerva McGonagall in an attempt to break the ice.

"Difficulties? No, I haven't had any," John replied calmly. The only difficulties in his life were not being able to use aura, having an achievement on his resume that he never realized, discovering that demons had infiltrated the Quelrathar and the mission he had been given by the Pope.

"Are you sure?" she said as she politely pointed to John's attire.

John felt a little embarrassed.

After the shock of understanding the implications of that photograph, he read the Pope's orders, hoping to find something to distract himself with, but what he received instead was another shock, so he immediately consulted the saints he served, hoping to confirm the news, and the result left him completely stunned, so he opted to go home to clear his mind a bit. This caused him not to bathe or change clothes at the Inquisition headquarters.

All of the above led to the uncomfortable scene where he was two hours late for his appointment with the Hogwarts teacher, who, although she had stayed outside his house for so long, did not reproach him for his tardiness; on the contrary, her first action was to ask him full of concern if he was hurt and if he needed to be taken to a hospital. This, as small as it seemed, gave him a good impression of said teacher, so he attended her with the utmost courtesy.

"Of course, I'm sure; on the contrary, aren't you worried?"

"Of course I'm worried. As a future Hogwarts student, I have as my mission to watch over your safety, seeing you arrive with broken and bloody armor—"

"That's not what I meant, Professor..." Pausing, he looked at her with some embarrassment. "Excuse me, we haven't introduced ourselves; what's your name?"

"My name is Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and teacher of the subject Transfiguration; you may refer to me as Professor McGonagall."

"Nice to meet you, Professor McGonagall. As you know, I'm John Carter; you can call me whatever you like; both my first and last names are great to say and hear."

"Then I will refer to you as Mr. Carter."

"Thank you. Now, then, what I was going to say was if you weren't worried about both me and Grímhildr going to study at Hogwarts."

Professor McGonagall was quiet for a few minutes as she fiddled with her cup of tea.

"To say I'm not worried, would be lying through my teeth; although we have had students from the Quelrathar before, they were all people from ordinary backgrounds, which did not trigger any conflict in their time at Hogwarts." Pouring herself a cup of tea, she looked with a complex expression at John. "Not to offend, but I feel that the two of you, because of your high-level backgrounds, will cause several conflicts due to the clash between your ideologies and the worldview our children are used to."

"As much as our ideologies clash and as much conflict as we have, you have Dumbledore to back you up."

"But not the young and brave Dumbledore, but the old and decadent Dumbledore—people grow old and lose their luster when they need it most," Professor McGonagall said sadly.

John looked at her for a few seconds before rubbing his hair, somewhat annoyed. Getting up, he went to his study room and pulled out the report Lorenzo had given Karenina, returning to the room and handing it to Professor McGonagall, who, stunned by his actions, read it silently.

John took advantage of that lapse of time to take a bath. As he got out and started to get dressed, he noticed that his cell phone had received a message, so he opened it, noticing that it came from an unknown number and that the message, to anyone's eyes, was nothing more than an amalgam of letters, numbers and meaningless signs. But he quickly understood who the sender was, so he proceeded to decipher the message.

Said message only had one sentence, 'Venice-13'; luckily, that report was among the ones he had read before, so based on the character of the Grímhildr he knew, he could roughly deduce what her intentions were.

That report spoke of Luigino Federigo, a thirteen-year-old boy who became an obscurial, which caused the deaths of one hundred and twenty people and losses of three hundred thousand euros.

The meaning was more or less obvious: Grímhildr was begging him to help Hogwarts not to close; this was to prevent children from non-magical families in Britain from dying in such a horrible way; moreover, he was threatening him not to throw tantrums at Hogwarts and refuse to use magic.

Smiling at her clumsy action, she sent him an encrypted message in which she told him the mission that the Pope had entrusted to her because she did not know if the Cardinals would inform her of the mission. A few seconds later, she received another encrypted message; this one, unlike the first message, contained a list with several names and one word, allies.

Among the names were Dumbledore's and Professor McGonagall's, so it was easy to understand that all the names on the list belonged to wizards who could be trusted, both in strength and character.

Finishing dressing in his usual black clothes, he went to the kitchen to prepare more tea, sandwiches, and lattes, which he served next. After finishing and taking advantage of the fact that Professor McGonagall was still reading, he began to plan his future actions at Hogwarts.

In the past, John had heard that fear and hatred were born of ignorance, and his knowledge of wizards until before that letter arrived was so scant that it could be categorized as non-existent. This was because the information he knew about them was limited to the missions he received from various divisions of the Quelrathar to kill Abyssal wizards, the adventures and trade deals with his womanizing friend, the occasional chats with that old bastard after the training sessions the latter provided, and nothing else.

After his mother's death, the hatred he felt towards wizards and anything to do with magic was unimaginable, and if it hadn't been for the intervention of Karenina, Grímhildr, Luna, and several DiviSture saints, he would most likely have become an emo avenger who speaks philosophical phrases to appear mysterious, who embarks on a trip to search for power, being constantly deceived and slapped mercilessly, to, in the end, work for those who killed his mother. Luckily, he did not meet that fate.

The obligatory appointments to the psychologist by Karenina, in addition to her master classes, made him mature from a very young age, except for a few details characteristic of age, obviously.

It was also, under the teachings of the Quelrathar given by several of the saints, that he developed a rationality based on the objectivity of science and faith, learning, in addition, several secrets that were erased from the river of time, which made him understand the great honor of having been born as a human being.

In addition, Grímhildr, while she led the Thirteenth Fulminata, tended not to send him on missions that had to do with the magical world or places where there were rats, according to her, because if she did, she would spend more on fixing collateral damage than she would earn from completing such missions, a rather silly excuse, but one that manifested the intense care she had for him.

Finally, although Luna was an ordinary girl, she did not lose out on contributions regarding her personal growth; it was because of her that she was able to overcome to a great extent the death of her mother, giving her back something that no one could give her: the ability to smile and have hope.

For all of the above, the hatred he felt towards magicians and magic had been mitigated with the passing of time. He understood that not all magicians are bad, and that magic was just a weapon, a weapon that depended entirely on the subject who used it.

That was the reason he was able to befriend that womanizing friend, plus he could get over the news that he had become a wizard with relative ease.

Obviously, this was not absolute; he was still a child whose brain development was in full maturation, so at times, no matter how rational he was, he could not control his emotions. This manifested in his habit of torturing in cruel and twisted ways the abyssal mages captured by him. These actions earned him infamous nicknames from several coworkers, who considered him an evil fellow who enjoyed the pain of others. But the reality was a little different; behind those tortures was hidden the hatred of seeing reflected in them the image of his grandfather, since the acts that the abyssal wizards committed took away from them all the right to be treated humanely.

And regarding normal wizards, the few he had met who showed attitudes of contempt for humans, labeling them as inferior animals, ended up in a classroom, being taught professionally about the importance of respect, equality, and tolerance. So good were their classes that all the magicians cried from the emotion of having been rectified on the right path, although it could also be that they cried from the pain of having broken a few of their bones in their teaching-learning process. This action was based on one of the characteristics of the traditional school: 'The letter, with blood, enters.'

The reason he recalled all this in his thoughts was because right now, he had to apply all that personal growth to a real context; the Pope's orders were clear, and he had no way to refuse.

Failure was not an option; Dumbledore and the wizards were needed to cover the rear of the human outpost on their nineteenth expedition, which was of mammoth importance, to the degree that the Quelrathar were seriously considering the idea of freeing that tenebrous wizard to help them.

She would not deny that she still hated magic and wizards, but she would suppress all traces of hatred as much as possible so as not to cause unnecessary conflict, especially since the place she would be attending was a school, a school full of children and teenagers.

Professor McGonagall's opinion that he and Grímhildr would cause trouble was quite unfounded; it was obvious, she didn't know them, and the short period of time they had been dealing with each other was insufficient for her to understand that in her eyes, Hogwarts students were nothing more than hothouse seedlings.

Instead of arguing or getting into trouble with a bunch of kids, he would rather look for a way to be able to use his aura again. It wasn't that he refused to use his magical power, but the comparison between the two powers was abysmal in terms of the combat effectiveness they could provide him with, and that aspect was what he needed most.

Professor McGonagall finished reading the report and looked up, being a little amazed at the change in John's appearance. Before, due to the miserable state he was in, many of his features could not be clearly defined, but now that he was well dressed, things were different. His appearance, while not to the point of being considered attractive in comparison to students like Cedric, was not ordinary either. His look stood out for his gray eyes that transmitted a boundless calm; his dark hair was properly cut and combed; as for his physical constitution, he was a little taller than the average boy of his age; to that was added that he had a strong and athletic figure that was accompanied by a properly tanned complexion.

The sensation that John's presence transmitted reminded her of the first time she traveled to the sea in the company of her husband, a beautiful memory where she experienced both the beauty and the fury of the oceans. That was John, a boy whose calm attitude could explode into fury at the least thought moment. For an instant, she felt afraid that in the sorting ceremony, of all the houses in which he could be chosen, he would remain in Slytherin, but at the same time, a trace of expectation to know what would happen if he was chosen in that house was born in her heart.

"Is what is written here true?" coughed Professor McGonagall a little embarrassed.

Professor McGonagall's question brought John out of his thoughts.

"I doubt there is anyone brave enough to forge this kind of document, considering the implications it brings to the relationships between humans and wizards."

"One thing I noticed is that on the front of this document, it says it is of a confidential nature; won't you be in trouble by giving it to me?"

John was stunned to hear it, and Professor McGonagall's appraisal went up a notch.

"Never mind; in a week or two, this document will become of a public nature, so reading it right now won't cause any major problems."

"Thank you."

"It's not me I should be thanking, but my captain; she ordered me to help you as much as possible."

"Then I'll ask you to thank her for me," she said with a warm smile.

"I don't think that will be necessary; after all, you will see her constantly at Hogwarts; you might as well thank her yourself."

"Am I going to meet her at Hogwarts?"

"Of course, she's going to be your pupil."

"Wait, Svetlana, an eleven-year-old girl; she's your captain?"

"Age does not define an individual's capabilities, and more so in the Quelrathar."

"I understand; I will thank you when I see her," she said, somewhat uncomfortable and confused.

"So, what do you think of this report?"

Professor McGonagall smiled wistfully.

"I don't know; I feel like this report negates my entire life's work; to think that because of me, it came to that result makes me feel horrible."

"Your vocation as an educator is to be admired, but in itself, the blame for all this comes from the chaotic social system in which you live; although school is one of the pillars of society, it is often ignored and despised."

"I'm not going to deny that point, but we still have some responsibility for not knowing how to guide our students correctly. Although difficult, I think we need to make changes in our educational system."

"If you decide to do that, then at most you have five to nine years to make them."

"Why that long?"

"Until now, mages have never been a priority for the Quelrathar, but recently, we were betrayed and almost all the mages of the Yggdrasil were killed, so I do not consider it strange that both the Pope and the Council of Cardinals decided to take action against the schools of magic; of course, this after resolving certain problematic events, which, as I have already told you, will be resolved between five and nine years." He lied.

"Excuse my question, but what measures will they take against us?" she said angrily, while holding her wand tightly.

"I don't know; I'm just a child. You should check those details with Dumbledore if you wish to know, but as a personal tip, this report is the perfect excuse for several Cardinals of the Quelrathar to attempt to control the schools of magic."

"I see, then we must show changes and results so they don't interfere with us."

"That's right, whether you add the subject of ethics and values, change the teacher who teaches the history classes, be much more flexible when interacting with the human world, or try internships in Yggdrasil, whatever you do, just try to change and not give those ambitious old men excuses to get their hands on Hogwarts."

"So what will happen to the other magical schools?"

"No idea, but knowing Grímhildr's character, perhaps he has already made arrangements to warn them; whether these decide to change, it is only in the hands of the vision and intelligence of their headmasters." He lied.

Strictly speaking, his lies were not entirely untrue. If he wanted to fulfill the Pope's mission and follow Grímhildr's wishes, he had no choice but to tell them; even if Dumbledore were to find out, he did not think he would become angry, considering that his actions were, in a sense, helping the magical world.

Human unification was a sure thing, and even though the Cardinals hated wizards due to the hateful legacies of their ancestors, their opinions had been ignored after the HOPE and DiviSture's decision to support the Pope's ideals.

When she heard this news, she couldn't help but shudder. If there was one idea that all the combat members of the Quelrathar shared, it was that one could offend the Cardinals, the Inquisition, and even the Pope himself, but one should never, ever anger the HOPE or the DiviSture.

What little the saints told him was enough to stun him completely. All unoccupied Yggdrasil mages were deployed to infiltrate the magical world, with the duty of trying to acquire any production and development industries the mages had; if not for the eighteenth expedition, their orders would have included the very Ministries of Magic and magical schools.

The Reliere was deployed in its entirety, with the duty to annihilate terrorist organizations. The hunters had the duty to monitor both the abyssal rifts and to kill all beings that posed a danger to humanity.

The NMI had to exterminate as many magical sea creatures as possible; the HOPE had to accelerate its weapons and technological research; the Cardinals had to use the power of their families to influence the governments of the human world; the Inquisition, apart from fulfilling its duties, had to recover from the extermination of all its headquarters in Europe; and the DiviSture had to redesign its uniforms and learn to be prettier.

These and the other Quelrathar divisions were running at full strength, preparing for the nineteenth expedition.

The expedition that would mark the human counterattack.