"First and foremost, about my mixed-blood heritage, I hope you can keep it confidential."
Elena raised her index finger, looking at Dumbledore with a serious tone.
The specific origins of wizards, due to their ancient nature, are now unverifiable. The concept of magic existed since human activities began, but pinpointing when humans started to learn and master this supernatural power remains uncertain.
Excluding mysterious Eastern legends, the earliest recorded magical instances in history date back roughly to 2600 BC, with the Egyptian Pharaohs and their accompanying sorcerers. Setting aside ancient Egypt and Babylon, the earliest known magical record in the wizarding world is the wand-making claimed by the Ollivander family, starting around 382 BC.
Elena always harbored suspicions about this, as it invariably reminded her of the countless shops claiming millennium-old lineage that once lined the streets in her past life.
Recorded magical signs first surfaced in Europe around 4 AD, after the birth of Jesus. In the British Isles, it wasn't until around 500 AD that the first legendary wizard, Merlin, appeared and could be traced.
However, long before the establishment of human civilization, magical creatures already existed. To be precise, considering human wizards as a form of magical creatures, human magical abilities aren't excessively powerful.
Take for instance house elves, who can manipulate strong magic without a wand and are relatively weaker among magical creatures. Once human wizards are detached from their wands, which serve as "magic amplifiers," their abilities significantly diminish, and wand cores invariably come from a part of magical creatures' bodies.
Indeed, most half-blood wizards are notably stronger compared to normal wizards. Hagrid's incredible resilience and strength stem from his giant mother, while Fleur's exceptional magical talent is tied to her veela grandmother.
However, humans' attitudes toward half-blood wizards (specifically referring to half-magical beings) have always been rather awkward: fear, rejection, distrust, and an underlying envy... As seen in the original work, both Fleur and Hagrid were considered outsiders among their peers.
Elena didn't want to be treated like an animal in a zoo every day at school—such treatment was better suited for the "Boy Who Lived."
"If this can't be guaranteed, I'd rather not... um..." The silver-haired girl seemed to accidentally bite her tongue, letting out a murmur and continued hesitantly, "I'd rather never learn magic... or come to this place for school."
"On this point, I can assure you that aside from Professor McGonagall and myself, no one else in the school will know your identity. In fact, Hogwarts has had several students like you before, so you needn't worry."
Dumbledore nodded, readily agreeing.
Initially, he thought the girl would make some peculiar and demanding requests. Concealing the identity of a half-blood wasn't something Elena explicitly mentioned, but he would have reminded her not to reveal her lineage regardless.
In fact, if Elena hadn't been so keen on distancing herself from the wizarding world, Dumbledore hadn't initially planned to divulge anything about half-bloods.
"What else? You mentioned 'some' requests, right?"
Dumbledore chuckled lightly, finding Elena, who was more straightforward than the introspective Riddle from over a decade ago, simpler. Apart from her occasional wilfulness, Elena was more inclined to share her emotions and thoughts with people. And as for a child's tendency to be a bit gluttonous, Dumbledore saw it as inconsequential.
"Besides, there's another simple request that might be a tad troublesome. But for someone like Professor Dumbledore, it's just a small effort."
Elena blinked, gesturing with her left thumb and index finger, raising her right second finger.
"If possible, by the latest fourth or fifth grade, I'd like to be an exchange student sent to study in the United States."
"Hmm... as an exchange student to the United States?" Dumbledore looked pensive, raising his eyebrows and pondering for a few seconds before slowly responding.
"Is it Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? This might pose some difficulty; typically, there are rare instances of exchanges between magical schools..."
"No, I'm not referring to a magical school."
Elena shook her head, smiling, "I mean Harvard University, a school founded by Muggles. As far as I know, the Ministry of Magic and the non-magical world in Britain have always had close ties. If it's a request from Professor Dumbledore, the British Prime Minister will certainly agree."
"A Muggle school?!" A hint of surprise flashed in Dumbledore's deep blue eyes. He furrowed his brow, looking at the young girl in front of him, seemingly trying to confirm if it was just a jest.
Elena reined in her smile, lifting her head to meet Dumbledore's gaze, answering with a stern tone, "That's right, as I mentioned earlier, the non-magical world holds enormous potential. Hence, someone must understand and learn about it all. In my view, in the next decade or so, it's highly likely to be the place where non-magical world knowledge flourishes the most."
This was the compromise Elena arrived at after much contemplation. Considering the future timeline, after the fourth-grade Triwizard Tournament, Britain seemed rather unstable. She had no interest in dealing with a certain noseless lunatic.
Simultaneously, starting from 1995, the Muggle world had officially entered the era of the Internet, with almost all globally sweeping Internet companies rising within a decade. This marked the most extensive capital reshuffle in modern human civilization's history, liberating the concept of civilization from geographical and national constraints.
Dumbledore remained silent, caught in a peculiar contemplation. After a while, he broke the silence.
"Is it very important?"
"Extremely! It concerns the future coexistence of our magical and non-magical worlds, perhaps the final opportunity for both sides to stand as equals or even for the magical world to gain absolute dominance."
Understanding her connection to the magical world, Elena naturally started using "we," born into being half-magical—a term she didn't want to be if the magical world were to expose itself in a dozen years.
"I understand; I need to think about this aspect further. Fourth grade might be too early..."
Dumbledore actually had this idea of studying the Muggle world all along, but it meant using a wizard's magical potential as a wager to gain unknown knowledge.
"What if I can complete most of the Hogwarts curriculum in advance? I'm quite intelligent, you know."
Seeing Dumbledore seem slightly more open to the idea, the silver-haired girl's eyes lit up, hastily standing up. Initially, she had suggested this more as an experiment, and she had even planned her long-term strategy of visiting the Headmaster's office every day for tea and chats once she enrolled.
Seeing Elena's confidence, Dumbledore couldn't help but smile, reaching out to ruffle her silver locks, chuckling as he shook his head.
"The Hogwarts curriculum isn't as easy as you think. How about this: if you manage to be the top student in every subject every year, I'll help you discuss this matter with Fudge, I mean, the Minister of Magic."
"Deal! Professor Dumbledore, you're not someone who goes back on their word, right?"
Elena extended her small hand, pressing down on Dumbledore's right hand that was fussing
over her head, almost squinting her eyes with joy. Dumbledore had no inkling of the mysterious academic prowess from the East. After all, every student who could conquer the "NEWTS" of hellish difficulty was at least comparable to Miss Know-It-All Hermione Granger.
And besides...
In a direction unseen by Dumbledore, a hint of cunning sparkled in the silver-haired girl's eyes.
Never mind being the top student every year; if her speculation proved correct, she might even become the eternal NO.1 in the entire history of Hogwarts.
"Is that all then? As an old man, I can't remember too many requests."
After these exchanges, Dumbledore and Elena's relationship noticeably grew closer. The elder lightly tapped Elena's head, teasingly saying with a half-joking tone.
"If there has to be one more thing, it's more like compensating for dragging me to Hogwarts. But it's about Professor McGonagall."
Biting her finger, Elena tilted her head, thinking.
"What's the matter? I can't promise anything if it involves Professor McGonagall," replied Dumbledore, raising an eyebrow and spreading his hands.
"Just a simple thing... When enrolling, could my name (Alina Kaslana) be placed first in the registry?"
Though she seemed to use an absent-mindedly cute tone, Elena's heart was pounding. Her eyes carefully watched Dumbledore's expression.
Concerning time travel and changes to the timeline, in her past life, there had been various science fiction speculations. Even in the Harry Potter series, there existed props like time turners, which could potentially cause paradoxes.
This time, it was Elena's small attempt to alter the known timeline slightly. She wanted to see if the supposed force of world inertia existed and if the so-called 'unwavering Hannah Abbott' would change due to her presence.
"Is that all? Well, that's no problem."
Dumbledore waited for a few seconds, noticing that Elena didn't seem to want to say more. He couldn't help but voice his surprise; this request seemed hardly noteworthy.
"Yes, that's all." The silver-haired girl nodded with a smile—just confirming the absence of the so-called world-convergence force was enough.
Everything seemed to be getting more intriguing by the moment.