Harry Potter: Who cares about belated motherly love?

Chapter 286 In this life, I am a beautiful girl

Suddenly, I realized that in this life, I am a beautiful girl.

Although it makes me a little uncomfortable to brag about myself, it is indeed the truth.

I don't look like either of my parents, but I do look like my paternal grandmother and maternal great aunt (if I remember correctly), because they were from the Black branch of the family. They died in a "dragon pox" epidemic before I was born, so I never met them (besides, they were all exiled from the family at the time, as were my parents). But they were said to be stunningly beautiful people anyway.

Whether in the wizarding world or the Muggle world, people with outstanding appearance always get certain benefits. In the British wizarding world, beautiful appearance is often linked to power or strong magical ability, which means that people with outstanding appearance often have advantages in all aspects.

However, unless one's character is extremely bad (not naming any names, but like the eldest brother who no one was willing to stop from going to Azkaban), beauty can indeed be a great advantage.

This is especially true under the influence of the Black family. The Black family is known as the "royal family" of the British wizarding world. Their bloodline can be traced back to the Middle Ages, and the family has been in existence for more than seven centuries. The Black family's beauty and powerful magic have even led to them being considered to have elven blood.

Although the Malfoy family has similar legends, they cannot be compared with the Black family. In the British wizarding world, the name of the Black family is unparalleled. Even if you only have a little Black family blood, you are born to win, which is almost beyond doubt.

Most of the existing pure-blood celebrities in the British wizarding world are related to the Black family. Therefore, the appearance of members of the vast majority of pure-blood families, regardless of their style, is quite outstanding (of course, there are exceptions, such as the Crabs and Goyles, which are pure-blood families but of lower status).

Furthermore, the British wizarding world was not friendly to Muggle-born witches and wizards. The demand for Muggle knowledge in the wizarding world was almost zero (the Ministry of Magic was slightly better), so it was difficult for a Muggle-born witch or wizard to find a high-paying job.

Of course, if you start your own business, that’s another matter, but the number of Muggle-borns who can enter the Ministry of Magic accounts for less than 3% of the total.

I mean, those 3% of muggleborns are pretty good looking.

In the British wizarding world, the prejudice that beauty is associated with magical ability and pure-blood family is deeply rooted. Because they don't know much about Muggles, the bad practice of "appearance determines everything" has become an unwritten rule.

Recruitment at the British Ministry of Magic mostly relies on appearance, connections, and a very small number of truly capable wizards. The current Minister of Magic, Fudge, rose to the top through connections.

——After all this talk, the core is: in the British wizarding world, beauty is an important symbol of social status.

The concept here is very backward. Unlike the Muggle world, women's status and rights in society are still very low. Although the situation has improved, women's employment opportunities are limited overall. For example, women can only be relatively independent in technical jobs like Madam Magin's tailor shop in Diagon Alley, or in similar service industries run by Madam Rosmerta in the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade Village, or in a few Quidditch players, or in specific professions like professors at Hogwarts. However, the male-to-female ratio in the Ministry of Magic is 9:1.

Because of this, many witches, like my mother Molly or Harry's mother Lily, get married right after graduating from Hogwarts and choose to become full-time housewives. More than 70% of witches take this path every year. Some witches of Muggle origin choose to return to the Muggle world, but most women from the magical world truly believe that marriage is happiness for witches. This is the 20th century (※1992).

Perhaps this is why Lily Potter and James Potter got married so early and gave birth to Harry. There were so few job opportunities in the wizarding world, and for Lily, marriage might have been her best choice in the environment at the time.

- In short, in the British wizarding world where young pregnancy and childbirth are not uncommon, the overall atmosphere of Hogwarts is a bit like a blind date. In this school, 80% of graduates have already established relationships with their future partners while in school.

In such an environment, if you are good-looking or have some special talent, you will be very popular, especially among men. After all, having a beautiful wife is also a status symbol.

This is why I am so popular (even though I am not happy). Especially recently, because I have made basic skin care products (including shampoo, hair care products and shower gel) with the help of Charlie during the summer vacation, and the only blemish on my face, freckles, has completely disappeared. In addition, my hair is smooth and my skin is smooth and delicate, so I have received a lot of attention since the start of school.

Now, I am undoubtedly a beautiful girl (at least in appearance). Not to mention that my grades are among the top 3 in the whole grade. Although not as good as Hermione, my mental age is much higher than that of my peers, and many classmates regard me as a support.

Since last year, especially after dealing with the "dragon" incident, boys from Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor have come to chat with me from time to time. Although their topics are just trivial matters, a place like Hogwarts is where you slowly build up a good impression through daily communication.

Charlie was assigned to protect me from these boys who took advantage of this opportunity to get close to me. I didn't learn about this from him until the summer vacation.

Thanks to Charlie's intimidation, Percy's appointment as Gryffindor's prefect, and Fred and George's being voted as the least desirable duo for three consecutive years, I was able to keep my innocence at Hogwarts. It seems that the girls in the lower grades also have to be vigilant at all times, because some boys will lay a "trap" when you are not paying attention.

Charlie also taught me many spells during the summer vacation, aiming to enable me to protect myself. Although he was worried that my beauty would bring more trouble, he finally chose to strengthen my ability, after all, beauty is an important resource in the wizarding world.

But what if it is a teacher? What should we do then?