From the moment the article appeared, Harry had to endure people, Slytherins mainly, quoting it at him as he passed them, and making sneering comments.
Nowadays the terms " cynical" and " cynicism" have come to mean a sneering disbelief in human sincerity, and they imply insensitivity to other people's suffering.
This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem.
Goncharov's critical or merely snide comments about the British or the Americans (the positive ones were ignored) were interpreted by Muraveisky as criticisms of imperialism as such, not of its abuses.