The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 37 After School Starts

Several male students were giving crazy comments, and none of the candidates for Minister of Magic satisfied the picky students.

"What are you talking about?" Charlie Weasley came over and sat next to the twins.

"Let's talk about careers," Fred said. "Let's talk about who will be the next lucky minister."

Charlie Weasley said, "When did you become interested in this? You're not going to open a joke shop anymore?"

"Not really. Their ideal is still to open a joke shop. They are not interested in who sits on the Minister of Magic's throne." Ada was full, and it was perfect for her to take a break and go to class.

The twins nodded, they agreed with what Ada said. Who cares who the Minister is? It doesn't matter who it is. It won't be Arthur Weasley anyway.

As for Ada's "prophecy", the twins regarded it as a joke. It was not as easy for the Weasley family to produce a Minister of Magic as it was for the You-Know-Who to make a comeback.

"Charlie, who do you think is more likely?" Ada wanted to know his opinion.

"Who did you mention just now?" Charlie asked.

"Cornelly Fudge," said George, "and Barty Crouch."

Charlie thought about it and said, "Among the candidates, Fudge seems to have the weakest foundation. Although he did a good job in the Disaster and Accident Department, he still has some hope."

A student who had been participating in the discussion said, "I heard that he is a bit weak. He looks like he is easy to bully."

"If he becomes the minister, won't we have a weak minister?" Fred said with a smile.

"The wizarding world has been very peaceful in recent years. It doesn't matter if the minister is not strong enough, as long as he doesn't mess around in his position." said Charlie's friend Rupert.

"As for Barty Crouch, it's almost impossible for him," said Charlie.

"Why? I think he looks much stronger than Fudge." Ada, who had been silent, asked. She had been following the Daily Prophet. Barty Crouch was mentioned in the newspaper. Strong was the first impression Barty Crouch gave her.

"It's really unlikely. Many people still remember what he did!" Rupert also agreed with Charlie's opinion.

Charlie Weasley thought for a moment and said, "He used to be the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. He is considered by everyone to be one of the most likely candidates to become the next Minister of Magic. He is indeed only one step away from the position of Minister."

"Wait a minute, Charlie, isn't Barty Crouch the director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Exchange?" Ada asked.

"That's now. He used to work in the Law Enforcement Department and was a hardliner." Charlie said, "He gained great prestige because of his open confrontation with the mysterious man."

"His approval rating doesn't seem very good? It doesn't look like he's just one step away from winning at all?" someone raised the question.

"Well, he had a good chance of becoming the next minister, but something happened to him, and his popularity, which had been at its peak, fell to the bottom." Charlie recalled, "Barty Crouch lost people's trust, and it was at that time that he was transferred from the Law Enforcement Department."

"It's normal that you didn't know. Not to mention you, we were not very old at the time." Rupert added to Charlie's words.

Lee Jordan had a bad idea. With a gossipy look in his eyes, he asked, "What happened? It couldn't be..."

"It's not what you think, Li." Charlie shook his head and denied it. He said, "Those things are not suitable for you to know for the time being. They are too heavy. After I heard about it, I felt sad for several days."

Rupert said: "I was not yet at school. My mother was very angry when she saw it in the Daily Prophet. She was a very gentle woman, but she still scolded old Barty Crouch for many days."

"Okay, the Minister of Magic is far away from us, so don't think about it anymore." Charlie said, "If you don't eat quickly, you may be late for your morning classes." After that, Charlie and his friend Rupert left.

"What about Dumbledore?" Someone suggested a new candidate.

Hearing Dumbledore's name, Angelina and Alia, who had originally shown no interest, also came over.

"He can be a minister anytime..." Fred looked at the man as if he were a mentally retarded person.

George had the same expression, and he continued, "...if he wants to."

The children from wizarding families all agreed with the twins.

"If you become a minister, does that mean you can no longer be a principal?" the man continued to ask.

Ada was not sure whether the Minister of Magic could also serve as the headmaster of Hogwarts. If he could, that would be a bit scary, just a bit...

"He probably doesn't want to be a minister, does he?" Ada thought for a moment and said, "With his prestige, if he really wanted to be a minister, he would have been one long ago." The discussion continued, but the protagonist had changed to Dumbledore. Ada had no intention of participating, nor did she want to continue listening.

After seeing the twins put down their food, Ada said, "Well, time to go, gentlemen. I don't want to run to class right after dinner."

Because of the heated discussion at breakfast, the bell for class rang just as Ada sat down in the spells classroom. If they had said a few more words, Gryffindor would have been late for class, and Professor McGonagall's expression would have been very interesting.

This spell class was the first class after the holiday, and the students who did not adjust to their state in time did not perform well in class. When Professor Flitwick was explaining the theory, many students' heads were nodding, and they seemed to be able to fall asleep at any time.

Everyone was too sleepy to pay attention to the class, and their performance was even worse during the spell practice. Professor Flitwick had to "put out fires" everywhere. It was really difficult for him, a short man, to run around the classroom non-stop.

However, Ada's performance was as stable as ever, which made the tired Professor Flitwick very happy. He generously added five points to Gryffindor.

The more Professor Flitwick discovered Ada's excellence, the more he envied McGonagall. However, he only saw Professor McGonagall's happy side, but didn't see McGonagall's angry face behind her. It's typical that he only saw the thief eating the meat, but didn't see the thief being beaten.

In fact, it was not just the Gryffindor students who were in a bad state. Students from other colleges were the same. They spent the entire morning at Hogwarts in a daze.

Fortunately, Gryffindor was relieved in the afternoon, so Professor Binns could let everyone have a good sleep, and this History of Magic class could help the students replenish their energy.

Professor Binns, who had never even glanced at the lesson plan, was talking nonstop on the podium, while the students, who had not even opened their textbooks, were sleeping soundly below. The two sides did not affect each other and coexisted harmoniously.

However, this also has a disadvantage. If you sleep too much in the afternoon, you may suffer from insomnia at night, and poor sleep at night will affect your ability to attend classes the next day. This is a vicious cycle.

It has been two weeks since the start of the school year. In the first week, all four colleges lost a lot of points, which gave the four deans a headache. Even Madam Pomfrey, who was always known for her miraculous healing powers, could not cure this headache.

However, as the course progressed, the students adjusted themselves in the second week, Hogwarts returned to the right track, and the headaches of the four deans were relieved.

Ada and the twins also took the time to check the remaining secret passages. The records on the Marauder's Map were completely accurate, and the three of them were not discovered. Wandering around Hogwarts at night without worrying about being caught was the most relaxing time they had ever had at night.

In addition to scouting secret passages, Ada has recently been monitoring Foley and Snape through the Marauder's Map, which not only satisfies Ada's curiosity, but also ensures her personal safety.

Snape's actions were normal. He would run to the headmaster's office from time to time and chat for a long time with Dumbledore, who liked to pace around the office.

At first, Ada did not notice Benedict Foley's abnormal behavior. The professor was very honest and was either in his office or in the dormitory. It was not until an emergency situation made her discover Foley's abnormality.

Ada drank a lot of water that day, and she didn't sleep well at night and woke up once. After solving her personal problems, she returned to bed and opened the Marauder's Map. It was this unintentional behavior that made her see the benefits of wandering around the castle in the middle of the night.

In the following days, Ada discovered that the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was always very active in the middle of the night. He always chose to act in the dead of night, which was indeed not easy to be discovered. If it were not for the real-time monitoring capability of the Marauder's Map, Ada would not have discovered this situation.

It was a weekend, and today's weather was particularly cold and wet, so cold that even the twins were reluctant to leave the castle. The weather in Hogwarts was actually not bad, and it was considered warmer than her "hometown", but Ada still lazily sat in the armchair and warmed herself by the fire, with no intention of leaving the fireplace at all.

Ada was reading a book absentmindedly and didn't even notice the twins waving their hands in front of his eyes.

"Hey! Hey!" Fred snapped his fingers in Ada's ears.

"Take your homework from your schoolbag." Ada said after coming to her senses, "Don't disturb my wandering thoughts."

George smiled and asked, "Where has your mind wandered to?"

“Tahiti is warm and spring-like all year round.”

"Where is that?"

"you've been to?"

Fred and George asked at the same time.

"Muggles say that it is the place closest to heaven, and the people who live there call themselves 'Children of God'." She has always wanted to go there and see if it is as good as they say.

"I guess you might not be welcome there..."

"…You are Merlin's child, after all."

After glaring at the twins fiercely, Ada said, "For the next week, don't even think about borrowing anything with words on it from me."

Ada turned her attention back to the book. Now, whenever she thought of Tahiti, she would think of the witch hunts that were prevalent in the Middle Ages, and the good atmosphere was completely ruined.

(End of this chapter)