The Pacifist Necromancer of Hogwarts

Chapter 313 OWLs Results Prediction
"Just a few words," Rita insisted. "It's not much of an interview, Gilderoy. It won't take up much of your time..."

Lockhart smiled and shook his finger. "No, Rita, that won't work. If all the reporters wanted to 'have a word' with Gilderoy Lockhart, think what would happen."

He stepped gracefully past her and continued toward the entrance hall, but Rita reached out and grasped his forearm. The students who had gathered around Lockhart let out a muffled gasp of surprise and glared at Rita.

"What if I'm not a reporter, but just an avid reader of yours?" Rita said, staring at Lockhart confidently. "You certainly wouldn't be reluctant to talk to your readers, Gilderoy? I heard that your new book is about to be released..."

Lockhart hesitated for a brief moment before trying to wrench his arm from her grasp, but Rita took advantage of his hesitation and firmly pulled him toward the door.

Rita said, "Tell me about your new book, Gilderoy. Before I became a journalist, I used to write for the book review column. Why did you want to give up your adventure series and come to Hogwarts to teach?"

Anthony and Professor Bubbage watched Rita and Lockhart pass by.

Lockhart smiled at them with a look of helplessness and confidence: "Like I said... oh, fame... But don't worry, I'm very good at dealing with this kind of thing... enthusiastic readers..."

Rita took his arm and half dragged him out of the hall. Several students wanted to follow, but Rita glanced at their expressions and firmly refused with a false and enthusiastic smile.

"It sounds like we don't need to bother you." Professor Bubagji said, crossing his arms.

"Professor Lockhart will be fine, right?" Anthony asked, watching Lockhart and Rita turn a corner and disappear.

Professor Bubbaji said: "In my opinion, it's okay to talk to enthusiastic readers. But Rita Skeeter..."

She curled her lips and was interrupted by Professor McGonagall who came hurriedly before she could continue speaking.

"Have you seen Gilderoy?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Anthony pointed to the door: "What's wrong?"

"Did you know Miss Skeeter was coming to Hogwarts, Minerva?" asked Professor Burbage.

"What? Oh, I know... I'm looking for Gilderoy. I need to remind him to give me the fifth-year Defense Against the Dark Arts OWLs prediction sheet as soon as possible."

"Yes, for career advice." Anthony said knowingly, "I have sorted out the Muggle Studies course and will give it to you this afternoon."

Professor McGonagall nodded: "No problem."

Professor Bubbage said, "Don't tell me you approved her application, Minerva."

"If the Ministry of Magic first agrees to her application to 'interview the Senior Inquisitor' and sends an owl requesting that the public should not be prevented from 'learning the truth about Hogwarts'," Professor McGonagall said with a straight face, "and the Senior Inquisitor happens to be very busy and can't even find time to go to Hogsmeade village..."

"What is Mr. Fudge thinking?" Anthony asked, somewhat confused. "Why is he so hostile to Hogwarts?"

Professor Burbage corrected him: "It's not hostility towards Hogwarts, but hostility towards Albus Dumbledore... not that there is a huge difference between the two." She frowned thoughtfully, "But he is indeed tough and a little unlike himself."

"Maybe he's having a nightmare," said Professor McGonagall. "Anyway, I need to go find Gilderoy."

"Perhaps you could wait a moment," said Anthony. "Professor Lockhart is probably telling Miss Skeeter about his adventures."

"Skeeter?" Professor McGonagall glanced sternly between him and Professor Bubbage.

Anthony said, “Yeah.”

“And you didn’t stop them, Carity?” She took a deep breath. “Well, thank you, Henry. That means I need to get over there as soon as possible.”

She strode away.

"Should we have stopped them?" Anthony asked.

Professor Bubbaji said calmly, "I'd like to see what kind of article that woman will write. Maybe she can help Gilderoy promote his line of hair care products."

……

Whatever Rita might have written, it was clear she had given it up when Anthony found Professor McGonagall in the greenhouse.

The early spring sun shone through the glass roof onto the small clearing of carnivorous plants. The vines had once again climbed up the wall, spreading their tender green, curled stems everywhere. Professor McGonagall and Professor Bubbage were each leaning against a carnivorous plant, listening to Professor Flitwick's enthusiastic lecture on the ingenuity of the Standard Spell. Professor Sprout was sitting on an inverted flowerpot, trying to persuade Snape to accept a piece of cake. Professor Sinistra, with her hands on her stomach, leaned silently against a carnivorous plant, staring indifferently at a knotty vine that was about to fall over her face.

"Good afternoon, Henry." Professor Bubbage straightened up and glanced at the person who came in, then leaned back into the carnivorous grass, "Afternoon tea?"

Anthony smiled and nodded to his colleagues, moved a flower pot from the corner, and sat next to Professor Bubaji.

"I am pleased to do so, Charity - but I came to look for you, Minerva." He handed over a sheaf of parchment in his hand. "When I noticed that there were almost no professors left in the castle, I knew where to find you."

Professor McGonagall flipped through the pages. "Excellent. Wait, Midgen... Ian Williams... Anne Scott... Henry, does this include the grade predictions for the entire fifth grade?"

"Shouldn't I give you the entire fifth grade?" Anthony asked in surprise.

Professor McGonagall said with a smile, "Of course not, I'm just the Head of Gryffindor." She flipped through the pages for a while, picked out a few forms, and handed the rest to Professor Flitwick, "Please help yourself, Filius, Head of Ravenclaw."

"I didn't expect to receive a prediction form for OWLs other than Transfiguration," Professor Flitwick said cheerfully, tapping the parchment with his wand. The papers flew up, and several of them floated in front of him. Professor Flitwick collected them and handed the remaining forms to Professor Sprout.

Professor Sprout smiled and said, "I didn't expect that either." She was busy cutting the cake for Anthony, so she motioned for Snape to take the parchment.

"Isn't this necessary for career counseling?" Anthony asked.

Snape took it reluctantly and glanced down: "These things based on imagination and speculation must have some earth-shattering value. I just regret not seeing them...even if it's just a little bit." Anthony stood up and took the cake from Professor Sprout: "It's okay, Professor Snape. There is not a single Slytherin student in it." He put a small piece of cake into his mouth, took another sip of tea, and said with satisfaction, "Great lemon cake, Pomona. Thank you."

Snape sneered and handed the parchment to Professor Sprout, who held out his hand to him.

"Well... in theory, it is necessary." Professor Sprout said, "But we all know that students' actual grades are often different from professors' predictions..."

Professor Bubbage told Anthony: "I only sorted out the Gryffindor students' last year because only Minerva valued this set of rules."

Professor McGonagall took a sip of tea, still looking through the pile of forms. "In fact, I have suggested to Albus that he revise the rules. However, I still think that this prediction will be more or less helpful for employment consultation." She looked up. "Did I mention that Charlie Weasley's original career goal was the Department of Mysteries?"

"what why?"

"He wants to work with Arthur, and he thinks the name 'Unspeakable' sounds cool," Professor McGonagall said calmly. "I told him that although his Charms grades are acceptable, it is difficult for him to meet the requirements of the Department of Mysteries. His History of Magic doesn't seem to be up to standard either, not to mention that he didn't even take Ancient Runes. Instead of choosing the Department of Mysteries, he might as well aim for the Office of Beasts, or even consider becoming a professional Quidditch player."

Professor Sprout said: "The Fire Dragon Researcher sounds like a mix of the two."

"He's very suitable to be a dragon researcher." Anthony agreed, but he was more concerned about another thing, "Why have I never seen a professor of ancient runes?"

Professors Sprout and Flitwick both laughed, and even Professor McGonagall had a faint smile on her face.

"We sometimes joke that Bathsheda is the silent person of Hogwarts," said Professor Sprout. "She is rarely seen outside the classroom, and she won't open the door to anyone who knocks on her office, not even Albus. She sometimes travels or attends meetings, but you would never know how she left Hogwarts."

Professor Bubaji said: "I only met her once."

"I've seen it four times," said Professor Flitwick.

Professor Sprout turned around and said, "Aurora, are you seeing her more often?"

Professor Sinistra stared at the ceiling and said slowly, "Five times... maybe."

Anthony asked with concern, "What's wrong with you, Professor Sinistra?"

Professor Sinistra sighed and said nothing.

"Minerva went to remind her about the OWLs prediction table," Professor Sprout whispered.

"Two o'clock in the afternoon." Professor Sinistra complained and sat up. The carnivorous plant reluctantly loosened its leaves and rustled back. "Who would wake up at two o'clock in the afternoon?"

Professor Sprout poured her a cup of tea.

Professor McGonagall looked up from her Muggle Studies predictions and nominated, "Most people?" Then she turned to Anthony, "Did you give any predictions below an E, Henry?"

“I think I wrote down two or three A’s,” Anthony recalled.

"Here I see it," said Professor Sprout. "Mr. Ian Williams."

Ian was a very active student and was quite clever most of the time, but his spare time seemed to be spent helping out at Honeydukes, so much so that by his fifth year he could not list more than three places where Muggles used electricity in their daily lives. After telephone, television and telegraph, he wrote "portal". After Anthony reminded him of the word electric light and refrigerator, he misspelled the word "fridge".

"Oh, him," said Professor McGonagall. "I don't know if you've looked at the results forecast I gave you, Pomona, but to be honest, I think there's a good chance that Mr. Williams won't get an OWL in Transfiguration... maybe a P, if he doesn't suddenly forget something."

Professor Flitwick placed the empty cake plate back on the table. "He may be able to get a certificate in Charms. Mr. Williams is very good at Levitation, Restoration, and Summoning."

"He doesn't need OWLs to find a career that suits him anyway." Professor Bubbage said, "He's the nephew of Honeydukes, right?"

"Yes," Professor Sprout said with a smile, "I often find that his papers smell like Honeydukes. But I'm not sure if he really wants to continue working for Honeydukes after graduation."

Professor Flitwick said sharply, "If a man is good at making sweets, he's probably not too bad at Potions, is he, Severus?"

Snape thought about it for a moment, then said, "I'd probably give him an A."

"That means E or even O," said Professor McGonagall. "Half of the predictions you gave me were P, Severus."

Snape said, "Oh, really? I didn't count. Only half?"

Professor McGonagall gave him a look of annoyed amusement.

Snape said smugly, "Unless you want me to predict the mistakes they might make. In which case, it might indeed be beyond expectation (E) or beyond human nature (O)."

"Henry gave almost everyone an E or O." Professor McGonagall complained with a straight face, "The results predicted by both of you are equally lacking in reference value. Thank you."

Anthony clarified: "I took the time to write these predictions! I didn't just fill them out with my eyes closed."

Snape said dryly, "Neither am I. You cannot refuse to trust an honest prediction, Minerva."

Professor McGonagall took a sip of her tea and lowered her head again, not commenting on their statement.

Professor Bubbage moved the flowerpot and sat next to Professor McGonagall, looking at the form Anthony handed her with interest.

"Siona Sangster?" said Professor Burbage. "I remember her. She was the student who told me that Muggles used electricity to light telephones and then used circuit powder to fly from one telephone to another. You predict she will get an O, Henry?"

"Miss Sangster is always curious about the details of Muggle life and often gets E's on her tests," Anthony laughed. "Besides, she swore to me."

(End of this chapter)