Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 165 Young Snake Spits
After the visitor left, the secluded prison fell silent once more.

The island fortress was quiet, with kerosene lamps casting a dim glow and the rock walls feeling cold and damp. Spotty the rat wasn't sure if there were any other rats in the area, so he dared not make a sound.

"Click... click..."

Bellatrix's lips moved, and her teeth chattered, making a chilling sound.

She was still chewing on the moss, not swallowing it, but spitting it out after absorbing the flavor. The grass juice and dirt stuck to her gums and between her teeth, forming dark green and black tartar, so dirty that even the rat, Spotted, felt somewhat uncomfortable.

The rat, Spotted, huddled in the corner, its limbs obediently tucked under its body. A glass pendant hung around its neck, containing a colorless and odorless liquid.

Bellatrix was a former core Death Eater, while Peter was just a lowly spy, whose status was so lowly that he was hardly better than a house-elves. The two were not familiar with each other and had almost no interaction.

The witch seemed to have been driven mad by torture, and Peter didn't know what the consequences would be if he were discovered; he dared not gamble.

Peter had no intention of saving his colleagues; he just wanted to get the information about the vault key as soon as possible, use the ouroboros mark to call out to Professor Levent, escape this godforsaken place, and find a remote village where no one could find him.

"Damn it, why did this have to happen to me!" Banban muttered to herself.

In the dim light, the moss in the cracks of the floor was cleared away, and there were some chewed filth around the mad witch. She seemed a little tired, leaning against the wall and slowly closing her eyes, her shoulders slumping down limply.

The mouse waited a moment, then peered through the crack and noticed that her breathing had become slow and even. It knew this was a sign that she was falling asleep. Suppressing its excitement, the mouse touched the pendant around her neck with its short forelimbs and slowly peeked out from its hiding corner.

The mouse crawled slowly on the stone slab. The floor was thick, and its paws were soft. There was no sound at all, but Bellatrix suddenly opened her eyes.

"who!"

The witch's voice was high-pitched and echoed throughout the room, hurting one's ears.

The rat, Banban, was terrified the moment she opened her eyes. She quickly retreated into the corner of the wall, holding her breath and not daring to make a sound.

Bellatrix glanced around with a sinister look, finding no trace, and didn't care. Staying here for too long, the Dementors would turn their brains and souls into swampy mud, sometimes making it hard to distinguish between dreams and reality, and hallucinations were normal.

She knew this all too well; when she used the Cruciatus Curse to torment other wizards before, they would also experience hallucinations.

The witch leaned back against the wall, closed her eyes, and muttered to herself, "I think I smell a mouse..."

After saying that, he smacked his lips twice, as if recalling the taste of fresh flesh and blood.

The mouse trembled with fear, but dared not make a sound.

If this mad witch catches me, I'll definitely be eaten, and even my bones will be chewed to bits.

We must not get caught, and we must not reveal our identities.

They had to patiently wait for the right moment, an opportunity when she couldn't resist, struggle, or even cry for help, to force the truth serum down her throat.

"..."

The image of the prisoners' horrific state after being tortured by the Dementors flashed before the eyes of the rat-like creature.

……

Hogwarts, Muggle professor's office.

Melvin is organizing Azkaban's documents.

That evening, I suggested to Ms. Burns that I visit Azkaban, mainly to help the rat Scabbers infiltrate. After actually visiting today, I felt that there were indeed some things worth discussing. So I collected and organized some information and plan to publish it in a Muggle research journal in a while.

He has been a professor of Muggle Studies for almost two years, but he has not yet published a single academic paper.

It's important to understand that teaching and research are both professors' primary responsibilities. Professor McGonagall is a contracted author for Transfiguration Today, Professor Flitwick is a regular contributor to various Charms-related magazines, and Professor Sprout has even published a herbal compendium. Only Snape, the Potions professor, is somewhat low-key.

Ancient scholars in other disciplines, such as Nehemiah, arithmetic divination, and astronomy, were also leaders in their respective fields.

Although Muggle studies do not involve magic, they are still a popular subject. The most famous scholar in this field is Kareddy Boubagi, the professor Dumbledore originally intended to teach. A couple of years ago, he locked up his wand and went to live in the Muggle community, where he regularly publishes articles in magazines.

The message is that Muggles and wizards have no inherent difference in profession and should respect and learn from each other.

It advocates for intermarriage between different races, such as wizards and Muggles, wizards and werewolves, werewolves and vampires;

It's a good thing that the number of pure-blood wizards is decreasing.

Because of her excessive pro-Muggle bias, these articles are highly controversial. It is said that many wizarding scholars have written articles that specifically criticize her by name, and some extreme pure-bloods have sent shouting letters to publishers. However, Bubbaje was not deterred by this and even planned to compile these articles into a Muggle life guide.

Compared to them, Melvin has never achieved much in this regard.

I wonder when that mouse will finally succeed. I'll take advantage of the holiday break to show my face in a magazine and pass the time.

Discipline, Punishment, and Feeding: The Birth of Azkaban

The paper is mainly divided into three parts: first, it introduces the ecological conditions of Azkaban; second, it explains the role of the prison; and finally, it quietly curses the Ministry of Magic.

Melvin plans to introduce Muggle legal thought and explain the operating logic of Muggle society.

The content is not profound, only superficially touched upon, mainly to help more wizards truly understand Muggles and spark discussion.

Flipping through thick books, when I come across suitable information, I make a copy of the relevant pages, stack them next to my desk, and mark them...

The desktop was tidy at first, but gradually piled with papers, it became messy.

The young snake watched from the side, but soon got bored and started crawling around on the table.

Melvin hadn't even finished his literature review when he saw that the data he had collected had been messed up, so he put down his quill and silently stared at the white snake.

Yulm stopped in his tracks, looked up and met his gaze, his bright eyes utterly innocent.

Melvin poked its head, took off the ring, and placed it on its little horn: "Behave yourself, little guy. Go inside and sleep, or go play over there. Just don't bother me while I'm working."

"hiss……"

Whether the young snake understood or not, it flicked its tail and slowly moved away.

Perhaps it felt uncomfortable with the ring on its little horn, so it started to poke at the emerald-encrusted ring with the tip of its tail. After finally taking it off, it threw it on the table and then used the little horn on its head to poke at the small hole in the gemstone.

Upon touching the space folded by the Seamless Stretch Spell, green light burst forth, and the entire snake was instantly enveloped by a gentle suction force, disappearing into the emerald.

The emerald was quiet for two seconds, then began to tremble and jump wildly on the table, like a dog trapped in a plastic bag, panicked and struggling violently.

Judging from the frequency of the buzzing, the baby snake inside must have been terrified.

"Ugh……"

Melvin sighed, reached out and tapped the emerald. The outside world and the snake's nest reconnected. The young snake darted out as if startled, coiling around Melvin's wrist, its head buried in his palm, its tail trembling.

"..."

Melvin was somewhat helpless; his baby snake didn't seem to be very bright.

The night he received the Emerald Serpent's Nest from Dumbledore, after putting the basilisk back to sleep, he also tried letting Yhorm roost in the nest, but the effect was not very good.

Those who know it are familiar with the exotic longhorned water snake, but those who don't might mistake it for some kind of rat snake. It's a disgrace to Fantastic Beasts.

“Yurm, you…”

Before he could finish speaking, footsteps sounded at the office door. "Knock knock knock..."

"Please come in."

The door opened, revealing a figure standing in the doorway. The figure wore a black wizard's robe, slightly loose, with a gold and red tie, and disheveled hair draped over the shoulders. The figure had a slightly youthful face and stood gracefully in the doorway.

Hermione, who had been smiling, turned pale when she saw the baby snake in his hand, and stammered, "Professor, Hagrid asked me to invite you to his cabin."

Melvin looked up at him: "Is there something you need?"

"Hagrid said he wanted to thank the professor for guiding us to find out the truth and helping him to clear his name."

Hermione had faced the Basilisk before, so she wasn't afraid of this young snake, but girls always get a little uneasy when they see snakes, and their voices soften.

"Hmm... let's go."

Melvin slipped the ring back onto his ring finger, stood up, and stuffed the snake in his hand into his coat pocket.

The trench coat wasn't very soft; it was made of a blended material for the sake of the design, making it slightly rough. It couldn't compare to the snake den specially created by the magical creature expert, but Yulm just liked this kind of nest and comfortably tucked it into his pocket.

It poked its head out, hissing and sticking out its tongue.

Hermione pursed her lips and stood still. Just as the professor passed by, she made eye contact with the baby snake.

“Its name is Yulm, and it’s my friend’s child,” Melvin said casually, touching the young snake’s head. “This is Hermione.”

"hiss……"

It was unclear whether Yulm understood or not; he was still sticking out his tongue, his eyes unreadable and expressionless, his face a blank, snake-like mask.

"Hello, Yulm."

Hermione noticed that its eyes were black, recalling Harry's words.

Before they found the basilisk, the professor had already made contact with it, asking it to help incubate a snake egg, which should be this snake.

Judging from the pointed horn on its forehead, it is a longhorned water snake, the representative animal of one of the colleges of Iphamoni. It looks like the professor brought it from Iphamoni, no wonder he said it was his friend's child.

"Stop spacing out, let's go."

Melvin closed the office door and turned to leave.

Hermione quickly followed up: "Professor, is Yorm a longhorned water snake?"

"Yes."

"What strange magic does it possess?"

"not yet."

"??"

……

Half an hour later, at the Forbidden Forest Hut.

A pot of Irish stew, all meat and no vegetables, was placed on a campfire made of a few stones.

Harry and Ron sat side by side, their hands and faces covered in oil from eating, their smiles revealing a greasy, shiny face.

It's not that Hagrid's cooking skills are better than those of house-elves, or that this stew is better than the soup in Hogwarts kitchens. It's just that the atmosphere around the campfire and the earthenware pot enhances the flavor of the stew, making the experience more about the enjoyment of eating it.

"Let me tell you, Malcolm's eyes almost popped out of their sockets back then! Haha..."

Hagrid gnawed on a beef shank bone, recounting his experiences at the tavern over the past few days, trying to convey the patrons' shock at the truth, their newfound respect for themselves, and their regret for the misunderstanding they had made years ago.

Melvin sat opposite him, holding an earthenware bowl, slowly sipping the broth. A layer of clear oil floated on top, sealing in the temperature; it would take a long time to cool it down. He would occasionally ask a question between sips, piquing Hagrid's interest in conversation.

Most of the time he listened, with a faint smile on his face.

The sky outside gradually darkened.

Light the torches and fireplace, add firewood to make the campfire burn brighter, and the orange flames give the cabin a warm feeling. The crackling firewood and the unique aroma of burning pine wood fill the air.

Hermione was much more reserved when she ate, preferring stewed mushrooms and potatoes until they were soft and tender. When she accidentally scooped a fatty piece of rib out of the pot, she immediately frowned.

Glancing to the side, I saw Ya Ya huffing and puffing as it dealt with a bone, its two front paws pressing down on it, baring its teeth.

The little witch's eyes lit up slightly, and she quietly tossed the ribs over.

No one noticed her subtle movements, except for the young snake that peeked out of her pocket. Yulm's eyes also brightened slightly as he crawled out of her clothes, across the sofa, and towards the hunting dog that was engrossed in gnawing on a bone.

Melvin noticed Yulm's movements, but he ignored them.

Hermione also noticed the approaching baby snake, watching it climb up Tooth's hind leg and follow the fur up to his neck, her heart slowly rising into her throat.

Ya Ya is a hunting dog that actually participates in hunting. Last summer, he trained for two months in the centaur tribe, which made him bolder. He chases birds and rabbits, kicks goblins and vixens, and can cut a snake in half with a single bite.

Meanwhile, Ya Ya, who was engrossed in the ribs, noticed something was wrong. While gnawing on a bone, she felt itchy and cool all over.
This is next to a campfire, so why does it feel like the snow is melting on my body?

Release the ribs, and glance over—

The tiny snake face was facing it, mimicking its behavior, sticking out its tongue and rubbing it against its mouth.

"!!"

The hunting dog shuddered, its fur stood on end, and it barked, "Woof!"

Yulm raised its head, its round eyes fixed on it, tilted its head, and uttered a similar sound: "Woof!"

However, it lacked the majesty of a hunting dog and sounded more like a kitten a few months old, with a soft and pleasant voice and even a slightly sweet tone at the end.

Ya Ya froze on the spot; even the dog was dumbfounded.

The two animals, one big and one small, stared at each other in bewilderment, their interaction drawing the attention of others. Harry and Ron looked at the baby snake, then up at Hermione, only to find her equally confused.

Melvin fell silent; there really seemed to be something wrong with this snake.

He didn't learn snake language, nor could he speak human language. Besides hissing and barking, the first sound he learned was a dog bark.

Hagrid's eyes lit up, and he nudged Tooth's bottom with his foot: "Try barking twice more!"

Ya Ya looked a little aggrieved: "Woof woof..."

Yulm barked in response, "Woof woof~"

Crisp and clear, melodious and pleasant to the ear.

Now even the others fell silent. It was just dog barking, but coming from that young snake's mouth, it sounded much better.

Even Ya Ya shook its head; its dog brain couldn't accept such a strange thing.

(End of this chapter)