Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 174 The Significance of New Things
"Thank you for watching. This concludes the Prophet News report..."

The young witch, mimicking a Muggle's broadcasting voice, announced the end of the first episode of the wizarding world's news program.

The young wizards were still somewhat unsatisfied, staring at the mirror and unwilling to look away, but all they could see was the surging silver mist and the stars and moon adorning the magical dome.

Dumbledore stood up and said with a smile, "Now, before everyone goes to bed, let's have our last activity of the evening: let's sing the school song together!"

The headmaster waved his wand gently, and a long, golden ribbon shot out from the tip, as light as a feather, twisting and floating above the dining table, swirling and outlining lines of lyrics.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, teach us knowledge."

"Whether we are balding old people or children who have hurt their knees."

"..."

The various tunes were mixed together, and the chorus sounded terrible, but it was this terrible singing that moved the headmaster to tears. The young wizards thought Dumbledore was too sentimental and quickly left after announcing the disbandment.

First-grade students lined up behind their grade leaders, while students from other grades walked in twos and threes as they left the auditorium and ascended the stairs they hadn't seen for several weeks.

"Why did it end so quickly? I haven't had enough!"

"That's just news; I heard the other programs are even more exciting!"

"It's all Professor Levent's fault!"

"..."

Hearing the complaints coming from the Slytherin crowd, Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged a glance, quietly quickened their pace, and only began their discussion when they reached a quiet place.

Hermione said with certainty, "The Prophet News is very professional, and the broadcasting style is very sophisticated. They must have referenced Muggle television news."

Harry nodded heavily.

"I know about the TV. My dad used to have one for research! But it could never be turned on. My dad said it was because the light bulb inside was broken. He tried to fix it for months but couldn't, so it was just thrown away as junk in the warehouse."

Ron grinned and chuckled. "My mom thought that thing took up too much space and told him to throw it away, but he refused and got scolded for two weeks."

After laughing, Ron thought of the Shadow Mirror again. As a young boy from a pure-blood wizarding family, Ron had never seen television programs before, and he kept thinking about it, muttering to himself, "The Shadow Mirror is great! It can show Quidditch matches, videos, and news programs... Tell me, why didn't any wizards make something so interesting before?"

"Because of the secrecy law?" Harry scratched his head.

"The Law of Secrecy is meant to keep the existence of magic secret from Muggles, not to block information about Muggles from wizards."

“It’s the pure-blood families that are hindering us,” Hermione replied.

Harry and Ron didn't understand, and looked at the little witch with slightly blank expressions. Seeing her pursed lips and serious expression, their relaxed chat instantly turned into a serious one.

"Pure-blood families are divided into two types of people. One type is like the Malfoys, shrewd and cunning, who promote pure-bloods for profit. Everything they do is for business. Did you hear the Slytherin discussion just now? Maybe they've already bought a Shadow Mirror and are watching it from their sofa right now!"

Hermione snorted, indignant that Professor Levent had been slandered. "One type is like Umbridge and Fudge, stupid and stubborn, who actually believe the lies they made up, thinking that everything Muggle is evil, rejecting technology, and hindering the progress of the times."

"Actually, there's another kind..."

Ron raised his hand and said timidly, "And we Weasleys are happy to accept things from Muggles."

"Malfoy said your family is a disgrace to purebloods."

"His opinion doesn't count!"

"..."

Harry's head was down, his mind elsewhere, as his friends argued around him. Somehow, when they mentioned Malfoy, he thought of that ugly house-elf.

How is Dobby doing now?
Does he still always get beaten by Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy?

……

The next morning, in the school auditorium.

For students, the first day of the new semester is always relaxing. There are no formal classes for any subject, and professors need to work out the teaching plan for the new semester. There is no dry or obscure knowledge, and the classroom is mostly just students and teachers chatting.

After breakfast, before classes started, the four deans walked among the long tables in the college, distributing course schedules and answering students' questions.

Third-grade students have just finished six months of elective classes. If they feel that a particular course is unsuitable or that other courses are more interesting, they can apply to switch. There are also advanced classes for sixth-grade students; if they find the courses too difficult or cannot keep up, they can also withdraw.

The auditorium was filled with chatter for a moment.

Melvin gripped the silver metal fork, picked up a hard-boiled egg, and slowly stuffed it into the baby snake's mouth.

The young snake tilted its head back, opened its mouth wide, and swallowed the whole boiled egg. Then it began to twist its body and shake its tail, trying to use its muscles to move the boiled egg into its stomach. However, given its current size, swallowing a whole boiled egg was still somewhat difficult.

He was so focused on twisting and turning that he didn't pay attention to his position and lost control of his body, falling off the dining table.

Fortunately, the main seating area in the auditorium was carpeted, and the baby snake, being quite light, was unharmed when it fell to the ground. Instead, it swallowed the hard-boiled egg that was stuck in its throat.

"..."

Yulm shook its head, stuck out its tongue, and kept wagging its tail. Its lively and energetic appearance carried a hint of pride, as if it were showing off.

Melvin remained silent, feeling somewhat helpless.

If I remember correctly, this seems to be the action of Tooth. It usually does this to show off to Hagrid after it finishes gnawing on a bone or a rock crust. But Tooth is a dog. Why does Yhorm, a longhorned water snake, imitate a dog's actions so naturally?

I picked up the baby snake and put it back into the emerald. I sat down and chatted with the other professors for a while. When it was almost time for the bell to ring, I got up and walked to the classroom.

I chatted with Sir Cadogan on the way, and when I arrived at the classroom, the bell had just rung.

In the sixth-grade Muggle studies class, nearly thirty students sat neatly in the classroom.

In other advanced classes, students sit scattered, with the middle seats in the first two rows often empty. Only the Muggle Studies class is different. Knowing that Professor Levente's classes are very interesting and often involve fun games and interactions, students sit in the front row.

Percy, with his red hair, sat in front of the lectern.

"boom……"

Melvin put down his textbook, leaned against the lectern to steady himself, greeted a few girls in the front row, and jokingly remarked that their faces looked a little rounder over the holidays:
"Alright, alright, enough chit-chat. Let's talk about this semester's course schedule. You already mastered home appliances and Muggle transportation last year. The advanced course will just expand on some less common topics and introduce you to some Muggle ideas and ideologies. This semester's course will be similar, covering some large machinery, which falls under the natural sciences, followed by final exam review. If there are extra class hours, we'll explore relevant Muggle social sciences as appropriate."

That's about it. Any questions?

As soon as he finished speaking, some students raised their hands, but they didn't care about the course schedule for this semester.

"Professor, did you invent the shadow mirror?"

"In fact, I only put forward an idea; it was Wright-Monk Stanley, a descendant of the witch who invented the Illumination Charm, who brought it to life."

What other programs does the film studio offer?

"Currently, there are only three programs: Animal World, commissioned from Professor Kettleburn and Hagrid; Quidditch Wonderful, commissioned from Director Bagman of the Sports Department to collect various game videos; and news produced by Prophet Press."

Will there be any other content later?

"of course."

Melvin looked up and met Penelope Crivat's bright gaze. He glanced at the other students, who all had similar looks in their eyes. After a moment's hesitation, he tapped the lectern:
"As is customary, the first class of the new semester is not a regular lesson. I originally planned to ask you questions about the content of last semester to check if you had reviewed it during the holidays, and then grab a few people to sing and dance. You would have a lot of fun, and I would have an easier time passing the time. But seeing you like this, I suddenly changed my mind."

Melvin tapped the blackboard and magically sketched out a set of words:
"Television, Film, Advantages and Disadvantages"

Melvin looked around and made eye contact with each student: "Only a few of you are pure-blood wizards. Most of you are half-bloods or Muggle-born. Even if you grew up in a wizarding family, you must have had at least a few Muggle relatives and have visited normal Muggle homes. You must have been exposed to television and should have realized that the Shadow Mirror is a poor imitation of television. Perhaps it will be a long time before the Shadow Mirror has as many exciting and diverse programs as television."

A commotion broke out in the classroom:
"You've had television since you were little!"

"There are also game consoles and computers to play..."

"what is that?"

"It's hard to describe, but it's more interesting than TV."

"That's wonderful..."

It is extremely rare for children from pure-blood families to envy children from Muggle families.

Melvin waited for their discussion to pause, then took a moment to ask, "Everything has its pros and cons. There are criticisms of television in the Muggle world, and television has its flaws, as does the Reflection Mirror. I want to ask you, have you thought deeply about the impact of the Reflection Mirror? Have you discovered any defects in it?"

The students looked at each other and fell silent for a moment.

A few minutes later, people started raising their hands to answer.

Some say that there is a lot of false information in various programs, and that some media only care about ratings and want to attract attention without verifying the information or even fabricating fake news, which can easily cause negative impacts.

There are also annoying shopping ads. Straightforward ads are fine, but those hidden in movies, TV shows, and variety shows are more likely to deceive people and make parents buy a lot of useless things.

Some people hate bloodshed and violence, but similar scenes are becoming more and more common.

Some people prefer explicit content, but they know it's wrong; yet some people deliberately make these kinds of programs.

The pure-blooded students listened to these discussions and imagined those shows. They had never known before that the Muggle world was so complex, almost like another world altogether.

Melvin listened quietly to their opinions, neither refuting nor agreeing.

"These are all impacts brought about by the content. Content can be reviewed and regulated, but I hope you will think about what changes the emergence of the Shadow Mirror will bring to the wizarding world. Take Lockhart's case as an example. In the past, he stole memories and deceived the public through books. Now that there is the Shadow Mirror, can he deceive even more people? The Daily Prophet reports fake news. Rumors used to only spread through newspapers. Now that it's the Shadow Mirror, won't the speed of spread be faster? Won't the scope be wider?"

"Should we boycott the mirror?" a student asked in confusion.

"This is the question you need to think about."

Melvin smiled at their bewildered expressions. "The paper will be titled 'This,' and it should be at least 10 inches long. Submit it to me next Monday."

The classroom was immediately filled with wails.

……

The deep winter of 1993 was not yet over. The North Sea, on the northeastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean, remained damp and cold. Dementors surrounded Azkaban, emanating a heavy, cold fog, and the walls of the island's fortress resembled solid ice that had never melted over the years.

Opening his eyes, he lazily climbed out of bed, yawned widely, and scrambled up the crack in the stone to the window. Looking out, he saw the same familiar, despairing view.

Thick fog rolled down from the sky, gray and hazy, as if connected with the endless waves, obscuring all light.

This is the norm in Azkaban. The island's fortress is both a cage and a farm, the prisoners are livestock, and Dementors roam the island, periodically harvesting their souls and memories.

The rat, Spotted, chose to build its nest between two rocks, a very secluded corner, where it had no worries about being discovered.

The mouse nest was made of scraps of cloth and hay. The scraps of cloth were covered with years of grime, and the hay smelled rotten and musty. It was very uncomfortable to sleep in, not even as good as Professor Levent's glass jar.

But Scabbers didn't mind. Compared to the Death Eater prisoners in the fortress, this environment was quite comfortable, and he didn't have to worry about being disturbed by Dementors. Sometimes he would even sneak into the Aurors' rooms to steal a few crumbs of bread with jam on them or some cheese that had fallen on the floor.

The mouse rubs its mouth with dew on its paws, and its breakfast is the cheese it hid yesterday. The little mouse nest is full of life.

After having breakfast, it slipped out of the crevice and easily made its way to the depths of the fortress. After several weeks of prison life, Scabbers had figured out the workings of Azkaban. At this time, the Aurors had not yet begun their patrols, and Bellatrix had not yet woken up, so it was safe to act.

Find Bellatrix's cell, slip inside through the observation window, and hide in another corner.

"We'll be able to leave this awful place soon!"

The rat, Spotted, touched the glass bottle around its neck, a hint of joy flashing in its cunning eyes.

Today is the day Bellatrix will be tortured by the Dementors. All she has to do is hide here and wait quietly, letting the Dementors drive her crazy and unable to resist, so they can force the Truth Potion into her mouth and extract information about the vault.

Huddled in a corner, nestled in a crack in the rocks, its fur clung to the stone, the icy chill seeping into its very bones.

They endured this for an unknown amount of time until an even colder chill enveloped the cell.

Spotted the mouse shuddered and poked half its head out to look. It saw that Bellatrix had sat up and was leaning against the wall with an indescribable expression on her face. Her lips trembled slightly, and her pupils contracted, as if she were angry, numb, and desperate at the same time.

The door opened, and a monster wearing a cloak crawled in.

(End of this chapter)