Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 189 Back to school

The fairy manager watched intently, almost mesmerized. Melvin saw a greedy gaze emanating from its eyes, reflected on the golden cup, shining even brighter than the shimmering gold itself.

“Yes, the Hufflepuff Cup,” Melvin murmured, “a relic of the founder of Hogwarts.”

The fairy manager narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the golden cup with fascination: "What a precious treasure, Mr. Lestrange. I think such a treasure should be kept in a safe place, such as Gringotts' underground vault, which can keep out all malicious prying eyes."

"If anyone harbors ill intentions toward the Golden Cup, it is you greedy demons."

With a strange smile on his face, Melvin reached out towards the golden cup while teasing and joking. The magic of the levitation spell enveloped the golden cup, carrying it down from the shelf and wobbling into his hand.

The surface of the gold cup was polished very smoothly, and the engraved patterns felt uneven to the touch. Melvin closed his eyes and could clearly feel the immense magic power accumulated in the gold cup, but he could not make out the specific effects of this magic power.

Compared to an indestructible sword and a crown that enhances wisdom, the gold cup seems to have no distinguishing features other than its expensive material.

Helga Hufflepuff originally created the Golden Cup to help house-elves transport food. It is said to possess magical and special magic, but the specifics of this magic are not explained in various books and legends.

The descendants of Hufflepuff kept it as an antique. Later, when Voldemort poisoned Hepzba Smith and got his hands on the cup, he valued the symbolic meaning of the cup more and did not explore the hidden magic much. After making it into a Horcrux, he gave it to Bellatrix for safekeeping.

Voldemort's soul fragments were also hidden inside the golden cup. The ominous dark magic was so well concealed that it required careful investigation to detect even the slightest fluctuation.

He turned and walked out: "This is the item I want to retrieve. Let's go."

“Yes, Mr. Lestrange.” The goblin manager forced a smile, his gaze fixed on the golden cup. “If you need to store the golden cup at Gringotts again in the future, we are at your service!”

Melvin found it amusing; these goblins were insatiably greedy, wishing they could collect all the world's gems, gold, and treasures into Gringotts.

Gryffindor commissioned King Legnac I of the goblin kingdom to forge a sword. The goblin felt that since it had forged the sword, it should belong to it. So it claimed that Gryffindor had stolen the sword and sent servants to steal it back several times. They were beaten several times before they stopped.

Just then, footsteps sounded ahead, drawing closer and accompanied by heavy breathing. In this tunnel deep underground, besides Melvin and the fairy manager, only two wild beasts guarding the vault remained.

Melvin frowned slightly, stopped, and looked up to meet the gaze of the Sphinx in front of him.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that this was a massive lion, its limbs bound in shackles. When it stood up, it was almost taller than Hagrid. It had yellow fur, a long, thick tail, and a single paw that was larger than the goblin's entire body. Yet, this terrifying giant lion had the head of a woman, with yellowish skin, regular features, and especially beautiful, slender almond-shaped eyes.

It showed no intention of attacking, but simply stopped at the intersection, blocking Melvin's path, and let out a low, hoarse sound:

“Wise wizard, you have obtained what you wanted, but if you wish to leave this place, you will need to pass through me.”

Melvin raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing the Sphinx's eyes, trying to find some clue in its gaze, unsure whether it had seen through his identity or was simply acting on its instinct to solve riddles.

It is said that this magical animal possesses both human intelligence and animal instincts, and even has the power to see through people's minds like a soul-capturing magic.

"You barbaric thing! Stand back!"

The fairy manager quickly stepped forward, reprimanded the Sphinx, and immediately apologized to Melvin: "I'm very sorry, esteemed Mr. Lestrange, this Sphinx was only recently transferred to guard the vault and isn't very well trained, making it prone to offending distinguished guests. I'll send it back right away..."

He bent down and rummaged through his bag for the Doraemon discs. Sphinx looked a little scared, but still stubbornly stood in the middle of the road.

“Manager, wait a moment.” Melvin turned to the Sphinx and said calmly, “Tell me your riddle.”

The fairy glanced at him in surprise, but stopped searching and waited to hear the Sphinx's next riddle.

Sphinx glanced into Melvin's eyes, then squatted down and shook the shackles on his feet:
"It cannot be seen or touched, but the heart and soul can perceive it."

Iron railings cannot stop them, and chains cannot restrain them.

The wealthy are poor, while the starving and freezing are rich.

Some are willing to give their lives, while others despise and discard them like worn-out shoes.

The Sphinx's tone was very strange, with a sorrow hidden in his faint voice. Melvin listened expressionlessly, meeting the gaze of those almond eyes, their reflections mirrored in each other's pupils.

For a Muggle studies professor, this allegorical riddle was no challenge at all; the answer came to mind as soon as he heard the second line.

This morning he traveled to several places and talked about this topic with house-elves many times. At this moment, this riddle came out of the mouth of a sphinx. Shackles and chains, willing to give up one's life, these suggestive words are like some kind of distress signal.

“If I’m not mistaken, the answer is… freedom,” Melvin said softly, as if it were just a simple word puzzle.

He wasn't really shaken. He was a wizard, a wizard whose soul came from another world. He couldn't see things from the perspective of a magical creature, let alone this sphinx. Looking at its face alone would easily trigger the uncanny valley effect, and looking at its torso alone, it was a wild beast. Although its limbs were bound by heavy shackles, the underground was dark, and candlelight and torches reflected in its beautiful almond-shaped pupils.

Melvin looked away. He didn't want to complicate things. Breaking the shackles, blowing up the vault, and escaping with it was too much trouble just thinking about it.

"correct answer."

The Sphinx gave a friendly smile, seemingly pleased that someone had solved the riddle, and slowly made way for them, watching them go.

Before Melvin climbed back onto the cart, he glanced back and saw that Sphinx had returned to the depths of the tunnel, lying in the dim shadows.

……

Back at Hogwarts, the young professor walked along the path in the grounds, wearing a crisp trench coat. He had just returned from outside, and his hair was slightly disheveled by the wind, with a few stray strands hanging down at his temples. With each step, he left a trail of footprints on the soft dirt path.

"That's amazing! Harry Potter is the greatest Seeker ever!"

As they passed the Quidditch pitch, the morning's games had already ended. Dobby looked at the scoreboard above the pitch and shouted excitedly.

A gentle breeze was blowing. It wasn't raining in the Scottish Highlands, but the temperature was slightly lower than in Cornwall and London. This obvious change in weather was easy to feel disoriented, and images from not long ago kept flashing through my mind: the dimly lit old house in Lestrange, the underground vault of Gringotts, and that Sphinx.

Melvin let out a long breath and looked up at the pitch. The scoreboard was still up, and Gryffindor was leading by 180 points at the end of the game. Quidditch points are easy to calculate. Subtracting the 150 points from the Golden Snitch, the remaining 30 points represent Gryffindor's lead of 3 goals, which isn't a huge difference. The main factor that secured the victory was Harry's victory over Cedric, winning the Seekers' duel.

“I didn’t expect you to still care about Harry’s Quidditch matches. You know, during the last match, you were even trying to run him over with the Walkball.” Melvin glanced down at him.

"This...this..."

Dobby looked ashamed and uneasy, lowered his head, and rubbed the hem of his clothes with his fingers. "Dobby didn't want to harm Harry Potter. Dobby was protecting Harry Potter and keeping him away from the dangers of Hogwarts. This was the only way Dobby could think of."

"The first time you caused trouble at the Dursleys' house, Harry violated the Statute of Secrecy and almost got convicted. The second time you blocked the platform, causing him to violate the Statute of Secrecy again, this time receiving a serious warning. The third time you manipulated the Blink-Walking Ball, directly injuring him and hospitalizing him... The severity of each incident is getting worse. If we extrapolate from this, next time you should just kill Harry, right?"

Melvin nodded slightly. "That is indeed a good idea. As long as you make the first move, no one else can harm him, completely isolating him from all danger."

"No! Dobby, no!" Dobby shook his head frantically.

“Relax, it’s just a joke.” Melvin stepped onto the marble steps, and as they spoke, they had already entered the castle. “Mr. Malfoy transferred you to me, but I live at the school and don’t need your care or any housework.”

Dobby became nervous again.

“Considering you need to earn your own ransom and living expenses, I plan to recommend you to work in the Hogwarts kitchen.” Melvin ignored the house-elf’s wide eyes and continued, “I’ll write you a letter of recommendation, and you can take it to Dumbledore and discuss your salary with him.”

House-elves are negotiating their salaries with the world's greatest wizard!

What kind of inconceivable and heinous crime is this?

If other house-elves found out, it would probably be hung up and publicly tried, then unanimously sentenced to death by a thousand cuts, its flesh scraped off and burned to ashes in the fireplace, not even worthy of being fed to dogs or owls.

Upon hearing this unprecedented proposal, Dobby's heart pounded wildly, his limbs trembled, and his lips quivered, unable to utter a sound.

Melvin glanced down at him: "The house-elves thing is your own business. Do you expect your employer to run errands for you? Writing recommendation letters is already troublesome enough. You can't expect me to do everything, can you?"

Dobby was so ashamed he wanted to disappear into a crack. Professor Levent was right; it was already troublesome enough that he had been rescued from Malfoy Manor, how could he possibly trouble him to help him find a job?

The arrangements were settled, and they returned to the Muggle Studies office. Melvin wrote a casually worded letter of recommendation in less than five minutes; it was more like a notification of the situation and showed no respect for the principal.

When Dobby left the office after receiving the letter of recommendation, he was still in a daze, his eyes glazed over. He felt that the letter was hotter than a red-hot iron, heavier than a thumb tied to the ceiling, and made it hard for him to breathe.

……

George and Fred emerged from the common room arm in arm, colorful confetti still tucked into their hair from the celebratory cannon salute. Other players and Griffin students surrounded the team as they chattered their way to the Great Hall for lunch.

Harry and Ron huddled together, still chatting about the morning's match.

“Cedric’s ball skills are excellent. His top speed is a little slower than mine, but his turning is very stable. He is simply the most stable seeker I have ever seen.”

"So how did you manage to catch the Golden Snitch first?"

"It all depends on Angelina and the others gaining an advantage and making Cedric anxious. When he's anxious, he'll speed up and overlook the details in the corners."

"Haha..." Ron shook his head happily, even happier than if he had been on the field himself. "Winning the game means getting House points. Now Percy doesn't have to keep a straight face anymore. He was so cold for a week that I almost mistook him for Snape."

Harry grinned at the thought of Percy's expression.

Hermione, standing next to her, couldn't help but smile.

After laughing and joking as they climbed a few flights of stairs, Harry suddenly slowed down and frowned slightly when he reached the third floor: "I don't know why, but I have a feeling that someone is watching me."

“Of course, people are watching you: Parvati, Lavender, Ginny, and your biggest fan, Colin Crevy,” Ron said quietly.

There was no point in arguing with this guy, so Harry ignored his teasing and looked around, scanning inconspicuous places, before spotting a familiar figure in the corner behind the armor.

"Dobby!?"

He rushed forward and shoved aside the obstructing armor: "What are you doing here?"

Stared at by the three young wizards, Dobby shuddered, instinctively wanting to cover his eyes and bang his head against the wall, muttering that Dobby was a good-for-nothing, a fool...

"Calm down!"

Harry and Hermione each grabbed an arm. "Answer my question first. What are you doing at school? What happened? Malfoy found out you informed me... Don't cry! Tell us what happened!"

Dobby cried with tears and snot streaming down his face, sobbing and cursing himself.

From the muffled sobs, Harry and his two friends pieced together what had happened:

Last week, they asked Professor Levent for help to rescue Dobby. Although the professor said he refused, he actually rescued Dobby from Malfoy Manor and saved him from Malfoy's torment.

But Professor Levent, like Headmaster Dumbledore, is mysterious in his speech and actions, and his rescue of house-elves is also shrouded in mystery.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione believed that Professor Levent was unwilling to enslave Dobby, yet he insisted that Dobby should redeem himself and recommended him to work in the Hogwarts kitchens.

Although Dobby was crying so hard he was almost unconscious, he didn't reveal what Melvin had done that morning. Keeping his master's secret was a house-elves' duty. He said he didn't dare go to Headmaster Dumbledore and could only hide here, not knowing what to do.

"Why don't you want a house-elf..." Ron said with an envious expression.

“Come on! I’ll take you to the headmaster!” Hermione’s eyes sparkled.

(End of this chapter)