Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 408 The Garden
The ball is halfway through.

Setina finally took the stage.

From then on, the principals and professors stopped dancing, leaving the stage entirely to the students so they could relax and not feel constrained. Even when upperclassmen were seen kissing on the dance floor, Professor McGonagall simply pursed her lips and didn't go over to reprimand them.

Fleur sat at a round table against the wall, surrounded by hesitant boys. Lee Jordan, shoved by George and Fred, stepped forward and extended an invitation to the Veela-mixed girl, to which Fleur surprisingly agreed.

He stepped onto the dance floor with a dazed expression and began to dance to Setina's soaring voice.

Melvin sat leisurely to the side of the main guest area, in what was practically backstage, with the quirky instruments of the Odd Sisters Band piled up beside him. He sipped a glass of mead and chatted casually with Christine.

Suddenly, a figure approached hesitantly and stammered, "Professor Levent, would you like to dance with me?"

Melvin looked at the little witch, a seventh-grade girl in Hufflepuff. She had finally mustered up her courage, and an expectant expression appeared on her still-childish face.

Following behind were Cedric and Cho Chang, two handsome faces, but their expressions were those of anticipation, like the Weasley twins.

Meeting the professor's gaze, the two couldn't help but grin.

Melvin glared at them both and shook his head: "Sorry, Professor McGonagall has asked me to patrol the castle. I have to leave after I finish this drink."

"Oh...Professor McGonagall." The girl left disappointed.

Watching the little witch leave, Christine looked at the empty glass of mead and thought for a moment: "I'll go out with you. Ms. Maxim and Hagrid have gone out on a date, and I need to go back to the carriage to keep watch and prevent the students from doing anything out of line."

Melvin scanned the auditorium and, sure enough, did not see the two half-giants.

It seems that it all started when the professor and principal gave the dance floor to the students. The two sat down for a drink, and soon left side by side. After the lively dance, they would find a quiet place to meet, whisper sweet nothings to each other and let their feelings deepen. Not only the students did this, but the professor did it too.

The two walked out of the hall side by side, looked up at the courtyard sky, and suddenly realized that it was a good night. A half moon rose above the clouds, and the moonlight was contained in the clouds, casting moonlight on the frozen ground, and the whole world was tinged with a faint silver glow.

"Professor Levent, Professor Rozier, Merry Christmas."

Cedric walked past from behind, holding hands with Cho Chang, nodded to them, and went upstairs: "Cho Chang and I are going back to our dorms too."

“The Hufflepuff tower isn’t upstairs…” Melvin noticed he was carrying a cloth bag in his other hand, containing something with a spherical outline, and raised an eyebrow. “Going to the prefect’s bathroom?”

"Yes."

Cedric knew the professor had figured it out; after all, he was the one who designed the golden egg puzzle, which meant that using water to solve it was the correct method. He was even more pleased: "I found the method in a book; there's a witch at Lomond Lake..."

“Alright, brave warrior, this isn’t exam time, and you don’t need to explain your problem-solving approach to me. Just do it your way.” Melvin interrupted Cedric. “As an advisor to the competition committee, I cannot offer any opinions.”

The two exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly at each other.

It was a new piece, a collaboration between Setina and the eccentric sisters. The music remained in the auditorium, drifting out through the oak doors. It wasn't as loud, but it sounded more profound.

They eventually parted ways at the top of the stairs; Melvin and Christine went outside, while Cedric went upstairs.

“It looks like a ghost just followed us.” Christine looked toward the marble staircase.

Melvin didn't see the ghost, but he deduced its identity from its unique magic. At that time, the ghost was also having a party in the basement. Only Myrtle had the leisure to wander around. She happened to have a hobby of peeping at male prefects taking baths.

Thinking of this, Melvin's expression became somewhat strange.

……

The front door of the foyer was open, and some snow drifted in, wetting the ground. Below the steps was a rose garden, where flowers of all sizes and colors bloomed in the snow. These were cultivated by Professor Sprout for the party, and little fairies lived in the stamens of the flowers, their wings fluttering and dropping shimmering phosphorescent powder.

The young couples sat on the carved benches, whispering, laughing, and joking.

Everywhere there are low bushes, ornately decorated winding paths, and in the center of the garden is a fountain, with water cascading down from a large stone sculpture.

“Severus, you can’t pretend nothing’s happened. It’s become more and more obvious over the past few months.”

A voice came from behind the rose bushes; it was Karkaroff of Durmstrang: "Dumbledore must have noticed it too. He invited Moody to the school and kept a low profile, barely saying a word during the Goblet of Fire. Who knows what he's investigating?"

Another familiar, deep voice came from the other end: "Then run away. I'll make an excuse for you."

"Let's go together!" Karkaroff seemed very eager.

Christine looked at Melvin with a puzzled expression, unable to understand what the headmaster of Durmstrang was talking about, and why he wanted to bring the Potions professor from Hogwarts along.

"I'll explain later. You can go back to your carriage now."

Melvin whispered something, then took a few steps forward, deliberately tugging at the bushes to make a noise, which immediately startled many couples who were being affectionate in the flower bushes, and several dark figures hurriedly fled.

Snape, of course, heard the commotion and immediately came out, yelling fiercely at them, "Ten points deducted from Ravenclaw, Fawcett! Ten points deducted from Hufflepuff, Stebbins!"

The secret conversation was abruptly interrupted. Christine noticed that Karkaroff, who came out from behind, was clearly flustered. He nervously stroked his goatee and twirled it around his fingers.

Karkaroff initially seemed to want to stay, but upon noticing Melvin and Christine, he changed his mind and left with a worried expression.

"I knew someone would notice something was wrong!"

Snape glared at Melvin and lowered his voice: "Dumbledore must be out of his mind to agree to your ridiculous suggestion!"

"That's a very good plan, why don't you agree, Professor Snape?"

Melvin and Snape surveyed the garden side by side, raising their hands to cast a bubble-head charm, encasing their voices within bubbles: "Perhaps you think that's your job?"

Snape paused, looking into Melvin's deep black eyes, and thought that this guy might really have some kind of third eye, always knowing some secrets that could not be revealed.

……

Beside the reindeer sculpture, the fountain sprayed water high, sparkling in the snow. Two burly, strong figures sat on a stone bench, bathed in moonlight, whispering sweet nothings. "The moment I saw you, I knew it," Hagrid said, his voice slightly hoarse.

"What do you understand, Hagrid?" Mrs. Maxim's voice was low; the alcohol made them particularly emotional.

“I understand you’re like me…” Hagrid scratched his head, then sighed softly before asking, “Is it your mother or your father?”

“I don’t understand what you mean, Hagrid.” Ms. Maxim politely declined to answer; the question was somewhat offensive.

Hagrid thought she was shy and didn't want to talk about her family, so he started talking about his own situation: "My mother is here. She was one of the few remaining in England. After the war, all the big men moved away, and she left too. I was only three years old at the time, so I don't remember her very well."

He rambled on, oblivious to his companion's growing indifference: "To be honest, she didn't seem like a mother. They don't have maternal instincts by nature, do they? I wonder what happened to her later; she's probably dead by now..."

Mrs. Maxim's eyes flickered, but she remained silent.

“My father was heartbroken after my mother left. He was a short man. When I was six, I could lift him up and put him on top of the wardrobe. He wasn’t afraid at all and always laughed out loud…”

Hagrid's deep voice choked with emotion: "But he died in my second year of school, and Dumbledore took care of me after that."

“It’s too cold, we should go back,” Mrs. Maxim said coldly.

“We’re not afraid of the cold, let’s sit a little longer. You haven’t told us about your situation yet, what kind of bloodline did you inherit?” Hagrid wiped his nose with a handkerchief, completely unaware of his female companion’s change. “This is the first time in all these years that I’ve met another half-giant.”

"How dare you call me a half-giant?"

If Ms. Maxim could still play dumb and deceive people just now, she couldn't hold back anymore now that the truth had been revealed. She screamed and shouted, "This is an insult to me! I'm just a little bigger and have a larger frame than the average person, and you actually called me a half-giant?"

"Do you think I've put in unimaginable effort to get to where I am now? This physique makes things a hundred or a thousand times harder for me than for an ordinary witch!"

"If these words reach the ears of the students and the school board members, what will they think of me? What will they think of their Principal Maxim!"

"..."

"No, Orim, that's not what I meant." Hagrid panicked, and before he could explain, he heard a sneer from the side.

"Do you think they don't know?" someone asked, standing behind another stone deer sculpture.

"Who, who's there?" Ms. Maxim asked, as if she'd been stepped on.

Hagrid turned his head and glanced at the tall, thin old wizard. His body, hidden beneath a greyish-white robe, was as thin as a skeleton, with silver hair, no teeth in his mouth, and cloudy eyes. He looked like a strange wizard who frequented bars.

"Not from the school?"

Ms. Maxim noticed his accent was strange, but was more concerned about what he had just said: "What did you mean? What do they know?"

"You really think those cunning school board members believe your excuse, 'big frame'? Ha, you have the nerve to say that? Half-elves, half-Velves... those guys value wizard bloodlines far more than you do. Do you think they don't know about your giant lineage?"

As Grindelwald spoke, his gaze swept over Hagrid beside him. In the story he had just told, Hagrid lost his husband at the age of twelve, and the following year he was expelled from school for keeping an eight-eyed spider and having his wand broken. After that, he was unable to live on his own, and Dumbledore hired him as a gamekeeper.

Dumbledore practically played the role of a father figure; if anything happened to Albus, he should have known something about it.

“My efforts dispelled their prejudices, and as long as no one points it out, they can pretend they don’t know,” Ms. Maxim said, clenching her sleeves.

"Pshaw, self-deception!"

Grindelwald sized up the two men and said lazily, "They chose you as headmaster because it just so happens that the Death Eaters are rising in power. They experienced the rise of the Saints and know what it's like to be targeted. Paris was almost burned down."

“Mud... Dozens or even hundreds of Muggle-born and half-blood children died. They were worried that Beauxbatons would also lose so many students this time, so they chose someone with a large physique so that they could easily pin the blame on you afterward. Even if the Death Eaters come knocking, your physique can withstand more Killing Curses.”

"you you!"

Ms. Maxim pointed at his nose, trembling with rage, her other hand already reaching for her wand.

Hagrid quickly stopped him: "Who are you? Hogwarts didn't invite you, and no other school has an entourage like you. If you don't reveal your identity, don't blame us for taking action!"

"Make a move?"

Grindelwald's lips curled into a faint smile, a mocking look in his cloudy eyes, as if he were scoffing at their overestimation of their abilities.

“Yes, I am a visitor, so of course I should identify myself.” Grindelwald reached into his sleeve and took out his wand, a slender piece of ash wood covered with claw marks and teeth marks, barbaric and crude, which did not seem to fit the demeanor of an old wizard at all.

Just as the tip of the staff was about to burst into light, Grindelwald suddenly paused, his gaze sweeping across the path on the other side of the fountain, where two footsteps were approaching.

Taking advantage of the moment when Hagrid and Madam Maxim were distracted, the old wizard lifted his robes and disappeared into the shadows of the bushes like a bigfoot.

Hagrid cautiously crept over to investigate, his wand constantly preparing a spell. He parted the branches and leaves of the bushes and saw that there was no one in the shadows behind, only footprints in the snow.

When Melvin and Snape arrived, before they could ask any questions, Ms. Maxim began to recount what had happened: "We notified the other schools to be on guard. Hagrid and I were just chatting on a bench when that old wizard suddenly appeared and said some strange things, like a madman, and even tried to attack us."

Hagrid's expression was somewhat complicated; he lowered his head, avoiding Maxim's gaze.

"Is that so, Hagrid?"

"Um……"

Hagrid responded softly.

Snape immediately turned to the castle to warn them, while Mrs. Maxim pursed her lips and said, "I have to get back to Beauxbatons too."

Hagrid watched her departing figure without saying a word. After a moment of silence, he also strode away, not returning to the castle, but heading towards his hut and the dark area outside.

Only Melvin stared thoughtfully at the bushes where the old wizard had disappeared.

(End of this chapter)