Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 409 After the Show Ends
The ball in the auditorium continued, with the eccentric sisters playing a saw for accompaniment, and Setina singing, her high-pitched and melodious voice echoing among the Christmas trees, as students swayed gracefully with their partners in their arms.

As midnight approached and the ball drew to a close, many young wizards were reluctant to leave, lingering in the lively atmosphere of the evening's final moments. The main hall was brightly lit, but the side hall presented a different scene altogether.

The oil-soaked torches on the wall flickered and burned. The hastily convened meeting had not had time to set up lamps, and the candles were exposed in mid-air, their shadows swaying and casting indistinct shadows throughout the room.

"An old wizard of unknown origin barged into the school without invitation and nearly attacked Ms. Maxim and Hagrid..."

Professor McGonagall stood solemnly by the table and immediately began to methodically assign tasks: "Mr. Filch, I need you to go back to the school gate to inspect the area."

Mr. Filch glanced at the silent Dumbledore, then nodded in agreement and turned to leave with Mrs. Lorris.

After all, he was an employee who had worked at the school for decades and was an old colleague of Dumbledore. He knew the headmaster well enough and had noticed the abnormality in Dumbledore. However, this abnormality had started to appear intermittently since the last semester.

Perhaps that's just how eccentric the old wizard is.

The vice principal and several deans remained silent on the matter from beginning to end, and Filch did not cause himself any trouble. His job was to be the castle administrator, and he would occasionally teach at a spell cram school, sometimes tormenting students for fun.

"Pomona, Philius, Severus, you will take turns patrolling the castle during the second half of the night."

The deans had no objections and turned to leave, making up patrol schedules as they went. There were only five or six hours until dawn, and there were no classes tomorrow, so the task wasn't too heavy.

"Finally, Melvin, you'll be in charge of communicating with the other schools. Inform Principals Fontana and Kakarov to keep a close eye on the students and prevent them from going out at night without permission."

Melvin nodded: "Ms. Maxim already knows. I'll inform Principal Fontana. Karkaroff... he was dancing with a female student in the auditorium just now, and he should be talking to Professor Snape by now."

Karkaroff was once a Death Eater himself. After Voldemort's downfall, he defected to the Ministry of Magic, betraying other Death Eaters to reduce his punishment and escape trial. As a result, he became particularly close to Snape.

He also bears the Dark Mark left by Voldemort, and recently he has felt the magical energy within him growing stronger. Although he doesn't know exactly what happened, he has a vague feeling that Voldemort might be returning soon.

He deliberately approached Snape, partly to find a companion to run with, and partly to gather intelligence on Hogwarts' internal affairs. After all, Dumbledore was Voldemort's only truly feared enemy.

Professor McGonagall glanced at the door; as the vice-principal, she was well aware of the relationship between the two.

"actually……"

Melvin hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell the vice principal: "If I'm not mistaken, the intruder might be a friend of the principal who just happened to stumble upon Hagrid's date and said a few strange things. He probably didn't mean any harm."

"Albus's friend?"

Professor McGonagall and Aberforth were both puzzled.

Melvin turned slightly to the side, from an angle where Aberforth couldn't see him, and moved his lips, making a mouth shape but making no sound.

“Grindelwald…”

Professor McGonagall was surprised, her furrowed brows relaxed, but she didn't ask any more questions, only nodding: "We still need to tell Fontana and Principal Karkaroff."

This was out of consideration for Aberforth standing nearby.

……

At midnight, the eccentric sisters stopped playing, bowed in thanks amidst enthusiastic applause, and then packed up their instruments and left.

Many people wished the ball could have been longer, and Harry was one of them. He felt tonight was a memorable night. He had come to terms with his first love, which ended before it even began, and he could finally see the girl who had always stood by him.

After the event, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked out together. The two boys were preoccupied with their own thoughts and had mixed feelings, while Hermione was clearly disgusted by her dress.

"The skirt is too heavy and inconvenient; I have to lift it up to walk."

At first, the little witch quite enjoyed the boys' amazed looks and the girls' envious and jealous gazes, but later she just felt it was a burden and wanted to leave early to go back and write her thesis: "Ms. Pomfrey used magic to shrink my front teeth, which makes me feel weird when I eat."

"You're not planning to dress up anymore?" Harry asked.

“Of course not. Spraying hair conditioner every day and choosing earrings is such a hassle.” Hermione said, pulling off her headband and shaking her head, letting her smooth hair fall loose.

Ron gave her a deep look, then lowered his head.

Harry noticed that her hair wasn't messy even when it was down, guessing that it was due to the smoothing agent: "Your hair smells like freesia, just like Ms. Maxim's, I can smell it every time."

"Because she needs to style her hair every day."

Hermione said nonchalantly, "If she doesn't comb her hair properly, she'll end up like Hagrid, with coarse, messy hair that's good enough for a mole to build a nest."

"Why the same as Hagrid?" Harry noticed the blind spot in the question.

Hermione paused. "It's nothing, just an example."

“Ms. Maxim and Hagrid do have a lot in common. I’ve never seen any other wizard with such height and build. If they didn’t look so different, I would have suspected they were related.”

Ron joined their conversation: "If they get married, how tall will their kids be!"

"Speaking of which, where are Hagrid and Madam Maxim? I didn't see them at all during the second half of the ball." Harry suddenly remembered, "Even if they went to the garden for a tryst, they shouldn't have stayed away."

Ron yawned: "Let's ask him tomorrow."

……

The next morning, after breakfast, the three of them left the castle in high spirits, crossed the snow-covered ground, and went to the Forbidden Forest Lodge to visit their friend, intending to joke about the previous night's date. However, they returned with a completely different feeling.

"Who does Ms. Maxim think she can fool?"

Harry's voice was filled with anger: "If it were any other witch who disliked Hagrid's bloodline, it might be understandable, but Maxim! She is of course a half-giant... her frame is huge, only dinosaurs have a bigger frame than her."

“Exactly!” Ron nodded indignantly.

Hermione's focus was completely different: "Hagrid said an old wizard broke into the school and almost attacked us. Luckily, Professor Levent and Professor Snape arrived at the same time. The professors patrolled all night. So who was it?" Her question went unanswered for a long time. The little witch turned to look at her two friends and found Harry and Ron tilting their heads and looking at her with puzzled expressions.

“Hagrid is a half-giant, and you don’t seem surprised at all,” Ron asked.

"Yes, I already knew."

Hermione nodded in agreement: “At first I thought it was a growth hormone disorder, but he was perfectly normal in other aspects, so there must be another reason. I asked Professor Levente out of curiosity, and he introduced me to several books about humanoid creatures, all of which mentioned giants, but those guys were too tall, averaging twenty feet, so Hagrid is a half-giant.”

She shrugged. "But honestly, we don't need to be so neurotic about giants, like werewolves. Hagrid and Professor Lupin are both very kind people, aren't they?"

Harry nodded, almost agreeing with her, but then realized, "No, I have to go to the Muggle Studies Office. Whether it's the Half-Giant or the mysterious old wizard, I have to ask Professor Levent."

Hermione and Ron had no objections, and the three of them walked into the castle, shaking the snow off their shoulders.

……

The pointer swept across the charcoal record, and the mechanical record player played Cetina's voice. In the box next to it, a drowsy long-horned water snake curled up.

On the third floor of the castle, in the Muggle Studies office, Melvin sat across from three students across a desk, finished a cup of tea, and listened to their account of what had happened.

Hagrid's straightforward nature made it difficult for him to keep secrets. When he opened the door to greet Harry and the others, he still intended to keep it a secret, only saying that he had been heartbroken after his confession failed. After the three of them comforted him, Hagrid couldn't hold back any longer and sobbed as he revealed everything.

Melvin was considering whether Hagrid could recover his form before Christmas and whether he should find a professor to substitute for him.

"Why won't Madam Maxim acknowledge her identity, and why did she hurt Hagrid like that!" Harry was still indignant.

“Because of their different status, people view them differently.” Melvin picked up the black tea on the table and took a sip. “Hagrid was a gamekeeper for decades and only took over as professor of Magical Creatures two years ago. Even so, there was a lot of controversy. It was Dumbledore who helped him stand up and secure his professorship.”

“Is Ms. Maxim any different?” Hermione asked.

“She became the principal of Beauxbatons during a special period. All the teachers and students were watching her every word and action. The board of directors had also wanted to replace her for years. Mr. Nicolas Flamel, who used to support her, went into complete seclusion. She could only rely on herself and could not allow herself to be tainted with any stain that might be subject to criticism.”

"That's why she wanted Beauxbatons to win so badly," Harry realized.

“Bloodline is innate, this is discrimination!” Hermione exclaimed angrily.

“Well, this isn’t your first time knowing about the magical world.” Melvin took a newspaper from his drawer, stuck it on the table, and pushed it toward the three of them. The ink was fresh, and the front page bore the seal of the Prophet’s Newspaper, prohibiting its release outside the country.

“What is this?” Harry asked.

"The morning paper that the newspaper had abandoned had its content basically reviewed and the editorial department approved for publication, but it was put back due to special reasons and was republished after being edited."

Hermione, who had interned at a newspaper, recognized him immediately: "It's usually the Ministry of Magic that does this kind of thing. Fudge always did it when he was Minister. I've always thought it was a bad practice in the wizarding world and violated freedom of the press."

“That sounds like it,” Harry muttered, as he and Ron leaned over to watch the news.

"Special correspondent Rita Skeeter reports: Hogwarts Headmaster, the eccentric Abbott Dumbledore, always hires controversial instructors. This September, Mad-Eye Alastor Moody was appointed as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, a decision that surprised many... But compared to the half-human, half-demon that Dumbledore hired to teach Protecting Magical Creatures, Mad-Eye Moody is quite responsible and kind."

"Rupert Hagrid was a large, fierce-looking man who was expelled from school in his third year and subsequently became the school's gamekeeper, a job Dumbledore arranged for him..."

Seeing the three men's somber expressions, Melvin took the newspaper back: "Rita's words have been relatively restrained. She didn't make up anything or add any subjective speculation. But even if this newspaper is published, it will still cause Hogwarts a lot of trouble. If we connect it to Madam Maxim, Beauxbatons will be in even more trouble. So I suppressed this morning paper."

“The powerful are actually in front of me…” This time it was Ron who muttered.

Hermione scratched her head and thought for a moment, but couldn't say anything: "Let's put Hagrid aside for now, what about the old wizard last night?"

Melvin thought for a moment: "He's a friend of Headmaster Dumbledore and also my special guest. If all goes well, he might stay at Hogwarts and teach you Defense Against the Dark Arts or something."

"Ok?"

All three seemed very surprised. Last night they almost came to blows, which caused the Dean to patrol all night, Mr. Filch to guard the school gate, and Hagrid to patrol the Forbidden Forest after his breakup. The security was as tight as when Voldemort possessed Quirrell. And now the professor said they were on the same side.

Hermione stared at the professor with wide, curious eyes.

Melvin, however, was not going to explain. He glanced at the clock on the wall and said casually, "It's almost time. Cedric has told you that he has solved the puzzle and wants you to attend the Golden Cup discussion, at the usual place."

"..."

Hermione knew he was changing the subject, but there was nothing she could do. It concerned the next event in the competition, which was indeed more important than the old wizard's matter.

……

Half an hour later, Hermione sat on a chair in the abandoned classroom, listening to the ethereal singing drifting from the mirror in front of her:

"Find us, where the song begins."
Singing is not possible on the ground; please think carefully.

With only one hour, will it be treasure or the truth?

Cedric solved the golden egg puzzle on his own, but since it wasn't convenient to demonstrate it to others, he borrowed a small mirror from Professor Levent. After convening a group meeting, he extracted a processed memory from his forehead; it contained only sound, no images, and the singing was the clue the golden egg was guiding him to.

"What do you mean?" Krum broke the silence first.

"Judging from the way the puzzle is solved, the golden egg contains the mermaid's song, and the next game will be played underwater. We have one hour to find the so-called treasure or the truth," Cedric offered his interpretation.

"What is the treasure and the truth?"

"Based on the experience of the last competition, it should be similar to a dragon egg, with different prizes representing different difficulties and scores. The truth is like a golden egg, hiding clues to the final competition." Hermione looked at the notebook in front of her, lost in thought.

Harry was somewhat relieved, because he definitely wouldn't have been able to solve the puzzle if he had been in the same situation. Now, thanks to the help of others, he had found clues.

Then, feeling somewhat resentful, Krum also benefited from the wisdom of Cedric and Hermione.

(End of this chapter)