Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 94 Year-end Dinner
Friday, January 6th.

The Muggle Studies level exam was over, and the completely relieved candidates poured out of the exam room, ran briskly through the corridors, jumped down the stairs in two steps, and ran to the lake to enjoy the relaxation.

The results of the level test will be sent to the students during the summer vacation, and they will be able to spend about a month of leisure time.

Melvin walked slowly along the corridors and stairs, occasionally greeting the portraits on the wall. Professor Tofty, who was trembling beside him, could not walk faster.

Elective written exams like Muggle Studies and Arithmancy are always scheduled last. When this exam is over, all exams for the academic year are over.

The young wizards were liberated, and the professors were liberated too.

Walking across a staircase landing, Melvin turned his head to look at the portraits and ghosts on both sides. They were discussing the program of the college party and the summer vacation arrangements. The summer sun shone into the castle through the windows. All the thinking beings in the school were looking forward to the arrival of summer vacation.

"It's the ghosts."

Professor Tofty held up the sealed test paper, a smile on his aged face. "Is Lord Porpington of Gryffindor still around? The students all called him Nearly Headless Nick. When I was a student, he would go to Kent every summer to meet a widow ghost."

"I didn't expect Nick to have such a love story."

"Ha ha……"

Unfortunately, Nick is unwilling to reveal the full story, and the Ghost Repertory Theatre puts on several shows each year about his experience being beheaded by a blunt axe.

We went downstairs while chatting.

When I reached the corner of the marble staircase, I found that the surroundings were extremely quiet. The portraits and ghosts lowered their voices to chat, and the students who passed by would stop playing and chasing each other, act in a well-behaved manner, and trot quickly through the hallway.

Melvin and Professor Tofty walked to the hallway without stopping and followed the students' gaze.

I saw two elderly figures standing at the entrance of the lobby, one tall and one short, looking at the field and Black Lake in the distance, with a faint smile on their lips. When they greeted the students passing by, they would remind them to be careful.

It was the principal and Ms. Marchbank.

Ms. Marchbank was wearing a gray wizard robe with the badge of the Administration pinned on her chest. She was leaning on a short staff. There was nothing wrong with her legs and feet, she just needed to make standing and walking easier.

Melvin shifted his gaze slightly to the path between the venues, and saw other old wizards from the Administration boarding the Thestral carriage under the guidance of Professor McGonagall.

The exam is over and this group of old wizards are going back.

Melvin stepped forward and nodded slightly to the two old wizards. "Ms. Marchbanks, if you're not in a hurry, how about staying for dinner? The end-of-year dishes are particularly sumptuous."

"My teeth are almost falling out, so I can't enjoy the feast any more."

Ms. Marchbanks' wrinkled face was covered with a smile. Her eyes moved as she looked Melvin up and down. Her smile became even kinder. She turned to look at Dumbledore and said softly:

"I don't have the answers to the questions you asked, but the Administration has a lot of sealed information, including some from Haierbo's era. I'll go back and look for it, and I might find something."

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal." Dumbledore smiled.

"If you really have no idea, write to those old guys and ask them, Bathilda Basak, Mustola Bacvis, Barry Winkle..."

Marchbanks mentioned the names of several long-lived wizards and paused for a moment: "They are all dying. There is no need to worry about them leaking secrets."

Dumbledore nodded repeatedly, but it was unclear whether he understood or not.

Melvin said goodbye to Professor Tofty.

Although the two did not reveal the specific problem, he understood when he heard Hercule's name that it was still about the Horcruxes and Voldemort.

The Wizarding Examinations Authority has a longer history than the Ministry of Magic, and it houses a lot of lost information. The old headmaster probably wanted to try his luck when he consulted Marchbank, but unfortunately he didn't get anything out of it.

As for the several old wizards she recommended, they were basically useless.

In the entire wizarding world, is there anyone who has lived longer than Nicolas Flamel?
After sending Ms. Marchbank and Professor Tofty onto the carriage, Melvin watched them go away, then turned to look at the students scattered around the grounds and by the lake. He paused for a moment and couldn't help but smile.

The results of the Defense Against the Dark Arts practical exam are about to be announced.

The little wizards were still playing carefree. Some of them slid down the grass slope slowly, some sat under the trees by the lake and talked and laughed, and some stretched their limbs and lay on the grass.

Unaware of the malice emanating from the Muggle Studies professor. Dumbledore had also heard about the practical exams; the first-year students were the first to take them, re-enacting the adventure challenge on the fourth floor, and everyone failed. He didn't know what Melvin had said to Minerva, but the practical exams for the subsequent years were changed to this one, and everyone failed.

A smile appeared on his face. "Tomorrow is the year-end dinner, Melvin. When are you going to tell the children the news?"

"After the dinner, let them have a pleasant year-end dinner."

"Do you have any plans for the summer vacation?"

"I'm going to Romania. Hagrid is going to visit his dragon cub. There's a Budapest Wizard Market there, and I'm going to check out the market on the way."

"What happens after the inspection?"

"Go back to Ilvermorny."

"When will you go back to school?"

"Late August, what's the matter?"

Melvin studied him quietly.

He always felt that the terrible old principal wanted to drag him on an adventure, to explore a seaside cave, or to hunt for treasure in an abandoned house in a remote village...

"School is busy before term starts, so if you come back early you can help Minerva."

"..."

Melvin watched the old principal go upstairs and disappear around the corner. After a moment of silence, he decided to return to school with the students.

I'm just a professor of elective courses, why do I always want to arrange overtime?

……

The next evening.

The magic dome simulates the starry sky of a midsummer night, and inside the auditorium, a grand dinner is taking place.

Silver-green ribbons hung from the walls and ceiling, and a large banner was painted with the Slytherin giant snake spitting out its tongue. At the four long tables of the colleges, the young wizards of Gryffindor were calculating their college scores, while the Slytherins were generally silent.

The other young wizards who didn't care about the House Cup gathered in twos and threes, chattering about their summer vacation plans and agreeing on a date to go shopping in Diagon Alley together.

The seventh grade students who would never return to school sat in their seats, quietly looking at the tables and chairs in the auditorium and the starry sky above. They didn't talk much, but were always listening.

Melvin, who arrived half an hour early, helped Professor Flitwick decorate the auditorium. He sat beside the main guest seats, observing the hundreds of candles floating in the air. He saw the excited Hagrid holding a glass and looking for people to clink glasses with. He cleverly moved to the side to reduce his presence.

At three minutes to seven, Dumbledore tapped the goblet with his silver spoon. The clear, trembling sound suppressed the noise in the hall:
"Another year has passed! Children, before you indulge in these delicious dishes, please listen to the old man's ramblings. This has been a wonderful and exciting year...

"You have a whole summer vacation waiting for you..."

Looking back on the past year and looking forward to the upcoming future, he urged students to enjoy the holidays but not to slack off in their studies.

Not only in magic schools, but also in schools all over the world, the speeches given by principals are in a similar tone. Dumbledore would occasionally insert one or two jokes to make the atmosphere in the hall even colder.

After saying the clichés, it’s time to calculate the college score:

"Now, we must first conduct the awards ceremony for the House Cup. According to the tally, the scores for each house are as follows: Slytherin, fourth place, with 312 points, followed by Hufflepuff, with 352 points; and Ravenclaw, with 426 points!"

"Finally, Gryffindor, 442 points!"

Looking at the blushing little wizards, Dumbledore smiled slightly, and his loud voice drowned out the cheers: "This means that we need to make some changes!"

As the headmaster announced that Gryffindor had won the house cup, the huge banner fluttering in the hall began to sway, and the Slytherin green snake painted on it quietly disappeared, replaced by the gold and red Gryffindor lion, and the silver and green ribbons also turned gold and red.

The Gryffindors' cheers almost overturned the magic dome, and the tables, chairs and tableware were shaking.

Looking at the little wizards celebrating wildly, Snape's face looked extremely ugly. When he thought of the test results that would be announced later, he felt a little happier.

(End of this chapter)