Hogwarts: A Chinese-Style Professor

Chapter 299 Professor Binns, You Can Take a Break Now (4K)

Inside the office, Dumbledore was rendered speechless by Professor McGonagall's retort.

His mouth opened and closed, but he couldn't utter a single word.

How about I leave?

He wanted to say that in a fit of pique, then toss his robes and run away—just like Snape often did.

Unfortunately not.

"Anyway"

Dumbledore spoke dryly, and for a moment, he felt indifferent to everything.

"We're discussing how to arrange Professor Binns as if he were an object without will."

But we seem to have forgotten that although Professor Binns is a ghost, he still retains the knowledge and self-awareness he had in life.

His choice to remain at Hogwarts and continue teaching in this way is in itself a powerful conviction or commitment.

Professor McGonagall's reluctance became increasingly apparent.

Dumbledore looked at Levi:

"So, let's find out his own wishes first?"

"I have no opinion—I'm just offering suggestions; ultimately, you're the ones who make the decisions."

"Inquire about a ghost?" Professor McGonagall hesitated for a moment, but then nodded.

After making their decision, the three of them went together to Professor Binns' office.

His office was located at the end of a secluded corridor on the second floor of the castle. It was more like a small alcove next to a forgotten storage room than an office, and the lettering on the doorplate had long since faded.

Professor McGonagall knocked gently on the door, but there was no response from inside.

The three exchanged a glance, and Dumbledore spoke:
"Professor Binns, are you there?"

Still no response.

The three hesitated for a moment, then Dumbledore stepped forward and pushed open the door—the lock made a strange sound, both solid and corroded.

This door seems to have remained unopened for a very long time.

After all, Professor Binns is a ghost; he can simply walk through walls to attend class.
Dumbledore curled his fingers, and the lock, scraping against the rust, bounced open with a clatter.

A chilling aura of old parchment and dust wafted over me.

Li Wei entered and looked around—to be honest, this was his first time in Professor Binns' office. Even during the Winter Celebration, he and Professor McGonagall hadn't invited Professor Binns to join them—after all, he was just a ghost, and they couldn't ask for too much.

However, after seeing the environment inside the door, Li Wei couldn't help but shake his head.

The room was extremely small and almost devoid of furniture, containing only a crooked desk and a chair that looked like it would fall apart if you sat on it.

The only thing that could be called decoration was the fireplace—there was no fire inside, only cold ashes, and some unknown insects seemed to be crawling inside.

The person they were looking for sat quietly in an armchair by the fireplace, head bowed and motionless.

He appeared to be frozen rather than sitting—his empty eyes held nothing, and his mouth was slightly open, as if a cassette tape had stopped at a certain syllable.

He looked as if he were asleep and in a daze—but ghosts don't need sleep.

"Didn't you say I was inhumane before?" Levi looked at Dumbledore and shook his head, saying, "Hogwarts exploits a ghost like this."

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone present could hear the sarcasm in his words.

"Is he always like this?" Professor McGonagall lowered her voice, her tone filled with unprecedented shock and a hint of heartache.

She never saw Professor Binns after class—not to defend herself, but because she was simply too busy to pay attention to a professor who never made a mistake.

“I think so.” Dumbledore’s voice softened, a hint of sadness rising in his blue eyes. “When he’s not in class, he comes back here and stays in this position until the next class is about to start.”

"It has been like this for thousands of years."

Li Wei observed quietly.

In his perception, Professor Binns' ghostly form was not entirely devoid of magical fluctuations, but those fluctuations were weak, stagnant, and endlessly looped in a very simple pattern, like an ancient well that kept dripping the same drop of water repeatedly.

Even as the three of them stood there discussing Professor Binns, he showed no reaction whatsoever.
Rather than calling him a once 'living being,' Li Wei felt he was more like a program—a program that had 'rusted.'

Dumbledore stepped forward, cleared his throat, and spoke in a clear, slow tone:
"Good afternoon, Professor Binns. I'm sorry to disturb your rest."

The ghost by the fireplace did not react.

Dumbledore paused for a few seconds, thought for a moment, and then continued:
"Professor Binns, we have some questions about the future development of the History of Magic course and would like to hear your opinion."

"Opinions?" Professor Binns, who had been keeping his head down, suddenly looked up. His unfocused eyes looked in their direction, but it was as if they were looking through them and at the wall further behind.

"Is the tax rate impact of the fairy rebellion a key point of the debate surrounding the early structure of the International Confederation of Wizards?"

His voice was still that signature monotonous and drawn-out tone, but slower and less energetic than in the classroom, making listeners drowsy.

“No, not the specific course content, Professor,” Professor McGonagall couldn’t help but speak, her tone unconsciously softening as if she were speaking to a vulnerable elder. “It’s about you, about how you’ve been teaching the history of magic for a very, very long time.”

"A long time. Yes. Is it necessary to review the controversial draft of the werewolf code of conduct from 1162?"

Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore both instinctively turned their heads away upon seeing this scene—they could no longer bear to watch.

More importantly, they realized Livy's correctness through this 'mistake'.

Perhaps allowing Professor Binns to continue teaching in this manner is not a good thing for either him or his students.
Li Wei sensed their thoughts and continued the conversation:
“Professor Binns, are you tired of telling the same history year after year, over and over again?”

“Tired,” Professor Binns repeated the word, his pace unnervingly slow, as if trying to decipher an alien term. “It’s my duty as a professor of the history of magic; there’s no need to be tired.”

Knowledge needs to be passed on.

Hogwarts needs a history of magic.

This was the longest, most coherent, and seemingly closest to his core consciousness that the three of them heard.

"But what if someone could take your place and continue to pass on this knowledge?"

Li Wei remained unmoved and continued to ask questions.

"Successor...?" Professor Binns's phantom visibly flickered.

Did I not do a good enough job? Is the principal dissatisfied?

“No! You’ve done a great job!” Professor McGonagall said hastily, her eyes reddening. “You’ve been incredibly dedicated! It’s just that perhaps you’ve already paid a very long price.”

You can rest now.

"Rest." Professor Binns once again fell into that confused, stagnant state.

This word seemed even more incomprehensible to him than "tired"—for centuries, he had never rested, teaching the same content day after day, passing it down from generation to generation. "Rest?"

Professor Binns raised his head, and his cloudy, empty eyes gradually regained focus.

"Is my mission complete? Hogwarts no longer needs me to attend classes?"

Dumbledore sighed deeply and said in the gentlest of voices:
“Professor Binns, that’s enough—as the Headmaster of Hogwarts, I am most sincerely grateful for your contributions to Hogwarts over the past millennium—that’s enough.”
Your knowledge remains valuable, and your existence remains a part of Hogwarts history; you are simply freed from that repetitive duty.

"Is that enough? Have I completed my duties?"

Professor Binns murmured softly, then fell completely silent.

Levi suddenly sensed the magic emanating from Professor Binns. The cyclical magical energy around him suddenly broke free from its stagnation and began to surge.
A beam of white light gradually emerged from Professor Binns' body.

He ignored Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, and looked directly at Levi.

"You are—Professor Li Wei, right?"

“It’s me.” Li Wei was somewhat surprised by his reaction.

"I would like to ask, what is your view on history?"

"I think it's a kind of weight of life—understanding these weights can help students walk more confidently on the path to the future."

"is it?"

Professor Binns nodded but offered no comment.

"Who is the new professor who will replace me?"

“It’s Slughorn, a very shrewd fellow who knows the ins and outs of wizarding – I think he’ll be the one to teach the children, and they’ll have a different perspective on history.”

"Hmm—sounds good, better than my old-fashioned stuff—the knowledge in those books really doesn't make any sense."

Professor Binns gave a self-assessment without any expression.

His words were no longer halting, and at the same time, the light within him grew brighter and brighter, and his body gradually became transparent.

"Dumbledore, this is..."

Professor McGonagall stood beside Dumbledore and asked in a low voice—Dumbledore simply shook his head silently at her.

The current situation should be left to Li Wei.

His expression remained rigid, but his train of thought flowed more smoothly than ever before:
"Thank you for everything you've done for Hogwarts, Levi—with you here, I have no reason to worry about the future of Hogwarts."

He turned his head, looked around his little house, and nodded again.

"I have nothing more to say—I hope that you, and Hogwarts, will all continue to be well."

As for me, I'm going to catch up with my old friends—if they knew I'd persisted in this foolish manner for a thousand years, they'd probably laugh their heads off.

Professor Binns' lips curled up slightly.

Then, to the astonishment of the three, his body began to dissipate.

Tiny specks of light, like snowflakes drifting against the current, emerged from his gradually transparent body. Instead of falling to the ground, they rose lightly and disappeared into the cracks of the ancient stone wall, as if gently absorbed by the castle itself.

An utter tranquility swayed in the blurred outlines, and the candle in the wind flickered and vanished into nothingness.

A strange, serene, and lighthearted feeling permeated the space.

Li Wei stared blankly at the scene, his pupils slightly dilated.

This was the first time he had witnessed the demise of a ghost—Li Wei suddenly remembered the blood-soaked Barrow, whom he had locked in the dark room.

I wonder how his torturous romance with Helena is going—that guy is still alive, but Professor Binns, as a ghost, has already perished.

No, given Professor Binns's situation, perhaps this is called ascension?

In the somber and shocking atmosphere, Dumbledore's voice slowly rose, deeper and more fragile than usual.

"Sometimes, what sustains a soul is not just its actions, but the self-imposed responsibility and meaning it gives."

When he felt that his responsibilities had been properly entrusted to him, his existence had a new and better way of continuing the meaning of Hogwarts.
The thread that bound him there then naturally loosened.

This is not the dissipation of magic, but the fulfillment of the soul.

He slowly walked towards the empty chair, his eyes filled with tenderness and a hint of longing.

“I am happy for Professor Binns—he can finally stop from endless repetition.”

They left peacefully, having accomplished their mission.

This may be the final and most complete sacrifice a professor can make for the school he loves—giving up his position to allow new life to flow in.

He glanced at Li Wei.

“You gave him that perfect reason, Li Wei.”

Professor McGonagall's shoulders trembled slightly as she wiped away tears with a handkerchief—she felt she should have noticed Professor Binns's condition sooner.

She had been complaining that Dumbledore wasn't doing enough as headmaster—but she suddenly realized that she, as vice-headmaster, was also far from doing a good enough job.
"We should have noticed his pain much sooner. We let it continue for so long."

“No, Minerva,” Dumbledore turned to look at her gently but firmly, “this is not pain, but numbness.”
We are not executioners, but those who help him break free of his shackles.

Although this process allowed us to witness his final dissipation.

Li Wei finally snapped out of his reverie. He glanced at Professor McGonagall, whose eyes were red-rimmed, and then at Dumbledore, whose expression was filled with melancholy. A strange feeling welled up within him.
When you die, there is nothing.

It is meaningless to live on in the form of a ghost.
If he were allowed to continue existing in this form, it would be a tragedy for him. The people he cherishes would gradually change their feelings towards him from affection to indifference, and eventually to numbness and disgust.

He didn't want it to be like this.

Li Wei withdrew his searching gaze and walked to Professor Binns's crooked desk.

Inside the drawer lay several notebooks with tiny, neat handwriting, along with parchment notes about the evolution of Quidditch rules—the edges of the notebooks were completely worn, clearly indicating they weren't written recently.

Li Wei's gaze passed over the wall, and he seemed to see a thousand years ago today, a quick-witted teacher diligently preparing a lesson plan.

“I think we need to let Slughorn know about this—so that this thousand-year-old tradition will also take on new meaning.”

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall perked up and nodded earnestly—at this moment, they were both filled with determination for the future.

For the magical world, Professor Binns and his group are far more responsible and significant than anyone else regarding this castle, and they will certainly not lose.

Beyond the unseen walls, the sky above Hogwarts remained gloomy.

But for an extremely brief moment, a faint, cool ray of light seemed to briefly pierce through the clouds and illuminate the entire castle.

(End of this chapter)