The Return to Hogwarts

This seemed to have turned into a competition, with everyone except Filch offering their opinions on Amosta's magic in an attempt to demonstrate their knowledge. Even Hagrid muttered, "It looks much more powerful than a dragon's flames!"

Listening to his colleagues chattering incessantly about his magic, Amosta felt something was off, so he changed the subject.

"Why don't we talk about the three-way battle for supremacy? That's the biggest challenge we're facing right now."

"Oh, Amosta!"

Madame Pomfrey hiccuped and said drunkenly,

"You've sent dozens of junior wizards to the school hospital for two consecutive academic years. I just want to ask you not to do it again this year. I don't want to lose face in front of the foreigners!"

Chapter 498 The Busy Start Immediately

2023-09-24

The faculty dinner before the start of the semester proceeded in a very harmonious and warm atmosphere. Everyone, including Amosta, drank quite a bit of alcohol. Professor Trelawney, who had particularly little self-control over this drink, ended up being the first person this academic year to patronize Mrs. Pomfrey's 'business'.

She was helped away from the Great Hall by Mrs. Pomfrey and Mrs. Pins and taken directly to the university hospital to sober up.

Before leaving, Severus glanced at Amostella, clearly wanting to speak to him. Amostella understood his look, but Professor McGonagall spoke first.

After the dinner, Professor McGonagall, now in work mode, was not so kind to Amostella. She grabbed Amostella, who was about to have a private talk with Severus, and, under Dumbledore's amused gaze, pulled him up the stairs without a word, toward her office.

"Only you, Amosta!"

Knowing he was about to be criticized, Amosta behaved himself well, sitting upright on a triangular stool on the other side of Professor McGonagall's desk.

Both of them had drunk quite a bit at the dinner party. As soon as Professor McGonagall entered her office, she opened the window to let in some cool air, then went to the fireplace to make tea, and said angrily...

“Professor Victor returned to Hogwarts ten days ago, and even Professor Dumbledore hasn’t left the house for three days. Only you, Amosta, with so many things to do, have only just returned now!”

"I also have a lot of things to take care of--"

Amosta pursed his lips and said in a low voice, then he was glared at fiercely by Professor McGonagall.

Although the semester hadn't started yet, Professor McGonagall's desk was already piled high with stacks of files. After handing Amosta a cup of hot tea, she rummaged through the files and then moved a stack several feet thick in front of Amosta.

"It's about the Triwizard Tournament—"

Professor McGonagall said

"The specific events of the competition are currently top secret, known only to the Ministry of Magic. However, the Ministry has already notified Hogwarts to prepare the materials for building the venue before the first competition begins. They have provided a list and we are to prepare according to the list."

"Shouldn't this job be done by Hagrid?"

Amosta clicked his tongue and said rather unhappily.

“Oh, of course, I know you don’t have time to run around preparing all this, but... we don’t have the money. Amos Tower, the funds used for Hogwarts’ annual teaching activities are directly allocated by the Board of Governors, and all unexpected expenses require an application to the Board of Governors. The application report and list are here, and I’ve already signed them. Next, you and Dumbledore need to sign them. Please, have a good job and get this done tonight!”

Professor McGonagall had a tense expression and her lips were tightly pressed together.

Looking at the huge stack of documents, Amosta suddenly felt a toothache, but then a thoughtful look flashed in his eyes as he suddenly thought of something, and he didn't complain too much.

“Okay, I promise to get this done as soon as possible. I’ll go and get Headmaster Dumbledore’s signature.”

“Next is the second thing, Amosta—” Amosta’s cooperative attitude softened Professor McGonagall’s expression considerably. “It’s about your physical education class, Amosta. I’m not the only one who thinks your class time needs to be adjusted.”

"what's wrong?"

“I don’t object to you letting those kids spend some time on the field every day to get some exercise, Amosta, it’s good for them. But many professors have given me feedback about the bi-weekly after-dinner class. They think the schedule is not reasonable because that’s the time when young wizards mainly deal with homework and preview lessons. To make up for that lost time, young wizards either have to stay up late or just do their homework half-heartedly.”

"I've considered adding this course to the electives for students in their third year and beyond, but the teaching methods are still being explored and are not yet mature. Therefore, I don't plan to implement it on a large scale in the short term,"

Amosta said with a frown.

"Unless it's scheduled for the evening, unless it's on the weekend—"

“The rest days belong to the children themselves, and we generally do not choose to schedule formal classes during this time, Amosta.”

Professor McGonagall said decisively.

"What's your suggestion?"

This was indeed a headache, and Amosta threw it back at Professor McGonagall.

My idea remains the same: schedule it on a school day.

Professor McGonagall seemed to have considered this issue long ago; she stated it directly.

“Since you don’t plan to include the course in the Hogwarts curriculum for the time being, it means that the number of young wizards participating in this course is fixed. I’ve noticed that most of them are fourth-year students. You can choose a time that suits the schedules of most fourth- and fifth-year students. As for the older students who have passed the OWLS exams, they have more time. Of course, you can reserve the right to attend one evening class.”

Currently, there's no good way to solve this problem. Amosta can only obtain all the junior wizards' schedules and choose a time that doesn't conflict with their classes to teach. For the rest that can't be avoided, Amosta has to talk to their deans and professors.

Disrupting someone else's normal teaching is undoubtedly an offensive thing to do, and Amosta looked distressed.

“There’s one more thing, Amosta—”

Seeing Amostella struggling to schedule classes, Professor McGonagall's solemn expression suddenly became somewhat unnatural.

"It's about the security plan you submitted to the International Wizarding Federation, specifically the arrangements for teaching young wizards from both schools during the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts—"

"what's wrong?"

Amostella snapped out of her reverie, noticing Professor McGonagall's hesitant expression, and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"What problems do you see?"

"Oh, it's not a problem—"

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, her tone tinged with reproach.

“This is a rare opportunity, isn’t it? I mean, to interact with young wizards from other magic schools. But you’ve arranged for Durmstrang’s students to attend classes with Slaterlin, and for Beauxbatons to attend with Ravenclaw. You see, I’m the Head of Gryffindor, Amosta, and I have to fight for this precious opportunity for the children.”

Professor McGonagall's resentful look made Amostau groan; he hadn't chosen Slytherin and Ravenclaw out of favoritism.

"This matter—"

Amosta rubbed his temples.

“It’s not that I’m not giving the young wizards of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff a chance, Professor McGonagall. The main reason I decided on this plan was that the young wizards from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had come all this way to experience a teaching style completely different from their usual ones. I thought they would need a relatively peaceful learning environment.”

Amosta stopped halfway through his sentence, confident that Professor McGonagall would understand.

The young wizards at Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are rather unconventional. It's easy to imagine where their focus will be when they're with young wizards from foreign schools, and how their grades will turn out on the final exams.

Professor McGonagall frowned and pondered for a moment, then nodded somewhat melancholically.

"Okay, I must admit your considerations are reasonable—"

The two chatted about other topics related to teaching and competitions. Half an hour later, Amostella waved his wand, and the documents that Professor McGonagall needed to process disappeared from his desk with a "poof," as he returned to his own office first.

Standing in the corridor, Amosta looked to both sides, momentarily unsure who to approach first.

"Hmm, Dumbledore's a night owl, I'd better go check in with Professor Snape first--"

Amosta muttered something and stepped down the stairs.

Chapter 499 Uneasiness

2023-09-25

The office of the Head of Slytherin House and the Potions Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is located underground. Perhaps due to the perennial darkness and dampness, the air is always filled with a faint smell of mold. Combined with the various plant and animal ingredients used in potions, it's hard for anyone to like the smell here.

ah-

Standing outside the office door, Amosta sneezed from the stench wafting through the crack in the door. He rubbed his nose, muttered a couple of complaints, and without knocking, used magic to dispel the office's defensive spells.

A sinister, eerie green light shone from behind the open door, emanating from a potion containing plant and animal specimens displayed against the wall. Professor Snape turned and glanced expressionlessly at Amostella.

“I still prefer your manners when you were at Hogwarts, Amosta, you were much more polite then—”

“It was out of necessity, Professor—” Amostella tucked his wand back into his sleeve without changing his expression. “Actually, I don’t particularly like formalities.”

Snape snorted and continued grinding the lionfish spine in the bowl on the table into powder.

Professor Snape seemed to be in a bad mood. Amostah chuckled and walked past him, entering the small compartment where potions were stored. He examined the various valuable potion ingredients with great interest.

"Hmm, a new batch of goods arrived?"

Looking at the potion-filled container, Amosta pulled out a small glass bottle from the middle and examined it in the dim light.

"Hiss, gill sac grass, look at this perfect quality. It should be from its native habitat, not some monstrosity cultivated in the bathtubs by those uncultured wizards in Algiers. This one is quite valuable!"

"Put those things down, Amosta. They're for seventh graders who are facing the NEWTS exams."

Snape didn't even turn his head, and said coldly.

All right--

Amostella pursed his lips, put the glass bottle back in the distance, and then looked around for a while. Meanwhile, Professor Snape had almost finished processing the materials he needed for class and was washing his hands in the sink.

What exactly is going on with that woman?

When Snape returned to the table, he found that Amostella had somehow found a bottle of Vitality Tonic, which he gulped down in a few mouthfuls and was smacking his lips with lingering satisfaction.

Seeing this, Professor Snape's thin lips trembled. After taking a deep breath and suppressing the urge to kick them out, he suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question.

“I know many ladies, Professor—” Amosta said, raising an eyebrow, “You mean that one?”

"The one who made you famous, who at one point even surpassed our beloved headmaster," Snape said calmly, ignoring Amosta's quip.

"The newspaper says that the woman is an Albanian black witch. You tried to put her in prison, but she escaped. In recent years, it has been harder to find a few words of truth in the Daily Prophet than to hear the truth from the godson of that criminal who escaped from Azkaban."

It took Amosta several seconds to realize who the 'godson of the escaped Azkaban criminal' referred to. He chuckled a few times, but instead of answering the question, he asked,