The Return to Hogwarts

The other professors expressed the same view. Amosta listened carefully to his colleagues' requests, then looked at Dumbledore.

"So you came here with the same purpose, Headmaster Dumbledore?"

“I am indeed very interested, Amosta--”

Dumbledore chuckled.

"If your method can significantly improve the teaching efficiency of some courses when it is widely adopted, I have no reason not to pay attention to it. Of course, the first thing to do is to make sure that it is safe."

Amosta subtly pursed his lips.

As we all know, Dumbledore has almost completely stopped interfering in the daily teaching and operations of Hogwarts. Now, he's suddenly become interested in his own little innovation. Could he be trying to peek into his own mental world?

"Okay, I think I understand—"

After listening to the professors' requests, Amosta did not show any sign of understanding; instead, his brow furrowed slightly.

However, there are some problems--

"What is it, Amosta?" Professor Flitwick asked anxiously.

Amosta hesitated for a few seconds before speaking.

"Whether it's spells, transfiguration, or other types of magic, my methods can indeed accelerate the young wizards' learning progress and deepen their understanding of magic—you all heard what I said to my students. I bring them into my mental world and have them practice with the standard spell configurations. Each young wizard receives corresponding guidance, but you all surely understand that this guidance comes from me. Those magical configurations are imbued with my experience and thoughts, combined with my own mental power, to maintain this teaching method. And you all—"

Amosta carefully considered his words before speaking slowly.

“Thoughts and experiences can be extracted using magic, but you can’t possibly guide multiple young wizards an unlimited number of times at the same time; the burden is too great.”

Amosta's meaning is clear: they do not possess the power to maintain this kind of spiritual magic.

Professor Flitwick's disappointment was palpable; heaven knows how delighted Amosta was after coming up with such a brilliant idea. Not every young wizard possesses the quick comprehension of Percy Weasley or Hermione Granger, able to grasp things so quickly after being explained in class.

Most young wizards lack a systematic understanding of magic. They are always confused and practice many times before mastering a new spell. Moreover, they may forget everything they have learned by the time of the final exam, just like Neville Longbottom. Oh, and of course, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle of Slytherin, whose fathers were both idiots when they were at Hogwarts.

"Can I experience that method of yours too, Amosta?"

Professor Flitwick asked, undeterred.

“If it’s convenient, Amosta, I’d also like to see it with my own eyes—”

Professor McGonagall made the same request. The other professors followed suit, hoping to see for themselves, even if they couldn't promote it, they could still brainstorm ideas, right?

"Ahem, if you don't mind, Amosta—"

As he listened to the professors' discussion, Principal Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t joke around, Headmaster Dumbledore—” Amosta said with a dark face, “I don’t have the capacity to contain your mental power!”

Ten minutes later, the atmosphere in the office suddenly became lively, with faculty and staff members who had just left Amosta's mental world discussing the matter with surprise and enthusiasm.

"A brilliant idea, Amosta, absolutely brilliant!"

Professor Flitwick was so excited he almost fell off his chair.

"Accurate and objective evaluations can also provide corrections and guidance to young wizards. Oh, if this method could be implemented in the classroom, and after regular lessons, they could use this method for training, I bet the teaching quality at Hogwarts would improve significantly. The Wizarding Examinations Authority would be amazed by Hogwarts' teaching level, and the entire wizarding world would benefit from it!"

"This method is not comprehensive enough for evaluating Transfiguration."

Professor McGonagall stated objectively,

"But as Felius said, if we can promote it, we can better share our experience, and many people will benefit!"

Amosta shrugged.

"But here's the crux of the problem. First, magical constructs are invisible in the real world. Second, those experiences and evaluations all come from me. If I don't attach my thoughts to those constructs, they're useless. Containing the mental power of many junior wizards is itself extremely costly and exhausting."

"That's not necessarily true, Amosta—"

Dumbledore's teacup was full, but he didn't touch the bitter drink. Although he didn't get the chance to witness it firsthand, he listened attentively to everyone's discussion and figured out how Amostella had managed to do all this.

"The difficulties you mentioned are not without solutions."

Dumbledore's azure eyes gleamed with wisdom as he gazed at Amostella, whose eyelids were slightly lowered, and pointed to the box Amostella had just used to store the surveillance camera.

"Moreover, the solution is obvious; we can resolve those difficulties through the realm of alchemy—"

Chapter 524 Primitive Capital

2023-10-08

Today was still a school day, and Professor McGonagall and the others couldn't devote all their time to promoting the efficient learning spell developed by Amosta. In the office, Amosta and Dumbledore, who had nothing urgent to do, sat on the sofa, discussing the parchment on the table.

"The basic idea is that we need to design a brand new alchemical tool, imbued with a constant magic that can strip away the young wizard's spirit and place it into a virtual mental space. We can partially refer to the mechanism of the Imperius Curse in this regard—"

Amosta, chewing on his quill, pondered as he spoke.

"Of course, the core of the machine is that a magical corridor needs to be designed to accommodate the professors' memories or thoughts, so that it can serve as a guide."

"We can draw inspiration from some of the concepts in the Pensieve, and also—"

Dumbledore glanced into Amostella's eyes. "This alchemical tool consumes a tremendous amount of magic. There must be an efficient way to draw and store magic to imbue this machine with power—"

Amostella nodded, adding more structures to the dense, dreamlike magical nodes on the parchment. After completing this, he let out a long sigh, then frowned and said...

"It's very difficult. It needs to consider so many aspects, and the final magic rune array will be extremely complex. All these structures must be compatible with each other; this can't be done in a day or two. But regardless, it's possible. I need to go to the library and find some materials—"

Amos Tower and Dumbledore's achievements today are undoubtedly due to their interest and focus on magic itself. Before they knew it, the sun had set behind the mountains, and cheers and laughter came from the field outside. It was the sound of young wizards playing happily after finishing their day's lessons.

"I can spare some time to help design some of the patterns—"

Dumbledore waved his wand, conjuring himself a delicious drink. At Amostela, he never served anything other than green tea.

"Would you like to go to the auditorium for dinner together, Amosta?"

Dumbledore greeted them warmly.

"This is not a task that can be completed in the short term—"

"I plan to go to the library to find a few books first--"

Amosta was still pondering the results of the afternoon's work. It had to be said that it was a very interesting and meaningful topic.

Dumbledore could only shake his head helplessly. He picked up his honey water and was about to get up and leave when Amosta suddenly called out to him.

"Wait, Principal—"

Amostella suddenly looked up and called out to Dumbledore. Facing Dumbledore's curious gaze, he hesitated for a few seconds before slowly speaking.

"I just remembered something. You should remember our conversation the night before school started, right?"

Dumbledore looked a little surprised, clearly not expecting Amostella to suddenly bring up that conversation, but he quickly regained his composure.

"If you mean the matter of removing Hogwarts from the Board of Governors, then of course I remember. What, do you have some new ideas, Amosta?"

"It's about this—"

Amos Tower nodded, glancing at Dumbledore who had returned to the sofa, and said softly, "Our plan is to have the Board of Governors voluntarily cut off funding to Hogwarts, then use the Ministry of Magic to shut down the businesses of those families who are die-hard followers of Voldemort, and through various means, transfer those businesses to the school. But this transition may take time; Hogwarts still needs to reserve some funds—"

Dumbledore's deep blue eyes flickered. He knew Amosta's sudden mention of this matter couldn't be without reason. He sat back down on the sofa and calmly asked,

"What are your thoughts, Amosta?"

"I had previously planned to get the Malfoy family to contribute a portion of their wealth. I have too much leverage over this guy, so I figured he'd cooperate—"

Looking at Dumbledore's features gathered between his brows, Amostella smiled.

“But I have a new idea now—” Amosta tapped the parchment on the table with her finger.

"Oh--"

Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly, and he said with a hint of surprise,

Do you think this alchemy machine could help the school raise some funds?

“That’s for sure. Once this alchemical tool is released, it will definitely attract worldwide attention—” Amosta said with a smile.

“Hogwarts is recognized as one of the seven best magic schools in the world, and whether it is you, me, or Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick, we have all achieved a certain level of academic success. I bet that with just a little publicity, individuals, families, or organizations willing to purchase such extremely practical alchemical tools will flock to us.”

Looking at Dumbledore, who was deep in thought, Amosta continued,

"Let's call this a learning machine. We don't necessarily need to sell it at a high price. Instead, we can generate a continuous stream of income for Hogwarts through another method. For example, we can input our experience with all the spells from levels one to four of the Standard Spells into the machine. Then, we can sign a contract with the person who buys it. The more money they pay, the greater the user's privileges. They can use the learning machine to learn more spells. Of course, these privileges are time-limited. If they want to renew, they have to pay a fee—"

Ignoring Dumbledore's twitching lips, Amosta said with great interest,

"It's not just standard spells; the same applies to Transfiguration, or some special magic, such as the Patronus Charm. We imprint our experience with these spells into the machine. If you want to learn these special spells, you must pay extra. A portion of the Galleons received goes to the professor who contributed their experience, and the rest, of course, goes to Remus to start a company. All funds will pass through this company's accounts. Before severing ties with the Board of Governors, the company's connection to Hogwarts must not be exposed—"

When Dumbledore left, his face was somewhat dark.

No matter how progressive his ideas are, compared to Amosta, he will always be a little out of step with the times. This is because Amosta has the perspective of both the Muggle world and the wizarding world, and the Muggle society he belongs to is even more avant-garde in its ideas than the current British society.

Dumbledore made only one request: that Hogwarts students not have to pay extra to use this convenience.

That's for sure; Amosta would never go to such lengths to make money off the students at this school.

"Oh, right, Principal—"

The two parted ways on the corner platform of the third-floor corridor. Dumbledore was going to the Great Hall for dinner; after all, he had even missed lunch because of this discussion. Amosta, on the other hand, was heading to the library to find information. Before parting, Amosta called out to Dumbledore again.

"Neville Longbottom, Harry's classmate. You must know something about him. I vaguely remember the Longbottom family."

"Mr. Longbottom's parents suffered greatly during the last war."

Dumbledore paused, his voice heavy, "They are still receiving treatment at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries."

"Is it the Crucifixion Curse?"