From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

“Very promising!” Professor Babling nodded repeatedly. “Are you interested in submitting articles to the Ancient Runic Studies Association? I can help you think of a few topics. I believe they will be no problem for you; they are very simple and will be very helpful for your future career path.”

Ivy smiled and said, "So, I passed the test?"

“Of course! No surprises!” Professor Barbling tidied up Ivy’s exam paper. “I forgot you’re taking the OWLs this year and haven’t talked to the Dean about employment yet? I wholeheartedly recommend the position of Ancient Rune Researcher; you can get a lot of research funding from the Ministry of Magic! If you like a more exciting life, Gringotts’ Charm Breaker is also a good option. There are often some very mysterious spells in those Egyptian pharaohs’ pyramids. But they all use hieroglyphs as their magical script, which, although not the same system as Ancient Rune, is actually quite similar. Do you understand? The relationship between symbols and magic?”

Professor Babling looked to be only in her thirties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, her skin a pale, as if she had never seen the sun. Her office was filled with parchment covered in various symbols, stone slabs of all sizes, and piles of runestones inscribed with ancient runes. It was clear she loved her job; once she started talking about topics that interested her, she couldn't stop.

“If you don’t mind, I still need to take Professor Kerridine-Bubbage’s test.” Ivy didn’t continue the discussion about ancient runes with Professor Babling, because Ivy had long since realized that these dead languages ​​were meaningless to wizards. They couldn’t be used to perform ancient magic like she could, nor could they actually make runestones produce corresponding magical effects. They were just symbols used by wizards in the past. Perhaps this topic could yield many papers, but it wouldn’t change the fact that ancient runes had very few applications.

If one could learn ancient magic simply by understanding ancient runes, then it wouldn't have been lost.

"Is your workload really that heavy?" Professor Babling smiled. "If you want to discuss any questions about ancient runes, you can come here to find me anytime! Now, please, Mr. Doom."

Professor Kerridine Boubage's test wasn't difficult. In her words, "The Ministry of Magic's understanding of Muggles seems to be stuck a hundred years in the past! They really should walk around the streets of Muggles and see for themselves before they realize that they are not the only creatures in the world who use their brains."

"Your views on Muggles seem to differ from the mainstream views in the wizarding world?" Ivy asked with interest.

“Think about the subject I teach, Mr. Doom,” Professor Bubbaji said in an almost complaining tone. “Anyone who has seriously studied this subject knows that it’s not wizards who rule this world, but Muggles. I don’t understand why wizards can’t treat them as equals. Is it because ‘freshly cleaned’ is more noble than a rag soaked in detergent?”

“Indeed, very few wizards realize this, especially those half-baked ones who can’t even recite a cleansing charm properly,” Ivy admitted. Sometimes he thought so too. Magic was a luxurious and arrogant thing; you had to do every step perfectly for it to respond. If you had even the slightest lack of confidence in your spells, magic would jump up and slap you hard across the face. Maybe that’s why wizards thought they were superior to Muggles.

“You’re right.” Professor Bubbaji nodded. “Judging from this exam paper, you really don’t need to take this course anymore, but in OWLs, Muggle Studies also has a practical component, such as putting together a typical Muggle outfit.”

“Let me ask you a few more trendy questions, things that Muggles have only recently come up with.” Professor Bubbaji gave a deliberately provocative smile. “I’m debating whether to include them in the final exam… Of course, this has nothing to do with the tests you’ve taken before, and even if you can’t answer them, I promise you can study on your own.”

Did this professor know what a "computer" was? Ivy began to recall what computers looked like in the 1990s, and could only remember a huge, square monitor.

"Do you know about 'electricity'?" Professor Bubbaji's question was a bit unexpected. "Ever since Muggles discovered 'electricity,' they've created many machines related to it. If you can name ten machines that use 'electricity'... maybe five will do?"

The invention of electrical appliances by Muggles is hardly a novelty. Ivy is certain that electric lights existed on the streets of London at least a hundred years ago. It seems that even the enlightened Professor Bubbaggie's understanding of Muggles is far behind the times.

"Electric light?" Ivy answered tentatively, and then he saw an encouraging smile on Professor Bubbaji's face.

"Telephone, refrigerator, hair dryer, water heater?" Ivy rattled off four appliances, making him wonder if he was attending a Muggle kindergarten instead of the only school in the British magical world.

"Wait, what's a hair dryer?" Professor Bubbaji asked with interest.

"Uh... a combination of an electric fan and an electric water heater? But what it heats is no longer water, but air. Muggles use it to dry their hair that gets wet from showering." Ivy thought about its principle and tried to explain it clearly.

"My God! You're just like a real Muggle!" Considering that Professor Bubbaje teaches Muggle Studies, perhaps this could be considered a compliment?

Chapter 167 A Good Start

Gilderoy Lockhart caused a big problem in his first lesson.

Since Ivy reformed the Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum, the Defense Against the Dark Arts course this semester has been taught together by both houses.

Ivy heard that Lockhart had brought a cage of Cornish elves to the second-year Slytherin and Gryffindor classes as teaching aids.

According to what Ivy heard, students from the two houses somehow started fighting, and Lockhart could only cower under the podium. The riot only ended when Professor McGonagall deducted fifty points from both Gryffindor and Slytherin.

It seems that even sharing the House Cup didn't bring the two houses any closer, nor did fighting side-by-side; at least Malfoy and Harry are still mortal enemies. One will do everything in their power to let the other "steal the spotlight," while the other will retaliate with venomous words like "the excrement of a troll."

Harry is wasting his talent by not coming to Slytherin; at least his venomous tongue is almost as sharp as Professor Snape's.

Red-haired Ron remained neutral, since he was indeed wearing the new robe Malfoy had given him this year as a thank you for saving his life.

Ivy overheard this information while chatting with Hagrid.

The Ministry of Magic's investigation team had already left. Ivy was relieved that Hagrid recognized him at a glance instead of asking him all sorts of questions about his height. However, he wasn't sure whether Hagrid's description was good or bad—"Grows as fast as a bird-snake."

The harpy is a magical creature, large enough to fill an entire room, yet capable of easily squeezing into a teapot. Ivy obtained several harpy eggs a hundred years ago, but they were imprisoned in crystal before they could hatch.

I wonder what happened to them now. Maybe they were sold by some student who wandered into the Room of Requirement? The harpy eggs are made of pure silver and are very expensive. The dark wizard who brought them to Hogwarts probably wanted to sell them for a good price, but Ivy cheated him out of it.

Hogwarts is located in the Scottish Highlands, a mountainous region. The famous wizarding village of Hogsmeade is located next to the school's walls, but apart from these two wizarding settlements, the area is almost entirely mountainous. In other words, the school was built surrounded by mountains.

“Not many Muggles will come here!” Ivy agreed with Hagrid’s assessment, because he thought so too.

"How is Norberta doing? Can she fly now?" Hagrid asked with great interest, blinking his large, black beetle-like eyes.

Ivy's trip was to seek benefits for Norbert, because as a Norwegian Ridgeback, it should no longer be trapped in the dark underground facility.

"She has a good appetite and is in good spirits." Ivy checked on her growth when she went to inscribe the teleportation array for the secret chamber. That mischievous fire dragon had begun to challenge her foster mother's authority.

But Xiaoyan, being an elemental being, was not afraid of Nobeta's flames at all. In no time, he pinned his adopted daughter to the ground. Seeing this scene of maternal love and filial piety, Ivy was truly happy.

“I’ve managed to contact the Ministry of Magic, hoping they can issue Hogwarts a permit to keep dragons as soon as possible. However, I suspect they might prefer the explanation that dragons are protecting their habitat.” Ivy briefly described her efforts, the unspoken part mainly attributing the credit to Lucius and Mr. Nott, the Director of the Department of Magical Creatures Control.

"Great! I knew you were reliable!" Ever since the Chamber of Secrets investigation team left Hogwarts, Hagrid has been full of energy for everything, but Ivy sincerely hopes he won't use that energy on making rock cakes.

He brought a few stones to Noberta last time, but Noberta ignored them. It seems that even if fire dragons are classified as reptiles, they do not have the habit of swallowing stones to aid digestion.

Perhaps sensing Ivy's predicament, Hagrid kindly reached out and broke the rock bread into pieces, soaking them in his homemade hunter's broth. Floating beside the large pieces of bread were onions, potatoes, and carrots, along with some meat Ivy couldn't identify; Ivy prayed it was a rabbit.

Along with his physique grew his appetite, and Ivy, having finished two exams, was quite hungry. He stirred the thick soup with a large wooden spoon, then used magic to shrink the spoon slightly; it was almost the size of the gardening trowel in Professor Sprout's greenhouse.

“It tastes great.” Hagrid’s hunter’s soup brought out the unique aromas of the ingredients perfectly, making them blend together beautifully. Ivy felt a surge of satisfaction; it seemed our half-giant friend just had an overly good set of teeth, not a pica. However, Ivy had to admit that the ferret sandwich didn’t look very appetizing.

Ivy was finally able to confirm that Hagrid's rock crusts did indeed use flour properly; at least after being soaked in the thick broth, they could be easily crushed by Ivy's teeth.

This was undoubtedly a satisfying meal, especially considering the portion size.

"What else do you have this afternoon?" Hagrid asked with interest. "I heard you're going to participate in OWLs this year and the headmaster even gave you special permission to study on your own. I don't think that's much different from 'I'm very free'... So, would you like to come see my pumpkins? They're going to be used to decorate the Halloween party, and they'll be ready to be harvested in a few weeks... I'm going to use an inflating charm on them!"

Hagrid deliberately lowered his voice when talking about the "Inflation Curse," and kept glancing at the pink umbrella by the door.

Hidden inside was his wand, which Hogwarts had deliberately broken when they expelled him on the orders of the Ministry of Magic. However, Dumbledore repaired Hagrid with his Elder Wand. Normally, a damaged wand cannot be fixed with a Restoration Charm, but the Elder Wand was an exception. Ivy thought this might be some kind of "resurrection" magic, only that it could only affect wands.

Perhaps because Ivy once raised dragons with Hagrid, Hagrid is now willing to share certain things with Ivy even if they are not entirely legal. This could be considered a kind of "partnership" or "accomplice" in some way?

“Actually, I’m not really that free,” Ivy said, noticing Hagrid’s eyes darken. “Especially after I took the course on protecting magical creatures.”

Hagrid's smile reappeared from beneath his thick beard: "You haven't seen that 'base' yet, have you? Professor Celticburn has been hanging out there ever since it was built. We plan to open it to students of all grades gradually after Halloween; right now, only Thestrals and some unicorns are running around the ranch. If I'm not mistaken, the Pegasus pups ordered by the Board of Trustees should be arriving in the next few days!"

Chapter 168 Dog

When Ivy met Professor Celticburn, he was mingling with a bunch of furry puppies.

These puppies all have a white base coat with brown, yellow and black patches, and they look very intelligent.

“Swallowtail puppies!” Professor Celtburn introduced. “They’re not even a month old, but they’re very energetic, aren’t they? They’ll be the first lesson for third graders this year.”

Ivy crouched down to examine the furry little creatures more closely. Their short tails were indeed forked, like they were wearing tuxedos. To avoid attracting the attention of Muggles, the Ministry of Magic required breeders to use a painless cutting charm to cut off half of the tails of the Swallowtails when they were 6 to 8 weeks old.

However, there's not much Muggle life around Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, so these puppies are able to grow up retaining their original characteristics. Swallowtails are generally around 40 centimeters tall at the shoulder, classifying them as small to medium-sized dogs. Although they may not appear intimidating, they are actually very fierce magical animals. They are very friendly towards wizards, but exceptionally vicious towards Muggles.

“Very energetic.” Ivy scratched the puppies’ chin, then nimbly dodged their overly affectionate tongues. Ivy preferred solid-colored, distinctive fur to animals with various patches. Over a hundred years ago, he had “protected” several magical animals with unusual fur from the Forbidden Forest.

"I'm afraid I'll have to wait a while longer to retire." Although it was a complaint, Professor Celticburn's face was always beaming with a smile.

"Haha... With these furry little cuties by my side, I'll stay at Hogwarts no matter how long it takes!" Hagrid laughed twice, then mysteriously leaned close to Professor Celticburn and said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "Let me tell you a secret, maybe we'll be able to keep dragons at Hogwarts soon!"

"Really?" Professor Celtburn almost jumped up.

"Ivy put in a lot of effort for this!" Hagrid was also happy to share the secret.

"That's fantastic! Looks like I need to get the permits for breeding chimeras sorted out quickly..." Professor Celtburn muttered, "Maybe the dragons and chimeras will even produce some more unique babies!"

Hagrid's excitement was palpable when talking about the breeding of magical creatures, especially after being away from those "cute little guys" for several months.

So the two of them gradually drifted into discussing what kind of magical creatures are the cutest. Sharp teeth and claws are essential, fire-breathing or petrification abilities are bonuses, and if they can also fly around in the air, that would be the ultimate weapon.

…………

Professor Celticburn isn't the only one recently troubled by the castle's furry antics.

Harry had already made up his mind to avoid Lockhart this school year. But he soon discovered that Lockhart wasn't the only person he needed to avoid.

He believed Colin Creevey had memorized his entire schedule, since Harry seemed to "bump into" Colin several times a day. It seemed that for him, exchanging greetings with the famous Harry Potter a few times was the most memorable thing in the world.

No matter how helpless or annoyed Harry's tone was in his reply, it couldn't shake Colin's resolve. This courage to offend his idol was simply too much like a Gryffindor!

But another prospective member of the "Harry Potter Fan Club" was less courageous.

Whether on his way to class, at the entrance to the Herbology Greenhouse, or at the long table where Gryffindors gathered for a meal, Harry often felt a chilling gaze on the back of his neck.

But whenever he couldn't help but look back, he could only see a splash of bright red disappear from his sight. It was Ron's sister, Ginny, a shy girl whose face Harry had almost never seen clearly. In his memory, this little red figure always seemed to knock something over the moment she appeared, almost on par with her upperclassman Neville Longbottom.

Besides these two younger students in Gryffindor, there was another classmate who gave him a headache—his arch-nemesis, Malfoy.

Malfoy has always been keen on finding fault with Harry in various ways, and this year Malfoy seems to have gone even further.

On the first Saturday after school started, Gryffindor Quidditch captain Oliver Wood dragged his teammates out of bed one by one.

Quidditch training!

So Harry, still half-asleep, wearing a haphazardly draped coat and cloak, stepped onto the Quidditch pitch, his feet glistening with morning dew.

He was glad that his Quidditch teammates were yawning just like him.

The warm air in the dressing room below the stands made Harry's eyelids feel as heavy as lead.

"Snapped!"

Harry struggled to open his eyes a crack and saw Wood set up a large diagram, pointing with his wand at the lines, arrows, and crosses of various colors on it.

Wood was in great spirits and was probably the only one still awake in the locker room: "Okay! Before we officially begin training, I'd like to say a few words."

Time to play ball.

Harry told himself this, and tried his best to make the gap in his eyes bigger.

Then he quickly realized how wrong he was. Wood began a long explanation to the large diagram, and Harry only heard one thing: Wood's tactics were something he had spent the entire summer researching.