Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 305 Ron's Nightmare

"Newt's work is groundbreaking, but that doesn't mean your research is meaningless. Your research on dragons, sea monsters, and other fantastic creatures is equally important."

“Alright,” Professor Kettleburn said, beaming. “That research was done with my arms and legs, so I won’t be modest—by the way, Rubeus, I had no idea you were keeping those big guys in the Forbidden Forest!”

"Uh—" Hagrid looked flustered and very uneasy.

Kettleburn quickly waved his hand: "Don't worry, I won't tell the Board of Governors. I also believe that keeping them must have been Dumbledore's permission. It's been like this for decades, and there's never been an accident, has there?"

"I—I thought the verdict from back then—"

"I never believed that bullshit verdict. What do those incompetent idiots in the Ministry of Magic know? They probably can't even pronounce the names of magical creatures. Actually, Newt and I both defended you back then, but unfortunately, those stubborn fools..."

Fools and idiots won't listen. They're not after the truth; they just want a scapegoat to make the storm pass quickly!

"Oh—Professor—"

At 11 feet 6 inches, Hagrid, who was as big as a small mountain, let out a loud sob.

The trio looked at each other, completely bewildered. They could understand each word individually, but when put together, they had no idea what the other person was saying.

What's even more upsetting is that it seems no one is prepared to explain to them what the verdict means.

What exactly did Hagrid keep in the Forbidden Forest?

Riddlers are so annoying!

Vaughn and Kettleburn comforted Hagrid for a while. Once he had finally calmed down, Vaughn let out a few cries at the group of unicorns that had been standing to the side, seemingly doing nothing.

Whether it was just his imagination or not, Harry felt that the unicorns seemed reluctant—somewhat like they hadn't had enough of the show—

Some of them even deliberately walked past him, their bright eyes scanning him up and down, looking quite friendly.

Harry thought for a moment, then cautiously raised his hand to greet them: "Hi."

"Yo!"

"Yo yo!"

The unicorns' clear, melodious calls, like those of deer, made Harry smile involuntarily.

(Please remember the website 20 ...

He didn't see that Vaughn, who was already preparing to leave, turned back and glanced at him with a strange expression.

Not understanding unicorn language, he naturally didn't know that those cries were the unicorns' assessment of him: "Who is this guy? Doesn't he have any sense of boundaries, just greeting people like that? His soul is so dirty, I really want to poke him!"

"Forget it, forget it. After all, it was Vaughn who brought him. And look at his silly look, he's probably just some unlucky guy. Don't take it to heart."

"Yeah, he actually laughed when I insulted him, how pathetic."

Saying goodbye to the beautiful and "elegant" unicorns, the team sets off once again.

Hagrid led the way, with the newly joined Professor Kettleburn and Vaughn in the middle, and the trio at the back.

Harry found the professor to be very talkative and full of curiosity.

Lin Jian's incessant words echoed: "—Wolfsbane Potion is truly a groundbreaking invention. The development process must have been extremely difficult, right? I was also interested in werewolves a long time ago. I also discovered the magical organs you mentioned in your published paper, but you are better than me. I was helpless against those strange things back then, while you came up with a way to suppress them."

"I heard you've been researching dragons in North America? Merlin's socks, those stingy wizarding families actually supported you—oh, Dumbledore did? Even more unbelievable, he never supported my research, he only ever said to me:"

"Sylvanus, if this keeps up, one day I'll only find you inside a magical creature's belly—ugh, you spoilsport!"

"—I was just saying in class yesterday that the practical classes you and Isabella are promoting are fantastic. There's an anxiety-inducing trend in the wizarding world right now: parents are becoming more and more indulgent towards their children. If a student were to break a hair in my class today, I dare say my office would be flooded with complaints and yelling letters from their parents tomorrow."

"Young people today are unwilling to let their children suffer even the slightest hardship. They practically want to hold their children in their palms and keep them in their mouths, which is even more outrageous than cichlids (a type of fish that will hold their babies in their mouths to protect them)."

"I think you should know that Hogwarts used to have a graduation trip tradition, but I forget when it started, this tradition disappeared due to constant complaints, simply because parents thought it was dangerous—Merlin, what do they take wizards for? Useless Ministry of Magic workers sitting in offices signing documents?"

"Before your practical courses came out, I actually had a lot of resentment towards Dumbledore. Yes, he is undoubtedly a great wizard, but I think he was a very incompetent headmaster. He compromised too much with those parents, and many courses were cut under the pretext of being 'dangerous.' Over the decades, I have sent off batch after batch of students, and I can feel them becoming more and more fragile. Now, those children are simply flowers in a greenhouse."

"What will a group of innocent girls encounter when they leave school and enter the real world of magic without ever experiencing wind and rain or hardship?"

Dangerous magical creatures, damned dark wizards—any slight mishap could crush those innocent flowers.

"In the past, Dumbledore ignored these potential problems, spending his days backing down in complaint letters and acting crazy in front of his students, either shouting nonsense about love and friendship—many times I wanted to drag him in front of a dragon and make him shout his love and friendship at it, to see if the dragon would reciprocate with love or roast him medium-rare and eat him!"

Professor Kettleburn seemed to harbor a lot of resentment towards Dumbledore, and he started complaining about him while chatting with Vaughn.

His sharp words left the trio behind him speechless.

Of course, the professor wasn't entirely consumed by his emotional outpouring towards Dumbledore. As he mentioned earlier, he was pleased to see Vaughn and Isabella Rozier's reforms to the practical courses, praising them highly: "You are rediscovering the true traditions of wizarding, the true face of magical education!"

He then expressed his regret: "It's a pity that I may not live to see the day when the reform of the practical course is completed."

17

what?

The trio was taken aback.

Harry looked at Vaughn and found that Vaughn did not show any surprise, as if he knew something.

He couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "Professor, you said you couldn't wait—"

Professor Kettleburn glanced back at Harry and chuckled, "Because I'm retiring next year, dear Mr. Potter. It's also a pity I won't be able to teach you. In fact, when you enrolled last year, I even came up with a teaching plan specifically for you, but—alas, I'm getting old and covered in injuries, and I've felt increasingly powerless these past few years."

"ah----"

Harry's lips trembled, unsure of what to say.

Although he had only met the professor today, Harry was quite fond of his straightforward personality, and hearing that the professor would be leaving next year, he felt a little sad.

Beside him, Ron and Hermione seemed to share the same sentiment.

Noticing the three's emotions, Professor Kettleburn smiled and said, "You should be happy for me, children. I've worked my whole life, and I can finally rest. And there's more good news!"

He blinked. "I'm prepared to recommend Rupert Hagrid to Dumbledore and the Board of Trustees to succeed me!"

"————!"

The trio stared wide-eyed in surprise.

At the very front of the group, Hagrid, who had been silently leading the way, suddenly had his ears, peeking out from under his disheveled hair, turn bright red under the gaze of the three men.

He turned around awkwardly, his face already as red as a monkey's bottom: "Professor, I—"

"Stop making excuses, Rubeus. Haven't we already talked? You've been the gamekeeper for nearly 50 years, managing the magical creatures of the Forbidden Forest all these years. You love them too. I can't think of anyone more suitable than you."

Hagrid was deeply moved.

His life was a failure; he was expelled from Hogwarts before finishing his studies and was also banned from using wands by the Ministry of Magic.

He was a wizard, but he lived like a dud.

This made him feel very inferior.

Even if he sometimes has ideas but doesn't dare to voice them, then naturally few people will trust and support his professional abilities.

Hagrid is going to be a professor too!

This was indeed good news. After their initial surprise, the trio cheered and rushed to Hagrid's side.

Professor Kettleburn and Vaughn smiled as they watched the three chattering away, and Hagrid, who was surrounded by them, looking both shy and happy.

"Isn't that wonderful, Mr. Weasley?"

"Call me Vaughan, Professor. After all, once you retire from Hogwarts, you'll be joining my team, and we'll be working together for a long time to come."

"Alright, you can also call me Sylvanus, my dear partner!"

Kettleburn extended his good hand, and Vaughn shook it with a smile: "Okay, Silvanus."

"Speaking of which, I didn't ask you in detail at Hagrid's cabin last time. When will your magical creature research project start?"

"When the potion exchange program begins," Vaughn joked, "you agreed to my invitation without asking any questions. Should I thank you for your trust, or lament that your resolve to retire isn't strong enough?"

"Hahahaha one"

Kettleburn laughed heartily.

Kettleburn was the one who visited Hagrid's cabin while Vaughn was still recovering from his injury. He went to the cabin to talk to Hagrid about his retirement and his idea of ​​recommending Hagrid to take over.

On that same day, Vaughn, who was listening in, took the opportunity to extend an invitation to him, and after a brief consideration, he accepted Vaughn's invitation.

The old professor was clearly not forced to retire because of his advanced age and feeling unable to keep up, as he claimed.

It's more like he's been teaching all his life and is tired of it, wanting to do something else.

In fact, even without Kettleburn's visit to Hagrid, Vaughn would have still sent him a project collaboration invitation when Hagrid retired next year.

Vaughn had long wanted to build his own research team.

The reason we didn't do it before was because the timing wasn't right. Before entering the academy, Vaughn was almost unknown and was rejected by the apothecaries because of his magic extraction method. He couldn't find any partners at all. By the time he developed the Wolfsbane Potion and was certified as a Potions Master by the "Extraordinary Apothecaries Association," he was too famous to invite people casually.

Moreover, given the current climate in the magical world, wizards who truly possess the spirit and ability to conduct research are actually quite rare, especially in niche areas.

Take potions as an example.

Potions is undoubtedly a broad category, consisting of three sub-categories: pharmacology, materials, and rituals. The concept of pharmacology is similar to that of Muggle pharmacology, which mainly studies the laws and mechanisms of interaction between drugs and the body.

Ritual is a necessary step in completing a potion, and it involves mystery. It is usually a mystical ritual or a magical ritual (mystical rituals may not involve magic or incantations, while magical rituals always do).

The ingredients are naturally the medicinal herbs used to brew magic potions, which are generally divided into plant-based and animal-based ingredients.

Kettleburn was, in some ways, an expert in animal research.

Although the other party's previous research mainly focused on how to "protect magical creatures".

But as far as Vaughn knows, this professor of the Fantastic Beasts Protection class is a latecomer to the field of "protection" of magical creatures. After all, when he was in school and working, Newt Scamander's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" was just a folder, and animal protection was just a slogan that few people mentioned!

His job before joining Hogwarts was actually breeding, cultivating, and hybridizing magical creatures—he was a truly rare talent.

What's rare isn't his knowledge of magical creatures, but his attitude!

Kettleburn is not a conventional person, nor is he as "extreme" as Newt. He is willing to protect magical creatures and is not opposed to the artificial breeding of new species.

For Vaughn, in order to continue his research in potions, in addition to the potion exchange activities that have already been planned, screening all materials and summarizing all properties, he also needs to further his research.

He also hopes to see the birth of new "materials"!

There's no need to worry about plants. Humans know too little about plants, and probably less than one percent of them are actually used. It's not at the point where we need to intervene artificially.

Compared to magical plants, the species of magical creatures are very limited.

The development of magical civilization over thousands of years, especially potion-making, has already severely impacted many magical creatures. The rise of modern Muggle civilization has further exacerbated this, leading to massive species extinctions.

Even the most powerful magical creatures exist within the natural food chain cycle, while the concrete jungle and industrialization of Muggles have a devastating impact on nature and the food chain.

The development of potions stagnated in modern times, and one important reason for this was the stagnation in the development of raw materials.

It can also be seen as an inevitable result of the extinction of old species and the failure of new species to emerge.

The deeper you go into the forbidden forest, the dimmer the light becomes. The only advantage is that the cold wind blowing from Black Lake cannot penetrate the dense forest, so it is not as cold here as it is on the outside.

Before I knew it, a thin mist rose from the forest and gradually thickened.

Hagrid led Harry, Ron, and Hermione ahead, their cheerful conversation occasionally drifting through the drifting mist.

Vaughn and Kettleburn were also talking.

Vaughn mainly explained his project's intentions to Professor Kettleburn: "—You should know about the property analysis and extraction spell I published before. My push for the potion exchange project is to incorporate all existing potion materials into that spell, which can be considered a summary and generalization of the old potion science."

"But potions shouldn't stop there. Essentially, potion science is materials science. Materials are the foundation of potions. If you can provide a continuous stream of new materials, pharmacology and rituals can naturally continue to develop, and new potion science will naturally expand its boundaries!"

Listening to Vaughn's seemingly casual words, one could almost hear the undisguised ambition within.

Kettleburn opened his mouth slightly.

Although he had learned about this genius student's abilities and ambitions through newspapers and other channels from last year to this year, he was still shocked by the other's burgeoning ambition at this moment.

but----

Old Potions, New Potions.

Potions science is materials science.

As long as there are new materials, there are no limits to the development of potions!

I have to say, this sounds amazing!

In a flash, many thoughts raced through Kettleburn's bald head, but in the end, they all boiled down to one question: "Project direction, where do you plan to start? Do you have any specific hybridization or artificial breeding goals?"

He even proposed an idea: "For the first generation of gene hybridization, I suggest choosing a scorpion-headed lion as the mother. It is the oldest man-made magical animal. Ancient Greek wizards created them to guard treasures, so the technology spread widely and is very mature and stable."

"I think that using its genes as the first-generation framework might be more effective in helping us anchor the dominant characteristics of some genes. Otherwise, the overly complex mutations would mostly waste our energy on endless exhaustive methods."

Upon hearing this, Vaughn looked at Kettleburn in surprise: "You actually know Muggle knowledge."

Kettleburn raised an eyebrow. "You're not bad either. I was worried you wouldn't understand."

Seeing his spirited demeanor, Vaughn became increasingly convinced that his so-called resignation was most likely due to his weariness of teaching and his desire to focus on his true interests.

However, Vaughn shook his head at his suggestion: "Your suggestion makes a lot of sense, but the Sphinx can only be considered as an alternative. You should know that my relationship with the Ministry of Magic and the Board of Governors is rather tense. Such magical creatures that need to be imported are too conspicuous."

Kettleburn frowned. "Then you—"

Before he could finish speaking, he looked ahead and a look of realization dawned on his face: "Eight-eyed giant spider—that's it, those big guys are also man-made magical creatures—good buddy, it seems we're on the same page!"

Vaughn smiled, about to say a few words of modesty.

Hagrid, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped and turned back to call out, "Vaughn, Professor, we're almost there! Aragog's lair is nearby. Hey, Ron, don't go any further, come to my side!"

Upon learning that Hagrid would succeed Kettleburn as the professor of the Department of Magical Creatures next year, Ron, who had been feeling uneasy for hours, was in high spirits.