Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 172 The Imperial Sword

"Compared to Professor Dumbledore, we haven't actually been involved in the teaching work, and the difficulties and challenges involved are not something we can easily guess."

"Perhaps we should gain a more comprehensive understanding before drawing conclusions."

"But... are we going to have to stay here for a whole year?"

Although Murphy was a newcomer, his influence had surpassed that of Lucius and the former Lencoun in just a few days thanks to his gold coin offensive, and no one would underestimate him.

However, they are, after all, school board members, not professors. They can't possibly spend a year or two understanding and supervising how these professors teach, can they?

"Gentlemen, what is our goal?"

"Are we here specifically to punish a professor? To blame someone for some past mistakes?" Murphy shook his head. "No, what we want is to raise the quality of teaching at Hogwarts to a higher level, so that we can produce more powerful and useful wizards!"

"Therefore, identifying the problems and finding those responsible is secondary. What we should be doing is solving the problems, or helping flawed professors to better teach students!"

The school board members nodded in agreement; that made perfect sense.

They didn't initially intend to attack anyone; they were simply intimidated by the quality of the Hogwarts professors.

"Murphy, do you have any good ideas?" the female director asked.

"I have an idea. We should give these professors a chance to prove themselves."

"We can elect a board member to be stationed at Hogwarts to monitor and supervise the teaching situation in real time, and to promptly identify and resolve problems in order to guide Hogwarts in a better direction."

"I think this is what the Ministry of Magic, and all wizards in Britain, would like to see."

The board members discussed it for a while and all agreed that it made perfect sense; even Dumbledore expressed his approval.

Now, only one question remains.

Who will be the supervisor?

"Murphy, since you've come up with this idea, why don't you take charge of its execution?"

……

After the review concluded, Murphy returned to the magic research institute.

The Ministry of Magic will hold a hearing tomorrow. Although there are still some procedures to go through, his entry into Hogwarts as a permanent director is a done deal.

The reason for going to such great lengths to enter Hogwarts was naturally for the Philosopher's Stone.

After discovering that the Philosopher's Stone had been taken from Gringotts vault, Murphy actually considered obtaining it in other ways, such as confessing to Dumbledore that he was seriously ill and needed the elixir of immortality to save his life.

Firstly, the item belonged to Flamel, not Dumbledore, and he had no right to make decisions for the owner of the Philosopher's Stone. Secondly, to prevent Voldemort from making a comeback, the likelihood of Dumbledore lending the Philosopher's Stone was extremely low.

Moreover, Murphy's reputation isn't exactly good either. Even if Dumbledore were willing to help him out of love, he would certainly face opposition. Some might even associate him with Voldemort, believing that he's trying to use the elixir of immortality to resurrect Voldemort.

After much thought, it's almost impossible to obtain a magic stone through legitimate channels, and it would also easily expose one's weaknesses and arouse unnecessary suspicion.

The only way he could obtain the Philosopher's Stone would probably be to steal it, similar to Voldemort in the original story.

Murphy had no moral burden about stealing the Philosopher's Stone, but to do so, he would have to get into Hogwarts first.

Murphy originally planned to apply for a professorship, but then he thought about his own position.

Not only is applying for a professorship beneath you, but is it really fun for a newly hired professor to be manipulated?

What era are we living in? Still playing the "pretending to be weak to fool others" game?

If you're going to do something, do it big.

Therefore, Murphy orchestrated this grand performance of teaching quality review to legitimately get himself into the school.

From beginning to end, it was all an open conspiracy. Even though Dumbledore suspected that someone was behind it, there was nothing he could do. After all, he was just a headmaster, and the school was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Magic.

Entering the school as a school board member with the power to supervise and review all faculty and staff of Hogwarts, wielding the imperial sword, and punishing whomever one pleases, is much more comfortable than being a professor or something similar.

But getting into school is only the first step.

Murphy needs to carefully consider what to do next.

First, as a resident school board member, he has a great deal of power and freedom, which allows him to intervene in various school affairs in a reasonable manner without arousing further suspicion.

However, this identity also has a downside: it can easily put you in opposition to all the faculty and staff. Look at Umbridge in the original work; although she is indeed annoying, the professors dislike her partly because she is a supervisor.

Who would like a guy who's high and mighty, able to scrutinize their work, and has the power to fire them at any time?

In this situation, his every move will be under more scrutiny.

Moreover, if he entered the school at this time, Murphy wouldn't believe that Dumbledore had no suspicion of any connection with the Philosopher's Stone; that would be too insulting to the old man's intelligence.

Stealing the magic stone under the watchful eyes of so many people is no small feat.

Murphy pondered for a long time, and gradually, a plan took shape in his mind.

First, he needs to get himself a teaching position.

Being merely a reviewer is extremely unpleasant, but if one were to become a professor, this colleagueship would allow for a more equal and respectful relationship with other professors, reducing their wariness.

At the same time, the professor has a direct influence on the students, which will benefit Murphy's next plans.

Moreover, I might even be able to directly intervene in the protection of the Philosopher's Stone through my status as a professor. After all, even Hagrid, a forest ranger, can participate. If I, a legitimate professor and a board member with the authority to intervene, can't I?

This is easy to do; just find any reason to suggest it to the board of directors.

In the current board of directors, besides himself and Malfoy, there are three pure-blood nobles who have been brought under his command.

These five people practically make up half of the board of directors, and as long as the reasons are plausible on the surface, they can generally get things approved.

Secondly, he needed a proxy to avoid Dumbledore's sight.

Trying to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone personally would easily attract Dumbledore's attention, and Murphy still couldn't figure out Dumbledore's arrangement for the Philosopher's Stone.

Will he follow the original story? Is his real purpose to protect the Philosopher's Stone, or is it a test and trial for Harry?

If it were the former, perhaps he wouldn't provoke Dumbledore's hostility too much if he got the Philosopher's Stone. After all, he wasn't Voldemort, and it would be better for him to get the Philosopher's Stone than for Voldemort to get it.

But if it's the latter, then his attempt to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone would be tantamount to disrupting Dumbledore's overall plan for Harry and Voldemort's fate, and Murphy wasn't sure how Dumbledore would react.

Therefore, it is best to control things secretly without doing it yourself.

But who should be chosen as the agent?

(End of this chapter)