Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle

Melvin was well prepared for this. He gave the principal a copy of Andersen's fairy tales, a dark cult version.

Professor Snape did not send the antidote to the muteness potion that he had given me last year, but instead sent a piece of parchment with a small evil curse written on it.

"The Tongue-Locking Curse: It sticks the victim's tongue to the roof of their mouth, preventing them from speaking..."

Melvin found it amusing.

Normally, the purpose of this spell is to prevent the enemy from casting spells during a duel, but considering that it was given by Professor Snape, it seems full of malice no matter how you think about it.

Fortunately, the gift he gave was not bad, it was a high-quality bird-snake egg shampoo, which he got from Lockhart and was very suitable for Snape.

……

The auditorium and corridors were decorated with lights and colorful decorations.

This castle, decorated by the teachers and students themselves, looks magnificent and has a bit more fun than the decorations on the streets of Hogsmeade. There are more than a dozen Christmas trees covered with silver frost, thick ribbons made of mistletoe and holly hanging on the walls, and magical snowflakes floating on the dome, making it warm and dry.

Hagrid walked into the hall in the snow, shook the snow off his shoulders, and his boots made wet footprints on the ground. He walked all the way to the Great Hall. When he passed the fir Christmas tree he had dragged in, he couldn't help but look up.

It is completely different from the original tree. The candlelight is flickering and the ornaments are sparkling, like a fine work of art.

Not only him, but even Mrs. Norris, who was following the footprints, looked up with her eyes wide open, following these shiny things, and temporarily let go of the big man who had soiled the hallway.

"hey-hey……"

Hagrid sat down at the back of the guest of honor table, took out the Daily Prophet from the pocket of his moleskin coat, unfolded the newspaper, which was almost the size of his palm, and read it carefully.

The main content is still a series of reports on school secret rooms.

"Shock! A legendary wizard without a descendant, the four descendants of the founders are investigating..."

"Slytherin's unknown secrets, besides the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk, there's also..."

"The inside story of the quarrel between Slytherin and Gryffindor, the reasons behind their love-hate relationship..."

I don’t know if it’s because it’s a Christmas special, but the titles of these reports always feel weird to read, but they just attract people to read on. Even Hagrid, who doesn’t like reading newspapers, became more and more fascinated as he read.

Ever since the locked room incident was reported in the newspaper yesterday, he has been following the related reports. He read the newspaper at night, hid in the wooden house and cried in his arms until midnight, then got up in the middle of the night to go to the Three Broomsticks and the Pig's Head Bar to listen to people's discussions, listen to the drinkers' repeated analysis, and also listen to some groundless associations.

Whenever he heard those people talking about the old case from fifty years ago and mentioned that they had been cleared of suspicion, he felt extremely happy.

I couldn't resist breaking my vow to abstain from alcohol and downed a bottle of Firewhisky.

Hagrid looked around the hall and didn't see Harry and the others. Taking the opportunity to cover his mouth and cough, he lowered his head and sniffed his clothes. He found that there was no obvious smell. The smell of alcohol had been blown away by the wind and snow. He felt relieved.

Turning to the last page of the newspaper, I saw a report by Rita Skeeter, the golden reporter who had disappeared for a long time.

"Regarding an old case from fifty years ago, reporters interviewed Director Rufus Scrimgeour of the Department of Law Enforcement. Scrimgeour stated that the sentence against Rubeus Hagrid was correct, and that the Ministry of Magic did not pin the murder on him due to insufficient evidence. However, the student's unauthorized keeping of a dangerous magical animal was a serious violation of school rules and regulations, and expulsion from school was justified."

Hagrid remembered that Auror who had come last year when he was investigating the unicorn. He had a cold look on his face and was indeed very annoying.

"...The reporter also interviewed Ms. Amelia Bones, who disagreed. She said that for underage students, expulsion was already the most severe punishment, provided no casualties were caused. Breaking the wand was considered excessive."

"...After consultation with several Inquisitors, Rubeus Hagrid may, upon submitting a written request to the Ministry of Magic, go to Diagon Alley on his own to obtain a new wand."

Hagrid felt his nose sore again and his eyes were hot, but he did not cry. Instead, he muttered softly: "A bunch of idiots, fools, stupid guys, my wand is not destroyed at all."

As he spoke with a sob, he suddenly noticed a strange look in his eyes.

Hagrid turned his head and saw Melvin standing beside him, staring at him with a funny look on his face. Thinking of how he had cried in front of Melvin several times, he felt a little embarrassed and raised the newspaper and said hurriedly:

"Have you seen this news? That golden reporter has reappeared. She stopped making provocative remarks and even interviewed several Ministry of Magic officials, clarifying that breaking my wand was wrong. I'm starting to like her a little bit!"

The curve of Melvin's mouth became more obvious: "Really?"

"I thought she was a heartless journalist, but I didn't expect she had some integrity. Honestly, I plan to write a letter to thank her."

Hagrid sniffed, trying to hide his embarrassed expression, and brushed the matter off. His voice was much lighter: "By the way, did you receive the gift I gave you?"

"Got it. The Fox Charming Gloves are very warm. I like them very much."

"Hey, Yaya and I really like the beef jerky you gave us." He scratched his head. "How about I give this reporter a pair of gloves to show my gratitude?"

"Ms. Skeeter wouldn't like this."

"how do you know?"

"Guess..."

Melvin chatted with him for a few minutes and felt that the fireplace in the auditorium was too hot and a bit stuffy, so he prepared to go to the courtyard to get some fresh air.

Hagrid was going to read the newspaper twice more, but when Melvin walked away, he suddenly looked up and felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Melvin seemed to be very familiar with the reporter.

why?

……

The courtyard is much more lively this year than last year.

A group of boys were playing snowball fights in the courtyard, chasing each other, playing wildly, shouting and screaming. The snowballs were getting bigger and harder, but no one backed down. Their clothes were soaked with snow water on the outside and sweat on the inside. They played until their hot heads cooled down, and then they went back indoors breathlessly.

Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick were watching from the corridor, their eyes narrowed and their faces covered with kind smiles.

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Melvin."

There was one more professor standing side by side.

Melvin followed their gaze and saw Percy, the good student, who hadn't joined the snowball fight but was just watching from the side. He was wearing a sweater his mother had sewn for him, with a prefect badge pinned to his chest.

What's so cool about this?

Melvin took a few more glances, but didn't find anything wrong. He was a little curious: "What are you looking at?"

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Let's see when he discovers that his prefect badge has been transfigured."

Melvin took a closer look and was speechless. The letters on the badge had been changed. It originally said "Prefect", but someone had changed it to "Pinhead".

It was obvious that they were his brothers, the twins George and Fred.

Melvin couldn't help but glance at his two colleagues. It was okay for students to play pranks, but what was the big deal about you, a principal and a professor, gathering here to watch the students have fun?

He shook his head and started watching from the side.

More than one person discovered the Medal of Idiot. More and more students passed by Percy, looking at him with his chest puffed out and his head held high, with a forced smile on their faces.

Percy initially thought that they admired him, after all, he was also a warrior who defeated the basilisk, but there were too many strange looks and he began to feel something was wrong.

He looked down at his outfit today, noticed the medal on his chest, and his face immediately turned red.

"George! Fred!"

Chapter 157: Mouse Spots

As night falls, the lights come on.

This year's Christmas dinner at Hogwarts was more grand than in previous years. The flickering candlelight, the bright torches, and the crystal ornaments on the fir trees illuminated the entire hall, and the air was filled with the sweet aroma of candy and cream.

The colorful firecrackers exploded with a loud bang, and the students' laughter echoed.

The dinner plates were placed on the long table. As the principal gave the order to start the banquet, the food that had been prepared long ago appeared out of thin air: golden roasted turkey, baked beans mixed with butter, fried steaks that were just right, and rich stewed broth. The tempting aroma made people drool.

The cork of the wine bottle opened with a crisp sound.

Hagrid sniffed the aroma of eggnog and couldn't help but smile. He poured himself a full glass. He said he would quit drinking, but today was Christmas, so he would quit tomorrow.

"Merry Christmas! Cheers!"

"Merry Christmas."

Several colleagues nearby also had smiles in their eyes.

Professor McGonagall was a little reserved at first. After drinking a few glasses of eggnog, her cheeks turned slightly rosy, and she giggled at Flitwick's jokes.

Dumbledore was wearing formal dress robes, which should have highlighted his headmaster's demeanor, but the flower-adorned women's wizard hat on his head detracted from the robes' elegance. This strange mix of styles, on Dumbledore, strangely suited his temperament.

Melvin was wearing a crisp black suit, a white silk shirt, a green handkerchief tucked into his jacket pocket, and surprisingly, a fedora, which he placed on the table instead of on his head.

If someone had a keen eye, they could see the brim of the hat shake slightly, as if something was moving inside.

"Lockhart is unable to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, so I have to ask you to cover for it again. Should we stick to the original arrangement? What do you think?" Dumbledore chewed a piece of beef rib slowly.

“Do substitute teachers get paid?”

Melvin said this with confidence.

He teaches classes every year. Others just contribute more as deans, but he is the only one who gets the salary of an elective professor.

"Well, I can't make the decision on that. You can ask Minerva for the request."

Dumbledore was equally confident and had no guilt at all, but considering that this was a reasonable demand from the employees, he took out a box from his pocket, put it on the table and handed it over.

"what is this?"

Melvin glanced at the box. It was made of wood, not very elaborately crafted, as if it had been casually made using Transfiguration. "Hasn't the Christmas present already been given?"

Dumbledore smiled and whispered, "Open it and take a look."

Melvin glanced at the principal, wiped his hands with a napkin, and opened the wooden box.

There are no sophisticated mechanisms or magical powers. Inside is a cushioning sponge with two green gems on it, one as big as a pigeon egg and the other the size of a grain of rice. The surface is polished and crystal clear, but if you look closely you can find fine lines on it, which is very delicate.

"Look carefully," said Dumbledore.

Melvin leaned in to examine them, touching the two gems with his fingers. They were lighter than expected, with a small hole on the side that emitted a familiar magical fluctuation.

"Untraceable Extension Charm?" Melvin looked up and asked.

"The gems are from my own collection, and I commissioned Newt Scamander to transform them. He called these two gems the Snake Caves. The space inside is spacious enough for snakes to live in, and there are open holes so that you can hear the sounds outside and snakes can come in and out freely.

"The big one is used to contain the basilisk and is hidden in the secret room. The small one is left for Yurm and can be set in your ring."

Dumbledore shook his ring finger, indicating his ring.

As if hearing his own name, the fedora shook slightly twice, and a small white head popped out, with its tongue moving.

"I'm a little touched."

This principal is really thoughtful.

Melvin sighed, closed the wooden box, and put the two gems into his inner pocket.

This suit has no pockets on the sides, only a small shallow pocket on the chest, which can only hold a handkerchief, not a baby snake, so he brought a hat with him today, which served as Yurm's temporary snake den.