Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle

Hagrid took out a bag of insecticide from the firewood pile in the yard, sprinkled it on the pumpkin patch, pulled off the vines clinging to the fence, locked the door after confirming that there was no problem, and walked towards the castle.

Yaya chased after him, grunting, holding his pink umbrella in his mouth, and nudged him a few times with his head.

Hagrid took it, wiped his saliva on his clothes, and rubbed its head. "Ronan and I have agreed that you will go hunting with them during the summer vacation. We will share the roast meat and stew with you, and make sure you have enough to eat. If you get tired of the food from the centaurs, just go to the castle. Mr. Filch will not ignore you, and the house-elves in the kitchen will prepare food for you."

"Woo..."

Yaya swung his butt and ran along the path into the depths of the forbidden forest on his short legs, crying out in a shrill voice.

There was not a moment's time to feel sorry for the separation from the master, and the next two months were a joyous holiday of hunting and eating meat.

……

The hall was still decorated in Gryffindor colors. Compared to last night's banquet, breakfast was particularly quiet. The only sound in the entire hall was the clinking of cups and plates.

The four deans handed out holiday notices to every student. In the blink of an eye, the little wizards packed their luggage, organized their schoolbags, and walked out of the school gate under the leadership of Hagrid and boarded the red train parked next to the platform.

"Hoo! Hoo!"

The whistle woke up the wilderness, the wheels began to turn, rolling over the morning dew on the rails, and the Hogwarts Express slowly set off, heading towards the Muggle world.

On the grass beside Black Lake, Melvin watched the white steam gradually dissipate and merge into the clouds in the sky.

"It's time for us to set off, too."

Professor Kettleburn chuckled twice and gently whipped the tall Pegasus beside him with a linen whip.

The three chestnut-maned Pegasus felt pain and lowered their heads to bump into him, causing him to stumble. This earned them several scoldings, mixed with laughter: "You foolish horses! I got up early in the morning to feed you Romanian hay and gave you mead from the Three Broomsticks. Now you're full and satisfied, and you want to pay me back for even a couple of lashes?"

Melvin looked at these sturdy Pegasus.

Before the Floo Network and portkeys became popular, Pegasus carriages were the mainstream means of transportation for wizards, and they have not completely disappeared until now.

There are many types of Pegasus, each with unique abilities. Hogwarts has Thestrals, Beauxbatons has Rune Horses, and the hills of Ilvermorny have Gralings. The three in front of you are Professor Kettleburn's private collection, and their breed is called Iserlon.

Its mane is brown with red, and it is sturdy and strong, a bit like a Ferghana horse. It is said that it has the blood of a fire dragon flowing in its body. It only eats fresh grass grown from dragon dung and loves to drink fruit brandy.

Considering that they had a long journey today, Professor Kettleburn only fed the horses some mead, which seemed to make the horses unhappy.

As Kettleburn installed the frame and the ropes, he said, "I tell you, Melvin, that you're stopping in Budapest, and that's why you're traveling by Iserlohn. Before, when I went to Romania on my own, I always used a portkey. I've been there many times and never had to go through any immigration paperwork."

Melvin laughed and said, "I thought the professor was some dangerous person who was banned from other countries."

"Haha... I'm not that guy Newt."

"The professor is going to retire next year, right?"

"How do you know? Did Albus tell you?"

"That's it."

"You have to admit you're getting old. When you're young, you're in good health and can still handle things even if you're missing an arm or a leg. But now that you're old, your bones are brittle and you can barely stop those animals in class."

"We can't stop magical creatures, but we can stop dark wizards with bad intentions. I remember that during the Christmas holidays, the professor seemed to be targeting Quirrell. Did he find something wrong?"

Kettleburn continued to tease the Pegasus, grinning. "I haven't found any evidence. I just spend a lot of time with magical animals and can detect some of their true emotions. Some animals have violent personalities, but they're not bad by nature. It's okay to touch them directly. Some animals look gentle, but they're actually waiting to bite you at any time. Wizards are the same way."

Melvin nodded slightly.

Professor Kettleburn loves to seek death. He chases magical beasts in the wild all year round and trades contraband with dark wizards many times. He can live to this age only because of his unique experience.

The Isserons calmly let them put the bikes on the frame, their dark eyes were particularly bright, and no one knew what they were thinking.

"Melvin! Professor Keltborn!"

Ripples appeared on the calm lake surface, and the ground seemed to sense some kind of tremor. A burly mixed-race giant strode towards this side, holding a teddy bear in his hand and a pink umbrella on his waist, revealing an indescribable funny look.

After sending the students on the bus, Hagrid immediately ran over here. It wasn't because he was afraid of missing out, but because he was simply excited: "Here I come! Here I come!"

Hagrid's eyes widened when he saw the three Pegasus: "Are these Iserlohns? Look at their muscles, so beautiful!"

The man stretched out his hand to touch their trapezius muscles, but was slapped by the horse's tail. Without getting angry, he simply grabbed the tail and shamelessly touched it a few times. Then he was hit by the horse's hoof, the kind that kicked him from behind.

If it were an ordinary wizard, he would have been sent flying after two hits. However, the half-giant's physical fitness was such that he was not hurt even after two hooves, but it still hurt.

"hiss……"

Hagrid was grimacing and gasping for air while trying to get closer to the Pegasus.

“The little ones are so cute!”

The rogue look made Melvin laugh.

Professor Keltburn put the Pegasus on the carriage. Seeing the interaction between Hagrid and Pegasus, he seemed relieved and couldn't help grinning: "Let's go, we're leaving too!"

The mahogany carriage is exquisitely crafted and inlaid with gold and silver carvings.

If you look closely, you will see that the silver jewelry is indeed silver jewelry, and the gold is actually made of brass.

The carriage's roof was shorter than Hagrid's, but once inside, the space opened up, almost as large as the school hall. It wasn't well-maintained, though: hay, a trough, and other horse gear were piled on the carpet, and there were only a few chairs by the window.

"go!"

The wooden wheels embedded with cast iron crushed the soft grass. The carriage slowly moved for a distance, then took off into the air and rushed across the Black Lake towards the distant mountains.

On the eighth floor of the castle in the back, a half-open window was revealed, and the old principal with silver hair and beard and the phoenix both stuck their heads out. Man and bird watched them go away, unable to help but smile.

The Vice Headmaster in the room reported his work diligently: "The work summary for this school year has been submitted to the Board of Directors. Mr. Malfoy didn't say anything, but he asked to meet with Melvin and Severus. Melvin had a tight schedule and asked me to postpone it, but Severus flatly refused."

"..."

Dumbledore's smile widened when he heard this.

"There's no rush to start school right now. The most important thing is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Mr. Guffey wrote to me last week, asking when this year's job posting would appear in the newspaper."

The vice-president said solemnly, "President, you've seen the mess Melvin has caused. We can't just post ad-hoc professor recruitment ads every year. We have to find a way to solve this problem."

"Well... I already have a choice."

Dumbledore took down a beautifully bound book from the shelf, "I Am Magical," and the wizard on the cover had a particularly bright smile.

"Gilderoy Lockhart."

Professor McGonagall couldn't help but frown slightly. She had heard of the name of this best-selling author. Although she didn't like his style, judging from his experiences and performance in those books, this Lockhart was capable of being a professor.

However, is the content of the book really his experience?

"Is there no other choice?"

"I believe students can learn a lot from Professor Lockhart, not just book knowledge."

"..."

After Professor McGonagall left, Dumbledore sat behind his desk and took out the sapphire-inlaid crown, his blue eyes reflecting the same obscure fluorescence.

We already have some understanding of Voldemort's experience and process of creating Horcruxes. Considering that it is impossible for Voldemort to use the founder's relics as carriers from the beginning, if we think deeply, the number of Horcruxes produced by Voldemort may exceed his expectations.

No matter how simple the process of making a Horcrux is, it still requires tearing the soul apart.

From the essence of magic, the soul is the source of a wizard's magic. After being torn apart many times, Voldemort's soul was still able to retain consciousness and rationality. He did not become a crazy madman, and his magic became even more powerful.

According to Nicolas Flamel, Melvin might be able to unlock the secret.

Both appear to be connected to Salazar Slytherin.

How much legacy did the founder leave behind?

Dumbledore thought quietly, his right hand resting on the armrest of the chair, tapping it unconsciously.

Chapter 97 Animal World

Sylvanus Kettleburn was a pure-blood wizard and graduate of Hufflepuff House. As a student, he developed a keen interest in magical creatures, especially dangerous ones.

After graduation, I was unable to go to Romania to raise fire dragons, so I found an easy odd job. I went to Romania to see fire dragons every holiday. After having one of my hands bitten off by an Australian white-eyed drake during the incubation period, I applied to return to school to be a professor.

With excellent professional ability and years of contact with magical creatures, Kettleburn successfully passed the interview. However, due to his reckless and careless personality, mediocre teaching level, and frequent trouble-making, he was placed on probation 62 times during his teaching career.

About forty or fifty years ago, while rehearsing the play "The Fountain of Good Luck," he insisted on using a magically enlarged fire ash snake as a prop. It went out of control mid-performance and exploded, igniting the entire stage. The flames and smoke sent nearly a hundred students to the school hospital. Professor Beary suffered a head injury, and the pungent, burning smell lingered for months...

His relationship with President Armando Dippet was very strained, he had no good reputation among the student community, and he had not accumulated any connections over the years.

He received injury compensation in his early years and the salary of a school professor was not low, but Kettleburn liked to come into contact with dangerous magical animals and would generously donate money to rescue wild animals. After decades, he did not save any money and instead lost a leg.

As the body ages, the restless soul gradually calms down.

By the time Dumbledore took over as headmaster, Celticburn had only half of his arm and leg left. He had become much more stable and, after being persuaded by his friends, managed to live a relatively peaceful life.

In recent years, he has not been as busy as he was when he was young. He has used his professional knowledge to save some money for retirement, bought a house in Hogsmeade, and plans to settle down outside the school in the future.

In fact, he wanted to retire last year, but Harry happened to start school, and Kettleburn was very curious about the boy, so he stayed for another year.

Entering Hogwarts with Harry was the new professor of Muggle Studies, Melvin Levent, an outstanding young man, much better than Harry was back then, but his working style was that of Slytherin.

Kettleburn originally didn't want to have any social interaction with the professor, but was attracted by the young professor's performance.

He has excellent teaching ability, which enables students to achieve good results. He also handles matters outside of his job well, responding to the difficulties posed by the Ministry of Magic, blocking Voldemort's conspiracy, and delivering Albus's warning in an unconventional way.

In stark contrast to him is Quirinus Quirrell.

After Easter, when Kettleburn learned that Voldemort might make a comeback, he suddenly felt uneasy. Every night when he couldn't sleep, he couldn't help but think, if he retired, what would happen to the school and the young wizards?

Kettleburn never married and had no children. He regarded Hogwarts as his home. He was worried that after he was gone, the professor who took over the care of magical creatures would not be worthy of the trust. It would be okay if he was as unqualified as himself, but he was afraid that the successor wizard would be someone like Quirrell.

In fact, he himself knew that Albus and Minerva could handle these things and it was not his turn to worry about them. Moreover, he was not a good professor when he was young. He always showed dangerous animals to students according to his own preferences. It was common for him to hurt himself, and it was not uncommon for him to hurt students.

He could be considered an experienced professor, but he had no good reputation and his fame was not very good. The fact that he could work smoothly until retirement age was the result of the school board's consideration for his pure-blood status and Dumbledore's persuasion out of old friendship.

But Kettleburn was uneasy.

Before he retires, he wants to find a qualified professor for the school who truly loves magical creatures, truly protects Hogwarts, and truly cares for the young wizards...

Kettleburn sat on the sofa in the carriage, looking at the big man at the door. He felt that he had chosen the right person, and shouted with a smile: "Hagrid, it's windy outside, come sit inside."

"It's okay, I like the breeze!"

Hogwarts Castle had completely disappeared from sight. The half-blood giant sitting on the shaft of the carriage was still in high spirits, staring at the flapping wings of the Pegasus, which made the Iserlons feel uncomfortable.

Winged horses roamed the valleys and hills, and dragon-skin ropes kept them suspended. Unlike a Muggle carriage, the winged horses and carriages were not actually fixed to the frame, but were instead held in place by invisible magic.

The carpeted carriage was very smooth and vibration-free.

Melvin sat by the window looking through some documents as the scenery outside quickly passed by. It was midsummer in June, and the golden sunlight shone in, hitting the parchment and making it a little dazzling.

The light grew brighter. Melvin put away the documents, rubbed his brows to relax his mind, and thought about something unimportant. He happened to see Professor Kettleburn not far away.

He thought for a moment and continued with the question he had asked before leaving: "Does the professor plan to let Hagrid take the Care of Magical Creatures class?"