A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 686 Hogwarts Needs You
The professors' lounge at Hogwarts is where professors typically rest and chat around noon.

The atmosphere that noon was different from usual.

"First open Transfiguration, then open Fifth Grade."

Professor McGonagall was showing off her newly acquired Merlin system to Professor Sprout, while Professors Flitwick, Snape, Boubage, and Bablin watched from the sidelines.

"Next, open the knowledge points. For example, select the Vanishing Spell. Here you can select the types of questions that will appear on the test. Now select one multiple-choice question and one short-answer question."

"Another approach is to first determine the number of question types, such as twenty multiple-choice questions, and then determine the knowledge points that should appear in the multiple-choice questions."

"Finally, choose the difficulty level. The easiest is the homework level, and the most difficult is the Dumbledore level."

Professor McGonagall quickly set up the test paper content with a series of skillful operations, and finally clicked "Generate". A dynamic waiting screen appeared on the parchment - a golden thief was flying around in circles.

About a minute later, the golden thief disappeared, and a Transfiguration monthly exam paper consisting of 20 multiple-choice questions, 10 true/false questions, and 5 short-answer questions appeared on the parchment.

"Excellent!" Professor Sprout carefully reviewed the questions and found that there were no problems with them. The questions could be used directly for the monthly exam.

Professor Flitwick nodded and said, "It would be great if I could grade the papers myself."

The professors around him nodded in agreement; they all found grading papers and assignments extremely painful.

Professor McGonagall said, "It can certainly grade papers automatically; you can try it."

She handed the parchment and a quill pen to Professor Flitwick.

Professor Flitwick took the parchment and quill with great interest, moved his teacup aside, and began to write furiously.

He finished the test paper quickly, deliberately making many mistakes and writing very sloppily.

Professor McGonagall took back the parchment, brought up the grading interface, and clicked "Grade," receiving the results in the blink of an eye.

The objective questions were graded all at once, and the professors didn't pay attention; their focus was all on the subjective questions.

Professor Flitwick's answer had several red markings, which were the points for correct answers; the incorrect answers were not marked.

“Spelling errors also resulted in point deductions.” He seemed quite satisfied. “It’s great that it can recognize messy handwriting.”

"Minerva, where did you buy this parchment?"

You could tell he wanted this too.

Professor McGonagall replied smugly, "This little trick was done by a student from Gryffindor."

Professor Sprout knew perfectly well what her old colleague's purpose was: to show off the best students in the college. Anyone could do that; Cedric had bragged about it quite a bit after winning the Triwizard Tournament last year.

“It must be Charles again,” she said, her lips twitching slightly. “He’s such a dutiful son.”

When it comes to inventions and creations, Hufflepuff students are naturally no match, so let's avoid the academy factor.

Professor McGonagall glared at her fiercely.

While the two women were chatting and laughing, Professor Flitwick pretended to study the question he had just answered, holding the parchment and first whispering to Snape, then moving further and further away from Professor McGonagall.

During the demonstration just now, I saw that he had a Charms course option, so I couldn't wait to try generating this month's test questions.

Snape was also interested in this, watching Professor Flitwick's actions from the sidelines, waiting for his turn.

He's been working three jobs lately, acting as a professor, an undercover agent, and a Death Eater, shuttling between Hogwarts and Ma Village. This is essential to reducing the difficulty of teaching.

Professor Flitwick selected Charmsology, first grade, and corresponding question types and difficulty levels, and then generated the results.

This time, as the Golden Snitch flew, a large, repetitive watermark appeared on the parchment: "This feature is unpaid and is for trial use only." The watermark did not disappear after the Golden Snitch vanished, and the generated spellcasting exam looked quite professional, but upon closer inspection, numerous spelling errors were found, and none of the multiple-choice options were correct.

The professors watching were speechless, both amused and exasperated; this was a situation they had never imagined.

Professor Flitwick asked Professor McGonagall with an incredulous look, "Minerva, Charles will still take your money?"

Like several other professors, he believed that Professor McGonagall had paid for it.

Given Professor McGonagall's relationship with the Charles family, this is unimaginable.

Professor McGonagall shrugged and said, "Charles plans to sell this Merlin system to Hogwarts. Albus is taking it to try it out first, see how it works, and get feedback."

"There are other functions as well, let me demonstrate them to you."

She then demonstrated other functions such as performance analysis and knowledge point statistics to her colleagues.

After watching the entire demonstration, Professor Flitwick's expression turned serious. He looked around at his colleagues and said solemnly, "I believe that this Merlin system is extremely useful in teaching and should be expanded for wider use."

The professors around him echoed his sentiments, and even Snape nodded in agreement.

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and said with great helplessness, "The Merlin system is not cheap; it costs tens of thousands of Galleons."

"Everyone remembers that big red gem Charles bought last year, right? The core of the Merlin system is that gem."

“Hogwarts’ own system requires the independent use of gems as the carrier of core magic. It can’t keep relying on Charles’s. It has to buy its own, which will cost a lot of money that can’t be avoided.”

“This system is not just Charles’s achievement; it is the result of Farbatton Castle, so it must be done through official transactions, not Charles’s private sale.”

The professors were immediately dumbfounded; they hadn't expected it to be so expensive.

Professor McGonagall continued, "Actually, there's a reason why it's so expensive, because the mobile library project can use the same gem carrier as the Merlin system, making it cheaper overall."

The professors could only sigh.

Since that capitalist older sister graduated, Hogwarts has had much less unplanned funding, and buying an extra teaching system like this is not cheap.

Umbridge, who had entered at some unknown time, suddenly said, "October is almost over, and the Ministry of Magic's cash reserves are nearly depleted."

"Although the Ministry of Magic's revenue has increased significantly in the last two years, it recently completed a major project with Charles, and its off-balance-sheet funds are almost depleted."

"I estimate that the Ministry of Magic can provide at most around 20,000 Galleons in assistance. Any more than that, and the Ministry won't be able to provide free afternoon tea."

The professors were taken aback; they hadn't expected Umbridge to agree to Hogwarts purchasing the system.

Umbridge didn't offer any explanation for why she did it, and instead gave a completely matter-of-fact look.

Her words blocked the professors from seeking help from the Ministry of Magic. Fortunately, the 20,000 Galleons would be of great help, and the hole was much smaller. They had to find a way to patch it up.

"What do you want to do?!"

Snape suddenly noticed that all the professors were looking at him at the same time.

He felt like a little mouse, and his colleagues were like hungry snakes. Cold sweat poured down his forehead, and he instinctively walked towards the door.

Of all the professors present, the Potions professor had the most opportunities to earn extra money, making it the easiest place for Hogwarts to target him for additional income.

Snape's face turned pale. That was tens of thousands of Galleons! Only someone who treated himself like a house-elf could brew so many legitimate potions.

"Severus, Hogwarts needs you."

(End of this chapter)