The slacker professor at Hogwarts

The rainstorm had just stopped in the early morning.

Sunlight streamed down on the earth, but Lockhart's smile was brighter than the sun on a gloomy day.

This wasn't due to the original owner's influence, but rather because he was genuinely in a pleasant mood.

Last night, he continued to process all the memories he could without stopping for a moment. They were all about black magic and biological defense, which he knew he should be able to process.

As it turned out, he was right; he successfully resolved the matter.

The noisy memories in my mind have started to quiet down a lot.

Delicious.

He is happy when something makes him happy, and he never suppresses his feelings.

In comparison, Dumbledore's mood was not so good.

Recently, the two major factions of the Holy Twenty-Eight, represented by Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy, have been fighting each other, and the incompetent Minister of Magic, Fudge, comes to him for help every day, which is really annoying him.

He couldn't possibly persuade Arthur to back down. This was a great situation that he and the Order of the Phoenix had worked so hard to achieve. Many wizards from Muggle and half-blood families were integrating into the Ministry of Magic in unprecedented numbers, building a new balance.

If he makes any slightly inappropriate statement, all of this will be in vain.

Similarly, he couldn't persuade Malfoy to back down, as this faction had already made too many concessions since the war.

So many members of the Twenty-Eight Holy Races were imprisoned in Azkaban, so many people resigned from high positions in the Ministry of Magic, and even Barty Crouch, who should have been the Minister of Magic, chose to stay quietly in the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation, a retirement department.

However, these pure-blood families remain the most solid foundation of the British wizarding world. He even had to make certain concessions on some matters to appease them, lest they become so desperate that they resort to desperate measures.

My head hurts.

The Ministries of Magic in other countries are keeping a close eye on the struggle in this corner; everyone is watching to see which way the wind blows.

That damn Fudge, that irresponsible guy, couldn't he have handled this?!

But he chose this person himself, so what can you do?

The reason Fudge was chosen over Arthur as Minister of Magic was precisely because Fudge's weakness made him more likely to ease tensions between the two factions, avert potential large-scale conflicts, and allow for a more stable period in the establishment of a new balance.

It's tough~

Unfortunately, another misfortune befell the family at this time.

Professor Kettleburn has brought up resignation and retirement again.

To be honest, Professor Kettleburn was not a particularly competent professor. Former Hogwarts headmaster Armando Dippet gave him the assessment of being "too reckless and unreliable."

But as unreliable as it may be, do you really want to find a magizoologist who is more knowledgeable than Professor Kettleburn?

Oh, no.

Otherwise, why would both Headmasters Armando and Dumbledore have tolerated Professor Kettleburn for so many years? This is the reason.

Practical skills are not important; the most important thing for a professor is to be knowledgeable, and there is no better candidate in this regard.

Hmm, maybe.

Newt Scamander!

But Newt had turned down offers of a professorship, preferring to dedicate himself to saving more endangered magical creatures from losing their habitat rather than teaching children at school.

This is a great undertaking, far more important to the wizarding world than being a professor at some school.

Dumbledore sighed, trying his best to persuade his old colleague to stay—to be honest, he was actually a little angry.

Hey buddy, don't think I don't know what you're thinking!

retire?

You're younger than me, why are you retiring?

You want to go on adventures in dangerous places like wild dragon reserves? Don't you even know your own capabilities? You're so flattered by people that you've forgotten that your ability to deal with magical creatures isn't actually that reliable?

You're just tired of staying in the safe school environment, so you're always thinking about going out and having fun!

Sooner or later you'll die in the dragon's mouth!

Fire dragons are already pitiful in this era. They are either having their tendons pulled and their blood drained every day, or they are tied up to guard the house. Now that there is a wildlife reserve, why would you go and disturb them!

You could at least learn a thing or two from your student Newt; his ideals are so lofty!

Do not!

But this stubborn old mule in front of me insisted on going on an adventure, on fighting the evil dragon like a knight.

Oh.

I think you're the evil wizard!

Dumbledore inwardly grumbled about Professor Kettleburn, but he had to say something nice: "We all have such deep feelings for Hogwarts, old friend. You're retiring like this. Can you just stand by and watch Hogwarts lose a professor of magizoology like this?"

"Come on!" Professor Kettleburn gulped down the raspberry honey drink, a special treat in the principal's office, in one go. He tapped the table to urge Old Deng to refill his glass. Once the glass was full again, he curled his lip and said, "I'm not a professor, I'm a teacher."

Hogwarts has a large pool of professors; in fact, the faculty is quite substantial.

Like Quirinus Quirrell, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor from last year's class, who was previously a teacher who taught Muggle Studies.

Among the current faculty, Wilmina Grapland is the most suitable person to succeed her as professor of fantasy conservation.

But Dumbledore was clearly not very satisfied with this teacher who only knew how to follow the rules.

Old Deng said with some helplessness, "I wanted to promote you to professor two years ago, but you didn't want to."

Professor Kettleburn shrugged, took a sip of his cold drink, and sighed as he looked at Dumbledore, who was even older than himself. "Professor McGonagall and the others will have something to say. I can't put you in a difficult position."

So, you brute, you actually know how to be tender and gentle with me now, huh?

Dumbledore resorted to his underhanded tactics, saying, "You can't resign unless you can find me a professor who satisfies me to take over your job!"

"Yes, I have."

Professor Kettleburn raised an eyebrow, just waiting for this. He chuckled and said, "I've found a good candidate, and I'd like to recommend him to you."

This……

If there are really good candidates, it's not impossible.

Dumbledore couldn't show too much agreement, lest he offend his old friend, so he simply frowned and asked, "Who?"

Who can replace our encyclopedia, Kettleburn?

I don't believe such a person exists.

Professor Kettleburn was extremely pleased with this attitude, and he said cheerfully, "Professor Lockhart."

"Who?" Dumbledore was genuinely stunned.

"Giddon Lockhart!" Professor Kettleburn had his own earnest insistence on using formal titles for living beings, and he pronounced Lockhart's name very seriously.

He squinted his aged eyes, recalling his encounter the previous night, and marveled, "I sensed in him a spirituality that was perfectly in sync with nature. Believe me, Albus, he is the most suitable person I have ever met to be a magizoologist."

"He will be competent for this position."

Dumbledore didn't see it that way, simply saying, "He is the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"I know," Professor Kettleburn shrugged nonchalantly, "but aren't our Defense Against the Dark Arts professorships only for a year? You know about Tom's curse, you really think you can let him do it for another year?"

Dumbledore looked somewhat helpless when this was mentioned.

As the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he would never have imagined before taking on the position that his most important annual task would be finding a suitable replacement Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

each year!

Lockhart had only been teaching for less than two months, and he was already looking for a successor.

What can we do?

Tom's curse was so powerful that it was difficult to break.

So, many people were saying that Voldemort the Mysterious Man hadn't really died, and many were secretly advising him to be wary of this.

Huh~

No one knows this better than the headmaster of Hogwarts.

If Tom really dies, will he need to go through all that trouble every year to find a replacement professor?

Wouldn't it be better to find a reliable teacher and dedicate decades to teaching?

He watched helplessly as one Defense Against the Dark Arts professor after another encountered various problems during their teaching, so he knew perfectly well whether Tom was truly dead or not.

only……

"Gidero Lockhart?"

Dumbledore began to seriously consider Professor Kettleburn's suggestion.

"Yes!" Professor Kettleburn gulped down his cold drink and urged Old Deng to refill it.

Dumbledore looked at this old fellow who was determined to take advantage of him with a bit of helplessness, and waved his wand to cast a refill spell on him.

Professor Kettleburn continued with satisfaction, "He gained the friendship of the Dragon Cave Rabbit, Dumbledore. You probably don't understand this very well; even most magizoologists would find it difficult to do something like this."

"The Dragon Cave Rabbit is an exceptionally proud animal; it only inhabits the vicinity of the most powerful creatures. This habit has instilled in them an extraordinary level of vigilance, and many wizards will never see this animal in their entire lives, because the Dragon Cave Rabbit has already vanished before they even get close."

Dumbledore didn't quite agree with the idea of ​​letting a rabbit judge whether a wizard was suitable for a professorship.

It's as absurd as using a mythical creature like the Qilin to determine who should be the leader of the wizarding world; he laughed when he saw it back then.

so funny.

But that's very wizarding.

Dumbledore looked somewhat exasperated. "Are there any other reasons?"

Professor Kettleburn shrugged. "Does his pet winged demon count? You know, you can't keep such a magical creature; you'll only have to kill it when it attacks other wizards."

Dumbledore was getting impatient and wanted to kick this guy who was always talking nonsense out of his headmaster's office.

I'm very busy, okay?

Stop trying to make fun of me.

"How about we call it a day? I have a lot of things to do here, you see..."

Dumbledore's words were tactful, but his attitude was pretty much the same—get out of here!

Professor Kettleburn, that shameless old man, refused to leave, his face beaming with excitement, just like a good buddy giving bad advice to his girlfriend. "Think about it, you make him the Professor of Protection of Magical Creatures, leave him at Hogwarts, hehe, if you can't find a Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts one year, you can just have him fill in for another year."

As she spoke, she playfully raised her eyebrows.

This……

Dumbledore was tempted.

Compared to Lockhart's absurd decision to become a professor of magical creature protection, he was quite satisfied with Lockhart's performance in Defense Against the Dark Arts.