Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 274, the interview, emphasizes sincerity.

"This is the first time I've ever heard of such a spell," Dumbledore said with interest. "Where did you learn it from?"

I figured it out myself.

Hufflepuff's response made Dumbledore narrow his eyes: a wizard who could independently research and create a spell of this caliber was no nobody, yet he had never heard of "Smith White" before.

Dumbledore had some suspicions about this mysterious Lady White, because he happened to know of such a mysterious hidden organization that trained many powerful wizards.

Could Lady White be a spy for the Secret Order? This thought flashed through Dumbledore's mind. Judging from her name, Lady White was most likely British, or from North America, so it was even more inexplicable that he hadn't heard of her.

If this person in front of him were from some remote corner of Africa, Eastern Europe, or West Asia, it would be understandable that Dumbledore, who had spent most of his life in England, had never heard of her. But in this situation…

Dumbledore was inclined to believe that Ms. White had used a pseudonym, and he decided to probe further into her background.

"So, which magic school did you graduate from?"

Faced with this question, Hufflepuff didn't know how to answer him for a moment.

She never actually attended magic school; her spells were either inherited from her family, taught to her by friends, or exchanged with other wizards—she was entirely self-taught—the other three founders were in basically the same situation as her.

If given a few days to prepare, she might have been able to fabricate a plausible background, but Dumbledore's demand for an immediate interview disrupted her plans.

She doesn't even know which magic schools are famous in the world right now!

"I'm self-taught. My elders taught me some spells, and I also learned some incantations from ancient wizarding texts." Hufflepuff decided to tell the truth, emphasizing sincerity.

Dumbledore: ...

He was momentarily speechless, because White's statement was utterly absurd. If a wizard of her caliber could be self-taught, then magic schools might as well all close down.

"Where are you from?" Dumbledore decided to keep asking and see if the man before him could give an even more outrageous answer.

"Wells".

The two fell into a long silence, and Dumbledore began to use his fork to pick up the desserts one by one and put them into his mouth.

He now felt the probability of the woman in front of him being a spy for the Secret Order was terrifyingly low. If she really was a spy, it could only mean that the Secret Order wanted to insult his intelligence.

There are just too many flaws! So many that Dumbledore thinks what Lady White said might be true.

He looked up at Mrs. White and saw sincerity in her eyes; she seemed to be telling the whole truth.

Dumbledore also decided to be honest and raise his own questions—this interview, from the interviewee to the interviewer, emphasized honesty.

But before he could even speak, Hufflepuff began to make excuses for himself.

"I can't really be considered a person of this era. I was exploring some ruins before... and then something magical happened, and I was brought to this era by this little boy." Helga pointed to Rice.

Although he was very unhappy with Helga's description of him, Rice still smiled and gave false testimony for Hufflepuff, while secretly being shocked: Helga is too sincere, she really dares to say anything!

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow: The experiences of the man before him were becoming increasingly extraordinary.

Many things seem incredibly real because they sound so unbelievable. This is because fabricated stories need to be plausible, while real stories don't.

"Could you tell me in detail and satisfy this old man's curiosity?" Dumbledore adjusted his half-moon spectacles, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

"Of course." Hufflepuff then told Dumbledore everything that had happened to him, except that he omitted his name. The rest of the story was exactly the same as the truth.

After hearing White's story, Dumbledore suddenly felt that it actually made sense. He couldn't find any flaws in the story, nor any signs of her lying. From the perspective of time travel, the mysteries surrounding Ms. White also had reasonable explanations.

Is the witch before me really from hundreds of years ago? Magic is truly amazing.

Although it sounds like a story, Dumbledore did believe Helga's account of her origins.

That leaves only one question: which position should I assign her?

After hearing Hufflepuff's extraordinary and eventful life story, Dumbledore had already made up his mind to hire this amazing witch.

He was simply debating which subject Smith White should teach. Given her background, it seemed like she could teach History of Magic, but Professor Binns already taught that subject, and Dumbledore was unwilling to make a change.

Judging from the vacant positions at the school, the students' interest is low due to the lack of suitable teachers. Alchemy, which has been closed for a long time, seems like a good option for her to teach. She can also choose between the positions of protecting magical creatures and defense against the dark magic.

Contrary to Rice's expectations, Defense Against the Dark Arts might actually be taught by a different professor this year! The reason is that Professor Kettleburn, who had been teaching Magical Creatures Protection, has retired, leaving the position vacant. Lupin, the current professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, is very interested in this subject and wants to switch to teaching Magical Creatures Protection—this is quite common at Hogwarts; Professor Quirrell previously switched from Muggle Studies to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The specific arrangements would depend on White's abilities and the wishes of the other professors. If all else fails, Dumbledore could even start a new course on culinary magic! Culinary magic is a very important branch of magic, beloved by witches. Such a course would certainly be popular.

However, if it were decided to offer subjects like alchemy and cooking, I would definitely need to communicate with the Ministry of Magic and ask them to cooperate in adding these courses to the OWL and NEWT exams so that students could receive certificates.

After informing Smith White of the positions he could offer, Dumbledore crossed his arms, wanting to hear Ms. White's own thoughts.

"I can teach all of these classes—alchemy, defense against the dark arts, protecting magical creatures, and cooking—I can do them all," Hufflepuff told Dumbledore, describing herself as an all-around wizard.

"I can't afford such a high salary," Dumbledore replied jokingly. "How about you demonstrate the magic you possess first?"

Hufflepuff, of course, had no objections.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The second update is here, the next one will be at midnight.

So far, I owe everyone three chapters. Judging from the number of monthly votes, it should reach 1,000, which would be six chapters.

Time to prepare to pay off debts in April!

A happy smile appeared on her face.

(End of this chapter)