Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle

Ignoring the complaints and rants of the first two pages, only the last half page is serious business, where Claire talks about her recent situation:

“… Disneyland Paris opened on April 4th, and I applied some of the theater’s magic methods to the park. Because of the excellent results and excellent guest feedback, I have been promoted to Vice President and Creative Director of Imagineering.

The benefits are generous and the salary is beyond my imagination!

Boss! My boss! If you stay here any longer, I'm really going to resign from you!"

Melvin took a sip of milk, smiled, put the letter away, and prepared to reply when he was free.

It’s good to be a creative director or a vice president. I can use the Disney environment and salary to train my subordinates.

Just as he was about to open a letter, he heard a clattering sound next to him. Turning around, he saw Yurm slapping the table with his tail.

The whole snake collapsed on the table, with a bulge in the middle of its body.

Judging from the shape, it is an egg with a missing corner.

Melvin was a little amused and looked down at the plate. Sure enough, the egg he had peeled was gone.

I originally cut a small piece for the young snake considering its size, but this horned water snake was greedy and swallowed the remaining half of the egg whole while I was reading the letter.

Yurm lay spread out on the table, his snake mouth wide open, revealing his pink gums.

It probably wanted to hum a few times, but its stomach was too heavy, making it difficult to exhale, and it couldn't even hiss.

Melvin felt a little reluctant, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't just rub it himself, so he could only watch from the side with a worried smile on his face.

He did have a wizard's digestive potion in his drawer, but he wasn't sure if it would be effective against the horned water snake. Even if it was, he couldn't get it in.

"Hiss."

Melvin felt pity for it and spoke up for it.

The white snake's eyes were black and she felt like she had lost all desire to live.

"..."

Melvin shook his head and continued to open the letter.

Seeing the name and address on the cover, he was a little surprised that the third letter was from Mr. Graves.

Melvin Levant:

Hey, it's me, your old friend, Auror Graves. I can imagine your surprised expression at this moment, because I also thought about it for a long time before writing this letter. After thinking about it, I still think you should know these things.

Before Halloween, we discovered some clues and raided the New Salem organization hiding in Mexico. We rescued three imprisoned young wizards, but the situation is not optimistic. After illegally using Veritaserum on Muggles, we learned that this is just one of their bases. New Salem is not only active in Mexico, but also in other countries..."

Melvin flipped back.

Mr. Graves believed that Melvin was the one who sounded the alarm and should know the progress of the case, but due to the confidentiality system of the Magic Congress, he could not reveal too much. He only said that Ms. Maxime had also discovered them in the Pyrenees Mountains.

It looks like Graves also attended the New York Coven.

"I will find them, by Graves.

Finally, Merry Christmas.”

Chapter 155: Reported

This year's Christmas holiday is much more lively than in previous years.

The students of Shihua woke up one after another. Instead of going home, they chose to stay in school for the holiday.

They chased each other in the castle all day long, and went ice skating on the court when the weather was fine. In view of their heroic performance in defeating the basilisk in unity, the professors were very tolerant of their chasing and playing behaviors, but these little wizards began to become lawless and even tried to run into the Forbidden Forest.

After being caught by Hagrid, he was scolded by Professor McGonagall and then started exploring the secret rooms and passages inside the castle.

During the holidays, a group of students were running around in the castle, touching here and looking there, trying to find out if there were any hidden mechanisms. Poor Professor Flitwick, his decorated ribbons and holly were messed up by them, and he always had to redo the work.

The hall wasn't finished decorating until Christmas Eve, so Professor Flitwick had to call in other people to help, including the three head of houses, Melvin and other professors, the caretaker Filch, and Mrs. Norris.

Melvin held a bright red ribbon and hung a crescent-shaped patch on the Christmas tree. He turned and asked, "Professor Kettleburn, why did you choose to stay on campus this Christmas instead of going to Romania to see the dragons?"

"I've seen enough during the summer vacation. I don't want to watch any more for now. I'll stay in school and see more of Hogwarts."

"That's a bit sad."

"I'm only six months away from retirement, which does make me a little sad."

Kettleburn, with only one arm, struggled to hang the ribbons on the fir tree. He held a five-pointed star-shaped ornament on his pinky finger, using his foot and a cane as he placed it. His hardship was tempered with a touch of inspiration. He said with emotion, "It's been sixty or seventy years."

"Yes, I remember when I first became a teaching assistant, we decorated the auditorium like this." Professor McGonagall whispered in agreement.

"..."

Melvin was too young to join in the conversation about the passing of time. He walked over to Hagrid and asked him to move the fir tree a little to the right. "Hagrid, when you hatched Aragog, did you keep him in the cupboard?"

"Yes, it's very obedient."

Hagrid exhaled, lowered his shoulders, and with a strong lift, the thick fir tree was embraced and moved to the right.

"obedient?"

Melvin raised an eyebrow. "How old was it when it could understand you? And how did you teach it to speak?"

"Less than a month, I can't remember exactly." Hagrid scratched his head. "After feeding him bread crumbs a few times, Aragog could understand what I meant. He didn't need to be taught. When he was a month old, he could talk and chat with me. He's really smart."

"..."

Are spiders smarter than snakes?

Melvin couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

The coat pocket was pushed open by a short horn, and the baby snake stuck its head out, its eyes rolling around, looking around curiously, its tongue moving constantly.

……

London, Diagon Alley, South Side, Daily Prophet Head Office.

"Rita, you're back just in time..."

Barnabas Guffey walked through the office corridor with a steady voice and a kind smile, greeting several passing editors.

In view of the extremely special situation of the news happening in Hogwarts, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper activated the Galleon magic, forcibly ended the holiday, recalled several core editors and reporters, carefully prepared the headlines, and planned to set off the entire Christmas.

There is no labor union in the Ministry of Magic, and with generous pay, these editors and reporters are all happy to work overtime.

The newspaper office was located on the edge of Diagon Alley, just opposite Shewitz Harder's Book Office. Both were involved in publishing, one deserted and run-down, the other bustling with activity. At this moment, the Daily Prophet was filled with a hectic atmosphere.

After Rita escaped from imprisonment and took some rest, her image was not as flamboyant and refined as before, but much more simple. She walked beside the editor-in-chief Gu Fei, looking at the busy newspaper office, and occasionally showed a trance expression.

Barnabas pushed open the office door and was about to introduce the news without thinking too much. He glanced at Rita again to confirm that she didn't bring the fabricated feather pen with her, and showed a satisfied look.

Rita Skeeter, who only knew how to attract attention and create gimmicks, has finally changed a bit. Although her previous method promoted sales, it ruined her reputation and was only a tactic used by third-rate writers and journalists.

A true gold medal reporter needs to have a longer-term vision and use more secretive methods.

"Besides the professors and parents of the students, we are the only ones who know about this whole thing. It's definitely exclusive news. As long as the article is eye-catching enough, our subscriptions can triple now."

Barnabas briefly explained the situation, recounting the general story behind the news. He then introduced the newspaper's special feature proposal: "The incident itself is unique enough that we barely need to stir up emotions. We just need to arouse readers' curiosity and let them understand part of the truth..."

Rita nodded, thinking.

"Whether it's Hogwarts School or the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, try not to create disputes. The Prophet may have accumulated some reputation, but compared to them, it's just an insignificant organization. Instead of focusing on them, it's better to focus on the students."

Barnabas took out the organized materials and handed them over. "This is a partially written manuscript. Use your expertise to polish it a little to reduce the presence of the school and the Ministry of Magic."

"..."

Rita was a little stunned.

The style of the newspaper's special report this time seems to be completely different from previous ones.

……

The Oak Barrel Pub, West Overton.

Old Will dragged his lame leg back to the counter and was about to wipe the wine glass to kill time when he heard the sound of an owl flapping its wings coming from the patio behind. It seemed that some package had arrived.

He limped into the gift and found it was the owl delivering newspapers.

"Today's evening paper..."

The customers of the Oak Barrel Bar are mainly Aurors and Ministry of Magic staff. They pay close attention to the news and have the habit of reading newspapers. Many people even come to the bar mainly to discuss the news with others.

Until the advent of mirrors, when football games and images became popular, fewer people read newspapers and discussed the news.

Daily newspapers are available next to the counter as a free additional service.

I subscribed to all the mainstream newspapers, and I subscribed to 29 copies of the Daily Prophet. It was not expensive, with a daily deposit of 1 knut, which was exactly one silver Sickle, and a bottle of Firewhisky could cover half a month's subscription.

Old Will unpacked a stack of Daily Prophet and placed it on the shelf next to the counter. Just as he was about to turn around and go back to wipe his wine glass, he saw the headline on the front page and took a copy for himself.

"The Chamber of Secrets of Slytherin, the founder of Hogwarts, is opened, and 37 students work together to defeat the Basilisk!"

Soon other guests gathered around, saw the title and took it away, and soon all the copies of the Daily Prophet were taken. The other guests could only gather behind them and read the contents.

Within ten minutes, the whole bar was in an uproar.

Many wizards read the above content repeatedly and discussed it enthusiastically.

"Hasn't Salazar Slytherin been dead for nine hundred years?"

"Isn't the Chamber of Secrets a legend?"

"Hasn't the Gaunt family been extinct?"

"Why did you suddenly appear?"

"..."

The secret room opens again, the basilisk awakens, and dozens of students risk being petrified to fight against the basilisk. Why does it sound so magical?

Old Will flipped through the newspaper and poured himself a glass of firewhisky.

……

Wiltshire, Malfoy Manor.

The candlelight floated out of the hallway and drifted in the garden, illuminating the bright red ribbons and the stars and moon. It was gorgeous and beautiful.

The entire estate was illuminated at night.

Most of the house-elves at Malfoy Manor were busy in the kitchen, preparing food for the upcoming Christmas dinner. Even if no guests were invited, the Malfoy family's Christmas dinner would be the grandest.

In the candlelit study on the second floor, the firewood in the fireplace was burning brightly, and two figures were sitting on the sofa.