Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle

Stargazing Tower.

A platinum-haired figure quietly stepped onto the terrace, glancing back from time to time to make sure no one was following him and that no one had noticed his secret move. He was wearing a green nightgown and slippers, and it was obvious that he had moved in a hurry and was not well prepared.

Draco stretched out his wand and waved it towards the Owlery, sending out a faint stream of magic.

After waiting for a moment, I soon heard the sound of an owl's wings flapping approaching.

A sturdy night owl came quietly and landed on the railing. The agile night owl had a pair of dark black eyes, which seemed to reveal human nature when staring at people.

This is a night owl domesticated by the Malfoy family.

Draco handed the prepared envelope to the night owl, watched it flap its wings and fly away, finally relaxed and let out a long breath.

Family teachings passed down from generation to generation:

What is revealed is used to confuse people, the real action is always in the dark, and Malfoy will never be discovered.

……

Hogsmeade.

According to public information on Chocolate Frog pictures, Hogsmeade was founded a thousand years ago by the medieval wizard Hengis of Woodcroft, shortly after the four legendary wizards founded Hogwarts.

There's more or less the idea of ​​leaning against a giant tree to enjoy the shade.

This is one of the very few villages composed entirely of wizards. In its center is a commercial street, surrounded by residential houses of all sizes. It is not prosperous, but it is very peaceful.

The Three Broomsticks is the most lively pub on this street. It is packed with customers relaxing on weekends and the business is booming.

The tavern owner, Ms. Rosmerta, has a graceful figure and pretty face, even more beautiful than a Veela.

Whenever the plump female boss appeared at the bar to mix cocktails, she would be surrounded by wizards who would come over to tease and joke with her, loudly talking about interesting news stories that had happened recently, introducing where they had been and what thrilling adventures they had experienced, hoping to attract the attention of the beautiful witch.

Ms. Rosmerta, who ran the pub on her own, didn't spoil the fun either. She smiled and mixed drinks while listening to their small talk. She would respond to any interesting topics, asking about where Harry Potter had been during his ten years of disappearance, when the adventurer Mr. Lockhart would come to Hogsmeade for a book signing, and what kind of cocktails the pubs in Albania sold...

The chattering and boasting drinkers were unable to answer and were urged to drink by other drinkers, thus bringing in more revenue for the tavern business.

It was said that Madam Rosmerta had a wide circle of friends, including the Hogwarts headmaster and professor, the goblin supervisor at Gringotts, and even Minister of Magic Fudge, who was a regular at the tavern and knew her well. In the past, a wizard passing through Hogsmeade had attempted to cause trouble, but Madam Rosmerta and the tavern's patrons cleared him out, and no other wizard dared to cause trouble afterwards.

A gossipy old witch claimed that the tavern owner carried a curse that brought bad luck to the men she was close to, a fact that had killed several of her previous husbands. More than a decade earlier, the Three Broomsticks had been called the Two Broomsticks, but after her last husband, Mr. Rosmerta, died, the tavern sign was changed to the Three Broomsticks.

As soon as Melvin entered the pub, he felt a little regretful.

It was extremely crowded and noisy inside, filled with smoke and a strong smell of alcohol.

He chose a ventilated seat by the window and sat down. Madam Rosmerta immediately came over with a glass of oak-ripened mead. The rich aroma of the wine was mixed with a hint of sweetness, which was exactly what Dumbledore liked.

Melvin looked up at her, confused.

"It's Professor Lewynter from Muggle Studies."

Madam Rosmerta put down the mead and explained with a smile, "It's a special offer at the pub. Any professor at Hogwarts who comes to the Three Broomsticks for the first time will receive a glass of mead. Dumbledore likes this wine very much. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick have also praised it. Trelawney is a regular at the pub, but she prefers sherry."

Melvin didn't refuse her kindness and took a sip of the wine.

It tastes a bit good, let’s take another sip.

Ms. Rosmerta, standing next to her, was smiling, looking a little complacent.

But soon, I heard this person's serious review: "The wine is a yellowish-brown amber color, and the optimal color should be golden amber. The wine has a medium viscosity on the glass, indicating that the body structure is good. The first smell shows the typical honey-fermented orange blossom honey and ripe apricot aromas, supplemented by vanilla pod and roasted hazelnut notes brought by oak. The sweetness in the front is well controlled, the alcohol content is not high, the woody tannins in the middle provide structural support, and the aftertaste has a beeswax aftertaste. The overall balance surpasses most traditional meads."

"??"

Madam Rosmerta looked a little bewildered.

what? What?

What is the wine structure?

What are wood tannins?

Is he praising the wine I brew?

"When brewing, you can try using beer yeast, introducing Eastern European oak to add spicy notes of cloves and nutmeg, and then adding a small amount of chestnut wood chips for secondary maturation. You can also try smoking the honey to enhance its texture..."

Melvin noticed the tavern owner's doubts and couldn't help but remain silent.

It was obvious that when he first arrived on Broadway, he hated this kind of thing, so he deliberately learned some mysterious and impressive words and phrases to act in a pretentious manner. Now he is showing off.

After only one week as a professor, he already started to act like a teachable person.

Melvin paused and gave an apologetic smile. "I meant, thank you for the gift, Ms. Rosmerta. I really enjoy this mead."

Rosmerta nodded, still recovering from her shock. Her mind was still racing with the long list of suggestions she had just given her. She absentmindedly took a few steps toward the bar and turned back.

"What did you just say about beer yeast and Eastern European oak..."

"I happen to know a few books on winemaking. I'll bring them to you next time I come."

"The secret recipe for brewing wine...it's very precious, right?"

"Muggle books, they won't cost more than a few Galleons. Consider it my return gift."

"Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Levent."

"..."

Watching the tavern owner go away, Melvin suddenly felt that the tavern was not so noisy and messy. He opened the package he took out from the post office and checked it while tasting the mead.

The deerskin-tanned paper is thick and solid, and the beeswax and rosin on the surface can make it waterproof. When it is unfolded, it is a detailed village map.

The wizarding villages in Denmark and Ireland have tables on both sides that summarize the proportion of various resident creatures, including wizards and Muggles, pure-bloods and half-bloods, and even goblins and trolls. All in all, the number can barely be compared with Hogsmeade.

These countries have small populations and few wizards, so it is difficult to gather and form wizard villages of a certain size. There may be only one settlement in several surrounding countries. More wizards choose to settle in Muggle communities. Anyway, no one hunts witches in this era. As long as they abide by the Statute of Secrecy, Muggle life will be more convenient and comfortable.

Creatures that do not want to show up, such as vampires, goblins, and werewolves, prefer such sparsely populated wizard villages, where various intelligent magical creatures gather, forming an alternative ecological model.

Melvin examined it carefully for a moment and put the map away.

Next came a letter from Mr. Borgin, saying that there would be a special gathering in Knockturn Alley next week, and that several wizards who were studying Muggle technology would be present. If necessary, Mr. Borgin could help introduce them.

"..."

Half an hour later, Melvin, who had sent the reply letter, left the Owl Post Office and walked back along the slightly empty road between the streets.

The shops on both sides had their doors half-closed, and the window displays were not very well arranged. They were basically in a semi-closed state. The shop assistants leaned against the counter bored, reading books, doing accounts, and calculating this month's salary.

Hogsmeade Commercial Street is not very busy during this period. You have to wait until Hogwarts opens for weekend activities, and the third-year and above students become the main consumers. During other periods, it is basically just barely maintained. The villagers can only buy the daily necessities normally, which cannot support such a large market.

The only exception is Honeydukes Candy Store, which also has a mail-order business. The express delivery from just one store can support the Owl Post Office next door.

When he passed the door of Honeydukes, Melvin stopped, went in to greet the Flumes, and brushed the faces of the Hogwarts professors to get permission to enter the basement of the candy store.

"The name of Hogwarts is really useful..."

Melvin muttered under his breath.

It was a storage cellar, piled high with crates, from which a sweet aroma drifted. A trapdoor lay quietly in the middle of the room, almost blending in with the gray floor.

After opening the trapdoor, there was a dilapidated stone staircase underneath the cave, extending to the invisible depths of the earth.

Melvin crawled into the cave and closed the trapdoor.

……

The corridor on the fourth floor of Hogwarts Castle is filled with armor and wizard statues, but all teachers and students in the school know that many rooms on the fourth floor have been idle for a long time. The most numerous rooms on both sides of the corridor are abandoned classrooms, which are filled with discarded tables and chairs, heavily covered with dust, and filled with a strong smell of mold.

Even the most mischievous Gryffindor would not venture into such a room.

Only two rooms on the fourth floor are still in normal use:

One is the Charms classroom, where people attend classes every day, but there's nothing interesting to see;

One is the trophy display room, which displays various trophies and medals. If you are curious, you can go and bother Filch. After being punished with solitary confinement to clean the room a few times, you will become familiar with the display room.

In contrast, students were more interested in exploring the wizard statues, which had short sentences engraved on their bases, perhaps mottos or stories about the statues' lives.

Some stories are positive, such as the inventor of a spell, a potion, or the recipient of the Order of Merlin. There are also negative examples, such as someone who completely vanished their nose after misreading a spell, never to be found again, or someone who wrote their own potion recipe and immediately turned into a ghost after drinking it.

The statue of a one-eyed hunchbacked witch is one of them. The roughly carved main body of the statue is embedded in the base. The dark grey and black material reveals an ancient and heavy feeling. The words engraved on the front of the base are blurred, and there is not even a name.

On this ordinary Saturday morning, a faint knocking sound suddenly came from inside the statue.

"Dong dong..."

"Dong dong..."

Chapter 21 Participating in Group Activities

"I'm so stupid, really..."

Melvin sighed at the closed stone door. "I only knew there were many secret passages in Hogwarts Castle, one of which led to the Honeydukes cellar. I didn't know a password was needed to open it."

Half an hour ago, he had a sudden idea to enter the tunnel from the candy store cellar. He passed through the narrow and damp tunnel, but was trapped at the end of the tunnel.

The dim tunnel was filled with cold vapor, and a locked stone door blocked the way.

Melvin banged around with his wand, trying to explore the mechanism, and then tried several spells to open the door and break the lock. His technique was professional and delicate, and it was obvious that he had specially learned the relevant skills.

The stone gate did not respond.

"Thunderbolt explosions and crackling holes might work, but how am I going to explain this to the principal after breaking through the door..."

Melvin fell into deep thought.

Pondering to no avail.

So he put away his wand and was about to return the same way, but before he turned around, he heard a sound coming from the other side of the stone gate.

He listened carefully, taking slow, leisurely steps, and tentatively asked, "Principal Dumbledore?"

"It turns out to be Melvin..."

He knocked the tip of his wand twice on the stone door, and heard someone on the other side chant "Separate Left and Right". Then the stone door opened with a bang, and Dumbledore was standing outside.

"Principal, it's a good thing you're outside."

Melvin felt somewhat relieved. He walked out of the secret passage and looked back. At the entrance of the secret passage was the high hunchback of the one-eyed witch.

"It was my first time walking through this tunnel. I didn't know the opening spell and almost got trapped inside. If I hadn't considered the impact of the professor leading the vandalism, I would have used an explosive spell to break the door open."

"I don't think you would do that." Dumbledore smiled gently.

"It could also be the Transfiguration and Sundering spells. These two spells make less noise when breaking through a door." Melvin shook his head and laughed. "I learned a lesson from my first weekend at Hogwarts. A prudent wizard shouldn't go into unfamiliar secret passages."

"It only took you a week to find the hidden passage. I'm curious how you discovered it."