Chapter 206: Headmaster's Office Meeting
There was only one person Snape would refer to as "Professor" in that tone: his mentor in the field of Potions, the internationally renowned Potions Master, and former Hogwarts Potions professor—Horace Slughorn.
"After Voldemort's fall, Horace submitted his resignation to me," Dumbledore said. "Getting him to return to Hogwarts won't be a simple task."
"There is a way." Snape looked at Ryan.
Dumbledore followed his gaze.
"Me?" Ryan pointed at himself. He vaguely remembered the name Horace; he seemed to have been the Potions professor before Snape and had resigned to Dumbledore sometime around the 1980s.
"Horace is a good man, but unfortunately, he became muddled when he most needed to be clear-headed. I've been trying to contact him and write to him recently. Perhaps bringing you along for a visit would be more persuasive... oh, and Harry too."
Dumbledore continued, "With that, the Potions project is settled. As for Transfiguration, Minerva and I will initiate the advocacy at the International Confederation of Transfiguration. No need to worry."
Professor McGonagall nodded slightly, endorsing Dumbledore's method.
"For Alchemy, I need the Headmaster to write a letter for me," Ryan said, raising his hand.
"That is to be expected."
"Then, the Alchemy project is also settled." Ryan lowered his hand. Everything was in place.
Next, Professor Sprout stated that as a global authority on Herbology, her deep expertise in cultivating new herbs and preserving existing ones was enough to secure her voice in the discipline.
She also recommended a distinguished Hogwarts alumnus, a famous Magizoologist, protector of magical creatures, and warrior—Newt Scamander.
She suggested Dumbledore write to his former student, asking Newt to return to Hogwarts and work with current Magizoologists to classify the different categories of magical creatures.
"Thank you for the suggestion, Pomona. I will write to Newt after the meeting," Dumbledore said.
As he spoke, Gellert chuckled coldly.
But everyone present pretended not to hear.
"Charms can be divided in many ways—by effect, by emotion... there are many major categories. I can't claim full dominance in this field like you all can, as there are other masters equally proficient in Charms elsewhere."
While several major categories had been settled, Flitwick claimed his abilities were limited.
Everyone understood why.
Charms was the most encompassing discipline. One could say Charms was the mathematics of wizards. Each classification method could branch into countless fields. Wizards used Charms to summarize the laws of magic, naming and manifesting them as formulas so ordinary wizards could cast magic and transform power simply by learning these laws.
Every other discipline in the wizarding world required Charms as a foundation. Even the seemingly most scientific Arithmancy and Astronomy would become mere probability statistics and stargazing clubs without the aid of Charms.
The former would lose its divinatory power, becoming pure statistical probability.
The latter would lose the means to observe the sky, as wizarding telescopes were made with magic. Without them, Astronomy would devolve from a research discipline into a hobby group.
Looking back at thousands of years of magical history, a group of Grand Sorcerers as balanced as the current Hogwarts staff was rare. Historically, seventy percent of recorded Grand Sorcerers had explored magic deeply through the tool of Charms.
That these Grand Sorcerers seemed to excel in different things was proof of Charms' vast coverage.
Even the same charm could manifest differently in different regions. And the same charm under different casting methods or mediums could be worlds apart.
"It doesn't matter. We do what we can, and leave the rest for other capable people in the world."
Dumbledore intended to end the appointment session of this work meeting with those words.
But Gellert suddenly spoke up. "Subdividing Charms? Sounds interesting. I'll give you some ideas."
Regarding this "unofficial personnel" of Hogwarts, most of the staff aware of his existence held an opposing view.
After all, his reputation wasn't great, and he had a criminal record.
If he got involved in the education of young wizards, he might turn Hogwarts into the next Dark Lord training camp.
Of course, given Gellert's pride, he wouldn't brainwash young wizards; he disdained such things.
In the past, he might have targeted talented wizards who refused to follow him. Now, he simply let his immense charisma draw those willing to follow.
But, as a former Dark Lord, just a few sentences from him—imbued with the profound allure of his language and thoughts—were enough to make inexperienced young wizards lose their way.
Now that he suddenly expressed interest in subdividing Charms...
The professors' first reaction was that this Dark Lord was planning to secretly instill his ideas into the world again.
Gellert chuckled, then closed his eyes to rest, ignoring the questioning looks from McGonagall and the others.
"Ah, hahaha, if Gellert is willing to join, that is naturally excellent. Everyone has witnessed his magical attainments; he will surely be a great help in subdividing Charms."
Dumbledore laughed it off, giving everyone a reassuring shot. "I trust Gellert's level. I will discuss his ideas and viewpoints with him beforehand."
Since Dumbledore said so, the professors didn't say anything more.
After the discussion ended, Snape displayed a rare sense of humor. "To be honest, Dumbledore, I don't recall you having a habit of night wandering. Or did catching students in the library at night two years ago leave you with a lingering condition?"
McGonagall knew about Dumbledore catching students in the library and also complained a little. "Albus, we all have classes tomorrow and many castle duties to attend to. Adequate rest is necessary."
Professors with classes and castle duties needed adequate rest.
Clearly, this implied that some people didn't have to do anything and just acted as hands-off bosses.
Even the usually mild-mannered Professor Sprout mentioned she had been busy giving therapy to rare herbs in the greenhouse. Receiving Dumbledore's late-night notice, she thought it was a life-or-death matter and had rushed over.
She said, "It's too late; it's bad for everyone. I also suggest you don't go looking for Newt and Horace Slughorn tonight. People need rest."
People need rest... So the one who hurriedly called everyone for a meeting in the middle of the night might be somewhat removed from the biological classification of "people"...
The culprit and instigator quietly shifted his chair, pretending to be a passerby who had stumbled into a high-level game.
He was just an ordinary Hogwarts student. What did these bad habits have to do with him?
~~~
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