Tver finally relaxed. There definitely wouldn't be any surprises this time.
Although Joanne was deeply dissatisfied with Marvolio's behavior, she still agreed to work at the Joint Operations Office.
There, she would receive guidance from wizards while using Lockhart's books as adaptation material to familiarize herself with the rules and workings of the wizarding world.
This would also lay a solid foundation for her future work on Harry Potter.
After all, Tver absolutely did not want to end up appearing in a novel himself, especially one that would very likely become a worldwide bestseller...
On top of that, although Voldemort's movements were still unclear and his whereabouts remained strange, he had indeed gone to ground, and Britain as a whole had become much more stable.
So Tver very decisively handed the office's work over to Marvolio.
Served him right for disappearing for nearly four months before.
Of course, this also made it easier for the office's function to shift, helping the Ministry, or even replacing it, in handling secrecy breaches.
The office technically had no such authority, but they were acting in the name of the Wizards' Confederation. On top of that, the Auror Office was under Dawlish's control, and Marvolio now nominally counted as a professional Auror himself.
To put it bluntly, they were all Tver's people. Unless they reported themselves, even if Fudge personally showed up, he would have no grounds to object...
And so, along with the sunshine of March, he returned to Hogwarts.
"I'm sorry, Tver, but Sybill was dismissed for certain reasons, so we had no choice but to invite a Centaur to serve as the Divination professor."
Professor McGonagall found him the moment he entered the castle, looking apologetic.
"Firenze needs a more open environment, so we had the Arena turned into a grassland to make teaching easier for him."
Hogwarts now had two Defence Against the Dark Arts professors. Umbridge occupied the more traditional classroom on the fourth floor, while Classroom Eleven, the spacious room originally intended for the Centaur and previously used by Tver, had been given to Karkaroff.
So the only suitable place left in the school was the Arena, which had been sitting unused ever since Umbridge banned dueling.
To be honest, if Dumbledore hadn't stepped in personally, they would never have been able to remodel the Arena after Tver had reinforced it.
Tver glanced at the Arena outside the castle. Sure enough, it had been outfitted with grass and trees.
"It's fine. I'm glad to see the school welcoming fresh blood. That doesn't mean I dislike Professor Trelawney, of course."
Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes and studied his face several times, but found no sign of displeasure.
"I can't help feeling that you're simply happier not to be teaching students."
"That's slander!" Tver said urgently.
"How could I possibly not want to teach students? It's just that circumstances won't allow it. I truly have no choice."
"Good." Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow, and the smile curling at her lips gave Tver a very bad feeling.
"As it happens, Karkaroff said he wanted to rest for a while. So I'll have to trouble you to take over his classes."
"?"
For a moment, it felt as though Tver could see Dumbledore's soul in Professor McGonagall's retreating back.
"Oh, right." Dumbled... Professor McGonagall suddenly turned back, as though she had remembered something. "The school is preparing to offer the students career guidance. Since you're back, we may as well start earlier, before you leave the school again."
Why did she make it sound as if he didn't want to work? Hogwarts had always been paying his salary...
Wait, had this year's salary actually not been paid to him yet?
Seeing Tver fall into thought, Professor McGonagall assumed he was hesitating over the matter of career guidance.
"Many students have heard that you've been busy with Ministry work lately, so they want to hear your advice, especially Harry..."
Tver snapped out of it and realized that not only had he gone unpaid, he also had to provide career guidance for students.
Wait, career guidance? From me?
Emmmm...
Would you be willing to do your part to help overturn the Statute of Secrecy?
Tver thought this with a strange expression, but outwardly he calmly nodded.
"That's fine. I'd be very happy to give these students some guidance. I could even start right now."
Professor McGonagall withdrew her probing gaze with satisfaction.
"Excellent. Since it's the weekend today, I'll go inform the students right away."
I was only being polite...
Tver watched helplessly as Professor McGonagall turned and left with brisk, cheerful steps, as though she had just gotten rid of some major burden.
Still, the timing was awkward. Too late for breakfast, too early for lunch.
Doing a bit of work now wouldn't waste any time, so Tver casually headed toward...
the kitchen.
There could absolutely be a morning tea between breakfast and lunch.
But by the time he returned to his long-missed office carrying a bag of biscuits and two bottles of pumpkin juice, there was already a long queue outside...
And some of the prefects, including Hermione, Ron, and Draco, were struggling to keep order.
Tver glanced at the pumpkin juice in his hand and had a feeling two bottles might not be enough after all.
"Really, there was no need to rush over and start lining up. I'm planning to stay at Hogwarts for a while this time."
Tver looked helplessly at Harry and the others at the front of the line, who were grinning foolishly at him. As he returned, the office door opened silently on its own.
"Never mind. Come in one at a time. And prefects, you can write down everyone's names and give them a number."
"Only queue up when it's actually your turn. You're practically graduating already, so don't stand around here like fools. Your time is too valuable to waste."
Once students obtained their fifth-year O.W.L. certificates, they could technically graduate from Hogwarts.
Of course, those certificates did not usually carry that much weight, so only a small number of students actually did so.
What he was really doing was reminding them that this career guidance session would very likely affect not only the next two years of their school life, but also the careers they would step into afterward.
So even if these fifth-years did not fully understand the hidden meaning in his words, the joking expressions on their faces immediately turned serious.
Since the house-elves were not allowed in without Tver's permission, a layer of dust had inevitably gathered in the office.
So he had to clean first, which is to say, he waved his wand once and the office immediately became spotless and tidy.
Then he set out the biscuits and pumpkin juice. He had barely lowered himself into his chair when an impatient figure strode in.