Mysterious Journey

Chapter 766 Evil Bane: Erina

The afternoon that followed was uneventful, without any quarrels.

As an old human saying goes, "Only the ox dies of exhaustion, not the land of plowing."

The two newly added courses weren't an unbearable burden for the Hogwarts students. After a brief period of complaining, the students gradually accepted reality and found their own enjoyment within them.

Undoubtedly, Mr. Aleksey had underestimated the gossiping hearts of the young wizards.

In less than half a day, the news that Hogwarts was planning a joint activity with other magic schools next year had spread to every corner of Hogwarts. With a little bit of detail added by some "guiding lights," the students, without the professors' explanations or instructions, managed to piece together the "truth" of the activity through their efforts in the library.

Theoretically, any place that teaches magic, regardless of its size, can be called a magic school.

However, just as in the non-magical world, national education departments assess and grade the qualifications of various universities.

In the magical world, there is a similar administrative body – the Department of Education of the International Confederation of Wizards, responsible for supervising magic schools around the world and verifying whether they are qualified as large schools.

To date, a total of eleven long-standing and prestigious magic schools, including Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, have registered with the International Confederation of Wizards. Any wizarding family wishing to know if there is a certified magic school in their area can write to the Department of Education by owl and submit an application.

(Click to expand – List of currently available magic schools)

As for the remaining magic schools, either they are unwilling to expose themselves, or their qualifications are not sufficient to pass the minimum audit standards of the Department of Education of the International Confederation of Wizards. Thus, they can only exist as magic training institutions rather than formal schools.

Based on the information "inadvertently" revealed by Mr. Aleksey, the students quickly locked onto two schools.

Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France and Koldovstoretz School of Witchcraft in Russia. Historically, these two schools have indeed co-hosted many inter-school competition projects with Hogwarts.

By the time dinner arrived, almost everyone was talking about this, except...

"So, what kind of activity are we actually holding next year? Professor Dumbledore?"

Minerva McGonagall turned her head and looked at the old wizard beside her with a puzzled expression.

In just one afternoon, at least ten Gryffindor students had indirectly tried to get some information from her, but the key point was – as the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, she had no news at all!

"One version I heard was a magic school potion championship, but unfortunately, as the Potions professor at Hogwarts, I haven't received any news either. Perhaps, we should ask Professor Dumbledore?"

Severus Snape said with a gloomy face, his gaze also fixed on Dumbledore's face.

Around the fifteenth century, Hogwarts, Koldovstoretz, Mahoutokoro, and Uagadou had held such a competition, and the winning school would receive a golden cauldron. Unfortunately, Hogwarts had never won a single championship until the last potion championship ended, which was almost considered a shame in Hogwarts' potion history.

"It couldn't be the Triwizard Tournament, could it? With Beauxbatons and Durmstrang?"

Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, frowned and asked worriedly, "If it can establish friendship between young wizards from different countries, it is indeed a worthwhile activity, but safety is still a big issue."

Although the source of the news came from the "Squib mathematics professor" Aleksey, the professors at Hogwarts obviously preferred to hear Professor Dumbledore's explanation directly as a way to obtain the final information.

After all, as a "Muggle? Squib," that gentleman's only source of information about magic was Dumbledore.

"Ah, this—"

Dumbledore blinked his bright blue eyes, and the golden goblet he had just raised stopped in mid-air.

In fact, he had only heard these news from the white-haired dumpling a few weeks ago.

As for most of the communication with the Ministry of Magic and the consultation with the other schools, it was handled by "Ah-not-Dumbledore" professor. All he needed to do was to wait until the project was finalized, and then do a final review to see if it needed to be redone, or veto it directly – which was why he was so confident in delegating power.

However... logically speaking, it's quite early from the final time, isn't it?!

"This matter involves many aspects, and many situations are still under discussion..."

Dumbledore thought for a moment, carefully considering his words, and replied with some helplessness.

"As for the specific results, I will give everyone a unified explanation and instructions after I get a definite answer from relevant people tonight. Before that, the students' questions will not be answered for the time being—"

Compared to the cooperation between schools that would not start until after Christmas at the earliest, at least in Dumbledore's view, Hogwarts' curriculum reform this year and the performance of the new professors were the most important things at the moment.

Not to mention, outside the gates of Hogwarts, the "Hogwarts Academy City" is gradually taking shape; and in the sky above the castle, a ridiculously large steel island is floating; a few kilometers below Hogwarts Castle, in the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets, there is a basilisk that may wake up at any time...

Having taught at Hogwarts for most of his life, Albus Dumbledore was experiencing the difficulty of being a headmaster for the first time.

And the culprit behind all this...

Dumbledore thought of this, and subconsciously looked up at the Ravenclaw table.

As if sensing his gaze, Erina Kaslana suddenly stopped talking with the girls around her, looked up and made a quick eye contact with Dumbledore, and at the same time smiled and raised the goblet full of juice to him in a silent toast.

"Tonight, don't forget—" Erina said silently and slowly.

Looking at the lip shape of that "black-hearted little cotton-padded jacket," Dumbledore paused slightly, instantly feeling a little tightness in his chest, and the head that was slightly swollen because of the professors' inquiries felt a few more points of pain.

It's simply, a sin!

With Erina's reminder, he suddenly remembered that the highlight of today had not yet begun.

Since this third-generation Dark Lord's arrival at Hogwarts, the first day of school has never been peaceful.

The only thing worth comforting is that after a year of growth, Erina "Troublemaker" Kaslana is no longer limited to causing trouble among Hogwarts students – her wings have grown strong enough to flutter across most of the European magical world.

"Sigh, everyone, let me have a good dinner first..."

Dumbledore sighed, looking with melancholy at the roasted red snapper that had not yet been touched.

Perhaps because he had not made things difficult for that little fellow during this period, his diet looked good after the Hogwarts head chef returned, not the bland and tasteless salt-controlled health meals of last year.

Unlike the common coarse salt pan-fried, this fish uses Ravenclaw's lemon juice for seasoning.

This slightly Thai-style sweet and sour taste is very suitable for the elderly like Dumbledore.

The skin of the snapper roasted by magic flames is incredibly crispy, without the greasy taste of frying. The fish meat is soft and juicy, the diced white fish meat is a bit dazzling in the light, and scattered basil leaves and small yellow flowers are dotted on the surface of the processed snapper skin. The Southeast Asian-style spicy sauce is plated into the shape of a small fish, and placed in a corner of the plate, which makes people couldn't help but have a great appetite.

In addition, whether it is the palm sugar shrimp balls, lemongrass beef tongue rolls, or the mango macaroons as desserts, and even the soup made from beef blood as a broth and repeatedly boiled, they are all top-notch and exquisite.

Unfortunately, the current Dumbledore is no longer the "happy Hogwarts headmaster" of a year ago.

With his understanding of that white-haired dumpling, the more she behaved well, the more she improved the pleasure brought by the food in these places, the more worrying and frightening the things she might ask for or have already done would be.

However, with Gellert Grindelwald, Newt Scamander, Xenophilius Lovegood... and even Nicolas Flamel, Paracelsus... these wizards with great influence in the magical world gathering around that little devil, the current situation is no longer something that Dumbledore alone can control.

The only thing to be thankful for is...

Dumbledore forked a piece of fish with a melancholy expression, put it in his mouth and chewed slowly, thinking about the arrangements for the future.

"Fortunately, there is Tom, if there are so many goals, it should be enough for this little girl to toss about for a long time—as for the future, arranging a few more large-scale international events every year should still be able to delay until the handover work is completed... right?"

Dumbledore looked at the professors on the faculty table thoughtfully while tasting the delicious dinner.

As the headmaster of Hogwarts, he had been in this castle for too long.

Perhaps, just as Nicolas Flamel suggested a few years ago, he should try to take off the burden on his shoulders and hand it over to those excellent successors, such as Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape, who are very good candidates.

Even aside from their knowledge and teaching attitude, according to Dumbledore's observations in the past year, these two should be among the very few teachers in this school who are likely to be able to control that little girl... Moreover, if he remembered correctly, these two professors also participated when Erina was first brought into Hogwarts Castle.

Of course, before that, he must first accompany Erina to solve a few small historical legacy problems.

Whether standing from the perspective of the headmaster of Hogwarts, or from the perspective of the guardian of the magical world, this is a problem that he must solve – to properly deal with those evil magical items that are scattered in this world because of his momentary soft-heartedness.

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Ah, managed to get it done just in time!