Unquestionably, cooperation with the Ministry of Magic is a double-edged sword.

If the politicians' inner flames cannot be extinguished, then after they have tasted "administrative education" once, the Ministry of Magic, like a vulture, will extend its political tentacles into the school and wave them around wantonly in various ways, having tasted its sweetness.

Unrestricted power is perhaps the most desirable and the most terrifying thing.

At least in the eyes of many wise wizards, the faculty and staff at Hogwarts are too simple compared to the seasoned politicians in the Ministry of Magic. If the two really start to cooperate deeply, then the honest and kind educators may soon be played in the palms of the greedy, lying politicians.

Obviously, to avoid this situation, any smart person would choose to protest and stare at and interpret every move of the Ministry of Magic officials, like Argus Filch spying on students.

As for how to turn "wise" wizards into "the majority" of wizards...

Dumbledore's peripheral vision quickly swept over the drawer on the lower right side of the desk, which had now been tidied up to house a certain emerging magazine. He couldn't help but recall the heartbreakingly cute loli voice again in his mind.

"Humans think, God laughs—conversely, laughing first might be more effective..."

"Conspiracy theories and anti-authority are always the things that the rabble love most... but it is also these small and easily excited people who change the world, because they are the ones who truly live in society."

Dumbledore shook his head in his heart with a touch of pity as he glanced at the low-profile Umbridge.

Perhaps the "educational supervision" system will still be retained in the future, but the person in charge will definitely not be this batch of officials.

Since Erina became the owner of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, the goblins' special "political ledger" naturally appeared on the Goblin Queen's desk as soon as possible. The gray transactions of the Ministry of Magic officials, who abused their power for personal gain, were also completely exposed to Albus Dumbledore.

The evidence that Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge and others attempted to sell out the interests of the wizarding world and preserve themselves on the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as the evidence of private transactions bypassing Hogwarts, was the last straw that broke Dumbledore's defenses.

No matter what the Ministry of Magic's plans were...

From the moment they stepped into Hogwarts Castle, they had become prey in the web of the white-haired dumpling, and the only suspense was when the young "Justice Devil" would close the net.

In any case, the current senior management of the Ministry of Magic must undergo a comprehensive cleaning.

The old man withdrew his thoughts and was about to say something more, but found that the fire in the fireplace beside him suddenly flared up. With a soft crackling sound, a voice that had disappeared from Hogwarts for nearly ten years appeared in his ear.

"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore, am I... coming at a bad time?"

Dumbledore put his glasses back on, slowly turned around, revealed a heartfelt happy smile, and looked at the bald, short, and fat old man who was leaning out of the fireplace.

The flames in the fireplace gently licked the bright bald head of the short, fat old man. His bulging eyes, walrus-like silvery-white mustache, and exquisitely crafted brownish-purple velvet clothes showed that the visitor's mood was obviously not as wonderful as the joy on Dumbledore's face—this could be seen from his frowning expression.

"Oh, Horace, my old friend, there is no more appropriate time than now."

Dumbledore blinked his blue eyes and selectively ignored the sorrow in Horace's eyebrows. "I said before that the post of Potions professor at Hogwarts is always reserved for you... Of course, under the current new curriculum standards, it will be much easier than before. Severus will teach the lovely children with you."

"Severus? Ah, yes, yes... I remember you mentioned before that he is the current Potions professor at Hogwarts? This child's talent was indeed good back then, although he was a bit introverted, but his talent was only a little worse than Lily's."

The short, fat old man answered absentmindedly, looked around the crowded room, and said somewhat uncomfortably.

"Ah, Damocles, it's been a long time - in that case, even if we expand enrollment, Hogwarts shouldn't lack excellent Potions professors, so, Professor Dumbledore, how about I..."

He quickly retreated under Dumbledore's meaningful gaze, halfway through his sentence.

Horace Slughorn muttered in a low voice, his light green eyes darting around.

"Albus, I'm an old man, a tired old man. Maybe we should consider retiring and try to live a quiet and leisurely life, instead of continuing to occupy a position and leaving young people with no room to display their talents..."

"That's not necessarily true. If there are enough Potions professors, I would actually prefer to try teaching something else."

Snape raised an eyebrow and said softly and deliberately, his gaze falling on Dumbledore's face.

"In my opinion, Professor Horace Slughorn can do better than me. And on the other hand, we now have Mr. Damocles, the inventor of the Wolfsbane Potion, perhaps... Professor, you can consider..."

"Not this year at least, you are the main professor of this course, Severus."

Dumbledore calmly shook his head and directly rejected Snape's proposal without thinking.

"We discussed this issue before, three years. Even last school year, you still have to stick to the Potions post for three years, so that the school can smoothly pass through this teaching reform stage, and now..."

He shrugged, looked at the wizards who had previously gathered around Snape and argued, spread his hands and said somewhat helplessly.

"As you can imagine, the Defense Against the Dark Arts course has the largest number of applicants. Correspondingly, not many people can pass your requirements for the Potions course, unless you are willing to slightly lower the screening standards."

"But it's just independently configuring Felix Felicis. I think this screening standard is already too low..."

Snape replied coldly, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding wizards with unfriendly expressions, his lips moving slightly. In the end, he still didn't say all the words in one breath, after all, there were still several big shots on par with him present.

As a young wizard, he still had to give these seniors some face in every aspect.

However, Horace Slughorn obviously did not have this concern.

Apart from a few unfamiliar faces, most of the wizards present were once his students. Perhaps they were still a little unsure about teaching for the time being, but this did not affect his participation in the discussion about potions.

"Just Felix Felicis? That's it?"

Slughorn curled his lips with some disdain and echoed with some agreement.

"It may be a little difficult as a student, but if so many years after graduation, you still can't master such a simple potion well, then I don't think you are qualified to be a Potions professor... Severus, I think your standards are a bit too low."

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Coo~