Chapter 294 An Afternoon Tea to Prepare for War

Professor Bubbaji joined them as the tea was poured. She threw herself into a dirty armchair and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is everything okay, Caredi?" Professor Sprout asked with concern. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"If there was black tea...oh, that would be nice." Professor Bubbaji sat up slightly, "Yes, Pomona, everything is fine. If I had not received the letter from the distinguished senior investigator, all this would have been better."

Professor Flitwick took the initiative to pour her a cup of tea and asked dissatisfiedly: "What does she want to do again?"

"I didn't bother reading them," Professor Boubaji said. "It's all that nonsense, education reform, close cooperation, that kind of thing... it reminds me that I was once an employee of the Wizarding Examination Authority - just like I was with her back then. What a close relationship... Do we still have milk?"

"There are some," Professor McGonagall said, handing her the milk bottle.

Anthony watched as Professor Boubaji poured the excess milk smoothly and gracelessly into the teacup until the light brown liquid almost overflowed from the rim. She picked it up, took a sip, and threw two more sugar cubes into it.

"When will she come?" Professor Sprout asked worriedly.

Professor Flitwick replied: "I heard it's around January 3rd." He glanced at Professor McGonagall and tapped the table lightly with his wand. A sugar cube jingled into his teacup.

"January 1st is also included in 'left and right'." Professor Sprout pointed out.

"If she wants to join us for New Year's tea, I hope she at least remembers to knock on the door," Anthony said.

"It won't be today." Professor Bubbaji put down his teacup and seemed to be in a much better mood. "I heard the news that many members of the Wizengamot will attend the New Year's reception of the Ministry of Magic today. Umbridge doesn't Would love to miss it.”

"Very good, that means we still have at least half a day." Professor McGonagall said, "Hagrid's Chimera——"

Before she could finish her words, the door to the lounge opened with a bang. For a moment, Anthony really thought that Umbridge had arrived at Hogwarts early, but then Snape and Professor Sinistra walked in.

"Severus, Aurora." Professor McGonagall nodded slightly, retracted his gaze, and continued, "Those Chimera beasts are temporarily staying with the big guys in Silvanos, but the centaurs are already with us. We have protested many times. The Acromantula did not agree to allow them to stay temporarily next to the nest... Of course, putting two magical animals that violate the "Prohibition of Raising Extremely Dangerous Magical Animals and Invasive Species" together is nothing in itself. Good idea...are you okay, Aurora?"

"It's okay, Minerva." Professor Sinistra said vaguely, covering her mouth with her hand and yawning again, "Don't worry about me. You know, I rarely get up so early."

"Okay." Professor McGonagall said, "Anyway, Sylvanos said that he and Hagrid will take care of this. All we need to do is not to let the distinguished High Inquisitor be interested in our Forbidden Forest. ."

The door to the lounge opened again. Professor Kettleburn came in on crutches and placed himself on the wooden chair nearest the door.

"It's cold and hard, almost like a torture device." He complained, leaning forward to grab a dirty cushion from the armchair next to him. "I don't understand why you have to cancel all the transformation spells, Miller. baby."

"Because I don't want anyone to use the cushion I conjured." Professor McGonagall said arrogantly, waving her wand and turning the chair under Professor Kettleburn into a sofa with a footstool. " We're talking about your Chimera, Silvanos."

"They are all doing well." Professor Kettleburn said, lifting his legs on the footstool. "They eat a lot, poop a lot, sleep a lot, and fight a lot. They are very healthy. Some may not be happy with theirs. The single room turned into a teenage dormitory, but I took him for a few walks in the mountains, so it's much better now. By the way, Minerva, we ate a lot of squirrels and wolves, and a couple of gremlins ."

"Why are there goblins near Hogwarts?" Professor Sprout asked in surprise, "I thought we had expelled all these dark magical creatures?"

Professor Kettleburn said unconcernedly: "I don't know, maybe it was moved from somewhere else. You can't talk about the law with magical animals."

"I mean our protection spell..." Professor Sprout still frowned slightly.

"Excuse me, what is a leprechaun?" Anthony asked.

"A creature that likes to eat children." Professor Flitwick explained simply. "It is mainly found in the Black Forest of Germany, but there are also some in the UK."

"I'll have Albus check the school's protective enchantments," Professor McGonagall said. "But don't let Umbridge see you taking the Chimera up the mountain, Sylvanos. Strictly speaking. , it doesn’t belong in Hogwarts. Are there any other magical animals that need my attention?”

"No more... Oh, by the way, I may have violated the "Regulations on the Management of Private Breeding of Cameras" again." Professor Kettleburn said, "Last week, a Hippogriff was in estrus on a Centaur. The centaurs were very angry and killed it. I also fed the body to the Chimera beast." He said confidently, "I mean, it was dead anyway. Let the Chimera beast eat it. It even speeds up the process of turning it into fertilizer."

Professor McGonagall sighed: "It doesn't matter. Umbridge is not here to care about the welfare of magical animals. At least on the surface, she seems to be more interested in the magic that students learn - it's like she graduated from somewhere else Same as - if Gilderoy hadn't been around, I think she would have wanted to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Snape let out a clear snort from the corner. Professor McGonagall gave him a stern look.

"Yes, I don't think she will pay special attention to our magical animals." Professor Bubaji agreed. "Her arrogant head may not even remember that we have neighbors in the Forbidden Forest and the Black Lake."

Anthony suddenly remembered something: "Speaking of which, she will probably pay attention to the Black Lake. I remember Mr. Fudge showed concern for Professor Dumbledore's Tuna Club. Do we have anything in the Black Lake?"

"A secret stronghold, gathering mermaids and giant squids who want to make Albus minister?" Professor Bubbaji suggested, "How does it sound? She will definitely like this idea."

Professor Sprout slapped her arm for her inappropriate joke.

"The Black Lake is still covered in ice." Professor Sprout comforted her. "Don't worry about it, Minerva. If Umbridge wants to find anything in the lake, she at least needs to learn how to properly freeze on the ice first. Swim under the layer.”

Professor McGonagall's expression relaxed slightly.

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot about that," she said, "Well, then we don't need to think about the Black Lake—"

"Oh, great!" Professor Kettleburn said happily, "In that case, I won't care about the horse-shaped water monster that escaped into the lake."

…

Although Professor Kettleburn angrily assured that his magical animals would not be used by Umbridge to attack Hogwarts, the professors still showed a look of implicit suspicion. In addition, the appearance of Hagrid's name did not alleviate this worry.

Finally, Professor McGonagall shook her head and whispered something - Anthony vaguely caught the pronunciation similar to "Albus Dumbledore" quickly rolling past her lips - and then changed the topic to those A large part of the books from Flourish and Blotts that were donated to Hogwarts in order to avoid being searched by the Ministry of Magic are still in a cage in the corner of the warehouse in the forbidden book area.

Later, they mentioned Snape's potions that were not in compliance with regulations, the various herbs and seeds in Professor Sprout's greenhouse that had not been imported and exported by the Ministry of Magic, and the dark magic books in Professor Flitwick's collection... …Even Professor Bubbaji has some vaguely located collections that might fall under the purview of the Office on the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts. ("I don't know if I should be glad that Sirius took his motorcycle away," said Professor McGonagall.)

"Yes, they have rules of one kind or another," said Professor Bubbaji, eating a cookie, "but no one is obeying them at all! It's just that people have completely forgotten them and they haven't been abolished. What should they do?" What's the difference between Muggle items and magical items? In a time when Hogwarts uses express trains and the Ministry of Magic uses phone booths and elevators, having a pistol that spits out roses shouldn't be a big deal."

"What exactly does Ms. Umbridge want to find in Hogwarts?" Anthony asked. "She doesn't strike me as a-" Lockhart's chatter preceded him before he could find a more suitable word. What popped into his mind was, "—a person who regards fighting against the dark forces as his lifelong career."

"Who knows?" Professor Bubbaji said contemptuously. "Whatever Fudge wants, she does."

"In other words, anything that can be used to attack Albus." Professor McGonagall said with a straight face, "Including things that can prove that the professor appointed by Albus is not qualified." She glanced at Anthony and told him with her eyes that she It doesn't mean that a necromancer is not qualified enough.

Anthony looked around and at the colleagues around him. Good news, Dumbledore has confirmed that Voldemort is not on the appointment list this semester.

Then Anthony noticed that they were also missing a required course professor.

"Should we inform Professor Lockhart?" Anthony asked, "I mean, he is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and it sounds like this is the course most likely to violate various regulations of the Ministry of Magic..."

His voice trailed off. A bestseller is probably not illegal, and a book that has appeared in the Daily Prophet several times is even less likely.

"Of course, Professor Lockhart," Snape said sarcastically, "How could we have forgotten him? In fact, we were about to cry and beg him to save Hogwarts."

Professor Sprout hesitated and said, "Well, Gilderoy's course—"

With a creak, the door to the lounge opened again. Lockhart poked his head out in high spirits, with a bright smile on his face.

"I heard my name," he said. "Oh, look at you, talking about Professor Lockhart at tea! Yes, fame, I know, I know..." He turned his head, looking over the old The layout of the lounge was quite dramatic, and he took a breath, "Oh, it looks like I came at the right time! Minerva, Minerva, you didn't tell me that you would be locked up for the time being after I agreed. After the Heart Club moved to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Hogwarts actually couldn't find a professor who was good at decorating rooms. I understand that those magics are a bit difficult, but if you need some advice on Transfiguration ——”

Professor Bubaji turned sideways and whispered to Anthony: "I don't understand. You know, I just heard not long ago that his balloons and ribbons were not magic, but custom-made from the prop shop in Hogsmeade. "

"Uh," Anthony said awkwardly on Lockhart's behalf.

"Thank you, Gilderoy." Professor McGonagall interrupted Lockhart in a slightly higher tone than usual, "We were just discussing whether we should let you know that Ms. Dolores Umbridge will be visiting in the near future. Hogwarts, but presumably you already knew that?"

"What? Oh, Dolores, of course, of course. She told me so. A very lovely person, a very ardent reader," Lockhart said. "Gee, don't laugh at her. Think about it. , how much effort she put in to be able to get in close contact with me!"

Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout exchanged a look. Professor Kettleburn looked up at Lockhart blankly, seeming confused by him. Professor Bubaji buried himself behind the teacup, and the hand holding the teacup could not help shaking. From Anthony's perspective, he could see her face contorted to hold back the laughter.

"So, you are discussing how to welcome her?" Lockhart said loudly, "Oh my god, I have said it a long time ago. Hogwarts should have organized more activities to add some spice to the boring study life. Some fun. A dance, how about? A big dance!"

"Not very good," said Professor Kettleburn, maintaining an air of bewilderment. "My legs are not good at dancing."

"Well, well, it would have been better if we had met earlier." Lockhart said, "I happen to know a spell that can cure the damage caused by fire dragons. I guarantee that you can dance all night without feeling uncomfortable... What a pity. It’s such a shame, it’s been too long now…”

In the weird silence of the other professors, Professor McGonagall said calmly: "There will be no dance, Gilderoy, but you can give her a signed photo. I'm sure our senior investigator will like it very much."