Chapter 961 Kettle Byrne Wants to Retire
Hagrid?
Rubeus Hagrid? !
That stupid big guy guarding the hunting grounds?
Umbridge raised her brows and looked at Hagrid meaningfully.
If she remembered correctly, this guy didn't even finish the Hogwarts course. If it weren't for Dumbledore's insistent request and the troubles caused by Peter Pettigrew some time ago, the Ministry of Magic would not have planned to bring him back. The cases were turned over and sentenced harshly.
As a senior official in the Ministry of Magic, Umbridge certainly knew a lot of detailed information about Hagrid.
There is no doubt that this is another die-hard supporter of Dumbledore, even more loyal than Remus Lupin.
If it weren't for Dumbledore's efforts, this dangerous big man who was expelled from Hogwarts and broke his wand might have been sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban. There would be no chance of being a gamekeeper, let alone a gamekeeper. Said there is still a chance to go back to school.
Allowing expelled wizards who dropped out of school to return to school is a precedent set in Hogwarts for nearly a thousand years.
Even Newt Scamander, the heroic wizard in the First Wizarding War, still dropped out of school on his personal resume.
but……
"I see. Is Professor Dumbledore planning to let Mr. Hagrid take over as Professor of Care of Magical Creatures?"
Umbridge blinked, regained her composure, and spoke softly with a smile on her face.
"I can understand it - the principal doesn't seem to have many contacts outside the school, and many outstanding wizards don't know about the vacancies at Hogwarts - it seems that I will have to pay more attention to some of the school's difficulties in the future, at least to help the principal. More room to choose, right?”
With this comparison, Umbridge felt more relaxed.
Recruit Rubeus Hagrid to replace Professor Bourne and become a full professor at Hogwarts?
He is just a clumsy Hogwarts servant who has dropped out of school for decades and has no magical talent.
In the absence of a second competitor, this might still be somewhat possible, but since she knew the news in advance...
Ah--
There are too many wizards in the Ministry of Magic who are better than this stupid guy, and even the handyman assistants have a lot of excellent certificates in their hands.
If Dumbledore insists on hiring Hagrid, then he must at least prove that Hagrid is better than other applicants, otherwise she can use this opportunity to let the outside world know how bad Dumbledore is in selecting professors. ,unless--
Unless this big fool can be lucky enough to get through and outsmart those knowledgeable, experienced, and smart Ministry of Magic experts along the way.
But is this possible?
The probability of this happening may be equivalent to Dumbledore being disarmed one-on-one by his own students at Hogwarts.
Even that guy Xenophilius didn't dare to write this in "The Quibbler".
Of course, compared to Remus Lupin, apart from being a bit stupider, there is nothing unbearable about this gamekeeper.
Umbridge stood on the edge of the fence, looking at Hagrid thoughtfully.
At least this big man is not half-man, half-animal. She still has to take Dumbledore's face into consideration. As long as he is not allowed to serve as a professor, the chores of teaching assistant, gamekeeper, and key keeper are still okay. After all, someone has to do those tedious tasks. Instead of working on the table.
"Cough, cough. I just heard Professor Bourne say——"
Umbridge coughed twice as usual, and after successfully attracting Hagrid's attention, she said with a smile.
"Mr. Hagrid, have you been assisting Professor Bourne in relevant teaching recently?"
"Uh-yes," Hagrid looked at her with some confusion, "Professor Umbridge, please... um, is there any problem?"
"Oh. No problem, just a routine inquiry."
Umbridge said, tapping the writing pad she held in her arms, "As you can see, as the Senior Inquisitor of Hogwarts, I have an unfortunate but necessary task - to investigate the teachings of other teachers. .As a temporary teaching assistant for this course, your performance will naturally be recorded."
"Okay, so what else do I do? Or answer any questions?"
Hagrid looked at Professor Burns standing beside him in confusion, scratched his hair and asked politely.
Although the reputation of Dolores Umbridge among Hogwarts is not very good, she is an official professor after all. Since Dumbledore allowed her to return to school and continue to serve as Professor of Defense against Dark Arts, Hagrid naturally chose to trust Dumbledore unconditionally.
"Just go to class normally, don't be nervous."
Umbridge said with a smile on her face, patting Hagrid's arm.
"It definitely feels a little weird to be back on campus, but I'm happy to see that you've adapted quite well in this regard. In the Care of Magical Creatures class, with the help of student assistants like you, I think the professors You will also feel a lot more relaxed.
Student...teaching assistant?
Elena, who was eavesdropping on the side, raised her eyebrows. It turned out that Umbridge planned to start from this place.
This is a bit difficult to handle. After all, Hogwarts has no precedent for current students to serve as professors concurrently. If Umbridge intends to stick to this point, then the old carrot may not have any particularly good way - to You know, Hagrid's re-enrollment has set a precedent.
However, these are not the issues she needs to worry about now.
The icing on the cake is never as useful as providing help when the time is right. Instead of taking the initiative to help Dumbledore with advice now, it is better to wait until Umbridge takes the initiative to launch an offensive, wait for the spicy old carrot to be in a state of distress, and then come like a little angel to help him solve his problems.
In fact, Umbridge's unplanned plan reminded Elena.
Although there are many employees of the Destiny Group in Hogwarts today, most of them are still under Dumbledore's attention.
Considering the possible conflicts and sides in the future, maybe...
Elena glanced thoughtfully at the big pink toad. The Auror Office and the Department for the Management and Control of Magical Creatures. The expansion plans for these subordinate departments of the Ministry of Magic should also be in the process of being drawn up. Perhaps they can take advantage of this opportunity from the Ministry of Magic. Waves hitching a ride?
"Uh, Professor Umbridge, the students are here, can I start class?"
At the same time, Professor Kettle Byrne raised his head and counted the number of people, interrupting Umbridge's subsequent inquiry.
In addition to the third grade students, there are now nine more junior witches at the long table.
The review results of Hogwarts course selections will be updated every morning. Therefore, although the "Magic Pet Announcement" is posted on the bulletin board outside the auditorium at noon, the only young wizards who can be present today are Ginny, Irina and others. The girl who had inside information and picked her classes in advance in the morning.
However, this result is in line with Kettle Byrne's previous prediction - compared to girls who like animals, boys are still more playful.
Anyway, there are only twelve "lower grade elective places" for the Care of Magical Creatures class in the first batch.
Compared to active and naughty boys, Kettle Byrne naturally prefers quiet and obedient girls. If he hadn't agreed to Dumbledore to continue to open registration for elective courses, he would have announced that he would stop selecting courses now. After all, who knows what will happen next Will there be a demon king sneaking in?
"Is today's lesson Panrok? It seems we have to prepare some grass first. Okay, everyone, come with me."
At this moment, Hagrid said with a grin, and very skillfully greeted the students to go to the other side.
"Professor Umbridge, if there is no problem, then I will lead the students to pick some fresh grass. They will be used later when feeding and studying Panglock - hey, you know, these shy If a shy little guy doesn't have anything to eat, he will bite someone if he gets angry."
As a teaching assistant in the Care of Magical Creatures class, Hagrid's current main job is to be responsible for breeding and logistics-related preparations.
After all, compared to a gamekeeper who is strong and has sound hands and feet, Professor Kettle Byrne's current body does not support him in strenuous exercise.
"Of course, please start." Umbridge said, and started writing on the writing board.
…………
Umbridge took a different approach to this lesson than before.
She walked around among her classmates, asking them about their knowledge of magical creatures.
Most of the students were able to answer the questions very well, and in the process, Miss "Calculator Ji" regained her confidence.
Although this was her first time in this class, she still answered all the questions accurately - whether it was Professor Kettle Byrne's question or an impromptu question that Umbridge took the time to add later. ——Even Cedric is convinced by this.
“…Ponlock is a creature that protects horses and is common in Dorset, England, and southern Ireland.”
Hermione answered without thinking, her voice clear and confident. Directly in front of her were some strange animals with horse faces.
They are covered with thick brown-red hair, with a large number of strong manes on their heads and surprisingly large noses. Although they have horse faces, they are artiodactyls that walk on two legs. The adults are about two feet tall and have small arms ending in four stubby fingers.
"Pangklo is shy by nature, and their purpose in life is to protect horses. They often huddle on the dry ground in the stables, or hide among the horses they protect. Pangklo does not trust humans, and they will subconsciously hide when someone approaches. Because of this, we have to be extra careful when approaching them and not walk too fast to avoid scaring them—"
"Perfect, I can't find anything wrong - five points from Gryffindor!"
Kettle Byrne nodded with satisfaction. This time he finally realized the power of the legendary second-year academic master.
Previously, he often heard from other professors on the faculty seat that there were two particularly powerful girls in the second grade, who could be called score harvesters.
Among them, Hermione Granger of Gryffindor is also nicknamed "Miss Know-it-all". It is said that she can answer almost everything that appears in the textbooks verbatim. The only person she can talk to in class is The only one who could compete was Miss Kaslana.
However, compared to Hermione Granger, other professors seemed less willing to talk too much about Elena.
What confuses Kettle Bourne even more is that Newt gave him advice: try not to give Elena a chance to ask questions.
Try... not to give Miss Kaslana the opportunity to ask questions?
Kettle Byrne frowned and looked at the little witch who was obediently feeding Punklo with grass.
As a curious and passionate professor, the more Newt said this, the harder it became for him to suppress his curiosity.
"Hey, Miss Kaslana, is there anything you don't understand about today's class?"
After hesitating for half a second, Professor Byrne quickly made up his mind, coughed slightly, and asked gently, pretending to be casual.
After all, this is the first time that a junior student has participated in an elective course, so he has to ask more questions in order to adjust the future course arrangements.
"Eh? Is there anything you don't understand in class?"
Elena, who was observing the "Scottish Straight Horse" at close range, was stunned.
She hadn't heard a question like this in a long time since it wreaked havoc in several classes last semester.
You know, ever since she asked some basic biological knowledge about grafting, chromosomes... in the Herbology class, even Professor Sprout, who is recognized as the most tolerant and kindest person in Hogwarts, began to ban her from speaking in class. "The right to ask questions freely" - This is not to punish her, but mainly because Elena's questions usually go on and on, and if you are not careful, the original basic content will quickly go beyond the scope.
The most important thing is that she can often give simple explanations of some super-syllabus contents, which sometimes makes the professors a little embarrassed.
"Well, there are some problems..."
Elena blinked, thought about her words, and asked cautiously.
"Pangklo exists to protect the horses, but on the other hand, they are afraid of humans - then if there are humans who intend to harm the horses, and they hide in advance as the textbook says, they will be unable to protect the horses. Doesn’t it form a strange paradox?”
"Oh, this is obviously an interesting question. Although there is no standard answer in the textbook, I happened to have done a little research on it."
Kettle Byrne waggled her fingers, puffed up her chest proudly, and said happily.
"Yes, Ponlocks are afraid of humans, but this does not mean that they will allow humans to harm the horses. In fact, they are a group of quite smart guardians. When the Ponlocks judge that they cannot directly scare off the enemy, they will Hiding among the horses, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Therefore, we must be particularly careful when looking for Ponlock, because when they disappear from sight, they are often at their most dangerous."
"Any more questions? Miss Kaslana?"
"Well, there are a few more..."
Elena glanced at the old professor who seemed to be in a particularly good mood, felt relieved, and asked curiously.
"Panglock's food is grass, which happens to coincide with the food range of most horses. If there is insufficient food, is it possible for them to turn from the guardians of the horses to the perpetrators? As an independent population, they are different from the horses. What level of symbiosis is involved? In the book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", the centaurs also have some characteristics of the horses to a certain extent, so between Ponlock and the centaurs..."
"Ah this..."
Along with Elena's series of progressive questions, like a barrage of questions.
Professor Kettle Byrne's smile gradually became stiff.
If the first few questions were okay, at least many of them were within the scope that he could answer, or he could find a way to give answers later. If not, he could at least turn to Newt Scamander or some old people. Friend, but——
"Is Ponlock poisonous?"
"How many babies does Pang Lock give birth to?"
"Can the growth cycle of Panglock be accelerated?"
"How to dispose of the body after the Panglock group dies unexpectedly?"
…
Facing Elena's innocent and curious eyes, Keitel Bourne suddenly understood why Newt had given him such advice before - and the most important thing was that she could also effectively inspire Arousing the curiosity of the little wizards around...
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Great!