Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

The headmaster's office was extremely quiet, with no sound except for the occasional lighthearted conversation between the two men, tinged with smiles.

Even the portraits of past headmasters on the walls seemed to awaken from their usual unchanging slumber, their eyes opening to observe the two figures below with curiosity, scrutiny, or surprise.

Of course, their gazes were mostly focused on Charlie.

They were likely astonished, as they seemed never to have witnessed someone maintaining the upper hand and retaining such incredible confidence and composure in a conversation with Dumbledore.

They had, after all, seen Dumbledore converse with Fudge, the current Minister for Magic, in this very room.

Although Fudge still put on the airs of a minister, holding his head high and refusing to yield an inch before the white-bearded old wizard.

However, the past headmasters were all astute individuals; though merely portraits and not the actual people, they could easily discern the lack of confidence beneath Fudge's forced demeanor.

Only Charlie was someone they had never seen before… He made Dumbledore a qualified listener, calmly narrating what he wanted to say, appearing completely natural from beginning to end.

Charlie and Dumbledore's conversation continued, and among the portraits on the wall, one suddenly began to sway slightly.

He swayed, knocking the corner of his frame against another painting beside him to attract the other's attention.

"What are you doing, Phineas?"

The headmaster's portrait that had been bumped frowned slightly and looked to the side.

"Look…"

The portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black, known as "the worst headmaster Hogwarts ever had," wore a rather spirited smile. He stared intently at the young man below, lowering his voice to say to the other:

"That's one of our Black family children… Good lad, a truly good lad…"

Phineas murmured, a hint of unprecedented kindness and warmth appearing in his eyes.

"You see, this is the excellent bloodline of our Black family; only the blood of the Blacks can produce such outstanding children."

As he spoke, Phineas couldn't help but sigh, seemingly with a hint of emotion, saying sincerely:

"How old is he?! I'd guess no more than thirty-five."

Saying this, he paused, glanced around, and then lowered his already quiet voice even further:

"I bet he'll be hanging on this wall in the future! That way, we'll have two members of the Black family who have become headmasters of Hogwarts!"

However, facing his words, the headmaster's portrait he had disturbed snorted disdainfully.

He stroked his thick red beard, the bushy eyebrows above his eyes slightly raised, making him look like a majestic lion. Without needing to know anything else, you could accurately judge from his appearance that he was a headmaster from Gryffindor.

"I wouldn't be so sure…"

The corner of his mouth, hidden beneath his beard, curved upward. Seemingly unaccustomed to seeing Phineas so smug, he sneered back.

"I've never seen a pure Black with such beautiful golden hair…"

Hearing his words, Phineas was first taken aback, then subconsciously asked, "What do you mean?"

However, the other turned his eyes away, no longer looking at Phineas beside him, and said with a dismissive pout:

"Nothing…"

"I'll fight you!!!"

Instantly, Phineas reacted. His originally gaunt and pale face flushed red with anger, and he lunged at the red-bearded old man next door like a cat with its fur on end, frame and all.

For an extremely pure-blood old fogey, such words were absolutely even more offensive than insulting his mother.

"Hey, you damned what are you doing!"

Finally, the two's commotion stirred up, gradually expanding, and eventually attracting the attention of those who were still watching below.

"Hit him! Dexter! Hit him!"

"Give Phineas a good show!"

"Come on! You annoying fellow!"

… … … … … … …

For a time, the originally quiet headmaster's office became noisy again, and from the mouths of many idle headmasters who didn't mind a bit of excitement, it could be roughly confirmed that Phineas's title of "most hated headmaster of Hogwarts" was well-deserved.

In the end, Charlie and Dumbledore had to interrupt their original conversation in advance, and together raised their heads to cast their gazes towards the source of the noise.

"Calm down! Headmasters! Please be quiet!"

Dumbledore sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with some headache, but it seemed that he was no stranger to this kind of chaos.

But in fact, it can also be understood… After all, a group of old men have been idle all day since they were hung here, except for sleeping, they are helping Dumbledore with ideas. If they don't find some fun or chat, they would have quit long ago.

Charlie couldn't help but smile wryly, looking at the scene in front of him, his eyes still with a bit of novelty.

He did not expect that the usually dignified and majestic past headmasters would have such a "lively" side.

He lowered his head again, first glanced at the sun outside the window, and then turned his gaze back to Dumbledore, smiling and said:

"It seems that I have stayed for a while, and everything has been negotiated. In that case, I will leave first."

As he spoke, he stood up from the original high stool, straightened the clothes on his body, smoothed out the pressed wrinkles meticulously, and restored his original suave appearance.

"Indeed… Time really flies."

Seeing that the headmasters had no intention of listening to him at all, and the "battle" between Phineas and Dexter became more intense (actually, it was the collision of two picture frames)

Dumbledore simply stopped paying attention to them. He retracted his gaze and refocused on Charlie, and couldn't help but sigh.

In his words, there seemed to be some regret that had not yet been carried out.

It has to be said that for Dumbledore, Charlie can indeed be regarded as a very good conversation partner.

Whether it is his imaginative creativity or his amazing ideas, they can make him feel interesting. Compared with other people who always listen to him carefully when facing him, Dumbledore actually prefers this feeling of being a listener.

"Won't you stay a little longer?"

Dumbledore continued to ask gently and kindly.

"No…"

Charlie shook his head and responded:

"There are still some things in the factory… I need to go back and take a look as soon as possible."