The Pacifist Necromancer of Hogwarts

Tell me about Hogwarts, Mr. Anthony, Kevin demanded.

When Anthony went to buy meat, he met Mr. Jones, who wanted to invite Anthony to their home for dinner anyway. Mrs. Jones mixed up an extra salad at the last minute to cope with the unexpected arrival of guests.

Did you buy all the textbooks and wands? Anthony asked.

I bought the wand, and Professor Snape took me to Diagon Alley. Kevin whispered, reluctantly stirring the carrot puree in the bowl with a spoon. The list of teaching materials has not been sent out yet, and Professor Snape asked me to After I received the letter, I went by myself, but I couldn’t remember the way... I also wanted to take my parents there, but I couldn’t find the wall he pointed out to me.”

Mrs. Jones said: The professor said that our going would only cause trouble. I was also worried that he wanted to kidnap Kevin! We two Muggles were very worried at home!

She emphasized the word Muggle disapprovingly and glanced at the table, where Anthony noticed a copy of Bathilda Bagshot's A History of Magic.

I think he might be busy. He said something dryly for Snape, and then immediately changed the topic to Kevin's question, What do you want to know about Hogwarts?

Kevin thought for a while: Mr. Anthony, what's going on with the sorting?

Ah, I can't say. Anthony smiled and shook his head, I was warned that all first-year students need to go through the sorting without preparation as much as possible, so, unfortunately, I can't deprive you of the thrills Sorting fun.”

Kevin took a mouthful of mashed carrots and suddenly shouted: Thrilling fun of sorting? Mr. Anthony, are they going to let me duel with a dragon? Can I see the dragon?

Mrs Jones said: Sit down, Kevin - don't swing your spoon around.

Anthony thought for a moment: I can't say.

You hesitated! Kevin said triumphantly, I was right! I want to duel with the dragon!

What? said Mr. and Mrs. Jones together, and they looked at each other, pale and frightened.

Mrs. Jones asked calmly, Can we drop out, Mr. Anthony—Professor Anthony?

It's okay, Mom, chickens are the descendants of dinosaurs. Kevin comforted her and forked a piece of chicken from the salad. After so many years of evolution, the magic dragon may just be a fire-breathing chicken.

Chickens are not supposed to breathe fire, Mr. Jones pointed out.

People shouldn't be able to do magic. Kevin raised his face and retorted, Mr. Anthony, tell me what you can about Hogwarts!

Anthony recalled his feelings when he first joined the job and said: Hogwarts is a very magical castle, with some stairs that disappear for no reason and portraits that move and talk.

Castle! exclaimed Mr. Jones.

There are also ghosts. They are milky white and float around, but they won't hurt you because they can't touch you at all. But there is a special guy called Peeves. He has color and can touch entities. , and he likes to tease students. Most people will avoid him.

Mrs. Jones looked more worried: Why are there ghosts in the school? I thought they were usually in cemeteries.

I'm surprised too, but ghosts usually linger in the places they've been before in life, and Hogwarts obviously accepts all confused ghosts. Anthony said, Don't worry about ghosts, they are actually a very nice group to talk to. Death—sorry, a good talker—and rarely interferes in your affairs.”

What else? Kevin asked, Like, um... what is it like to study at Hogwarts? Professor Snape said there's no way I'm going home on the weekends.

It's true that Hogwarts is a full-time residential school. As for studying, let me think...just like your school, each professor has a different way of teaching classes, and it depends on the schedule you receive , you’ll be taking classes with people from different faculties in different subjects.”

He thought again: By the way, the good news is that the food at Hogwarts is the best I have ever seen, and the students are less likely to get sick. Magical medicine is really unreasonable. The school is Ice cream is available for both lunch and dinner, so you can have as much as you want.”

What, really? Kevin said in surprise, Great! He threw the fork in his mouth and announced that he had finished lunch. He seems to have no worries about study and accommodation.

Mrs. Jones said, If you want ice cream, Kevin, why don't you go get your room in order? I see your T. rex lying on the floor, and the sabertooth tiger doesn't seem to be where it's supposed to be. Let you The dinosaurs are going back to their homes, and they’re going to have lunch too, okay?”

Okay, Mom - Kevin responded in a long voice, slipped off the chair, put on his slippers, and ran to pack his toys.

…

After sending Kevin away, the worry on the Jones and his wife's faces immediately showed.

Tell us about the dragon, Professor Anthony, Mrs. Jones implored.

Anthony laughed: Don't worry, I can guarantee that the sorting is not a duel with the fire dragon. From what I saw, I don't even understand what happened.

Have students put on a talking hat—even if it's said to be a Gryffindor hat—and announce that they have determined the eleven or twelve-year-old's future life ambitions.

Anthony had a hard time deciding whether he found this approach more believable than having them feed Noble dead rats. The one who bites his thumb goes to Gryffindor, the index finger goes to Hufflepuff, the ring finger goes to Ravenclaw, the little finger goes to Slytherin, and if you bite more, you let the students choose their own house...the middle finger? Congratulations, you unlucky guy, you can feed it again.

Mr. Jones asked: The History of Magic says that four founders founded four houses and admitted students according to their own standards. What does this mean?

I can't guarantee that what I said is completely correct. Anthony said, I have only been at Hogwarts for one year, and I am only a teacher of an elective course. But they seem to have different ambitions and ideals. Children are divided into different houses, and outside of their studies, students’ extracurricular lives are usually managed by the prefects and deans of their respective houses.”

Which college is Kevin most likely to go to? Mrs. Jones asked. Professor Anthony, can I know which college you were in before?

I think Kevin will probably be Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Anthony said, But until the sorting results come out, we can't say anything. Well, I don't belong anywhere. I'm not from Hogwarts. Graduated from Gwarts.”

I saw in The History of Magic that there are other magic schools outside of the UK. Are you the one who graduated with a degree of proficiency or virtue?

I'm not. Anthony smiled, Although I am indeed a wizard now, I received the so-called Muggle education.

The Joneses looked at him confused, as if trying to figure out the logic. Snape must have promoted to them the saying Magic is a talent, and wizards must go to magic schools.

Anthony explained: The story is a little complicated, but all in all, I went to Hogwarts for only a year.

Mrs. Jones actually said: Great! She seemed to be relieved, Then you must understand what we are worried about, right? Is Hogwarts a suitable school? You just went to Hogwarts What impression did it make on you?

Anthony was silent for a while before saying: I have to be honest, when I first went to Hogwarts, I didn't particularly care what it was like. I had no choice at the time - that's what I mentioned before That complicated story.”

He smiled apologetically at Mr. Jones, who wanted to ask a question: As you can probably imagine, after more than twenty years of non-magical education, I feel like a complete outsider to the magical world. I feel like I don't belong. That, of course, doesn't belong in Hogwarts.

Wait a minute, Mr. Anthony. Mrs. Jones interrupted, stood up and opened the refrigerator, Would you like some ice cream? We have cherry and chocolate flavors.

Don't worry, I'm going to get to the 'but' soon. Anthony said, But Hogwarts is a wonderful place. There may be a lot of dissatisfaction there, some of which I don't even know yet. Solution, some of them I don’t even know why it happens...

But in the final analysis, it is a magic castle. Just like in a fairy tale, Hogwarts has unicorns, mermaids, centaurs- He hesitated, ignoring the Acromantula and the people who were about to send away. , the real fire dragon at Hogwarts, There are also very, very sincere and friendly colleagues and students, who are very tolerant of me. I gained a lot of goodwill there.

Mr. Jones asked: So, do you think Kevin would be happy at Hogwarts? Is it safe there?

Safe? Not at all. Anthony said seriously, Happy? Yes, judging from Kevin's performance, he will love it there.

But... Mrs. Jones said. She opened her mouth several times, but still couldn't say the second half of the words.

Anthony nodded: Yes, I know. It is said that Hogwarts is the safest place in the world. Their wizards are really weird.

Mom! Dad! I put it away! Kevin shouted, running back with a patter, I want to eat cherry flavor!

…

Anthony was able to escape from Kevin's pleas with the help of the Joneses. He shouldn't have mentioned that he couldn't accompany the Jones family to Diagon Alley next week because he had to meet people from the Romanian Fire Dragon Sanctuary.

No matter how Kevin begged his parents in a cute and sweet voice, the boring adults just refused to agree to his wish to go with him.

I won't say a word, you can pretend I'm a statue, Mr. Anthony. Kevin promised, I just want to see what a person who raises a fire dragon looks like.

Anthony said gently but firmly: No, Kevin. In addition to the man who raised the fire dragon, this small, unknown meeting also included a bad-tempered dragon and a most likely teary-eyed Hagrid.

Mr. and Mrs. Jones also said: Absolutely not. Mr. Anthony has his own affairs to deal with, and you should not cause trouble for him. They sent Anthony to the door, thanked him repeatedly for taking the time to come to their home for dinner, and apologized for Kevin's request.

If I can eat another ice cream ball, I won't mention following Mr. Anthony. Kevin said as he walked to the door.

Kevin! said Mrs. Jones, Okay, but only one ball.

I want chocolate flavor! Kevin said without thinking, running back to the kitchen, Goodbye, Mr. Anthony! See you at school! Thank you for answering our questions, and thank you for bringing the second ice cream ball!

Why don't you thank me? Mrs. Jones asked.

Because I love you! Kevin said, holding up the scoop of ice cream. Would you like a little chocolate ice cream ball, too, Mom?

No, thank you, said Mrs. Jones.

Give me one, said Mr. Jones authoritatively.

…

The date agreed with Charlie's friends soon arrived. Anthony left the cat, chicken and mouse at home - and told the chicken to watch the cat and not let it burn too much wine - and returned to Hogwarts alone in the early morning.

Hogwarts seemed empty after the students had left. Wild flowers and grasses have poked their heads out on the originally bare path, swaying in the early morning breeze. Somehow, the black lake also seemed larger than usual, reflecting the blue sky. The water waves gently lapped the shore, and a stoat that escaped from nowhere was looking at the lake in a daze. It was frightened by Anthony's footsteps and ran into the bushes.

Anthony knocked on Hagrid's door and was startled by the sound of something crashing down in the room.

Hagrid, are you home?

Here you go, Henry. Hagrid said with a heavy nasal voice, shuffling his steps and opening the door for him. Finally - take a last look at Norbert! He choked.

Norbert was tearing into the snack cabinet with great energy. The reinforced cabinet was lying on the floor, waiting for the moment to fall apart under the teeth of the fire dragon.

I made some decorations for his trunk. Hagrid said with red eyes, letting Anthony into the room.

Behind him is the box that is going to be used to transport Norbert - it is very strong and has a few fireproof enchantments added to it at the suggestion of fire dragon expert Charlie - the box is painted red and has a Circle balloons around the crooked word Nobel in the middle.

Hagrid looked at the little dragon sadly: I decorated it according to the birthday party... I didn't even get to celebrate his first birthday! Poor, poor Norbert!

Norbert burned a corner of the cabinet black.

You can go to the reserve to see it. Anthony said, You can celebrate Nob's first birthday in Romania with his fire dragon classmates.

Hagrid stared at the little dragon in fascination for a while, then opened the lid of the box and continued to introduce: I put a dead mouse and brandy in the box, as well as its toy bear, in case it feels lonely. By the way, I also put the teapot it was born in and your robe... Oh, Norbert, I wish I could give it more.

Anthony was also crumpled with tears when he saw that Hagrid had put a letter in the box.

You can put something of your own in it, Anthony said. You know, something that will remind Norbert of you.

Noble - I - Tears welled up from Hagrid's eyes again, seeping into his tangled hair and beard, I don't think it's right to put anything. I plan to put a few pieces of myself before leaving. Make rock biscuits and ferret sandwiches in.

At this time, Xiaolong seemed to finally realize that there was another person in the house. It turned its gaze maliciously towards the visitor, and Anthony was surprised to find that it was much larger than a week ago. Its smoking nose and gleaming teeth now looked truly menacing.

Norbert raised his nose and sniffed the air again and again, and suddenly started whining again.

Oh my God, Norbert! Hagrid said in shock as he stopped blowing his nose.

What is it doing? Anthony asked.

It's purring at you, Hagrid said. It's liking you.