The Pacifist Necromancer of Hogwarts

Chapter 222 Extra: Minerva McGonagall’s Afternoon

This is a small but neat office. The contents of the bookshelves and lockers are quietly arranged, waiting for the attention of their owners. The fire burned brightly in the fireplace, making the entire office warm.

Minerva McGonagall quickly walked into the office, sat behind the desk, and closed the door with a wave of her wand.

The warmth of the fireplace flame spread from the soft carpet beneath your feet. McGonagall hesitated, put aside the parchment roll in her hand (Summary Report on Practical Activities of Muggle Studies 1991-1992 Semester (Second Group)), and dragged a stack of second-year Transfiguration papers from the corner of the desk. , looked at it with a straight face.

After grading several papers where the principles of magic were completely wrong, it was always a pleasure to see Miss Granger's papers. McGonagall glanced at the neatly written and surprisingly long papers and pushed them to the bottom of all the papers, like leaving the candied cherries until the last bite of dessert.

She saw several papers written by Hufflepuff students under Miss Granger's paper, and each one looked very similar - if she remembered correctly, it was the same as that of fourth-year student Cedric Diggory. The papers handed in during the senior year were also very similar.

She had indeed heard that Hufflepuff had a collection of papers written by good students in various subjects circulated in Hufflepuff. Maybe she should talk to Pomona. Mag put aside the papers that were frighteningly similar and pulled out a new paper with a straight face.

Potter and Weasley undoubtedly asked Granger to check their papers, and Longbottom, who lived in the same dormitory, handed over a long copy of the textbook, and even copied the wrong lines in some places.

McGonagall frowned and drew a semicircle on Longbottom's paper. The round-faced boy's tearful expression flashed before her eyes - and his grandmother's stern letter in the letter that the child really didn't look like his parents - and she frowned, but held her quill firmly upright. He scratched it out, leaving a big P in the upper right corner of the parchment.

She put Longbottom's paper aside and looked at the next one, her brows furrowing. Mag dipped his quill in the ink bottle and began to correct the scrawled and error-ridden paper.

She glanced at the student's name—Dean Thomas—and pursed her lips tighter. Mr. Thomas should be in solitary confinement at the hands of Filch right now because he yesterday changed the slogan Lock Your Heart on the promotional poster to Lock Your Fuck and was killed by Howling Lori due to the paint stains on the floor. Mrs. Si and Filch, who came after hearing the news, caught him.

Mrs. Norris... The rustle of the quill stopped for a moment. Mag never understood how Filch loved that cat so much, yet managed to keep her so skinny and with dirty hair.

Henry took good care of his unnamed cat. Although the ginger cat sometimes made her feel a sudden burst of disgust and fear, when she was a sane adult, she would never deny its majestic air and proud gait against her will.

Just as she was thinking about the new Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts, the clock on the wall chimed sweetly. Mag looked up at the dial and found with satisfaction that the hour hand had pointed to four o'clock.

She finished correcting the last three papers (Granger got an O without a doubt), breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the practical activity summary report placed aside, waved her wand and made herself a pot of tea.

She had discovered last semester how relaxing it was to read the new Muggle Studies professor's report. Correctly formatted, well-structured, legible, and coherent—contrast this with Filch’s report on his attempt to get schools to reuse the punishment chamber. Mag shook his head and took a careful sip of black tea.

That's why she decided to use the summary report to occupy the time from 4 to 6 p.m. If you must do something serious, it's better to do something easy. It's just that Henry - oh, she thought of Henry's expression when she heard her mention the summary report, and a smile flashed across her face.

You know, as long as it wasn't raining (and she didn't have to deal with student confinement), she usually spent the time walking with Pomona. They would visit Pomona's herb fields and sometimes even take a walk in the Forbidden Forest. If the weather is bad, she will go to the staff room and relax for a while amid the aroma of black tea, milk and cookies to get ready for Monday's classes.

However, she is not so keen on visiting the current staff lounge. Of course, Gilderoy must have put a lot of effort into turning it into some kind of scary blue-and-pink paradise.

Mag remembered that when Gilderoy was moving the two heavy gargoyles downstairs, she happened to be passing by Filius in the corridor.

Although none of them understood why the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor didn't use the Levitation Charm - maybe to set a good example to his students, or to show off his muscular muscles, the glistening beads of sweat on his forehead, and his blond hair that was damp with sweat. , who knows - but neither the Professor of Transfiguration nor the Professor of Charms planned to interfere.

They just left with great respect. In any case, that is the freedom of their colleagues.

…

Mag unfolded the parchment, skipped the parts about the design and significance of the activities that he had already read, and directly glanced at the conclusion at the end to find the total expenses, and then turned back to the summary of the experience of the practical activities.

Henry carefully attached their departure time and driving distance, but it wasn't until he saw the full name of the destination that McGonagall remembered that it was the botanical garden that cooperated with Hogwarts.

The few times she met the other party were through apparation or a fireplace (despite informing the other party in advance, the group of Muggles would still be shocked every time), and she never knew how long it would take to get there slowly by train.

Henry carefully listed the illegal operations of the students he saw - McGonagall decided to reiterate to him the professor's power to deduct points next time. The punishment was to make students remember the lessons - and his own handling methods, and happily announced No one actually violated the International Statute of Secrecy.

Whether they were on the train or in the car, all the students showed extraordinary enthusiasm and genuine curiosity. They made great efforts to prepare clothing that conformed to Muggle customs. At the same time, although there were inevitably some omissions, Their conscientiousness is evident in the vocabulary they created to refer to various magical matters.

Mag unfolded the parchment roll downwards some more. Henry's praise was not finished yet.

“Their friendly exchanges with fellow passengers or the Arboretum staff who kindly drove out in the rain showed a delightful sense of discovery and respect. In addition, I heard other Arboretum staff in the car comment on how likable they were , proving that students still perform very well outside of the supervision of professors.”

Another section at the back is about tours inside the botanical garden. Henry still doesn't skimp on his ink, from the students' heeding of praise assigned by staff to their deft comparison of the similarities and differences between the Muggle and wizarding worlds.

McGonagall sometimes even wanted to share Henry and Severus summary reports with others at the same time, because every school year, as deputy headmistress, she would receive messages that simply read As bad as ever and Fewer A's, more Lots of P's or The first student ever to confuse porcupine quills with dried nettles.

On the other hand, students do seem to enjoy Muggle Studies. Caredi's summary reports are usually a little more unsparing, but it's often the students' results that dissatisfy her rather than their attitudes and classroom performance. Among the two Muggle Studies professors, Henry was obviously the one who cared less about grades than Caredi, who came from the Wizarding Examination Authority.

McGonagall was suddenly worried about this year's students' Muggle Studies O.W.L results.

If the results turn out to be very bad, the Ministry of Magic may accuse Hogwarts of appointing the wrong professors - I don't know why, but they seem to be very interested in meddling with Hogwarts recently. Albus's warning had some effect, but Caredi thought it only made the Ministry more wary.

McGonagall would rather they be wary of something more worthy of vigilance, such as the missing Quirinus Quirrell and Voldemort. However, they just shouted that Henry was another evidence of Albus's willfulness - even if Henry was just an honest necromancer. For God's sake, he was probably cleaner than some of his cronies at the Ministry of Magic!

…

Mag took a sip of tea and unfolded the parchment a few more sections.

Henry spent a long paragraph describing the scene in the botanical garden - McGonagall could tell at a glance that this was to cover up the student with the vodka - and then finally came to the end of the tour.

McGonagall glanced down and saw Henry using a long table to list the good qualities that each student had displayed throughout the event.

The report concluded: All in all, I am very proud to witness the positive attitude of the students in the practical activities. I believe that the practical activities of this group were successful. When returning to a magical place full of magic and expelled by powerful Muggles In the castle of Hogwarts protected by the curse, I hope that students can still vaguely remember the Muggles living next to them, and remember that the Muggle world is as full of fun and wonder as the wizarding world.

McGonagall signed the end of the report in dark green ink, indicating that she had read it. The fire in the fireplace was beeping and beeping. She looked outside and saw the blue players on the Quidditch pitch still flying around tirelessly. After drinking a full pot of tea, she had to admit that she didn't want to touch the various letters from the Ministry of Magic.

She put away Henry's report and hesitated between staying in the office and going out for a walk, the idea of ​​enjoying the fresh air still prevailing. So she took off her hat, straightened her hair, and took a deep breath——

Transformed into a tabby cat.

She nimbly slipped out of the window along the gap, walked along the window edge for a while, and then silently jumped onto the wet ground. The cold air filled her nose, causing her to sneeze involuntarily.

It should be safe to go out now. As far as she knew, except for a certain professor who was holding a club gathering, all her colleagues were either in meetings or having academic discussions, so no one would probably see a tabby cat with a pattern like spectacle frames walking proudly past the withered yellow of grass, heading towards Pomona’s herb fields.

The paper had been corrected and the documents had been reviewed. The letters from the Ministry of Magic were locked at the bottom of the drawer, and her fur made her feel extremely warm.

Mag was in a happy mood and walked briskly past Hagrid's hut - when she was a cat, she would have preferred to stay away from the big panting hound - and vaguely felt that she heard Henry's voice . But she shook her ears and quickly remembered what Henry and Severus were going to discuss, so she must have heard wrong.

She passed several students poking their heads outside the Forbidden Forest. For a moment, she wanted to turn into Professor McGonagall and drive them all away, but she recognized one of the Gryffindors as the student Henry had just praised in his report.

She stared seriously at the curious but measured student until she heard him say, Forget it, let's do it again in the evening. She made a mental note that she would be on patrol tonight, and continued into the bushes, heading straight for Pomona's herb fields.

She remembered that there was flameweed there, which loved to bloom in this rainy and cold weather, and was the reason why they loved to come to the herb field in the fall.

Otherwise, her Hufflepuff friends had planted some catnip in them just for fun, and proudly showed McGonagall how lush they were growing with the help of dragon manure.

McGonagall had to admit that she was also a little curious about whether Animagus would be affected by the instincts of the animals they transformed into. By the way, this is a very serious Transfiguration subject.

She encountered a squirrel preparing for winter near a warm herb field. It somehow bypassed the protective magic that hindered the students, and was staring blankly at the fiery red swaying flowers in front of it.

Mag walked past it and gave it a majestic look. She needed to remember to remind Pomona to reinforce her defenses.

The timid creature immediately left, even leaving the pine cone behind. Mag stretched out his paw, plucked the pine cone, dug it into the grass outside the protection, and buried it shallowly in the soft soil.

If the squirrel ever comes back, it should be found. If it doesn't come back, next spring, when the snow melts, they might see a very small pine sapling here.

She walked across the soft, warm field ridge, carefully avoiding Pomona's cherished herbs, and found catnip in the corner.

In Mag's eyes, they were still some inconspicuous green gadgets, but her nose told her that they were emitting a very attractive smell.

She sniffed it carefully and felt satisfied that she did not lose her mind or roll on the ground uncontrollably like the legend said. To confirm, she carefully took a small bite, feeling them explode in her mouth like the best fruit juice soda, and squinted her eyes in enjoyment.

…

She spent a lot of time in the herb field until she became aware of another voice approaching. Mag flicked his tail unkindly and decided to teach the restless student a lesson.

But before that, she needed to know who it was. Carefully she stuck her nose out of the grass.

A familiar voice said: It should be almost ripe, Principal. Once I gather enough ingredients...

Mag paused. That's Severus and Albus - but Severus should be talking to Henry and Albus should be in a meeting with the headmaster of Durmstrang!

She heard Albus interrupt Severus and say cheerfully, Good afternoon.

Sorry, what? Severus asked.

Mag hesitated for a moment, so it was too late. Albus's dragonhide boots appeared in front of her.

She knew Albus had recognized her and decided to face everything like a brave Gryffindor.

She emerged from the bushes, transformed back into the serious Transfiguration professor, and said stiffly: Good afternoon, Albus. Good afternoon, Severus.

What a surprise to see you, my good professor, Albus said soothingly.

McGonagall asked: Is it because I processed all the documents in advance, Albus?

Ah, part of it, yes, said Albus.

McGonagall turned her gaze to Severus. He was looking at the catnip—no doubt recognizing what they were—while twisting the corners of his mouth, as if he was doubtful of what was going on in his mind and unsure whether he should laugh at her or wisely remain silent.

How was your discussion with Henry, Severus? McGonagall asked preemptively. Very pleasant, I trust?

She saw with satisfaction that Severus' strange expression disappeared.

Since the start of the new semester, the professors had become acutely aware that Henry and Severus were just as difficult to deal with as she was with Sybil. Judging from Henry's character, this is indeed surprising, and what is even more surprising is that Severus seems to think that he is somewhat in the wrong. Even though they didn't know what was going on, that didn't stop them from using it to taunt Severus when necessary - when Henry didn't know, of course.

Very illuminating, I'd say, Albus said calmly, Come on, Minerva, I think we'll be just in time for supper... He turned to Severus and whispered, As for you, Severus, your proposal is very good, and I trust you completely on this matter.

Of course, Headmaster, Severus said lazily.

McGonagall looked at Albus with some confusion. He winked at her and pointed calmly toward his head. Minerva took the opportunity to brush the leaves off her head in a corner where Severus couldn't see.

I hope the elves have prepared apple pie today, said Albus. I hear we have very fresh cinnamon.

Dusk fell, and the cloudy sky darkened coldly until it turned into deep black. Warm light shines from the thousands of windows in Hogwarts.

The three of them walked towards the castle together.