Days wandering around Hogwarts

Chapter 397 Giving Gifts
As the 1993-94 school year drew to a close, fifth- and seventh-year students were busy preparing for their Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations and the Final Wizarding Examinations.

Fred and George's magic Tetris had reached a usable level, and the trial feedback on campus was good. Charles invested some money and helped contact wizards to produce semi-finished products.

Now the twin brothers are reviewing their lessons even harder than Hermione. Charles has agreed with them that the next investment will be linked to their results in the Ordinary Wizarding Level Examination.

Although the twins are similar in many ways, there are still differences in their course grades. Fred is not good at Herbology, and George is not good at Transfiguration.

Charles arrived at the classroom much earlier than others before the Transfiguration class that day. The previous class was for fifth-year students, and Fred and George were kept back by Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall said to the two brothers: "I don't think you will cheat in the Ordinary Wizarding Levels, but the invigilation will be very strict and special attention will be paid to the twins."

Fred immediately said, "We promise not to cheat!"

George went on to say, “We’re going to use our test scores to get a loan from Smith, and there’s absolutely no problem!”

Professor McGonagall nodded and said, "I have seen your efforts during this period. I believe you can achieve good results."

"The invigilation during the exam is not targeting you, it's just a routine, don't be nervous."

Fred and George agreed, and when they were leaving, they saw Charles coming over. They realized that he had something to do with Professor McGonagall, so they said hello and left.

Professor McGonagall saw Charles' serious look and couldn't help asking, "What happened?"

Charles asked solemnly, "Professor McGonagall, do you have tickets for the Quidditch World Cup final?"

Professor McGonagall said with some regret, "Unfortunately, I haven't bought any tickets for that day yet, so I can't help you."

Charles had asked her once before, so she thought that he asked her again today to find out if there was any way.

Charles breathed a sigh of relief, took out a gorgeous gold-printed envelope and said, "Professor, I found an envelope containing VIP tickets on the legs of an owl this morning. Your name was written on it."

Professor McGonagall reacted immediately and asked in surprise, "How did you get the ticket?"

Charles replied, "I have some connections in the Ministry, so I got the tickets."

"It's just that I was too busy in the summer to go to the game, so the tickets are for you and Harry."

Professor McGonagall figured out the source of the ticket. Without any hesitation, she pushed the ticket in front of her back to Charles and said seriously, "Charles, thank you for your kindness, but I cannot accept gifts from my students."

Charles thought so too. If it was just a small gift at Christmas, it would be fine. But giving an expensive gift for no reason during the holiday season was a matter of principle.

"Okay." Charles didn't say much about this matter, "Then I can only give the ticket to someone else."

Professor McGonagall nodded. Although she wanted to watch the game, she could not compromise on matters of principle.

Charles collected the tickets and returned to his seat to prepare for class.

He had been very busy since returning to Hogwarts, mainly because the herb growing experiment in the greenhouse had yielded significant results. Recently, he had been collecting and organizing record sheets, preparing to outsource the data statistics to a college student during the holidays.

Next, the drug efficacy experiment had to be arranged, and this part was assigned to the factory that Eleanor and her team ran that produced magic potions to treat malaria.

At the same time, there are alchemy experiments. After the final exam, a batch of materials that require long reactions will be processed and need to be experimented with before the holiday.

However, this ticket must be in the hands of Professor McGonagall, otherwise the old man will be unhappy.

Charles was sure that he would not be happy if the old man was unhappy. Professor McGonagall did not accept gifts from students, which was not a problem for Charles, as long as the person who gave the tickets was not a student.

A week later, the ticket appeared in front of Professor McGonagall again, this time in an envelope from the Dancing Grass Restaurant.

Dumbledore looked as if he had no idea what had happened and said, "Minerva, this is a gift from Dobby to Aberforth as a thank you for ordering food from the Dancing Grass at the Hog's Head. He didn't like the crowds so he gave it to me. I have to be busy looking for a professor for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class next school year, so I'll give it to you."

Professor McGonagall stared into her best friend's eyes, and had vaguely sensed something strange, as if she was trying to see something from it.

Dumbledore asked curiously, "What's the matter? Don't you have time?"

Professor McGonagall said, "Charles wanted to give me the ticket the other day, but I refused."

Dumbledore said as if he had suddenly realized something: "So that's how it is. When you didn't want the ticket, he gave it to Dobby, who gave it to Aberforth, who gave it to me, and now I'm giving it to you. Haha, this is really interesting."

His smile was so genuine that Professor McGonagall didn't see the problem.

Charles said to give the ticket to someone else, and when the ticket reached Aberforth, it had nothing to do with him.

Now that the votes were given by Deng Xiaoping, there will be no problem at all.

The two have been best friends for decades, so giving each other game tickets is no big deal.

Professor McGonagall happily took the ticket and said, "Thank you, Albus. I've been having a headache finding tickets lately."

Dumbledore pretended to be distressed and said, "I wish you a wonderful summer. I am sad that it will be difficult to find a professor for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class next year."

Professor McGonagall put the tickets into her bag and asked, "I heard that Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are preparing for activities for the next school year. Should we also prepare?"

Dumbledore nodded and said, "I already have a plan. Remus will recommend some suitable and outstanding students. They will receive special training from an old friend during the summer vacation."

Professor McGonagall thought for a moment and then said, "Alastor Moody, you mean?"

Mad-Eye Moody was the best trainer she could think of who was both capable and available.

Dumbledore shook his head slightly and said, "No, it was someone else."

Professor McGonagall immediately asked in surprise: "Could it be him?"

Apart from Moody, the other best candidate is Grindelwald, who is currently in prison.

Dumbledore said in a deep voice: "I suspect he is plotting something, so I have to keep an eye on him and not give him the chance to sabotage it."

Professor McGonagall sighed and said, "I hope you can keep an eye on him."

The two chatted for a while longer, and Dumbledore said goodbye and returned to his office.

When he walked out of the office, he noticed a retractable ear rapidly retracting from a window at the far end of the corridor outside.

In the corridor on the upper floor, Charles breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)