Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 391 Disqualification
At eight o'clock in the morning, Hogwarts Castle was already bustling with activity.

Perhaps it's because they can't wait to sign up for the Cup of Fire.

Hogwarts students crawled out of the dungeons and towers. Durmstrang arrived from the black ship moored on the shore of the Black Lake, his cloak shrouded in the chilly autumn morning mist. Ilvermorny's school bus was parked not far from the steps of the entrance hall, where the students in their blue and magenta uniforms were spared the cold. Beauxbatons' bus was parked a little further away, near the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

The chattering little wizards walked past Christine, yawning. Faint bluish marks under their eyes indicated that they hadn't slept well the night before. The fatigue from the journey and the excitement caused insomnia, but this weariness did not dampen their enthusiasm.

The little wizards seemed to radiate an endless, vibrant life force.

Christine developed a habit of silent observation when she was an Auror. After becoming a professor, she became more talkative, but she still insisted on using concise and efficient language in conversations and tried not to speak in non-essential places outside the classroom.

It's partly a professional habit, and partly due to my personality.

Christine doesn't think this is a flaw that absolutely needs to be corrected.

The food served in the auditorium was steaming hot, and the house-elves offered several different kinds of dishes that even students from other schools could enjoy. However, Christine had already had a simple breakfast in Beauxbatons’ carriage.

Christine stood by the door and glanced at the main seating area. Not seeing any familiar figures, she shook her head and walked towards the restricted area corridor on the third floor, which she had visited the previous night.

It's still early, so it shouldn't get too lively yet. There are only two or three students trying to get registration forms. It's quiet and spacious, so maybe we can observe from the sidelines.

Ascending the marble staircase, occasionally greeting passing students, the spiral staircase seemed to cooperate perfectly, leading Christine all the way to the third floor.

Just as she had expected, even the Hogwarts students were having breakfast in the Great Hall at that moment, with only a few particularly enthusiastic students watching from the cave entrance.

Christine greeted two Ravenclaw girls, Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore, whom she had met at dinner the night before, sitting next to Fleur Delacour, through Gabrielle's introduction.

The Chinese girl is very beautiful. Her beauty is different from that of Furong; it is gentle, graceful, and without any aggression.

In contrast, Marietta next to her is more in line with the image of a witch of this age, slightly spoiled, but kind and friendly at heart.

[Fire Cup Championship Registration]

A sign was erected at the entrance of the cave, with instructions in three languages.

With its distinct and rich Muggle style, Christine could immediately tell which professor was behind it.

"I heard that some students went in before dawn to try to pass the test and got trapped inside. The Crevy brothers went to inform Professor McGonagall, who just went in five minutes ago."

Marietta looked excited. She had a clear understanding of her own abilities and didn't plan to sign up for the competition; she just wanted to watch the excitement.

She couldn't wait to squeeze into the hole: "Come on, let's go in and take a look!"

Below is a vertical passage, surrounded by several devil's web vines. These vines have been specially selected and bred to eliminate their aggressiveness, so they won't lash out at you when you feel a vibration. They are not part of the obstacle, but rather serve as a buffer.

Even if you jump straight down, there will be no danger.

Upon landing, there is a straight corridor, like the corridor of a luxury hotel, with doors on both sides leading to individual rooms.

A commotion was coming from the second room, which attracted the three witches to enter.

The temperature rose sharply. The greenhouse-like structure, while the outside grounds and the forbidden forest had already entered autumn, here it was still a vibrant summer, with lush shrubs and weeds, and occasionally a few bright wildflowers.

Of course, the most important thing is those magical plants. Mandrakes are planted randomly by the roadside. If you accidentally step on them, you will be greeted with a howl more terrifying than the howling banshee. Poisonous tentacles are wrapped around the vines, like venomous snakes taking a nap, ready to devour people.

Bubble pods, jumping bulbs, barbo tubers, biting cabbage, venomous geraniums, bumpy vine pods...

A quick glance around made Christine's eyes twitch a few times. Judging from the perspective of a former Romanian Auror, this greenhouse could definitely be marked as a dangerous place, and tourists should be prohibited from visiting or approaching it.

Right under the tree where the poisonous tentacles were resting, several students formed a circle, and the vice dean's reprimanding voice came from inside the circle.

Christine walked over, and sure enough, it was that woman.

"How dare you... How dare you!?"

Professor McGonagall hadn't had breakfast yet, and her blood boiled with rage, making her feel like she was about to have low blood sugar: "Night trespassing, trespassing at the registration area, entering rooms without permission—if these poisonous tentacles weren't bred by Professor Sprout, you wouldn't have survived until rescue!"

The ones being reprimanded were several boys, who were entangled in poisonous vines and tied to a tree. Judging from the crests on their school uniforms, they belonged to Gryffindor and were around fourth year old.

The boy in the center, with red hair, wanted to lower his head in shame, but was paralyzed by the vine's poison and could only tilt his head back, revealing his freckled face. Next to him was a boy with green eyes and glasses, whose forehead bore a lightning bolt scar, the boy's distinctive mark.

The other boys had their heads down, so their faces couldn't be seen.

“Harry Potter and his friends?” Marietta suddenly nudged Cho Chang’s hand, a mischievous smile on her face.

Qiu Zhang glared at her roommate and helplessly pushed her hand away.

The typical interaction between the young witches was so obvious that even without the professional experience of a former Auror, the school professor could immediately understand the meaning behind the actions, and Christine suddenly became interested.

He approached Professor McGonagall and nodded in greeting.
"Good morning, Professor McGonagall. I've come to have a look around."

“Miss Rozier…”

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips. In the past, her students only embarrassed themselves in front of their own teachers and students, but now they were embarrassing themselves in front of professors from other schools.

Christine smiled slightly: "Melvin and I are friends. He has told me a lot about Hogwarts. When he heard that I resigned from my job in Romania, he even tried to persuade me to come and teach at Hogwarts."

"The position of the Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor at Hogwarts is rather odd; it was the right thing for him not to come."

Professor McGonagall laughed upon hearing this, suddenly abandoning her usual restraint in front of outsiders, and turned to the students to continue her reprimand.

After listening for a few minutes, Christine deduced from the information revealed in the conversation what the boys had done.

After the banquet ended last night, I was still too excited to sleep when I got back to the dormitory. Everyone was clamoring to be a Hogwarts warrior. It just so happened that the boy named Neville was Headmaster Sprout's assistant teacher and had helped decorate this greenhouse. I saw where the registration form was.

Upon hearing the news shared by their roommate, the others immediately agreed and decided to explore the greenhouse that very night.

Teaching assistant Neville was very skilled at cultivating herbs, and Harry and Ron were clever enough that they almost succeeded. The five of them worked together, dodging mandrakes and subduing biting cabbages, and were almost deep inside the greenhouse, just a short distance from the registration form.

In the pitch black, relying only on the glow of their wands for light, Seamus and Dean encountered a poisonous tentacle. Mistaking it for a venomous snake, they were terrified. In their panic, they stepped on the roots of a mandrake and were immediately knocked unconscious by its howling, becoming the tentacle's prey.

"...If Mr. Crevy hadn't been looking for you to take a picture and couldn't find you, no one would have discovered that you had become food supplies for the poison tentacles!" Professor McGonagall became more and more indignant as she spoke.

“Didn’t you say… these plants were selected and bred by the professor and are safe?” Ron muttered softly, while Harry’s only movable hand tugged at his clothes.

“What if they’re unselected? What if they’re truly dangerous!” Professor McGonagall was practically on the verge of high blood pressure, her glasses flashing with anger. “You’re fourth year now! Half your time at Hogwarts is over! You’re not freshmen anymore! Still acting like first-years, so self-important, ignoring school rules, doing whatever you want!”

Ron felt his numb body recover somewhat, and now he could lower his head.

Professor McGonagall breathed heavily: "Dumbledore has been too lenient with you. Confinement won't teach you a lesson! I have to give you a real lesson!"

Harry had a bad feeling.

"Potter, Weasley, Longbottom, Thomas, and Finegan, you five are expelled from the Goblet of Fire! You are no longer allowed to set foot in these rooms set up by the Headmaster. Even if you pass the test, I will not allow Pomona, Felius, and Severus to give you registration forms!"

"Oh no!"

The five people trapped in the tree immediately began to struggle and howl in pain. Their bodies, which had been infected by the poison, seemed to have lost their numbness as they shook their tentacles and vines violently: "Professor McGonagall, we were wrong! Please don't disqualify us!"

Professor McGonagall said sternly, “These challenges were designed to ensure you have the ability to face danger and won’t suffer more serious injuries in the later competitions. But your nighttime outings and unauthorized attempts to break through the challenges show that you lack a clear understanding of the dangers and don’t know how to protect yourselves! You should not participate in the Goblet of Fire.”

"Professor McGonagall, Professor!"

"Please, please don't do this to us..."

As the professor's figure receded into the distance, Harry remained unconvinced: "It's all my fault, professor. Just punish me, don't drag them into it!"

"Don't you think about the consequences when you go out at night?"

Professor McGonagall spoke from afar, her tone indifferent, and waved her wand with her back to them. The poisonous tentacles immediately retracted into vines, and the five people fell to the ground with a thud, groaning in pain.

Harry then realized that Cho Chang was among the onlookers. He hadn't felt anything after being tied up all night, but now he suddenly felt as if a bucket of icy water from the Black Lake had been poured over his head, leaving him feeling cold.

"Harry, how about we go apologize to Professor McGonagall, or if that doesn't work, we can go to Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"Perhaps we could go to Snape's room; he might not listen to Professor McGonagall."

"..."

Harry's eyes were glazed over, and his expression was dazed.

Watching this scene, Christine suddenly found it quite interesting. The way Hogwarts teachers and students interacted was different from Beauxbatons; it was more intimate and casual. Even between students and the vice-principal, there wasn't much distance between them, like that between parents and children.

Melvin had given her a few instructions last night, but seeing how Harry and his roommates were doing, she decided to tell them later.

……

At dusk, in the castle chapel.

The academy's long table was already crowded with young wizards, and teachers and students from the other three schools were also present. The most eye-catching were Fleur and Krum, who sat at the front of the long table, slightly bent over, holding quills in their hands, sliding them across the parchment registration forms.

The noise seemed to last all day, with people discussing the latest news almost every moment.

The excitement seemed to solidify into a tangible wave, surging and washing over the hearts of every young wizard. With only a few hours left before the list of winners was announced, they eagerly awaited the day when they or their chosen ones would stand out and become the school's warriors.

Harry sat blankly at the Gryffindor table, repeatedly scooping pudding with a spoon, but could not taste any sweetness.

The excitement is theirs; people's joys and sorrows are not shared.

He sighed and looked at his other punished companion: "Neville, I'm sorry, if it weren't for us, you could definitely have gotten through Professor Sprout's room."

“I’m not planning to participate?” Neville blinked.

While Harry was still in a daze, Seamus came over to pass on the message: "Other schools are different from us. The visiting students are almost all seventh graders. They don't need to go through any room tests. Their headmasters just handed out the registration forms."

"They only need to care about the selection process of the Goblet of Fire!" Dean exclaimed.

Simo and Dean weren't too disappointed.

Despite his boastful claims of wanting to compete as a warrior, he is well aware of his own limitations.

In dueling class, I can only fight on par with my peers, and my practical exam scores are all average. Even if I manage to get an application form, I won't be able to pass the selection process for the Goblet of Fire. Rashly participating in the competition will only result in injury.

"Damn it! How can this be?! This is cheating!"

Ron was quite indignant. He believed he had the ability to compete and really wanted to win the championship and become famous in the world.

“Actually, our school’s seventh-grade students, as long as they passed last year’s exams and obtained E-rank certificates in Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbalism, and Protecting Magical Creatures at OWLs, can get an application form even without going to those rooms,” Seamus added in a low voice.

"How many students below sixth grade got the dean's application form?" Neville asked in a low voice.

“Not counting the seventh graders…” Seamus started counting on his fingers, “The first one was Cedric from Hufflepuff, who crossed Professor McGonagall’s morphing board all by himself.”

Ron scoffed. "Oh, of course it's him. He's Percy's successor."

"Roger Davis of Ravenclaw, escorted by his Quidditch teammates, passed through Professor Sprout's greenhouse."

“If a team sends one player in, I bet he won’t make it past the Cup of Fire.”

"I don't know about Slytherin. Malfoy gathered a group to escort him into the greenhouse, but they failed and all of them collapsed under the leaves of the biting cabbage. It seems that Theodore Nott passed through the potion trap set by Snape."

"Ha, Malfoy!"

Ron chuckled even louder, but didn't say much to Nott, whose potions skills were indeed excellent.

"What about our college?"

Harry looked around and saw that many familiar faces were not there: his twin brothers, Lee Jordan, Angelina Jolie, and Hermione, the know-it-all.

Seamus scratched his head: "I don't know. George and Fred took Lee to try out the Transformers board. Hermione spent the whole morning in the library and only went there at three in the afternoon. She hasn't come back yet."

"Ugh……"

Harry had mixed feelings; he hoped his friends would succeed, yet he didn't want them to.

(End of this chapter)