The Return to Hogwarts

After spending two days finally adjusting his biological clock, Amostella stood by the window, gazing at the vibrant Hogwarts, letting the breeze ruffle his soft gray hair, and feeling a rare sense of joy.

He made up his mind that if he ever encountered a client who needed to work consecutive night shifts, the commission fee would have to be 20% higher than the market price.

As he walked through the castle, the young wizards he encountered along the way all cast surprised glances at him, because almost everyone knew that the investigator sent by the school board was a person with habits similar to a bat, who never appeared during the day and only liked to be active at night.

The probability of seeing him during the day is lower than the probability of finding a giant in a castle.

The Great Hall was sparsely populated with late-rising students. At the faculty and staff table, Flitwick, Sprout, and Snape were chatting quietly. When they saw Amosta approaching, Professor Flitwick immediately stood up to congratulate him.

“We are talking about you,”

Flitwick lowered his sharp voice, "We've already heard this wonderful news from Minerva, and Amosta, we all believe you're perfectly capable of this job."

"Only if you perform to your true potential, Amosta."

Professor Sprout adjusted his patched, dusty hat and chuckled, "Of course, if you're willing to give it your all, even a fraction of your ability will be far better than some show-off."

The three professors before him were his mentors, and Amosta treated them with great kindness. He smiled and expressed his gratitude, then humbly added,

"Education is a profound and complex subject. It is one thing to possess knowledge yourself, but it is quite another to pass it on well to young wizards. Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, I certainly cannot compare with the two of you who are experienced enough."

Amosta's witty compliment pleased the two of them greatly. Flitwick turned to Snape, who was pretending not to know Amosta, and smiled.

“Severus is probably going to be disappointed, isn’t he? I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve failed to get this teaching position, and now you’ve lost to your own star pupil!”

"Perhaps Severus is already used to this kind of defeat?" Professor Sprout's witty remark made Amosta, who was eating toast, laugh.

Snape's face darkened, and he gave a soft snort.

“There’s nothing to be proud of about being a professor of this course, Amosta. The real skill is being able to step down from that position safely.”

“Just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean I can’t, Professor.” Amostella’s smiling reply made Snape’s face darken even more.

After a relaxed and enjoyable breakfast, they went their separate ways, agreeing to meet up at the Three Broomsticks Bar for a couple of drinks sometime.

Amosta did not return to her residence, but instead went to Professor McGonagall's office. The meeting was clearly arranged in advance, and when Amosta knocked on Professor McGonagall's office door, she showed no surprise.

"Oh, thank goodness, you've finally arrived!" Professor McGonagall said with a slight pout.

Perhaps because the heir to the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin hadn't caused any trouble and everything was proceeding smoothly, Professor McGonagall seemed to be in a much better mood and looked much better than during the Christmas holidays.

"Anyway, Amosta, I have to thank you. There are a few kids in the upper grades who dream of becoming an Auror after graduation."

You know, an Auror needs at least five Newts certificates, including Defense Against the Dark Arts. If we continue to follow Gilderoy's teachings, these children will have to face their shattered dreams prematurely!

“I can only do my best, Professor McGonagall,”

Amosta gave a wry smile and agreed.

"But please don't have such high expectations of me. You know I've never been very good at exams, let alone helping young wizards pass them. Besides, if there are any clues about the locked-room mystery, I'll definitely prioritize dealing with them."

“Oh, we’ve all seen your abilities, Amossta,” Professor McGonagall said, lifting her chin somewhat displeased. “I think you really need to work on your excessive modesty. As for that Chamber of Secrets, well, I can’t concern myself with that now, Amossta. Let Headmaster Dumbledore worry about it. He should be doing something more productive.”

What could Amosta say? He could only continue to force a wry smile.

"Regarding the issue of how you and Gilderoy divide your work, here's what I think."

When the topic turned to work, Professor McGonagall's attitude changed completely; she spoke with a very serious expression.

“Right now, the students who most urgently need your help are the fifth and seventh graders. They are about to face the two most important exams of their lives, which are related to their fate. Amosta, I hope you can divide the work with Gidero. He can be responsible for teaching the students below the fifth grade, while you can be responsible for the students from the fifth to the seventh grade.”

Amosta pondered without speaking. Professor McGonagall's allocation plan was indeed reasonable, but it contradicted his original intention in accepting the teaching position. If he couldn't get in touch with the main characters, what was the point of all this effort?

"Professor McGonagall, I think it would be best if Professor Lockhart and I discussed this matter first."

Ultimately, Amosta did not provide a clear response.

After leaving Professor McGonagall's office, Amosta immediately went to see Professor Lockhart. Tomorrow was the start of a new week, and he had to finalize the matter this morning. He would then use the afternoon and evening to make some preparations. Even though his motives for becoming a professor were not pure, he did not want to be a mere figurehead and ruin his reputation like Professor Lockhart's.

Amosta couldn't help but feel very strange when Lockhart was mentioned.

What kind of teaching method could win the unanimous 'praise' from all the professors and the vast majority of young wizards at Hogwarts, and even Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore had to swallow their pride and ask him to 'come out of retirement'?

Sorry everyone, this chapter is a bit short. I've been really busy these past two days, and I didn't get home until 11 pm. I hadn't even had dinner before I finished writing this.

Chapter 41 A Little Guilty

At 10:30 a.m. on a weekend morning, Amosta stood in front of Professor Lockhart's office.

To be honest, he didn't have much ill will towards this professor with a less-than-stellar reputation. Judging from their brief encounter last time, the professor's attitude when communicating with him was quite friendly. Of course, it must be said that his speaking style was indeed a bit exaggerated.

Actually, Amosta felt a little guilty towards Lockhart, and there were two reasons for this.

The first reason is obvious. The other person was doing a good job as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and someone else took half of their job without even asking. To put it bluntly, this is called stealing someone else's job, which is very unethical.

The second reason is a bit more complicated.

A few nights ago, Amosta somehow transferred the Dark Lord's curse on the position to the voodoo doll. The benefit of doing so was that Amosta himself no longer had to bear the risks brought by the curse, and consequently, Lockhart, who should have borne all the consequences of the curse, also had much less risk.

At first glance, this seems like a win-win situation, but it's not.

For example, the Dark Lord's curse is like a rushing river. Amosta's way of resisting the curse is to forcibly build a dam in the riverbed to block the turbulent flow. As long as the dam is strong, he is safe standing behind it. But if one day the dam collapses, or if he removes the dam, then the water stored at a high level will be far more violent than before.

Of course, if Professor Lockhart resigns and runs away before Amosta, he will probably have to bear all the consequences himself.

"Please come in!"

The sounds from behind the door remained cheerful, showing no sign of anything amiss.

"I hope he's not too angry--"

Before pushing open the door, Amosta muttered to himself.

Professor Lockhart's office was decorated in a style as extravagant as he was. Several walls were covered with portraits of himself, and even on a sunny morning, the room was lit with many bright candles. The light from those candles was reflected off the white teeth in the photos on the wall and shone on Amosta, almost blinding him.

Another point worth mentioning is that among the Hogwarts faculty and staff, perhaps only Professor Lockhart received as many letters as Headmaster Dumbledore; the letters waiting for replies on his desk were probably five feet high.

"Oh, Miss Granger, I didn't expect to see you here!"

Lockhart wasn't alone in his office. Opposite him, a little witch, upon seeing him enter, hurriedly stood up from her chair, her face flushed, and quickly slipped a gold card into her pocket.

"Good morning, Mr. Blaine!"

Amosta stood motionless in the doorway, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

"So, Mrs. Pomfrey has already taken care of your beautiful black outfit."

Amostella saw the little witch lower her head and blink frantically, her body almost curled up in tension, and she immediately understood.

“Oh well, congratulations on your recovery, Miss Granger,”

Amostella looked at Lockhart with an inquiring gaze. "I apologize for interrupting your conversation, Professor Lockhart. If you are not available right now..."

“Oh, no need to leave. I can’t refuse another fan because of one. Amosta, Miss Granger is here to thank me. We’ve finished talking!”

Amosta noticed the curiosity in Hermione's eyes as she looked at him, and knew she must have misunderstood something. However, he was too lazy to explain the harmless misunderstanding, and walked in with a wry smile.

Although curious about why Mr. Blaine had come to visit Professor Lockhart, Hermione knew they would not allow her to stay and eavesdrop openly. So she could only leave reluctantly. Before leaving, a little incident occurred. Because she was preoccupied with her thoughts, Hermione accidentally knocked over a stack of hundreds of letters awaiting a reply on Professor Lockhart's desk.

"I'm sorry, Professor, I'll help you right away."

Watching Hermione frantically searching for her wand, Amosta shook his head with amusement. Why was it that every time he saw this clever little witch, she always looked so flustered?

"No need for you to bother, Miss Granger, leave it to me!"

Watching Hermione leave, panting heavily, Amostah smiled and walked over. He glanced at the envelopes scattered on the floor and his desk. Suddenly, a stack of old-looking parchment, pressed under a pile of letters, caught his eye. However, he quickly regained his composure, snapped his fingers, and hundreds of letters in various envelopes floated up and neatly returned to their places.

"In my opinion, you are probably the most popular teacher in this school right now, Professor Lockhart."

Professor Lockhart, whose expression had been slightly stiffened by Amostella's beautiful silent and wandless spellcasting, immediately broke into a bright smile.

"Actually, it's not just that. Once you're fully integrated into the professor's team, you'll find that Gilderoy Lockhart is also the most prominent member, after all,"

Lockhart winked playfully at Amosta, then took a deep breath.

"How many people can win the Wizarding Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award five times in a row, while also being a third-class member of the Order of Merlin and an honorary member of the League Against the Dark Arts? Of course, Amostella, you must know as much about my past as Miss Granger, right?"

Lockhart was completely oblivious to Amosta's increasingly embarrassed expression, lost in his own world.

"Oh, haha, Amosta, I must admit, you've surprised me once again. Not only did you go to great lengths to follow in my footsteps to Hogwarts, but now you've even applied to Dumbledore to become my assistant in order to get closer to me. Oh, I must say, Amosta, among my most fervent followers, you certainly stand out!"

Amosta's lips were pressed tightly together, his expression tense. He was beginning to understand why this well-known author was so disliked at Hogwarts!

However, this also gave Amosta an idea of ​​how to communicate with him.

"Ahem, indeed, Professor Lockhart, I am indeed an admirer of yours."

"Aha!"

Lockhart let out an exaggerated laugh, his face showing an expression of "I knew it."

"That's right. I applied to become an assistant professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts in order to be closer to you. I hope to improve myself in your class with the young wizards."

However, Professor McGonagall seemed to think, "Oh, what she meant was that you have to deal with so many fan letters every day and teach hundreds of young wizards against evil dark magic, which is too much for you. She hopes I can share some of your burden and let me teach the older students alone. To be honest, that's not what I wanted at all."

"No need to say anything, Amosta, I completely understand what you mean--"

Lockhart's face seemed to glow with confidence as he interrupted Amosta's explanation.

"Want to co-teach with me? No problem, Amosta. Gilderoy Lockhart never refuses the request of any die-hard fan!"

Well.

The fact that the goal was achieved so easily left Amosta completely bewildered!