https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-808-The-Work-of-a-Hogwarts-Headmaster/12539512/
Chapter 807: The First Decision at the Start-of-Term Feast
Chapter 807: The First Decision at the Start-of-Term Feast
At the start-of-term feast, both students and professors alike were indulging in the delicious spread before them, chatting about their holiday adventures. Everyone, that is, except for Kyle.
Due to his dislike for overly sweet foods and his need to maintain Dumbledore's persona, he could only make an excuse that he had eaten his fill earlier and sit there, watching.
This was an excruciating process, especially when the aroma of steak and fried meat wafted over. Kyle felt as if a concert were being held in his stomach.
Yet, he couldn't let it show. He could only endure, and when he could bear it no longer, he would nonchalantly eat a few mouthfuls of pudding.
This went on for a full hour.
Finally, the last piece of orange pudding on his plate vanished, and the din in the Great Hall gradually subsided.
Kyle knew it was time for him to act again.
To be honest, by now, he had gradually become accustomed to being Dumbledore, and he felt less tense than he had at the start.
Kyle stood up, and immediately, the Great Hall fell silent.
"I know that you have all eaten your fill and would like to return to the warmth of your beds in your dormitories to rest for the night.
"But before that, allow me to take up a little more of your time. At the start of this term, there are a few matters I need to bring to your attention."
Professor McGonagall, sitting beside him, turned her head in surprise.
Both his demeanor and tone were so similar that for a moment, she thought he was the real Dumbledore.
But Kyle didn't notice this. He was looking at everyone below the staff table.
"Let me think. First is the game that concerns you all the most. Some people have suggested that, given the tense situation this year, it would be best to cancel Quidditch so that everyone can focus on their studies..."
As soon as he said this, the Great Hall erupted.
"Oh, no!"
"Don't cancel Quidditch!"
"I still want to compete for the Quidditch Cup!" Harry was beside himself.
Next year he would graduate. If Quidditch were canceled this year, it meant he wouldn't get his hands on a Quidditch Cup at all.
If his team were beaten by another, he would be grudgingly resigned to it, but he couldn't accept missing out on the Cup due to the cancellation of the game.
"No, Quidditch must not be canceled!" Ron was also very excited, almost jumping out of his seat.
Of the three, only Hermione seemed normal. She wasn't on the Quidditch team and didn't have much interest in the activity, so whether it was canceled or not made no difference to her.
"However..." Kyle paid no attention to the noisy crowd and continued, "I believe that precisely because we are shrouded by these dark clouds, we need to find things that bring us joy and happiness to dispel the gloom.
"So I've decided that the Quidditch game will continue as usual. Player auditions will be held in the second week of this term. Students who wish to join their House teams should contact Madam Hooch."
"Oh!"
"Wonderful!"
The cheers were like a wave crashing against the magically expanded ceiling, and the clouds covering the moon outside seemed to dissipate a little.
"Wait, let me finish," Kyle raised his voice, "Also, I've decided that this year, only school-provided brooms will be allowed for Quidditch."
The cheers immediately diminished.
"That's not fair!" Ron almost shouted, his voice shrill. "Everyone knows Harry has a Firebolt. It's unfair to us."
His voice was loud, and Kyle heard it, as did all the professors.
Professor McGonagall frowned and shot a sharp glance in the direction of her House.
With just that glance, Ron shrunk back in his seat, but his flushed face still showed his discontent.
It wasn't just him. The entire Gryffindor House, including Hermione, was displeased.
Hermione herself wasn't interested in Quidditch, but if the team could win the championship, it would be an honor for the House. Now, to be targeted like this was unacceptable.
"Some of you may have questions about why such a change has been made." Kyle continued calmly, his expression unchanged. "This is because there will be a small change to this year's competition... Firstly, the team that wins the Quidditch Cup will earn two hundred points for their House!"
"How much?" Hermione's angry expression froze on her face, but her voice changed as she asked subconsciously, "It used to be just a hundred."
A hundred points were already a lot. Now, to double it was simply outrageous.
One could say that by the end of the year, whichever House earned these two hundred points could directly overturn the rankings for the House Cup, even leaping from fourth place to first.
Of course, as long as the difference wasn't too large.
She remembered a certain year when Gryffindor had only eight points at the end of the year, while first-place Hufflepuff had six hundred and eighty-nine points—even their decimals were higher.
In such a situation, even adding three sets of two hundred points would be useless.
But that situation was an exception and shouldn't appear again... Well, hopefully not.
"Harry, Ron, you have to work hard!" Hermione said in a low voice. "As long as we win the Quidditch Cup, we have a good chance of winning the House Cup.
Trophy Room
Specially made
pure gold medal?
Unconsciously, Harry's face turned scarlet, and so did Ron's. But this time, it wasn't out of anger, but excitement.
Having been confined in the Trophy Room multiple times, they were well aware that there were no gold medals there, only tokens of team honors. This would be the first time an individual gold medal would be awarded!
The students' chatter was louder than ever.
"If we win, will it be recorded in the school's history?" Ron stood up again, his eyes sparkling.
"Only if you get the gold medal." Hermione considered for a moment before replying, "You might get your name mentioned, though."
She looked a little disappointed. "If I'd known about this earlier, I would've practiced flying more during the holidays."
There was a book in the school library called Hogwarts, A History, which recorded various events that had occurred since the school's founding.
However, as the history spanned over a thousand years, it was impossible to include everything, so only the relatively important events were documented.
For instance, their first year's incident with the Sorcerer's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets in their second year, and the Triwizard Tournament in their fourth year.
The Triwizard Tournament, in particular, not only made it into the book but also occupied an entire five lines. To put that into perspective, even the inauguration of a new headmaster only warranted three lines.
Of course, they weren't that greedy; even having their names mentioned, even just once, would be a great honor.
"Cheers to that!" Ron banged the table, his eyes shining. "I'm going to practice every day this year, and no one's going to stop me."
"And no one's stopping you." Ginny rolled her eyes from across the table. Though she was just as excited, seeing Ron's overeager expression suddenly made her feel calmer.
It would be embarrassing to be so worked up in front of everyone.
"Quiet down, quiet down," Kyle said, waving his hand. It took a while for the buzz of excitement, which had nearly brought down the ceiling, to subside. "I have a few more announcements. First years, please note that the forest on school grounds is off-limits to all students."
"Also, products from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes are prohibited from being used in school, and you are not allowed to purchase items from upperclassmen."
"Oh, and I almost forgot." Kyle tapped his forehead, "Due to an injury your Professor Snape sustained during the holidays, the Ministry has temporarily arranged for an experienced Auror to assist him in teaching your Defense Against the Dark Arts class."
"Let's welcome Professor Kingsley."
A wizard stood up immediately; it was Auror Kingsley.
Kyle had only learned about this arrangement from Professor McGonagall after arriving at the school.
"Professor Snape is injured?"
At the Gryffindor table, Harry looked eagerly toward the staff table, at the seat he had been deliberately avoiding.
Snape sat there, silent and expressionless.
Harry studied him for a while and noticed that his face was indeed paler than usual, and he looked rather haggard.
"Serves him right!" Ron said with a laugh. "I knew it, since he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher last year."
"It's a pity he's still able to come to school."
"But this is good, too." Harry was also pleased. "Kingsley is a capable Auror. I hope he'll be teaching us."
"Let's hope so."
After introducing the new professor, Kyle thought for a moment, ensuring he hadn't missed anything, and then began conducting the students in singing the school song.
This was a tradition at Hogwarts.
There was no fixed melody, and everyone could sing to their own liking.
Once the cacophonous singing ended, the students got up and prepared to return to their dormitories.
"I never expected this," Ron said as he walked through the Great Hall's doors with a group of Gryffindor first years. "I thought this year's Start-of-Term Feast would be boring, but who knew there would be so many surprises, especially the Quidditch gold medal for the top player? That's never happened before, has it?"
"That's right." Harry walked beside him, his face still flushed with excitement.
In fact, every Quidditch player was thrilled. They all wanted that gold medal and to be the first to achieve this honor.
"So, we're rivals now?"
Harry shook his head. "Only if we win the championship."
"That's true. Let's win the championship first." Ron's voice was full of enthusiasm. "It's a shame you can't use the Firebolt."
"It's for fairness." Hermione, walking ahead of them, turned around. "Using the same brooms will show who has the better skills."
"I know." Ron's voice was a little softer now.
For some reason, he glanced at Harry and then quickly looked away.
When Hermione had mentioned the brooms, Ron felt he'd had a rather despicable thought.
The Firebolt was just too superior, outperforming almost every other broom on the market, and it would undoubtedly give him a significant advantage.
Only with this rule in place, where everyone used the same model of broom, did Ron feel like he had a chance.
Ron knew he shouldn't be thinking this way, and as Harry's best friend, he shouldn't be feeling this way either.
But these thoughts had popped into his head uninvited, and he couldn't control them, to the point where he didn't even dare to look at Harry. Instead, he tried to distract himself by focusing on other things.
"Hey, little one, pick up the pace and don't fall behind," he called out to one of the first years at the back of the line.
"Ron, you shouldn't say that," Hermione chided, giving him an angry look. "You should call them by their names."
"I know, but I don't remember them," Ron shrugged helplessly. "I bet most people don't either. During the Sorting, everyone was too busy looking for Dumbledore to pay attention to the names of the first years."
...
Once all the students had left the Great Hall, the professors also began to disperse.
Kyle watched as Snape's figure stumbled slightly, a frown creasing his brow. "What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know," Professor McGonagall shook her head. "After the holidays began, no one knew where he went. He only returned to Hogwarts yesterday evening.
"And he's doing much better now. When we found him yesterday, he could barely walk straight."
"It's good that Dumbledore made arrangements in advance. The Ministry immediately sent Kingsley to assist him with teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts after learning of the situation here," she added.
"Is that so?"
Kyle found this even more puzzling.
He could understand Snape's disappearance, given that he had another identity and would have gone to Voldemort's side to gather intelligence for Dumbledore during the school break.
But why would he be injured? There hadn't been any major activity from the Death Eaters recently.
The last incident was at Godric's Hollow, but Bellatrix had led that operation, accompanied by a group of nameless Death Eaters. Snape hadn't been among them.
Could it be that Voldemort blamed him for their failure that time? That didn't make sense either.
Or was there something inherently dangerous about being the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?
"Never mind that for now. Your performance truly surprised me," Professor McGonagall said.
"What do you mean? Did I slip up somewhere?" Kyle asked.
"On the contrary, it was flawless," she replied. "Even if Mr. Aberforth had been here, I doubt he would have been able to tell it was you pretending to be Dumbledore."
At this point, Professor McGonagall hesitated for a moment before asking, "May I ask what prompted you to make that decision about Quidditch?"
"What do you mean?"
"Quidditch," she said. "We didn't discuss this beforehand."
"It was a spur-of-the-moment decision," Kyle said as he climbed the stairs. "School shouldn't be a dull place. Having something like this to focus everyone's attention can, to some extent, alleviate their fear of the Death Eaters. I think it's a good idea."
"While what you say is true, two hundred points is quite a lot. That score could very well decide the House Cup," Professor McGonagall pointed out, eyeing him keenly.
She noticed that Dumbledore's silvery beard had shortened noticeably, indicating that the Polyjuice Potion's effects were starting to wear off.
Kyle had noticed this as well and quickened his pace toward the headmaster's office, explaining as he went, "But the Golden Snitch is worth one hundred and fifty points, isn't it? Think of this year's House Cup as an exciting variation on the usual Quidditch match, and it makes sense."
Professor McGonagall felt that she couldn't make sense of it at all.
Quidditch and the House Cup were two entirely different matters, and she couldn't see how one related to the other.
But she had no choice in the matter. Kyle, in the guise of Dumbledore, had already announced this news at the start-of-term feast, which meant that the decision was final.
If she were to now tell everyone that the activity was canceled, it would only cause greater chaos.
Moreover, she had noticed that most people didn't seem too concerned about this outrageous amount of extra points.
If that was the case, then there was no need to create further complications.
And as a Quidditch enthusiast herself, she naturally wanted to see the game become more exciting.
"Let's leave the issue of points aside," Professor McGonagall continued. "What about the gold medal? What was the reasoning behind that decision?"
"Of course, it's an additional reward," Kyle replied as he stopped in front of the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's office. "It's to boost their morale and motivation."
"But where will the money come from?" Professor McGonagall asked, bringing up the crucial question. "A pure gold medal isn't cheap. While the school can afford it, no one wants to spend that kind of money on something frivolous."
"It's simple," Kyle said. "The school doesn't have to pay for it."
"Are you planning to pay for it out of your own pocket?" she asked, curious.
"I'm a fresh graduate. Where would I get that kind of money?" he replied with a laugh.
"Then what's your plan?"
"It's simple," Kyle said, his hair now completely black again, and his eyes returned to their usual color. "Whoever suggested it should pay for it."
(End of Chapter)
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