https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-807-The-First-Decision-at-the-Opening-Banquet/13013200/
Chapter 808: The Work of a Hogwarts Headmaster
Chapter 808: The Work of a Hogwarts Headmaster
"Aurora Sinistra wants to replace the entire set of planetary models with new ones that have magic storage and automatic calibration. The estimated cost is around two thousand Galleons..."
"Filius Flitwick wants to reopen the Dueling Club for third-year students and above..."
"Severus Snape requires a complete set of magical armor and combat dummies, along with two hundred pounds of potion ingredients..."
The next day, when Kyle casually arrived at the Headmaster's office and saw the stack of documents on the table, he was stunned.
He had always thought that after getting through yesterday's opening banquet, this task would be a breeze.
But what were these documents that had been delivered?
He was just an imposter, having drunk Polyjuice Potion to impersonate Dumbledore, and no one had told him that he actually had to act as the Headmaster.
And these requests were outrageous.
He was willing to bet that Snape's injury wasn't on his mouth; otherwise, he wouldn't have asked for two hundred pounds of potion ingredients in one go.
Those were potion ingredients, not two hundred pounds of potatoes.
Not to mention expensive ingredients like Unicorn Horn, Wolfsbane, Dragon Egg Shells, and Ashwinder Eggs, even common Lionfish Bone Powder and Valerian weren't cheap.
To ask for two hundred pounds all at once, he was bold.
Oh, and there was someone with an even bigger mouth than him,
Horace Slughorn,
who not only requested a hundred pounds of potion ingredients but also applied for fifty sets of Self-Stirring Cauldrons...
No wonder the old professor was so considerate of the students. Each Self-Stirring Cauldron cost thirty-five Galleons, and with a single sentence, he had requested one thousand seven hundred and fifty Galleons.
This amount would take Mr. Weasley more than two years to save without eating or drinking.
Kyle flipped through the documents further.
Goodness, it got even more outrageous.
"Pomona Sprout wants to build three new greenhouses..."
"Argus Filch proposed adding thirty-five new school rules..."
"The Hospital Wing wants to purchase the latest potion preservation equipment..."
Kyle placed the parchment in his hand back on the stack of documents and looked up at Professor McGonagall.
"These can't be for me, right?"
Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows slightly but said nothing.
"This is definitely not okay." Kyle seemed to realize something and protect you. "Let me use Polyjuice Potion to impersonate Professor Dumbledore, but I'm just pretending to be Dumbledore, not the real Headmaster! Let's wait for him to return before deciding on these matters."
"No, you're wrong." Professor McGonagall said calmly, "You can take out that letter and read it again. It's written very clearly."
A letter?
Kyle was slightly taken aback.
On the train, he had only taken the hair and Polyjuice Potion, leaving the rest aside. Now that Professor McGonagall mentioned it, he couldn't remember where he had put the letter.
Kyle could only search through his pockets.
Galleons, Master Key, jerky, owl nuts... He found many small items but no letter.
Finally, Fox flew over and dropped a piece of parchment on the table... which turned out to be the letter Dumbledore had written to him.
Kyle quickly picked it up and took a look.
"On the fifth line from the bottom..." Professor McGonagall reminded him.
Kyle's gaze moved downward,
[Use Polyjuice Potion to temporarily take on the role of Headmaster in my stead.]
That was the sentence.
Previously, on the train, Kyle had seen it but hadn't thought much about it. Or perhaps when he saw the mention of Polyjuice Potion, he had ignored the latter part of the sentence.
Kyle thought this was normal; anyone who saw the Polyjuice Potion would assume it was for impersonation.
And who in their right mind would entrust the important position of Headmaster to someone who had just graduated last year?
Kyle couldn't think of anyone.
Just put on a show and fool around; why take it seriously?
"Impossible. I guess he must have written it casually." Kyle threw the letter on the table and emphasized, "Professor McGonagall, I just graduated last year. Asking me to handle school matters is too hasty, and you must disagree, right?"
"Actually, I have no objections, or I wouldn't have given these to you."
Contrary to Kyle's expectations, the usually serious Professor McGonagall nodded, "And Dumbledore wouldn't make a mistake in his letter."
Kyle was completely taken aback.
How could she agree?
Could it be that the Professor McGonagall before him was also someone impersonating her after drinking Polyjuice Potion?
Otherwise, there was no way to explain why she would make such an unusual decision.
"I'm not old enough," Kyle said.
"The Board of Governors will definitely not agree," Kyle argued.
"With Dumbledore's letter, they will agree," Professor McGonagall replied.
"But I have no experience," Kyle protested.
"It doesn't matter. You can learn. No one is born a Headmaster. I believe in your learning ability, which has already been proven during your school days."
"At this point, I don't believe the letter," Kyle muttered to himself.
"Then I'll just write 'approved' on all of them." Kyle, unable to find any more excuses, prepared to be stubborn and waved his hand.
Although he hadn't read through all the documents, a rough estimate suggested that fulfilling all these requests would require at least fifty to sixty thousand Galleons.
He couldn't believe Professor McGonagall would let him get away with this.
"It's a good thing if you can convince the Board of Governors to pay for it." Professor McGonagall lifted her eyelids slightly, "Oh, right, in that case, I'll also send in an application later.
"I've always felt that the animals used in Transfiguration class are too small and not challenging enough. I want to purchase larger ones, but I haven't been able to due to cost concerns."
But now... I guess I can't be stingy with this."
Seeing Professor McGonagall's nonchalant attitude, Kyle couldn't help but feel agitated as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"Tens of thousands of Galleons? It's unbelievable that the Board of Governors would agree to this. Even with Dumbledore's influence, it's impossible for them to spend so much money, let alone for me."
"Fine, fine," Kyle sighed. "How did Professor Dumbledore handle this before?"
"Which aspect are you referring to?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"I mean, how did he deal with these issues?" Kyle muttered.
"So, you're going to follow his approach?" Professor McGagall glanced at Kyle.
"What else can I do?" Kyle leaned back in his chair and muttered, "I could have been sleeping at home, but you insisted on bringing me here. I fell for your trap of words. What could I do?"
At this point, Kyle silently sighed, "Since I'm pretending to be Dumbledore, I have to handle the work according to his habits to avoid any slip-ups."
"It's good that you're thinking this way," Professor McGonagall nodded.
"So, how did Professor Dumbledore usually handle these issues?" Kyle flipped through the parchment on the table. "Is there this much every day? I always thought being the Headmaster of Hogwarts was a pretty leisurely job."
"Of course not," Professor McGonagall thought for a moment before saying, "Those were backlogs from before the holidays. By then, he had already left the school, and it's been at least three months now."
"Three whole months?" Kyle sat up again.
Based on the amount of parchment on the table, there was only one every two or three days. If that was the case, it wasn't unacceptable.
Kyle flipped through the parchments on Dumbledore's table and found a quill with golden-red feathers... True to his reputation, Dumbledore used phoenix feathers for his quill.
But now, it had a new owner.
"What should I do now? Agree or refuse?" Kyle took out a bottle of ink and placed it on the table.
"Are you sure you're following Dumbledore's approach?" Professor McGonagall asked again, as if seeking confirmation.
"Of course," Kyle said.
Then, under Kyle's incredulous gaze, Professor McGonagall picked up the thick stack of parchments on the table and threw them all into the fireplace. With a wave of her wand, flames immediately ignited in the fireplace.
The firelight illuminated Kyle's face.
"Is this Dumbledore's way of handling things?" he asked, a bit taken aback, "So simple and brutal?"
"No, this is my way," Professor McGonagall said, "As the Chief Warlock of the International Confederation of Wizards, Dumbledore always reserved time for more important matters. So, from a long time ago, I've been handling some of the school's affairs in his place."
"But he's no longer the Chief Warlock now," Kyle said. "He's even been expelled from the International Confederation of Wizards."
"That happened recently," Professor McGonagall said, "And after that, he was busy searching for clues related to the mysterious person, leaving him with little free time.
"I believe you're aware that for the past two or three years, he rarely stayed at Hogwarts for long."
"It seems that's indeed the case," Kyle said after some thought.
Last year, Dumbledore's appearances at the school were few and far between. Most of the time, it was Professor McGagall, the Deputy Headmistress, who was in charge.
"You're right about that," Professor McGagall said, waving her hand to extinguish the fire in the fireplace.
"If we're only talking about the job of the Headmaster of Hogwarts, it's indeed a very leisurely position."
As she spoke, Kyle could sense a hint of helplessness in Professor McGagall's tone.
Doing the work of two people for the salary of one, that's the relationship between Professor McGagall and Dumbledore.
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"I thought this year would finally be a bit easier," Professor McGagall said, looking at Kyle, her eyes seemingly carrying a hint of expectation.
It was foreseeable that this year's Quidditch matches would be even more exciting than previous years. If Kyle could help with the headmaster's work, she would have more time to focus on the team and the matches.
Perhaps she could even help train the team.
Professor McGagall had several Quidditch tactics in mind, which she had thought of while watching matches. The issue was that she had too much on her plate, leaving her no time to delve deeper into them.
This year was a perfect opportunity, a well-deserved break before the war.
As for Kyle's abilities, Professor McGagall wasn't worried. His handling of the Ministry of Magic's affairs showed that he wasn't clueless and was, in fact, quite capable.
For example, the Dementor bounty program during last year's holiday, organized by him, was flawless.
So many Dementors, all dealt with in just a month—something unimaginable before.
And the Ministry's reward was merely an Auror position.
No, it couldn't even be called a reward.
Remus Lupin was a wizard with all-around abilities, perfectly suited for the Auror role. From this perspective, the Ministry not only didn't give anything but also gained a talented individual.
And Sirius Black, though he was the one paying, the Black family was wealthy. What mattered to him was that his friend could live in the light.
A larger part of the reason was surely friendship, and a smaller part, Professor McGagall believed, was Sirius's desire to make up for something.
Because of his decision from over a decade ago, their small team fell apart overnight.
One betrayed everyone, two were killed by Voldemort, and even he himself was sent to Azkaban, leaving only Lupin alone, living in confusion and pain for over a decade, unaware of the truth.
Sirius needs to do something to find solace.
And Remus, he finally found a formal and decent job.
The wizard who helped capture the Boggart also received a handsome reward.
Everyone involved was satisfied with the whole thing.
When these professors were chatting together before, they also mentioned this, and everyone agreed that this was the most correct decision made by the Ministry of Magic in recent years.
But few people know that the initiator of this matter is Kyle, and all the details were formulated by him alone, and he hadn't even graduated at the time.
This is enough to prove his ability.
The Ministry of Magic has the courage to let a student who has not yet graduated serve as a senior ministerial assistant with real power. Why can't Hogwarts?
Of course, the premise of all this is that Kyle is willing.
"Well... I really want to help you." Kyle slightly turned his head, "But you also know, I'm not Dumbledore, just here to help out, if I make a decision that makes people feel wrong, suspecting Dumbledore's identity, then it's not good."
"What do you mean?" Professor McGonagall's heart sank.
"It's just... You work hard, and let's follow the original process, how about it?" Kyle said cautiously.
The encouragement in Professor McGonagall's eyes just now was about to poke his forehead, and Kyle, of course, knew what she meant.
But the problem is, he really doesn't want to take this job,
The reason he agreed to serve in the Ministry of Magic is because the Minister at the time was Fudge, and he can mess around. If a decision is made and something goes wrong, he can directly push all the responsibility to Fudge.
But it's not possible at Hogwarts, this is a school, and every decision he makes may affect the students. Kyle certainly doesn't want to take on this responsibility... at least it's too early now.
"So why didn't you worry about arousing others' suspicions at the opening banquet yesterday?" Professor McGonagall sat down opposite Kyle, staring at his eyes and asked.
"To be honest, I regretted it this morning."
Kyle shook his head, "Maybe because I was nervous, I didn't think about it at all, and I just said it."
"This kind of thing is enough once, and it will definitely arouse others' suspicions if it happens too often."
"You really don't plan to get familiar with the headmaster's work first?"
Professor McGonagall stared at Kyle for a while, and asked reluctantly: "This is a rare opportunity."
"I think the most important thing now is to let everyone believe that Professor Dumbledore is still there, and it doesn't matter if we put the school's affairs aside for a while." Kyle said.
"Well, I understand." Professor McGonagall stood up. "Then let's follow the situation from last year.
"Thank you, Professor." Kyle ran around the table and sent Professor McGonagall out of the headmaster's office.
When the oak door was closed again, a cold laugh suddenly came from behind.
"Huh..."
"Headmaster Black, what do you mean?" Kyle didn't even think about it, and his eyes turned directly to Phineas Black's portrait.
"So stupid." Phineas sat on a stone, leisurely with his legs crossed, "Dumbledore, that guy, what did he think of Hogwarts, he actually came up with the idea of letting Polyjuice Potion impersonate himself.
"If that's the case, then it's fine, but his vision, tut..."
Is he scolding himself? "Ha!" Kyle raised his eyebrows slightly.
He was too kind, that day at Grimmauld Place Number 12, he should have torn up Phineas's portrait and made a branch for Fox.
"Don't say that, I think Albus's decision is fine." Headmaster Armando Dippet also opened his eyes, "Now stabilizing everyone's emotions is the most important thing."
"Yeah."
"That's right."
"This is good."
The other headmasters also nodded.
"A bunch of idiots." Seeing that no one supported him, Phineas snorted coldly, "You don't even think about it, what if this matter is exposed, Dumbledore is stupid, and you are even more stupid than him."
"As long as we don't say it, it won't be exposed." A wizard with a big nose quietly moved his position, from his own portrait, to the side of Phineas's portrait, "But you're right, I think we should first eliminate an unstable factor."
"What do you mean?" Phineas stood up with a swish.
"It's simple, we need to remind someone to keep their mouth shut."
"Damn it, go back to your own portrait quickly."
"Don't worry, I'll naturally go back after I'm done." The wizard with a big nose waved his hand vigorously.
As if it had sent some kind of signal.
In just a moment, no matter what the other headmasters were doing, they all rushed towards Phineas as if they had rehearsed it.
He didn't even have time to run, and he was surrounded.
Then it was a beating.
A slender witch, because she couldn't squeeze in, simply went into a knight's portrait and grabbed his sword to run.
Then the sword became a rare item, and the headmasters scrambled for it.
Kyle watched this scene, stroking his chin.
Although he didn't understand magical portraits, he thought it should be interrelated with alchemy. If this is the case, it can be studied to see if toys can be painted for the headmasters to entertain them.
For example, flails or battle axes and other small toys are pretty good.
...
(End of Chapter)
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