Chapter 823: The Inflexible Mrs. Pointer
Chapter 823: The Inflexible Mrs. Pointer
The sun was rising, and the bright morning sunlight bathed Hogwarts Castle in its warm glow, rousing the students who were still lazing in bed.
In the Headmaster's office on the eighth floor, Kyle put down his quill after a sleepless night, tidying the thick stack of parchment that lay before him.
This had been his routine for the past half month—from reluctantly accepting the task of impersonating Dumbledore at the start of term to his decision to travel to France, visit Beauxbatons, and chat with Professor Viktor.
At Professor McGonagall's request, Kyle had spent the entire night meticulously recalling and recording the timing of these events, pinpointing them to the hour and even minute when possible.
Of course, there were bound to be inaccuracies, as he hadn't checked the time before every action, but Kyle believed these minor discrepancies wouldn't have a significant impact as long as the crucial moments were accurately represented.
As he wrote, the portraits surrounding him watched, having also endured the long night alongside him, their spirits far more resilient than his due to their lack of need for sleep.
"Hold on, let me see that seventeenth page of parchment again."
Just as Kyle set down his quill, he heard a voice from behind him.
It belonged to a witch dressed in medieval attire, her appearance unfamiliar to him. Kyle was certain he had never seen her before.
This was not unusual, as there were quite a few portraits in the Headmaster's office—over thirty, in fact—and not every Headmaster enjoyed lingering here as much as Armando Dippet and Phineas Black.
About half of them typically resided in their portraits elsewhere, only coming to the office when significant events transpired at Hogwarts.
The current Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, being trapped in a time loop, certainly qualified as a significant event, and so they had all gathered here upon receiving the news.
This was the first time Kyle felt the office to be a tad crowded, though, of course, it wasn't truly crowded since the portraits couldn't leave their frames; it was merely a feeling.
"What are you dawdling for? Hurry up!" the medieval witch snapped, her tone stern and reminiscent of Professor McGonagall when she was angry, but with an added air of rigidity.
And from the expressions of those around her, it was clear she was not one to be trifled with.
Kyle didn't say anything; he simply complied and pushed the previous pages of parchment aside as she had instructed.
The content on the seventeenth page detailed his conversation with Professor Viktor on the afternoon of his arrival at Beauxbatons, specifically in the Alchemy classroom.
"Difficulty levels of Alchemy… Necessary prerequisites for studying Alchemy… Alchemy textbooks…"
Even though she had only glanced at a single page, the witch's expression had already soured considerably.
"Tell me, what were you hoping to achieve by asking about these things?" she demanded.
"Nothing, just curiosity," Kyle replied.
"Curiosity?" The witch narrowed her eyes, clearly unconvinced by his explanation.
"Yes, Alchemy is a very popular subject among the students at Beauxbatons, so I asked a few more questions out of interest," Kyle explained with a smile. "I had no ulterior motives."
"See that you don't," the witch said coldly. "Remember, you are merely pretending to be the Headmaster, not the actual Headmaster. Don't overstep your bounds."
"Of course not," Kyle said amiably.
The witch gave him a sharp look. "I've heard that the current Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, holds you in high regard. Perhaps one day, you might even become the Headmaster of Hogwarts."
"You flatter me," Kyle said humbly. "Professor Dumbledore treats everyone with equal warmth and respect."
"But I must warn you," the witch continued, her lips pressed into a thin line, "even if you do become Headmaster one day, you must not arbitrarily alter Hogwarts' curriculum. This curriculum was established by the greatest witch, Rowena Ravenclaw, and it must not be tampered with."
"Yes, of course," Kyle agreed, nodding vigorously. "There's no doubt that Hogwarts' curriculum should remain untouched."
"Good. I'm pleased you understand," the witch said, her expression softening slightly as she glanced around the room. "Now, what are all of you doing just standing around? Why aren't you searching for a solution to this predicament?"
Several of the Headmasters immediately scurried off, and the rest remained silent, offering no rebuttal. Even the usually boisterous Phineas was uncharacteristically quiet, having not uttered a single word throughout the entire exchange.
"Forget it. I'm going to find Minerva. In my opinion, she would make a far better Headmaster than Dumbledore," the witch declared before disappearing from her frame.
After she left, Kyle noticed that everyone in the room seemed to relax visibly.
"She gave me a fright," Armando admitted, patting his chest. "For a moment there, I thought you were going to get into an argument with the Inflexible Mrs. Pointer."
"Wait, what's her name?" Kyle asked.
"Inflexible Mrs. Pointer," Armando repeated. "She's a stickler for rules and routines, like a pointer that always follows a set path and never deviates, nor does she allow herself or those around her to stray."
"And she's also a fanatical admirer of Rowena Ravenclaw," Phineas added. "If Ravenclaw were to declare that Hogwarts is round, Mrs. Pointer would believe it without question and accept it as the absolute truth."
"Let's see, it was probably about seven centuries ago."
After a moment of silence, she continued, "Influenced by the trends of that time, dark magic was extremely prevalent, and witches and wizards were obsessed with creating dark artifacts that possessed bizarre abilities. It even became a sort of fashion... You should know about the infamous Hand of Glory and Crystal Skull, both of which were products of that era."
Kyle nodded.
The Hand of Glory was a withered hand that, when lit with a candle in a dark environment, would only allow the holder to see its light.
As for the Crystal Skull... It was a divination artifact and the earliest form of a crystal ball. Of course, its function was even more significant, and its creation method was far more cruel, making it an item that the Ministry of Magic strictly prohibited.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg. At that time, more dark artifacts were invented and improved upon, putting Hogwarts in an extremely difficult situation, facing pressure from both the dark wizards and the Muggle community."
Another Headmaster spoke up: "The dark wizards saw them as heretics and stopped at nothing to try and take over the school, intending to spread their terrible doctrines to the students.
"Meanwhile, Muggles viewed them as accomplices of dark wizards and treated them with extreme hostility. They would not hesitate to kill any children who exhibited signs of magical awakening."
Kyle fell silent. If that were the case, Hogwarts probably struggled to attract students during that period.
After all, in the magical world, pure-blooded wizards made up only a small fraction, and most were of mixed or Muggle-born heritage.
If they stopped attending school, the day Hogwarts closed its doors for good wouldn't be far off.
"Fortunately, it seems that Rowena Ravenclaw had anticipated such a day," the Headmaster continued. "She left a book in the Headmaster's office containing instructions on how to handle situations where Hogwarts was in danger."
"So, that Headmaster followed the book's instructions and led Hogwarts safely through the crisis?" Kyle asked.
"Yes, they followed the plan to the letter, allowing for no deviation."
"Although she successfully guided Hogwarts through the crisis, her experiences gradually shaped her into the person she is now... treating everything related to Rowena Ravenclaw as an unbreakable rule."
"That's understandable," said Kyle. "Anyone in that situation would probably do the same."
"What surprises me is that you didn't argue with her," Armando said. "I thought you would try to reason with her."
"Why would I?" Kyle smiled. "She's right. I'm not the real Headmaster, so these matters aren't really my concern.
"Arguing with her would be a waste of time and serve no purpose. It's better to just agree and have some peace and quiet."
"So... do you really intend to introduce Alchemy as a subject at Hogwarts?" Phineas raised an eyebrow and asked.
"It's not my intention," Kyle corrected. "I'm not the Headmaster, so I don't have that authority. It's just an idea I had." Kyle shook his head. "Alchemy is becoming increasingly important in other countries, and there are more and more related artifacts being created. Hogwarts shouldn't fall behind."
"However, these decisions are up to the Headmaster. I can only suggest the idea and do some preliminary preparation. If it's approved, at least we'll know what to do.
"So, are you all opposed to adding Alchemy to the curriculum as well?"
"I don't really care one way or the other," said Phineas. "It has nothing to do with me anyway."
"I think adding a new subject could be a good thing," Armando said. "The Hogwarts curriculum has remained unchanged for a thousand years. It's about time we made some adjustments."
"I'd say it's necessary," said Dilys Derwent, another Headmaster who frequently resided in the office. "Have you seen our ranking among international magic schools lately?
"Out of eleven schools, we're in tenth place. Even Durmstrang, which doesn't have a Headmaster, is ranked higher than us. Aren't you ashamed?"
"It has nothing to do with me," Phineas quickly retorted. "When I was Headmaster, Hogwarts was at the top. Blame Armando for the decline."
"You're full of it!" Armando Dippet shouted. "It was during your tenure as Headmaster that Hogwarts' ranking started to slip. How dare you try to shift the blame now?"
"You make my blood boil!" He turned and pulled out a massive 'club' from somewhere.
"You stay there, and let's discuss this school ranking issue properly."
"Stop... No, stop foot, don't come over here, I'm warning you, don't come over..." Phineas took off running, his nimble movements surprising the other Headmasters, who had never witnessed such a scene before.
"Do you mean that Headmistress Noelil Reid will object?"
"That doesn't matter." Dilys shook her head. "We past headmasters only have the right to advise, not to decide. As long as the current headmaster agrees, her opposition will be futile, and at most, she'll never show up again. Of course, that won't have much of an impact either. The difficulty I'm referring to is a different situation."
"For example, funding." She continued, "I once wanted to add a new healing course. After all, Hogwarts only offers Herbology and Potions, but just learning those subjects isn't enough to become a qualified healer.
"If there were a healing course, students aspiring to become healers could directly enter St. Mungo's after graduation, saving a lot of time."
"That's a great idea." Kyle said, "I remember Madam Pomfrey had a similar thought."
"But the school doesn't have enough startup funds." Dilys sighed, "The cost of offering a new course is far greater than you imagine. The governors are already content with the status quo and are reluctant to spend a large sum of galleons on something they see as bringing them no benefit."
"Also, the cost of studying Alchemy is even higher than that of healing, and it will undoubtedly be more challenging."
"I understand." Kyle nodded.
In Alchemy, dragon scales and blood are common materials used as frequently as ginger root and fish bone powder in Potions. Even with Beauxbatons' wealth, they had to acquire the discarded inferior goods from the Fire Dragon Sanctuary.
But this could be easily resolved by lowering the standards a bit. If they couldn't afford fire dragons, they could use materials with fire dragon lineage. Or they could modify the alchemical items into magical items... like the ones sold at school during their time, which fell within this category.
However, these were all just plans, and whether they could be implemented would depend on Dumbledore's return.
If the mission to rescue Dumbledore failed, then even the best-laid plans would be for naught.
Kyle rearranged the scattered parchments and asked the headmasters to call in Professor McGonagall, who had been about to leave for her class.
Soon, the door to the Headmaster's office opened, and Professor McGonagall strode in.
"Here are the documents you requested." Kyle handed the parchments to her.
Even though class would start in less than fifteen minutes, Professor McGonagall still carefully perused each parchment, trying to commit every detail to memory.
Kyle didn't interrupt and quietly watched from the side.
"What are your plans now?" She suddenly asked after a few minutes.
"I'll just wait at the school." Kyle thought for a moment and replied, "Until Nico finishes repairing the Time-Turner."
"I think you could also do something else."
Professor McGonagall looked up, her gaze profound as she regarded him, "Now that everything is back to normal at the school, and Dumbledore doesn't need to make frequent appearances, you can leave and do whatever you like... For example, you could sleep in until noon, as you mentioned on the Hogwarts Express."
"Huh?"
Kyle was taken aback by Professor McGonagall's suggestion, "But didn't you want me to stay at the school before, ready to step in as Professor Dumbledore in case of any unexpected situations?"
"That was just a previous idea, and it's no longer necessary."
Professor McGonagall said calmly, "It's normal for Dumbledore to be away from the school often, and your continued presence here would only increase the risk of exposure.
"Go back or travel elsewhere to relax... I recommend Germany. Their academic atmosphere is quite unique and distinct from that of Britain. Plus, Germany is big on Quidditch, and you'll be able to catch exciting matches almost everywhere you go."
"Is that so?"
Kyle said softly, "But I get the feeling that you don't want me to stay at the school and are deliberately pushing me away."
"Since you've noticed... yes, I do have that intention." Professor McGonagall nodded frankly, acknowledging his observation, "The documents state that Nicolette will deliver the repaired Time-Turner to Hogwarts, which will also prevent you from taking unilateral action.
"Is it possible for Nicolette to send the Time-Turner to me instead of the school?" Kyle asked.
"Then I'll wait for him at his residence."
Professor McGonagall replied calmly, "Yes, there's no need for doubt. I know Mr. Nicolette, and I visited his manor in Devon when I was younger, although that was decades ago. Still, I know how to get in touch with him."
"What about the Transfiguration class here?"
"I'll find a suitable person to replace me beforehand. It won't be difficult."
"I must remind you once again, Kyle." Professor McGonagall's expression turned solemn, "Rescuing Dumbledore is the responsibility of us professors, not yours. You have no need to take risks because of this."
...
(End of Chapter)
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