Hogwarts' Dark Arts Defense Trial was a new end-of-year activity that started last year.

After a series of modifications and optimizations, the "Sorcerer's Stone Challenge," originally designed for little Harry, was transformed into a comprehensive challenge area that could be repeated. According to the final feedback from last year, most of the school's professors supported it becoming a permanent end-of-year assessment.

However, due to problems such as scene adjustments for each level and a severe shortage of guides, it was temporarily left idle.

On the other hand, with Moaning Myrtle's "revenge" complete, the second-floor girls' lavatory was reopened for use.

Naturally, the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, originally hidden in the lavatory, was no longer suitable to remain in its original location.

At Hermione’s suggestion, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and other faculty members joined forces to cast a spell that directly moved the entrance to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets to the "Hogwarts Trial Corridor" on the fourth floor. Next to the entrance to the "Dark Arts Defense Trial," they directly opened a new entrance option—"Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets"—as a new scenario to be explored this semester.

The originally intricate underground pipelines were also simplified, retaining only an expanded direct main passage.

Considering the difficulty of promoting the "Phoenix Express," the most conventional flying broomstick was temporarily used as the mode of transportation for returning from the Chamber of Secrets.

If the "Dark Arts Defense Trial" was a thrilling plot-based comprehensive challenge, then "Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets" was a shared home system with a high degree of freedom. In Hermione’s vision, it was likely to become a second "common room" for Hogwarts students.

Of course, only the venue usage fee was free; not even a candlestick would be provided.

In the planning of the "home system," there were far too many decorations and ornaments for the young wizards to fill and pursue.

As the "Magical Industrial Park" outside the gates of Hogwarts was gradually being repaired and put into use, the students of Hogwarts were naturally the first target customers.

Not having money was not a disadvantage, at least not at this time of financial market reshaping.

Daily tasks, weekly tasks, achievement tasks, House tasks…

There were too many "fun" ways to replace Galleons in Hermione’s mind, or rather, "positive energy" incentives.

"Alright, that's all for the explanation about the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk for now. Let's talk about some changes that will be made at the school later."

Dumbledore cleared his throat, smiling as he looked at the students whispering to each other in front of him, and continued.

"Upon the reminder of the Ministry of Magic and the school's Board of Governors, we realized that directly rewarding Galleons in school activities was not appropriate… however, we also saw the gratifying enthusiasm that everyone showed when motivated. Therefore, after calculations by Gringotts goblin experts and multiple communications with the Ministry of Magic and the school's Board of Governors, everyone unanimously agreed that this encouragement-based approach should be continued at Hogwarts."

"Therefore, in the next few months, we will officially introduce the 'Hogwarts House Points' mechanism."

"In addition to House points, your campus life, academic improvement, and personal growth at Hogwarts will all be converted into a certain value in the form of 'House Points'. Consuming the corresponding 'House Points' will allow you to exchange for various items at the Hogwarts Logistics Office…"

Dumbledore paused for a few seconds, nodding towards the old wizard at the end of the staff table.

"Professor Apocalypses is happy to serve as the head of the Logistics Office, and the opening location of the Logistics Office is tentatively set in an empty classroom on the seventh floor."

Ever since Hermione initiated the "Age of Plunder," the devils in the hearts of Hogwarts students had almost all awakened. If there wasn't a powerful wizard to guard it, Dumbledore was afraid that some student groups would take risks—it had to be said that the extent of "Hermione-ization" of Hogwarts students was becoming more and more serious. Especially in collaborative spellcasting and cooperation, older students could even easily crush an equal number of Aurors.

In fact, the influence of the batch of students who graduated last year had already begun to gradually spread.

Within the Ministry of Magic, the batch of students who had experienced the "Hermione Age" far surpassed other wizards in collaborative combat.

Perhaps the difference wasn't obvious when they acted alone, but when multiple people acted together, especially when dealing with tax investigations, dark wizard arrests, and high-risk magical creature expulsion events, the strength demonstrated by these graduates of the same year was almost all elite-level.

Cornelius Fudge was used to attributing these to the tacit understanding of classmates and the occasional appearance of a batch of high-quality graduates.

However, Dumbledore was very clear in his heart that this was just the beginning…

From now on, each graduating class from Hogwarts would likely be more outstanding than their predecessors.

And the peak of this wave of rising strength… Dumbledore's gaze subconsciously fell on the girl in the corner of the Hufflepuff table, who was chatting with several other prospective Grand Arcanas. It would be at least six more years before people would know what a true peak was.

"Of course, exchanging books, supplies, food… these are just the most superficial uses of 'House Points'—"

Dumbledore withdrew his thoughts, smiled warmly, and continued.

"Starting this week, Mr. Nicolas Flamel will be opening 'Alchemy Open Classes' every weekend. At the same time, Hogwarts will also invite some well-known wizards from the wizarding world to the school from time to time to share their experiences. Given the limited space, the auditing qualifications for some courses will also be linked to 'House Points'. In addition, Mr. Newt Scamander will also be opening the first selection event for 'Magical Creature' trainers later—"

"The connection between magical creatures and human wizards can be traced back thousands of years, which is a bond that is even more ancient than the wand as a companion."

"Human wizards have limits, and magical creature partners can help us fill in our own deficiencies. Throughout history, countless outstanding wizards have established deep friendships with magical creatures and have helped and supported each other at critical moments. Hogwarts also encouraged students to tame magical creatures when it was first established—however, due to frequent deaths and serious injuries, we eventually banned this tradition."

"Frequent deaths and serious injuries?!" Hermione said softly, turning her head to look at Hermione in surprise.

She had heard about the selection event for "Magical Creature Trainers" in advance, but in Hermione's description, there were none of these unsettling historical legacy problems. As Hogwarts prefects, they would be responsible for the safety of all teachers and students.

But most of the students in the hall were not as worried as she was. Many people were excitedly whispering to each other.

Everyone was eager to hear more details about the "Magical Creature Trainer". Everyone had their own magical creatures they dreamed of taming and carrying.

"In recent decades, the school has been trying to reduce the dangers that magical creatures may cause."

Dumbledore continued, "However, from the actual results, just as we cannot abandon our wands, as long as we are still in this wonderful world, we cannot completely avoid dealing with magical creatures. Therefore, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the World Magical Creature Protection Association, and the Magical Creature Management Control Division of the Ministry of Magic all agree that we should try to eliminate the unknown, rather than continuing to unilaterally prohibit it."

"In the past few months, we have screened out four initial magical creatures that will not cause too much danger in the promotion process."

"However, considering the difficulty of magical creature taming and the various unknowns in the 'Magical Creature Trainer' training process, we will set certain thresholds and assessments at the beginning to determine which students are eligible to participate in the selection of 'initial magical creatures'—"

"If all goes well, when the semester is about to end, we will also open a batch of 'initial magical creature' purchase qualifications. The current provisional form is an auction, and the payment basis is your 'House Points'. By the way, the 'Magical Creature Trainer' is expected to serve as a professional qualification certificate in the magical creature-related industry in a year or two, so I suggest those who are interested in…"

"I must find a way to pass those tests and assessments!"

Charlie Weasley said in a low voice at the table, his eyes gradually becoming firm.

Obviously, if he wanted to continue dealing with dragons, and even other fascinating magical creatures, then he had to obtain this "Magical Creature Trainer" qualification certificate. But the worst part was that he had quite a few potential competitors.

In front of each House's table, Charlie could see someone either looking at Dumbledore excitedly or whispering excitedly to their neighbor.

After the foreshadowing of "Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk," the new "Magical Creature Trainer" was almost associated with recreating the glorious deeds of the school's four founders. Not to mention, they also had the opportunity to raise those magical creatures—since Newt had returned to Hogwarts, his legendary experiences from back then had also inadvertently returned to the campus.

Just then, Dumbledore started speaking again, and the hall quickly fell silent again.

"I know that a lot has been announced today, and many things are being tried for the first time in Hogwarts Castle."

Dumbledore said, looking around at the excited little wizards, his blue eyes flashing with meaningful light, "But I want to emphasize that the foundation of most events is still in learning and life, in every bit of accumulation. I think we will soon find that the changes are not just in these rules, the richness of the course content, the advancement of teaching theory, the fullness of campus life… these are the real changes."

"This is a new milestone in the field of education jointly promoted by the entire wizarding world—"

Dumbledore nodded slightly to several professors around him, his voice slightly raised.

"Perhaps many students have noticed that a batch of foreign wizards have arrived in Hogsmeade. They will be responsible for the security of the school's perimeter and jointly promote research in the field of magic. I hope that when you encounter them outside, you can show the enthusiasm and friendliness of Hogwarts."

"Alright, that's all for the things to pay attention to in the new semester. We can start enjoying breakfast and then start a new day of learning!"

Dumbledore clapped his hands gently, and a large pile of rich and delicious breakfasts instantly appeared on the long tables.

As the fragrant bread, grilled sausages, and potato wedges appeared one after another, the little wizards' attention instantly shifted away from Dumbledore's words.

A clinking, clattering sound rang out in the restaurant as the students, like Dumbledore who had sat down again, picked up their knives and forks and began to focus on dealing with the food in front of them. After such a long morning meeting, everyone was already a little hungry.

"That's strange, why were today's announcements made before breakfast?"

Hermione frowned, looking at Hermione with some confusion, her eyes full of suspicion.

Most of Hogwarts' important decisions were announced in the Great Hall, and there was nothing wrong with that.

But in Hermione's memory, Dumbledore had almost never given long speeches before meals. Even the opening remarks for the entrance welcome were mostly moved to after everyone had eaten and drank their fill. It was quite rare for him to speak before meals like this.

"Because these contents are particularly important, but they may not be particularly important—"

Hermione forked a sizzling grilled sausage, took a delicious bite, and said softly.

"As the headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore has an obligation to inform everyone, but given the unknown nature of the new things, there are still some disagreements on this series of events, whether it's the Ministry of Magic, the school's Board of Governors, or Professor Dumbledore himself."

"And…"

Hermione glanced in the direction of the staff seats and licked her lips lightly.

"The really important things are mostly hidden in the shortest descriptions. You'll understand after class this week!"

Version updates, after all, always require user experience before you truly understand what has happened.

————

————

Yay!