Unsurprisingly, Slytherin lost to the "All-Star Team" in the weekend's Quidditch match.
This was the first piece of news that Aileen and the others heard upon returning to Hogwarts. Without the Little Witch's assignment, the outstanding graduates from Hogwarts' past champion teams unleashed a brutal massacre on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch.
Clearly, these former golden boys vented all the anger from their loss to Gryffindor the previous week on Slytherin House.
The final score was 420-10, breaking the record for the largest point difference in Hogwarts history.
"So, almost all of this year's magic master's students are from the Foundation?"
Hermione lay on Aileen's bed in the Hufflepuff girls' dormitory, flipping through the member list with interest.
Not far from her, Hannah and Luna were still copying homework, having not done theirs at all.
Even though Hermione and Aileen had unusually allowed them to directly "borrow" the finished product, they were still struggling to work late into the night with their quills before mastering the "Ink Blot Transformation Sketch" spell – even for reserve Arcana, rewriting homework still required completion.
Hermione, having finished her homework early, could free up her energy to familiarize herself with the campus environment.
With each turn of the thick 【Hogwarts】 directory, a brand new Hogwarts unfolded before Hermione's eyes.
Among the official professors, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Lockhart, Professor Scamander, and Professor Apocalis, these four Arcana were secretly watching and promoting the reform and development of Hogwarts' teaching from different levels of the faculty.
Nicholas Flamel, the honorary professor with transcendent status, remained neutral, detached from the faculty system.
On the other hand, Sir Nicholas, "The World," was hidden among the ghosts of Hogwarts.
The Hogwarts Ghost Patrol, composed of members of the "Headless Hunt," and all the portraits in Hogwarts... these "gone" echoes were all under Sir Nicholas' control, covering every corner of the castle like a veil, almost omnipresent.
In addition, the Foundation's depth of penetration, from professors to students, completely exceeded Hermione's previous expectations.
"Professor Quirrell... is he a C-level member of the Foundation?"
Hermione frowned, asking softly with confusion.
If she remembered correctly from Aileen's earlier introduction, D-level members were the lowest level of labor, and C-level members were slightly better but still had not escaped the cold restriction order – in cases endangering Foundation projects, members below B-level did not have exemption rights.
In other words, in an emergency, B-level member Bill Weasley even had the right to directly eliminate Professor Quirrell.
"Yeah, there are some issues with Professor Quirrell's background check..."
Aileen shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed while supervising Hannah and Luna's homework, explaining.
"Just like you asked about Draco earlier, Professor Quirrell was once controlled by Voldemort. Even based on the current information, he should be considered a coerced party, but this is still similar to the Malfoy family's situation... there is a bad dark history."
"As for Bill, his situation is a bit special–"
Aileen swayed her pale legs, glancing at Hannah and Luna, who were quietly perking up their ears to eavesdrop.
"In terms of organizational structure, Bill Weasley belongs to the 【Gringotts】 sequence. As the Director of the Gringotts London Office, his rank within Hogwarts does not actually equal his true authority... when his study period ends, he will return to Gringotts.
"In fact, he also works overtime every weekend. Many of your trivial matters, Luna, can be transferred to Bill for handling."
As one of the few B-level members of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Bill's position in the Foundation is not low.
Naturally, he is also one of the few special members in Hogwarts who can know the list of reserve Arcana.
Luna tilted her head, pondered for a moment, put down her quill, and asked seriously.
"Um, homework... does that count as a trivial matter?"
"Theoretically speaking, combining the actual situation and integrating various regulations–"
Aileen's expression suddenly stiffened, blinked, and tried to search her mind for a while.
"As a senior assistant at Gringotts Wizarding Bank, if you think it's okay to do so, and he doesn't object, then it should be considered a trivial matter... right? But that's not good, you're still in an important stage of learning knowledge, it's best not to–"
"Isn't copying textbooks for Defense Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic meaningless?"
Luna said softly with a serious expression, and while she spoke, she picked up a thick roll of parchment from her desk.
"And these, reading comprehension assignments for Grammar class, the drawing of orbital paths for Astronomy class... most of these are useless, right?"
"It can, um, cultivate your sentiments."
Aileen scratched her cheek, and ultimately couldn't resist Luna's pure gaze, saying awkwardly.
"Okay, okay, if you think it's necessary, it's not against the rules to distribute these tasks – but you must ensure that it doesn't affect your normal studies – I don't want Mr. 'Hermit' to come to Hogwarts and challenge Bill to a duel."
"Yeah, I know," Luna nodded, relieved, "Don't worry, I won't let Dad know."
"What about me, what about me? Does Destiny Group have similar senior assistants?"
Hannah turned her head and asked eagerly, her bright eyes filled with anticipation.
"No, no, no~"
Aileen smiled slightly, answering quite happily.
"There weren't any in the past, there aren't any now, and there probably won't be any in the future."
"Of course, you can try asking 'The Tower' to see if he can think of a way to reduce your homework."
She glanced at the thoughtful Hannah, raising her eyebrows meaningfully.
The help of the first Dark Lord isn't a free lunch – based on her understanding of Grindelwald, while solving the homework, Old Potato will definitely try to add some equivalent costs. These "costs" will obviously be more useful than school knowledge in the long run.
As for how long it will take for Iron Dummy to understand the imbalance in cost-effectiveness between the two, it's hard to say.
"It says here that D-level and C-level members don't know each other's identities, and are all connected by single lines..."
Hermione glanced at the cheerful Dummy not far away, thought for a moment and didn't burst her bubble, but continued to ask Aileen.
"So, if a member happens to know some highly classified secrets, what will the Foundation do?"
"Oh, yes, that happens occasionally–"
Aileen nodded casually, saying in a light and cheerful tone.
"That's Mr. 'The Hanged Man's' job, cleaning up those memories that shouldn't exist. I told you, Mr. Lockhart is one of the few Obliviation Charm masters in the world today. Before defecting, he used the Obliviation Charm to steal the experiences of many wizards resisting dark magic, and wrote those stories under his own name in the first edition of his novels... but now, his personal experience is rich enough."
"Steal? But–"
Hermione raised her eyebrows, looking at Aileen with suspicion, slowly retorting.
"Whether it's on the Hyperion or here at Hogwarts, I haven't found any traces."
"That's because you haven't been promoted to a formal Arcana."
Aileen sighed lightly, reaching out to pinch Hermione's face helplessly.
"Exchange of interests, do you understand what that means? That's the 'pre-issued benefit' Mr. 'The Hanged Man' gets for joining the Arcana. Destiny Group and Gringotts Wizarding Bank complete some simple cleanup work for 'The Hanged Man,' but you obviously can't see this content now."
"Oh?" Hermione skillfully slapped away Aileen's mischievous hands, humming nonchalantly.
From a long time ago, Aileen has been secretly smearing Professor Lockhart.
Even after she learned Professor Lockhart's true identity, this white-haired dumpling was still continuing to spread rumors.
"Never mind," Aileen shrugged, feeling quite tired, giving up on continuing to explain, "Anyway, you're a reserve Arcana now, Hogwarts has the last day of classes before Christmas tomorrow, so just take the time to ask him yourself, wouldn't that be better?"
"I will without you telling me–"
Hermione turned over. There was a Grammar class the next morning, and she planned to ask Professor Lockhart directly then.
Actually, deep down, she almost believed Aileen's statement.
After all, Professor Lockhart is also an Arcana member on the same level as Aileen. Based on Hermione's understanding of Aileen, she's not the type to gossip about her partners behind their backs. But, Hermione still had a little bit of hope, in case there was a hidden story?
…………
However, the next morning, Hermione didn't see Professor Lockhart in the castle.
Gilderoy Lockhart had taken a rare leave of absence, and Professor Apocalis didn't come to help substitute teach either.
As a result, the last Grammar class before Christmas for the second-year A class was directly canceled, and the students disbanded in place and returned to their respective common rooms.
As the direct commander of "wiB-Black-Clothed Wizards," Lockhart was also responsible for the defense construction of the research institute and the recruitment and screening of employees at the "Hogwarts Outsourced Chicken Farm." This was a very important task. If he wasn't there to oversee and command, it would be terrible if those one-track-minded researchers and the equally rigid "wiB" employees clashed.
Not to mention, this was the first project he had initiated himself, and Lockhart had to ensure that everything was in the most stable and smooth state.
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Hooray!