Mysterious Journey

1280: Showdown and the Demon King's Castle

"…The assignment is still in the previous format: a two-page parchment essay on the metamorphosis of mollusks."

"Please hand them in next week. Class dismissed."

Transfiguration classroom.

With the melodious sound of the dismissal bell, Professor McGonagall casually closed the prop box on the podium.

"Also, Miss Kaslana, please stay behind for a moment. There are some things I'd like to discuss with you in private…"

"But Professor McGonagall, we have Potions class next—"

"I'll explain it to Professor Snape…"

Professor McGonagall glanced at Hermione and tapped a piece of parchment lightly with her wand.

In an instant, the parchment quickly rolled up into a small scroll and flew into Hermione's outstretched right hand.

"Miss Granger, this is Eileen's excuse note. Could you please give it to Professor Snape? She may have to miss today's Potions class."

"Uh—no problem, Professor McGonagall. I'll go right away…"

Hermione looked at the somber Professor McGonagall and gave Eileen a helpless look.

Obviously, Professor McGonagall seemed to be in a bad mood. Symbolically helping Eileen was already the maximum extent of their sisterhood.

"…Don't worry, it's nothing serious, just some minor issues."

Eileen waved at Hermione at the door, smiling casually.

"I'll be over in a bit—"

"Okay."

A moment later, only two witches, one large and one small, remained in the classroom.

Unlike McGonagall, who wore a stern face, Eileen was quite relaxed.

Of course, she knew why the middle-aged cat woman had called her over; it was just a little behind-the-scenes push for the "palace coup."

Anyway, the proposal was drafted by Rufus Scrimgeour himself, and the vote was instigated by Grindelwald. She just offered a few suggestions behind the scenes.

In fact, that's how it was supposed to be—she was just a cute little witch. How could she personally interfere in the affairs of adults?

Besides, there was a high-quality scapegoat available, and Eileen wasn't worried about McGonagall getting angry.

However…

She had been expecting Old Potato and Old Lion to directly convince Professor McGonagall.

After all, a former Dark Lord and a former Head of the Auror Office should be quite outstanding in terms of eloquence and execution.

Squeak—bang.

The door of the Transfiguration classroom slammed shut.

"Well, I won't beat around the bush—"

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and looked at the problematic girl sitting on the desk directly in front of her.

"Why are you doing this, Miss Kaslana? I thought we were on the same page when it came to Hogwarts."

"Are you referring to the 'Hogwarts Faculty Qualification Review' proposal?"

"You should know what the Ministry of Magic is thinking."

Professor McGonagall said angrily, pulling a piece of parchment from her handbag and slamming it on the table.

"Educational Decrees, faculty-wide votes, teacher qualification exams—are you planning to turn Hogwarts into a mouthpiece of the Ministry of Magic?!"

"This was Professor Dumbledore's idea before he left. If you have any objections, you can ask him directly…"

Eileen replied calmly, glancing at the middle-aged cat woman in front of her.

"Hmm, no text, no memory fragments, no evidence—"

"All of this comes from the professor's oral account, which is quite easy to offend people, and he knows it, right?"

Eileen didn't look at the document that Professor McGonagall slammed on the table. She braced herself with both hands and jumped lightly off the desk.

"The certification of teachers in the magical world is an inevitable trend… The cumbersome and rigid recruitment model of the past should have been changed long ago."

"Sometimes, those things that seem prone to problems and corruption can become the cleanest and most idealized things in the sunlight."

"You can try to object or contact other teachers to protest—but I personally don't recommend doing so, since you are now one of the teachers awaiting assessment."

"Oh?" Professor McGonagall laughed in anger. "Then who will assess and set the standards?"

"In theory, this should be discussed by Mr. Scrimgeour and Professor Apocalis…"

Eileen spread her hands, looking at the angry Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts in front of her, and continued.

"However…"

"I know what you want to hear…"

"That's right, the standards and the content of the teacher qualification assessment… I drafted them."

"Of course, this was also passed by a vote. You should have learned about it in detail from Mr. Scrimgeour last night—"

Eileen pointed to the parchment that Professor McGonagall had slammed on the table.

"The Hogwarts Board of Governors, the Ministry of Magic, and the Headmaster jointly initiated this proposal."

"At the same time, the consent of half of the Hogwarts faculty and staff was obtained before it was launched—as for who drafted it, it doesn't matter, does it?"

"Ultimately, it's best to decide on the redistribution of power in the school as soon as possible during this period when Hogwarts doesn't have a headmaster."

Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at Eileen with a somewhat unfamiliar gaze.

Since Dumbledore left, Eileen's activity in Hogwarts Castle had exceeded her imagination.

From the Ministry of Magic to the Board of Governors, from formal professors like Quirinus Quirrell to marginalized castle caretakers like Argus Filch…

Perhaps, in terms of formal job titles, Eileen was still a student.

But from the current situation, her influence had obviously begun to approach that of a "substantive" Hogwarts Headmaster.

Most importantly, Professor McGonagall still hadn't figured out how Eileen had managed to do it in such a short time.

"What I want to know now is, what exactly did you promise them?!"

"Clearly visible order, that's all."

Eileen bowed gracefully, picked up her bag, and put it on her back.

"So, can I go to Potions class now? Professor—as for what exactly happened, why don't you just ask them directly?"

Seeing that Professor McGonagall didn't intend to stop her, Eileen walked quickly to the door and snapped her fingers lightly.

"Lead the way for me—"

Snap.

With a soft sound, a house-elf appeared in front of her.

The "post-Dumbledore era" affected not only people but also the house-elves living in Hogwarts Castle.

With Headmaster Dumbledore's departure, the Hogwarts Head Chef's command level automatically reached the first rank.

And that also meant…

Hogwarts officially became Eileen's Demon King Castle.

As for what Professor McGonagall was seeing now, it was just the second or even the third step of the changes…

Of course, perhaps for most of the students and professors at Hogwarts, the new Hogwarts was just officially beginning now.

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Goo ah!