Chapter 14 Stereotype

On the first day of school, also Tewell's first official day of work, he got up early despite spending a lot of time playing video games last night.

The weather was nice today, and Tewell brought a book titled "Wizard Chess Basics" to the Great Hall.

He had just borrowed it from the library, earning some strange looks and delaying a bit because Madam Pince, the librarian, hadn't opened the doors so early.

There weren't many students in the Great Hall; they seemed to still be in holiday mode, not yet accustomed to the schedule of study life.

The professors, on the other hand, were quite early.

Quirrell sat at the edge, eating breakfast with a heavy heart, while Professor Sprout had already finished her meal, greeted everyone, and went to tend to the herbs in the greenhouse.

"Good morning, Tewell," Professor Flitwick warmly invited Tewell to sit next to him. "I hope you didn't lose sleep from nervousness."

"It seems you have experience with this?" Tewell joked as he sat down.

Flitwick chuckled along.

"I don't remember my first day of teaching, but I still remember how nervous several professors at Hogwarts were when they first arrived."

"But this is the first time I've seen a new professor bring 'Wizard Chess Basics,'" Flitwick continued, smiling. "Are you planning to teach Wizard Chess in class?"

Tewell picked up a piece of bread from the table, carefully spreading blueberry jam on it evenly as he casually replied, "I just suddenly became interested in Wizard Chess.

Do you play Wizard Chess? We could exchange tips if you have time."

Flitwick shrugged; Wizard Chess wasn't his idea of fun.

"I can't teach you that. I've never played Wizard Chess, but you can ask Professor McGonagall. She's an expert in Wizard Chess."

Tewell pondered the scene of him asking Professor McGonagall for advice. "Professor McGonagall, could you teach me how to play Wizard Chess?"

"How come you suddenly want to learn this?"

"Oh, it's because I want to solve the chessboard you assigned."

Better not.

Learning Wizard Chess from the person involved would expose myself too easily.

Tewell shook his head, dismissing this impractical idea, and focused on his breakfast instead.

It wasn't lavish, much less compared to last night's feast, but it was better than what was served at Durmstrang.

Several Ravenclaw girls gathered together, whispering for a while before finally selecting one girl.

Her face turned as red as her ears, and with the encouragement of her friends, she shyly but firmly walked up to Tewell.

"Professor Fawley, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course you can," Tewell had noticed their situation earlier and couldn't help but smile. "But that was already a question, so you've asked it."

A puzzled expression formed a question mark on the girl's head, and the smile froze on her face.

The other girls also looked baffled, staring at Tewell and the chuckling Professor Flitwick beside him.

Flitwick laughed for a moment before speaking, "Professor Fawley was just joking with you, Penelope. Feel free to ask him anything."

Then he introduced Tewell, "This is Penelope Clearwater, an excellent student from Ravenclaw."

With the head of their house speaking up and seeing no sign of disagreement from Professor Fawley, Penelope gathered her courage again.

"May I ask what you will teach us in class?"

It wasn't their fault; the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors in recent years had been changing annually, and their courses were completely disjointed.

As diligent Ravenclaws, they hoped to be mentally prepared in advance.

"What year are you in?" Tewell asked.

Penelope didn't understand the implication of Tewell's words and hesitated before answering, "We're all in our fourth year."

"I'm sorry, then. I'm only responsible for first to third-year courses. For fourth year and above, you'll need to ask Professor Quirrell over there," Tewell shook his head.

The girls couldn't hide their disappointment, and Penelope even let out a heavy sigh.

She wanted to turn away, but was stopped by her companions behind her. They gestured towards Tewell before remembering the question they originally wanted to ask.

"Oh, right, can we know your age? You look very young after all."

"It's not some kind of secret," Tewell saw the expectant expressions of these young witches, "I just graduated this year, so I'm only eighteen."

Eighteen!

Penelope was so surprised she couldn't speak.

The fact that she and a professor were only four years apart meant that if Hogwarts had students repeating years, they could be older than the professors.

"But if you just graduated, we should have seen you at Hogwarts in the past few years, right?"

Penelope immediately sensed the problem. A handsome senior like Tewell would have been impossible to forget.

The girls around her breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Tewell was teasing them again. But his next words surprised them even more.

"Because I didn't attend Hogwarts; I went to Durmstrang."

The scene fell silent. Penelope and her friends were shocked, their mouths gaping wide enough to fit an owl inside.

"Don't let Professor Fawley's youthfulness deceive you; he's the most outstanding graduate Durmstrang has ever had," Flitwick couldn't help but interject.

He disliked people judging others by their appearance. During his early years, many wizards liked to mock his height during dueling practice.

Although he used his stature as an unexpected advantage to teach them a lesson, it also formed a habit of not tolerating disrespect.

"The problem is, Durmstrang is a school that teaches Dark Arts!"

Penelope exclaimed, attracting the attention of the students in the hall who were dining.

"So that's why," Flitwick shrugged indifferently, "since Headmaster Dumbledore brought him in, it means you don't have to worry about being exposed to magic you shouldn't be exposed to."

Compared to the students, veteran professors like Flitwick had long studied dark magic, but not as extensively as Tewell.

In reality, once one reaches a certain level of proficiency, the magic they study no longer has clear distinctions between black and white.

It's only the intentions of the users that serve as the method to distinguish between dark and light wizards.

However, students fail to grasp this ideology; in their minds, those who use dark magic are simply dark wizards. Although there's no evidence to suggest that Durmstrang students will necessarily use dark magic after learning it, there's also no guarantee that Tewell hasn't dabbled in dark magic!

So, the way Penelope and her friends look at Tewell is with the label of "potential dark wizard," even worse than the impression they have of Slytherins.

Tewell anticipated this situation.

He knew that not only students but also the British wizarding community as a whole holds a stereotype against Durmstrang, one that he couldn't change overnight.