17

Retreat

Dumbledore flew into his office, shut the door with a wave of his hand, then cast a silencing spell, only to hurl an object at the wall with the howl of a wounded beast, knocking several paintings and objects off the shelves. The phoenix, startled by such behaviour from its contractor, burst into flames and crumbled into a pile of ashes at the bottom of the cage.

- Bloody Malfoy! Bloody Ministry! Bloody International Magical Court! How dare they?! - Another object, which turned out to be a chronometer, slammed into the wall and shattered.

With a deep sigh, Dumbledore ran to his cupboard, pulled out a bottle of the finest whisky, tore the top off in one fell swoop and placed it around his neck. After a few sips, he sighed loudly and put his hands back on the bottle. Only when he had finished the bottle and smashed it against the wall did he transform the sofa next to him and literally collapsed into it, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

- How is this even possible?! I lost?! Me?! And now I have to pay back eighteen million galleons or submit the same amount in expense claims on the guy to the Gringotts Commission? You wretched creatures!

Squinting, the headmaster began to breathe deeply and calmly, and gradually calmed down.

- We'll see who's who! - He waved his fist at the door, but was distracted by an owl that flew in through the window, took a note from his beak, dropped it on the table, grabbed a slice of lemon from a vase and flew out the window to mind its own business.

Dumbledore stood up, took the scroll with the Ministry seal from the table, broke it open, unfolded the paper and read the text. In another minute, he would have knocked the table and all its contents to the floor, kicked himself in the foot with it, fallen over, hit himself with a papier-mache press, got up, waddled to the potion cupboard, drank a couple of them, and collapsed on the sofa when he was cured.

- Plans are falling apart one by one..." he said into the void, lost in thought. - Sirius Black was exonerated and compensated for moral and other damages. And sent to Mungo for rehabilitation. What is wrong with this world?!

End of retreat

I was sitting at the foot of the huge transfigured wall in the cave beneath the castle, carefully carving runes into it.

The blue and blue light illuminating the wall above me was a good six metres high and ten metres wide. The only runes left to be written were those at the bottom, which I was just finishing. Apart from the runes, the wall was covered in a vast array of penta, hexo and other grams. It was all shimmering gold and scarlet. Now and then it flashed and faded almost completely. Many of the grams were made up of finely written runes that merged into a ligature, eventually forming a complex gram. The sight was beautiful and mesmerising. And I could feel the castle's keen attention on my actions. The castle was not at all opposed to my plan, for it was for its own benefit and improvement.

After another three hours of completing this artefactual masterpiece, I stood up and, with a grunt, began to stretch my legs and feel a tingling sensation in many parts of my body. A lot of it was stiff. But the wall was ready. I took the dagger from my pocket, took a few breaths, slashed my palm where the blood began to pool and poured my blood onto the wall as soon as I had a handful, causing it to burst into flames and temporarily blinding me. When I opened my eyes, I stared in shock at what had appeared before my eyes.

- Oh, for fuck's sake! Oh, really?!

Look out! An artefact of Level: World.

Artefact name: Heart of Hogwarts.

Previously only partially sentient, Hogwarts has now gained greater sentience and strength.

The process to fully restore the castle has begun.

The process of upgrading the castle has begun.

The procedure to form the Sentinel has been initiated.

The procedure for forming an additional guard has been initiated.

The process of forming the Hogwarts Guard has begun.

Attention! The castle has re-established communication with the Forbidden Forest!

A new property has been purchased: The Forbidden Forest!

New Guardians have been obtained!

New Warriors have been recruited and are available!

The process of transforming the School of Magic into the University of High Magic has begun!

Faculties have been changed and new disciplines added.

From now on:

Gryffindor - Combat Magic, Elemental Magic, Dueling. Major: Combat Magic. Minimum period of study: Eight years.

Slytherin - Artefacting, Pottery, Dark Arts: Necromancy, Maleficence, Dark Magic, Chimera, Demonology. Minimum age: Eight years.

Hufflepuff - Support. Healing, Druidism, Potions, Artefacting, Summoning, Forest Magic, Nature Magic. Minimum age: Eight years.

Ravenclaw Magic Science. Ritualism, Runes, Charms, Artifactories (Advanced), Space Magic, Werewolf Magic, Order Magic, Light Magic, Chimerology, Study of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, Astrology, Prophecy, Esotericism. Minimum duration: Eight years.

Drago is the graduate faculty of the University of Magic. A branch of Light. Minimum training period: Twelve years. Increased knowledge of magic and a deeper knowledge of the depths of magic. Eight electives are required. Additional subjects: Advanced Draconology, Interworld Spaces, Advanced Healing Magic, Advanced Ritualism, Advanced Space, Advanced Magic (Light, Order).

Darnm - Higher Faculty of the University of Magic. Dark Direction. Minimum training: twelve years. Advanced knowledge of magic and a deeper knowledge of the depths of magic. Eight electives are required. Advanced Dragonology, Interworld Spaces, Ultimate Dark Magic, Ultimate Ritualism, Ultimate Space, Ultimate Necromancy, Chaos Magic. Magic of Destruction.

Attention! You have been appointed headmaster of Hogwarts University! Congratulations!

Bonuses: A private office. A laboratory, a salary of five thousand galleons per month. Full benefits. Magic restoration plus forty percent, access to Hogwarts magic shops. Full subordination to the Hogwarts Guard and to you personally.

Receive a new rank! Lord Rector.

Receive a mission from Hogwarts: Restore the Greatness of Magic.

Hire teachers for new positions and courses.

Check the knowledge of existing teachers and their qualifications to teach.

Find new teachers for the High Faculties of Magic.

Warning. New Hogwarts Library sections have been created!

Beware! Hogwarts is using its powers!

Beware! The Hogwarts Library has received magical imprints of new books and aids for the Higher Faculties of Magic!

Beware! A large number of old books have been removed!

Beware! A large number of magical books have been returned to the shelves of Hogwarts Library from the Room of Requirement.

Warning! The Forbidden Section of the Library has been restocked!

Attention! The Forbidden Section of the Hogwarts Library has been renamed: Drago and Darnemore's Department of High Magic!

Books have been rearranged and moved to their proper places according to their contents.

Attention! Fire Elves have been accepted into the castle!

Beware! There is a new servant of Hogwarts - Gremlins!

Beware! Reconstruction of the Hogwarts Faculty Rooms has begun!

Warning! The reconstruction of Drago and Darn Halls has begun!

Beware! Reconstruction of the Arenas has begun!

Beware! The land of Hogwarts: Lake of Magic, Forbidden Forest, Fairy Glade, Dark Caves, Dragon Caves, Human Settlement, Werewolf Settlement, Elf Settlement, Fairy Settlement, Ancient Pogo, Portal Square, Druid Cairn, Underground City, Monster Forest, Forest of Light and Order, Demon Volcano, Dark Elf Caves.

Warning! These settlements have been notified of the addition. Potential teachers have been notified of available positions!

- Yoeklmn! - was all I could say in response. - What a nuisance have I made of myself? And why has it come to this? Where did I get this system? And what kind of headmaster am I? I'm not even twelve yet!

Retreat

Students from all faculties stood in the Hogwarts quadrangle with their teachers, watching what was happening to the castle. And the thing was growing. Before their very eyes, all the damage was twitching in a bluish haze, and then small figures appeared, smaller than house-elves, dressed in grey, with strange binoculars and a vast array of tools on and near them, and then they seemed to vanish, and the damage to the castle simply disappeared!

The towers grew, the walls receded, even the ground where the castle was expanding grew before their eyes. The wall was pushed back a considerable distance and the empty space was filled with cobblestones, then the foundations of new buildings grew, and then the buildings themselves began to grow. And in the middle of it all, at incredible speed, were these little people.

Headmaster Dumbledore, looking at all this, drew his wand and, shouting a spell, caught one of the grey whirlwinds, which materialised in his hand into this very small grey goblin with a pile of tools.

- Hey!" the little goblin chirped. - You let me go at once! We're in a firestorm! The Headmaster won't be happy if the plan isn't completed on time! You'll be sorry you kept a busy gremlin busy!

- Yes, yes," Dumbledore nodded, then shook the little man. - Now tell me, what are you doing with the castle?!

- Don't you see?! - The goblin jabbed a tiny pen in the direction of the castle, indignant. - We're rebuilding the place! Plans are afoot to build new enclosures and expand the space for them! Now let go, I've got work to do! Or I'll hit you with a hammer and you'll fly further than you can see, wizard!

- Don't be rude," the Headmaster shook the gremlin admonishingly, who at that moment was trying to unhook a miniature hammer from his belt. - What a headmaster!

The gremlin froze at what he heard and glared at Dumbledore.

- What?! You don't know the Lord Rector?! How is that possible?! He's the Keeper of everything here! The most powerful man at the University of High Magic! You're the Headmaster and you don't know the Rector?

- No, I don't. And I'm in charge.

- Pha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! - The gremlin laughed and let go of his hammer from his right hand. - Ouch! Get down! - He suddenly shouted and literally disappeared from the headmaster's hand, appearing instantly in front of the students, a thick fortress wall of solid size growing in front of them, and then behind the wall rumbling as if a titan were stamping. The students jumped and fell where they stood. The wall cracked from the force of the impact. The Gremlin, removing his glasses from his eyes, exhaled in relief and wiped the sweat from his brow. - Phew, he made it!

And then the wall he had created scattered grey sparks, and the students saw a simply surreal sight. A huge five-metre crater, at the bottom of which lay a tiny four-inch hammer, pressed into the rock so that only a hollow in its shape betrayed its presence there.

Reaching into the crater, the gremlin drew his tool from the cavity and hung it carefully on his belt. However, just as he did this, an important gremlin in a broad-brimmed bowler hat appeared behind him, and gave him a savage thrashing, which sent the injured gremlin hurtling across the square at the speed of a bullet, and crawling over the wall, into which he slammed his entire apparently diminutive body.

- Grannak! How dare you drop your hammer, you Death Hound scum! - Wailed the gremlin in the hat, who had come upon the guilty man's body and was shaking it like a heavy sheet. - Why aren't you working? What if the headmaster finds out?! You want to work in the dark elves' spider pens for a year?! I'll make that happen for you!

- N-n-n-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no, Mr Architect! Excuse me, Mr Architect! I was being held by a mage with a long white beard, and he wouldn't let go, and it's forbidden to harm us, so I couldn't get away, but when I dropped the hammer, I tried to save the students, here! - reported the flailing gremlin in the wind, while managing to keep his head still. How could he do that? Who the hell knows anything about gremlins?

- And where is he, this wizard?

- I don't know, Master Architect. I was saving apprentices, Master Architect!

- Hmmm..." the hat-wearing goblin let go and was instantly visible from the crater, then grimaced and thrust his hand into the ground until he could draw in a gasping breath and try to catch his breath. There was no air underground.

Walking over to the dirty and struggling mage to catch his breath, the gremlin remarked, raising a finger to the surface.

- Never touch a gremlin's tools, or worse might come to pass! Well, I've got work to do," he said, turning into a grey whirlwind and disappearing into the distance at the speed of the buildings under construction.

- What on earth is going on in this madhouse? - I heard the weary voice of my teacher, who was also the Dean of Slytherin.