20

Retreat

Dumbledore sat in his study, drinking brandy from an open bottle. He was shivering nervously and his thoughts were troubled by what he had seen in the Great Hall.

The major faculties remained, but there were changes within them as well. Slytherin was no longer the rumoured Faculty of Darkness, it was now the Faculty of Darkness. It would be taught by new teachers already arriving at Hogwarts and housed in the new buildings. And the new syllabus he had discovered on his desk? From next year, completely new subjects would be introduced, and not just in Witchcraft. Many would also be taught Muggle sciences. It would be a heavy burden for the students, but the plan had been drawn up by a true genius, as the first courses would teach the basics of Muggle Science. And then they would become electives, for, as it is written, a better understanding of the Muggle world and its peculiarities.

And the teachers? When he met the strange girl in the corridor, golden-haired and shy, he could hardly believe that her white robes bore the mark of Drago and the inscription that she was a teacher! She looked no older than sixteen!

But when he tried to find out more about her, all he could see were her astonished eyes. A feeling of love, care, joy and tenderness rose in the unholy man's soul. He tried to speak to her again, but as he raised his hand to stop her as she walked further down the corridor, a hand with a light leather glove fell on his shoulder. And a voice behind him, a rather pleasant baritone, said:

- I understand you perfectly, but don't give in to the feelings that are overwhelming you. Angels, they are.

Dumbledore turned and met his gaze with vertical pupils that literally made him jump a few feet away from their possessor.

- And we demons are just that," grinned a red-haired, curly-haired, elegant man in a business suit draped with a Darn cloak. He also wore a teacher's badge on his chest.

Then Dumbledore couldn't move from his seat until the owner of the sinister eyes had disappeared around the corner. It was as if some clawed, infernal paw was holding his soul. And it felt... as if his soul was about to be drunk by a Dementor. Or had already drunk it.

And to his horror, near the new High Faculty building, he encountered the Lich himself! He threw up his wand in fear and surprise and attacked the undead, but it seemed to playfully fend off the attack, and then the Headmaster was swept away by the very real vines! As if to cut him off from his magic and prevent him from continuing the attack. The lich did not attack, however, but turned to someone behind his back.

- Why is he so jumpy? I was just walking by.

- Don't mind them, they're all stubborn hicks who don't realise that they couldn't have got in if the Rector hadn't allowed the undead in," a real elf appeared from behind Leach! And just as they are portrayed in Muggle books and paintings. Elegant, dressed in shades of green. Leather, thin brown boots, light green shirt and trousers, and a teacher's robe slung over his shoulders. It was obvious from the sign that he taught herbology, magical creatures and forest magic. "Come, my friend, let's not make the inhabitants of this place nervous, or they'll come and not let us finish this entertaining conversation.

And the two amazing and fabulous creatures just walked around the sculpture of the White Mage, so wrapped in vines that it was hard to breathe.

- So you were saying that a drop of dew from the Midnight Flower can enhance certain dark magic rituals? Surprising information, I had never thought of that before. Did you know that...

The headmaster heard nothing more of the new teachers as they disappeared around the bend, but it was only after a few minutes that the strange plants let him go, disappearing around the bend and into the cobblestones of the path without a trace.

Next he hurried to his office, where he now sat with several bottles of cognac. And his thoughts were darker than a cloud. But at least this year's plans were not ruined. Sure, Potter hadn't got into Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw wasn't bad either. It was still early days, as it would become the Faculty of Magic next year. But he wasn't going to let things slide, and no Rector was going to stop him from carrying out his plans around Potter.

The end of the retreat

****

You know, with all the hustle and bustle, Halloween came unexpectedly fast. So I decided to attend the event and see for myself. However, I decided to make the usual feast a little more decorative, because floating candles and pumpkins and twinkling lights just... didn't seem right. So when the students were let into the hall, the first ones to enter froze with their mouths open, and the ones behind them fell in. And there was something to freeze. Some pumpkins even tried to bite the female students on their bottoms, but they were deftly swatted away by the fairies who flew around the room with little bats to keep them in order. In the middle of the hall, a majestic oak tree grew out of nowhere, with several large cats perched on its branches. These cats could rival the size of tigers, but they just lay there, offering to tell anyone who approached them a tale or two. Green fluff flew between the branches, and the oak itself was covered with garlands of magical colours, shimmering in all the colours of the rainbow. Beneath the giant's branches was a table with a variety of food.

The students were fascinated by this beauty, as were the teachers who had entered a little earlier. Dumbledore, in particular, frowned, feeling that a sea of Castle magic was being wasted on it. The castle itself, however, showed no signs of fatigue.

And then, just as the students had settled into their seats and the headmaster was about to read his speech, which was frankly boring, I can tell you, there was the sound of a horn and... unicorns entered the hall, led by the real elves in snow-white sundresses. On the other side of the hall, a griffin and a dragon were brought in, the griffin led by the Elf who was talking to the Lich, and the dragon, or rather dragon cub, led by a strange blond man with wheat-coloured hair and incredibly bright blue eyes. He was dressed in the usual teacher's robes with a strange insignia on his robe. There was no magic wand to be seen either.

And so he brought the dragon to the centre of the hall, onto a small makeshift stage, bowed to everyone and spoke:

- Welcome to the Halloween celebration! Today it has been decided to make this much more than just a party, but a truly magical one! Don't be afraid of the creatures here, they won't hurt you! You can come and touch them! And some of them, especially the brave ones! - and the blond man winked at the audience, causing many girls and women to blush a little and the boys to smile excitedly. - You can even ride them!

With these words, the auditorium erupted in an explosion of children's voices. When the noise had died down, the blond man finished.

- And since it is not interesting to talk about me, I will just say that I am not some strange blond guy with wonderful eyes, but... - a minute of silence. - I am your Chancellor! Welcome to the Halloween festivities! I hope you will remember the laughter and the experience of this holiday for a long time, because I have tried very hard!

The hall erupted in applause, but the faculty table remained in deathly silence. Professor Dumbledore was particularly astonished when he realised he was the Headmaster! The children were immediately divided into those who wanted to see a real dragon, a griffin or even a unicorn! And many teenagers went to the unicorns to see the elves. Ah, young people, hormones in the blood. Heh.

I went straight to the desk of his faculty and sat down behind him, deciding to have a proper snack, as before I could only snack on the go and not look away from the papers. The papers were only saved by the magic of the fire elf, who protected them from food and drink.

Dumbledore tried to make his way to my clone under Henge, the adult Naruto, but he was unsuccessful, as Naruto literally teleported around the hall, following everyone at once, while managing to end up with the dragon when the children came up to watch him. The dragon seemed to take it in his stride, as he'd been given a few lambs and some food before the party, which didn't seem to bother the cunning lizard at all. Tu'um can do wonders for dragon diplomacy, you know, and being friends with the goblins might just give him a chance to bring his little dragon to the feast. It was an albino, by the way, all white, with a long neck and turquoise eyes, and not as intimidating as some of the specimens. And the presence of my clone beside him, soothing the baby, gave the dragonfly confidence and peace of mind.

Of course, the other teachers wanted to get indignant and shout that it was dangerous, but Rector didn't listen to any of that, and the animals didn't take any aggressive action towards the children. Even the dragon graciously and gently accepted treats from the children's hands, making them laugh with delight.

The party was going well until Quirrell burst into the hall and shouted to the whole hall that a troll was wandering around the castle. He stared at the dragon, but collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

And I sighed, pushed the plate of delicious cake away from me, touched my right temple and made a request to the castle.

The castle immediately told me the whole story of what had happened. And even the teachers running to Quirrell didn't have time to find out where Quirrell had disappeared from the hall, as he seemed to have fallen straight down...

The clone calmed everyone down and said that the illusory troll's prank on the professor had clearly been a success. The students laughed and continued their celebrations, while the professors were silenced by the mere sight of his eyes and the hissing of the mental in their heads.

- If you try to panic, I'll fire you all! There are children here! So calm down! Get your hands and wands ready and protect the children discreetly. The troll will be dealt with without you. And God forbid you panic the children or start talking nonsense about what they have to do in their living rooms. I'll throw you out the nearest window so you don't disgrace your title as an educator. Do you understand me?!

- How dare you speak to us like that, you..." McGonagall tried to sound indignant, but the clone cut her off mid-sentence.

- Let's see your recertification as teachers and deans, what and how you can and deserve. I hope for your discretion.

While the clone hammered sensible thoughts into the teachers' heads, to Snape's unexpectedly supportive nods, I made my way out of the hall through a secret passage and ran at full speed towards Troll, who had been blocked by the castle in one of the corridors where the bathroom with the crybaby Myrtle was located. The cannon came out of nowhere, even though I didn't think it would. However, I made the mistake of leading several magical creatures into the castle myself. He thought the troll was just one of the group's exhibits and didn't stop Quirrell from bringing it to Hogwarts.

As I flew out into the corridor, I heard a girl screaming from the toilet, the door of which had been broken down by the troll, and he was pulling his paw in. I immediately shuddered with fear for the girl, and without thinking I hit the troll with a toom.

- Fus-Ro-Da! You bastard! - The troll was literally thrown down the corridor, smashing into all the walls and the end wall at the end of the corridor. And as I approached him, I unleashed a stream of flame from my mouth and shouted Yule.

The troll's mouth erupted not even a flame, but a plasma that burned the roaring troll, but the creature survived, but I, having recovered somewhat, simply swung my hand and the floor beneath the troll disappeared, revealing a very deep hole in the distance.

The troll was clinging to the ground, clearly unwilling to fall into the abyss below, but I walked over and struck it in cold blood with Fus-Ro-Da, sending it plunging into the pit with terrifying force and speed. And at the bottom of that well, at a depth of five hundred metres, a portal opened over the mountains of Tibet. The troll would clearly not survive such a fall, especially with the acceleration I had given him.

With a snap of my fingers, I closed the gap in the floor and made my way to the bathroom, only to see Hermione huddled in a corner of the room, sobbing shakily. Really, the girl must be terrified.

Sighing, I walked over to her and gently called her attention, then, mumbling some quiet nonsense, sat down beside her and put my arms around her, stroking her back and whispering reassuringly in her ear that everything was all right, that it was all over, that there was no one else to be afraid of...