Hogwarts, Please Graduate Soon, Ch 36

"Given that you're a wizard, can't you use magic to solve problems?"

Wayne scoffed. He then cast a Lightness Charm on himself and Cedric.

Cedric felt as if he had become as light as a feather, his footsteps almost silent.

Excitedly, he asked, "Where did you learn that spell?"

"From 'Three Hundred Tang Poems'... No, I mean 'Thirty Practical Spells.' You can buy it at Lihen Bookstore."

"I'll pick up a copy during the holidays."

"..." 

The two hurriedly made their way to the trophy room. Sure enough, the twins had been waiting for a while, crouched in a corner with a map in hand. As soon as they saw Wayne and Cedric approach, George discreetly tucked the map into his pocket.

"You're quite early, but the plans have changed and we need to delay for a bit."

Cedric frowned and asked suspiciously, "What trick are you two up to this time?"

"This time, we're not at fault," Fred said with a weary sigh, explaining: "It was Lee. He was curious about what owl pet food tasted like, took a couple of bites, and has been in the infirmary since this morning."

"Madam Pomfrey gave him some medicine, but he's still a bit dizzy, so we let him lie down for another half hour."

Wayne and Cedric broke out in a cold sweat. So, this is what Gryffindors are like—how could they be so brave? The most absurd part was that even while he was nearly out of commission, he was still thinking about midnight escapades. Such a spirit was beyond their comprehension.

"Are you sure he'll recover?" Wayne checked, as he didn't want to waste the whole night here.

"Don't worry; Lee is pretty much fine, just a bit disoriented," Fred waved his hand nonchalantly, then curiously asked, "Wayne, did you really make Professor Quirrell cry?"

There are no secrets at Hogwarts. After an entire afternoon of gossiping, nearly all the students and staff knew about the 'minor conflict' between Quirrell and Wayne.

Even Professor Sprout had called Wayne aside during lunch to give him a few words of caution: "I know you're a good boy, Lawrence. Professor Quirrell is just a bit too nervous; he needs some time."

Wayne felt similarly helpless. "What do you mean I made him cry? I just wanted him to cover up a spell; who would have thought he'd fall apart?"

"Be nice to our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Fred said, patting Wayne on the shoulder. "It's only this year that you'll get to see him."

"Maybe he's just wary of vampires," Cedric chimed in, still defending Quirrell. "He ran into a vampire while he was in Romania over the summer, and it looked like he was traumatized."

"Regardless of the reason, Professor Quirrell won't be around after this term," George shrugged. "In fact, no one has ever managed to stick around in that position for two years."

Wayne became intrigued. "Can you tell me about the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professors?"

He knew that this position was cursed by Voldemort and was aware of the fates of the subsequent professors, but he was unaware of why the earlier professors had resigned.

Lee Jordan hadn't arrived yet, and it was getting dull, so the twins started discussing the unfortunate fates of the first two Defense Against the Dark Arts professors.

"When we first got here, the professor was Olivier Knight, an elderly man who seemed quite nice."

"But after Easter, the Ministry of Magic sent a hit-wizard to Hogwarts with a warrant."

"Olivier had a nasty habit—he was an alcoholic. That time he drank a bit too much and ended up seriously injuring the Minister of Magic."

"As a result, Millicent Bagnold was unable to continue due to health reasons, which allowed the current Minister to rise to power."

Cedric nodded in agreement. "My dad said the same. He also mentioned that Bagnold curses Olivier every day at home."

Wayne was speechless. What a ridiculous butterfly effect—one professor had effectively forced the Minister of Magic into early retirement. If Voldemort found out, he would probably burst out laughing.

"What about last year's professor?" Wayne pressed further.

This time, the twins and Cedric's expressions became very strange, as if they were about to share something embarrassing.

"Last year's professor, Monty Clifft... was a friend of Dumbledore," Cedric said slowly.

"What did he do?"

"No, he didn't injure the Minister and wasn't a dark wizard…" George shook his head, struggling to suppress laughter, but ultimately gave in.

"Clifft had severe mental health issues, and it wasn't until just before finals that he accidentally left his St. Mungo's diagnosis in the classroom, which Charlie saw."

Cedric added, "The whole school was in an uproar— a person with a mental illness being a teacher for an entire year and nobody noticed."

"The St. Mungo doctors went crazy, searching all over Britain, even going to France to look for someone, but they never thought to check Hogwarts."

At this point, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Wayne could only imagine how chaotic it would have been at the time. "So why would Dumbledore agree to let him teach?" Wayne asked, confused.

"Who knows? Maybe there weren't any other candidates willing to apply for the position; even a madman is better than canceling the class," George said nonchalantly. "Besides, both these professors were much better than Quirrell. At least they taught us some real stuff."

"Clifft might have been crazy, but he didn't forget how to use spells."

"I really don't know what Quirrell was thinking. The Muggle Studies class was going just fine—why would he come looking for trouble?"

It was a widely accepted belief that the Defense Against the Dark Arts position was cursed, and no one believed Quirrell, having been a teacher for several years, was unaware of that. They could only conclude he was being obstinate.

Bang! 

A loud noise came from upstairs, startling everyone.

Fred jumped up immediately: "It must be Lee; he's distracting Filch."

Sure enough, they soon heard Filch's furious shout: "Another dung bomb! I'm going to catch you and put you in detention! A year's worth of detention!"

The voice faded away, clearly indicating that Filch was heading upstairs.

"Let's hurry; we don't know how long Lee can hold on. Watch out for Filch's cat."

Pushing open the door to the trophy room, the twins dashed out first, with Wayne and Cedric following closely behind.

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