The Board of Directors Needs to Increase Funding

The Board of Directors Needs to Increase Funding

"Do you really have a talent for divination?"

Ron had no idea how many times he had asked Charles that.

Charles saw that the train was slowing down and said, "You'll find out later. For now, we should change into our robes."

Harry and Ron also noticed the train slowing down. They hurriedly took their trunks down from the luggage rack, opened them, and pulled out their school uniforms.

Charles had it much easier. He simply raised his hand, and a school uniform appeared in front of him. He caught it before it hit the ground.

"Wow!" Ron's eyes lit up. "Is that... that... a Bag of Holding?"

Charles nodded. "Yeah. You've seen one before?"

Ron answered while changing into his uniform. "I heard Fred and George... my twin brothers, I mean, muttering about it. They wanted to make one themselves, but they couldn't afford enchanted cloth."

Charles began explaining the bag's background. "It was pretty expensive. When that wizard sold it to me and my grandfather in an alley beside Diagon Alley, he initially asked for three hundred gold coins. Later, we asked Master Ollivander to appraise it, and he helped us bargain the price down to two hundred gold coins. Then we treated the master to a meal, which cost thirty gold coins."

Ron stood to the side, listening with his mouth hanging open as if he were hearing about another world.

Charles wasn't wrong, either. Yesterday, Jack had found a solitary old wizard and cast the Imperius Curse on him, then gone to Diagon Alley to have Ollivander vouch for the bag.

The main issue was that they had bought quite a few books in Diagon Alley. While reading, Jack had discovered that the manufacturing process for magical-pattern cloth had changed considerably. The bag had been made using a process from a hundred years ago, so an expert could easily spot it.

The train arrived at the station. The students poured out, and the few of them were quickly swept apart by the crowd.

Fortunately, Hagrid was like a lighthouse in a sea of people, giving the first-years a gathering point. In that respect, he was quite competent.

Charles glanced twice at the Thestrals in the distance, which were already pulling the carriages into the sky, curled his lip, and turned to board a boat.

No boat could hold more than four people. Charles jumped into an empty one and stood at the bow, quietly gazing at the castle beneath the distant starry sky.

He had already died once, so every second he spent breathing after being given a second life was a bonus. The most important thing in life was to be happy. The main reason he had decided to come to Hogwarts instead of the Institute of Magic near Yui Aragaki's house was that what happened here over the next few years would be very interesting.

The small boat sailed automatically toward the castle on the other side of the lake. Before long, it had reached the middle of the lake.

Charles suddenly asked the three students sharing his boat calmly, "You can all swim, right?"

Malfoy and his two lackeys had just been preparing to work together to push Charles off the boat. Now they froze, the six outstretched hands unsure whether to withdraw or continue.

The three exchanged glances and decided to push him overboard.

They couldn't have taken that beating on the train for nothing. If they couldn't deal with Potter, couldn't they at least deal with him?

Someone's hand touched Charles's robes. The next moment, there was a deafening CRACK, followed by the three boys' cries of alarm.

The boat suddenly broke. All the planks beneath Malfoy and the others shattered, and the three of them dropped into the water, still stuck in the hole.

Charles shouted, "Oh no! The boat's sinking!"

He looked extremely panicked as he leaped from the bow and jumped toward the surface of the lake.

Everyone else on the lake was startled. The boat breaking was secondary; the real shock was that someone was running across the lake as if it were solid ground.

Someone tried to imitate him and jump onto the lake's surface, but the people in the same boat frantically hauled him back. Hagrid was so furious that his blood pressure kept rising.

By then, Charles had not only run to the other side of the lake but had even climbed to the top of the tall cliff. Hogwarts Castle and Dumbledore appeared before him.

Charles hurried over, grabbed Dumbledore's sleeve, and cried anxiously, "Headmaster, the boat broke and someone fell into the water! Hurry and save them!"

Dumbledore took out his wand and pointed it at the ground with a pew. In an instant, a gigantic stone arm grew from the edge of the cliff and reached into the lake, scooping up the broken boat and the three boys before placing them beside him.

Charles watched in stunned amazement. Old Man had demonstrated advanced spells such as the Unforgivable Curses, but in terms of visual impact, they were far inferior to Dumbledore's move.

The three little horses were so frightened that they seemed dazed. The lake water was probably quite cold, because their bodies were shaking like vibrating phones.

Malfoy stared blankly ahead and kept muttering, "I'm going to tell my father..."

Charles turned to him and said seriously, "I heard from Mr. Ollivander that Mr. Malfoy is a member of the Hogwarts Board of Directors. It seems many things at Hogwarts have fallen into disrepair. Even the boats are rotting. The Board of Directors should increase its funding."

Dumbledore was inspecting the damaged boat. The break around the circular hole was uneven; it had not been cut. After hearing Charles's words, he stopped examining it and said kindly to Malfoy and the others, "This was an accident. I'll personally write to your parents and apologize."

With that, he pointed his wand at the three boys, and the water on their bodies vanished without a trace.

Charles recognized Scourgify. Old Man had used it to wash his diapers and wipe his bottom before. It saved a lot of paper and was very environmentally friendly.

After dealing with the three boys, Dumbledore turned to look at Charles.

Charles smiled back. It seemed the headmaster suspected something about what he had just done.

By then, the first-years had gotten off the boats. Harry was the first to run up from the dock below. When he saw Charles, he burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! I knew it was you! Just like that time you were chased by a dog—you panic and run onto the roof... Ouch!"

Charles chopped him on the crown of the head, then moved aside to make room for Dumbledore. With a solemn expression, he said, "The headmaster is standing right here. How could you not greet him first? That's very rude!"

Harry immediately bowed to Dumbledore and greeted him. He looked quite polite.

Dumbledore looked at Harry, then at Charles, and nodded slightly. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I hope you'll enjoy your time here. They're coming up now, so go attend the Sorting Ceremony first."

With that, he turned around and disappeared at once.

Harry's eyes widened behind his glasses. He asked Charles, "What kind of magic was that?"

"Read a book."

"That was Apparition." Hermione happened to walk over at that moment. "That spell lets a wizard travel wherever they want to go, but only the headmaster can use it inside Hogwarts. It's mentioned in Hogwarts: A History."

Harry caught up with the first-years and asked Hermione a very professional question out of curiosity. "Why is it called A History? Why isn't it complete?"

Hermione didn't know either. She only said, "I noticed that three years of records from about a hundred years ago are missing. I don't know why."

She turned to Charles and asked, "Charles, do you know?"

"Huh? What did you say?" Charles pretended not to hear her. "We've reached the castle."

By then, the first-years had arrived in front of the castle's main doors. Hagrid was pounding heavily on the wooden door with his fist.