Garen's Contempt

It had to be said that the stronger one was, the more advantages there were. Josh had merely displayed a spell that was incredibly simple to him, yet it left every professor present dumbfounded and utterly convinced.

Even if Josh had not intended to show off, he believed Dumbledore would have explained things for him. But why bother? Between being proactive and passive, Josh had always preferred being proactive, and judging by the results, it had worked out very well, hadn't it?

Of course, that was not all. After Dumbledore explained the effects of meditation, every professor fell silent. At that moment, they finally completely understood why Dumbledore had allowed a child who looked as though he should still be studying to become a professor, and even a deputy head of house.

According to Dumbledore, Josh's strength utterly surpassed all of theirs, but being a professor was not entirely about strength. At least at Hogwarts, it was not entirely about strength. They valued teaching ability more, as well as whether someone could carry on the spirit of Hogwarts.

Of course, those ideals no longer mattered much. What Josh had brought might have been nothing more than an ordinary thing to him, but to them, it was something that could change the entire Wizard World's landscape. It could raise Hogwarts' reputation to even greater heights while cultivating more powerful wizards for Hogwarts.

If Hogwarts became the center of Europe's magical world, would they still need to worry about the spirit of its four houses failing to endure? Every one of these professors was exceptionally intelligent. They immediately understood Dumbledore's choice, and based on his description, they might never need to worry about Voldemort again!

Naturally, some professors still asked doubtfully whether meditation's effects were truly that good. This time, Josh was not the one who answered. Dumbledore personally condensed a scarlet Sectumsempra, red as flame, and blasted open the wall of the Headmaster's office. No one questioned it again.

Only then did they realize that McGonagall and Snape had not said a single word from beginning to end. They had even regarded Dumbledore and Josh's displays as perfectly natural. The professors immediately understood. Those two had likely already improved the quality of their magic through meditation and had even gained Magic elements!

They no longer had the slightest doubt. What they wanted most now was to see the meditation manual as soon as possible. Fortunately, Dumbledore had no intention of keeping them in suspense. He directly asked Professor McGonagall to distribute the copied meditation manuals to every professor.

"Is this the method for condensing magic? It really does seem like something only an advanced civilization from another world could possess."

After receiving the manual and reading through it briefly, they immediately discovered that following its methods would allow their magic to improve further, while their mental strength would rise to another level as well. Of course, that was not the main point. The key was what the manual clearly stated about magic quality. Only now did they understand why Josh's spells were so powerful.

It was not merely a matter of level suppression. It was also suppression through the quality of magic. No wonder Josh's casually cast Sectumsempra had been so terrifying. Dumbledore's had been impressive too, but it was clearly not at Josh's level. That was the most obvious difference in quality, and they could not help sighing over it.

"No wonder we had to renegotiate the second course this new professor would be teaching. So the first course is to teach students how to meditate."

Professor Flitwick looked at the manual in his hands before slowly sitting down on the floor. He was already very short, and if he did not speak, it was generally difficult for others to notice him. There was not much content in the manual, and he had practically memorized it already. He wanted to try following its method now.

His luck was excellent. Almost the instant he sat down, he entered a meditative state. However, there was a problem with his meditation. The main reason was that it was too noisy here. All the professors were discussing it excitedly, even hoping Josh and the others would not be in such a rush to add the course.

"Quiet! Don't disturb Professor Flitwick's meditation. Don't you want to see the effects as well? Professor Dumbledore and the others have studied it for two months, yet Professor Flitwick entered the state during his very first meditation. Do not disturb him, or there may be some side effects."

Josh happened to notice Professor Flitwick's condition, so he immediately stopped the clamor in the Headmaster's office. Meditation was vulnerable to interruption because the method Josh had given them was of a low level. The side effects were merely mental strength loss caused by forcibly breaking someone out of meditation. It was not serious, but that did not stop Josh from using it to scare the professors a little.

After stopping the professors' discussions, Josh quietly pulled Garen into a corner to sit down and rest. Once one entered a meditative state, it depended on one's potential, especially with such a low-level meditation method. The better one's potential, the longer one could remain in the state. Of course, there could be accidents—for example, waking up from hunger.

The other professors also came to their senses and began practicing one after another, slowly entering the state as well. The only people still awake in the Headmaster's office were Josh, Garen, Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall. The five of them began chatting among themselves.

"You're still asking me to change my mind after I've already made my decision? These students barely have any magic to speak of. Having them learn meditation early will only speed up their progress. Naturally, the quality of their magic will also be much higher."

Josh said to Dumbledore with some dissatisfaction. Though he knew the professors feared that this might fall into Voldemort's hands, he was right here. Could Voldemort really stir up anything?

"They mean well, Josh. Don't blame them." Dumbledore blinked and explained with a kindly expression. "Besides, Tom is extraordinarily gifted. If this manual truly fell into his hands, with his talent, who knows what level he might reach?"

"Actually, I agree with His Highness Augustus's opinion," Snape suddenly said.

"Oh? Why do you think Josh's method is reliable? You should know this guy can have a terrible personality sometimes."

Garen shook his head directly. He could not be bothered with mage affairs, but when it came to Josh, he felt that if there was something to mock, he ought to mock it. He had not forgotten Josh saying that his rating in a certain game was low and that his pick rate was not even as high as that damned Darius's.

"Tell us your reasons, Snape." Dumbledore looked at him with some confusion as well.

"Actually, as long as we continue developing, Voldemort is no threat to us at all, is he? But we have no idea when Voldemort will return. Are we supposed to waste the potential of those gifted students during this unknown period of time?"

Snape remained calm as he slowly laid out his reasoning.

"We can let His Highness Augustus choose the students himself, or we can recommend students we think highly of for His Highness Augustus to select from. This group of students will begin learning meditation in their first year. They will become Hogwarts' finest students."

"As for the other students, we can give them the meditation method after their fifth year. By then, I believe we will have dealt with most of the problems we need to solve. Though this will leave them somewhat behind and be unfair to them, it is still the most appropriate solution, is it not?"

"I basically agree with Professor Snape's proposal. Also, don't call me Your Highness. I'm not on the Muya Continent right now."

Josh considered it briefly before agreeing to Snape's proposal, though he still felt these people were being overly cautious. However, Garen, who sat nearby, clearly did not like Snape's plan. He had once been a soldier, and his nature had always been to press forward bravely. He disdained such hesitant behavior when facing an enemy.

"Is that really necessary?" Garen said disdainfully.

"A person whose return date is unknown? How ridiculous. I support Josh's earlier proposal more. Your enemy may be terrifying, but don't forget that Josh and I are here. So what if he gets the manual? And what you suggested is fundamentally irresponsible toward your future students. What you are really worried about is that one of your enemy's people might be among the students, right?"

"Then why not stop him from enrolling from the beginning? Since you agreed to let him enroll, then teach him properly. At the same time, make him understand that this is the best and strongest place there is. Don't go against this place's beliefs, or you'll be buried alive! Wouldn't that settle everything?"

It was crude and direct. As expected of the number one brute on the rankings. Yet Josh found that he truly loved it! Yes, let those students feel it, experience it, and sincerely recognize that their own house was the strongest. Then who would still bother with bloodline supremacy?

If they refused to accept it, beat them until they did!

"Then it's settled."

Josh made the decision directly. Not only did he strongly agree with Garen's thinking, but Garen was also his companion. Josh felt that since Garen, a man who hated magic, had voiced his opinion, he had to support him. Besides, Garen fully supported Josh's own idea.

"Very well, as you wish, Josh. And Garen."

Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall exchanged glances, then nodded helplessly in agreement. Of course, Dumbledore actually agreed very much with Garen's words. He was merely at a loss over how to explain it to the professors once they woke from meditation. Still, he felt that with his prestige, there would be no problem forcing the matter through.

After that, the five of them no longer limited their conversation to the school. Strange tales from around the world and amusing stories from Josh and Garen's time on the Muya Continent were brought up for casual chatter. Time slowly passed until the five of them began feeling hungry in the afternoon and prepared to leave.

However, to their surprise, the professors also began waking up one by one at that moment.

"Is this a Magic element?"

"Merlin above, so those novels were not all lies!"

"So Magic elements really exist in this world! They're as adorable as elves!"

"Praise Lord Augustus! Praise the Magic elements!"

"..."

They emerged from meditation brimming with energy. The benefits meditation had brought them were simply too great. Though they could not compare with the gains Dumbledore and the others had received during their first meditation, witnessing the Magic elements for themselves had excited them beyond measure. More importantly, they had felt just how much magic quality affected spells!

Professor Flitwick was the last to awaken. The first thing he did was pull out his wand and condense a spell. The quality of this spell was nearly equal to that of a spell he had previously cast with all his strength. More importantly, the spell was no longer colorless and invisible. It emitted a faint green glow, proving the Wind element truly existed.

He casually dispersed the spell, still feeling as though he were dreaming. But when he saw his companions and friends all looking delighted, he knew he had not imagined it. Suddenly, he turned and saw Dumbledore, Josh, and the others preparing to leave. He immediately ran over.

"Lord Augustus, thank you very much for your generosity. By the way, would you consider simply becoming Ravenclaw's Head of House?"

"???" Josh looked utterly bewildered.