Sorting Without Separate Classes

Dumbledore felt this part of history especially deeply, because he too had once wanted to change the future of wizardkind.

It was only that, because of his childhood experiences, his ideas back then had been far more radical than those of Hogwarts' four founders.

Pulling himself from his memories of the past, seemingly realizing all at once that the history had grown a little heavy, Dumbledore set down his milk and gave Manus a mischievous wink.

"Actually, the name Hogwarts came from that very story—Hogwarts is 'wart hog' reversed. Many people have doubted it, but it's true."

"I never imagined the school's name came from such a... reason."

Manus swallowed the word childish that had reached his lips. Now, he was truly certain that the magical academies on the two sides were vastly different.

At the most basic level of seriousness alone, they were completely unlike each other.

Then within this magical academy...

Before Manus could think through an answer, Dumbledore proactively continued introducing Hogwarts.

From the four houses born from the tendencies of the original four founders, to the later ideological conflict between those founders and Salazar Slytherin's furious departure; from Hogwarts' thousand-year history to its current curriculum and its two formal yearly examinations...

History, when written impartially from a third-person perspective, naturally carried the traits of being dry and cumbersome. Yet from Dumbledore's lips, Hogwarts' history became vivid and fascinating.

He was like a parent recounting the story of his child's growth.

As Manus learned about this novel magical academy, he occasionally spoke with Dumbledore. Sometimes he expressed admiration and amazement; at other times, he asked detailed follow-up questions.

After all, they had agreed to chat, not for him to merely listen to Dumbledore speak one-sidedly.

Yet during this process, Manus vaguely sensed that something was off.

When the seriousness of education was diminished, the quality and effectiveness of teaching itself would inevitably suffer. And from what he had seen, Hogwarts did not seem to place much importance on the results of magical learning either.

Manus had inferred this from the characteristics of the four houses.

Classifying students according to different teaching methods, inclinations, stages, goals, and other factors was extremely common among magical academies.

During his struggle for Mage Tower resources, Manus had even served as a visiting professor at dozens of magical academies. He could be considered well-traveled and well-informed.

Even among the most conventional arrangements, there were schools divided by magical school of thought, by students' magical talent, by the highest magic circle students had mastered, by broad inclinations in spell construction...

But Manus had truly never seen one divided according to students' personalities.

Although, given the close connection between magic and the mind in this world, personality could indeed count as part of a wizard's talent. For instance, someone naturally optimistic and cheerful would probably be better suited to practicing spells like the Patronus Charm.

But the issue was that perhaps, in the era of the four founders, students from the four houses had indeed learned magic more suited to them from different founders based on their personalities.

But Hogwarts now sorted students into houses without separating their classes.

Yes. After deliberately asking Dumbledore about it, Manus confirmed that although Hogwarts had four houses, the students actually attended the same classes.

Even where there were differences, they only lay in electives, and every elective was open to all students.

Therefore, using talent to explain why students were sorted into houses according to personality did not hold up.

After hesitating for a moment, Manus still spoke to Dumbledore.

"Since everyone attends the same classes, why divide the students into four houses?"

"It is to commemorate Hogwarts' four founders, and also to reduce the teaching burden on the professors."

Dumbledore shook his head.

"Even so, scheduling classes at the start of every school year is still a terrible disaster..."

All right, though it was somewhat far-fetched, things like commemorative significance truly could not be viewed through a purely utilitarian lens.

But a scheduling disaster?

"The four houses are paired two by two, and the seven year groups share professors. There are eight compulsory subjects, five electives, and two additional electives. Of the compulsory subjects, Flight is only offered to first-years, while electives do not begin until third year."

Manus lowered his eyelids and formed a timetable in his sea of consciousness based on Dumbledore's earlier explanation.

"Although Apparition and Alchemy require additional scheduling, only sixth- and seventh-year students can choose them. Hmm... if someone chooses to continue studying every compulsory subject in sixth and seventh year, or selects four or five electives, there really would be irresolvable conflicts."

After exhaustively checking the possibilities and finding that there truly was no solution, Manus fell silent for a moment before looking earnestly at Dumbledore.

"Hogwarts might consider adding one more class period each day, giving up having an entire day off, or hiring several more professors. This is necessary."

Perhaps Hogwarts had never had such studious students before, so this extreme conflict had never arisen. But Manus felt that he would choose his classes this way, and then unavoidable scheduling conflicts would appear.

He hoped Hogwarts could solve this issue during this time. Otherwise, he could only hope the professors would relax their attendance requirements for any conflicting classes when the time came.

Dumbledore looked at the utterly serious Manus before him, his mouth opening slightly. "..."

Manus:?

What was wrong? Was there a problem?

Had his suggestion been too excessive?

Or...

Had the calculating ability he displayed been too extraordinary? That could not be it, could it?

There were only so many slots and so many things that could be put into them. Even exhaustive checking would merely take a little more time. With calculations, it would be quick.

Seeing the sincerity and seriousness in Manus' eyes, Dumbledore hesitated. Then his eyes turned, and he picked up the two cups of hot milk they had just finished from the small table beside them.

The cups, with a little milk still clinging to their inner walls, swiftly transformed. One became a sheet of parchment marked with inked grids, while the other turned into a quill.

"I will consider your suggestion. But before that, I would like to test you..."

Dumbledore filled in more information, such as the available locations for each classroom, the locations of the four house dormitories, the location of the school's Great Hall, and the approximate time needed to travel between different areas of the school.

Then came several professors' relatively simple requirements. For example, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Slughorn all needed time reserved for clubs and could not teach at certain times.

"Without considering electives, can you account for every professor's needs as well as the students' need to move between different classrooms, and produce a timetable?"