Elias's Teaching

"Do you know what you did wrong? It's only been a few days, and you've already caused such a huge mess at school!"

In Professor McGonagall's office, Roy, Cedric, Fred, and the others stood in a neat row, not daring to make the slightest movement as they obediently listened to Professor McGonagall's reprimand.

The older cat lady looked furious at the moment, slamming her desk so hard that it rang out sharply.

"And you, Cedric. I've always thought you were more mature than your peers. How did even you end up fooling around with these lot?"

Cedric had actually been dragged into the competition, but faced with Professor McGonagall's questioning, he did not argue. Instead, he lowered his head in shame.

Seeing Cedric's excellent attitude in admitting his mistake, Professor McGonagall's anger subsided somewhat.

But that was not the truth. From Roy's angle, he could clearly see the smile Cedric could no longer suppress after lowering his head.

Cedric looked as if he were sincerely admitting fault, but inwardly he was already overjoyed. Roy secretly watched Cedric's back and muttered to himself.

You thick-browed, big-eyed Cedric. I thought you were a decent person.

Among these students, Cedric was the one Professor McGonagall found most satisfactory. She did not scold this outstanding student, exemplary in both character and academics, too much, and instead turned her full firepower on the others.

"And you, Fred. It's only been a week since term began, and I've already received countless warnings about you and George violating school rules. Look at how outstanding your three older brothers are as students. Why can't you two learn from them?"

Faced with Professor McGonagall's scolding, "Fred" looked thoroughly ashamed. He copied Cedric and lowered his head without offering a single word of defense.

Professor McGonagall thought Fred had realized his mistake, and her tone immediately softened considerably.

Keep pretending. Let's see how long you can keep it up.

Roy grumbled silently to himself. Fred might have looked as if he knew he was wrong, but it was all an act. The one standing in the office was not Fred at all, but George pretending to be Fred so he could take the scolding in his place.

Angelina, on the other hand, became extremely emotional when Professor McGonagall reprimanded her. The petite young witch's eyes had turned red as she sniffled and defended herself.

"It's all those Slytherins' fault. They... they insulted Gryffindor's honor."

Seeing Angelina cry, Professor McGonagall's heart softened at once. She saw a reflection of her younger self in the upright and principled Angelina, and began comforting her instead.

"Alright. I'll speak with Severus about this later. I know your intentions were good, but you must not do anything so dangerous again next time."

Roy occasionally glanced at Cedric and "Fred," who were as unresponsive as dead pigs that did not fear boiling water, and silently grumbled to himself.

Just then, Roy, who had been pretending to be invisible all this time, suddenly felt an incredibly powerful killing intent lock onto him. It felt like discovering several Hearts of Africa had suddenly appeared on the boarding bridge just as he was about to evacuate.

Roy swallowed and raised his head, meeting Professor McGonagall's extremely furious gaze.

Realizing he might be done for, Roy gave an awkward smile.

"Professor, if I say I know I was wrong, is it too late...?"

Professor McGonagall flew into a rage and rattled off everything Roy had done over the past week in one breath. Honestly, after teaching for so many years, she had never seen a student cause as much trouble as Roy had just after enrolling.

Roy could only imitate Cedric and George, lowering his head without saying a word and wearing an expression that said, "I know I was wrong."

Professor McGonagall roared for nearly ten minutes before her anger eased even slightly.

Looking at Angelina, whose eyes were red, and the three "dead pigs" standing there with their heads lowered in silence, Professor McGonagall did not know what to do with them.

"By rights, I should give you detention. But since Slytherin was also involved in this matter, your punishment will be postponed for now. However—"

Professor McGonagall's tone turned stern as she swept her gaze over everyone in the office and spoke slowly.

"Now, I want every one of you to personally promise me today that you will not violate school rules again. If anything similar happens again, do not blame me for giving you detention for an entire year."

Professor McGonagall pointed at "Fred" and ordered in a tone that allowed no refusal.

"Now, you go first!"

Fred solemnly swore to Professor McGonagall.

"I, Fred, know I was wrong. From now on, I'll obey school rules and never do anything dangerous again."

"Good! That's the spirit!"

The others followed suit, each patting their chests and making promises to Professor McGonagall one after another.

After hearing the four of them make their promises, the tense atmosphere in the office eased considerably. Professor McGonagall gave them another lecture, and only after seeing that they truly understood their mistakes did she let Roy and the others leave the office.

After walking out of Professor McGonagall's office, Roy, Cedric, and George, who was playing Fred, exchanged glances and all broke into wicked grins.

"My, my. It seems our model student Cedric has gone bad too."

George waggled his eyebrows as he teased the two Hufflepuffs.

Roy smiled and nudged George with his elbow.

"Don't think I don't know you're not Fred. When it comes to being bad, I still can't compare to you two."

Everything went without saying. Angelina, whose eyes were still somewhat swollen, watched the grinning boys disappear down the corridor with their arms slung over one another's shoulders, then quietly sighed.

"Boys..."

After dinner, remembering his appointment with Elias, Roy climbed the tower alone and arrived outside Professor Thorne's office.

He knocked softly on the door, and Elias's voice came from inside.

"Is that Roy? Come in."

Professor Thorne sounded to be in a fairly good mood. Roy pushed open the door and saw Elias reclining in his armchair, his legs propped on the desk and a glass of red wine in his hand.

A stool beside him held a wizarding radio playing popular music from America.

Roy had been somewhat worried that flying through the professor's office during today's flying competition might have angered Thorne, but Professor Thorne appeared not to care about such a trivial matter at all.

"Impressive flying skills, but you still need to watch your safety. I saw you land from here, and that fall looked quite serious. I didn't expect you to be completely unharmed."

Thorne stood and drained the red wine in his hand. He placed the empty goblet on the desk, then took out his wand and gave it a light flick. With a pop, the goblet vanished.

Seeing Roy's unconcerned expression, Thorne smiled gently.

"Honestly, I still don't know your true level. Before deciding on the teaching material, we need to conduct an assessment first."

"Really?" Roy's interest was piqued. "Professor, are you going to duel me?"

Elias shook his head, pulled a sheet of parchment from a drawer, and slapped it onto the desk. Then he revealed a malicious smile.

"No. Although I place more importance on practical combat, I think we should start with a written test."