Who hasn't wanted a Niffler?

A little farther past The Three Broomsticks was the Hogsmeade Post Office.

Turning off beside the post office led into a little side lane.

At the entrance to that lane stood the Hog's Head, owned by Dumbledore's younger brother, Aberforth.

Douglas had been there with Bill once. It was truly a place he could not bear to remember.

Its battered wooden sign bore a picture of a severed pig's head, blood soaking through the white cloth wrapped around it.

The Hog's Head was small and dark inside, and a strong smell of goat hung in the air.

Douglas and Bill had only just gone in.

Because of that goaty smell, before they had even ordered drinks, they began discussing all the different ways to cook lamb.

Lamb hot pot, whole roast lamb, lamb and carrot pot stickers, big lamb buns, lamb skewers, lamb spine hot pot, braised sheep's trotters, braised sheep's face...

And then...

They were thrown out by the Hog's Head's barman, Mr. Aberforth Dumbledore.

He also solemnly informed them that they were banned from the Hog's Head for life...

Douglas put those thoughts aside and faced The Three Broomsticks.

He pushed open the door, and a wave of warmth greeted him.

He glanced toward the bar. The place was spacious and bright, clean and warm.

The only disappointment was that Madam Rosmerta was not behind the bar.

Looking around, he saw witches and wizards sitting in twos and threes around their little round tables.

Madam Rosmerta was chatting and laughing with guests in a small alcove screened by greenery.

Well, Douglas heard Hagrid's unmistakable laugh.

He strode toward the alcove.

Before he reached it, Madam Rosmerta noticed him.

She spread her arms openly and said,

"Well, our Mr. Holmes is here!

It's been a long time, Douglas!

Congratulations on becoming a professor at Hogwarts!"

Douglas readily gave Madam Rosmerta a hug, then said with a smile,

"Good afternoon, young lady!

You're still as radiant and beautiful as ever!"

From his seat, Hagrid waggled his eyebrows and said,

"See? What did I tell you? Rosmerta was bound to be the first person he noticed..."

Everyone burst out laughing.

Only then did Douglas notice Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sinistra, Professor Kettleburn, and Hagrid sitting in the alcove.

Well, apart from Hagrid, they had all taught him when he was at school.

Douglas gave an awkward smile. "Good afternoon, professors!"

Madam Rosmerta pulled over a chair and invited Douglas to sit.

"To celebrate Professor Holmes's appointment, all your drinks this afternoon are on the house, professors!"

Professor Kettleburn smiled and pointed to a bottle on the table.

"Ha! We're benefiting from Douglas's good fortune today.

Otherwise, we'd hardly get to drink this Holmes wine. There's so little of it made!

Ha ha!"

Madam Rosmerta smiled as she opened the bottle on the table and poured some for the professors.

"When have I ever let you go without your wine, old professor? You can't blame me for how little of it there is.

As you know, only so many of the Chinese plums used to make this Holmes wine were planted.

But today, with the creator of Holmes wine here, there'll certainly be enough for everyone!"

Holmes wine was actually a kind of Chinese plum wine.

Chinese plum saplings were hard to come by. After Douglas obtained some, he had originally wanted to plant them in the Hogwarts Greenhouses.

Unfortunately, Professor Sprout would not agree.

Then he learned that Madam Rosmerta had a small greenhouse in Hogsmeade.

He went to her and strongly recommended them, and only after he threw in a recipe for Chinese plum wine did she agree.

Once the wine was finally ready, Rosmerta named it Holmes wine.

Rosmerta also promised Douglas a free glass every week and allowed him to bring a guest.

It was her way of thanking him.

As for why Douglas was so set on Chinese plum wine,

it was because it had been his favorite drink in his previous life, and, as far as he knew, it was only available in East Asia.

For him, Chinese plum wine was a taste of homesickness!

After Madam Rosmerta left, everyone shared drinks.

They began chatting.

Professor McGonagall explained,

"I originally invited almost all the Hogwarts professors today.

But as you know, not every professor has the time.

Severus has to prepare the materials for tomorrow's classes this afternoon.

The two Divination professors... well... they aren't particularly willing to attend gatherings like this.

You've met Charity Burbage before. She's the Muggle Studies professor, and she happens to have gone to the Muggle world today to gather inspiration... I believe that's the expression!

In any case, let us welcome Douglas to the Hogwarts family once again!"

Everyone raised their glasses.

Soon, they all found themselves discussing Douglas's new teaching method.

Apart from Hagrid, the other professors were all rather in favor of it.

After all, the young witches and wizards at Hogwarts had suffered from shaky foundations for quite some time.

In every class, there were always students who made basic mistakes because they were unfamiliar with the textbook material.

Professor Flitwick could not help praising him.

"Douglas, your method is simply wonderful.

I'm already planning to introduce it in my classes next week.

Miss Granger of Gryffindor gave me some excellent inspiration.

If students are thoroughly familiar with their textbooks, learning spells will certainly be a hundred times easier."

Douglas lightly rubbed his nose. He really wanted to ask whether Miss Granger's speed in learning spells might have something to do with her considerable natural talent.

Still, Professor Flitwick was certainly not wrong.

Once someone was thoroughly familiar with the theory, putting it into practice would certainly yield twice the results for half the effort.

As a scholar in the Muggle world had put it so well, books were the steps to progress.

The material in their textbooks allowed students to stand on the shoulders of those who came before them as they learned, sparing them many wrong turns.

As soon as Professor Flitwick finished, Professor McGonagall added,

"I also intend to have them memorize their textbook material first, starting next week.

You can hardly imagine it-a third-year student who can't even remember Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration.

That's truly disastrous for Transfiguration!"

Several other professors voiced their agreement.

It seemed everyone had recognized the merits of Douglas's approach.

Only Professor Kettleburn sighed.

"Actually, I'd like to try this method too. After all, if students start handling Fantastic Beasts without understanding their habits,

things can easily go wrong."

The other professors fell silent. Those who knew Professor Kettleburn actually wanted to make a pointed remark.

Could it be that the problem was not the students' lack of familiarity, but his own carelessness?

Of course, that did not mean everyone disliked the old professor.

Here was a professor who had been put on probation no fewer than sixty-two times during his tenure-a record that remained unbroken.

The fact that he could still teach at Hogwarts showed just how fond everyone was of him.

Still, when he had students look after creatures such as Occamies and Salamanders, he did always underestimate the danger those creatures might pose, frequently leaving students injured. Madam Poppy had complained about him plenty of times.

Suddenly, Hagrid sniffled twice and drained his glass in one gulp.

"But Professor Kettleburn's already handed in his resignation to Professor Dumbledore!"

Professor Kettleburn stretched out his only remaining hand, made an effort to reach Hagrid's shoulder, and patted it.

"Oh, don't be sad, Rubeus. After I resign, I plan to visit the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary in my spare time.

I'd very much like to meet that one you raised last year..."

"Ahem!"

Before the old professor could finish, Professor McGonagall interrupted him with a cough.

After all, that matter was a secret even within Hogwarts.

If too many people found out,

Hagrid would inevitably end up taking a trip to Azkaban for raising a dragon.

Looking at everyone's expressions, Douglas could tell that they all knew about it.

Then he looked again at Professor Kettleburn, who had only one arm and half a leg left.

He could not help reflecting that this professor truly loved Fantastic Beasts. He had devoted almost his entire life to them.

During his school days, Douglas had spent plenty of time hanging around this professor. He had once hoped to adopt a Niffler from him.

After all, what Hufflepuff wouldn't want to adopt a Niffler?

Unfortunately, Hogwarts students were not allowed to keep such animals.

That was because Nifflers were not X- or XX-class magical creatures, but XXX-class, XXXX-class pets.

Novice wizards were not allowed to keep them!