"Professor, Hagrid has something to say to you."
Lorne led Hagrid to the Headmaster's Office and nudged Hagrid while Dumbledore was pouring tea.
"Oh, yes," Hagrid said, as if waking from a dream, " Headmaster Dumbledore, something's really wrong in the Forbidden Forest. The Acromantula and the Centaur are about to go to war. You know, wars in the Wizarding World always affect young wizards, so I'd like to borrow a suitcase that's been enchanted with Undetectable Extension Charm."
Hagrid finished speaking and then added, "Like the ones in Suitcase Beasts."
Dumbledore finally finished brewing the tea. He looked at Hagrid, who was sitting in his chair like a curled-up Swooping Evil, and Lorne, who was sitting with his legs crossed. He instantly understood whose idea this was.
"What do you need the suitcase for?" Dumbledore pushed the tea towards them separately. "We need to apply for it at the Ministry of Magic. The process is very complicated, you know. I'm someone who hates trouble."
Lorne casually remarked, "Maybe we can ask someone for help."
Dumbledore looked at Lorne speechlessly. "Just tell me what to do, why drag Hagrid into this?"
" Aragog put Aragog in the Forbidden Forest Hagrid, so this is a matter for Hagrid to handle." Lorne patted Hagrid's large hand, earning a fleeting smile from the latter.
Realizing his words might have been misunderstood, Lorne quickly added, "We're not trying to assign blame or assign responsibility. Letting Hagrid personally participate in resolving the incident might make him feel better. Even if someone holds us accountable, we can say he made amends."
This time, Hagrid patted Lorne's arm with his large hand to show his understanding.
So, what should we do?
Lorne simply provided a name and a place. " Newt Scamander, Dorset."
Dumbledore surprise, "How did you know? Was he involved with the Suitcase Beasts? No wonder your ideas are so unusual."
Lorne waved his hand. "My employee stumbled upon it by chance during his vacation. The inspiration for this game did come from him, but the actual production was entirely our internal contribution."
Looking at Dumbledore's lazy demeanor, Lorne straightened his back and casually chatted with Hagrid, "You know what? Honeydukes contacted me to apply for an official verified account. They said they want to collaborate with Magic Mobile Phone Phones and even sent over a lot of new products."
"Lots of new flavored marzipan, super big chunks! Chocolate balls filled with strawberry jelly and cream, pink Coconut Ice, honey-colored toffee, hundreds of kinds of chocolate, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Jelly Slugs, Fizzing Whizzbees, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum."
" Pepper Imps makes you breathe fire, dental floss mints that automatically pick your teeth, mouse ice cream that makes your teeth squeak, and toad ice cream that jumps in your stomach, sour Sugar Quill, sour popping candy that burns holes in your tongue, bloody lollipops, and cockroach balls..."
"Stop!" Dumbledore's hand, gripping the teacup, trembled slightly. "I didn't say I wouldn't help."
"This is not helping," Lorne declared righteously. "As far as I know, the only pets allowed at the school are owls, cats, and toads. Hagrid's decision to bring the dangerous Magical Creatures, the Acromantula, to the school was already a dereliction of duty on Hogwarts ' part."
Dumbledore pondered for a moment, then admitted, "You're right."
"Then why did you bring up Honeydukes Sweetshop?"
"Give your boss a gift," Lorne said matter-of-factly, "That way you won't make things difficult for me at work."
Dumbledore burst into laughter, stroking his beard. "I've never made things difficult for you—"
"Then I won't see you off," Lorne replied immediately.
"But there's no guarantee it won't happen again," Dumbledore quickly changed the subject, "You're right, Lorne, Hogwarts also bears responsibility for what happened in the Forbidden Forest."
"I won't let this happen again," Lorne patted his chest. "Given last year's evil diary, the Basilisk, and Hagrid's Aragog's destruction of the Forbidden Forest, I've decided to check students' belongings before they enter the school this year. Contraband and dangerous Magical Creatures will be banned from enrollment."
"Wouldn't this infringe on the students' right to privacy?" Dumbledore questioned.
Lorne shook his head. "No need. We can let the students check their own luggage. The students carrying the luggage and the House-elf should also have the ability to sense Dark Magic. If all else fails, we can make an additional school rule: students who are found to have prohibited items in their luggage at Hogwarts will have their enrollment delayed by three days. Students who bring Magical Creatures other than the three types of pets that are permitted to enter the school will be placed under centralized supervision and will only be returned to the students after their safety is confirmed."
"A three-day delay doesn't seem to make much of a difference; some students would love to stay home for three more days," Dumbledore continued, the Quibbler.
"That's why the first three days of school are so important," Lorne said, pulling a proposal from his pocket and handing it to Dumbledore. "Delaying school by three days is insignificant, but what if we organize activities during the first three days?"
Dumbledore: "A social gathering? And they're going to exchange weird spells?"
"September 1st is the first day of school, which is a Thursday, so we have three free days," Lorne explained clearly. "The social gathering should be quite attractive to lower-grade students, and for upper-grade students, I have a recruitment process. The strange and unusual spell exchange meeting will force students who like to watch the excitement to stay, and these students are often more likely to bring in prohibited items."
"More importantly, we can schedule the establishment, recruitment, and event planning of school clubs during these three days, forcing all students to thoroughly check their belongings to prevent another evil diary from being stuffed into a student's backpack by Death Eaters."
"Is the club recruiting new members?" Dumbledore stroked his chin.
"That's right," Lorne leaned forward, "I call it—"
" The Battle of a Hundred Clubs!"
Lorne reminisced about the days when he was in college and his seniors would drag him to look at the stalls.
"Many first-year students are unaware of the existence of clubs, and there is no systematic notification about club activities and recruitment. Many students who are interested may miss out on their favorite organizations, and many clubs are unable to organize activities due to insufficient members."
" The Battle of a Hundred Clubs' not only facilitates large-scale recruitment for clubs and makes it easier to coordinate the number of participants in subsequent activities, but it also helps students develop their interests, find like-minded people, learn about the interests of others, enrich their extracurricular life, and improve themselves in all aspects."