A day at Hogwarts

"You asked the Crystal Ball Queen when she will retire?!"

Charles looked at Seamus in horror, wondering why he asked this.

Seamus nodded and said: "Because Professor Trelawney said that the crystal ball can predict all the future, I will try it, who knows the crystal ball will explode."

Charles pinched his brows and had nothing to say. The water inside was too deep.

Now the students are all lying in the ward, somewhat frightened. If they are not in good spirits, there will be problems in casting spells, and they cannot attend the Transfiguration class.

Charles came to the greenhouse area and started experimenting with fertilizers to grow herbs.

He finally decided to plant 18 kinds of herbs. Some herbs were climbing vines and needed to be built on trellises, while some were harvested from rhizomes and planted in large tanks. All these must be prepared.

In the experiment, each herb was divided into four groups: no fertilization group, magic fertilizer only group, Muggle fertilizer only group and mixed fertilization group. Each group had 5 herbs, totaling 360 plants.

This greenhouse was enchanted by Dumbledore, and the internal space was enlarged, leaving enough spacing for each plant and a place for people to walk. Flower pots and soil were prepared.

Charles would definitely be too busy by himself, but he had the "Gallon Curse", which was included in the funds provided by Hogwarts, so finding a bunch of students to help was not a problem.

At the same time, he also had working elves under him. During the summer vacation, Dobby went to the wild to find a few abandoned elves and brought them over to do watering and other tasks.

So the land reclamation and cleaning work at Farbarton Castle will stop for a moment.

"Boss, what are your orders?"

Dobby showed up with a few of his capable men, and their outfits gave Charles a bit of a toothache.

Dobby was wearing a suit, sunglasses, and a white helmet on his head. The helmet had a piece of spit on both sides that covered his long ears.

The working elves were wearing blue denim overalls and yellow safety helmets.

Charles didn't bother to care what they were wearing, even if they came over in a Gundam, it didn't matter.

He took out the layout drawings and construction plans, and took Dobby and the others around the greenhouse to see where the flowerpots of what size should be placed, what kind of shelves should be built there, how to place the flowerpots, and where the breeding areas are. The flower pots should be numbered according to the drawings, and all the work such as what soil to put in the flower pots should be arranged.

Dobby said he understood, holding the drawings in one hand and the construction plan in the other, and said to his subordinates: "Time is money, my friends!"

"Listen to the boss and start working!"

He began to divide the work among his subordinates, and arranged it in an orderly manner.

Piles of flower pots flew all over the sky and landed steadily at the designated place. Then the soil flew up and fell into the flower pots exactly.

All the seedling pots are also placed in place, and specially prepared loose soil is put in.

Charles prepared the branches to be cut and put them on the shelf next to the door. The seeds he had bought were also ready. He also asked Ruby to pick them up from Marlene in a few days and wait for the students to be captured for work in the next two days. Then plant it again.

Each group of herbs has a corresponding number and planting method. You must prepare some wooden signs and stand next to which group of herbs and how to fertilize them to avoid confusion.

The most tedious thing is the subsequent observation, recording and measurement, which requires recruiting a large number of people from the school, at least second-year students. Some herbal medicines require senior students to handle.

This point was proposed in the experimental plan submitted at the end of last semester, and Dumbledore agreed. Charles could post advertisements on the bulletin board to recruit people.

He also needs to formulate different forms to make it easier for working students to fill in and facilitate future data processing.

The second tedious thing is to regularly take soil samples and submit them for inspection. The relevant agencies have already been contacted during the summer vacation. Having the pounds in hand is more useful than anything else.

Finally, there was the security work. When Malfoy committed suicide by throwing bugs into the greenhouse, he was worried that it would be bad if a serious mouse ran in. He thought that the principal would arrange some armors to patrol here.

Before Charles could go to the principal, the principal came to him.

"Busy." Dumbledore looked a little weird, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Charles was arranging the planting methods into categories, shaking his head and saying, "So far so good."

Dumbledore said again: "Would you like some sweets?"

A piece of volcano cake appeared on the table. The mountain was made of chocolate cake, and lava made of strawberry jam kept spewing out. It looked delicious.

Charles suddenly became vigilant. Although he had snacks when he went to the office in the past, his intuition told him that this time was different.

"Professor," he asked after finishing the cake, "is there something wrong?"

As expected, Dumbledore had something to do with him. It was about the oil painting communication system.

Charles originally developed this system for Hogwarts, but Hogwarts messed up during the Decryption Challenge, and Charles started a new one at Fallbarton Castle, so the principal came to ask if the business of fifty thousand galleons was still possible. Done?

Charles had been thinking about this matter, and he had new ideas after seeing foreign magic technology.

History tells him that only by communicating with each other, being inclusive, and having a long-term goal can we develop better and faster.

Charles sometimes speculated why Nicolas Flamel did not want to live anymore. He thought it might be because Flamel loved alchemy so deeply that he died decisively after discovering that his existence hindered the development of alchemy in France.

He knew that it was Flamel who asked Dumbledore to make the alchemy course a compulsory course, and he became firm in this idea. Because Flamel's existence made France the dominant player in alchemy, it was necessary to create an enemy for France and provide an enemy. Forward momentum.

This decryption challenge exposed this problem. The British side has been obsessed with Dumbledore's glory for too long and lacks motivation to move forward.

Under this mentality, British wizards have a sense of arrogance in their hearts, and lack the interest to take the initiative to learn even when communicating with foreign countries.

This problem has been reflected in last year's Potions Championship in Wagadu. Hogwarts did not follow the latest information on the development of potions, so it repeated the results that others had published, almost overturning the situation.

In other places, chasing Dumbledore is the driving force. Although it is unrealistic to surpass it in an all-round way, it has surpassed the British wizarding world represented by Hogwarts in certain areas.

Although the firewall of Hogwarts is very strong in this decryption challenge, it does not completely surpass foreign countries. It has lagged behind in some areas, and then its weaknesses were seized and a breakthrough was made in one fell swoop.

Charles explained these ideas to Dumbledore in detail, and finally said: "From my perspective, when I spend money, I must achieve an effect that matches the investment. If the input does not match the output, The losses should be stopped in time.”

"My intention is to terminate the contract at the point where it has been completed. In the future, it can be changed to a paid consultation and problem-solving model. We will raise the problem and Hogwarts will get the corresponding reward after solving it."

In business terms, Charles and Dumbledore were equals at this time.

Dumbledore seemed very disappointed, but the failure of the Decryption Challenge was there, and Charles' new collaborator was the one who defeated Hogwarts, so he had nothing to say.

"Charles," Dumbledore quickly became as wise as before, "I have some new ideas. I'll think about the details again. Come to my office at eight o'clock tonight and let's talk about it."

Charles nodded.