~ 💎 WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎🔥 60→1ch | 100→2ch | 200→5ch ⏰ Resets Monday! Thanks!
Chapter 313: Results Predictions
"Just a few words," Rita insisted, "hardly an interview, Gilderoy. It won't take much of your time…"
Lockhart smiled and wagged his finger. "No, Rita, that won't do. If every reporter wanted to 'have a few words' with Gilderoy Lockhart, imagine what would happen."
He gracefully sidestepped her and continued toward the entrance hall, but Rita reached out and grabbed his forearm. The students surrounding Lockhart gasped in surprise and suppressed murmurs, glaring angrily at Rita.
???55.??? Updated first, don't miss the excitement.
"What if I'm not here as a reporter, but as one of your devoted readers?" Rita said, staring confidently at Lockhart. "You surely wouldn't refuse to speak to your readers, would you, Gilderoy? I heard your new book is about to be released…"
Lockhart hesitated for a brief moment before trying to pull his arm from her grip, but Rita, seizing his hesitation, firmly tugged him toward the door.
"Tell me about your new book, Gilderoy," Rita said. "Before becoming a reporter, I often wrote for book review columns. Why did you decide to give up your adventure series and come to teach at Hogwarts?"
Professors Anthony and Burbage watched as Rita and Lockhart passed by.
Lockhart smiled at them with an air of helpless confidence. "As I said… oh, fame… but don't worry, I'm quite adept at handling these things… enthusiastic readers…"
Rita linked arms with him, half-dragging him out of the entrance hall. A few students tried to follow, but Rita glanced at their expressions and firmly refused them with a false, enthusiastic smile.
"Sounds like we don't need to interfere," Professor Burbage said, crossing her arms.
"Professor Lockhart will be fine, right?" Anthony asked, watching as Lockhart and Rita turned a corner and disappeared.
Professor Burbage said, "Common sense suggests that speaking with an enthusiastic reader shouldn't be a problem. But Rita Skeeter…"
She pursed her lips, leaving her sentence unfinished as Professor McGonagall hurried over.
"Have you seen Gilderoy?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Anthony pointed toward the door. "What's the matter?"
"Do you know Miss Skeeter is at Hogwarts, Minerva?" Professor Burbage asked.
"What? Oh, I know… I'm looking for Gilderoy. I need to remind him to hand in the fifth-year Defense Against the Dark Arts results predictions as soon as possible."
"Right, for career advice," Anthony said knowingly. "I've already sorted out the Muggle Studies ones. I'll give them to you this afternoon."
Professor McGonagall nodded. "That's fine."
Professor Burbage said, "Don't tell me you approved her application to enter the school, Minerva."
"If the Ministry first approved her application to 'interview the High Inquisitor' and sent an owl demanding no obstruction of the public's 'right to know the truth about Hogwarts,'" Professor McGonagall said sternly, "and the High Inquisitor happens to be extremely busy, even unable to find time to go to Hogsmeade…"
"What is Mr. Fudge thinking?" Anthony said, puzzled. "Why does he have such strong hostility toward Hogwarts?"
Professor Burbage corrected him, "Not hostility toward Hogwarts, but toward Albus Dumbledore… not that there's much difference between the two." She frowned thoughtfully. "But he's certainly acting more stubborn than usual."
"Perhaps he's having nightmares," Professor McGonagall said. "Either way, I need to find Gilderoy."
"Maybe you should wait a bit," Anthony said. "Professor Lockhart is probably telling Miss Skeeter about his adventures right now."
"Skeeter?" Professor McGonagall looked seriously between him and Professor Burbage.
Anthony said, "Yes."
"And you didn't stop them, Charity?" She took a deep breath. "Well, thank you, Henry. That means I need to go over there as soon as possible."
She strode away purposefully.
"Were we supposed to stop them?" Anthony asked.
Professor Burbage said flatly, "I'd like to see what kind of article that woman writes. Maybe she'll help Gilderoy promote his hair care product line."
…
Whatever article Rita might write, Professor McGonagall clearly no longer cared about it by the time Anthony found her in the greenhouse.
The early spring sunlight filtered through the glass roof, spilling onto the small clearing surrounded by carnivorous plants. Vines had once again climbed the walls, spreading their tender green, curling tendrils everywhere. Professors McGonagall and Burbage each leaned against a carnivorous plant, listening to Professor Flitwick enthusiastically explain the brilliance of standard spells. Professor Sprout sat on an overturned flowerpot, trying to persuade Snape to accept a piece of cake. Professor Sinistra rested her hands on her stomach, leaning silently against a carnivorous plant, indifferently watching a gnarled vine dangling dangerously close to her face.
"Good afternoon, Henry," Professor Burbage said, straightening up to glance at the newcomer before leaning back into the carnivorous plant. "Afternoon tea?"
Anthony smiled and nodded to his colleagues, then moved a flowerpot from the corner and sat beside Professor Burbage.
"I'd love to, Charity—but I'm here to see you, Minerva." He handed over a stack of parchment. "When I realized there were hardly any professors left in the castle, I knew exactly where to find you."
Professor McGonagall flipped through the parchments. "Excellent. Wait, Midgen… Ian Williams… Anne Scott… Henry, does this include the entire fifth year's results predictions?"
"Aren't I supposed to give you the entire fifth year's?" Anthony asked, surprised.
Professor McGonagall said with amusement, "Of course not. I'm only the Head of Gryffindor." She flipped through the stack, picking out a few forms and handing the rest to Professor Flitwick. "Help yourself, Filius, Head of Ravenclaw."
"I didn't expect to receive results predictions for anything other than Transfiguration," Professor Flitwick said cheerfully, tapping the parchment with his wand. The papers rustled and flew into the air, with a few drifting toward him. Professor Flitwick collected them and handed the remaining forms to Professor Sprout.
Professor Sprout said with a smile, "I didn't expect it either." She was busy cutting cake for Anthony, so she gestured for Snape to take the parchment.
"Isn't this necessary for career advice?" Anthony asked.
Snape reluctantly took the parchment and glanced down. "These things based on imagination and speculation must have some earth-shattering value. I'm just regretfully unable to see it… not even a little."
Anthony stood up to take the cake from Professor Sprout. "It's fine, Professor Snape. There isn't a single Slytherin student in there." He took a small bite of cake, then sipped his tea, contentedly saying, "Excellent lemon cake, Pomona. Thank you."
Snape let out a disdainful snort and handed the parchment to Professor Sprout, who reached out for it.
"Hmm… theoretically, yes, it's necessary," Professor Sprout said. "But we all know students' actual results often differ from professors' predictions…"
Professor Burbage told Anthony, "Last year, I only sorted out Gryffindor students' predictions because only Minerva takes these rules seriously."
Professor McGonagall took a sip of tea, still flipping through the stack of forms. "Actually, I've already suggested Albus revise the rules. However, I still believe these predictions are somewhat helpful for career advice." She looked up. "Did I mention Charlie Weasley's initial career goal was the Department of Mysteries?"
"What, why?"
"He wanted to work with Arthur and thought 'Unspeakable' sounded cool," Professor McGonagall said calmly. "I told him his Charms grades, while acceptable, were unlikely to meet the Department of Mysteries' requirements. His History of Magic also seemed inadequate, not to mention he never took Ancient Runes. Instead of aiming for the Department of Mysteries, he'd be better off targeting the Beast Division or simply considering becoming a professional Quidditch player."
Professor Sprout said, "Dragon researcher sounds like a mix of both."
"He'd be well-suited as a dragon researcher," Anthony agreed, though he was more interested in something else. "Why have I never seen the Ancient Runes professor?"
Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick both laughed, and even Professor McGonagall's face flickered with a smile.
"We sometimes joke that Bathsheda is Hogwarts' Unspeakable," Professor Sprout said. "It's hard to see her outside the classroom, and she doesn't open her office door to anyone who knocks, not even Albus. Sometimes she travels or attends conferences, but you never know how she leaves Hogwarts."
Professor Burbage said, "I've only seen her once."
"I've seen her four times," Professor Flitwick said.
Professor Sprout turned. "Aurora, do you see her more often?"
Professor Sinistra stared at the ceiling and said slowly, "Five times… maybe."
Anthony asked with concern, "Are you all right, Professor Sinistra?"
Professor Sinistra sighed but said nothing.
"Minerva went to remind her about the results predictions," Professor Sprout whispered.
"Two in the afternoon," Professor Sinistra complained, sitting up as the carnivorous plant reluctantly released its leaves and rustled back. "Who wakes up at two in the afternoon?"
Professor Sprout poured her a cup of tea.
Professor McGonagall looked up from the Muggle Studies predictions and nominated, "Most people?" Then she turned to Anthony. "Did you give anyone a prediction below an E, Henry?"
Anthony thought back. "I think I wrote down two or three A's."
"Here, I see it," Professor Sprout said. "Mr. Ian Williams."
Ian was a very active student, mostly clever, but his free time seemed largely spent helping at Honeydukes. By fifth year, he still couldn't list more than three places where Muggles used electricity in daily life. After telephone, television, and telegraph, he wrote "portals." When Anthony reminded him about electric lights and refrigerators, he misspelled "refrigerator."
"Oh, him," Professor McGonagall said. "I don't know if you've seen the predictions I gave you, Pomona, but honestly, I think Mr. Williams is unlikely to get a Transfiguration certificate… probably a P, unless he suddenly forgets something again."
Professor Flitwick placed his empty cake plate back on the table. "He might get a Charms certificate. Mr. Williams is quite good at Levitation, Repair, and Summoning Charms."
"He doesn't need certificates to find a suitable career anyway," Professor Burbage said. "He's the nephew of the Honeydukes owner, right?"
"Yes," Professor Sprout said with a smile. "I often notice his essays smell like Honeydukes. But I'm not sure if he actually wants to continue working at Honeydukes after graduation."
Professor Flitwick said in his high voice, "If someone is good at making sweets, they probably aren't too bad at Potions either, right, Severus?"
Snape considered for a moment. "I might give him an A."
"That means an E or even an O," Professor McGonagall said. "Half the predictions you gave me were P's, Severus."
Snape said, "Oh, really? I didn't count. Only half?"
Professor McGonagall gave him an annoyed but amused look.
Snape said smugly, "Unless you want me to predict the mistakes they'll make. In that case, it might indeed be Exceeds Expectations (E) or Outstanding (O)."
"Henry gave almost everyone an E or O," Professor McGonagall complained sternly. "Both of your predictions are equally unhelpful. Thank you."
Anthony clarified, "These predictions were carefully written after spending time on them! I didn't just fill them out blindly."
Snape said dryly, "Neither did I. You can't refuse to believe honest predictions, Minerva."
Professor McGonagall took a sip of tea and lowered her head again, offering no comment on their statements.
Professor Burbage moved her flowerpot closer to Professor McGonagall, peering interestedly at the forms Anthony had given her.
"Seona Shunpike?" Professor Burbage said. "I remember her. She's the one who told me Muggles use electricity to light telephones and then rely on circuit powder to fly between telephones. You predicted she'd get an O, Henry?"
"Miss Shunpike is always curious about the details of Muggle life and often gets E's on in-class tests," Anthony said with a smile. "Besides, she swore to me."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!📚
This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now
💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today!
✨patreon(.)com/GoldenLong
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━