The Silent Witch of Hogwarts

Chapter 14: The Principal's Office

In the early morning, sunlight shines on the green lawn outside Hogwarts, accompanied by a few dewdrops that mark the arrival of a new day.

Now that it's no longer school season, Hogwarts is unusually quiet without the bustling students.

Of course, except for the principal's office.

"Albus..." McGonagall coughed softly, glancing at Dumbledore, who was sitting calmly in his chair, eating honey tsunamis.

"This Miss Hamilton... I've never heard of her before." She shook her head helplessly, holding the contract in her hand. "And... two professors are jointly responsible for one course."

"This is unprecedented."

"We can't live in the past forever, can we?" Dumbledore said, raising his head slightly as he popped a honey tsundere into his mouth.

"You know that's not the point, Albus," McGonagall said, straightening her expression and becoming somewhat serious. "Quirok already caused us enough trouble last year."

“We can’t hire another recent graduate as a professor.” McGonagall looked at the age section on the contract: “She’s only eighteen.”

Looking at the surname, McGonagall seemed to realize something and lowered her voice: "Could this be related to the Hamilton family?"

"I must clarify this," Dumbledore said slowly and calmly. "This matter has nothing to do with the Hamilton family."

"Furthermore, strictly speaking... Miss Loila Hamilton is not only eighteen years old."

"What do you mean?" McGonagall paused, looking at Dumbledore with some confusion.

Dumbledore shrugged and slowly recounted what had happened to Loila. As the Vice-Headmaster of Hogwarts, McGonagall naturally couldn't hide such things from her.

"Fifty years...?" McGonagall looked at Dumbledore with disbelief. She first showed a look of sympathy, and then seemed to suddenly realize something.

"Is she Miss Loila Hamilton?" she asked, pursing her lips. "The one who knows the Silent Charm and graduated early from Durmstrang Academy..."

"That's right." Dumbledore nodded slightly. "We seem to have talked about her together fifty years ago."

"That was to fight against..." McGonagall suddenly paused. Knowing Dumbledore's past, she didn't continue, but changed the subject, saying, "If it were Miss Hamilton..."

"She is certainly qualified to be a professor at Hogwarts."

Loila Hamilton, a rising star in the European wizarding world fifty years ago, won the Academy Duel Championship twice while studying at Durmstrang.

She graduated from Durmstrang College at the age of sixteen, making her the youngest graduate in Durmstrang's history and the only wizard to have fully mastered the Silent Spell.

"The Silent Witch"

McGonagall clearly remembers the headline of the Daily Prophet at the time…

"But..." McGonagall frowned slightly, thinking of Miss Hamilton's later experiences: "Miss Hamilton was imprisoned in a wizarding prison at the age of seventeen for her research into dark magic."

"Having a wizard who has been to prison as a professor seems a bit..."

"Minerva... I can also clarify this for Miss Hamilton." Dumbledore seemed to have anticipated McGonagall's question, and he coughed lightly before saying, "Miss Hamilton was not arrested for engaging in research on the Dark Arts."

"The real reason..." Dumbledore paused for a few seconds, then shook his head.

Seeing his reluctance to speak, McGonagall couldn't help but feel a little helpless: "Albus, I trust you unconditionally... but what about the school board and the students' parents..."

Dumbledore chuckled softly; he had already anticipated this: "Therefore, Miss Hamilton is now undertaking something that draws a line between herself and her former self."

As he spoke, he took out a report and handed it to McGonagall.

"Ministry of Magic?" McGonagall stared at the report for a moment, then examined it carefully for a few seconds.

"Hire Miss Lola Hamilton as a special advisor to the Dark Magic Items Inspection Team?"

"That's right." Dumbledore nodded. "This is Miss Hamilton's alias. After all, they probably wouldn't agree if they knew Miss Hamilton's true identity."

"If she's involved in investigating dark magic items... then she can naturally convince the school board and the students' parents," McGonagall whispered.

"You knew all along?" McGonagall was subconsciously a little surprised. She looked at Dumbledore's leisurely demeanor and asked, "But Albus... why did you do this?"

"It's very simple." The leisurely look on Dumbledore's face slowly disappeared, replaced by a sense of guilt.

"To obtain due compensation for everyone involved in that conflict," he said, emphasizing each word, "to make up for the fifty years Miss Hamilton lost as a result."

"Albus..." McGonagall sighed softly, wanting to offer Dumbledore a few words of comfort, but Dumbledore immediately curled the corners of his mouth into a slight smile: "And Minerva..."

"Thanks to Tochiro, we learned about Voldemort."

"He will one day return with his might." Dumbledore said, slowly rising and walking to the window of the Headmaster's office. Looking at the green lawn in the sunlight, he smiled and said, "We have also known about Miss Hamilton's abilities."

"Isn't that right?"

"Harry..." McGonagall couldn't help but think of the Gryffindor boy, and she nodded gently.

Yes… to fight Voldemort… they do need Miss Royla Hamilton’s abilities, just like fifty years ago… only now, their enemy seems even more terrifying and cruel.

However, Loila, who was in the Diagon Alley bar, had no idea that she held such an important position in Dumbledore's plans.

At this moment, her target was still the owl standing on the table not far away.

"hope...Xi Ya, come here...come here..." Loila muttered to herself, looking at the owl standing in the other corner of the room.

“Miss Hamilton… your voice should be louder.” Lupin gently shook his head. “Even an owl couldn’t hear such a soft command, could it?”

"I...I know..." Loila took a deep breath, her blue eyes fixed on the owl, her pointed ears under the hood slightly upturned.

"hope...XiXiYa!" Her voice was a little louder than before, at least reaching the volume of a normal person speaking normally.

Sia heard her call, and the little owl instinctively turned its head to look at Loila.

"Alas!"

Seemingly startled by the owl's sudden movement, Loila screamed and quickly shrank back.

"Miss Hamilton..." Lupin, looking at her, suppressed a laugh. "I don't think Sia would eat you."

"I'm sorry..." Loila pursed her lips and poked her finger. "I... I'm just a little scared..."

Does nobody find the way an owl turns its head scary?

It doesn't even need to turn its body!

"Alright, let's try again, Miss Hamilton."

"Yes...yes!"