179: Chapter 177 A Magical Lesson at Hogwarts

Zhang Mu stood in the corner of the conference hall with his arms crossed. While listening nonchalantly to the debate, he suddenly heard the Queen mention that he might be present on the scene.

To be honest, he wasn't particularly surprised.

After all, she was the monarch of a nation.

Although elderly, she still held a certain amount of actual power.

She even had the other two powerful figures of Ying Country—the Prime Minister and Prince Suleiman—following her lead.

Without real capability, it would clearly be impossible to achieve that.

After a while, seeing the MPs rise to leave, Zhang Mu also intended to turn and depart.

But hearing the three of them discussing him, he figured he could find an excuse to invite them for a tour of the "World."

The initial plan for Hogwarts—establishing significant prestige on Blue Star—was roughly complete.

For the first batch of five new students and the "special guest" Ms. Rowling, Zhang Mu intentionally allowed them to carry camera equipment.

The purpose was for them to return to reality and let the recorded content circulate.

With this "ironclad" evidence, plus a "sightseeing group" composed of high-level officials from Ying Country, the existence of Hogwarts would become an undeniable fact.

His next step of exchanging resources could then proceed smoothly.

So, Zhang Mu took out pen and paper on the spot, wrote an invitation for a visit, and controlled an Owl to deliver it to the Queen.

Watching the Prime Minister and Prince Suleiman immediately rise to prepare for the arrangements, Zhang Mu didn't stay in the palace. He turned and rushed to Kings Cross Station, passing through the wall to return to the "World."

By now, Toby and the others had already followed the puppets to their respective house dormitory areas to rest.

With a few hours left before dawn, Zhang Mu didn't stay idle. He strolled around the classroom area while mentally reviewing the magic curriculum he had set up.

A few hours passed in a flash, and he found no obvious flaws.

Stopping in the corridor outside a classroom, Zhang Mu rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, "Once they start classes, I'll keep an eye on them for a day.

If everything goes normally for them, I can temporarily set things aside here."

As for the sightseeing group, Zhang Mu didn't plan to bring them into the "World" just yet.

He would wait until Toby and the others learned how to use the "voice codes" to activate the magic configured inside the wands before meeting the Queen to discuss the exact time.

At that time, Zhang Mu leading the group to visit the "academically successful" new students would clearly have a better effect.

"Alright." He turned and walked toward his bedroom. "Hogwarts is settled. I need to head back to the Other World to see how the second phase of the project is progressing.

I also need to make a list of the resources I need... Fortunately, there's Sauron; that guy's administrative skills are decent."

...

The next day, early morning.

The scorching sunlight rose from the horizon, shining upon the ancient castle situated on the edge of the island.

In the Gryffindor House dormitory building, the innermost room on the second floor.

"Toby! Get up quickly!

Our first day as wizards has begun!"

Toby, who had tossed and turned and only drifted off into a daze around three in the morning, was awakened by shouts that sounded both far and near.

Toby's eyelids felt as if they were stuck together with superglue. After a long struggle, he barely managed to open his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Leon's excited face.

"Heh heh, my sexual orientation is perfectly normal. Get away from me."

Pushing away the face that was almost at kissing distance, Toby sat up, supporting himself on the bedboard with a groggy head.

He first looked at the golden light on the window glass, then pulled out his watch from under the pillow to take a look.

Toby had a confused expression: "It's only six fifty-three. Didn't the senior say last night that the first class is at nine?"

It only takes ten minutes from the dormitory to the teaching building. Why did you wake me up?"

"Uh..." Leon scratched the back of his head. "I was so excited I didn't fall asleep until after four, but after only two hours of sleep, I couldn't sleep anymore, so..."

"So you disturbed my sleep?" Toby's face was dark.

"Haha! Sorry..." Leon quickly and sensibly expressed his apology.

Toby didn't really blame him; he was just grumbling a bit.

Seeing his sincere attitude, Toby let the matter drop. Then, thinking that he couldn't sleep anyway, he simply threw off the covers, got out of bed, and went into the bathroom to wash up.

Brushing his teeth and washing his face, the cold water splashing on his face made Toby feel much more refreshed.

"Toby, I didn't expect Hogwarts to actually have double rooms for dormitories," Leon said while drying his face with a towel as he walked out of the bathroom.

"Originally, there weren't any," Toby said, sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for the time to approach before heading to the classroom. "Because Hogwarts hasn't recruited new students for a long time, many rooms were vacant."

Leon was slightly taken aback: "How do you know?"

"The senior told me."

"Why didn't I hear that?"

"Weren't you constantly holding your camera, looking for shots everywhere?"

"Uh, haha..." After a brief moment of embarrassment, Leon waved his hands again and said, "You can't blame me.

There are just too many magical things at Hogwarts.

For example, the oil paintings hanging on the corridor walls—the characters inside can actually move!"

"Really?"

"Ms. Rowling's novels mentioned these kinds of living oil paintings."

Frowning, Toby lowered his head in thought. The original work had many things similar to Hogwarts; he needed to find time to catch up on the movies and novels.

The sunlight passing through the window and falling on the foot of the bed moved onto the bedding as the two chatted.

Seeing that it was already past eight on his watch, they left the room, closed the door, and hurried to the classroom along with the senior from across the hall.

The distance from the dormitory to the classroom wasn't too far; as Toby had heard, it was ten minutes.

The senior dropped them off in front of the room at the stairs on the third floor of the teaching building, informed them that this was the classroom for first-year students, and then went ahead alone, turning into a nearby room.

Looking at the tightly closed door in front of them, Toby and Leon's breathing became a bit heavy.

The first day of contact with magic had officially begun.

With determination in their eyes, they pushed open the door together.

Inside was an empty lecture hall; no other students were seen.

This was normal.

The senior had told him yesterday that there were only five new students in this intake, and they were divided into different houses.

Therefore, as the only two new Gryffindor students this year, only the two of them came to the first-year classroom.

Thanks to this, their nervous feelings eased slightly.

They didn't stand foolishly at the door but crossed the threshold and sat down side-by-side in the front row of the tiered seating.

"I wonder what kind of person our teacher will be."

"Definitely someone who knows magic."

Toby: "?"

Do you even need to say that?

"Coo-coo—"

Just as he was about to roll his eyes, a familiar cry suddenly came from overhead.

Looking up, an Owl circled and descended toward the lectern. Midway, its body was suddenly engulfed in a flurry of feathers.

The feathers drifted to the ground, and a middle-aged-looking man wearing aristocratic formal attire appeared with a smile on his face.

"Oh.

How long has it been? Finally, I can teach students again."

"Good morning, Professor."

"Good morning to you as well." He gave a light wave of his right hand, and the two who had instinctively stood up to greet him were pressed back into their seats by a force.

"I can't wait to release my passion for teaching.

Are you ready?"

"Ye-yes!" They were a bit flustered by the teacher's strong desire to perform.

"Then, let us begin our first lesson in learning magic: the standard intonation for reciting incantations."