Board of Governors Meeting? Parents’ Conference!

"Of course!"

Grindelwald looked at Neville in surprise.

"Who says you can only protect yourself by waving a wand? And who can claim that your talent is lacking?"

"But my Charms and Transfiguration Class grades aren’t very good…"

"No, no, no…"

Grindelwald raised an index finger and shook it.

"Grades do not determine everything, Neville. Don’t let those old conventions bind your soul."

"Magic itself is an extraordinary gift. Everyone has something they excel at, something unique to them. The only difference is whether they have made proper use of it."

As he spoke, Grindelwald extended a hand to Neville.

"Come. Tell me your story. Open your heart to me, and I will help you find the path that suits you. I will develop that one-of-a-kind talent of yours. I will show you… this brilliant world."

"Heh, it seems Professor Grindelwald may not have shown himself for all these years, but his intimidation is still as strong as ever."

Adam tossed the letter aside and snapped his fingers. A Maine Coon Patronus leaped out the window to notify Professor McGonagall that the Ministry of Magic had postponed its visit.

After the Ministry changed administrations, Rufus Scrimgeour had sent a letter early on, saying he wished to speak with Professor Dumbledore. Even after Adam wrote back informing them that Hogwarts had a new headmaster, the Ministry had still insisted on visiting.

But once word spread that Grindelwald was teaching at Hogwarts, the Ministry sent another letter the very next day, saying that Minister Scrimgeour was busy with official duties and that the visit would be postponed indefinitely.

"How could this happen? What’s going on?"

Professor McGonagall hurried over. This had been meant as a fairly formal visit, and Hogwarts had already made preparations.

"They probably think Professor Dumbledore is still the headmaster of Hogwarts."

Adam raised his head from the two menus in his hands.

"To them, this supposed change of headmaster, with the new one never showing his face, is merely an excuse to do things Dumbledore could not conveniently do under his own identity. Now that Grindelwald has even been released, of course they do not dare come."

If someone baselessly suspected you of stealing something, then they must have entertained the thought of stealing themselves, or perhaps had already done so.

Fudge himself was obsessed with power, so he believed everything Professor Dumbledore did was an attempt to seize his authority. Scrimgeour was an Auror willing to stop at nothing for justice, so naturally, he found it perfectly reasonable to think that Dumbledore would stop at nothing for justice as well.

Adam was not surprised that the Ministry had postponed its visit. He was only looking forward to their next move.

The newly appointed Scrimgeour would surely be eager to achieve something and prove that he was different from the incompetent Fudge. Since he could not find the Death Eaters, Hogwarts was his best option.

After all, Fudge had kept proclaiming that Dumbledore was a senile old fool, that Harry was merely bragging, and that Voldemort had not returned—but now everyone knew Voldemort had returned, so the first two claims were naturally false as well.

The Ministry’s credibility had taken a severe hit. Where one fell was where one got back up; where one lost credibility was where one had to win it back.

I hope Scrimgeour’s actions won’t disappoint me…

Having finalized Hogwarts’s menu for the week, Adam stared absently out the window before a smile crept onto his face.

"Better bring all the Ministry’s Aurors. Let me complete the achievement of solo-clearing the Ministry of Magic in one go. That’s the only way to establish the authority of this new headmaster of yours~"

What move should he use then to look a little cooler?

Before the Ministry’s next move arrived, Adam received letters from parents and a front-page headline from The Daily Prophet.

"Parents have expressed deep concern over the new Hogwarts headmaster’s decision to employ a notorious war criminal as a teacher."

Adam flicked the newspaper with a finger and smiled as he shook his head.

"If they had interviewed other parents, this paper might at least have looked somewhat convincing. But they just had to interview Lucius Malfoy… If I remember correctly, when The Daily Prophet was smearing Professor Dumbledore and Harry at Fudge’s instruction, the Malfoy father and son were always appearing in the papers, weren’t they?"

Adam was very satisfied with Rita Skeeter’s maneuver.

So-called public credibility and trustworthiness were eroded bit by bit like this. Before this interview was published, parents had been frantically sending letters to Hogwarts. Yet once it came out, they actually quieted down considerably.

People might forget pain once they had eaten their fill, but they had only been deceived a year ago. Anyone would have to wonder whether something was wrong again this time.

Still, Lucius had not been chosen as the parents’ representative at random. If there were no benefits and only drawbacks, The Daily Prophet would not have allowed Rita Skeeter to choose Lucius. His identity as a member of the Board of Governors was that benefit.

In the interview, Lucius tactfully stated that the Board of Governors had now completely lost all means of controlling or understanding Hogwarts, then implied that Hogwarts was currently being run entirely by the headmaster’s unilateral decisions, which was deeply concerning.

Setting down the newspaper, Adam picked up the envelope on the desk. It had been sent in the name of the Board of Governors. Of course, everyone knew perfectly well who had actually sent it.

"Given that more than a month has passed since the start of this school year, yet Your Excellency still shows no intention of convening a Board of Governors meeting, all members of the Board have decided that at nine o’clock next Tuesday morning, the full Board of Governors will visit Your Excellency to discuss matters related to the Board meeting that should have been held last month."

Adam stroked the Money Toad lying on his desk. With a flick of his finger, he summoned a pure gold coin and fed it to the creature, then looked at the letter and found it rather amusing.

The only reason the Board of Governors could send such a letter so arrogantly, with an attitude of "I make the arrangements, and you merely obey," was because they believed Hogwarts’s funding was still in their hands.

Unfortunately, they knew nothing about the Twin Card or the Sorcerer’s Stone.

In the past, Lucius would probably have come knocking alone with his cane in hand. But now, in their eyes, Dumbledore was concealing his identity and had even released Grindelwald, so after some thought, they decided it would be safer for the entire Board of Governors to come together.

No matter what Dumbledore was like, he could not possibly kill all of them at once… right?

"How many members does the Board of Governors have anyway? Let me make you feel even safer. We might as well hold a Parents’ Conference."

Adam smiled and controlled the Quick-Quotes Quill to begin writing letters.

"Regarding several recent matters concerning Hogwarts, as well as certain future teaching arrangements, all parents are invited to Hogwarts for a meeting… And while we’re at it, invite the Ministry people too. We’ll hold the Parents’ Conference in the morning and an exchange meeting in the afternoon. With so many people there, if Scrimgeour still does not dare come, then he may as well stop being Minister for Magic and give up his position to Eugene!"

Did they want a meeting? Then they would have a big one!

But in that case, it would not be ideal for Adam to remain completely out of sight. Fortunately, Adam had an alternate identity.

Hogwarts’s new headmaster: Olorin Gandalf, online!