Who Says Foreigners Don’t Spank Their Kids

The Parents’ Conference went quite smoothly. Under Hogwarts’s thousand-year reputation, the parents were temporarily willing to believe Professor Gandalf’s words.

Of course, for most families, there was no other choice besides Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That was probably one reason they accepted things so easily…

After that, the professors each took the stage and briefly explained the teaching plans after the reforms. Most of the parents seated below had once been taught by these very professors, so they were naturally full of trust, and communication went smoothly.

At the same time, everyone saw Professor Grindelwald in person… It had to be said that Grindelwald still had plenty of personal charisma. Aside from a few more stubborn parents, nearly everyone’s impression of Professor Grindelwald had improved.

The Parents’ Conference went exceptionally smoothly, and the Board of Governors meeting afterward was no less so—at least for Adam.

With sufficient funding, Hogwarts had no need for the damn Board of Governors at all. The former governors who left in anger merely spat out a few threats, hinting that if Hogwarts needed funding in the future, it would have to pay a greater price.

Professor Gandalf simply said they had better weigh which would come first: his money running out, or their descendants needing admission—or they could start considering immigration as soon as possible.

Among the many governors, Lucius, who held a dominant position and had initiated this Board of Governors meeting, was probably the one most satisfied with the meeting besides Adam.

Judging from Hogwarts’s series of reforms and its refusal of further investment from the Board of Governors, the possibility that this Professor Gandalf was Dumbledore could be ignored entirely.

Dumbledore absolutely did not have that much money!

To say nothing else, that flying broom museum Madam Hooch had proudly told everyone about was filled mostly with antiques that had stopped being produced decades, even centuries ago. Even Dumbledore’s fortune would have been drained dry by it.

But that was merely a museum with greater historical symbolism, and it was located inside a school that was not open to the public on ordinary days. It had virtually no profit-making potential. Who would empty their fortune on something like that?

Not to mention the rest—things like buying an academic journal such as "Modern Transfiguration," which had been published for decades, starting from its very first issue; building greenhouses in the Forbidden Forest, setting up magic, and introducing all kinds of magical creatures…

In a single reform, Gandalf had poured at least the equivalent of two Malfoy family fortunes in Galleons into Hogwarts—and that was only what they could see!

As the head of the Malfoy family, one of the wealthiest families in Britain, it was Lucius’s first time experiencing what it felt like to have someone flaunt absurd wealth right in his face.

Not to mention that many of these things could not be obtained with money alone.

After hearing it all, the other parents merely felt that the headmaster’s reforms were truly bold and decisive. They had no intuitive understanding of the value of these things. Only a very small number could see the terrifying wealth and connections they represented, and Lucius was naturally one of them.

Where the hell had this Gandalf come from?!

In his anger, he did not even stay for lunch. When Lucius returned home with an exceedingly ugly expression, he finally could not hold back his laughter, startling Narcissa, who had come to welcome her husband home.

Did Gandalf’s identity truly matter to them? The key was that Gandalf was no ordinary man. That was enough.

The more extraordinary he was, the safer Draco would be!

Meanwhile, the Headmaster Gandalf, whom many considered extraordinary, was sitting in the Great Hall with a smile, eating lunch as he watched the show.

It was rare for the parents to have a chance to meet the professors, so naturally they wanted to learn about their children’s studies. But on one hand, there were too many parents and too few professors. On the other hand… the relationship between Hogwarts parents and professors was somewhat special.

Muggle parents were clearly rather reserved about speaking directly with the professors, but Wizarding World parents…

As mentioned before, most of the professors standing before them were the very same professors who had taught them when they attended Hogwarts, so—

Considering the possibility of taking their children to see a professor, only for the professor to say, "Your son/daughter is so mischievous, just like you were back then!"—an awkward situation indeed—

They would only be even more reserved!

However, the considerate Professor Gandalf had thought of these points long ago. He had already arranged for the professors to write an academic evaluation for every student during their spare time outside class, in the format of strengths + weaknesses + a message, before compiling them together.

After the Parents’ Conference ended, every parent received the professors’ evaluations of their child.

Then, Professor Gandalf thoughtfully allowed the parents to have lunch with their children before leaving.

"Who says foreigners don’t spank their children because of cultural differences? That’s complete nonsense! It’s entirely because laws and child protection organizations keep a close eye on them… Look, the Wizarding World doesn’t have such rules."

Professor Gandalf shook his head and summoned the House-elves, telling them to serve the students more ice cream.

Sweetness could lift one’s mood, and the cold texture could soothe pain with an ice pack. Ice cream truly was the most suitable food for a Parents’ Conference~

After lunch came the exchange meeting with the Ministry of Magic visitors, and several famous newspapers from the Wizarding World had also sent reporters.

Incidentally, The Daily Prophet had not sent Rita Skeeter.

The articles she had previously published for Fudge would certainly not affect her position as The Daily Prophet’s top female reporter. Those articles might all have been fake news, but when had she ever reported the truth? She had always written only what readers liked to see.

They had probably considered that Hogwarts’s headmaster might not appreciate a reporter who smeared the former headmaster.

"Mr. Gandalf, welcome to Britain."

Rufus Scrimgeour was a stern-faced wizard. He extended his hand toward Adam in greeting.

His very first sentence was a probe, but…

"Minister Scrimgeour, I have scarcely ever left Britain. I was born in Britain and once attended Hogwarts. That is precisely why I hold such deep feelings for this school."

Gandalf smiled as he shook Scrimgeour’s hand. As they spoke, the reporters nearby began writing and taking photographs.

Scrimgeour had hoped Gandalf would reveal a flaw himself. If he had a false identity, then he would inevitably fear that the Ministry of Magic might possess identity records he could not account for, and thus spin more lies along with Scrimgeour’s words—such as claiming that he truly was a foreigner.

But on the day Voldemort invaded the Department of Mysteries, Adam had taken the opportunity to tour the Ministry of Magic. He knew better than Scrimgeour what records the Ministry possessed!

The Ministry of Magic did not even have identity records from fifty years ago, much less records from when the Gandalf identity was supposedly born. Adam naturally had nothing to fear.

Looking at the old man before him, wearing a kindly smile, Scrimgeour’s already slightly furrowed brows drew even tighter.