What were Tom and Hermione doing while Hacker and Dumbledore were talking? They didn't enter the headmaster's office to listen to the conversation but instead finished writing their essays for the History of Magic and Potions class!
That's right, when Dumbledore and Hacker entered the office together, Tom and Hermione went straight to the library.
The conversation between Dumbledore and Hacker? Sorry, they weren't very interested in that. Since they couldn't achieve any substantial collaboration between the two of them as long as the Magical Secrecy Law was in effect, everything they discussed was just useless chit-chat.
Dumbledore understood this very well, so he didn't mention anything about cooperation between the magical and non-magical worlds. They were just having a casual conversation to get closer to each other. In Dumbledore's opinion, establishing a close relationship with the Muggle Prime Minister was the best choice in the current situation.
On the other hand, Hacker was more proactive and tried to steer the conversation towards agriculture and medicine. During their brief encounter, he realized that although the magical world's combat capability wasn't evident at first glance, their everyday magic far exceeded that of Muggles: Apparition, Levitation Charm, Cleaning Charm, Repair Charm...
All these spells were very useful.
In addition to these "life hacks," the agricultural and medical industry of the magical world far surpassed that of the non-magical world. As a Minister who understood agriculture, Hacker knew very well the impact of using high-yield seeds and fertilizers in farming.
Hacker even came to the conclusion that if the magical world's farming methods could be implemented across all of Britain, it could provide free social welfare in meats, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and staple foods. If the magical world's medical methods could be promoted, a ten-year increase in life expectancy per person wouldn't be a problem.
Unfortunately, despite his hints, Dumbledore didn't show interest.
Hacker's conclusion about this meeting was that it was a friendly but futile encounter, although it allowed him to broaden his horizons.
As for lunch, he didn't have high expectations. From what Hacker had heard from Headmaster Dumbledore, most of the Hogwarts students had gone home for Christmas, so he assumed that the dining hall's food would also be reduced.
Most importantly, Hogwarts was a British magic school after all, so what could a Londoner like him expect from British food?
Today, the layout of the Great Hall of Hogwarts had changed. The long tables of the four houses had been moved to the walls, and in their place, a table for twelve people was set in the center of the hall. When Dumbledore and Hacker arrived, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout, and Flitwick were already seated, and the caretakers Filch and Newt Scamander were there as well. Filch wasn't wearing his usual brown coat but an old, worn-out tailcoat. Newt, as always, wore his navy blue coat, but to get into the Christmas spirit, he wore a Christmas hat. Besides them, there wasn't a single student.
"Merry Christmas!" Dumbledore greeted everyone present and then told Hacker by his side, "We're not many, and the students have gone home, so using the house tables would be a bit silly... come, have a seat."
They both found two empty seats and sat together. Dumbledore looked at the people sitting and noticed the absence of some familiar faces.
"Minerva, have you seen Yodel and Granger?"
Professor McGonagall looked a bit strange. "When we parted earlier, Yodel said he was going to the library to write his essay..."
Everyone present: ...
With caution, Hacker asked, "Is the academic pressure in the magical world so high?"
"No, no," Dumbledore shook his head repeatedly, while looking at McGonagall.
"I only assigned them a bit of homework, some essays and such..." Professor McGonagall defended herself.
"Yes, that's true..."
"I also assigned them some homework."
Flitwick and Professor Sprout hurriedly chimed in, saying they had left a minimal amount of assignments.
Now the pressure fell on Snape. Seeing everyone looking at him, Snape snorted coldly, "Perhaps Miss Granger and Mr. Yodel have chosen too many classes. I heard they've selected all the classes on the schedule."
The teachers suddenly understood: So it's not our problem! I told you, the assignments I left were completely reasonable, Tom and Hermione were too ambitious!
Meanwhile, Tom and Hermione were still in the library.
They thought the school library wouldn't be open during the Christmas holidays, but it turned out it was. Madam Pince still had that cold and distant attitude, wished them a "Merry Christmas," and then disappeared.
Tom and Hermione were already used to her attitude of keeping strangers away. They took some reference books and sat in a corner to work on their essays.
It took them more than two hours. Two hours that weren't enough to finish two essays, even if they were shortened. However, their essays for History of Magic and Potions were nearing completion; they just needed some polishing, which wouldn't take much time.
When lunchtime came, their essays were already completely finished.
"Tom, should we turn in the essays early?" Hermione rolled up the parchment scroll and put it in her backpack.
"Don't overcomplicate things. If the teachers return the essays to you for revisions in this situation, would you revise them or not?"
When it comes to assignments, it's best not to go against the flow. The moment you submit an assignment separately, the probability of teachers thoroughly reviewing it increases significantly. And then it would trigger a series of unpredictable timelines.
Hermione pondered seriously, "But if they return them for us to redo, doesn't that mean there's something wrong with our assignments?"
Tom pondered for a moment and realized he couldn't refute that.
"You have a point, but rewriting two essays would be really exhausting."
This time, Hermione was at a loss for words.
"Let's go to the meeting room first to see if Professor Dumbledore and Mr. Hacker have finished their conversation. If everything is fine, we can go back home in the afternoon."
"Actually, I'd like to stay here. The food is much more abundant than at home, and the library atmosphere is great..."
As they talked, they packed their things. At that moment, they heard a noise behind a nearby bookshelf.
Hermione was drawn to the sound and approached. When she looked behind the bookshelf, she saw Hagrid, the giant, holding a pile of books and drying his tears.