"Professors, please come here."
The two Ministry of Magic employees in charge of the reception were quite enthusiastic - it was rare for Hogwarts professors to come to the Ministry of Magic on Christmas Day. After all, Hogwarts held its own Christmas banquet, even for professors who did not want to participate in the school banquet. Most of the time, they are reunited with their families at home, so they can't go to the Ministry of Magic.
"Are you," Professor Taylor hesitated and finally recognized one of the employees, "Wright?"
"It's me, Professor."
The young man was very happy to have his name remembered, "Come to think of it, it's been seven years since I graduated."
"No, time flies so fast."
During the exchange of greetings and reminiscing, William and the others were brought into the main hall by these two employees, "Professors, there is still a little time before the Christmas dinner, you can take a stroll - Professor William, can you come with me? , we set aside a special room in the back."
"See you later?"
William waved to Adams and the others, and followed the employee named Wright toward the back room.
"That's right, professor, we have a complete process arrangement for the award ceremony."
As he walked, he explained to William in a low voice, "Because the award ceremony has been postponed for a while, a total of seven wizards were awarded this time, one first-class medal, two second-class medals, and four third-class medals." ."
"Later, you seven wizards and Minister Fudge will walk to the center of the dance floor that has been vacated tonight. Then Minister Fudge will speak, and members of the Wizengamot will award you with the Order of Merlin. As arranged in advance Good procedure, you are accepting the medal in third place from the bottom, do you have any questions about this?"
"No," William shook his head. He had never seen what conferring honors in the magical world looked like, but this arrangement sounded fine.
"That's great," Wright said in relief. Medals are not awarded every year, but it is not easy to practice. Arranging this is actually a very tiring job - the accents of some medal recipients are simply a disaster. Almost impossible to communicate.
——
'Is this the room? '
William curiously looked at the place he was led to. The Ministry of Magic had arranged it very well, including soft chairs for resting, mirrors for organizing clothes, chess and cards to kill time, and a lot of snacks.
When he came over, there were already five wizards waiting there, chatting happily.
"Ah, the newcomer—it must be Professor William, right?"
A wizard stood up, smiled and stretched out his hand to William, "It is not an easy task to teach a group of disobedient brats until they all pass. My children are so naughty now that I can't even control them."
"Fortunately," although he didn't know why the other party had such a good attitude, William responded with a polite smile, "the fifth-grade children are older after all, so they are more cooperative in class."
Of course, add enough hits and the necessary confinement and lots of practice...
"You are too modest."
The wizard who spoke shook his head, "To be honest, as for my child, I was very happy when he first showed his magic power, but now - he is simply a moving disaster."
"Fortunately, he will be sent to Hogwarts for education next year, otherwise my laboratory will be demolished by him."
"Our family has been Hufflepuff for generations. He won't go to Gryffindor, right?" He said to himself, "Speaking of which, you will teach the first grade next year, right?"
…
Together, your children will fall into my hands next year...
William didn't know how to answer for a while, so he could only prevaricate, "As for that, it depends on the school's arrangements. In theory, it should be my turn."
"That's great! Speaking of which, the enrollment time here is really too late - I heard that there are even students in the East who enroll at the age of seven."
"Isn't it?"
Another wizard finally got in the conversation, and the conversation immediately turned to the education of preschool children—after all, except for William, most of the wizards who came to participate in the awarding of honors were already quite old.
Another wizard might not be able to get in the conversation - but as the only professor present, William naturally had a certain degree of authority, which made the discussion quite harmonious.
Not long after, the seventh wizard also came over, a witch in her forties. Her joining and complaining not only did not change the topic, but made the chat more lively.
"Ah, good evening, hero of the wizarding world."
After Fudge appeared, he greeted him eagerly. Unfortunately, the wizards who were chatting happily did not notice this because they were chatting happily about the magic power appearing before they were eleven years old.
"I haven't done much research on the fact that magic begins to grow rapidly at the age of eleven, but students at the age of eleven are indeed the most curious period - ah, here comes the minister."
Damocles Belby, the only recipient of the Order of Merlin First Class in this award, stopped speaking and smiled on his face.
He was quite proud that the success he had worked so hard to achieve was recognized by the wizarding world, so even Fudge became more pleasing to him than he had in earlier years.
"Good evening," Fudge said with a smile on his face, "I hope I didn't interrupt any discussion that is beneficial to the development of the wizarding world."
"No, no," another wizard responded with a smile, "We were just talking about some topics for preschool wizards."
"That's amazing research."
Fudge marveled - he was a pragmatist, and he was naturally considered a share of the achievements made by the medal recipients in front of him, especially Damocles Belby's research and promotion of wolfsbane potion. There is something worth saying when being bothered by the news of Sirius's jailbreak.
The best thing is that this also became a strong evidence that Lupine was sent by him, which made his reputation now increase a lot.
"Perhaps we have to wait for our Professor William to do some research on these aspects - to be honest, Professor William, if you are willing to do some research on the education stage of preschool children, the Ministry of Magic will definitely support and promote it."
"..."
Fudge had obviously done a lot of homework before coming. After a brief conversation, he took care of everyone present - he praised the wizards who saved the threatened village, and strongly affirmed those who had made outstanding contributions in the field of research. Regarding the success of wizards, I also patiently asked them whether they needed sufficient support from the Ministry of Magic in other aspects.
"God...I almost forgot..."
After taking care of everyone present, Fudge deliberately made an expression as if he had forgotten something, "The guests outside must not be able to wait. Although the conversation was very pleasant, we should go and hold the medal ceremony first. I know everyone I don't take honors that seriously, but this is the best reward the Ministry of Magic can come up with."
As he spoke, he motioned to his entourage with his hand. In less than half a minute, the band outside had already changed the music. Obviously, there is no fixed start time for this Christmas party, but it all depends on Fudge's decision. open.
"Then let's go, heroes of the wizarding world."
——
"ladies and gentlemen:"
"Thank you all for attending this Christmas party. At the same time, as the host, I would like to express my welcome to the participation of the French Ministry of Magic Mission, the German Ministry of Magic Mission... and other 17 countries or regions."
'The hall has been enlarged again without leaving a trace by magic? '
William looked at the hall with his peripheral vision, which was now larger than the hall he had just come to observe.
But even so, the hall was still a bit full.
Compared with the banquet at Hogwarts, the Christmas dinner of the Ministry of Magic actually has a somewhat diplomatic nature - some larger ministries of magic have sent envoys to participate, making the banquet surprisingly large.
It's no wonder that so many people are trying to be invited. Compared to Hogwarts, this is indeed a better stage.
While William was secretly observing the guests, Fudge continued to speak.
"...With respect, we award Ms. Harper Winnie with the Order of Merlin, Level 3, in recognition of her outstanding contribution in expelling the Voldebats and saving the next wizarding village!"
There was thunderous applause, and a Wizengamot came up with the Order of Merlin, Level 3, and personally presented it to Ms. Winnie.
William and the other five wizards also applauded her.
"Next person…"
The investiture ceremony was neither fast nor slow, and William soon arrived.
"...This Merlin Order II will be awarded to our Professor William Lee in recognition of his outstanding contributions to education!"
Fudge's words sounded, and Ms. Marchbain appeared with the Medal of Merlin with a smile. After handing the medal to William, she patted William on the shoulder, her face full of pride, "Do a good job, little William, tell the truth." Yes, you have a talent for teaching that is unmatched by others."
…
"Finally, with respect, we will award Mr. Damocles Belby with the Order of Merlin, First Class, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the invention and promotion of Wolfsbane Potion!"
This time the applause was the most fervent and lasting - several wizards even cheered, and William even saw Lupine clapping like he was losing his temper.
This is completely understandable. William had brewed the wolfsbane potion, and its level of ingenuity was so incomprehensible that it was impossible to be jealous.
Whether it was the ingenious method of suppressing the werewolf curse or the intention of finding a way out for the werewolf, William could completely admit from the bottom of his heart that this was something that only a master could do.
As a result, his hands turned red as he applauded Mr. Damocles Belby on the stage, and he planned to give Mr. Belby one-on-one professional tutoring if his child entered Hogwarts one day. .
Fortunately, the arrangements of the Ministry of Magic were very good. After the last medal was awarded, the staff of the Ministry of Magic came on stage to guide the Wizengamot members and their group of honor recipients out of the hall, leaving the stage to Fudge.
Taking advantage of his position, William struck up a conversation with Mr. Belby, "Your invention has been of great help to us, Mr. Belby."
"Huh?" Belby was stunned for a moment - when it came to studying werewolves, he was the number one in the British wizarding world. Even Dumbledore had to be behind him, but he hadn't seen anything common among werewolves in William just a long time ago. What's wrong?
"It's my colleague. Thanks to you, he can finally devote himself to teaching, and he doesn't have to be unable to work with peace of mind like in the past."
"Is that Professor Remus Lupin?"
Mr. Belby thought for a while and quickly got the answer. He didn't care much about things other than research, but he couldn't resist the fact that Lupine's overwhelming introduction mentioned his potion.
"Yes, it is."
"I didn't expect that it could play such a big role and indirectly solve a bizarre case. Speaking of which, Minister Fudge actually dared to boldly agree to the striker's trust in my potion at that time..."
This was hard to explain, so William could only nod in agreement.
"By the way, Professor Lupine's potion in the school was made by, well, that guy Snape. I don't like him very much, but his potion skills are indeed very high."
"Indeed, I occasionally help cook some, but I have to be very careful when cooking."
"You are also good at making potions, oh -" Belby glanced at William's hand, "Ah, although it is very light, it is indeed a sequelae of use of the crucible. I guess you must have a great mouth of fire crabs. A crucible made of shells."
William even wanted to applaud him.
"Yes, it's very good. The firepower is controlled very delicately, making it hard to put it down."
"Yes, fire crab shell is one of the three best crucible raw materials - because its flame control is particularly good."
Speaking of this, Belby's eyes suddenly brightened, "It is also an easier material to obtain, but it is the most difficult to process."
"Speaking of which, I actually really appreciate it. The other two crucibles are too difficult to obtain materials, and their applicable range is too small."
"What kind of flame do you usually use, Professor William?"
"Ah, pure magic flame?"
"This is a little bit - you must have used special processing techniques, right?"
"Yes, yes, that's it. I said it can't be so rough. In fact, I would say that the processed magic flame is more convenient, but the taste is always worse when brewing some more sensitive magic potions."
"I just like charcoal burned with walnuts. Compared with magical materials, this kind of Muggle igniter will not cause..."
"Haha, let's go see him together next time. I would say that his silver knives are the best in Europe, and they don't contain any magical interference after being made. How valuable is this? Others don't know you. You should know, Professor William."
"Although Albus discovered the fact that dragon's blood was mixed in as an auxiliary potion, I still have to blame this quick success behavior for making it extremely difficult for the quality of the potion to reach the highest level. There will always be some regrets of one kind or another. It's such a shame."
Mr. Belby's chatter box couldn't be closed as soon as it was opened, which made William chatting next to him both happy and painful - he could hardly keep up with the other person's thoughts, but he was not willing to stop at all.
This is a real potion master! If you miss this village, there is no such shop - I'm sorry to say Professor Marchban, in his opinion, this thing is really no less valuable than a second-level medal...
ps: I got stuck in the afternoon, and the rewrite failed in the end. There is another chapter that will probably be very late...