The golden morning light rippled like liquid sunshine across the landscape, gradually dispersing the thin, ethereal mist that had shrouded the verdant mountain peaks during the night. Hogwarts, standing majestically on the cliff's edge and wrapped in drifting clouds, gradually became visible through the dissipating fog.
In the early morning, Hogsmeade Station had its peaceful routine suddenly shattered by an unscheduled train's arrival. The Hogwarts Express pulled into the platform with a great hiss of steam and squeal of brakes.
The goblins worked with impressive swiftness and efficiency, and within just ten minutes they had unloaded large wooden crates from the train's carriages. They loaded them onto the horseless carriages normally used by young witches and wizards to travel between the station and the castle.
The Thestrals pulling the now-loaded carriages raised their heads and neighed twice in their eerie, otherworldly way before drawing the creaking, heavily loaded carriages toward Hogwarts along the familiar path.
After a brief warm conversation with Bryan on the platform, Remus, Percy, Penelope, and the exhausted workshop workers boarded the Hogwarts Express for the return journey to London. Before reaching Diagon Alley Station, they would have plenty of time to rest properly and ease the mental strain and tension of the past two grueling days.
Bryan alone escorted the entire convoy to Hogwarts, riding the lead carriage.
The convoy didn't stop or slow at the great gates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as visitors normally would. Instead, it drove directly into the grounds, only coming to a halt at the wide marble steps in front of the castle's entrance.
There, Professor McGonagall in her emerald robes and Hagrid in his moleskin coat were already waiting with anticipation, accompanied by the house-elves from the kitchen who had been summoned for the occasion.
The sight of more than twenty carriages filled with wooden crates lined up neatly before the entrance in the early morning light was truly spectacular to witness. At the very least, both Professor McGonagall and Hagrid showed expressions of shock and amazement.
"Oh, Bryan!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, hurrying down the steps in rush. She approached Bryan, who had just jumped nimbly down from his position from the lead carriage and was casually brushing the morning dew from his slightly disheveled gray-silver hair.
"Are these all—?" Professor McGonagall began, extending one trembling hand. Her fingertips touched the nearest crate's rough surface, and the deep wrinkles on her usually stern face smoothed.
"Mmm—" Bryan stretched lazily, rolling his shoulders, his expression was relaxed and satisfied despite his sleepless night.
"That's right, Professor McGonagall. Most of the galleons obtained from the American magical community through the Learning Machine sales remains safely at the Gringotts World Bank headquarters in Paris, I didn't withdraw everything. But the galleons here—"
he gestured to the carriages, "—should be enough to keep the school running smoothly for about a year."
Professor McGonagall blew her nose heavily into a handkerchief she pulled from her robes, looking both astonished and deeply moved by this.
But immediately afterward, Professor McGonagall clasped her hands together anxiously at her chest, revealing some unease about the situation despite her relief.
"But this is all your personal galleons, Bryan," she said with concern. "Oh, I'm not sure, I don't know if this is entirely appropriate for us to accept. You've worked so hard for this."
"Oh, my own galleons, Professor McGonagall?" Bryan responded with a reassuring, warm smile.
"I don't know where you got such a misunderstanding from. These galleons come entirely from the profits of the Learning Machine Workshop, and the invention of the Learning Machine wouldn't have been possible without the dedicated efforts and contributions of the Hogwarts professors.
It uses your knowledge, your expertise, your years of teaching experience. So, in reality, this money belongs to all the professors collectively. Oh, unless you're unwilling to invest it in the school's operations?"
"Oh, what nonsense you're talking, Bryan," Professor McGonagall said with warmth, smiling with pursed lips, though her eyes remained slightly misty. "Of course we're happy to invest in Hogwarts. Ah, but I certainly wouldn't object to slightly raising the professors' salaries as well."
Three people's hearty laughter rang out clearly below the marble steps.
For a long time, the Board of Governors had been like a heavy mountain pressing down oppressively on Hogwarts. Only because Albus Dumbledore had been Hogwarts' headmaster for nearly half a century, and his enormous personal prestige and political capital had kept the Board somewhat tied up, preventing them from interfering too excessively in Hogwarts' internal affairs and educational decisions.
But even with Dumbledore's protection, from time to time, the Board would still step forward to assert its presence and authority, to remind everyone who held the purse strings, and hold the school back from various initiatives.
Now, being able to finally remove this oppressive mountain from over their head, to break free from that financial dependence, was something all the professors were absolutely delighted to see happen.
"You're simply capable of anything, Professor Watson," Hagrid said admiringly in his deep, rumbling voice, shaking his wild head of hair. "If someday you could allow me to raise dragons here at Hogwarts, then—well, then I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven!"
"That's against wizarding law, Hagrid," Professor McGonagall interrupted sternly, though without real heat. "Highly illegal and dangerous."
"It's not entirely impossible, Hagrid—" Bryan said with a calm, thoughtful smile. "Establishing a dragon nature reserve in the Forbidden Forest, both as a tourist attraction for the magical community and to let the young wizards broaden their horizons with real specimens. Oh, of course, now isn't the right time to pursue such an ambitious project. But someday, perhaps."
The sky had already brightened considerably, the sun was rising above the distant mountains. Rustling sounds of some early-rising young wizards coming downstairs could be heard from inside the castle as voices and footsteps were echoing in the entrance hall. Under Bryan's direction, the house-elves began their work.
The house-elves, who possessed the unique ability to Apparate within Hogwarts' grounds despite the anti-Apparition wards, directly disappeared from the entrance steps with sharp cracks, taking the crates with them.
According to the arrangement previously agreed upon by Bryan and the senior staff, this entire batch of galleons would be stored securely in the underground chamber where, years ago during Harry's first year, the professors had hidden the legendary Philosopher's Stone for protection.
In a short time, the efficient house-elves had transported away the vast majority of the crates, vanishing and reappearing rapidly. Only one single crate remained behind on the steps.
Professor McGonagall drew her wand with a motion and waved it to remove the complex magical locks on the remaining crate.
Clatter!
The moment the crate's lid swung open, many of the Galleons piled full inside stacked nearly to the brim came jingling and clanging noisily down from the container, spilling onto the grass.
The galleons, each one as large as a wheel hub and piled up like a small glittering mountain, scattered a pulse-quickening golden glow in the bright morning light! The coins gleamed and sparkled almost blindingly.
"Oh, my goodness!" came immediate exclamations from young wizards who had been watching from upstairs in the castle. Several voices cried out in amazement simultaneously.
Professor McGonagall immediately turned her head sharply to glare up with her typical stern expression, rebuking them.
"Don't you have anything better to do this early in the morning, Mr. Finlay!"
The few young wizards who had been peeking curiously quickly pulled their heads back inside and out of sight, suddenly silent. But the excited glances they exchanged with each other were full of suppressed excitement and wonder.
Bryan smiled slightly to himself. He knew that Professor McGonagall had deliberately opened that particular crate in full view to give the young wizards a bit of confidence and reassurance. To show them that Hogwarts was going to be fine.
"Hagrid—" Professor McGonagall called after frightening away the curious young wizards from the windows. She looked toward him expectantly.
"Would you mind taking this crate of galleons to Hogsmeade village? We need to settle our accounts with the villagers and shopkeepers there, pay what we owe for their credit. As for the rest—"
she produced a long piece of parchment from her robes, "—I have a shopping list here for teaching materials that the various course professors desperately need. Everything must be gathered and purchased today. I think Mr. Potter and the others have been put through quite enough punishment already collecting things from the forest."
"No problem at all, Professor," Hagrid said agreeably, then pulled out his concealed umbrella wand from his coat pocket. With a wave, he returned all the galleons that had fallen and scattered onto the grass back into the crate. He then closed the lid securely and drove the Thestrals pulling the carriage toward the school gates.
"Do you need to rest for a while, Bryan?" Professor McGonagall asked with concern as the two of them walked together toward the entrance hall. She looked at Bryan carefully, noting the slight shadows under his eyes. "I know you've had almost no sleep all night. You must be exhausted."
"Thank you for your concern, Professor McGonagall, but I'm afraid I can't rest yet—" Bryan's voice carried a note of thoughtful reflection.
"We've solved one critical problem, yes, but that doesn't mean there's nothing left to do. Far from it. Now that the funding situation is finally in place and secure, we need to prepare intensively for the final event of the Triwizard Tournament. The third task. Oh, and I need to hurry and give those children some proper training. There's so much to do."
"Oh, so you've decided to let them—?" Professor McGonagall asked with interest.
"That's right—" Bryan smiled brightly. "The Triwizard Tournament only happens once every five years, and who knows when it will be Hogwarts' turn to host again. The opportunity is rare and precious, and I hope more people can participate and experience it."
"That's a wonderful idea. I have no objections, as long as safety is properly maintained and no one gets seriously hurt."
Professor McGonagall nodded readily.
In the gradually brightening sunlight streaming through the tall windows, the slumbering Hogwarts castle rapidly awakened from its troubled sleep and bloomed with vigorous vitality once more.
When Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other students came down to the Great Hall for breakfast, expecting the usual meager fare, they were first stunned into complete silence by the breakfast spread before them. It was not just restored to its former abundance but even more sumptuous than usual, like a holiday feast.
Every conceivable breakfast food was present in generous quantities: mountains of bacon, sausages glistening with juice, perfectly cooked eggs, fresh fruit, pastries, toast, porridge, kippers, black pudding, mushrooms, tomatoes, and more varieties than anyone could sample in one sitting.
The rich, mouthwatering aroma permeating the Great Hall and the enormous visual impact of the various foods artfully arranged made Ron pounce on the table like a hungry wolf, not even having time or mental space to ask what had happened or why things had changed. Food first, questions later.
This abundant spread also whetted Harry and Hermione's appetites despite their curiosity, and without much conversation initially, they quickly joined the enthusiastic "eating army" attacking the food with vigor.
"More than twenty large wooden crates, each one containing at least ten thousand Galleons brought over personally by Professor Watson in those carriages early this morning. There's absolutely no mistake—Justin saw it all with his own eyes!"
A breathless Parvati Patil told them with complete confidence a few minutes later, sharing the news she had eagerly gathered from multiple sources.
Harry was momentarily stunned, his fork was freezing halfway to his mouth as he processed this information.
According to this account, Professor Watson had brought at least two hundred thousand galleons to Hogwarts. At least. Possibly more.
"T-two-two hundred thou-thousand—galleons?" This staggering figure directly shocked Ron, who had been wolfing down his food without pause, into stuttering around his mouthful of sausage. His blue eyes were huge. "That's impossible. That's more money than—than—I can't even imagine that much gold."
"What could possibly be difficult for him to accomplish..." Harry said with a touch of awe in his voice as he gulped down the mouthful of blueberry pudding he'd stuffed in his mouth.
He looked toward Professor Watson at the staff table, who was chatting and laughing with Professor Sprout.
"That's not the only surprising thing that happened, Harry!" Then Harry heard Hermione say this.
Harry quickly looked over and saw Hermione's cheeks slightly flushed as she vigorously shook the latest edition of the Daily Prophet she had just received from a delivery owl.
"What do you mean, Hermione? What else happened?" Harry asked urgently, leaning forward.
"Professor Watson has already formally announced that, in view of the Board of Governors' various actions that violated the contract signed between both parties, Hogwarts is officially severing all ties with the Board of Governors! We're independent!"
Hermione's eyes were bright with vindication. "Oh, and Professor Watson also mercilessly condemned the Ministry of Magic in the newspaper! It's incredible!"
As she spoke, Hermione looked toward Professor Watson at the front of the Great Hall with a worried expression creasing her face, watching him smile and chat as if he hadn't just declared war on the government.
"Now the Ministry of Magic is definitely going to come after him with full force—?"
Her voice showed genuine concern despite her approval of his actions.
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