"No." Sirius shook his head. "I remember Bathilda being quite chatty back then. As a historian, there's no way she could have written a complete Magic History just by digging through materials on her own. A lot of the time she had to ask other elderly wizards about certain secrets.
"As far as I know, Bathilda has no shortage of friends. Sometimes when she goes out, she's gone for several weeks at a stretch."
"Is that so..."
Their conversation came to a temporary end with Lupin's arrival; he had come to ask Sirius to dance.
Although Kael didn't quite understand why Lupin ignored Tonks and chose a man as his dance partner, Sirius looked very happy about it.
They stepped onto the dance floor that had been cleared in the middle of the garden, and as the music started, they began dancing a lively dance Kael had never seen before.
"Oh, the so‑called Marauders' Celebration Dance..." Professor Sprout came over holding a glass of Butter Beer. "I haven't seen that for twenty years. Really brings back memories."
"Nineteen years." Professor McGonagall said calmly beside her. "And I don't think there's anything to be nostalgic about. Ever since they graduated, my job has been so much easier—at least until the Weasley brothers enrolled.
"Fortunately, they finally graduated as well."
Hearing this, Professor Sprout couldn't help letting out a laugh.
Thinking about it carefully, it seemed that all the troublesome students in recent years had been sorted into Gryffindor. The original four‑man Marauders, and more recently the Weasley Brothers, were all notorious pranksters. Professor McGonagall's job really wasn't easy.
By comparison, Hufflepuff was much less of a headache. Sprout had plenty of time every day to stay in the greenhouses, looking after those adorable plants, instead of living in constant fear like Professor McGonagall, worried that someone from her house was about to pull off some earth‑shaking stunt.
Thinking this, she cheerfully greeted Kael. "How are you feeling after graduation?"
"Not bad." Kael answered honestly. "It's just that I suddenly feel like I've got nothing to do."
"All recent graduates feel that way at first—unless you find a job quickly and keep yourself busy." Professor Sprout said with a smile. "But you should have already gone into the Ministry of Magic, right? I remember you became a Senior Ministerial Assistant a year ago."
"Minister Bones has indeed reminded me about it many times." Kael said.
"Bones... oh right, she's Minister now." Thinking of the recent incident where the Death Eaters attacked the Ministry of Magic, the smile on Professor Sprout's face faded a little.
"Why not go?" she changed the subject. "You don't like working at the Ministry?"
"Kind of." Kael said.
"Or you could travel around and look for rare Magic Plants." Professor Sprout suggested. "That job is anything but dull, and the pay is quite good too—some plants are very expensive.
"I can introduce you to a few wizards who are experts in herbology.
"Thank you, Professor." Kael said with a smile.
"I'm only offering to put you in touch." Professor Sprout waved her hand. "But I think, because of Mr. Scamander, you might like Fantastic Beasts more.
"Or, while you're traveling in search of Fantastic Beasts, you could spare a bit of attention for the local specialty plants. Even if you don't have time to care for them yourself, you can send them to Hogwarts. You can name your own price."
"Then I'll be sure to ask a good price." Kael joked.
"As you should." Professor Sprout said, looking as though she truly didn't mind.
Watching the Head of Hufflepuff chatting so happily with her outstanding graduate, Professor McGonagall couldn't get a word in, and could only keep sipping at her soda water.
It wasn't that Kael was ignoring her, but during the conversation she simply couldn't share the same mood as Professor Sprout.
Just like earlier, when she'd watched Lupin and Tonks recite their vows, Professor Sprout clearly hadn't been as deeply moved as she was.
Several minutes later, Cedric arrived as well.
Professor McGonagall watched the three of them chatting away and, for some reason, the soda that had been sweet and refreshing started to taste more and more sour.
Fortunately, the arrival of Bill and Charlie brought her a bit of comfort.
But that comfort didn't last long. When she saw Fred and George roughhousing as they ran over, Professor McGonagall instinctively thought of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and her head started throbbing.
She had thought that once Zonko's Joke Shop closed, Hogwarts would become a lot quieter. She never expected Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to appear out of nowhere, not only picking up right where Zonko's left off, but being even more popular than Zonko's.
Just in the term after last Christmas alone, Filch had confiscated more than a hundred little gadgets. Together with what she confiscated herself, the total was close to two hundred.
That was almost as many as in an entire previous school year, and this was during a period when the school was strictly inspecting Dark Arts Items. Without those inspections, the number would definitely have been even higher.
All she could say was that it truly took only the two of them to outdo the 'Marauders' Four'. Even after graduating, they were still causing trouble for the school.
Apparently sensing the odd mood over here, Fred and George paused mid‑stride as they were about to walk over, then very naturally turned around and slipped into the house instead.
Professor McGonagall didn't pay them much mind. She knew Fred and George's temperaments far too well; no matter what she said, they would never really change, and certainly wouldn't stop selling those Magic Tools to students.