"Have you heard? Barty Crouch Jr. seems to have died..."
"I heard about that too. Apparently, he killed himself after watching the broadcast of Voldemort being destroyed?"
"I wonder what Old Barty thinks about this... Though I suppose he probably wouldn't have deliberately stopped it, would he?"
"But with this, his greatest weakness is gone. Will that affect our cooperation?"
"It should be fine. After all, he won't be able to work for many more years before he has to retire..."
"Quiet down, everyone. The headmistress is here!"
After someone suddenly shouted this, the professors who had originally gathered in the conference room and were chatting fell silent all at once. They sat upright and looked toward the door.
Sure enough, an elderly witch with a kindly expression was smiling as she pushed the door open, then walked straight to the chair at the innermost end of the conference room and sat down.
"Good morning, everyone... Have all of you toured the new campus yet? Are you satisfied with it?"
Miranda Goshawk looked radiant, and her expression was quite relaxed and natural. Compared with the haggard headmistress from two months ago, when the university had just gone public and she had almost been unable to leave her office twenty-four hours a day, she seemed like an entirely different person.
She looked at the conference room full of professors staring at her, and the corners of her mouth could not help rising slightly.
In these short two months, aside from formally moving out of that sealed space and enjoying true sky and sunlight while still keeping the campus's location absolutely secret, the faculty size of Leach University had also nearly doubled!
And those newly joined professors were basically not obscure small fry either.
After seeing the university's current lineup of professors, which was full of genuine substance, and after learning that aside from the required courses, they could use the university's professional equipment freely to conduct their own research during the rest of their time—and that valuable projects would even receive special funding—a large group of wizards who already had considerable prestige in academia had submitted their résumés to the university one after another. The scale of this had even far exceeded the university's initial expectations...
They had even gained the right to carefully select from among this group of academic heavyweights!
This is really nice...
Avada controlled Nathan Clarke's body and looked around at those new faces, comfortably praising the situation in his heart.
Thanks to those newcomers, he now only needed to be responsible for the single subject of psychodynamics. He only had to teach three classes a week, and apart from the occasional special mission that needed to be handled, the rest of his time was entirely at his own disposal...
However, under Grindelwald's instruction, the university's research in the field of souls would be led by him, and there would be quite a lot involved in that. So he would not be too idle in the future either.
Though the progress of that project's research would basically depend on his mood—on when he was willing to throw out how much soul knowledge. Especially after Dumbledore had already "donated" the Resurrection Stone to the university, he had gained the perfect umbrella to protect the results he released...
So, in the end, how much work he did still depended on his own personal willingness.
Once I graduate from Hogwarts in a couple of years, I absolutely have to find a way for my main body to take over this professor position, and enjoy the double benefits from both the university and the Department of Mysteries' compensation...
Merlin above, I can barely imagine how comfortable that life would be.
"It seems that before I arrived, all of you had already chatted enough... In that case, let us begin the first work meeting of the new school year."
As Goshawk spoke, she drew several pieces of parchment from her pocket and placed them on the table.
"First is the most important matter: the procedures for the university going public... Professor Baker, please give the report."
"With pleasure."
Benjamin Baker stood up with a smile and waved his hand, projecting the contents of several pieces of parchment into the center of the conference room.
"As expected, the stubborn pure-blood faction's actions helped us tremendously. Aside from Barty Crouch having completely sided with us, quite a few Ministry officials whose children were infected during the werewolf attack the year before last have also been brought over. Therefore, in terms of procedure, we encountered almost no deliberate obstruction. Even Dolores Umbridge, who was the most resistant toward us, has already had quite a bit of dirt dug up by a certain young reporter. She is now too busy saving herself and has no ability to interfere with our progress here."
"As for social reputation, investigations show that after those several hundred graduates revealed their identities one after another, the vast majority of British wizards have already developed preliminary trust in the university. Only a small portion still feel wary and uneasy toward an unfamiliar and enormous organization... In short, the university's foundation in Britain has now been firmly laid."
"In all negotiations with the Ministry of Magic, the following agreements from the original plan have already been signed by both sides: we may keep the campus location completely confidential, and ordinary operations will only communicate with the Wizarding Examinations Authority rather than be directly interfered with by the Ministry of Magic; we may freely disseminate regulated knowledge below the confidential level, while courses above the confidential level will require special approval from the Ministry of Magic—however, believe me, that special approval will not be difficult to obtain; and there are also cooperation agreements signed with the Department of Mysteries and the Auror Office..."
After explaining for a full half hour, Professor Baker casually conjured a cup of water and took a sip. Only after moistening his throat did he continue:
"In short, we can be considered to have basically successfully replicated Durmstrang's model. The only flaw is that we have announced the school's location to be within Britain, and therefore still need to remain entangled with the British Ministry of Magic... But overall, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. We need a certain degree of openness to guarantee our social reputation."
"And within Europe as a whole, Durmstrang has already successfully signed a guaranteed-admission agreement with us. Beauxbatons is still observing, but at least it has not explicitly prohibited its graduates from coming to Leach University for further study... In addition, the Magical Congress of the United States of America seems to be attempting to replicate the university model. This is a good sign..."
"Very good."
Goshawk nodded in satisfaction.
"Then Professor Belby, please report on this academic year's enrollment situation."
"Of course. In this enrollment drive aimed at all of Europe, all one thousand places have already been filled. Among them, the number of fresh graduates is only three hundred and ten. The rest are all adult wizards who enrolled after passing the university's independent entrance examination..."
...
"The university's progress is going quite smoothly."
London, inside a certain library, Avada was receiving information from the university while nodding with some relief and emotion.
Although he had only joined the university in the past two years, as someone who had personally experienced the greatest changes and had been one of the main driving forces behind them, looking at the university now thriving and developing vigorously still gave him a sense of relief, as though a child of his own had finally grown up.
"The disappearance of pure-blood obstruction, the opening of regulated knowledge, the free development of academic research... Everything is advancing toward the future in my heart. I wonder how many years it will take before results can truly be seen?"
"And this is only the development of Europe alone. Who knows how many more years it will take before this kind of progress spreads across the magical societies of the entire world... I hope I can see that day before I retire."
"And when that day comes, this gift prepared in advance for Muggle society should probably be able to play its role as well..."
As he thought this, Avada unsealed a corner of the seal he had just placed and looked once more at the paper he had just finished—a paper that, in his plans, could be called the key to a new era. A satisfied smile appeared on his face—
Discovery of a New Erinaceid Species Temporarily Named "Cilaor": Extracts from Its Spines May Overturn the Existing Chemical System.
(The End)
(End of Chapter)