Chapter 3: Principal, I Am at Odds with Evil
Dumbledore took a sip of tea and continued, “Whether it’s the Muggle version or the Wizard version, the theories in the book are excellent.
It’s clear you weren’t just making things up; some of the spells, I’ve tried them out a little, and they actually work.
In your Wizard version, you mentioned,
'Imagination is more important than magic!'
'The essence of spells is the inner change of the world!'
I completely agree. I find it hard to imagine that you could grasp these concepts when you were still a child…”
Douglas suddenly understood. Perhaps this was why he passed the interview application.
Suddenly, Dumbledore changed the subject.
“So, I’m very curious, Douglas, why did you choose Hogwarts to teach?
Or why did you choose Defense Against the Dark Arts?
From last term until after reading your book, I actually felt that Charms Class would be more suitable for you.
Of course, Filius currently has no plans to retire.
I still remember during school,
Filius praised you for transforming the Lumos Charm into a spell that could counter Dark Arts…
So I’m still very curious why…”
As he spoke, Douglas felt a sharp gaze fixed on him.
He shrugged casually, feigning ease, and said,
“In fact, the outside world is full of turmoil, and human interactions are fraught with deception.
Whether it’s the Muggle World or the Wizarding World, it’s all the same.
Even the deception in the Wizarding World is more dangerous, which is very detrimental to my writing.
This reminds me of my time studying at Hogwarts.
Hogwarts is like an ivory tower.
Oh, it seems your understanding of Muggle knowledge isn’t entirely comprehensive.
Here, ‘ivory tower’ has a new interpretation in the Muggle World, and it’s not the same as its meaning in the Bible.”
Seeing Dumbledore’s confusion about his use of the term ‘ivory tower,’ Douglas had no choice but to use a more ancient term to explain.
“In my opinion, Hogwarts is a place in the real world like a utopia. Although there are various disturbances,
overall, the people here are relatively simple-minded.
Of course, there’s also a main reason…
That is, my writing has hit a bottleneck…”
Dumbledore frowned slightly, indicating he didn’t understand.
Douglas gave an awkward smile:
“Professor, since you’ve read ‘The Master of All Professions,’ you’ll notice that the book stopped updating eight months ago, both the Wizarding World version and the Muggle World version.
Actually, it’s because I had too few sources of information, and most of them were from the Muggle World.
Since you know I started writing novels in my first year, that’s because the Hogwarts library helped me a lot…
Also, because the hiatus has been too long, some readers and fans in both the Muggle and Wizarding Worlds are unhappy with me…
I heard that some extreme fans are already doxxing me… I mean, looking for me everywhere…”
Listening to Douglas, Dumbledore nodded understandingly.
He chuckled as he looked at Douglas and playfully said,
“I understand, I understand.
I also have some fans who send me some rather strange and dangerous things.
Simply because they want to verify if I’m too old to move.
But you don’t have to worry. I think apart from a few friends who know you very well, others should find it difficult to discover that you are the author of these bestsellers.”
At this point, Dumbledore playfully winked, indicating he shared the same helplessness.
Then he looked at Douglas with a scrutinizing gaze once more.
This made Douglas very confused. Since his answer was fine, why was Dumbledore still reacting this way?
Or was his appearance disrupting Dumbledore’s original plan?
Dumbledore quickly explained the reason.
“Mr. Douglas, I remember your relationship with Quirinus was quite good during your time at school, wasn’t it?”
Douglas thought for a moment. Dumbledore was referring to his former Muggle Studies Class Professor, Quirinus Quirrell.
He had initially suspected that this was the same Professor Quirrell who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts in Harry Potter’s first year.
However, Quirinus Quirrell, one of Hogwarts’ most outstanding graduates, who became a Professor directly after graduation, and was even privately considered by some busybodies as the next Ravenclaw Dean.
He was clearly not the same stuttering Quirrell who was clinging to the dying Lord Voldemort.
It was probably just a coincidence of surnames.
Coupled with his good character and knowledge, and his love for travel.
Overall, their relationship was quite good during school.
They even kept in touch for a while after graduation, until more than two years ago, when he said he was taking a year off to travel to Albania, and their contact ceased.
Looking at Dumbledore’s expression, Douglas suspected something might have happened to him.
“Hmm, Professor, you know I’m Muggle-born, so I had a bit of an advantage in Quirinus’s class.”
Dumbledore nodded, then said,
“Is that also why you applied for Defense Against the Dark Arts Class?”
“???”
Douglas was even more bewildered. What did his application for the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor position have to do with Quirinus?
Seeing Douglas’s puzzled expression, Dumbledore’s stern demeanor softened slightly.
He explained, “Last year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor was Quirinus, and he…”
“What?!”
Douglas was very surprised. He had always thought that the Quirrell in Defense Against the Dark Arts Class was someone Dumbledore had found from outside.
Merlin’s tattered underwear, he really didn’t know this. Perhaps it was mentioned in the original work. But the last time he read the original work was over thirty years ago.
His memory of the details in the original work was already blurry.
But now, these things no longer mattered.
From Dumbledore’s tone, it was clear he suspected Douglas might be Lord Voldemort’s second candidate.
According to Dumbledore’s habits, if there was even a shred of doubt,
he would certainly not mind treating Douglas as a mini-BOSS on Harry’s path to victory.
What to do! What to do! Asking for help online!
If it weren’t for this damned system, it would be utterly useless at critical moments.
He came to apply for a job to unlock the system, not to be a BOSS for elementary school students.
Soon, Douglas calmed down, collected his thoughts, and said,
“Professor, the last time I contacted Quirinus was over two years ago. He said he was taking a year off to go to Albania.
Since then, we haven’t had any contact.
I don’t even know when he returned to Britain or became the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts Class.
However, I heard from my editor before that last year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor was someone wearing a garlic-smelling turban and speaking with a stutter!
This and the elegant Quirinus… seem… quite different, don’t they?
Professor, if you could, could you tell me about it?
And where is he now?
Could it be that this position really has a curse?”
Although Douglas used a tactic of turning the tables,
he was indeed very confused. He never dared to imagine that the two Quirrells were the same person.
Now he really needed to understand what had happened.
Although he still remembered the general plot, ever since he started attending Hogwarts.
He didn’t believe that his little butterfly flapping its wings wouldn’t change anything.
Dumbledore hadn’t expected Douglas to be so direct, even directly asking about the curse.
He also had a headache, worried that he had really guessed wrong, and that the other party would give up the job because of the curse rumor.
He would have to look for a new Professor again, how exhausting.
Dumbledore looked at Douglas and slowly recounted the general events concerning Professor Quirrell from the previous school year.
“Douglas, you must know that studying Dark Arts is very dangerous; it can unknowingly change a person’s mind…”
When mentioning Lord Voldemort on the back of Quirrell’s head, Dumbledore specifically observed Douglas, and seeing that he did not panic like ordinary Wizards upon hearing Lord Voldemort’s name, he felt a bit more relieved.
And Douglas was not idle either.
At appropriate times, he would interject with suitable words.
“Whoa!—That works too?”
“Oh!—Isn’t that just nonsense?!”
“Hey!—That’s his fault!”
“Oh!—Never heard of it!”
“Look what a mess this has become!”
“Who says it isn’t?!”
As for the effect, Dumbledore felt that his words weren’t falling on deaf ears.
After Dumbledore finished speaking, Douglas fell into contemplation.
He was no longer understanding this story as a Muggle World reader.
But as a member of the Wizarding World.
So he noticed some details, perhaps even details Dumbledore hadn’t considered at the time.
But at this moment, Douglas hesitated.
He didn’t know whether he should tell Dumbledore these things, because once he spoke.
There would be suspicion of clearing Quirrell’s name, and even worse, he might be branded as a remnant of Lord Voldemort.
Becoming a target for the Order of the Phoenix to eliminate.
Dumbledore perhaps saw Douglas’s hesitation, so he spoke:
“Mr. Holmes, is there a problem here? Or do you have something you’d like to say?”
Douglas glanced at Dumbledore, carefully choosing his words, and said,
“Professor, the following statements represent only my inferences based on the Professor’s narration, and do not represent my personal stance.”
Dumbledore, with a piece of pastry in his mouth, playfully nodded.
This action didn’t entirely make Douglas drop his guard.
But he understood Dumbledore’s good intentions.
So he brought up his doubts.