Chapter 339: No Reception

Anthony watched Harry and Ron catch up with Hermione, turned around and went upstairs, carefully avoiding the water flowing along the foot of the wall - Myrtle was in as good a mood as ever - and returned to his office.

There was no class this morning, so Anthony just looked through the lesson plans, looked at the O.W.Ls sample questions that Professor Bubaji gave him, and sorted out the results of the students' previous in-class tests. He met Umbridge on the way to the library and declined her request to sit in on a class with little thought. Judging from the sweet smile of the senior investigator, his next teaching assessment rating will probably be very interesting.

"I wish to remind you, Professor Anthony," Umbridge said in a whimpering voice, "that you do not have the right to refuse an investigation under the Education Order. You certainly don't want to be seen as deliberately disobeying the Education Order, do you? I mean , if you are not prepared to tell something in class that is not convenient for investigation..."

"Of course not, Ms. Umbridge."

"Great!" Umbridge said in a sweet voice, "Then we've settled! At two o'clock this afternoon -"

Anthony said: "Uh..."

Umbridge tilted her head slightly: "What's wrong?"

Anthony explained: "Sorry, but this afternoon is just a review class for fifth grade. There is nothing new and worth listening to."

A smile appeared on Umbridge's face: "Oh, don't worry, Professor Anthony. O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts are the most important exams in many wizards' lives, and they also test whether students have received a suitable and adequate education. The best way to do that. Revision lessons show whether professors understand what they are teaching their students...but of course, the Ministry of Magic is already reviewing a series of updated syllabuses developed by professionals before they are published Afterwards, I'm sure professors will be pleased to find them quite helpful in choosing appropriate delivery methods and content..."

"You see, Ms. Umbridge, that's why."

Umbridge looked at him with bulging eyes, seemingly not understanding what he was talking about.

"That's the reason." Anthony smiled, "I think students shouldn't be distracted by too many things when they are seriously preparing for OWLs..."

"Oh my God, Professor Anthony, you don't have to worry about this at all." Umbridge said in a little girl's voice, "Just go to class as usual and pretend I don't exist."

"That's very difficult," said Anthony honestly. "Let me put it this way, even if I could pretend you didn't exist (Umbridge's eyebrows raised), it would be very difficult for the students to ignore you. They are preparing them carefully. It’s the first important exam they face, and I don’t want to see their mood affected by unnecessary investigations.”

Umbridge's eyebrows almost flew into her hair, which was tied with a green bow. Anthony reassured: "This is not against you, Ms. Umbridge, if it were - let's say - er, Professor Lockhart, or Professor Snape, or even Professor Dumbledore... If they don't have anything If you want to show up unexpectedly in my fifth grade class for a good reason, I will say no.”

"I may not have made it clear," Umbridge said sweetly, "The Senior Investigator's investigation cannot be refused. This is just a polite notice, Professor Anthony. See you in the afternoon."

Anthony looked around. There was no one else around. Most of the students were in the classroom, and the remaining ones didn't have the time to wander in the corridors leading to the library - even if they had, Anthony suspected they would have stayed away the moment they saw Umbridge. .

"I admit, I'm not good at dealing with unwelcome guests, Ms. Umbridge," he whispered, "but I do have a way of keeping people away."

Umbridge stared at him.

Anthony prompted: "I heard that wizards have a prototype of the Muggle expulsion spell." He restrained himself from blinking like Lockhart.

He could see that after Umbridge stared at him blankly for a while, her face suddenly turned pale, clearly remembering the scene when they first met. However, her face turned livid with rage: "How dare you..."

"If you are willing, you can come to my class tomorrow morning." Anthony said quickly, "We are going to talk about how Muggles use tap water and water purification systems. I personally find it very interesting."

Umbridge's lips moved, as if she was chewing something but refusing to spit it out. Eventually, she just said, "Well, very good. Very good."

…

After Umbridge disappeared menacingly at the end of the corridor, Anthony went to the library to hand over the books to be returned to Mrs. Pince, and then returned to his office.

He was a little worried that he had said too much, but he did think that at this time, the students already had enough things to worry about, and they did not need these boring, adult things to add to their burden. . Besides that, Professor Bubbaji had complained to him about how many disrespectful questions Umbridge asked in her classes.

"She said that as my friend - ha, friend, I've never heard a more ridiculous lie - as my friend, she wanted to give me a friendly reminder that in this day and age, quote, 'understand those There's no need for people who don't even believe in magic." Professor Bubaji said angrily, "You should all see the skeptical look on her face when she asks the students what they learned in class! Because I just refuted her in the ministry the day before yesterday!”

Anthony shook his head, shook off Professor Bubaji's fast-talking complaints from his mind, lowered his head and continued preparing for the lesson.

He has organized two review sessions to ensure that most of the students have a grasp of British Muggle dress and public transport ("Fare evasion is common? Correct, two points from Ravenclaw, but don't do it - I'm here for you Bonus points for Muggle knowledge, sir, not for this kind of behavior") and British Muggle currency ("I heard they were looking at a fine. It could be a few pounds, it could be hundreds of pounds... who remembers. How to convert pounds to galleons?").

He waved his wand, and a stack of parchment paper with past O.W.Ls exam questions written on it immediately flew up in front of him, and the questions related to these parts were folded and listed in front of him. This is a little magic spell that Daniel taught him. It is mainly used to find books on a certain subject in bookstores for customers who have unclear descriptions.

Daniel told him that it was once one of the required spells in Charms at Hogwarts. Anthony initially wondered why this useful spell no longer appeared in the Standard Spells, but he soon realized how many students were choosing to use it in place of their brains when writing papers—not that they would today. How much brain was used.

However, the explanation given by Daniel is that people soon discovered that its main use was to find those less elegant words in the vast library collection for students to silently curse behind the librarian's back.

Anthony believes that this spell was probably invented one night filled with the sound of flipping through books in a petulant manner, when a gifted wizard needed to do literature research (or prepare to write a review). For its inventor and Miranda Gorshak, the author of Standard Spells, discovering just how far people's creativity could extend the use of spells was, perhaps, just as eighteenth-century Muggle Studies scholars discovered It’s equally astonishing that two hundred years later people are still using the same textbooks.

It must have been after many O.W.Ls that the Wizarding Examination Authority's Muggle Studies Questions Team decided, in frustration, to ask questions based on the level of the students rather than on Muggle society.

The next year, after "Explain the advantages of banknotes over coins, and briefly explain why British wizards do not use banknotes," the title became "List the types and denominations of currency currently used by Muggles in the UK, and describe how they are converted ”, followed by “Convert five pounds into roughly equivalent amounts of wizarding currency and simply compare their purchasing power in daily life”, then to “Why Irish leprechaun gold coin scammers have trouble targeting Muggles”, until it became "Who is on the front of British Muggle currency (below)".

Anthony unfolded it downwards slightly, and the long paper immediately hung down to the table, then unfolded along the edge of the table, and rolled to the ground. The picture accompanying the title is a ten-pound photo, in which the Queen is gazing at the little wizards who don't recognize her. On one side of the photo, a hand had very deliberately and hastily stamped the words "EIIR" next to the Queen's portrait, though Anthony doubted how many students would have gotten the hint.

His cat lowered its body, tiptoed over, then jumped up suddenly and pounced on a roll of parchment hanging in the air, shaking slightly, interrupting Anthony's thoughts. Antony laughed, bent down, lifted the cat into his lap, and freed the parchment from between its paws.

"I'm going to need them this afternoon, cat." He rubbed the cat's head. "Speaking of which, do you think these parchments are real parchments? Where do the wizards keep their sheep?"

The cat raised its head, hugged his wrist, and tried to bite his fingers.

"What about the sheep that are used to feed the fire dragons? They certainly don't just go to Muggle farms to steal a few in the middle of the night, right?" Anthony said, "There is so much magic in this world, and the earth is still going around the sun. Turn, it’s incredible.”

The cat finally caught Anthony's index finger and bit it with interest. Anthony let it chew, thinking about what would happen if one day all Muggles disappeared from wizards' lives. For example, Muggles suddenly discovered some way to immigrate to Mars, and decided to move collectively, but because of the secrecy law or something similar, they completely forgot to inform the wizards... How will wizards live at that time? Do they realize Muggles are missing? Will Squibs become the new Muggles?

Is there magic on Mars?

He has been living among wizards for more than a year, and there are still many curiosities and stupid questions piled in the corners of his brain. As soon as he opens the door, they will rush out.

"I really wish there was a wizard studies program." Anthony said thoughtfully, "I would be happy to take its O-level exam." (Note 1)

Note 1: O-levels are basically the British Muggle version of O.W.Ls. Our story roughly takes place at a time when GCSEs are gradually replacing O-levels and CSEs.