On the eighth floor, in the Headmaster's Office, Dumbledore sat leisurely, sipping his tea with three spoonfuls of sugar, while watching Snape and Professor McGonagall argue with great interest.
It was quite a coincidence.
Professor McGonagall had originally come to see Dumbledore with some business, but as soon as she entered, she heard Snape clamoring about expelling a certain student.
"It's that Kael Chopper again, he's tricked at least five hundred Galleons out of the other students in the past few days."
"I said before, he's instigating students, bold and reckless, disregarding school rules, and should be expelled."
...
Professor McGonagall listened for a while, and roughly understood what was happening. She frowned and said, "Severus, we don't expel students for such small matters like selling a few items."
"Small matter?" Snape raised an eyebrow, shifting his gaze from Dumbledore to Professor McGonagall.
"With all due respect, Minerva, he's already trying to organize students to cheat in exams now."
"Cheat? Are you joking?"
Professor McGonagall said incredulously, "I've seen those things, they aren't even considered magical items, they're just ordinary decorations."
"So, Mr. Chopper is selling fakes?" Snape drawled, "After all, ordinary decorations aren't worth ten Galleons.
Selling fakes at Hogwarts to scam other young wizards should also result in expulsion!"
"Calm down, Severus."
At this point, Dumbledore had finished his tea and took out a large piece of parchment on the table.
"This is their product brochure, you probably haven't seen it yet." He pointed to the last line in large, bold letters and said, "They actually stated it clearly, so it's not deception."
Snape looked up, blinking painfully at the glaring large letters.
[This product is purely symbolic... Please purchase accordingly]
"Moreover..." Dumbledore added thoughtfully, "From what I know, most students buy these decorations for five Sickles, only a small portion... hmm, the nicer ones, sell for ten Galleons."
After hearing Dumbledore's words, Snape's expression turned grim, as if he'd eaten a plate of unwashed intestines.
So it was only their Slytherin students who bought the ten Galleon ones?
"And what about this?" Snape said with a dark expression, looking at the brochure, "They mentioned you too, isn't that deceptive?"
"In fact... they're telling the truth."
Dumbledore's old face turned red, and he said, "I did wear a similar thing during graduation exams, but it was confiscated by Professor Marchbank later."
"Merlin's beard, I always thought no one remembered that."
Snape's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He grabbed the brochure and left the Headmaster's Office.
"Bang!"
The loud door slam awakened Fawkes, who had been sleeping, causing it to fly to Dumbledore's shoulder, angrily pecking at his beard.
"Sorry, Fawkes, Severus didn't mean it."
Fawkes didn't listen, continuing to tug at his beard.
Unable to do anything else, Dumbledore took out some Mandrake leaves from the drawer to pacify his Phoenix.
Then he looked up, seeing Professor McGonagall's face full of disbelief, and said, "No need to be so surprised, Minerva. I was only seventeen at the time, and doing something inexplicable is normal.
Besides, that exam was Magic History, Professor Binns' class... you should understand."
Professor McGonagall's mouth twitched as if she wanted to laugh... but she held back.
"Alright then..." Dumbledore changed the subject, "Did you come to see me for something?"
Returning to business, Professor McGonagall's expression became more serious.
"Ahem, this is the entry list you requested from last June to August." She put a small pile of parchment on the table and said, "Yesterday the owl couldn't find you, so the Ministry of Magic sent it to me."
"Thank you, Minerva, I need it right now."
Dumbledore took it, flipped it open, and then took a similar stack of parchment from behind him on the bookshelf.
Professor McGonagall peeked curiously, but due to her sight angle, could only see the first few words,
"Albania Departure..."
Seeing Dumbledore start to seriously compare the two lists, Professor McGonagall quietly exited.
With the door shut again, the Headmaster's Office returned to silence.
On the walls, the portraits that had pretended to be asleep opened their eyes, eagerly gathering to discuss the earlier topic.
"That young wizard, Kael, again." a witch said, "How many times has that name appeared in the Headmaster's Office now?"
"At least three times." a skinny old man said, "That Potions Professor, every time it's because of him, another problem student."
"I don't think so." the first witch shook her head and said, "I've seen that child in the corridors, smart, humble, polite, he even greets the portraits."
"Maybe he's just pretending." a sharp, sour voice said, "Just like that student before... fake."
"Shut up, Phineas." a bearded wizard said discontentedly, "That's different, he's a Hufflepuff!"
"True." Phineas Black picked his nose and said, "He's from that foolish house, probably isn't that cunning..."
"How dare you..."
The bearded wizard charged into Phineas's frame, grabbed his collar, and said, "Say it again, what's wrong with Hufflepuff?!"
Below the bearded wizard's original frame, it was clearly noted that he graduated from Hufflepuff.
"What, what do you want to do..." Phineas struggled hard as he was grabbed by the collar, "Let go of me, do you want to hit me?"
"I've wanted to for a long time!"
The bearded wizard punched him to the ground, then began to stomp on his face.
"Foolish house? Ha! I'll show you the prowess of Hufflepuff today!"
Seeing the scene, the other portraits rushed over, skillfully taking out snacks, drinks, and small benches, starting to watch the show from the front row.
Watching Phineas get beaten up is their favorite pastime.
The Headmaster's Office couldn't be without Phineas, just as the Black Lake's Merpeople can't be without a broomstick.
Meanwhile, as Dumbledore continued looking at the parchment, he raised his head.
He pushed his glasses up his nose, ignoring the portraits, instead rising and going to the window, staring off into the distance.
...