With another class finished, Charlen’s teaching schedule for the day came to an end.
He only had two classes on Wednesdays and Thursdays, only one class on other days, and weekends off.
It had to be said, a tenured teaching gig was fantastic!
Moreover, his schedule was like the easiest PE teacher template.
He spent most of his free time bothering other teachers, or lingering in the library and the Room of Requirement.
After all, he had no intention of spending his precious weekends cooped up in Hogwarts; the Muggle world had plenty of fun things waiting for him.
In fact, Charlen wasn’t going to the Muggle world just to play.
He didn’t know if the game *Pokémon* would ever appear in this world.
On second thought, instead of letting someone else release the Pokémon games, why not do it himself?
Thus, he planned to set up a company this weekend and register the Pokémon trademark beforehand.
On Friday, Charlen carried a box of collected Pokémon materials to find Snape.
Over the last few days, he had harvested some Pokémon venom and other materials, such as shed fangs, scales, fur, and a small amount of Pokémon blood.
These were all kept in a box, separated into different containers.
He intended to have Snape see if they could be useful in potion-making.
The Pokémon were somewhat resistant to having their blood drawn, so he had spent a bit of effort collecting it during his hunts in the wild sanctuary.
When it came to magic, surely they wouldn’t care if the blood had already oxidized?
Or rather, wizards had probably never obtained unoxidized blood to use as potion ingredients anyway.
While Charlen was lost in thought, Harry, coming from the opposite direction, crashed right into his chest.
“Ah!” Harry had just left the Potions classroom.
Furious and full of complaints, he hadn’t watched where he was going and ran headfirst into Charlen.
He felt as if he had collided with a solid iron wall, falling backward onto his bottom.
Yet Charlen remained completely unmoved.
“Good morning, Harry, Ron.
What’s the matter?” Charlen pulled Harry up from the floor and greeted them.
“Good morning, Professor Gold,” Ron said.
He hadn’t expected the professor to address him so familiarly by his first name, and his opinion of Charlen soared instantly.
“Sorry, Professor, I didn’t see you,” Harry apologized.
“No harm done.
Why are you two in such a hurry?
Be careful when walking in the corridors.” “Um…
we’re going to see Hagrid,” Harry said, hesitating.
He didn’t want to complain to a professor about how angry he was after Potions class.
Charlen nodded and went his separate way without probing further.
“It looks like Professor Gold is going to see Snape,” Ron whispered gossipingly as soon as Charlen walked away.
“What do you think their deal is?
Fred told me Professor Gold used to be a Slytherin.
But I think he’s different from the other Slytherins, don’t you?” “Maybe because the professor left before graduating from Slytherin?” Harry guessed.
Over the past few days, the rumors about Charlen had already spawned dozens of versions.
Since today’s double Potions class, Harry’s favorite version of the rumor was: *Professor Gold fought Snape and beat him so hard he had to go looking for his teeth on the floor.* “Looks like leaving Slytherin early kept Professor Gold from becoming as insufferable as the rest of them,” Ron agreed.
“Though Malfoy is only a first-year and he’s already annoying enough.” Harry took Ron with him to see Hagrid.
Although Hagrid had only invited Harry, Ron had been like his shadow lately.
It wouldn’t be right to leave him behind.
Hagrid welcomed Ron’s visit as well.
He knew the Weasley family very well, though Ron’s two older brothers were far too mischievous.
He hoped this boy would be more sensible and not constantly wander into the Forbidden Forest.
He brought out a large plate of Rock Cakes to treat Harry and Ron.
The two of them nearly cracked their teeth trying to bite into them, but they pretended to enjoy them anyway.
Hagrid was delighted.
“Good, aren’t they?
Charlen says they’re excellent.
He ate quite a few by himself last time.” “He must have incredibly strong teeth…” Ron smiled awkwardly, genuinely admiring Charlen’s jaw strength.
“Anyway, Harry, how has your first week been?” “Pretty good.
Professor Charlen’s Pokémon Master class is really interesting.
I even got to pet a lion that can breathe fire.
It’s just a shame we only have one class a week.” “He brought those little cuties to class?” Hagrid said with a broad grin.
“Let me tell you, Charlen keeps quite a few Pokémon in his office!
Probably more than the magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest.” “But how is that possible?
I mean, an office can’t fit that many Pokémon.” “The Undetectable Extension Charm, Harry.
That’s a very advanced piece of magic,” Hagrid explained.
“If you ever get the chance, you should really take a look.
Honestly, if I were still in school, I’d do everything I could to get detention in Charlen’s office.
If I’d had that kind of setup back then, maybe Aragog would never have been discovered.” “Aragog?” Harry asked, tilting his head.
Hagrid realized he had let something slip and quickly changed the subject.
“Nothing, Harry!
Let’s talk about you.
How are your other classes?” “Uh—I get the feeling the Potions teacher doesn’t really like me.” Harry told Hagrid about what happened in Snape’s class.
“Don’t worry about it.
Snape hardly likes any student.” “But he seemed to really hate me.” “Rubbish!
Why would he hate you?” Hagrid said quickly.
Having been the gamekeeper at this school for fifty years, he naturally knew some of the history.
Even if he didn’t know about Snape’s feelings for Lily, he was well aware of the grudge between James Potter and Snape.
Consequently, he sounded a bit unnatural when saying this.
He immediately diverted the conversation, asking Ron about Charlie Weasley.
Meanwhile, Harry noticed a month-old newspaper lying on Hagrid’s table.
The headline read: *PURE-BLOOD FAMILIES ATTACKED!
MINISTRY OF MAGIC MINISTER ACCOMPANIES AURORS TO RESCUE OVER TWENTY LIVES.* Flipping down, there was another report: *MINISTRY RESCUE MISSION A HUGE SUCCESS—TRUTH OR LIE?* The author of this one was Rita Skeeter.
This writer questioned the Ministry’s statement, sharply pointing out suspicious details: If the Ministry’s Aurors had truly defeated the attacker—a terrifying dark wizard—then why was no one in prison?
Furthermore, she claimed the attacker not only remained at large but was currently employed as a professor at Hogwarts.
Reading the report, Harry felt it aligned perfectly with the rumors he had heard lately, making him think this Rita Skeeter must be a fine journalist who was willing to tell the truth.
“Haha, you saw that report too, did you?” Hagrid was pleased to have something distract Harry.
“So is it true?
Did Professor Charlen really do that?” Harry asked eagerly.
“Well, something like that happened, but the Ministry saving over twenty lives is absolute rubbish.
It was Dumbledore who stepped in.
Honestly, if Dumbledore hadn’t happened to need Charlen to deliver an important item, they might not even have crossed paths,” Hagrid said.
“An important item?” “Uh—nothing!
None of your business,” Hagrid said, shutting his mouth quickly.
But his loose lips had already aroused deep suspicion in Harry and Ron.