In truth, Charlen had always felt that the Hogwarts professors were rather unfair when it came to punishing students.
More often than not, even the most impartial Professor McGonagall would hand out detentions to Harry and the others without bothering to ask for the context.
So, now that Charlen was a professor himself, he decided he wouldn’t be like them.
It was a fact that Harry and Ron had been wandering at night.
Though night-walking wasn’t the gravest of offenses, since they had been caught by Charlen, a deduction of points was inevitable.
Charlen deducted five points from each of them.
Since Hermione’s intention had been to stop Harry and Ron from breaking school rules, there was no need to deduct points from her.
As for Neville, he was even more innocent.
“So, Harry and Ron, starting from today until next Thursday, you will report to me for detention every day after class.
I will have you help me tend to the Pokémon in the reserve.
Hermione, Neville, if you have nothing else, you may go back.” “But, Professor, what about Malfoy?
He’s the one who challenged me to a midnight duel.
Aren’t you going to punish him?” Harry seemed somewhat unwilling to let it go.
He had broken the school rules because of Malfoy.
Now that he was being punished, it felt entirely unfair that the culprit was getting off scot-free.
“Harry, I hope you can learn a lesson from this, and that is not to be impulsive.
You shouldn’t have accepted Malfoy’s invitation to a duel in the first place.
The Sorting Hat didn’t place you in different houses so you could fight each other,” Charlen advised.
“A wizard’s duel is a serious matter.” “But didn’t you knock down all the Slytherins in your second year, Professor?” Ron piped up.
“…” “How do you kn—never mind.” Charlen was nearly choked by Ron’s words.
“In any case, I will not punish young Malfoy for this.
As you well know, whether in the Muggle world or the wizarding world, talking tough does not constitute a crime.
An Auror wouldn’t arrest someone just because they said, ‘I’m going to kill you.’ Understood?
“Of course, I’m not saying Malfoy was in the right.
I just hope you won’t copy him, and that you won’t act impulsively in the future to avoid finding yourself in danger.” Once Charlen finished speaking, he suddenly noticed that Neville and Hermione had not left.
Neville had actually lifted a foot to walk away.
But when he looked up and saw that Hermione didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving, his extended foot froze awkwardly in midair.
Balancing on one foot, his whole body began to wobble.
He had already been swaying like a pendulum while Charlen was talking.
Now, with a loud splat, he finally tumbled over.
“Do you two have any other questions?” “Professor, are you going to have them help take care of the Pokémon in the reserve?” Hermione asked.
“Yes.” “I was wondering…
could I stay, too?” Hermione asked expectantly.
Two weeks had passed, and the Pokémon Master class had only covered Pokémon types so far.
In the second class, Charlen hadn’t even brought a Pokémon to the classroom.
This had been rather disappointing for Hermione, who was eager to understand Pokémon better.
Seeing that Harry and Ron actually had the chance to get up close and personal with Pokémon, Hermione couldn’t understand it.
Why were they being rewarded?
But regardless, she wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip away.
The monumental task of exploring the connection between Pokémon and magic should rest squarely on her shoulders!
However, Ron and Harry clearly misunderstood her intentions.
“What?
Hermione, you’re voluntarily joining us in detention?
I never knew you were such a great mate!” Ron said, his eyes wide.
*Don’t call her your ‘mate,’ Ron.
Keep this up and you’ll lose your future wife.* “That’s right!
We’ve decided that from today on, you’re our best friend!” Harry and Ron looked deeply moved.
“Heh…
as long as you’re happy…” Seeing how touched they were, Hermione felt too embarrassed to tell them the truth.
“Is that alright, Professor?” “Of course,” Charlen replied, naturally having no reason to refuse.
He then turned his gaze to Neville.
“What about you, Neville?
Do you want to stay, or go back?” “Uh…
I—I—” Neville immediately fell into an agony of hesitation.
Charlen even doubted if the boy had fully grasped the situation.
Neville looked around, and seeing that no one was going to leave with him, he immediately chose to stay.
“Very well, then detention starts today.
You don’t have to come on weekends; I’ll most likely be out.” Charlen led them through the inner door into the Daycare.
Harry, assuming this Daycare was the “reserve” Hagrid had spoken of, immediately began to look around.
The Daycare was about the same size as Charlen’s office—far too small to be a reserve.
However, the various machines inside left Harry dazzled.
Hermione felt an even stronger sense of deja vu, as if she had stepped out of the wizarding world and into a futuristic science fiction movie.
“Are these…
machines?” she asked in amazement, gently touching the Pokémon Incubator and the Pokémon Healing Machine.
“Yes.” “But I read in *Hogwarts: A History* that any electronic devices will fail at Hogwarts.” “There are always exceptions.” Charlen didn’t bother to explain; he couldn’t explain it anyway.
However, it did make him wonder if placing a Rotom inside an appliance could help it resist Hogwarts’ magical interference field.
“Come along, the reserve is this way.” Charlen pushed open a door even further inside— Instantly, a beam of morning sunlight bathed them.
The early morning breeze carried a slight chill, blowing over them with the damp scent of the ocean.
Hermione froze on the spot.
“What’s wrong?
Why did you stop?” Ron and Harry had resolved to look out for their newly minted mate, lest she change her mind at the last second and drag a clueless Neville away with her.
“Didn’t you notice?” “Notice what?” “It’s afternoon right now, not morning!” Hermione said loudly.
Only then did Harry and the others realize that the time outside the Daycare’s door was completely different from Hogwarts.
There was a difference of at least several hours.
And once they stepped through that door, the shock Harry and the others felt grew even greater.
Before them lay vast, open plains of grassland.
On the horizon stood snow-capped mountains, though the sky in that direction was pitch black, as if it were still night over there.
Herds of Pokémon were running and playing across the boundless prairie.
For a moment, Hermione felt as though she had entered a fairy tale.
“This—this is hundreds of times larger than Hogwarts!” Ron was completely dumbfounded.
It was hard to believe that a space so much larger than Hogwarts itself could exist inside a single office within the castle.
“Welcome to the Pokémon Nature Reserve.
The land of the plains comes from an island in the Pacific Ocean, which is why there is a nine-hour time difference from London.” “I need you to help me care for a group of newly hatched Pokémon.
They belong to different species, so they don’t get along very well.
Make sure they don’t get hurt.
In addition, brushing their fur and cleaning up their waste will also be part of your job,” Charlen said cheerfully.
After so many days, he had finally found some free labor.