[Current Quest: Become Hogwarts Pokémon Professor (Completed)] [Reward: Pokémon Daycare (Can breed Pokémon unlocked in Pokédex)] [Note: Before claiming, ensure you possess an open plot of land measuring at least twenty square meters.] [Current Quest: Develop a suitable First-Year Pokémon textbook (Incomplete)] [Reward: Full unlock of the Kanto Pokédex (Excluding Legendary and Mythical Pokémon)] As for the Daycare reward, he refrained from claiming it for now, as he was still debating whether to place it in the Forbidden Forest or Hogsmeade.
After a moment’s thought, he decided it would be best to construct it right beside the Forbidden Forest for convenience.
However, he would still need to request permission from Dumbledore to use that land.
There was no rush; the reward wouldn’t vanish from the system interface anyway.
He planned to bother Dumbledore tomorrow, using the rest of today to visit a few old acquaintances.
He went first to visit several Heads of House and other teachers.
Professor Flitwick had been very fond of him during his school days because Charlen possessed top-tier talent in Charms.
“I can hardly believe you’ve returned to Hogwarts as a professor!
After all, you were only in your third year back then,” Professor Flitwick said, looking exceedingly excited when he saw him.
He was quite short, standing at barely over three feet tall, with facial features distinct from ordinary humans.
He was part-Goblin.
However, virtually no one ever brought up his heritage; the students of Hogwarts adored him.
“Long time no see, Professor Flitwick.
This is a brand-new subject, and besides me, no one understands these Pokémon better,” Charlen joked.
“And I suspect Dumbledore kept me close by his side just to make sure I don’t turn into a Dark Lord.” “Don’t joke about that, Charlen.
We all know you wouldn’t,” Flitwick said seriously.
“You were pushed too far back then, and it wasn’t your fault to begin with.
By the way, since we are colleagues now, I believe you can call me Filius.” “Alright, Filius.” “Splendid!
If you ever need help with anything, don’t hesitate to come to me.
I mean, you might not be fully versed in the curriculum past third year, considering they managed to expel you and break your wand…
though I gather you have a new one now?” Filius smiled.
“Yes, I made it myself.
No need to worry about me—I’ve traveled to many places these past few years, and Dumbledore has been helping me in secret,” Charlen explained.
He soon took his leave of Filius.
Afterward, he visited Professor McGonagall.
Although they had met earlier, that had been rather informal.
McGonagall was genuinely fond of him as well.
In her words, had Charlen not been expelled, Hogwarts would undoubtedly have produced a Transfiguration master.
Even now, she hoped Charlen would continue his research in Transfiguration.
Next was Professor Pomona Sprout, the low-profile Head of Hufflepuff.
She looked more like an ordinary farmwoman than a witch.
As for Severus Snape…
Charlen had no intention of going out of his way to get yelled at.
He knew Snape wasn’t truly evil, but he wasn’t particularly good either.
Even after everything that had happened, while Snape might not hold overt prejudice against Muggle-borns, he still favored pure-bloods.
On top of that, he had a razor-sharp tongue, and Charlen had zero desire to invite unpleasantness upon himself.
Finally, he went to see Hagrid—Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, and Dumbledore’s number one admirer.
The moment Hagrid laid eyes on Charlen, he looked overjoyed.
Standing nearly ten feet tall, his massive hands pressed Fang down onto the floorboards.
“Blimey, it’s good to see ya, Charlen!
Ever since I heard yer coming back to Hogwarts, I’ve been wondering when ye’d come visit me!” Hagrid’s voice roared louder than a megaphone.
“Hold on, Fang doesn’t quite recognize ya yet.” Charlen noticed a hint of envy glinting in Hagrid’s eyes as he spoke.
He seemed to be trying to hide it, but hiding his emotions was far too difficult for a man like him.
“I only arrived today,” Charlen explained.
“Then…
don’t ye have a whole lot of work to get through?” Hagrid’s tone became conflicted, his large features twisting together.
“I haven’t written the textbook or drafted the curriculum yet.
What is it, Hagrid?
Do you need help with something?” “Nothin’, really…
I—I just wanted to talk to ya about those magical creatures of yours!
You’ve no idea how happy I was when ye wrote to me with those pictures!
Especially Charizard—ya know, they look so different from ordinary dragons,” Hagrid blurted out immediately.
By now, Fang seemed to recall Charlen’s familiar scent and settled down.
“Especially…
I heard ye gave the Ministry and those pure-bloods a proper lesson with ’em!” Hagrid lowered his voice, looking positively ecstatic.
He had been fed up with those people for a long time.
He felt a sense of shared misfortune with Charlen—both had been expelled in their third year, and both had had their wands snapped.
“There’ll be plenty of chances, Hagrid.
I plan to build a Daycare nearby soon, and you’ll be welcome to drop by anytime.” Charlen had no intention of passing up a free laborer like Hagrid.
Besides, given the physical resilience of Pokémon, they wouldn’t mind Hagrid’s heavy-handed enthusiasm.
“That’s brilliant!” Hagrid’s face lit up with visible delight.
“Is that all?
Surely there was something else you wanted to say?” Hagrid was incapable of keeping secrets.
Good-natured as he was, he was, as Professor McGonagall often put it, careless and big-mouthed.
“Well…
alright, alright.
I saw how busy ye were and didn’t wanna bother ya,” Hagrid said apologetically.
“Ye know, Dumbledore trusts me implicitly.
He leaves lots of important tasks to me.” “Ye know—about Harry Potter.
Ye know he’s starting school this year, right?
Poor kid, it’s been eleven years since that night…” Seeing that Hagrid was about to burst into tears and derail the topic entirely, Charlen quickly interrupted him.
“What’s the matter, specifically?” “The owls sent with his letters keep getting intercepted!
Those dreadful Muggles, I’ve never seen anyone like ’em,” Hagrid spat indignantly.
“Dumbledore plans to send me to fetch Harry, but ye know…
I haven’t been to the Muggle world much.” “You want me to come along with you?” “Yeah!
On the way, we could talk about magical creatures.
I heard ye stayed with Mr.
Scamander for a while.
But if yer too busy, I can manage on me own.” “It’s fine, it won’t take up much time,” Charlen accepted his request.
In truth, writing the textbook wasn’t difficult for him, since the system provided complete Pokédex entries.
He merely needed to compile them into a magical edition.
“Fantastic!
Today’s the twenty-ninth—how about we head out tomorrow?
I want to prepare a little surprise for Harry.
Past midnight tomorrow night will be his birthday!” Hagrid could be surprisingly thoughtful at times.
Afterward, Charlen ate a bit of rock cake before taking his leave.
The rock-hard pastry wasn’t a problem for his physical strength, but he didn’t particularly care for the taste.
Perhaps Rock- or Ground-type Pokémon would appreciate that texture.