“Alright, enough jokes, the professor is here… And quite interestingly, they haven’t sent a human…” I said with a serious expression, changing the topic.
“Not a human? What do you mean? Which species does he belong to?” My father asked this time, a frown on his face, he was expecting to meet a human wizard, but me saying that it was not a human was beyond his expectations.
“How am I supposed to know that, he’s a midget, with a long hook like nose… Maybe a goblin, most probably a half-human half-goblin.” I shrugged, not giving a clear response.
“A Goblin? They don’t seem like high level races… Do they rank above or below us humans?” David asked curiously, using logic straight out of Lord of the rings.
“Well… If we are counting the average individual strength, goblins are above, but if we are talking about overall strength, humans are far superior. Organizations like the church is composed of humans who serve the Biblical god, they are the strongest human faction currently. But like I said, they don’t serve humanity, but the Biblical God. So, the strength of humans… is not really something which can be estimated easily.” The different human factions had so different goals that unless there was a threat of absolute extinction, there was almost zero hope of them joining hands together.
David wanted to speak more but was stopped by the sudden ringing of the doorbell, He looked towards me and nodded.
Since we had already excused every servant from their duty today to keep this meeting a secret, the three of us went to open the door together.
And as we opened it, professor Flitwick came into our view, I tried to keep my expression normal, but mom and dad were definitely staring.
“Umm, Welcome, professor?” I greeted, breaking the silence.
“Flitwick, Greetings, I am professor Flitwick. I assume you were already informed of my arrival from the letter.” He responded with a smile, clearly not putting the stares into mind, he was probably used to it.
Didn’t think you had it in you.
“Oh no, this is not a prank, sir. Magic is as real as it can be. I myself specialize in Charms, and am the professor of Charms at Hogwarts.” Professor Flitwick chuckled as he replied, he had a rather easygoing nature.
“Professor, please come in, I don’t think the doorway is a proper place to talk about… this.” It was my mom who spoke, inviting him in.
“Yes, thank you, Lady?” He responded, bowing slightly, his actions were like a gentleman, which felt a bit comical due to his height.
“Emilia Whitmore, and this is my husband David Whitmore. And judging by the letter, you already know of him, my son, Damien Whitmore. I apologize for the improper introduction, but as you can see, this… magic, has left us rather. surprised.” My mother said with a smile.
“No matter, I can assure you that it is very common amongst muggle families.” Professor Flitwick chuckled.
“Muggle families?” David asked with an eyebrow raised, the term felt derogatory.
“Oh, muggles just refers to people who do not possess magic.” Flitwick explained prompting David to nod.
As we seated, my mother went to the kitchen and brought some drinks, and sat down with us.
“So professor, does attending Hogwarts equate to any educational degree in the normal world? I mean, if our son goes to Hogwarts for seven years, and it has no value in the normal world, he would just be a middle school student, not even a graduate. Which would severely impact his career.” David asked, his real intent was to identify the level of connection between the Wizards and the government.
“You won’t have to worry about that, graduating from Hogwarts would be the same as graduating from a high school, you will get the certificates. Though, the teaching is focused on Magic, and not mundane subjects, so there might be problems with that later, but a Hogwarts graduate can very well build a career in the wizarding world.” Flitwick explained, and it was enough to tell that the government would probably have a data of all Hogwarts students, at least the muggle born ones. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“So is Hogwarts the only school for magic education, or there are many?” Emilia asked.
“In Britain, Hogwarts is the only one, but there are quite a few more, Like Beauxbatons in France and Drumstrang in Bulgaria. But I can assure you that Hogwarts is considered the best wizarding school in the entire world with a history of over a millennia.”
“I see, and that letter came with a list of things to purchase, I don’t think the required goods are available in regular markets. And what about the currency, does pounds work?” David asked.
“One of the major reasons I am here is to accompany you to purchase the required goods, and introduce you to wizarding markets, and no, Pounds won’t work, but you can exchange pounds into Galleons at Gringotts, the wizarding bank. The wizarding currency consists of Knuts, Sickles and Galleons. 29 Knuts make up a Sickle, and 17 sickles make up a Galleon. The exchange rate is about 5 pounds for 1 Galleon, and Muggle students can exchange upto 500 pounds each year into wizarding currency.”
“Umm, Can gold or Land deeds be exchanged?” David asked again, feeling that only five hundred pounds a year was far too little.
Flitwick put on a wry smile and looked around at the lavish mansion, “Yes, Gold and land can be exchanged without limits, but I would suggest hiring goblins at gringgots to put up wards and sell land privately instead of selling it to the bank, you will get more profit that way. The limit of exchange for pounds is because it is difficult to exchange for us, Gold and Land have no such restrictions.” And as expected of a kind half goblin, who retains goblins’ sense of money and human kindness.
“Thank you, Professor.” David said with a smile.
“Professor Flitwick, although I have been well aware of me possessing a superpower, which was probably magic, could you please display a proper spell, just to sate my curiosity.”
I asked putting on the most curious expression I could, which caused Flitwick to laugh, ‘no matter how elite or disciplined, in the end he is just a child.’ he thought, and proceeded to take out his wand.
With a simple swish and flick, “Wingardium Leviosa” the spell was chanted, and the trays which were kept on the table started floating.
All three of us put on a surprised expression as we looked at Flitwick making the trays perform acrobatics in the air.
It seems even if he is not strong, he can still be a comedian.