#823 - Olive Branch

“That would be the best. Dumbledore smiled upon hearing this, "Hagrid is also an unfortunate child. For so many years, he has carried the blame for accidentally killing a classmate. He has lived a miserable life, even unable to use his wand properly."

“Alright, Albus, you're exaggerating a bit too much.” Amelia pursed her lips, somewhat speechless. “Hagrid is still a shareholder of Silver Flash Trading Company. Do you really not know how well he's doing? Don't worry, you don't need to urge me. I will clear his name as soon as possible.”

After discussing Hagrid's matter, Amelia and the others went to inspect the basilisk. However, due to Dumbledore and Anduin's refusal, she gave up the idea of taking it back to the Ministry of Magic.

In Dumbledore's words, the disposal of this basilisk was Hogwarts' business. After all, it was a relic of the founder Slytherin.

Of course, essentially, Dumbledore and McGonagall knew that this basilisk now belonged to Anduin, and even they had no right to interfere.

At the same time, Dumbledore was more grateful for this. If Anduin hadn't found the Chamber of Secrets, he probably wouldn't have known that such a dangerous creature was lurking in the school.

Both the school and the Ministry of Magic could accept this. After roughly understanding the situation, Amelia left Hogwarts.

After seeing Amelia off, Anduin hurriedly returned to the Chamber of Secrets. At this time, the basilisk had been taken away by Shalltear, and the room was filled with upperclassmen.

Of course, they weren't here for a tour. They were following Professor McGonagall's orders to help with the cleanup, such as treating the injured.

As soon as Anduin returned to the Chamber of Secrets, he grabbed Hogg by the scruff of the neck, lifting him up like a puppy, and looked at Percy beside him. "Come with me."

After saying that, he angrily dragged Hogg out, who didn't dare to breathe loudly after being grabbed by the back of his neck.

“Hey… Did you see the professor's reaction? That guy Hogg is probably in big trouble!” Ron, who was helping out, nudged Harry with his elbow, gloating.

“He deserves it!” Harry also glared at Hogg's departing figure with resentment. “I'm afraid the professor didn't expect that this guy would personally come down to fight us.”

“But speaking of which, Hogg's strength is a bit too strong…” Neville muttered with lingering fear. “Dozens of us couldn't even deal with a dog. No one would believe it if we said it. And if the professors hadn't arrived in time, we would probably be carried away on stretchers now.”

“Indeed, what kind of magic is that Body Strengthening Technique? It's so amazing. Hogg, transformed into an Ice Giant Wolf, is so cool.

Obviously, Ron was also very interested in this topic.

“Judging from Hogg's previous performance, this kind of magic seems to directly affect the body, making one's strength and speed stronger.”

Harry said, using the Water-Making Spell to wash away an area covered in frost, then staring blankly at the evaporating cold air.

“In the end, one can even use the body to cast spells. That breath is like an enhanced version of 【Ice Mist】. It's even more amazing than wandless magic.”

“If we learn the 【Body Strengthening Technique】, can we also become as strong as Hogg?” Ron clicked on the Silver Flash Charm interface with longing. “It's a pity that 【Body Strengthening Technique】 is too expensive. We were only focused on exchanging for other spells before.”

“It's not so easy to train to Hogg's level even if you exchange it.” Neville sighed. “I don't feel like it's that simple. Didn't you see what the magic description said? You need to reach at least level 2 【Body Strengthening Technique】 to unlock new instances. This proves that Body Strengthening Technique also has levels.”

“Judging from this, the new 【Battlefield】 instance is probably an instance focused on close combat!” After being reminded by Neville, Harry also realized the key point.

“It's too early to consider these now. The important thing now is to clean up the Chamber of Secrets!” Ron rolled up his sleeves angrily. “Otherwise, we'll have to go to morning exercise with dark circles under our eyes!”

After complaining, the three continued their cleaning project.

On the other side, Anduin returned to his office and slammed Hogg onto the ground.

“Tell me, what exactly happened?” Anduin glared at Hogg fiercely. “But don't treat me like an idiot. The commotion in the Chamber of Secrets clearly came from you using 【Body Strengthening Technique】.”

Seeing that Anduin was truly angry, Hogg immediately shrank into a quail, twisting and turning without uttering a word for a long time.

“Professor, it's not entirely Hogg's fault!”

Percy, for some reason, not only didn't snitch but instead spoke up for Hogg.

“Before we entered the Chamber of Secrets, we guessed that all of this was… done by you, so we took the initiative to find Hogg, wanting to stop him from controlling that basilisk.”

“As a result…” Percy scratched his head awkwardly. “As a result, we fought with Hogg, and in the end, we got so angry that…”

“Is that so?” Anduin glanced at Percy, then looked at Hogg.

Hogg didn't know why Percy was speaking for him. The previous conflict was clearly his own willful act, but now he took the opportunity to back down. “Yes, sir, it's my fault. I was too impulsive.”

“It's simply nonsense.” Anduin snorted with dissatisfaction. “Using Body Strengthening Technique on a group of children, aren't you afraid of hurting them? Hogg, you're getting bolder and bolder.”

“I'm sorry, sir.” Hogg didn't dare to argue with Anduin at this time. He could only squat obediently on the ground like a real pug.

“Starting tomorrow, you won't be responsible for morning exercise and teaching assistant work!” Anduin knew Hogg too well. He definitely needed some punishment measures. “You go back to the ranch now and hand over your work with Shalltear. From now on, you'll be fully responsible for managing the instances.”

“Yes…” Although Hogg was very unwilling, he didn't dare to disobey Anduin's orders. After responding, he dragged his feet and left through the Room of Requirement.

After dismissing Hogg, Anduin looked at Percy again. “You're quite loyal. Hogg has troubled you so much, yet you're still willing to speak for him.”

Percy was slightly stunned upon hearing this. “Professor… you knew?”

“Nonsense, don't I know Hogg's temper?” Anduin pursed his lips speechlessly. “I don't even need to think to know that he took the initiative to pick on you. You guys were beaten up badly by this guy, right?”

“It's okay…” Percy scratched his head awkwardly. “We really didn't expect Hogg to be so strong. That 【Body Strengthening Technique】 is too powerful, isn't it?”

“It's not that 【Body Strengthening Technique】 is strong, it's that Hogg's physique is special.”

Anduin pointed to the sofa next to him, pulled Percy to sit down together, and then slowly explained to him.

“Hogg isn't some magical creature. He's a wolf child born from a werewolf, so he has a mind comparable to humans and possesses a strong magical foundation.”

“But because he's not a true human, he can't cast spells like other wizards, and the Body Strengthening Technique makes up for this deficiency. His current strength is also due to years of specializing in the Body Strengthening Technique.”

Although Hogg could barely cast spells using the tactical suit specially made for him by Anduin, he couldn't be as flexible as wizards after all.

The Body Strengthening Technique was like magic specially tailored for Hogg. Since learning it, his progress had been rapid. Now Hogg was the only creature besides Anduin who could train the Body Strengthening Technique to level 5.

That's why Anduin was so angry when he knew that Hogg used the Body Strengthening Technique to deal with Percy and the others. What kind of hero was he to bully ordinary children?

“So that's how it is.” Percy suddenly understood. “I didn't expect Hogg's life to be so difficult. Today's matter can be considered a lesson for me. I really can't underestimate anyone, even if the other party is a seemingly harmless husky.”

“I'm very pleased that you have such an understanding.” Anduin nodded with satisfaction. “And your performance today was indeed admirable. Not only were you able to see through the truth of the entire Chamber of Secrets incident, but you also deduced that Hogg was the breakthrough point. The overall action was very well-prepared, arranged, and executed.”

“This was actually a reminder from Neville, plus the suggestions from George, Fred, and Hermione, which made the action so smooth.” Percy said embarrassedly.

“What about you and Penelope? Don't think I don't know about you two.” Anduin shook his head with a smile. “Don't be modest with me. I've always seen your abilities.”

“Your progress in the past two years has been greater than I imagined, and it includes not only abilities but also mind, will, and emotional intelligence.”

Anduin looked at Percy with great satisfaction. “I originally thought you would become a bookworm who only knows scores, grades, and honors. I didn't expect you to perform even better than your brothers Bill and Charlie.”

“You flatter me.” Being praised by Anduin like this, Percy scratched his head a little shyly.

He had always regarded his brother Charlie as a role model, and Charlie had praised and even flaunted Anduin in front of him more than once. So after Anduin became a Hogwarts professor, he spared no effort to emulate Anduin, which led to the current Percy.

“Speaking of which, you'll be entering 7th grade in more than half a year, right? Do you have any plans for your future?” Anduin looked at Percy with interest.

“Plans…” Percy shook his head with a smile. “I haven't thought about it that much yet. I just want to achieve Outstanding in all 12 subjects when I graduate, oh, no, it's 13 subjects now, just like my brother Charlie.”

“Grades don't directly represent ability. Compared to scores, you should think more about what you really want.”

After a long-winded lecture, Anduin suddenly extended an olive branch. “Perhaps you can consider working with me after graduation. Your abilities are very good and you need a bigger stage to display them.”

“Working with you?” Percy was overjoyed upon hearing this. “Are you saying like Gemma Farley, joining the Silver Flash Trading Company?”

“Similar, but not entirely.” Anduin first nodded, then shook his head and said, “In the future, the business of Silver Flash Trading Company will continue to expand, covering more and more countries, and the content will not be limited to alchemy items.”

“Especially in the next few years, I will gradually push the instance business to the forefront. If you can join, you will also develop in this direction in the future.”

“Instance business?” Percy's eyes lit up and he said excitedly, “That is to say, you are preparing to develop the instance to the whole of Britain next?”

“Not just Britain, the whole world!” Anduin smiled calmly. “Don't just focus your vision on these small islands we are on. In the future, our instance will replace Quidditch and become the most popular entertainment activity in the wizarding world.”

“The whole world? Replace Quidditch?”

Percy was so frightened by Anduin's words that he couldn't close his mouth. His greatest ambition before was only to be able to seek a good position in the British Ministry of Magic after graduation and climb up step by step.

Who would have thought that in Anduin's eyes, the entire Britain was just a small island. What the other party wanted was to conquer the whole world!

“I… can I?” Percy was obviously shocked by Anduin's grand goal and was extremely apprehensive at this time.

“I have confidence in you. As far as the current situation is concerned, you are the most familiar with the instance in the entire Hogwarts. Of course, it is definitely not enough to rely on you alone. I will recruit a group of wizards from these two graduating classes to form an instance special team. I need you to be responsible for leading this special team to help me promote and manage the instance project.”

“But… but in school, there are other outstanding talents, such as Wood, who is in the same grade as me!” Facing the huge olive branch thrown out by Anduin, Percy also felt a lot of pressure.

“He may not be as suitable as you.” Anduin shook his head. “Compared to the instance, I think Wood would rather become a professional Quidditch player.”

“But you don't need to rush to answer me now. You can think about it carefully, but remember to keep it secret. This kind of thing can't be spread out.”

Anduin saw that Percy couldn't digest so much information at once, so he comforted him.

“Thank you, Professor!” Percy nodded solemnly. Anduin's ability to talk to him alone today also proved the other party's trust.

It's just that Percy was still a little apprehensive in his heart. After all, this was a large project covering the entire wizarding world. Was it really appropriate to hand over such a heavy responsibility directly to a graduating student?

However, Anduin didn't seem to have any burden about this. He founded the Silver Flash Trading Company when he was Percy's age, so age was not a problem at all.

In his eyes, Percy was mature, stable, and strong in resistance to pressure, and he was more capable than many adult wizards.

And judging from his previous performance in defending Hogg, Percy's emotional intelligence was not low now. In addition, his relationship with Anduin was very close, making him undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.

After encouraging Percy a few more times, Anduin sent him away. The end of the Chamber of Secrets incident also allowed him to focus more on dealing with other things, especially the nearly completed research on the Deathly Hallows.