After everyone had left, Douglas gathered all the exam results, tallied the scores, and sorted them by year before handing them over to Professor McGonagall.
When Professor McGonagall sent out the purchase lists for next term, she would include the students' overall report cards as well.
In past years, only O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. results were mailed home, but ever since that first term when the full reports were sent, the response had been overwhelmingly positive.
Plenty of parents wrote to Hogwarts, praising this approach—though, of course, there were always a few who, upon seeing their child's grades, fired off angry letters to the staff.
Never doubt how well wizarding parents adapt to such things. Their secretive ways have persisted for centuries—after all, nearly every young witch or wizard arrives at Hogwarts clueless about how the Sorting works. That's some impressive consistency.
The next morning, Douglas made his way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, to the home of Professor Silvanus Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher.
As Professor Kettleburn was planning to retire, Douglas had prepared a special gift.
To his surprise, Professor Dumbledore was already there when he arrived.
Dumbledore, noticing the box in Douglas's hands, smiled and said to the professor—who was gingerly testing out his steps,
"Silvanus, it seems our Douglas has come bearing gifts as well."
Douglas couldn't help but feel a little awkward when he saw the set of magically enhanced wooden prosthetics Kettleburn was wearing. What were the odds—he'd brought almost the same gift as the Headmaster.
He managed a sheepish grin.
"Professor, I've brought you something, but… well, it might overlap a bit with Professor Dumbledore's present."
Professor Kettleburn, ever the easygoing sort, waved it off with a laugh.
"Haha, don't worry about it! I was just telling Albus, once I retire I plan to spend some time in the dragon reserve—these wooden limbs will probably need frequent replacing anyway…"
Dumbledore added with a twinkle,
"Douglas has a rather unique touch with alchemy, you know…"
Douglas smiled, then opened the box. Inside lay a silver mechanical arm and leg, far more refined than Dumbledore's wooden prosthetics.
He'd spent system points to buy these high-tech prosthetics from a modern world, then painstakingly enchanted them to suit the magical world.
The system did offer magical prosthetics, but when Douglas bought one, he discovered it was laced with dark magic—even soul magic. He suspected it was the same kind of prosthetic Voldemort would one day give Peter Pettigrew.
Douglas lifted out the arm and leg, which matched exactly the limbs Professor Kettleburn was missing.
Dumbledore's eyes lit up. He took the arm, examined it closely, and remarked,
"Douglas, this doesn't look like goblin work at all—it's got a distinctly Muggle flair…"
Douglas nodded, helping Kettleburn fit the new prosthetics as he explained,
"I drew inspiration from some Muggle science fiction, though I replaced the core with magical materials. How does it feel, Professor?"
Kettleburn flexed his new arm and leg. The moment they connected, it felt as though they were truly his own.
While Kettleburn marveled at his new limbs, Dumbledore turned to Douglas.
"Douglas, with the holidays nearly upon us, do you have any plans for next year?"
Douglas blinked at him.
"Professor, if you hadn't mentioned it, I'd almost forgotten—I'm still not officially permanent, am I?"
Dumbledore hesitated, then chuckled awkwardly.
"Heh, Douglas, in my mind you've long been a full Professor—your pay and privileges are the same, aren't they? And your contributions to Hogwarts speak for themselves: finding Tom's dark artifacts, discovering Slytherin's Chamber, devising the basilisk capture plan… Though I hesitate to admit it, you must have heard about a certain… issue with the Defence Against the Dark Arts post."
Douglas nodded, understanding Dumbledore's meaning. But he couldn't very well reveal that he'd already broken the infamous curse—after all, even Dumbledore was only guessing.
"I understand, Professor, but I'd still like to stay on. I think this job suits me perfectly."
Dumbledore nodded, making no further attempt to persuade him. After so many years as Headmaster, he'd seen it all before.
Every summer, those professors who insisted they'd return were inevitably struck by some unexpected misfortune.
Take, for example, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor during Douglas's third year. Dumbledore hadn't received a resignation letter even as the new term approached, and he'd dared to hope this time would be different.
But three days into the new year, the professor was still missing, forcing Dumbledore to call in an old friend at the last minute. It wasn't until the end of the second term that the missing professor finally stumbled out of an ancient magical ruin, having been trapped for nearly a year.
So, no matter what Douglas said, Dumbledore had already decided to quietly scout for new candidates over the summer.
Professor Kettleburn adapted quickly. Within moments, he was flexing the mechanical arm and leg with ease—and even discovered a few extra spells Douglas had worked into the design.
As Douglas and Dumbledore chatted, Kettleburn emerged from his hut, a tiny Niffler clinging to his new mechanical arm, seemingly determined to pry off the shiny silver limb.
"Douglas, your timing's perfect! We had a litter recently, and this little fellow's a bit of a loner, so I've been raising him separately. I remember you always wanted a Niffler when you were a student… Oh, you little rascal, down you come…"
Douglas rubbed his nose sheepishly. He really had heard about the new litter from students, which reminded him of Kettleburn's impending retirement. But he hadn't meant to trade his prosthetic gift for a Niffler—not with Dumbledore watching, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
Still, he couldn't resist. He pulled out a shiny Galleon and dangled it.
The Niffler's head snapped around. Its beady black eyes went wide, and in a flash, it leapt onto Douglas's shoulder, snatching the Galleon right out of the air.
It stuffed the coin into its pouch and made to jump back to Kettleburn's mechanical arm for another go. But the second time it leapt, Douglas caught it midair. The little Niffler squirmed indignantly, all four paws flailing.
Laughing, Douglas produced another Galleon, tossing it up and down. The Niffler stretched its tiny arms desperately for the spinning gold, making everyone burst out laughing.
Kettleburn grinned,
"Douglas, you'd better think twice. Nifflers aren't easy to keep—especially at home. He'll hide all your coins before you know it."
Douglas beamed,
"I don't mind at all!"
He handed the Galleon straight to the Niffler. When it tucked the coin into its pouch, Douglas produced another, handing it over as well.
Once the Niffler had both coins, Douglas set it on his palm.
This time, the freed Niffler didn't run, but fixed Douglas with a bright-eyed stare, its gaze flicking now and then to his pockets.
Kettleburn said,
"You really do understand Nifflers. I haven't even named this little one yet…"
Douglas offered the Niffler a piece of chocolate. It hesitated, then grabbed it and gobbled it up.
He stroked the little creature and said,
"From today, you'll be called Wangcai. Stick with me, and I promise you'll eat well and live in style…"
Because Douglas spoke the name "Wangcai" in Chinese, Dumbledore and Kettleburn looked puzzled, so he explained the meaning.
Wangcai seemed to love his new name. He hopped from Douglas's hand to his chest, then slithered down toward Douglas's pocket…
Kettleburn turned to Dumbledore.
"Albus, would you like to keep one?"
Dumbledore looked momentarily startled, then shook his head. Both Douglas and Kettleburn caught a flicker of something unspoken in his eyes.
As they prepared to leave, Wangcai finally poked his head out of Douglas's pocket, waving a tearful farewell to Kettleburn—though the Galleon clamped in his jaws rather spoiled the effect.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
The story isn't over...
🤔 Want to know what happens next to the characters?
🤫 Eager to explore the untold secrets of this world?
✍ Ready to read more of my wildest stories?
✨patreon.com/GoldenLong