After stepping out of the gates of Wilson's Arcane Alchemica Firm, Dumbledore couldn't help but let out a wry smile.
"It seems I still don't fully understand Minerva's so-called 'greatness.' Maybe once Alex returns to Hogwarts, things will become clearer. Honestly, I'm afraid it won't just be the students facing tough times..."
Meanwhile, on the other side, after seeing Dumbledore off, Alex immediately went to find Shalltear.
Since taking over teaching duties at Hogwarts, he had a lot of new arrangements to make.
"Are you really going to teach at Hogwarts? Master, Headmaster Dumbledore must have put you under the Imperius Curse, right?" Shalltear exclaimed, staring at him in disbelief.
She even reached out as if to check if he had a fever.
"The offer from the headmaster is hard to refuse. You and Fang should get ready; you'll be coming back to school with me."
Ignoring her teasing tone, Alex responded coldly, "What about the magical communication system? That's a huge alchemy project, and not just anyone can handle it."
Shalltear looked puzzled.
Alex reassured, "I'll still manage the magic communication network here in the UK, so no need to worry about that. The bigger problem right now is Germany.
Andre has also signed a contract with us."
He paused, thinking for a moment before continuing, "Looks like our best option is to ask for foreign help. I'll send a letter to Mr. Bones and ask him to come back and assist.
With his alchemy skills, he should be able to understand what I'm building just by looking at it. One base station should be enough to get things running smoothly."
"That's really our only choice," Shalltear said with a helpless smile.
She'd hoped to travel abroad with Alex again, but instead, she was just waiting for news of his return to Hogwarts.
After seeing Shalltear off, Alex quickly tidied up and headed straight to the Wilson's Arcane Alchemica headquarters.
Since he was going to teach in person, he needed to prepare some things.
He no longer lived in Diagon Alley; instead, he had bought a manor in Godric's Hollow as his new home.
When Alex got back to his manor, he heard some noise outside.
Looking out the window, he saw Neville, Ginny, and Thor playing in the yard.
Smiling to himself, Alex shook his head.
"That Thor..." he muttered. "He was supposed to supervise the training of those two, but instead, he's just playing with them."
Heading downstairs to join them, Alex saw that the kids were so caught up in their game they didn't even notice him.
Ginny, her hands already dirty, held a training long sword made of rattan and shouted with an air of authority, "Fallen Prince Neville! Your conspiracy has been uncovered by my 'suicide bird'!
Surrender now, or I won't go easy on you!"
Neville, facing Ginny with his own vine sword, frowned and muttered, "Uh... didn't we agree to fight one-on-one? Why are you riding a Thunderbird?"
It turned out Ginny was perched proudly on Thor, speaking to Neville with a smug tone.
"Neville, why don't you just stick to the script?" Ginny said, curling her lips. "I'm the embodiment of justice, the 'Succession Bird,' a knight!"
"Of course, I'm going to take my mount," Ginny said confidently.
"That's ridiculous! I'm not an idiot!" Neville snapped, speechless.
He threw the vine sword to the ground in frustration.
"I give up. Fine, you win, Messenger of Justice."
"Then why didn't you show up like you said?" Ginny pressed, her anxiety rising as Neville backed down.
She quickly urged thunderbird beneath her, "Forget him, Thor! Let's go, bite him!"
But Thor, already carrying Ginny on his back, let out a strange, disgusted screech and stayed sprawled on the ground, clearly uninterested.
"Why are you acting like this? This is so boring," Ginny complained.
Frustrated, she grabbed the vine sword again and poked Thor's nape.
Surprisingly, instead of getting angry, Thor let out a soft, contented moan, almost like he was enjoying the attention, as if Ginny was giving him a massage.
Just then, a cough came from the side.
Both Ginny and Neville turned to see Alex standing.
There, having arrived unnoticed.
Caught off guard, Neville quickly picked up his sword and smiled awkwardly, while Ginny jumped off Thor's back, looking surprised, and rushed into Alex's arms.
"Godfather! Why did you come back so early today? Neville and I were reenacting the duel between you and the fallen prince Lesenbra. Do you think we did a good job?" Ginny said happily, hugging Alex and winking at Neville.
Alex saw right through Ginny's playful act. This wasn't the first time she'd tried to get away with goofing off.
Whenever he returned to England, he often brought Ginny along.
Thanks to the close ties between the Neville family and Alex, the two kids sometimes trained with him.
He intended to lay a solid foundation for their skills, but Ginny was mischievous and always took advantage of his moments of distraction.
Neville, on the other hand, was honest but a bit naive, so he usually just went along with Ginny's antics.
"We didn't! Really!" they both protested, trying to convince Alex.
Ginny playfully shook Alex's arm.
"Aren't we all sweaty already? We've only been playing for less than ten minutes. If you don't believe me, just ask Neville!"
Alex grinned and turned to Neville.
"Hey, how long did you actually practice?"
Neville hesitated, not great at lying despite Ginny's encouraging wink.
"Uh... sorry, Uncle Wilson, we only practiced for less than an hour total."
Ginny's face fell, and she stomped her foot in frustration.
"You... how could you be so clueless?" she snapped, annoyed that Neville had given them away so easily.
Alex looked at Ginny with mock reproach.
"Saul has been watching everything you do. Even if Neville hadn't said anything, did you really think you could fool me?"
Ginny pouted and glared at Thunderbird, as if blaming him for their troubles.
"So, it turns out you, Thor, are the real traitor!"
Saul just gave her an arrogant look.
If he didn't enjoy the comfortable massage she gave him, he probably wouldn't have let her climb on his back in the first place.
After all the yelling and scolding, Ginny suddenly softened, leaning against Alex's arm with a pitiful expression.
"I know I was wrong, Godfather. So don't give me that serious look, okay?"
Alex shook his head, clearly at a loss with his goddaughter.
"Alright, you two, pack up and come back to the room with me."
"Yes, Godfather!" Ginny quickly switched back to her usual confident self and asked slyly, "Godfather, do you think my stance just now was like when you faced the Fallen Prince?"