Chapter 321: Houses
Seeing Gandalf wanted to apply for the Flying Professor position, Kael was extremely surprised.
As far as he knew, Gandalf had always been homeless, constantly wandering various places in western Middle-earth, never stopping in one place.
Now, how had he become interested in being a professor, and specifically a Flying professor?
After all, once successfully hired, it would mean Gandalf would stay long-term at Hogwarts Castle.
This contradicted Gandalf's title as the "Grey Pilgrim."
Facing Kael's confusion, Gandalf smiled cheerfully and said, "This is all thanks to you. The Ministry of Magic you established has now opened many Floo Network fireplaces across the entire western continent. This old man no longer needs to travel long distances as he did before to contact and organize various free forces everywhere. I only need to use a fireplace to arrive instantly to the far corners of the earth."
"So I've become idle now, and I believe my flying skills are quite good. Why not simply come here to apply for the Flying Professor position? Do you welcome me?"
"Welcome, of course welcome!" How could Kael refuse such a good thing? Still, he couldn't help but say, "Gandalf, the Flying professor position seems like a waste of your talents. Would you consider other positions? Perhaps History of Magic or other positions? You can choose any you like!"
Gandalf shook his head, smiling. "Other positions are fine, but the Flying class is leisurely and interesting. It suits me perfectly."
Seeing Gandalf insist, Kael could only reluctantly abandon his attempts at persuasion and hired him as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's Flying Professor.
As Gandalf said, Flying class was very leisurely—only one lesson per week, and only first-year students took it as a mandatory course.
This was like being a physical education teacher at a school in another world—equally leisurely, even more so.
Of course, besides Flying class, the Flying professor also had to organize Quidditch matches.
However, overall, it was definitely very relaxed compared to other course professors.
After all, other courses met three or four times per week, and in the future would teach seven entire year groups. The schedule was packed almost daily with virtually no time for rest or leisure.
With all eight first-year course professors recruited, Kael had them formally take their posts and prepare course materials for each subject.
At the same time, Kael appointed Edward, the Transfiguration professor and steward of Hogwarts Castle, as the school's deputy headmaster, managing the school's opening and various affairs.
As for Kael himself, he did not teach any particular course, but became headmaster.
Hogwarts Castle was very large. Kael designated the Amontillado Tower and gardens as his private areas, off-limits to others. The remaining buildings served as school areas.
Simultaneously, Kael directly divided the school into four houses, named after the Phoenix, Thunderbird, Dragon, and Basilisk, corresponding to the traditional houses of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.
These qualities also corresponded to those of courage, wisdom, loyalty, and cunning.
Meanwhile, over these ten years, Kael had not merely stayed in the castle doing nothing.
He had gone out and explored, traveling from unsignaled cities in the south to the ruins of the Angmar Kingdom in the north, traversing all of it. He had obtained many useful things.
At the same time, he had crafted a Sorting Hat made of dragon hide. He had infused his own thoughts and will, along with Gandalf's, Elrond's, and Galadriel's, into the Sorting Hat, allowing it to develop a unique personality with its own thoughts and will.
Perhaps because Kael had the personality of the Sorting Hat from another magical world in mind while crafting it.
The resulting Sorting Hat, besides being wise, humorous, and insightful about human nature, was also quite talkative and particularly loved music and composition.
It constantly entertained itself by humming songs and frequently pulled Kael and Arwen over to appreciate its newly composed songs.
After making all preparations, Edward, as deputy headmaster, went to the secret chamber where the Quill of Acceptance and Book of Admittance were kept. After checking the list of new students enrolling in September that year, he began preparing to send acceptance letters to students according to the roster.
Mid-July, Hogsmeade, a neighborhood where wizards congregated.
The wizards here were not completely isolated from ordinary people, but as the saying goes, those with power naturally distance themselves from those without.
Since wizards appeared, ordinary people both feared and envied them. In ordinary people's eyes, these magic-wielding individuals were different from them—elevated wizard lords.
Thus, naturally, wizards created a certain distance from ordinary people. Ordinary people treated wizards with respectful distance, and wizards preferred socializing with other wizards.
So wizard-ordinary person neighborhoods formed—mixed but relatively independent, not interfering with each other.
In such a place, in an ordinary wizard family's home, the Bailey family was celebrating the birthday of their eleven-year-old son, Adam Bailey.
Mr. Bailey was one of the first batch of Magic Crash Course students. Among the original five hundred forty people, his performance was ordinary, in the lower-middle range.
After graduation, he joined the Ministry of Magic, becoming an employee of the Department of Magical Transportation.
He was primarily responsible for establishing Floo Network connections, ensuring fireplace links functioned properly.
Over these years, Mr. Bailey had constantly felt fortunate that he successfully passed the examination and luckily became a wizard, even though his abilities ranked average among his classmates.
But since becoming a wizard, he had transformed completely, his life undergoing tremendous changes.
Magic became the most important part of his life. With just a wave of his wand, household brooms automatically swept, dishes clinked and jumped into the sink for washing, then flew into cupboards.
The fireplace at home was also connected to the Floo Network. Wherever he wanted to go, he only needed to step into the fireplace, toss a handful of Floo Powder at his feet, and arrive instantly.
Mr. Bailey had also married the woman he loved and fathered two sons and a daughter, living a happy life.
Today was his eldest son, Adam Bailey's eleventh birthday. He had specifically come home early from work, buying a magical cake from Diagon Alley.
The whole family gathered around. The magical candles in the magical cake burned with colorful sparks, and a group of chocolate figurines bounced about on the cake, cheerfully singing "Happy Birthday."
As a Ministry of Magic employee, Mr. Bailey was better informed than others, knowing the lord planned to establish a magical school and recruit students.
So while celebrating his eldest son's birthday, his mind was somewhat preoccupied. His eyes kept drifting toward the window outside.
As one of the Magic Crash Course graduates, Mr. Bailey had witnessed the vast library within Hogwarts Castle and countless miraculous magical wonders.
He had countless times regretted not working harder during the crash course, wishing he had learned more magical knowledge.
Though he knew that, given his aptitude, he had already done his best at the time, he still felt he hadn't tried hard enough.
After all, after leaving the castle, he would never have the opportunity to return. He could never access so much magical knowledge again.
Now that word had spread that the lord planned to establish a magical school and recruit students, Mr. Bailey thought of his own son, silently praying in his heart that his son would be selected.
But he had no certainty about this matter and couldn't guarantee his son would be chosen, so he had never mentioned it to his family, especially his eldest son.
He deeply feared Adam would be disappointed.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Adam Bailey, today's birthday boy, noticed his father frequently gazing out the window and asked with some confusion.
Mr. Bailey heard his eldest son's words and suddenly came to his senses. Just as he was about to say something, a crisp tapping sound came from the window.
The whole family was drawn to investigate.
When they saw it was a pure white great snowy owl, the others showed surprise and confusion.
Only Mr. Bailey's face was filled with delight and excitement.
He immediately left his chair, quickly approaching the window, eagerly opening it without hesitation.