Even though the witches and wizards at Hogwarts had seen all sorts of ghosts, having a ghost actually teach a class was an entirely different experience.
Allen was the first to realize what was happening. The others were too shocked by the sight of Professor Binns flipping open a ghostly book to react.
Without even filing a report, Allen immediately rushed out of the classroom, leaving behind a stunned Professor Binns and a room full of students frozen in terror. To be fair, Binns didn't even get a chance to open his mouth to stop Allen from leaving.
No matter how it was seen, the death of a professor was a serious matter. Allen had to inform the head of house and the headmaster right away. Since the other students were too frightened to move, he had no choice but to take responsibility. As for what would be done about the matter… well, chances were Binns would continue teaching just as before.
••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••
Three days later, all classes were suspended across the school.
Dumbledore had acted swiftly, announcing that same evening that the next day would be a school-wide holiday so Professor Binns' funeral could be held. Honestly, Allen was curious what the old professor thought about attending his own funeral, but he decided not to dwell on it.
Many people came to the ceremony. As a professor who had dedicated his life to the study of magical history, Binns had taught a staggering number of students, more than even Dumbledore himself, despite his less-than-stellar teaching ability.
His body was found in the staff lounge by the fireplace. It seemed he had dozed off, and when he rose to teach class, he simply forgot to bring his body with him.
Professor Binns didn't appear at the funeral. According to rumors, he had returned to his classroom and was currently wandering around asking the castle's ghosts where all his students had gone.
The eulogy was delivered by Dumbledore himself, who detailed the professor's many contributions to Hogwarts. His words stirred genuine admiration and respect for the old man in the hearts of the audience.
Then a gasp echoed through the crowd.
At the end of his speech, Dumbledore announced that Hogwarts would be re-hiring Professor Binns, despite the fact that he was now a ghost.
This highly irregular decision sparked heated arguments among the audience, particularly from the Board of Governors. But in the end, the decision stood.
Although Dumbledore's authority had diminished slightly since the end of the Voldemort era, no one present dared to challenge him directly.
And so, Hogwarts gained a new ghost professor, who also happened to be the same as the old one.
••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••
Professor Binns' death didn't have much effect on the student exchange program, especially since he was still teaching anyway.
If anything, the impact was felt more by Allen and the rest of the selected exchange students, because the professor in charge of language instruction was none other than the ghostly Binns himself.
The dull, droning lessons left Allen questioning why no witch or wizard in the past had come up with a translation or communication spell. Language classes were boring enough on their own, adding Binns to the mix was just cruel.
But complaints did nothing. The fifty exchange students were being drilled intensely, even into the evenings. For the first time, Allen found himself taking classes alongside upper-year students.
From what Allen had heard, even the three accompanying professors were undergoing crash courses in the local language. That probably meant the students from Uagadou would be spared some of the sharper barbs from Professor Snape, because even Snape couldn't insult people properly in a language he hadn't mastered.
What truly broke them, however, was that it wasn't just language classes. The other professors began aggressively cramming knowledge into their heads as well. Judging by their attitude, they intended to stuff the students full of as much information as possible in the shortest amount of time, like geese being prepped for foie gras.
The days flew by. And then, without Allen even realizing it, all the lessons suddenly stopped.
The day of departure had arrived.
••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••
Even on the smallest world maps, the distance from Hogwarts to Uagadou was a long, unbroken stretch.
The intense study schedule had kept Allen so busy he hadn't even had time to wonder about how they were actually going to get to this mysterious, far-off school. He had even put his daily one-hour system training on hold.
Now, he finally had a moment to think about it.
How exactly were they going to travel such a long way?
Apparition?
Ridiculous. Not even Dumbledore had the magical power to teleport people across such distances. And besides, powerful magical barriers between countries would block any such attempt.
Portkeys?
How many transfers would that take? And how much magical energy?
A flying carpet?
Even if Hogwarts used those, they were far too slow. How long would it take to fly all that way?
As Allen let his imagination run wild, Dumbledore's speech passed right over his head.
He deeply regretted that Dumbledore wasn't the kind of headmaster who just gave a bullet-point summary. If he had, Allen might have caught the important details.
Forced to rely on someone else, Allen turned to ask Albert, the friendly Hufflepuff prefect, for an explanation.
Just then, a loud scream erupted from the student crowd.
Startled, both Allen and Albert looked up.
What they saw appeared to be a massive stone giant, at least ten meters tall.
But Allen quickly realized he was wrong.
That was only how much of it was visible above ground. What had emerged was just a head and part of the upper torso.
With a deep rumble that made their teeth vibrate, the enormous stone face and its thick, arm-like limbs braced against the earth. Rocks and soil tumbled away as a massive form slowly rose from beneath the ground.
Albert's voice was trembling beside him. "Merlin's beard... We had a picnic on that rock a few days ago! We even joked that there might be a small hill under it!"
They had been wrong.
It wasn't a hill, it was a slumbering rock golem.
But once again, Allen realized he had misunderstood.
It wasn't a rock giant at all.
It was Hogwarts' transport vehicle.
Once the golem had fully risen, everyone was awestruck by its size.
Frankly, its proportions were almost comical, a blocky little head, limbs wildly out of scale, arms absurdly longer than its legs. Dirt and mud clung to its rough body, and if it were shrunken down to the size of a doll, it would look like the clumsy work of someone with very poor crafting skills.
And yet, no one laughed. In fact, everyone was envious of the exchange students.
The stone giant now knelt on one knee, one arm extended to the ground. Its open torso revealed a wide stone staircase. At the end of the stairs stood a grand doorway, and from the students' perspective, it looked just like a miniature version of the Hogwarts Great Hall.
"Everyone," Dumbledore announced, "let your journey begin. May all go smoothly!"
••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••
A/N: Next Arc….
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