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Chapter 37: When the New Professor Couldn't Sleep
【You have gained the recognition of a magical creature. Received Treasure Chest x1】
【You have gained a deeper recognition from a magical creature. Received Treasure Chest x1】
William casually opened the first chest.
【Hagrid the Giant (Rare): With his half-giant blood, Hagrid was ridiculed throughout the wizarding world, but it was this very same bloodline that gave him a huge advantage in fights against wizards.
Skill—Giant Skin: Tear this card and consume half your magic to become immune to most spells for a period of time. The duration is determined by your magic. —Some say this is a wondrous form of magic, but no one has managed to figure it out yet.】
【Hagrid the Dragon Keeper (Rare): Although the Ministry of Magic restricted the circulation of dragon eggs in various ways, this giant who loved magical creatures still managed to get his hands on a dragon. Though it came at a great cost, he was overjoyed the moment he obtained the dragon egg.
Skill—Dragon Affinity: Tear this card, and for the next hour, dragons will not actively attack you.】
【Hagrid, Keeper of Magical Creatures (Super Rare): Feed a bit of this, a bit of that... what would happen if you used one magical creature to hatch another?
Skill—Look, a Blast-Ended Skrewt: Tear this card, and for the next year, unexpected mutations will occur when raising magical creatures. —Perhaps it works better in the dark? It’s hard to see anyway, so just letting them grow however they please is fine.】
After a moment of silence, William chose the first card, which seemed more useful.
Although a card that lasted for a whole year sounded very tempting, William recalled his own track record with pets—he'd feed one for three days, remember to change its water for five, and end up replacing the fish within a week—and decisively gave up on the card with the longest-lasting effect he had ever seen.
He opened the other chest.
【Hagrid's Midnight Ride (Rare): After Hagrid acquired Sirius's motorcycle, this modified object, which had been made legal through various special permits, remained with the giant.
Skill—Legal Speeding: Tear this card, and for the next hour, the top speed of your flying vehicle will increase by half. —Although it looks like a Muggle contraption, it's definitely not illegal.】
【Hagrid the Fighting Giant (Super Rare): When Umbridge from the Ministry of Magic decided to expel this giant from Hogwarts, everyone finally discovered just how formidable his combat power truly was.
Skill—Peerless: Tear this card, and for the next half hour, your wand will feel like an extension of your arm, your movements will become incredibly nimble, you will be immune to most control spells, and your protective charms will be able to deflect most spells. —While you might not be able to take on ten opponents, handling six should be no problem.】
【Hagrid the Communicator (Super Rare): This powerful giant possessed a meticulousness that completely belied his size, especially when it came to magical creatures. The speed at which he could familiarize himself with a magical creature was so fast it was like magic.
Skill—Communication: Tear this card, and for the next month, you will find it increasingly easy to communicate with a designated magical creature. There is a high probability of mastering their language through communication, with the success rate dependent on the time spent communicating.】
A difficult choice.
Whether it was the card that directly boosted combat or the one that enabled communication, both were incredibly tempting. The remaining speed-boosting card was also a good one.
After a long while, William agonizingly chose the third card.
"For combat, I can just rely on a stronger ally. After all, Dumbledore is right here at Hogwarts. Besides, I have an escape card in my card pool; if I can't win a fight, I can always run. But when it comes to communication, there's no one to rely on. If I can learn the language of a new species through this, there's a high chance I could farm several more chests."
Comforting himself with this thought, William agonizingly chose the third card.
---
Back at The Leaky Cauldron, William, having slept for half the day, wasn't the least bit sleepy. He simply lit a lamp and started reading.
Considering he had to teach the fifth-year students, he decided to make a list of the books for his lesson preparation. After carefully organizing it, he fell into a state of self-doubt.
Why did he take on the thankless job of teaching the fifth years?
If he had been smarter back then and vied to teach the first-years, that professor named Lockhart would most likely have agreed, right?
Now, even though he was only teaching the fifth year, he had to read through five years' worth of books, on top of the original sixth and seventh-year material. The only difference was fewer classes; the amount of lesson preparation was exactly the same!
At this thought, William couldn't help but draw several lines in red pen on the table of contents of the textbooks he had prepared.
Since he had to work so hard, then he would just have to apologize to the students—it was time to implement a policy of practice overload. It was all for the sake of their pass rates, anyway.
Mulling over this mutually destructive plan, he began to draw up a teaching syllabus.
After all, this was his first official job in the wizarding world. If he got kicked out because his teaching quality was too poor, he would be a complete laughingstock.
William selected the textbooks used by the fifth-year students over the past four years from the book list he had obtained earlier, and he set aside his own notes on those textbooks.
"This isn't thorough enough. I need to find past exam papers. If I'm not mistaken, given the number of practitioners in the wizarding world, there are at most three professors in charge of creating the assessment questions. This means there's a high probability of predicting the exam questions by studying past papers."
"Each examiner should have their own preferences, and the exam questions will most likely fall within their areas of expertise. I can use this to my advantage when trying to predict the questions."
"If I create some practice papers based on past questions and use sheer volume to guarantee the probability of hitting the mark, there shouldn't be any major problems. I'm confident I can apply my experience in this area."
...
Unable to sleep, William began to earnestly prepare for his teaching duties for the fifth-year students.
In any case, he was inexperienced and hadn't received a systematic education. Although he was working hard at self-study, he certainly couldn't catch up in a short time. He might as well just apply the methods he was familiar with.
He would have to improvise when faced with unknown dangers, but when it came to the exams, he absolutely did not want any screw-ups if he could help it.
To put it bluntly, if he could guarantee that over ninety percent of the students received their certificates for the fifth-year O.W.L. exam, then even if he skipped class for half a year with a broken leg, a whole flock of owls would fly to the school in the new year demanding he return to teach.
"Anyway, the previous professors never lasted a full year, so it's a given that the students have a weak foundation and limited knowledge. The Ministry of Magic probably won't make the questions too difficult, just to save face. With the practice overload tactic, I can't hope for everyone to pass, but getting eighty percent of the students through the exam should be no problem."
The night deepened. In the only room in the inn with its lamp still lit, William listed out, item by item, the missing content between the different textbook systems, arranging a new academic year's cramming plan for all the fifth-year students.
Even the stars began to dim their glow, as if they couldn't bear to witness the tragedy that was about to be unleashed from this room.
(end of chapter)
【You have gained the recognition of a magical creature. Received Treasure Chest x1】
【You have gained a deeper recognition from a magical creature. Received Treasure Chest x1】
William casually opened the first chest.
【Hagrid the Giant (Rare): With his half-giant blood, Hagrid was ridiculed throughout the wizarding world, but it was this very same bloodline that gave him a huge advantage in fights against wizards.
Skill—Giant Skin: Tear this card and consume half your magic to become immune to most spells for a period of time. The duration is determined by your magic. —Some say this is a wondrous form of magic, but no one has managed to figure it out yet.】
【Hagrid the Dragon Keeper (Rare): Although the Ministry of Magic restricted the circulation of dragon eggs in various ways, this giant who loved magical creatures still managed to get his hands on a dragon. Though it came at a great cost, he was overjoyed the moment he obtained the dragon egg.
Skill—Dragon Affinity: Tear this card, and for the next hour, dragons will not actively attack you.】
【Hagrid, Keeper of Magical Creatures (Super Rare): Feed a bit of this, a bit of that... what would happen if you used one magical creature to hatch another?
Skill—Look, a Blast-Ended Skrewt: Tear this card, and for the next year, unexpected mutations will occur when raising magical creatures. —Perhaps it works better in the dark? It’s hard to see anyway, so just letting them grow however they please is fine.】
After a moment of silence, William chose the first card, which seemed more useful.
Although a card that lasted for a whole year sounded very tempting, William recalled his own track record with pets—he'd feed one for three days, remember to change its water for five, and end up replacing the fish within a week—and decisively gave up on the card with the longest-lasting effect he had ever seen.
He opened the other chest.
【Hagrid's Midnight Ride (Rare): After Hagrid acquired Sirius's motorcycle, this modified object, which had been made legal through various special permits, remained with the giant.
Skill—Legal Speeding: Tear this card, and for the next hour, the top speed of your flying vehicle will increase by half. —Although it looks like a Muggle contraption, it's definitely not illegal.】
【Hagrid the Fighting Giant (Super Rare): When Umbridge from the Ministry of Magic decided to expel this giant from Hogwarts, everyone finally discovered just how formidable his combat power truly was.
Skill—Peerless: Tear this card, and for the next half hour, your wand will feel like an extension of your arm, your movements will become incredibly nimble, you will be immune to most control spells, and your protective charms will be able to deflect most spells. —While you might not be able to take on ten opponents, handling six should be no problem.】
【Hagrid the Communicator (Super Rare): This powerful giant possessed a meticulousness that completely belied his size, especially when it came to magical creatures. The speed at which he could familiarize himself with a magical creature was so fast it was like magic.
Skill—Communication: Tear this card, and for the next month, you will find it increasingly easy to communicate with a designated magical creature. There is a high probability of mastering their language through communication, with the success rate dependent on the time spent communicating.】
A difficult choice.
Whether it was the card that directly boosted combat or the one that enabled communication, both were incredibly tempting. The remaining speed-boosting card was also a good one.
After a long while, William agonizingly chose the third card.
"For combat, I can just rely on a stronger ally. After all, Dumbledore is right here at Hogwarts. Besides, I have an escape card in my card pool; if I can't win a fight, I can always run. But when it comes to communication, there's no one to rely on. If I can learn the language of a new species through this, there's a high chance I could farm several more chests."
Comforting himself with this thought, William agonizingly chose the third card.
---
Back at The Leaky Cauldron, William, having slept for half the day, wasn't the least bit sleepy. He simply lit a lamp and started reading.
Considering he had to teach the fifth-year students, he decided to make a list of the books for his lesson preparation. After carefully organizing it, he fell into a state of self-doubt.
Why did he take on the thankless job of teaching the fifth years?
If he had been smarter back then and vied to teach the first-years, that professor named Lockhart would most likely have agreed, right?
Now, even though he was only teaching the fifth year, he had to read through five years' worth of books, on top of the original sixth and seventh-year material. The only difference was fewer classes; the amount of lesson preparation was exactly the same!
At this thought, William couldn't help but draw several lines in red pen on the table of contents of the textbooks he had prepared.
Since he had to work so hard, then he would just have to apologize to the students—it was time to implement a policy of practice overload. It was all for the sake of their pass rates, anyway.
Mulling over this mutually destructive plan, he began to draw up a teaching syllabus.
After all, this was his first official job in the wizarding world. If he got kicked out because his teaching quality was too poor, he would be a complete laughingstock.
William selected the textbooks used by the fifth-year students over the past four years from the book list he had obtained earlier, and he set aside his own notes on those textbooks.
"This isn't thorough enough. I need to find past exam papers. If I'm not mistaken, given the number of practitioners in the wizarding world, there are at most three professors in charge of creating the assessment questions. This means there's a high probability of predicting the exam questions by studying past papers."
"Each examiner should have their own preferences, and the exam questions will most likely fall within their areas of expertise. I can use this to my advantage when trying to predict the questions."
"If I create some practice papers based on past questions and use sheer volume to guarantee the probability of hitting the mark, there shouldn't be any major problems. I'm confident I can apply my experience in this area."
...
Unable to sleep, William began to earnestly prepare for his teaching duties for the fifth-year students.
In any case, he was inexperienced and hadn't received a systematic education. Although he was working hard at self-study, he certainly couldn't catch up in a short time. He might as well just apply the methods he was familiar with.
He would have to improvise when faced with unknown dangers, but when it came to the exams, he absolutely did not want any screw-ups if he could help it.
To put it bluntly, if he could guarantee that over ninety percent of the students received their certificates for the fifth-year O.W.L. exam, then even if he skipped class for half a year with a broken leg, a whole flock of owls would fly to the school in the new year demanding he return to teach.
"Anyway, the previous professors never lasted a full year, so it's a given that the students have a weak foundation and limited knowledge. The Ministry of Magic probably won't make the questions too difficult, just to save face. With the practice overload tactic, I can't hope for everyone to pass, but getting eighty percent of the students through the exam should be no problem."
The night deepened. In the only room in the inn with its lamp still lit, William listed out, item by item, the missing content between the different textbook systems, arranging a new academic year's cramming plan for all the fifth-year students.
Even the stars began to dim their glow, as if they couldn't bear to witness the tragedy that was about to be unleashed from this room.
(end of chapter)
