Man of Archives

Chapter 43

The second date—or rather, the second part of the first date—with Nymphadora went well. Overall, I'm glad she's matured since her Hogwarts graduation, but I'm also happy she's still the same Nymphadora I once helped.

I visited Hermione, who was still studying theory. She was pleased to see me and immediately began explaining how she felt and whether anything had changed. Naturally, she feels much better now, even better than before, which is expected after taking Panacea. We haven't started practicing yet, although I did ask her to wave her wand.

That's when we encountered a problem: the wand she currently has no longer suits her. This means we'll need to get her a new one for effective magic. That won't be an issue. We agreed to visit Ollivander's soon.

The responses from the Hogwarts professors who received gifts from me were pleasant. Some replied with a cool tone, like Professor Snape; others with gratitude, like Professor Flitwick, and warmth, like Professor McGonagall. The only one who surprised me was Hagrid. Not only did he send me a long thank-you letter (I won't ask where he got the paper from...), but he also sent several bundles of herbs and some rock cakes as a token of his appreciation.

Speaking of rock cakes, they turned out to be quite tasty, although to eat them, I had to brew a special tea. After dunking the cakes in the tea for a few seconds, they softened into normal food.

A reply from Isolde arrived a bit later, as she's currently not on the islands but somewhere in mainland Europe, attending a Charms workshop. She thanked me for the gift and even sent a "blown kiss" with a lipstick mark on the paper. That was a nice touch.

Brock didn't respond immediately either, as he's currently swamped with work. He invited me to go on another hunt with him or complete a few Guild tasks. I neither agreed nor declined. For now, I have no desire to hunt magical creatures. Maybe in the future, if I feel the need.

With all that, I had enough time to continue my research on the Philosopher's Stone, visit Stormhammer Fortress to download books for analysis, and keep myself busy with magical research.

That's why the time for my meeting with Dumbledore snuck up on me. By evening, I Apparated to Hogsmeade and immediately spotted Hogwarts in the distance, bathed in the light of the setting sun against a pale blue sky. There weren't many people around. The students were likely inside the school, resting or heading to dinner. The villagers were either preparing for the next day or heading to a pub to discuss the day's events or their future plans.

I entered the restaurant, which was somewhat tucked away, and glanced around. A few distinguished gentlemen, cigarettes in hand, were loudly discussing the latest Quidditch match between England and Ireland. I walked past them, entered further into the restaurant, and immediately spotted Dumbledore sitting in the far corner, his back to the wall. He waved me over.

Nodding to the waitress, I made my way to the headmaster.

"Good evening, Headmaster," I greeted him with a nod. He smirked and gestured for me to take the seat across from him.

"And good evening to you, Timothy," he nodded back. "I really liked your gift. Thank you very much."

I grinned at that. Of course, he liked the gift—it was sweets I had bought in New York.

"I remember being in New York a few decades ago," the headmaster mused. "It was quite an amusing time. Can you believe I ended up at the wedding of a witch and a Muggle?"

"Wow," I raised an eyebrow. "Did the witch enchant him?"

"No," Dumbledore shook his head. "It was true love."

"Really?" I replied, somewhat impressed. "That doesn't happen often."

"Indeed," he agreed. "I also watched your master class on Transfiguration. Excellent work."