HP: It's a snake, not a badger.

Chapter 78 New Department

Emeric didn't linger in front of Severus for the next month; he seemed incredibly busy, while Severus was happy to have some free time.

Dumbledore was overjoyed. Someone was willing to clean up the mess at the school and regulate campus discipline without him having to do any work. This was a wonderful thing!

"Gellert, get in touch with Sarafina for me, I need to speak with her."

"Fine, what do you want her to do here?"

"I wonder if she'd be willing to take a new job as a new professor at Hogwarts. These brats are so idle; I don't believe they'd still have the energy to bully people if they were a little busier."

These past two days he's been busy pressuring the board of trustees to create a new department at Hogwarts specifically for managing student discipline, including the ghosts, which would essentially upgrade the current management system and also help control the professors to prevent them from showing favoritism.

The current punishments are too lenient; the worst punishment is cleaning the trophy display room, while processing herbs at Severus's place is a reward. Therefore, the punishment system needs to be changed. Previously mandatory labor can be changed to paid labor, which would provide some assistance to young wizards from disadvantaged backgrounds, primarily Hufflepuff students.

Sprout's salary went mostly into the college, which would ease her financial burden. Emeric took the proposal to Sprout, and the other three deans all agreed.

The key to the whole plan now lies with this witch. He believes Sprout will agree, and if the plan succeeds, there will be many positions for Hufflepuffs at the school.

"Knock knock, Professor Sprout, may I come in?"

"Come in."

"Professor, please take a look at this proposal. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. If not, I would appreciate it if you could sign here."

Emeric handed the plan to Sprout, which clearly outlined the scale of the operation, the wage distribution, and the approximate job types and working hours—it was very detailed.

"Oh, Ellie, I'd be more than happy to sign this. Thank you for your contributions to Hogwarts."

"Don't say that, Professor. I have another copy for you. Please take a look."

After resolving a minor issue, Emeric took out a new document proposing the establishment of a disciplinary office at Hogwarts. Once a young wizard was found to have violated the rules, the professors would deduct points and issue punishments, and the records would be sent directly to the office, eliminating the need for the professors to deal with these individuals directly.

"Airi, I don't understand this part. How are the punishment levels divided?"

"Professor, please look at this page. Level 1 is a simple verbal warning. You can just talk to the junior wizards on the spot. Level 2 is a short-term confinement, such as three or five days. The specific content can be determined based on which job has fewer people at the time. Just throw them there and you won't have to pay them. As for Level 3, it is a long-term confinement, such as a month. If you want to use Level 3 punishment, you need to have it approved by the office."

Sprout nodded thoughtfully. She thought it was a good idea; it could both keep the young wizards in check and provide some help to children from less affluent families.

"That sounds good, but have you thought about who will manage this department?"

"Unmanaged by anyone, when the House Cup is awarded, it will be publicly announced so that everyone can witness it. If anyone wants to cause trouble, they can talk to Dumbledore. I've already chosen the first professor, Salafina Amiron, a famous German martial arts master. I think this position needs a professor with sufficient physical strength."

"Is she willing?"

"certainly."

"Then I look forward to your results, Airi."

"Thank you very much for your recognition."

Emeric picked up the signed document and thanked Sprout for her approval. He knew how to deliver results; if the situation here weren't different from Durmstrang's, he would have beaten the bully to a pulp on the very first day he knew someone was causing trouble.

After getting all the documents that needed to be signed sorted out, Emeric went to Dumbledore. Now the headmaster's signature was needed for confirmation before the board of directors would seriously consider the matter; otherwise, they would all pretend they knew nothing about it.

Emeric walked toward the headmaster's office in high spirits. He was making good progress today, and as long as Dumbledore was at school, he would be able to get this done next week.

"Brother Ellie, Harry and I need to talk to you about something."

"They're here."

Then he was dragged along by the two little ones, and the three of them ran all the way to an empty classroom next to the cellar. This was the safest place because the other students were afraid of Severus who lived next door, so there were usually not many people there.

"Alright, you two, can anyone tell me what happened?"

"We caught a rat, the one from the Weasleys' house. Look at the cage Harry's holding. A normal rat should have died long ago, but this one has lived for over ten years and hasn't even aged. I suspect it's an alchemical life form or a human..."

Upon hearing this, Harry waved the cage in his hand at Emeric. Scabbers was locked inside; they had drugged it to prevent the rat from escaping.

Today they learned about the Animagus. As soon as get out of class ended, Hermione and Draco immediately asked where Scabbers had gone. If they weren't mistaken, Scabbers might be human.

Draco kindly provided a cage for the rats, and also some sedatives. It would be best to deal with this as soon as possible, otherwise it would be too dangerous for Scabbers and Harry to live together.

"Let's go, take this mouse with us, let's go to the headmaster's office together, I also need to see Dumbledore."

Emeric didn't want to touch the rat either. He'd rather let Dumbledore handle it; what if the rat had some kind of virus? That would be terrifying.

"Mango Pomelo Sago".

The three entered the principal's office and found it empty except for Fox, who was grooming himself on a shelf.

"You two sit on the sofa, I'll go in and look for it."

Emeric strongly suspected that Dumbledore was avoiding him, fearing that he would be drugged again, because the little rose on the balcony told him that Dumbledore had just entered the bedroom.

"I'm not doing anything today. Come out quickly. Your golden boy needs to see you, and I also have some documents for you to sign."

He had no patience and started banging on the door. He hadn't been to the cellar in a long time because of this, and he wanted to finish quickly so he could continue to cling to Severus.

"Al, what do you mean by 'Golden Boy'?"

"Bang"

"Allie, let's go outside and ignore Gale."

Dumbledore pushed the door open forcefully, his face slightly flushed, and Gellert followed behind, wanting an explanation.

"Stop flirting, you two!!!"

The kitten, who hadn't had any affectionate touches in ages, was incredibly agitated. I grabbed them by the arms and dragged them to the meeting room. I needed to get this over with quickly; I wanted to cuddle with the people I liked too!