Chapter 4.
The past few days, Alan continued to study many different books and even practiced spellcasting since the job of combat teacher was to be a good spell-caster as well, and as he continued to practice, his confidence also grew slightly, and the day of the interview finally arrived.
Hogwarts, as a school with a long and proud history, has produced countless famous wizards for thousands of years; though, whether those famous wizards' beliefs are good or bad is another case, just like how Hogwarts has produced Dumbledore, but at the same time, it has also birthed Tom Marvolo Riddle, the infamous Voldemort. One person is famously known as the greatest white wizard of the current era, while the other is simply known for being a dark lord, an evil wizard who commits atrocities against Muggle-born wizards, or, to be truthful, against the whole of the wizarding community.
Staying put at home had put a little bit of laziness on Alan; however, realizing that it was the day of the interview, Alan tidied up a little, adorning himself in a brand-new wizard robe, and set out with the help of the Floo Network.
After he had received Professor Dumbledore's reply, there was an agreed time set up for the interview, so with their help, Alan somehow managed to connect his house fireplace to Hogwarts', and thanks to that, he now had a straight and simple way to get directly into Hogwarts.
"Hogwarts." Alan threw the floo powder in the fireplace and finally vanished into the green flames.
"You've arrived, Alan; anyway, clean yourself before taking any step further." As soon as Alan found himself in the familiar setting of Hogwarts, he was greeted with a serious voice.
"Good morning, Professor McGonagall." Alan, taking out his wand and then tapping it on his robes to clean it from any dust particles, greeted the stern-looking professor.
With his robes cleaned off of any dust, Alan walked toward McGonagall, thinking in his mind, 'She really hasn't changed at all.' The vibe the professor gave at this time was the same as when he used to study at Hogwarts; moreover, it seems, like Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall often stays at Hogwarts during the summer, while most of the other professors enjoy their vacation at home.
But knowing that in addition to being the transfiguration professor at Hogwarts, she is also the head of Gryffindor house and is deeply admired by students, Alan couldn't help but realize that she was bound to spend more time here than going home.
"So, you still remember the location of the principal's office, right?" McGonagall looked at Alan, and asked, to which he nodded with a smile and replied, "I remember."
"Good then, the password is Cockroach Cluster." Mcgonagall said, withdrawing her gaze and then beginning to read the Daily Prophet in herd, Alan, good luck for the interview. Alan, hearing the password, nodded at her and then made his way toward the office's door, and just as he was about to walk out, he heard, "Alan, good luck for the interview."
'She's still the same.' Alan couldn't help but smile as he walked out of the door. Professor McGonagall was really like a mother figure, stern on the outside but soft on the inside.
Anyway, since Dumbledore's office was on the eighth floor, Alan didn't dally around and hurriedly made his way toward the office, and finally arriving in front of the gargoyle statue, he said, "COCKROACH CLUSTER."
The statue, hearing the password, immediately jumped aside, revealing a moving spiral staircase behind it.
Seeing the staircase, Alan stepped up, and the stair began to rotate in circles, rising higher and higher, and finally came to the door of Dumbledore's office.
Taking a step forward toward the door, Alan knocked on the door twice.
"Come in." A voice came from inside, and Alan knew who this voice belonged to, so grabbing the door's knob, he opened the door and walked inside, "Good morning, Professor Dumbledore."
"Ah, Alan, you're here. Good morning." Dumbledore said cheerfully, and then motioned Alan to take a seat, and then continued, asking, "So Alan, how does it feel returning to Hogwarts after eight years?"
"Nostalgic, a little happy as well, as I get to see you after such a long time." Alan said, looking at the strongest white wizard of the current wizarding world.
"That's good, and I'm happier since you're not nervous about this." Dumbledore couldn't help but say with a smile on his old face, "Anyway, enough of the small chit-chat; let's converse about the topic of discussion here, shall we?"
"Alright, professor." Alan took a deep breath and sat straight, mentally preparing himself, at the same time reminding himself to not be nervous, which would make him prone to causing mistakes.
"A student from Hufflepuff, huh?" A wizard in one of the portraits, who seemed fast asleep just a moment ago, changed his position and mumbled. Hearing the voice, Alan couldn't help but raise his head toward the source of the voice; the old man had a goatee and was wearing a silver and green Slytherin robe.
Realizing who that man was, Alan immediately lost his interest, as he knew very much about the man and his so-called belief.
On the other hand, Dumbledore completely ignored Phineas Black, continued to look at Alan, and said, "Alan, you graduated from Hogwarts eight years ago, and at that time there was no combat class in the school, so firstly I want to hear your thoughts on the inclusion of this subject in the school curriculum."
Alan, hearing the question, fell into thought. He was prepared to answer questions that were supposed to be asked in an interview, but this didn't seem like a question but just a small query to start the interview.
"Ahem." Alan cleared his throat and continued, "To tell you the truth, professor,. I don't think there was a need for the course, since this course should have been part of the defense against the dark arts and should have been taught by that respective professor..." Alan decided to take the honest approach here instead of beating around the bush.
Dumbledore, hearing Alan's response, smiled heartily and said, "That's right, that should've been the case, but since you know about the condition of that post's position because I once rejected Tom—I mean Voldemort." Saying that name, Dumbledore observed Alan carefully; however, seeing no change in Alan's attitude, the smile on his face grew a little wide.
A/N : Throw some powerstones.