Wayne had initially planned to take Cho and Hermione to the edge of the Forbidden Forest to see the Blast-Ended Skrewt, but now that would have to wait for a while. After finishing their meal and chatting with the two girls, they expressed their envy. Who else, apart from Wayne, had the honor of having afternoon tea with the headmaster?
"You guys are just overrating Dumbledore," Wayne said with a chuckle. "Take it easy; he's just a somewhat lively old man." Cho rolled her eyes at him. After all, this was Dumbledore—a great wizard featured in numerous textbooks and historical records, the most distinguished light wizard of the century. Who could treat him casually?
In the afternoon during Potions class, Snape walked in with a dark expression and began his lesson. Earlier, Gryffindor's points had finally hit zero, but Snape's fury hadn't completely simmered down. Whenever he saw Wayne, it reminded him of that rascal's earlier provocation of Dumbledore.
"Five points deducted! The ingredients are in the wrong order," Snape declared, glaring at Hufflepuff.
Wayne shrugged off Snape's disdain, switching the positions of the toad's gall and the fluff from a puffskein. To him, point deductions were just an opportunity for more points; he almost wished Snape would hit him with a heavy penalty—perhaps dock a few hundred points straight away.
"Lawrence," Snape said in a voice only meant for the two of them, "you handed the tears of a phoenix to Quirrell?"
He had been eavesdropping on the badgers before class and heard about what happened that morning.
Wayne blinked innocently, "The phoenix is suffering from conjunctivitis, so I actually gave him Fawkes' tears."
"Pfft!" Snape couldn't help but chuckle, leaving Hannah confused and looking up at him with wide eyes. "What are you staring at, you fool?"
"Lawrence, manage your baggage! Hufflepuff loses five points!"
In a flash, Snape turned stern again. After rebuking Wayne, he headed to another part of the room, and Hannah pouted in response. Wayne hurried to comfort her and then cheekily raised his middle finger at Snape's departing figure.
After a deduction of twenty points, class ended. Wayne wasted no time and headed straight to the headmaster's office on the eighth floor.
"Lemon…" Before he could finish the password, the water gargoyle opened the passageway.
"Get in, get in! I don't want to see you!" the voice echoed. "I almost got drowned by faith the other day!" Wayne laughed, stroked the gargoyle's head, and walked into the office.
On the desk was a beautifully arranged tower of pastries, and exquisite teacups exuded steam.
"Professor." Without hesitation, Wayne took a seat directly across from Dumbledore, greeted him, took a bite of cheesecake, and sipped his tea, feeling quite content.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with joy as he watched Wayne enjoy his food. He savored moments like these—interacting with students. However, everyone else seemed overly respectful, appearing especially tense in his presence. Only Wayne treated him like an ordinary old fellow.
After indulging in cake and tea, Wayne felt revitalized. "Professor, you called me here for something?" He understood that this wasn't just a casual afternoon tea.
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