Professor Vampire.

Chapter 198: A strange figure

"Dumbledore, I have officially filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Magic for that ugly, abominable, dangerous beast that attacked my son!"

Lucius pushed his way menacingly into the conference room, pulling back his own chair with a face full of rage, the solid wooden legs of his chair hitting the floor with a dull thud.

"Not only that, but I'm going to question the quality of the professors the president has hired for this academic year in the name of the school board." He sat in the pull-out chair and crossed his legs, one hand propped up on his cane in an airy manner.

"I've already checked the records, Rube Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts in his third year for privately keeping dangerous magical animals, is a wizard with such a bad record really fit to be a professor? I doubt it."

Lucius smugly stroked his gorgeous lapel and continued, "Not only that, there's another problem with dropping out of third year ... that is to say that Rube Hagrid himself simply doesn't even have an ordinary wizard rank exam certificate for protecting magical animals."

"Can such a person really be chosen to become a professor at Hogwarts?"

He leaned forward and gazed complacently at Dumbledore, his tone full of pleasure.

"Mr. Malfoy, I have already explained at the Ministry of Magic about Hagrid having been expelled from Hogwarts. He is innocent and someone planted evidence against him." Dumbledore's face did not change at all, and he began to defend Hagrid in a serious manner.

This kind of fooling around could be considered very skillful by the Lord Headmaster, who easily brushed off Hagrid's behavior of raising dangerous magical animals, and lightly attributed all the reasons for the expulsion to the framer.

Lucius, as a "young man" in his thirties, obviously didn't know the truth of what happened fifty years ago, and surprisingly didn't doubt Dumbledore's claim.

"Even if we ignore this point, then there is always no problem with the fact that Rupert Hagrid did not pass the ordinary wizard rank exam, right?" Lucius' face darkened as he coldly said, "There is also no problem with the matter of a teaching accident in his classroom, right?"

"Dumbledore, I'd like to see how else you'll defend him!"

Dumbledore held his glasses nonchalantly, and instead of being flustered by Lucius' questioning, he laughed softly.

"Mr. Malfoy, Hogwarts has never made it a rule that recruited professors must pass the Common Wizarding Rank Examination." He laughed softly.

"Hagrid has been the hunting ground caretaker at Hogwarts for fifty-two years, and during that time, he has managed the magical animals within the school's boundaries in a well-organized manner, with few accidents occurring; at the same time, he maintains a friendly relationship with the various magical animal communities such as the Horsemen within the Forbidden Forest, making an indelible contribution to the harmony of the neighborhood."

"On top of that, Hagrid discovered and hand-reared a pair of Night Tiaras, which later developed into a rather thriving colony. As a result, every Hogwarts carriage has been replaced with a Night Tiara from a white horse that was originally purchased specifically for the purpose, saving the school's governors a tremendous amount of money."

"What's more, I've already learned that none of the other students in Hagrid's classroom had any accidents, and only your son had a teaching accident because he didn't listen to the professor's instructions and rashly touched the hawk-headed, horse-bodied winged beasts. In reason, Hagrid should not shoulder all the responsibility for this teaching accident."

"Mr. Malfoy, do you still think that Hagrid is not qualified to be a Hogwarts professor now?" Dumbledore gave Lucius a deep look and asked in a single word.

Lucius' face was a little hard to see.

For the first time, he knew that this usually unimpressive hunting ground caretaker had made so many genuine contributions to Hogwarts, and this was something he could hardly refute.

Still, Lucius wasn't willing to just let go of the large man who had let the hawk-headed, horse-bodied winged beast harm his son.

"These contributions only show that he is a qualified hunting ground caretaker, they do not show that he is qualified enough to take on the role of Hogwarts professor!" He said forcefully, "I can't believe in the overall quality of a wizard who hasn't passed the wizard ranking exam."

"Are you sure you want to talk like that, Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore suddenly laughed merrily, looking at Lucius with a puzzled look on his face.

"Of course, I stand by my point." Lucius frowned and gave Dumbledore a puzzled look.

He didn't know, or care, what Dumbledore was laughing at, he just wanted to take it out on his son right now.

Lucius thought he had the capital to do so.

This was because, after Dracula had reorganized the Hogwarts Council and ousted a few prickly pureblood councilors, the Malfoys had become the only two gold masters amongst the councils who shelled out money for the day-to-day operations of Hogwarts, and the other one who did was the Ministry of Magic's finance department.

Lucius felt the advantage was in his favor; after all, Hogwarts couldn't do without its gold masters, just as the wizarding world couldn't do without JK Rowling!

"Well then," Dumbledore finally stopped laughing, some derision in his eyes, "Mr. Malfoy, may I take ... it that you are questioning Professor Dracula's overall quality and teaching ability? "

Lucius' face stiffened, and cold sweat immediately trickled down his forehead.

He subconsciously glanced at the empty main seat at the very front of the conference room, which was the seat left by the council for Dracula as the nominal council chairman.

Dracula had basically never come to this conference room after that burst of freshness because he was too lazy to hold meetings.

But the school board members here couldn't just pretend that he didn't exist.

What if one day this unpredictable professor suddenly came to the meeting on a whim? Let the chairman of the board of directors have no place to sit, standing with the managers of the meeting?

What if the temperamental professor gets angry and beats up the trustees?

So the trustees still saved their seats for Dracula.

Slightly relieved to see the empty main seat, Lucius couldn't wipe away the cold sweat that trickled into the corners of his eyes and stung them raw, and immediately said righteously:

"Nonsense, how could I possibly question Professor Dracula! Professor Dracula is the strongest black magic defense arts professor I've ever seen in terms of teaching ability as well as overall personal qualities, no one would question him!"

Even though he knew that Dracula was not present, Lucius still adhered to the principle of being careful with his words on topics concerning Dracula, and immediately made a statement, showing his identity as a Dracula's hardcore fan to the fullest.

He was now ready to abandon Voldemort and completely turn to Dracula. If it is because of this kind of small matter and be disgusted by Dracula can be too much of a loss ...

"So why is it that Professor Dracula, who hasn't taken the Wizard Rank Exam, is the professor with the strongest teaching ability and overall quality, while Hagrid, who also hasn't taken the Wizard Rank Exam, can only be questioned?" Dumbledore asked with sharp eyes as he stepped forward.

"How can Professor Dracula and Rube Hagrid be the same ...," Lucius still wanted to retort, but his words were interrupted by Dumbledore before he could say anything.

"Is it because Professor Dracula is the Chairman of the Council?" Dumbledore stared into Lucius' eyes and said in a deep tone, "Is it possible that a member of the School Council can have privileges that others don't?"

Dumbledore's words pierced hard into Lucius' heart.

It was clear that his words were not about Dracula, but rather he was using this incident to question Lucius.

Lucius' face changed and he fell into a long hesitation.

Dumbledore just stared at him without any extra movements or words. The other school councilors didn't say much either; none of them wanted to get involved in the dispute between the pureblood family patriarch and the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

After a long time, Lucius let out a deep breath.

"Fine, then I will give Mr. Headmaster face today." He said through gritted teeth, each word as if it was spat out from between his teeth, "I can not appeal against Rube Hagrid ..."

With those words, Lucius raised his head to meet Dumbledore's deep eyes, "Is that satisfactory to you, Dumbledore?"

"Then thank you for your consideration, Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore nodded in satisfaction and stood up from his seat, "Then this matter shall pass happily ..."

He turned his head to the rest of the school board, "Is there anything else that the school board would like to do? If not, I have some official business to attend to, so I'll leave you to it for now ..."

"Wait a minute." Lucius also stood up and grimly called out to Dumbledore who made a move to leave.

Dumbledore whipped his head around in confusion, "Anything else, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Although I spared the big man, the beast that hurt Draco must pay." Lucius said, "I've contacted the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures and they'll be sending over the resolution in a few days."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Dumbledore sank back.

"Of course, an account must be given for the damage Draco has suffered." Lucius leaned his cane on the ground, his expression once again resuming that untouchable look.

"Alas, since you are so impervious to persuasion, I will have to bring in a savior." Dumbledore sighed.

He suddenly extended his wand and waved a silver-white phoenix that flew through the wall to the third floor of the castle.

It was Dumbledore's daemon, modified by him to carry messages.

Lucius didn't look too good.

He recognized that the direction the silver phoenix flew to was the office of the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts on the third floor of the castle, and Dumbledore feared that he was trying to get Professor Dracula to come over and stand up for that eagle-headed, horse-bodied, winged beast.

Lucius was ready to be able to bend the rules-

If Professor Dracula was really called over to side with Dumbledore and Hagrid, then he would immediately write a letter withdrawing the charges against that animal and smilingly state that it was just a misunderstanding ...

But just then, Dumbledore froze for a moment, his expression first a little surprised, then turned into helplessness.

"It seems that Professor Dracula isn't at Hogwarts Castle, right?" Lucius sighed in relief at the sight.

"Quite unluckily." Dumbledore shook his head.

"Then let's wait until Professor Dracula returns." Lucius quirked his mouth, "If Professor Dracula has no objections, the resolution from the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures will be sent over in a few days as usual, so you can tell the big guy to wait."

After saying that, Lucius flicked his cane and left the school board meeting room with an air of vigor.

After all the school board members had left, a few doubts quietly surfaced in Dumbledore's eyes before he once again summoned a phoenix daemon.

He closed his eyes and controlled the silver-colored phoenix as it flew all over the castle, probing every inch of the unusual places in the castle.

A few moments later, Dumbledore opened his eyes fiercely, and a complex look of dismay as well as astonishment surged in his eyes.

...

It was a few hours before the council meeting.

It had just dawned, and a golden light at the end of the Black Lake had cut through the curtain of starlight that had been pieced together to quietly illuminate the darkest hour of the day.

It was still dark, and that was exactly the moment of the day that Dracula appreciated the most.

There was no blinding sunlight, nor was it an eternal darkness, a perfect balance between light and dark.

He stood on the shore of the Black Lake, a burgundy glow running through his eyes, his eyes peering through the slightly rippled water, watching with interest as the large squid in the lake teased the small snakes that had been playing all night in the Slytherin common room.

Just as Dracula was watching, a red aura suddenly flashed past him.

An alertness and seasonal movement that hadn't been seen in I don't know how many years slammed into Dracula's withered heart.

He subconsciously angled his neck and dodged a crimson blade of light.

The end of the blade of light narrowly grazed the position of the throat and flew into the water without the slightest stagnation, surprisingly splitting the lake water into two halves in an instant, and the split line drawn by the air on the lake surface did not disperse for a long time.

On the dividing line, many swimming fish were cut into two, and the cut surface was as smooth as a mirror.

Dracula felt something strange on his neck, so he raised his hand and gently brushed it over the place where the end of the crimson blade of light had just swept by.

Out of nowhere, he touched a splash of cold liquid.

"How many years has it been ...," Dracula turned his hand over to look at his slender, elongated fingertips, his gaze slightly dazed.

His pale fingertips were stained with a drop of bright red blood, which seemed to emit a strange luster.

"How many years has it been since I've experienced what it's like to be injured." Dracula licked his fingertips without a trace, savoring the fishy taste of the blood, and unconsciously hooked up the corner of his mouth.

"Then I would like to know who you really are?"

The four sharp fangs on his lips had long been on display, his nails elongated, his wings stretched out behind him, and the evil amongst his gaze no longer hidden in the slightest.

Dracula's evil eyes looked towards another person who had appeared at some point on the shore of the black lake-

It was a strange figure.

A gorgeous red cloak with a long hood covered his face, leaving no trace of skin exposed to the air.

But in his hand he held a wand that was so ordinary that it couldn't be any more ordinary, as if it was a branch that he had casually picked up from the ground.

No trace of the figure's expression could be seen under the hood, yet Dracula could keenly sense the underlying emotions in the man's heart-

There was not a hint of malice, and yet it was full of killing intent!