Harry returns from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 409 New Professor

Harry didn't respond to this. In fact, he felt guilty towards these girls in this matter.

Anne was somewhat better off; she was sealed into time because the curse of dark magic could not be broken.

But the others were different. The worst off was Papi, who was trapped in the body of a unicorn and stayed in the Forbidden Forest for a hundred years.

It's too awful.

As night fell, Professor Slughorn spoke up.

"Alright, I won't keep you any longer," he said. "It's time for you to go back to your compartments, change into your school uniforms, and get ready to get off the bus."

Harry and Anne returned to their cubicle together. The others had already changed and were waiting there. When they returned, Ron greeted them with a smile.

“I heard from Neville,” Ron said, “that a Slytherin named Zabini accepted the invitation? He… well, his mother seems to be quite open about it?”

“So, this gathering is different from what you think,” Harry said with a smile. “The people invited are all wizards with prominent families, and obviously, I’m one of them.”

“Because you are the person who is influential.” Luna said, taking off her sunglasses.

“Yes, I’m a big shot too.” Harry burst into laughter. “You’re absolutely right.”

Hearing this, Hermione's expression softened.

This girl... still has too much pride.

After they got off the train, they found the Thestrals on the cold, damp platform and got on.

Six people can fit in one car, so it's not too crowded.

Anne realized she had left her scarf in the carriage when she was halfway there, so Harry had no choice but to give her his scarf.

After all, Annie was physically weak, and a gust of wind could easily cause her some kind of injury.

“I’m thinking now,” Ron said with a chuckle, “that we can sit in warm carriages, but it’s a different story for the freshmen—they have to endure mud and cold, and the cold wind on Black Lake… especially in their third year, I remember it was raining then, wasn’t it? Even in the rain, the freshmen have to trek through mountains and rivers.”

“I highly doubt that even if it hailed, they wouldn’t be spared,” Hermione said, touching her face.

A burst of laughter erupted from inside the carriage; everyone felt...schadenfreude at the new students' plight.

After all, they are not freshmen now, and it is a good thing to see freshmen suffer the same hardships they once suffered.

It took quite a while for the carriage to arrive at Hogwarts.

They got out of the car and went into the auditorium.

The auditorium was decorated the same as in previous years, with four long tables lined up, and some students were already sitting on both sides.

It seems they arrived a little earlier.

Anne and Luna left; after all, they weren't Gryffindor students. One was going to the Longtable in Slytherin, and the other was returning to Ravenclaw.

When Luna came out from where Harry and his friends were, the Ravenclaw students surrounded her, chattering amongst themselves.

Anne's side was quite peaceful; her Slytherin classmates didn't dare disturb her, and no one knew why.

Harry looked away, and soon the Great Hall was filled with people.

Professor McGonagall also came over carrying the Sorting Hat and placed it on a four-cornered stool.

The brim of the hat cracked open and began to sing a nonsensical song.

"...Because I'm the most beautiful magic hat you've ever seen!"

“It’s not pretty at all,” Ron said, scoffing. “I’ve never seen a hat dirtier than this.”

Harry smiled knowingly.

At this moment, Professor McGonagall stepped forward, holding a roll of parchment in her hand.

"When I call someone's name, that person should put on their hat, sit on the stool, and listen to the instructions for being assigned to a different department!" she said sternly.

Then, without even glancing at the parchment, she called out loudly, "Felix Abbott!"

“Oh, it’s the Abbots again.” Ron grinned, showing his teeth. “I’ve noticed that anyone from the Abbots family is always the first house sorted at Hogwarts… It seems like there’s no surname that ranks higher than theirs, is there?”

“Yes, brother, yes,” Harry replied. “Abbadon, ABBA, takes precedence over ABBO.”

Just then, Felix Abbott was already sitting in a chair and putting on his hat.

"Hufflepuff!" the old hat announced loudly.

……

After the last student had been sorted into their department, Professor McGonagall picked up her hat, put away the parchment, and left the faculty seating area.

Dumbledore stood up, opened his arms, and announced loudly.

"Welcome everyone to Hogwarts—but I'm not going to give a long speech. Now, I declare the banquet open!"

Suddenly, just like in previous years, a dazzling array of delicious food appeared on the dining table.

"I'm really hungry." Neville stared intently at the roast chicken in front of him, eager to devour it.

“I still don’t understand why they serve peppermint hard candies,” Harry said, staring at the candies on his plate. “It’s a question that has puzzled me for years… Aren’t they afraid of choking on candies while eating their meal?”

“Perhaps the school has its reasons,” Simon said with a shrug.

“Look, Harry.” Ron, who was reaching for a chicken leg, nudged Harry’s rib fan. “Hagrid is saying hello to you.”

Harry looked toward the staff dining table and saw Hagrid waving at him, so he smiled back at Hagrid.

Hagrid and the imposing Professor McGonagall always seemed out of place; when they sat together, her head only reached between Hagrid's elbows and shoulders.

At that moment, she saw Hagrid greeting her so enthusiastically and showed a displeased expression.

Harry was surprised to see that sitting on the other side of Hagrid was Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher.

She rarely left her room in the tower, and Harry had never seen her at the opening banquet before. She looked as strange as ever, adorned with sparkling beads, wrapped in a long shawl, and her eyes magnified many times by her glasses.

The food in front of the professors was no different from that in front of the students, but the professors' table manners were clearly many times better than those of the students.

Of course, with Ron, the berserker wielding two chicken legs, there was no doubt that the students' average eating manners were lowered. Meanwhile, the ghosts popped their heads out from under the tables and began scaring the freshmen.

This is a Hogwarts tradition, I don't know when it started, and it always manages to scare a few timid freshmen.

Ron was explaining to a freshman next to him what "Nick the Nearly Headless" was.

"Hey!" Nick, who was almost headless, shouted at Ron in mid-air with great displeasure, "I want to remind you, Weasley redhead—I prefer to be called Sir Nicholas."

“Okay, almost headless Nick,” Ron replied with a grin.

This infuriated Nick, who was almost headless, but he was a ghost and couldn't do anything to Ron.

If he had a physical form, the first thing he would probably do is smear the kidney pie on Ron's face.

After everyone had eaten their fill, the remaining food disappeared from the plates all at once, leaving the plates and forks spotless.

Harry's favorite part of the day is dessert, and Hogwarts chocolate muffins are his absolute favorite.

He's got a chocolate head.

“By the way,” Harry said, glancing at Seamus across Neville, “where were you on the train? How come we didn’t notice you?”

Simo immediately straightened his chest.

“I was with Lavender, so I didn’t come to see you,” he said proudly. “Of course, I know there are more people where you are, so I didn’t plan to squeeze in with you.”

"Oh~" Ron, Harry, and Neville all said in unison, giving a sarcastic "oh".

Ron, in a high-pitched voice, mimicked Seamus's words, saying, "Mr. Brown, please sit down and eat..."

You know what, he really did a great job imitating him, capturing Simo's embarrassing situation perfectly.

Simo was so angry he wanted to hit him with a pestle.

"So how did it go for you two?" Harry asked in a low voice. "Did you manage to win them over?"

Simo stretched out both hands and wiped them in front of him.

“Take it.” he said coolly.

"Good job." Harry nodded approvingly. "Well done, you didn't disgrace Gryffindor!"

Just then, Dumbledore stood up behind the faculty dining table, and the laughter echoing in the Great Hall almost immediately subsided.

"Good evening, everyone!" he said with a kind smile, opening his arms as if to embrace the entire auditorium.

"Alright... New students, welcome to school; returning students, welcome back! A new school year of magical education awaits you. At the beginning of the semester, I would like to remind you of a few things to note."

“This year’s words seem exactly the same as in previous years,” Neville said in a low voice. “I bet Dumbledore didn’t think carefully about what he was saying. What did he do all summer?”

No one present knew what Dumbledore was doing, but Harry did—Dumbledore had gone on vacation to Vienna.

No wonder I didn't have time to write a speech.

“…The administrator, Filch, asked me to tell everyone that this year, students are absolutely prohibited from bringing any joke merchandise purchased from the Weasleys Wizarding Tricks shop,” Dumbledore continued.

“Hey!” Ron chuckled smugly. “I need to let Fred and George know about this, let them know that I’m on Filch’s kill list—I really want to see their faces when they find out, that’ll be interesting.”

Professor Dumbledore continued, "...Students who wish to join the House Quidditch team, please give your names to the Headmaster as usual. We are also looking for new Quidditch commentators; those interested should also register with the Headmaster."

As he spoke, he looked to his side.

"This year, we are delighted to welcome a new teacher. Professor Slughorn!"

Slughorn stood up, his bald head gleaming in the candlelight, his large belly, clad in a vest, casting a deep shadow on the table.

Dumbledore continued, "Professor Slughorn, a former colleague of mine, has agreed to return to his former position as Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

“Look at Professor Snape’s face,” Ron said gleefully. “Look at him, like he’s swallowed several pounds of Flobber caterpillars. He still hasn’t gotten his wish this year—I remember Professor Slughorn used to be the Potions professor, right? You see, Professor Snape thought that rehiring Professor Slughorn would free him from Potions and allow him to bring his talents to Defense Against the Dark Arts, but what happened? It turns out that Professor Dumbledore has no intention of letting him become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at all.”

Harry glanced over there and found that it was just as Ron had said.

Professor Snape's expression was exceptionally sinister, and he gripped the knife and fork tightly in his hands, as if he regarded them as Professor Slughorn's old bones.

“Actually, there’s something a bit of a shame,” Harry reminded Ron. “Professor Slughorn is said to be an excellent potions teacher, and you should be saddened that he doesn’t teach both courses at the same time.”

“That’s right,” Ron said through gritted teeth.

But Ron secretly decided that he would only gossip about Professor Snape behind his back for now, and that once school started, he would resolutely not say anything bad about Professor Snape in any public setting.

“It’s a pity,” Hermione said softly, “that the curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts hasn’t been lifted yet. I sincerely hope that Professor Slughorn can teach for another year instead of having Professor Snape teach us in our seventh year.”

"And the year after next?" Harry asked.

“Oh, I’d already graduated by then,” Hermione said casually. “Even if he became headmaster, it wouldn’t matter to me—”

Dumbledore cleared his throat and waited a few seconds to make sure everyone was completely quiet before continuing.

“Alright, let’s sing the school song together!” he said cheerfully, holding his wand as if it were a conductor’s baton.

At the same time, a long golden ribbon floated out from the tip of the wand, twisting and coiling like a snake above the high dining table to form lines of text.

“Everyone chooses the tune that interests them,” Dumbledore said with a chuckle. “Ready—sing!”

The entire faculty and student body began to sing the Hogwarts school song at the top of their lungs, but Harry felt that something was missing.

After the final school song had finished playing in unison, Harry suddenly remembered that the Weasley twins had graduated and there was no one to carry on their legacy, so no one would choose a funny tune for this school song occasion.

“Music…” Dumbledore shook his head and exclaimed, “It truly has the power to purify the human heart.”

After he finished speaking, his blue eyes swept over all the students, and then a smile appeared on his face.

"Alright, your beds are waiting for you, warm and comfortable as you expected. I know your priority now is to get some rest and prepare for class tomorrow. So, let's say 'goodnight'."

Ron and Hermione stood up; as prefects, they needed to guide the new students through the area.

Harry didn't need to worry about any of this; he had already slipped away long ago.

(End of this chapter)