Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 254, Section 253: The Old Curse, The New Lesson, and the New Professor

With just one sentence, Sirius Black lost his fighting spirit. Harry's godfather, with both hands still on the desk, opened and closed his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.

"...I really don't know, Harry," Sirius finally managed to utter.

“You know what, Sirius?” Harry put down his quill and looked up, saying, “After becoming Headmaster, I looked through the list of all the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors and asked Dumbledore about the curse.”

"What did Dumbledore say?"

“The curse probably started more than forty years ago, when Dumbledore rejected Voldemort’s application to return to the school to teach,” Harry said seriously. “From that time on, Voldemort placed a curse on the position, and when people first noticed that the curse would keep sending the professors of this course away, from minor injuries to serious injuries to death, in short, no one could stay in the position for a second year, then challengers appeared.”

"A challenger?" Sirius laughed heartily, tilting his head back. "Someone who wants to break this curse?"

“Yeah, just like you right now,” Harry scoffed. “People who think they know a thing or two about the dark arts, people who think they're experts on the mysteries of magic, people who think they're powerful… guess where all these people are right now?”

Sirius Black's laughter immediately died down. Since Hogwarts still maintains the tradition of changing professors every year, the fate of these people is self-evident... It would be good if they could leave the school alive with only minor injuries.

“And your academic record… Mr. Sirius Orion Black—should I get your report card from back then?” Harry said with a smile.

"No need, thank you," Sirius chuckled dryly, then asked, "So what are you going to do? The students can't just skip Defense Against the Dark Arts class, can they?"

“Of course we have to go,” Harry shook his head. “The outside world is so dangerous right now, and the more dangerous it is, the more we need to equip them with the power to protect themselves. Even if we don’t consider the part about fighting demons or dark wizards, it is still very necessary to just learn how to deal with dark magical creatures that are dangerous to the outside world.”

"then you--"

“Of course I can’t joke about other people’s lives, so I’m going to just start a new course,” Harry said directly. “A curse needs a specific target. Over the years, among all the professors at Hogwarts, only the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts has had a series of accidents without involving other professors. So it means that the curse is taking effect with ‘Defense Against the Dark Arts’ as the keyword.”

"Safety Against Dangerous Magic, that's the name I plan to call the new course," Harry said frankly. "Then I'll publicly recruit new professors in the Daily Prophet and explain the significance of this course. I think some people will want to give it a try, after all, the income and benefits of Hogwarts professors are quite good."

"Then me?" Sirius's eyes lit up again.

"...You really want to be a professor?" Harry hesitated for a moment. "I'm not sure about your magical abilities. What kind of knowledge can you teach your students? Let me make it clear beforehand that the professor for this course needs more than just strong combat skills; he also needs to have rich adventure experience so that students can have a general understanding of the wizarding world before graduation."

What experience does Sirius have?
Does he have experience being imprisoned in Azkaban?

More than a decade ago, right after graduating, he joined the war against Voldemort with James Potter and others. In terms of combat skills alone, Harry had no doubt about Sirius Black; if one wasn't strong enough, one wouldn't have been able to survive against Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

But being a professor is not a position that can be filled simply by being good at fighting. Even though wizards live much longer than Muggles, Sirius Black, who spent most of his youth in Azkaban, probably didn't have much to teach his students.

“…Okay, damn it, I have to say Harry, you’re not giving me any face at all. I’m your godfather,” Sirius muttered. He knew his own situation, so he didn’t argue unless he was emotionally charged.

“I’m sorry, Sirius,” Harry stood up, walked around to the other side of the table, and gave Sirius a hug. “But I’m the headmaster, and I have to be responsible for the students.”

“Yes, responsibility…” Sirius’s expression softened, and he hugged Harry back, patting him on the back. “Thinking about it, you and Dumbledore are actually quite similar. No wonder he chose you as his successor… Anyway, for someone like me, the word responsibility is a bit too distant. Ha, I just threw everything about the Black family aside.”

“No, Sirius,” Harry retorted, “you’re just a little… unable to notice too many things at once—at least you’ve kept up your responsibilities to your friends.”

"You didn't uphold your responsibilities as Godfather, did you?" Sirius shrugged and joked, "But if you really want to hire a professor who can teach students real skills, can I recommend Remus?"

“Uh, it’s not that I’m trying to pull strings or anything. Remus is really the kind of person who is exceptionally talented—well, he was the best student in our class during school, and he didn’t even copy homework, you know? We were the ones who copied his.”

"Not only did he get O's on his OWL exams, but he also got mostly O's on his NEWTs exams. He's memorized everything the teachers taught. To be honest, I've always felt that Remus is held back by his status. If he didn't have that little problem, I'd even think he could run for Minister of Magic!"

As if he would be rejected if he spoke too slowly, Sirius Black rapidly promoted his friend, racking his brains to find Lupin's merits.

"He has a good temper, he rarely gets angry even when people play pranks on him, and he's very reliable, much better than that traitor Peter. Most importantly, as you know, Harry, Remus has been wandering around for so many years since the fall of Varian, so no one knows better than him the dangerous dark magical creatures in the wizarding world and what to be careful of when wandering, uh, or adventuring—right? Right? Right?"

Three in a row, right? Sirius even transformed into his Animagus form, wagging his black dog tail frantically and barking twice, his eyes filled with longing.

Harry: "..."

This is his godfather dog. Honestly, Sirius should really reflect on why he never seems to have the authority of a godfather.

"Alright, alright, quiet down, stop yelling." A bit annoyed by the noise, Harry waved his hands repeatedly. "As for Remus... he's indeed a very good candidate. I don't care about his werewolf identity; we have wolfsbane potion now, and there's a master at the school who can brew it..." "Snape?!" Sirius Black instantly transformed from a dog into a human, his eyes wide with protest, "Absolutely not! Snape will poison him!! He definitely will!!!"

No one understands Snape better than Sirius Black.

“How could that be?” Harry said irritably, swatting away his godfather’s dog head that was leaning in. “Don’t always judge people by their past standards. Snape is much more peaceful now.”

"Peaceful?!" Sirius exclaimed. "That's what you call peaceful?! Look at how we meet! He looks like he wants to kill me!!"

"Don't think I don't know that you're the one who starts it every time you two meet!" Harry glared at Sirius. "Don't talk to me like that until you can refrain from provoking him first!"

“…That’s pretty difficult,” Sirius said sullenly. “Who knows what Lily told him? Ugh, Harry, you really are something…Alright, alright, I won’t say anymore, don’t glare at me—do you think Remus can be a professor? I really think he can, at least he’s much better than that piece of trash Lockhart.”

“Remus…is indeed a good candidate,” Harry nodded slightly and said, “and his progress with the goblins isn’t going very well right now.”

"Huh? Not going well?" Sirius's eyes widened immediately. "Why not?"

“Because he did everything by himself,” Harry said with a forced smile. “If I remember correctly, Sirius, I entrusted the goblin business to the two of you… How long has it been since you last went there?”

"Cough cough cough cough!" Sirius Black suddenly started coughing. "I... cough cough! I still have to deal with the Black family's inheritance, well, you know—speaking of which, would you like to come with me? Harry, the Black family mansion is at 12 Grimmauld Place, you'll like it there, well, I mean, we can clean it together? It's your other home!"

Sirius Black got excited again as he talked.

“I have no objection,” Harry said with a smile. “In fact, I do want to visit the Black family’s ancestral home. After all, even among all the pure-blood nobles, the Black family ranks among the top.”

“Oh, don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to, Harry. The Black family’s magic books, right?” Sirius squinted and said, “Let me tell you in advance, those books are basically very evil dark magic books. The Black family would never collect anything less than evil. Don’t you dare learn bad habits.”

“Don’t worry,” Harry said confidently, “My will is as strong as steel… I’ll have Remus come for the interview later, but about the goblins—”

“Leave it to me!” Sirius sneered. “Fairies? Ha! They’re just taking advantage of Remus being a werewolf. Although I still dislike my family, the Black family name is still very useful… They’re just a few fairies, enough to kill them.”

"Don't go too far. Just let the fairies know we're not to be trifled with," Harry cautioned.

“Don’t worry, Harry,” Sirius said confidently, “I, who come from that family, know better than you how much real pure-blood aristocracy’s airs are.”

Harry nodded; as long as Sirius knew what he was doing, that was fine.

Harry's first order as headmaster was passed without any hindrance. The Board of Governors unanimously agreed to retain the Defense Against the Dark Arts course but not to appoint a professor for it. After all, as board members, they knew better than anyone else what the curse of the course was all about, so they were willing to support Harry's attempt.

Just as Dumbledore insisted on establishing a Divination class that was of little use to most students, Harry also used his authority as headmaster to create a new course—Protection from Dangerous Magic.

To prevent the curse from spreading back to this new course through an unknown, mysterious connection, Harry must make it clear that Protection from Dangerous Magic is not a replacement for Defense Against the Dark Arts; the two courses coexist, and this new course was introduced by Headmaster Potter to address the increasingly dangerous world.

The main teaching content consisted of many improved protective spells and various adventure common sense in the magical world, which were essentially the things that should be taught in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. However, the task was to instill the impression that the two classes were completely unrelated in everyone. Rita Skeeter accepted the task and published it in the Daily Prophet.

By keeping the Defense Against the Dark Arts class still in existence while downplaying its presence, perhaps Hogwarts will gain another school legend... a course that doesn't even appear on the timetable.

The new curriculum will be available to all students starting next year, and Harry has already given Lupin a surprise test.

“I need to double-check, Headmaster Potter,” Lupin said, still a few steps away, holding his wand and addressing Harry by his formal title. “My interview is over, isn’t it? Really over? I’ve been accepted?”

“Yes, Remus, I’m sorry for the surprise attack. I need to see if you’re really capable,” Harry said with a shrug. “Please have a seat.”

Just as Lupin returned to the familiar Great Totem office after his interview, Harry launched a surprise attack on him with the Disarming Charm the instant he sat down. Lupin reacted well, immediately blocking the Disarming Charm with the Armor Charm, and then dove behind the sofa as cover, his wand held alertly in his hand.

“Your alertness is excellent; you can react even when suddenly attacked without warning. That’s very good, Remus,” Harry said with a smile. “I think you can definitely teach this skill to your students, right?”

“Students these days need to learn this?!” Lupin exclaimed in disbelief. “I thought I was at Hogwarts—the safe Hogwarts!”

“Hogwarts is certainly safe,” Harry said, then sighed. “Well, it does sound a bit unbelievable now that it’s been attacked by demons.”

(End of this chapter)