Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 315 The holiday is over!

Not long after New Year's Day, the Christmas holiday came to an end.

With the arrival of the new year, Hogwarts begins a new term.

On a cloudy evening, the express train traversed the snow-covered landscape, crossed half of Britain, and brought the students back to Hogsmeade Station. From there, they were transferred to Thestrals carriages and transported to the castle, where the entrance hall and Great Hall became lively once again.

Ghosts floated in the air, greeting the students warmly. Portraits in the corridor waved to them. The pesky Pee made a bunch of dirty snowballs, hung them upside down from the ceiling, and threw them around, scaring the little witches into screaming.

After the dirty snowballs melted, the ground was covered in mud and water. Filch had a gloomy face as he cleaned up, and he looked particularly frightening.

The new semester's dinner wasn't particularly grand, and some of the Christmas decorations had already been taken down, but this didn't dampen the students' spirits at all. After a long separation, everyone was overjoyed and had endless things to talk about.

“Grandma withdrew my consent form for the weekend activities. She said it wasn’t safe for Black and the Dementors to roam Hogsmeade on the weekend,” Neville said, sounding a little annoyed.

"My family has it too!"

“My parents have to transit through Hogsmeade for their business, but they won’t let me go there on weekends!” a young wizard sighed.

Next to Gryffindor were Hufflepuffs, and several others in the same boat, who immediately began to chatter and complain.

At the back of the long table, Hermione was engrossed in reading, with a thick stack of trial documents in front of her, filled with complicated and difficult-to-understand cases and legal statutes. Harry and Ron only glanced at half a page before feeling dizzy and overwhelmed.

“Neville, your parents have been reinstated and are back in the Executive Division as Aurors...I remember correctly?” Ron asked doubtfully, as if he had suddenly remembered something.

“My dad has been back at work and has been working overtime since Christmas. My mom is still at home. Is there a problem?” Neville asked, looking confused.

"Didn't they tell you... Sirius Black has been arrested, everything has been investigated, he's a good man, not a Death Eater, and the spy who sided with the Mystic back then was actually Peter Pettigrew."

Ron spread his hands: "The arrest warrant has been withdrawn, now we're just waiting for the court verdict."

"What exactly happened? Tell us quickly!"

"The situation is rather complicated, involving the 'Loyalty Spell,' which you wouldn't understand, would you? The 'Loyalty Spell' is a defensive magic that can permanently hide a specific secret within a person's soul..."

Ron slowed his tone and told the story with great enthusiasm, making it full of ups and downs: "Back then, Sirius suggested that he attract the Death Eaters' pursuit himself and secretly let Peter be the secret agent. The two of them would work in the open and in the dark to ensure that nothing would go wrong. But no one expected that Peter was a spy and had already defected to the Mysterio."

"Oh my God!"

Everyone who heard the news exclaimed in surprise, then stood there dumbfounded, as if the story was too complex and too shocking, and they couldn't process it in time or find the words to describe it.

After a few minutes of silence, Neville suddenly opened his eyes wide, got up and ran outside in a hurry.

"Navie, where are you going? The dinner is about to start!" Simon, his roommate, called from behind. His weekend activity consent form had also been withdrawn.

“I’ll go back and write a letter, and send it back to my grandmother so she can sign another consent form.” Neville said without turning his head.

The people next to him were stunned for a few seconds, but without the slightest hesitation, they all got up and started running. They weren't even this eager to leave get out of class early.

……

As the city lights came on, the banquet began.

Melvin sat to the side of the main guest seat, next to the petite Professor Flitwick. Looking at Snape's smooth hair, he always felt that this Potions professor was somewhat unreal, giving the impression that he would be freed at any moment once his wish was fulfilled.

Snape has rarely shown himself these days, perhaps because his embarrassing moment when he revealed the Patronus of the Doe and met Lily's spirit that night made it difficult for him to maintain his aloof and cold facade. So he spends his days hiding in the underground classroom brewing potions to reduce his chances of meeting other people.

Melvin sensed that Snape had become more withdrawn, but judging from his actions of washing his hair and changing into a new robe, he seemed to have moved on and started a new life. "Ding ding ding!"

At the head table, Dumbledore tapped a glass with a silver metal spoon, the crisp sound drowning out the noise of the hall, and the room gradually quieted down.

"Welcome back!"

Dumbledore cleared his throat and stood up to greet them: "Before your heads get too fuzzy from all the pies and pudding, please listen to an old man's ramblings."

"I am happy to tell you that the problem that has been bothering us all last semester has been solved."

Dumbledore, beaming, said, "Mr. Sirius Black... I'm sorry I can't call him a fugitive or a prisoner. He has ended his adventures as a fugitive and is currently cooperating with the Ministry of Magic's investigation. I believe the Ministry of Magic will disclose the specific details and truth of the case soon."

A murmur of discussion immediately filled the auditorium.

"Why can't we call him a fugitive?"

"It's all over Gryffindor, don't you know?"

"what happened?"

"Hey, let me tell you..."

Dumbledore simply smiled and didn't launch into a long speech before the banquet began: "If anyone is really impatient, they can ask Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, or Levent, Lupin, and Professor Snape."

"Why do I feel like... every Christmas, it's them who's causing trouble?" someone belatedly realized.

“It happens every year!” someone agreed.

Dumbledore listened to their shouting with a smile in his eyes. He saw the twin brothers squeeze among the third-year students and begin to strangle Ron and interrogate him. He seemed quite pleased to see this lively and youthful scene, showing no impatience whatsoever.

"Please discuss these issues privately..."

Dumbledore's booming voice echoed through the Great Hall: "Before the banquet begins, I would like to remind everyone of a few things. The Dementors will take some time to leave, so please remain vigilant and keep your distance."

"professor!"

A Gryffindor boy raised his hand and shouted, "Did they get extra points this time?"

"I'm sorry, not this time."

Dumbledore sighed helplessly.

This decision was made after discussions among the professors. Although Harry and his friends had completed another exciting and thrilling adventure, demonstrating courage and wisdom in the process, the unauthorized use of the Time-Turner was an undeniable fact, and it had caused extremely negative consequences.

In the normal flow of time, Snape had already captured Sirius Black, interrogated him to uncover the truth of what happened back then, and set a trap to capture Peter. The rats had already shown their faces, just waiting for the final blow. However, they went back in time and made Peter touch the Time-Turner, leading to disastrous consequences.

The Gryffindors sighed in regret, while the Slytherins slammed their fists on the table in celebration.

The auditorium was noisy for a few minutes before gradually quieting down.

Dumbledore glanced at his wrist, pretending to check the time even though he didn't have one, then looked up at everyone and said, "I'm sure your stomachs are as hungry as your curiosity right now, so let the feast begin!"

(End of this chapter)