I'm the King of Curry at Hogwarts

Chapter 182 The Beginning of the Third Academic Year

As darkness fell, when Louis woke up, the carriage was pitch black, just like nighttime.

The surroundings grew increasingly cold, and he could even see the chill in his own breath.

The cold, icy rain outside lashed against the car window, making a faint pattering sound. Louis patted Catherine, signaling her to get up quickly.

He knew that this anomaly must have been caused by the Dementor Chasm.

"What's wrong?" Catherine woke up from her sleep and shivered as she was startled by the cold air.

Louis put his arm around Catherine's shoulder and draped his robe over both of their shoulders, which dispelled some of the chill.

"I don't know, it suddenly got so cold," Louis said, looking down the corridor.

While they were resting, there were still many people walking back and forth in the corridor, but now there was no one to be seen. After a while, a humanoid creature wearing a black cloak appeared at their door, clicked open the door, and stared straight at the two of them.

Finally, the black cloak moved—but in the opposite direction, very fast, as if it were fleeing.

"This is... a Dementor?" Catherine asked, frowning, then muttered to herself, "It must be here to search for Sirius Black, right? Hmph... the Ministry of Magic is getting more and more decadent, actually allowing something like this to enter the Hogwarts Express."

"Maybe they had no choice," Louis shrugged. "After all, you can't expect them to do anything really useful—except help Voldemort annoy Dumbledore."

Soon, the chill receded like a tide, and a moment later, an anxious Hermione knocked on the door of their cubicle.

"Louis, Catherine...go quickly, Harry, Harry..."

"What's wrong? Don't worry," Catherine tried to calm Hermione down.

"Harry has fainted..." Hermione seemed extremely worried.

When the two arrived at Harry's compartment, Harry was already awake, and Lupin, who had also woken up, was sitting next to him.

"Eat this." Lupin handed Harry a bar of chocolates. "It'll make you feel better."

Harry took the chocolate, broke off a small piece, and put it in his mouth. The sweet taste and the unique aroma of chocolate stimulated the secretion of dopamine, and even a strange warm current flowed down his throat into his stomach, and then spread to his limbs.

For a moment, the fear and other negative emotions he had felt earlier subsided somewhat. After swallowing the chocolate in his mouth, he asked, "What was that just now, Professor?"

"A Dementor from Azkaban, a guard at that prison." Lupin crumpled the empty chocolate wrapper into a ball and put it in his pocket. As he spoke, he stood up and said to the others, "Now I need to go find the driver to ask him something. You guys can chat."

After Lupin turned and left, Hermione looked at Harry anxiously and asked, "Harry, are you alright?"

"I'm fine... I just don't quite understand what happened just now," Harry said worriedly, wiping the sweat from his face.

Hermione and Ron exchanged a glance, and then she carefully explained to Harry what had just happened.

"Oh my god." Harry slapped his face. "Why is everyone else okay but I'm the only one who passed out..." He felt extremely embarrassed, and even after eating Professor Lupin's chocolate, he still felt a little weak in the knees.

Seeing that Harry was still lost in thought, Louis smiled and comforted him, "Dementors are a special kind of thing; they can trigger your deepest fears... Tell me, Harry, what did you just see?"

"I..." Harry thought for a moment, then said, "I saw a white light and heard a woman scream—I'm sure that woman was my mother..."

Harry's face was extremely pale, as if he had just been pulled out of cold water.

Just then, Professor Lupin returned from the front of the train. Looking at the bustling crowd, he chuckled and said, "Get ready, students, we'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes... Are you ready, Harry?"

Harry didn't ask Lupin how he knew his name. He replied softly, "Alright, Professor." His cheeks flushed slightly as he spoke, looking quite embarrassed.

There's really no need to ask why they know his name; after all, with such a big scar on his head, nobody's blind...

For the rest of the journey, they didn't say much. Those who had been watching the commotion returned to their carriages to pack their luggage. Finally, the train stopped at Hogwarts Station. It was quite a scene of chaos when they got off the train. There were hooting owls, meowing cats, and Neville's pet toad making a "scratching" sound under his hat.

"First-year students, come here!" A familiar, loud voice rang out from not far away. It was Hagrid. Among the group of short wizards, Hagrid, a tall man, stood out. He was waving to the young wizards.

"How are you all?" Hagrid asked, peering over many heads, his inverted sentence sounding somewhat like that of a Shandong native.

Everyone waved to Hagrid, but they didn't have a chance to speak to him because the people around them were pushing them forward along the platform.

The treatment was once again by Thestrals. Louis and Catherine rode in one of them, accompanied by their dragon maid. The faint musty smell made Catherine involuntarily wrinkle her delicate nose.

"Just bear with it, baby." Louis patted her smooth thigh.

"Mmm," Catherine replied with a nasal tone. She would be in fifth grade after the start of the new school year.

The carriage rolled forward, and ahead lay the cast-iron gates of Hogwarts, flanked by many towering stone pillars. Louis noticed two Dementors, like guards, standing there on either side of the gates, and it seemed as if another chill was about to descend upon them.

As Louis's carriage passed through the gate, the two Dementors scurried to either side like mice seeing a cat, only returning after they had gone quite a distance.

After handing his luggage to the house-elf, Louise went to the Great Hall and sat in his Slytherin seat to await the opening ceremony.

Behind me was Gryffindor, just like always. Soon, other students came in one after another, filling the entire auditorium—coincidentally, no matter how many freshmen there were, there were always just enough seats.

"Putt, Putt!" Draco shouted back at Harry.

Harry turned his head and saw Draco looking at him with a mocking expression.

"What's wrong?" Harry had a feeling that this kid was up to no good.

Sure enough, Draco drawled out a strange laugh, "I heard you passed out? Pott, you really passed out?"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Harry said through gritted teeth.

Seeing that the two were still flirting, Catherine beckoned with her finger and used a little magic to draw the attention of all the students in the auditorium to the two of them.

With a unified shout, Draco and Harry finally ended their pointless argument and turned away, their faces flushed.

Today's Sorting Ceremony was different from usual. After the Sorting, a choir organized by Professor Flitwick, the Dean of Ravenclaw, even performed for everyone. Louis listened carefully for a while and realized that they were singing a passage from Shakespeare's classic play, Macbeth.

Each member of the choir was holding a large toad, which perfectly matched the Muggle stereotypes of wizards, and many of the new Muggle students started clapping.

To be fair, Dean Flitwick did a pretty good job.

After the song, it was Professor Dumbledore's turn to appear. Although he was very old, he always gave people the impression of being full of energy. People often said that he was the greatest wizard, but people respected him for more than just that. Many people would instinctively trust him when they saw him.

Harry, in particular, felt that even Dementors weren't so scary when he saw Dumbledore smiling at all the students.

"Welcome," said Professor Dumbledore. "Welcome to Hogwarts for the new school year. I have a few words to say to you, including something very serious, which I think I should clarify before you get too confused by this delicious meal."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you all probably know, they searched the Hogwarts Express. Our school is currently hosting several Dementors from Azkaban; they're here on official Ministry of Magic duties."

He paused for a moment, and Louis understood that Dumbledore was unhappy about the Dementors guarding the school.

"They are stationed at all the entrances to this school grounds," Dumbledore continued. "While they are here, I must make it clear that no one may leave the school without permission. Dementors should not be fooled by tricks or disguises—not even the Invisibility Cloak." He added this sentence expressionlessly, practically calling out Harry's name directly.

"Dementors don't understand what a request or an excuse is, so I warn you all not to give them any excuse to harm you. I hope that the professors, prefects, and the newly elected student council president will ensure that conflicts between students and Dementors are avoided."

Dumbledore paused again at this point, and after a long while, he continued, "What is particularly pleasing is that this year, I am delighted to have two new teachers joining our teaching team."

"The first was Professor R.J. Lupin, who readily agreed to fill the vacancy in the Defense Against the Dark Arts course, except for the third and fifth years."

The crowd erupted in cheers; everyone was fed up with Snape's torment—even Harry and his friends were no exception, since he was Harry's savior.

Lupin was also stunned by everyone's surprise. Looking at his enthusiastic classmates, he felt that his decision was really correct—it would be a lie to say he wasn't moved.

"Look at Professor Snape," Louis said, looking down at Catherine.

Catherine looked up as instructed and saw Professor Snape's face—what a face it was! Anyone who didn't know better would think he had swallowed a fly. The twisted, disgusted, and nauseating expression was hard to imagine someone like Professor Snape, who usually only had two faces, disdain and indifference, could do such a thing.

But Snape did it.

"He probably feels that Professor Lupin stole his course," Catherine said in a low voice.

"Not necessarily. I think there must be a lot of stories between these two." Louis chuckled. He knew a lot about the grudges and feuds between Snape and the Marauders.

Honestly, Louis admired Snape quite a bit. If he were Snape, he would have already used his ultimate attack to take him down.

After the enthusiastic applause and cheers subsided, Dumbledore continued, "Unfortunately, Professor Kettle Bourne, who has taught us the Class on the Protection of Magical Creatures for several years, has decided to retire in order to have more time to care for his already frail health. Fortunately, I am pleased to announce that none other than our Rupert Hagrid will succeed him!"

At this point, Dumbledore turned around and opened his palm in the direction where Hagrid was sitting.

The entire Great Hall erupted in enthusiastic cheers—especially from the Slytherins, particularly Harry and his friends, since Hagrid was their good friend.

Hagrid stared wide-eyed at his large hands, his face flushed, a simple, honest smile hidden beneath his thick beard.

Professor McGonagall tilted her head to her upper right, smiled, and clapped at Hagrid. Seeing that he didn't do anything, Professor McGonagall nudged Hagrid with her elbow, signaling him to stand up.

Hagrid then realized what was happening and quickly stood up, but bumped into the long table in front of him, causing it to tip over. If Professor Flitwick hadn't reacted quickly, the table would have fallen over.

Professor McGonagall put her hand to her forehead, wondering if she had made a mistake by asking Hagrid to stand up...

"Well, I think I've said what's important," Professor Dumbledore said with a smile. "Then, let the banquet...begin."

Suddenly, the golden platters and goblets in the auditorium were filled with sumptuous food and drinks. Louis shook his head and sighed, "They probably spent the whole afternoon on the train just for this moment..."

"You're right." Catherine chuckled as she forked a piece of roasted Yorkshire pudding—actually, it was just called pudding, but it was more like an open pie with a roasted meat flavor.

Hogwarts has never skimped on its students' food, clothing, or daily necessities, so the upperclassmen didn't find it anything new and simply ate their meals normally and leisurely. But the new students were different; some, even from orphanages, found themselves overwhelmed by the dazzling array of food, feeling like cows struggling to eat pumpkin.

However, urged on by the senior students beside them, they quickly joined the battle, their imposing manner no less than that of Ron, who had just entered the university in his first year.

Ron is different now. Since he started dating Hermione, he no longer eats like a glutton. Instead, he has become gentle and unhurried. He even consulted Louise and studied dining etiquette carefully.

It must be admitted that love is the easiest thing to change a person.

Poor Ron, he was completely manipulated.

(End of this chapter)