Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 288 Hufflepuff: I heard some people like to buy low and sell high?

Hufflepuff, sitting in the faculty section, met Rice's eyes, who was sitting at the Slytherin table. She could see a different kind of emotion in those eyes.

Helga thought to herself: I hope these Dementors will be smart and save her and Salazar from trouble.

And judging from Dumbledore's tone, he seemed quite unhappy about the Dementors' presence outside the school? This made her feel a little better.

After giving his instructions to the students, Dumbledore began to explain the personnel changes at the school this year.

"I regret to inform you that Celtic Burn, the professor of the Protection of Magical Creatures class, has retired. His successor is none other than our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin!"

After Dumbledore finished his introduction, Lupin stood up and waved to the young wizards below. After a year of recuperation at Hogwarts, his complexion had improved significantly, and his robes had been replaced with new, well-fitting ones. Lupin had been given a new lease on life upon returning to the school.

A sigh, mingling with applause, filled the auditorium. Over the past year, the students had been won over by Lupin, their reliable teacher. Fortunately, he hadn't resigned; he'd simply transferred to a position perfectly suited to him.

A few students even wore enigmatic smiles: the "curse" was becoming increasingly powerful!

The professors on the faculty benches reacted in different ways. Snape was very dissatisfied with Lupin's continued tenure: the thought of having to work with Remus Lupin for the rest of his life made him want to resign and run away.

The remaining professors, except for Helga, showed little emotional reaction. She was currently observing Lupin with curiosity; she knew this professor was a werewolf, healed by the Restoration Charm she and Rowena had invented. She was now observing Lupin like a doctor observing a patient.

"Our gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, will also serve as an assistant instructor for the Protecting Magical Creatures class!" Dumbledore's next words set off an uproar at the Gryffindor house table.

The young wizards of Gryffindor applauded enthusiastically to celebrate Hagrid's arrival. Hagrid himself was flushed, a genuine smile hidden beneath his messy black beard.

Helga glanced at Hagrid, raising an eyebrow: such an obvious giant-hybrid—her gaze swept over Flitwick at the same time, and she muttered to herself: even a goblin-hybrid—can get into Hogwarts and eventually become a teacher. Hogwarts is more open and inclusive than it was a thousand years ago.

I just don't know what Salazar is thinking.

Rice didn't have any particular thoughts; what he valued was whether the person was "reliable." Hagrid and Flitwick were undoubtedly reliable, so he naturally welcomed them to join Hogwarts.

After the applause subsided, Dumbledore introduced the day's main event—the selection of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. In reality, most students knew it would be the unfamiliar witch, but they were all eager to hear Dumbledore's introduction of her.

"Finally, the person who filled the vacancy in Defense Against the Dark Arts is Professor Smith White, a very special wizard—" Dumbledore turned his gaze to Helga, asking her if she agreed to him revealing her secrets.

Hufflepuff had no objection, because this "background" was a fabrication to begin with.

"She is a witch from hundreds of years ago."

boom!

The auditorium erupted in chaos.

Before this statement, Hufflepuff, who seemed unremarkable and just like an old woman in the countryside, didn't garner much attention. But once she was given this backstory from hundreds of years ago, she immediately captured the students' attention.

Everyone looked up, intently observing Hufflepuff in the teachers' seat, trying to glean some clue from her face.

What era did she live in? How could she live for hundreds of years? How old is she now?

One question after another popped into the young wizards' heads, but no one dared to ask yet, so the hall fell silent for a moment.

Finally, Fred of Gryffindor stood up abruptly and asked loudly, "Professor White, how did you achieve immortality?"

Hufflepuff smiled, stood up, and told Fred that she hadn't used any magical powers; she was simply trapped in a special ruin.

Fred became even more curious, but unfortunately Helga didn't delve deeper into the topic. Instead, she turned to talk to all the students in the auditorium.

"It's raining really hard outside, isn't it?"

Although it was a bit confusing, the weather is a universal topic in Britain. Hufflepuff's simple sentence resonated with the students, who began to complain about the terrible weather.

"In this weather, everyone should have something hot to warm up," Hufflepuff said with a smile, looking at the students below the stage before drawing her wand.

With a wave of her wand, a small copper cup appeared in front of everyone, including the professors, filled with steaming mulled wine.

After doing all this, she twirled her wand again, and the handles of the bronze cups began to display the decorations of the corresponding academies.

The students, witnessing everything unfold before them, were all awestruck by Professor White's mastery of magic.

"Cheers!" Hufflepuff raised his glass to the entire faculty and student body.

"Cheers!" The students, their spirits lifted, raised their glasses in unison and downed their mulled wine in one gulp.

As soon as the warm liquid entered their stomachs, the chill that had accumulated in their bodies from the cold rain was expelled, and fine beads of sweat appeared on everyone's foreheads.

As Rice swallowed his mulled wine, he complained about Hufflepuff's drinking spree—who was just complaining about how the Hogsmeade pubs were making the students drunk?

"Mullet is nice, but please don't overindulge." After everyone put down their cups, Hufflepuff waved his wand again, and everyone's cups were filled with water.

"What kind of drinks do you all like?" Hufflepuff asked everyone another question.

"Butterbeer!"

Pumpkin juice!

"Cola!"

A cacophony of responses erupted from the audience.

Hufflepuff ignored the strange and unconventional demands and the drinks he had never heard of before, choosing instead pumpkin juice, a safe and unconventional beverage that wouldn't offend him.

She held up her wand and gently tapped it at the people in the hall, turning the water in the students' cups into bright orange pumpkin juice.

student:?!

After taking a small sip and discovering that it really was pumpkin juice, the students in the auditorium became even more excited: this new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had impressed them without even having to teach.

Malfoy, however, looked extremely pale. He stared silently at the bronze goblet in front of him, adorned with a snake-shaped relief.

Helga looked at the students' expressions and a smile appeared on her lips: After word got out about tonight's events, she didn't believe that unscrupulous merchant would be able to sell those three wine glasses!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

First update delivered, second update tonight.

(End of this chapter)