The days at Hogwarts

Forced to listen to the process of his own persecution again, Harry's face was full of helplessness: "One person won a game..."

His voice was drowned out by Ron's laughter and made no waves. It was foreseeable that this incident would be mentioned over and over again in the next few months until everyone was tired of hearing it.

On the eighth day after the Christmas party, Hermione's last cat hair fell off, declaring that she was cured and had completely gotten rid of the title of kitten girl.

Loren deeply regrets this.

During the following holidays, Loren had a very fulfilling life. He studied alchemy and runes under Flamel's instruction, and was occasionally caught by Harry to accompany them in duel practice.

He accompanied Hermione most of the time. The two of them reviewed the content of the Animagus test together and answered some of Hermione's questions about Apparition.

One day, the flying car's horn was covered by a melodious whistle, and they knew that the Hogwarts Express had arrived and the Christmas vacation was over.

Playing during the holidays made them forget the threat of the basilisk. At the new semester's dinner, the little wizards who had just got off the train chattered about their holiday experiences with their friends. The lively atmosphere made Dumbledore smile all the time.

At the Gryffindor table, Loren, Harry, and Ron lowered their heads, not daring to look at the people across from them, and avoided Seamus' gaze guiltily.

Hermione and Neville watched with interest.

"I didn't expect it - no, I knew it!" Seamus was so heartbroken that he could hardly breathe. "He sneaked into the Slytherin common room through Polyjuice Potion, killed the basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor, and got rid of the idiot Professor Lockhart in the process!"

"My hunch is correct, the heir of Slytherin is Crabbe!" Speaking of Crabbe, Seamus' heart ached even more, "If I insist on staying in school during the Christmas holidays, the name Seamus Finnigan will definitely appear on Gryffindor's list of warriors."

He angrily condemned his three roommates: "You started the fight on the day of the holiday! Even shortly after I left!"

Seamus fell into a state of confusion and began to ramble: "If it were a few minutes earlier, just a few minutes...even if I was stuffed into a sock as a gift from my mother on Christmas Day, I would definitely stay..."

He wouldn't be stupid... Harry kept signaling to Loren with his eyes.

Take it easy, it will be fine in a few days... Loren replied.

Just when Seamus was so heartbroken that he couldn't eat, his good brother Dean saved him. He stretched out his big hand to stop Seamus and whispered in his ear: "Look at the guest of honor seat, next to Dumbledore."

Seamus looked over and saw a man in a black cloak, with no face revealed, sitting next to Dumbledore. Even when he was eating, he could only barely see a glimpse of his thin chin.

Dean said, "I heard it's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, replacing Lockhart."

The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, the man who hides his head but shows his tail, Quirrell, Lockhart...

When these key words were linked together, Seamus was shocked and trembling with excitement. He asked Dean tremblingly, "Is it what I think?"

Dean nodded firmly.

Their eyes met in the air, and the noise in the auditorium seemed to disappear, leaving only their firm gazes.

Now that the elusive Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is right in front of me, I have to consider whether this is my only chance in this life. To achieve the glory of a Gryffindor warrior...

Chapter 227 Professor Black

"He is hiding his head and showing his tail, and he is definitely not a good person!" Dean said affirmatively again.

"When the banquet is over, we will follow him. When he walks out of the hall—" He made a fist gesture and said in a firm tone, "We will tear off his cloak and reveal his true face!"

Revealing the true identity of the dark wizard... When Seamus thought of that scene, his body trembled with excitement: "It's settled!"

Not far away was the Hufflepuff table.

Hannah Abbott, who had a golden ponytail, took a deep breath and sighed, "The atmosphere in school is still good. After spending Christmas at school last year, this year when I went home, I felt like it was the Christmas holiday at home, hmm..."

She shook her head in fear. "It was fine in the first few days, but soon my mother started to dislike me. She didn't allow me to do this or that. It was so boring."

"Come on, no matter how boring we are, can we be as boring as Justin? He spent the entire holiday lying in bed." The big boy, Ernie McMillan sneered.

The mention of Justin immediately sparked a conversation, and everyone started talking in low voices.

Ernie glanced at the Gryffindor table secretly and saw Harry sitting there intact. He curled his lips and continued, "I don't know if the monster in the Chamber of Secrets will come out to harm people again. If the problem is not resolved, the school may be forced to suspend classes at any time."

A pure-blood wizard next to him added, "I know. It happened fifty years ago, too. When the Chamber of Secrets was opened, the school almost sent the students home and stopped teaching."

Some young wizards who were not very well-informed heard this and came forward curiously: "So the secret room has been opened before, tell us about it..."

"The matter has been resolved." A firm voice interrupted.

Neville looked at them seriously, "The monster in the Chamber of Secrets has been dealt with, and even the Heir of Slytherin has been captured."

"Neville, do you have any news?"

"Say it quickly!"

Just then, the sound of knocking glasses came from the guest of honor seat, interrupting their conversation...

Ding-ding-ding-ding!

Ding-ding-ding-ding!

"Everyone, please pay attention!" Professor McGonagall tapped the goblet with a spoon. The crisp sound drowned out the noise and attracted everyone's attention.

"It's a new semester again! Nice to see you again, little wizards."

Dumbledore stood up and said with a smile, "Perhaps you have heard it many times, but I still want to say it, Hogwarts welcomes you back!"

"I think you've all heard that we had a scary few months last term. People among us were attacked and they're still lying in the infirmary. There was the monster in the Chamber of Secrets, and its shadow hangs over Hogwarts."

Dumbledore's tone suddenly became cheerful: "Oh, during the Christmas holidays, many parents may have mentioned the matter of transferring schools to you."

This caused a burst of laughter, and Lee Jordan cheered: "Don't worry, Professor! We will always belong to Hogwarts!"

Dumbledore pressed his eyes and pretended to wipe away tears: "Thank you, thank you, I am so touched."

The little wizards laughed again.

Dumbledore stretched out his hand and pressed twice to stop laughing, then continued: "Here, I am very happy to announce to everyone that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets has been solved!"

The auditorium became very quiet, and the young wizards waited expectantly for the headmaster's next words.

"This is all thanks to a few brave and intelligent young wizards who have investigated the truth through their own efforts. I would like to commend them here." Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Then..."

There was a brief pause, and Dumbledore seemed to be really remembering. The others waited quietly, and the lights in the hall were exceptionally bright...

The young Slytherin wizards were startled. What the hell! This scene felt strangely familiar.

"First of all, Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Ron Weasley, in order to save the kidnapped classmates, they bravely fought against the monster and did not flinch. I reward Gryffindor House for this, 200 points!"

A deafening cheer erupted from the Gryffindor table, almost overturning the enchanted ceiling. The stars above their heads were shaken slightly, and Percy excitedly pulled Penelope and shouted to the other prefects: "It's my brother! Ron, my youngest brother! They killed the monster in the Chamber of Secrets!"

Ron was so excited that he could hardly contain himself. He pulled Harry's magic robe and swayed it around, showing off himself to the little wizards around him with a flushed face.

"Then there are Mr. Loren Morgan and Miss Hermione Granger, who unraveled the truth from the complicated events, found the heir of Slytherin, and identified the real monster in the Chamber of Secrets. Their wisdom earned 100 points for Gryffindor!"

Hermione was immediately surrounded by her roommates, and Lavender pestered her to ask about the details of the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk. Hermione smiled and answered as she could.

I didn't expect that I would get extra points too... Loren, who was watching the fun, raised his head, met Dumbledore's encouraging eyes, then looked away guiltily.

Professor McGonagall, who was always serious, smiled brightly. Snape's knife was cutting back and forth on the plate, making the plate make a "crunching" sound.

The twins took the lead in clapping the tables, and all the little Gryffindor wizards became excited and clapped with all their strength, leaving afterimages of their hands.

The noise was deafening, and the little Gryffindor wizards who had been calculating scores in their heads while shouting their throats hoarse suddenly lost their minds.

That’s nothing. We’re leading by 300 points. Even if Professor Snape is biased towards the Black Lake, it’s impossible to reverse the gap. We’ll definitely win the College Cup!

The young wizards of Slytherin had sad faces. It was the same again, and the extra points were even greater than last time, which made the gap even more despairing. The result of the House Cup was basically a foregone conclusion, and even if they won all the remaining Quidditch matches, they would not be able to catch up.

Draco was cutting the steak in the same manner as his professor, somewhat depressed.

Next to him was Goyle, who was sitting in a daze. The long table was filled with all kinds of delicious food. If it was Goyle as usual, he would have been thinking about what to eat first after the banquet started. But unlike usual, there was a large empty space next to him, which used to belong to the big guy Crabbe.

The Goyle and Crabbe families have a good relationship. They are both pure-blood families, and their fathers are Death Eaters who escaped trial. Goyle has become accustomed to doing everything with Crabbe, even as Malfoy's follower, and they always appear in pairs.

I don't know when Crabbe became different. He became smarter, could finish the homework assigned by the teacher quickly, and could master the new magic in class quickly. He became mysterious and kept to himself.

Although Malfoy always told Goyle to stay away from Crabbe, he never took it to heart. He couldn't understand those complicated things and didn't want to think about them. He just did the same things as before.

Crabbe disappeared just as the holiday began. Goyle went to bed very late that night. He lay on the four-poster bed and waited for a long time, but in the end he never heard the sound of Crabbe returning to the dormitory.

He didn't think much about it, just thought Crabbe went home for Christmas. This was not surprising, they chose to stay at school because Malfoy stayed at school, Crabbe became a loner, unwilling to follow Malfoy like before, it was normal for him to go home alone for Christmas.

However, when the new semester started, Crabbe still did not return and his position became vacant.

Goyle's brain wasn't working very well, and he vaguely realized that Crabbe would not come back, perhaps never.

Marcus Flint, the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, had heard some rumors from the parents, so he became even more curious. When the cheers gradually died down, he stood up and said, "Principal Dumbledore, can you tell us the details of the matter? Is Crabbe really the heir?"

Hearing Crabbe's name, the little Slytherin wizard subconsciously looked to Goyle's side, but didn't see Crabbe, and was immediately furious:

"Crabbe isn't here!"

"How could anyone be absent from the new semester dinner?"

"He's really the Heir of Slytherin!?"

There was a lot of chatter, and the little wizard from other houses who didn't know Crabbe was also vaguely able to piece together the outline of what was going on from the words of their friends around them.

"Be quiet, and listen to what this old man has to say first." Dumbledore knocked on the glass. The tinkling sound suppressed the discussions in the hall and attracted the attention of all the young wizards. "Vincent Crabbe was indeed involved in the incident in the Chamber of Secrets. But please forgive me, as a professor, I cannot tell you the inferences mixed with speculation before the Ministry of Magic investigates the truth."

"Oh, no..." A regretful and sad voice sounded.

If he really didn't say anything, the young wizards would not have been so curious. However, when he was giving extra points to Loren and others, some information was vaguely revealed from the commendations, which made people feel itchy.

Some smart little wizards realized the loopholes in the principal's words. As professors couldn't say it, why didn't they just ask Loren and the others directly... The senior students were already eager to try.

"Before the banquet officially begins, I have one more announcement to make!" Dumbledore said loudly. He stretched out his hand and motioned everyone to look at Hagrid, who was sitting at the end of the guest of honor. "Mr. Hagrid Rubeus, the key keeper of Hogwarts and keeper of the Forbidden Forest, was framed in the Chamber of Secrets incident fifty years ago and took on a crime that did not belong to him. Even not long ago, there were people who did not know the truth and wanted to blame him for this Chamber of Secrets incident as well."

The Chamber of Secrets had been opened before, and Hagrid took the blame for the last opening of the Chamber of Secrets... These words contained so much information that some of the young wizards were stunned.

Some little wizards who had learned the news from their parents during the holidays explained their doubts to the people around them, and the discussion in the auditorium continued for a long time.

"Now that the truth of the matter has finally been revealed, I would like to declare that Hagrid is innocent!"

Everyone's eyes were on Hagrid. In the solemn silence, Hagrid tightened his moleskin coat and slowly stood up. His eyes wandered for a long time on the four long tables, looking for his former self in these little wizards in magic robes.

When he was about three years old, his mother, the giantess Friedvafa, abandoned Hagrid and his son and returned to the giant tribe, leaving his dwarf father to raise him alone.

His childhood was somewhat difficult, but fortunately he had a loving father. At the age of six, Hagrid was already bigger than his father, and his unique size forced them to live away from people. The Forest of Dean in southwest England was the source of his closeness to animals, and many of his skills in living in the forest were also practiced at that time.

When Hagrid and his father received the acceptance letter from Hogwarts, they were so happy that they shouted in the forest like monkeys. The student life in Hogwarts was not smooth sailing. His huge size always attracted ridicule, but the atmosphere of Gryffindor College was very good. He liked this lion college.

Just when the lives of the father and son were slowly getting back on track, he was framed in the third grade and implicated in the death of Myrtle, and was expelled shortly afterwards.

Fortunately, his father would not know about this, because his father died a year ago...

The bright lights made Hagrid's eyes a little dazed. He resisted the dizziness, fixed his eyes on Harry, and said with a sob:

"Without you, Harry, Loren, Hermione, Ron, I'm sure I'd still be in an interrogation room at the Ministry of Magic. So I just want to say, thank you."

"Hogwarts can't do without you, Hagrid!" George and Fred clapped their hands vigorously, leading the other young wizards to applaud as well.

Harry returned Hagrid's gaze, encouraging him with his joy.

Dumbledore raised a hand, and the hall gradually became quiet again. "One last thing. Unfortunately, Professor Lockhart will not be back next semester because he needs to go somewhere else to regain his memory."

When the little wizards heard the good news, they cheered, and several teachers also applauded.

"However, Defense Against the Dark Arts classes cannot be cancelled and I am pleased to welcome a new teacher to our line-up this term."

"Professor Black, he has graciously agreed to fill the vacancy in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Harry looked at the man in disbelief.

The mysterious cloaked man sitting in the guest of honor seat stood up and took off the hood that covered his entire head, revealing a face familiar to Harry. Sirius Black smiled brightly and bowed to the young wizards from the four colleges.

Harry was still in a daze. Several people who knew Sirius were looking at him. The other young wizards were not familiar with the new professor. A few scattered and sparse applause were heard in the auditorium.

Seamus clapped weakly. "The plan failed. I didn't expect him to reveal his hat himself."

Dean nodded slowly several times, extremely disappointed.

"Look Professor Snape, didn't you say he always wanted to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts class..." Hermione whispered in Loren's ear. When she raised her eyes, she saw Loren's cold eyes.

Chapter 228 New Semester

"Loren, Loren, are you listening?" Hermione waved her hand in front of Loren's eyes.

Loren came back to his senses, his cold eyes instantly melted away, he shook his head at Hermione and smiled, "It's okay, I was a little distracted."

"By the way, I need to go to the bathroom and will be back soon." Loren said, stood up from his seat, and quickly slipped out of the auditorium.

Watching his figure slowly walk away, Hermione turned her head and looked at Professor Black in the guest of honor seat. The little witch's eyes were deep, she didn't think she had just had an illusion.

The dinner was held in a joyful atmosphere. Among so many exciting things, Harry really didn't know which one was the most exciting and wonderful.

After the banquet, the prefects took the young wizards from each college back to their respective common rooms.

As for whether there would be any celebrations later, the professors did not ask much. Professor McGonagall just greeted Filch and postponed the lights-out time by one hour.