The days at Hogwarts

When the last long note ended, the short white-haired wizard Flitwick turned around and bowed gracefully to the young wizards. The choir members walked off the stage with brisk steps to meet the praises and teasing of their friends around them.

Dumbledore walked up to the stage swiftly, stood behind the podium and spread his hands like an owl spreading its wings. His neat movements made him look energetic and strong, not old at all. "Welcome, welcome to Hogwarts to spend another school year! I have a few words to say before everyone gets confused by this delicious meal..."

Taking advantage of the cheers from the little wizards, Loren and Hermione bent their waists and ran back to the Gryffindor table in small steps.

George was teasing Neville about when he could sing on stage, and Fred was teasing Leif with his fingers.

The moment George saw Loren and Hermione, he happily reached out to stop Loren: "Look, which couple is late and even missed the sorting ceremony!"

Hermione's face turned red, but Loren ignored his teasing and put on his pointed hat.

Angelina knocked George's hand open with her fork and came over, asking curiously, "I heard that you came here with the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor—"

Before he finished speaking, Dumbledore on the stage raised his voice and said, "Please welcome the new Professor R. J. Lupin, who has gladly agreed to fill the vacancy and teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts course."

He stretched out his hand and turned sideways, motioning everyone to look at Lupin: "Good luck, Professor!"

Lupin stood up, smiled at the little wizards, and bowed to signal them. Compared to the other teachers' robes made of expensive fabrics and fitted to their bodies, Lupin's patched clothes looked a little tattered.

Loren noticed Professor Snape at the other end of the staff table, with a sarcastic smile on his face, looking at Lupin with cold eyes. Anger, hatred, sarcasm, ridicule... It was rare to see Snape showing such a rich expression.

It looks like a new version of Wolfsbane Potion will be released soon... Loren silently prayed for Professor Lupin.

The headmaster's speech on the stage continued: "...in order to care for his stump, Professor Kettleburn has retired... Fortunately, I am pleased to announce that the person who will be filling his position is none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid!"

"Hagrid! Hagrid!" the twins took the lead in shouting, leading the little wizards to burst into warm applause.

Hagrid, who was sitting in the staff box, was so immersed in joy that he didn't quite react and just clapped along with everyone with a silly smile on his face.

Professor McGonagall next to him looked helpless and hit him on the arm with an elbow. Hagrid then realized what was happening and stood up abruptly, bumping into several cups and candlesticks in front of him, and gestured to the little wizards in a daze.

His face flushed red, and his eyes were lowered to look at his big hands. Even though his face was covered with a messy and tangled black beard, Loren and the others could still feel the bright smile hidden behind it.

George and Fred couldn't help laughing:

"Oh! I'm suddenly looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures class."

"Yeah, we can definitely get away with a lot of classes from Hagrid."

"We should have known!" Ron yelled, pounding his fist on the table. "Who else would have asked us to prepare a book that bites?"

"Huh?" Seamus looked at him in confusion, "Didn't the clerk teach you how to appease the monster book?"

Harry knew the inside story of this matter, and he tried to hold back his laughter as he explained to the people around him: "Ron stayed up late reading Monster Book of Monsters and fell asleep. He slept in the next day and refused to wake up, which resulted in him not being able to comfort the monster book in time. In the end, the monster book bit him and he fell downstairs. From then on, if he stayed in bed again, Mrs. Weasley would throw the monster book on his bed."

"Pfft!"

Seamus, Neville, Dean and others around him laughed at the same time, and probably felt that this was not a good idea, so they lowered their heads, leaving only their shoulders shaking.

"Hahahahaha!" Loren laughed unabashedly, holding his stomach and leaning against Hermione.

Ron's freckles turned red with shame, and he looked at Harry with resentment.

Dumbledore continued his speech: "Finally, on a more serious matter, at the request of the Ministry of Magic, the Dementors from Azkaban will be stationed at Hogwarts..."

The young wizards in the audience said that they should stop laughing. They probably heard some news... The unusual stop of the train on the way back to school during the day, the bright white light surging like a wave, and the Dementors guarding the castle, all of these indicated that something was unusual.

Dumbledore's sharp eyes were extremely serious, and his gaze wandered over the faces of every young wizard: "Although I have been assured that their appearance will not interfere with our daily study life. But I must remind you that Dementors are cruel creatures. They do not distinguish between those they want to hunt and those who stand in their way... Therefore, I must warn everyone here to stay away from them and do not give Dementors a reason to attack you."

"Professor!" Lee Jordan suddenly stood up. "What is that white light on the train that blocks the Dementors? Can you tell us?"

Harry's eyes immediately fell on Loren, also a third-year student. He fell down as soon as he came into contact with the Dementors, while Loren solved the Dementors as soon as they came into contact.

The other young wizards didn't know who cast the spell, and most of their eyes were focused on Lupin. That spell was definitely professor-level, and the only one on the train was the new Professor Lupin.

All the little wizards' eager eyes expressed the same expectation:

Professor, I want to learn how to fight Dementors!

Lupin was somewhat confused when facing so many young wizards. He didn't know that the young wizards had a wonderful misunderstanding, which helped him reduce some of the difficulty of teaching.

"The Patronus Charm does have a significant effect on Dementors, but this falls within the scope of the Defense Against the Dark Arts course. As for how Professor Lupin will arrange his teaching content -"

Some of the young wizards who knew the Patronus Charm gave a brief introduction to the people around them, and the students became even more excited, their eyes fixed on the headmaster on the podium.

Dumbledore stretched out his voice to whet the appetite, but did not continue. He suddenly smiled playfully and his tone became cheerful, "Even in the darkest times, we can always create happy memories. So, let's have a feast!"

The high-hanging, expectant hearts were instantly thrown to the ground, and many little wizards were confused:

"Oh—no?"

"Today is not April Fools' Day."

The complaints were short-lived, their minds soon being occupied by the sudden appearance of food and drink on golden plates and goblets.

The piles of chicken legs, the crispy baked pies, the brown beef and lamb chops, all kinds of tempting colors fill the eyes. The sweet fragrance of purple sweet potatoes, pumpkins and other fruits, the salty fragrance of stewed meat, roasted chicken and other meats, make you drool.

The auditorium was filled with laughter and the clash of knives and forks...

Chapter 282 Class Time

The roasted chicken drumsticks at Hogwarts are very famous among the young wizards. The sauce is rich and aromatic, and the juice is abundant. They are roasted from young tender chickens, and are the perfect size for one bite.

Watching Ron gnawing on the chicken leg, Neville sighed with distaste.

Ron raised his head in confusion and looked around.

There's nothing wrong with me.

That's what's wrong with you, Neville.

Ron pulled the chicken leg out of his mouth and eased his sore gums: "Why don't you eat it? Are you planning to lose weight?"

Do you look this stupid when you eat chicken legs?

Neville looked away silently: "No, I'm not losing weight. I have something to say to Loren, but I don't know how to say it."

When Simo heard what he said, he turned around and looked at him in disbelief: "Do you like Loren? Do you want to confess to him?"

Ron was so shocked that the chicken leg fell into the plate. He didn't care about his sore gums and opened his mouth as wide as possible, almost dislocating his jaw.

Dean advised earnestly: "Give up, Neville, you can't win against Hermione. This is what adolescent love is like, it's normal for it to end in failure."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Neville resisted the urge to throw the plates in their faces. "I don't know how to thank Loren. He cured my parents."

"oh oh!"

"Thank you!"

Seamus smiled awkwardly and scratched his head. "My dad said that third grade is a critical period of adolescence. During the holidays, he kept nagging me about the things I should pay attention to in relationship issues. When I heard what you said, I couldn't help but think in the wrong way."

Dean nodded continuously: "I was led astray by him."

Ron then put down the chicken drumstick in his hand and put his chin back in place. "No wonder my dad was talking about the reinstatement of the Longbottom Auror couple during the holidays, and my mom was wondering why he suddenly recovered. Tell us what happened?"

Neville thought about it and picked out some things to tell to a few friends.

"Congratulations, Neville, your parents are back." Harry's eyes were filled with envy.

"Yeah yeah!"

"Congratulations!"

Neville smiled shyly.

"So Headmaster Dumbledore and Loren left right after they finished the treatment?" Ron said, holding up his fork. "He didn't treat your parents for anything in return. You can just thank them directly."

Neville said nothing, but shook his head slowly and firmly.

He stood up silently, walked a few seats to Loren's back, and patted him on the shoulder.

"?"

Loren turned his head and looked at him puzzledly. His cheeks bulged with chicken legs showed that he was not in a position to speak.

Neville's lips were tightly pursed into a straight line. He hesitated for a long time but still didn't know how to start. His face turned red.

No, man, there's something wrong with your expression.

"Stop, stop!"

Loren pulled out the chicken bone by force and swallowed the chicken leg meat without chewing it. He felt a little choked. He knew why Neville had such an expression. "You're welcome. If you really feel bad, just give him a gold luxury gift bag from Honeydukes Candy Store."

"Ah?" Neville was stunned.

"No, the gold deluxe gift packs are one Galleon each, and I usually can't afford to buy them. Just give me one as a token of your gratitude. If you still can't accept it, I'll give you one every Christmas from now on."

"..."

Neville came here in confusion, and was even more confused when he returned to his original position. He made a silent resolution in his heart that he would give it to Loren at Easter, Loren's birthday, Halloween, Christmas... in short, he would give it to him whenever he had the chance.

……

After the banquet, the young wizards left the hall in an orderly manner, and the prefects of each college led the way for the freshmen of their own college.

The old students' team was loose and casual, with occasional disobedient people running around in the team. In comparison, the freshmen were all very well-behaved, with sparkling light in their eyes as they looked around.

Ron looked at the freshmen lined up in two neat rows, shook his head and said with emotion: "I can't believe we are already third-year students. I can still remember how terrified we were two years ago when we were sorted."

Neville was also impressed by the situation at that time. He glanced at him calmly and said, "Yes, it was you who spread the horror stories about George and Fred and scared us all."

Hearing their conversation, Loren turned his head and whispered in Hermione's ear with a smile: "I remember someone was so scared that he kept reciting the Standard Spells."

Hermione pushed him and a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

When they reached the stairs, the marching team suddenly stopped, and there was a constant stream of noisy discussions from the Slytherin crowd in front.

It’s fun to watch!

Simo's eyes lit up, and without any hesitation, he squeezed to the front with an excited smile on his face.

Five minutes later, he came back with a disappointed look on his face.

"What's going on? What happened up ahead? Are the Slytherins fighting each other?" Ron hurriedly came over and asked.

"Nothing to see." Seamus curled his lips, as if regretting not being able to see the excitement, "A Slytherin freshman fell down and blocked the road for a while."

"Was the fall serious?" Hermione asked curiously.

"It's nothing serious, but the person who fell is Astoria Greengrass."

Hermione became even more curious: "What do you mean?"

"I know!" Ron took over the conversation. "Greengrass is one of the twenty-eight pure-blood families. Their family has inherited a curse carried by blood, which makes people physically weak. It takes a while for a Greengrass family member to recover after falling down."

"It's a blood curse again." Hermione remembered Professor Babel's experience and couldn't help asking, "Is a blood curse common in pure-blood families?"

Loren also turned his gaze to Ron, wanting to hear his answer.

"Blood curse is a very evil black magic, how can it be so common?" Ron looked at them in confusion, "You said 'again', do you know any other blood curses?"

"No, no, I saw it in a book." Hermione remembered Professor Babel's instructions and stammered.

Loren pondered for a moment and had another opinion: "Her symptoms sound like hypoglycemia. It is normal for pure-blood families to have children born from inbreeding with weak bodies. Greengrass may have inherited pathological genes. It is already very good that she does not have deformities or other genetic diseases."

Hermione, whose parents both graduated from medical school and came from a family with a long history of education, opened her eyes wide at once. This idea seemed to make sense!

"Genes?" Percy turned his head at the word, his face full of interest. "I heard about this in Muggle Studies class. Can you explain it in detail?"

"Hmm..." Hermione frowned, trying to recall her knowledge of genetics. "Because of inbreeding, couples have more similar genes, and are more likely to pass on recessive harmful genes that are not conducive to the survival of their offspring. As a result, they will give birth to children of poor quality, with the risk of heart disease, mental retardation, congenital deafness, and blindness. In addition, they are prone to multi-gene genetic diseases such as mental illness and epilepsy."

At this time, some young wizards from pure-blood families around had pricked up their ears and were secretly comparing these symptoms with those of their relatives in their own families.

Hufflepuff's Ernie Macmillan's breathing quickened and he said in a heavy tone: "I had an aunt whose son was born deaf."

The two companions beside him kept nodding: "We have relatives like this too!"

“My grandma has six fingers.”

"The youngest daughter of the Marcus family married her cousin, and I heard that the child born was a fool."

Ignoring the chaotic voices, Percy continued to ask, "What are the manifestations of mental illness?"

Hermione counted a long list on her fingers: "Angry, manic, violent, withdrawn..."

The young wizards from pure-blood families were even more frightened, and felt that there were countless such wizards in the magic world. Everyone joined in the discussion, the young wizards from pure-blood families talked about the symptoms, and the young wizards from Muggle society talked about their understanding of inbreeding diseases, and they chattered all the way back to the lounge.

After Loren washed up and went to bed, the rain outside not only did not stop, but it got heavier and heavier. The sound of the rain became louder and louder, gradually covering up the breathing of everyone, Neville's snoring, and the sound of the distant wind.

But this kind of rain sound is not only not noisy, but instead brings about an indescribable quietness in people's hearts, allowing them to not think about anything.

Loren slowly, slowly closed his eyes...

After a tiring day of traveling, the little wizards fell into a deep sleep, but the candlelight in the castle was not completely extinguished, and only a few office rooms were still dimly lit.

Remus Lupin was lying on the bed in the lounge of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office, looking at the flickering candlelight on the candlestick above his head. His eyes were blank and unfocused, as if he was looking at the candlelight, but also seemed to see something else in the candlelight.