Hogwarts Homecoming

"First of all, please allow me to introduce to you, Professor Horace Slughorn——"

At the staff table, Professor Brain directed the eyes of the young wizards to a fat old man with a nice smile and a bald head sitting on the other side of Snape.

"This is the unlucky egg that has come to you this year. Oh, at such an old age, it seems that you can't stand any trouble, right?"

Like many people, George Weasley looked at the old wizard with interest as he stood up from his position and bowed to everyone.

Harry knew that Fred meant something, but he didn't show any sign of it.

"Professor Slughorn will be the potions professor for the fifth to seventh years this year. He is an experienced professor and was formerly the dean of Slytherin House. I believe he can get along well with everyone. Pleasurable, and.”

Before Professor Brain could finish speaking, discussion broke out in the auditorium below.

Almost everyone stared at Snape at the staff table in disbelief.

"The old man will teach us potions?"

George looked at the expressionless Snape in surprise and confusion.

"Then what should Snape do? We can't be optimistic and expect him to be expelled, right? He has such a good relationship with Professor Blaine."

Hermione gave George a hard look and made a silencing gesture to him.

"Hey, you start to control people from now on, right?"

George saw Hermione's warning and smiled disapprovingly.

"As for Professor Snape—"

Professor Blaine's voice came from the front of the auditorium again,

"He will be responsible for teaching Potions from the first to fourth years."

Professor Brain's explanation left many people confused.

"I thought he was here to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts--"

There were undoubtedly some cheers at the Gryffindor table, come to mind, and they all came from students in the fifth to seventh years.

Fred turned around, preparing to discuss this congratulatory news with Harry and others, but when he saw the calm faces of several people, he couldn't help but froze.

"What are you doing? Cheer, Harry, Snape can't torture you anymore, can he?"

"Oh, already celebrated--"

Harry laughed,

"While on the train in the afternoon, he invited me to his compartment for an impromptu party."

"Temporary banquet?"

More people poked their faces over, looking at Harry with curiosity, and this was always a scene that Harry didn't like.

"It's actually quite boring——"

Neville said,

"We spent the whole afternoon listening to him talk endlessly about his friendships with famous wizards, as if he called us over just to show off."

"Shh!"

Hermione glared at a few people more harshly, but all she got was 'cruel contempt' from Fred and George.

Professor Slughorn got some applause. After all, his smiling face looked quite pleasing to the eye.

Unlike Snape, who had a cold face as if everyone owed him a large sum of gold.

"As for Defense Against the Dark Arts--"

Amosta smiled and said,

"The school did send an invitation to a well-known person, but has not yet received a response, so the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes for the first and second years have to be suspended.

Defense Against the Dark Arts classes for grades three, six and seven will be temporarily changed to physical education classes. "

Harry looked surprised, he didn't know this news beforehand.

"Then what do we do?"

Hermione glared angrily at the staff table.

"We have no Defense Against the Dark Arts classes and no PE classes!"

"Oh, you still feel like you've suffered a loss?"

Fred's playful smile attracted Hermione's angry gaze.

"--In the past year, Hogwarts held the Triwizard Tournament, and we had a wonderful year with the elites of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

This year, Hogwarts will also welcome a group of esteemed guests, who will arrive at Hogwarts this weekend to spend wonderful campus time with us. "

Professor Blaine smiled and said,

"Out of politeness and grace, I hope that you will join me outside the castle gates at 5pm this weekend to welcome them."

"who are they!"

Someone asked immediately.

"Oh, life sometimes needs a little sense of expectation, right?"

Professor Blaine chuckled and said,

"You will know then. In short, I hope they can get your respect and care during their time at Hogwarts. If any conflicts occur, then I will be very sorry-"

The crowd began to whisper, discussing the identities of the mysterious visitors.

"This is a really strange statement——"

Neville tilted his chin, thinking about everything.

Both Harry and Ron looked at Hermione, who had a sullen expression on her face.

The identity of this group of mysterious visitors and who Professor Brain said was the famous person invited by the school to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor were two topics that ran through the opening dinner.

Harry and the others only knew the answer to one of the questions, but none of them wanted to mention it for fear of causing a collective panic.

As for the other, they knew nothing either.

After not seeing each other for a whole summer vacation, the little wizards already had endless topics to talk about. What's more, such a major event happened during this summer vacation.

The topic soon extended to the war that reduced Diagon Alley to ruins, and the members of the evil gangs who were arrested during the war were also the focus of attention.

"Look at those Slytherins, they really deserve it!"

When this was mentioned, Ron was still extremely indignant, but seeing the people around Malfoy on the Slytherin table, he showed pleasure again.

Harry and Hermione both turned to look at the Slytherin table.

The dull-faced Theodore Nott and the Greengrass sisters were incompatible with the joyful atmosphere in the auditorium.

Harry could understand that they were unhappy, but Parkinson, Shabini and others all had dull expressions on their faces, which made Harry a little confused.

"I'm afraid their family's business has been greatly affected by the 'Plaza Accord'-"

Hermione said with some sympathy,

"It must be very difficult for them."

"I still say the same thing--"

Ron hummed in relief,

"If there was a Death Eater in my family, I would have no shame in coming to Hogwarts again!"

"And what do you think of Sirius, Ron?"

Hermione glanced sideways at Ron,

"Don't forget, his brother Regulus also served for the mysterious man."

"That's different, Hermione—"

Harry couldn't help but argue,

"Regulus eventually changed his ways, didn't he?"

Hermione took a deep breath,

"Even so, Harry, Daphne, Astoria and Theodore didn't do anything wrong. They didn't help the mysterious person do evil. They were just unlucky and happened to have such parents."

"I can't believe you spoke up for them, Hermione."

Ron stared at Hermione, his brows furrowed.

Hermione's retort was mixed with a hint of anger.

"What do you mean, Weasley, you dare to say that none of your relatives have violated the law, but that has nothing to do with you, does it? The law never does."

"Oh, dear Miss Granger, I can tell you that the last Weasley family member who was imprisoned for breaking the law probably dates back to more than a century ago."

George raised his brows and looked at Hermione defiantly.

Harry was about to stop the conflict from spreading, but the roar of the Great Hall helped him first.

The opening dinner has been announced to be over, and students from all houses have left their seats one after another, eager to return to their respective common rooms to start traditional programs.

"oh!"

Hermione suddenly woke up,

"Come on, Ron, we are prefects, and we have to guide the first years!"

Ron, who was glaring at Hermione's refutation again, also reacted. He hurriedly stood up from his seat, blushed and took out the shiny prefect badge from his pocket.

As expected, this was met with some back-and-forth remarks from Fred and George.

Ron became even more nervous and his fingers became clumsy, unable to pin the badge on his chest.

"Let me help you, honey—"

Lavender left Patil with a proud look on his face, came to Ron's side, and helped him solve this embarrassment.

Hermione had been impatient for a long time.

"Hurry up, Ron, those freshmen are at a loss what to do, we must hurry up -"

"Hey, Granger!"

At this moment, a seventh-grade girl walked quickly from the front of the long Hufflepuff table. Facing Hermione's puzzled gaze, she pointed to an empty seat on the staff table.

"Professor Brain asked me to tell you that he wants you to go to his office-" (End of Chapter)