Hogwarts Advanced Guide

Chapter 407 The Nervous Beginning Banquet

After the hat finished speaking, it remained motionless again, and there was applause, but it was mixed with whispers.In the entire auditorium, the students were whispering to the people sitting beside them. Hera slapped her hands lightly, knowing exactly what they were discussing.

There is nothing to say, it must be because the Sorting Hat's new song this year, after giving advice to everyone last year, is more straightforward this year, directly saying that Voldemort outside the school is eyeing it.

Professor McGonagall stared at the whispering students with stern eyes, and the buzzing discussion in the auditorium stopped abruptly. Professor McGonagall frowned and glanced at the four tables, then looked down at the long piece of parchment in his hand, and announced the first name aloud:
"Molton Budd."

A little boy with a frightened expression stumbled forward and put the hat on his head. The Sorting Hat considered for a moment, and then the slit at the brim of the hat opened again, announcing loudly, "Gryffindor!"

There was a burst of applause from the long Gryffindor table, and Bud staggered to their table and sat down, looking at him, as if he wished there was a hole in the ground for him to slip into, and no one would look at him again.

Slowly, the long line of freshmen shortened a little.The last student was also sorted into Hufflepuff. Professor McGonagall picked up his hat and stool and strode away. Hera pulled the robe in front of him to make it look wrinkle-free, and then stood up.

It's a Hogwarts tradition: Before the opening banquet, the Headmaster of Hogwarts stands up to greet all teachers and students.

"Welcome our freshmen," Hera said loudly, with his arms open, but trembling slightly, obviously not as relaxed as he said to Penello before, "welcome, welcome our seniors—welcome you back, waiting for you is a new school year of magic education, and I have no doubt that this is a year that has benefited you a lot. But I have to say, the administrator Filch asked me to tell everyone that this year students are absolutely prohibited from bringing any joke products purchased from Weasley's Wizard's Wheezes. Students who want to join the Quidditch team, Report your name to the dean as usual. We are still looking for new Quidditch commentators, and those who are interested should also apply to the dean."

"This year, we are delighted to welcome a new teacher, Professor Slughorn," Slughorn stood up, his bald head gleaming in the candlelight, his belly in a waistcoat casting a large shadow on the table, "a Potions master I respect a lot, and he agreed to return to his old job as Potions teacher."

"Potion class?"

"Potion class?"

The word echoed throughout the auditorium, and everyone wondered if they had heard it wrong.

Hera took a deep breath, ignoring the voices in the auditorium, "At the same time, Professor Snape," he raised his voice over the discussion, "will be the teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

The auditorium fell silent instantly, and everyone stared at Professor Snape, who was sitting on Hera's left, did he finally get his wish?Over the years, everyone knew that Snape's most wanted teaching position was the position of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, but didn't Dumbledore believe that he was qualified for the job?Hera put Snape in this position immediately after Dumbledore's death?

Snape didn't stand up when Hera mentioned his name, but raised a hand lazily to indicate that he heard the applause from the Slytherin table.However, everyone could clearly see that there was a trace of smug joy on Snape's face.

Hera didn't expect the reaction of the students to be so big, he didn't realize how sensational the news he just announced was.Hera didn't say anything about the teacher's job, but stared for a few seconds to make sure everyone was completely quiet before continuing to speak.

"Everyone in this auditorium knows that the tragic incident that happened two months ago caused us to lose a respected teacher, a kind old man, who devoted his life to maintaining peace in the wizarding world, whether it was the first generation of Dark Lord Grindelwald, or the second generation of Lord Voldemort—"

When Hera mentioned this name, she unconsciously shivered, but she was sure that the magic barrier at Hogwarts was working well, so she continued.

As Hera spoke, there was a tense, wrenching silence in the Great Hall, with everyone bowing their heads slightly in silence for Dumbledore.

"I need to emphasize that the current situation is very dangerous. Everyone in Hogwarts needs to be extremely cautious to ensure their own safety. The magic defenses of the castle were strengthened by the professors during the summer vacation, and we got new and more effective protection, but every teacher and student must still be vigilant at all times, and we must not take it lightly." Hera's voice echoed in the auditorium. He raised his voice to ensure that everyone in the auditorium could hear clearly. "Therefore, I ask you to strictly abide by every safety rule set by the teacher, no matter how annoying those rules may be-especially obey the rule of not getting out of bed after lights out."

"I implore you, whether on or off campus, as soon as you find any abnormal or suspicious situation, you must immediately report it to the teaching staff. I believe that you, for the safety of yourself and others, will definitely restrain your behavior."

Hera's eyes swept over all the students, and then a smile appeared on her face. There was no accident in the speech, and everything went as smoothly as he imagined.

"So, next, let's enjoy the dinner and eat, students!"

There was a burst of moderate applause in the auditorium. Hera sat down upright, and delicious food suddenly fell from the sky. The five long tables were suddenly filled with large pieces of beef, pies, plates of vegetables, bread, jam, and pots of pumpkin juice. They groaned because they were overwhelmed.

"It's not as difficult as imagined, is it?" Professor McGonagall turned her head and said to Hera with a smile, "You are better than I imagined," but she quickly showed a regretful expression, "I don't think Dumbledore can do better than you."

"No one can take Dumbledore's place." Hera let out a long sigh of relief. Anyway, he finally finished his opening speech.

"Oh." Professor McGonagall also sighed heavily.She picked up a piece of bread and put it on the plate in front of her.

Snape's voice came from the other side, "Very good speech."

"Just make everything go back to how it used to be," Hera muttered, and he forked a piece of buttered steak on the dinner plate, and carefully cut them into small pieces with a knife. "After all, Umbridge changed a lot last year, and Penelope and I had to fix them all back."

"Already very good," said Professor McGonagall.

"Thank you, but I think this should be said to Penello. She can do much more than me." Hera pointed to Penello who was sitting in the corner.

Professor McGonagall glanced at Penello, "Yeah, she is a good girl, I knew it when I was still in school."

Hera nodded, he always knew that Penello was a good girl.

The students gradually had enough to eat and drink, and the auditorium gradually became noisy. At this time, Hera stood up again, and the talking stopped immediately, and everyone turned their faces to him.

"Okay, before everyone goes to bed, let's sing the school song together!" Hera said loudly. To be honest, his expression was a little ugly, because the Hogwarts school song didn't have a fixed score, only lyrics, which led to a few troublemakers singing them with some strange melodies almost every year-this was definitely a torture for Hera.

But it's not without good news: the Weasley twins are no longer at Hogwarts, at least no one will be singing the school song to the slow, long "Funeral March".

Hera flicked the wand lightly, and a long golden ribbon flew out of the wand, twisting and coiling lines of words above the high dining table like a snake.

"Ready, sing!" said Hera.

Then, all the teachers and students sang loudly:
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts, teach us, whether we are old men with bald heads or children with broken knees.
After everyone sang the school anthem, Hera breathed a sigh of relief. This is a contract. All those who sang the school anthem are within the protective barrier of Hogwarts. When they encounter danger, Hogwarts will naturally protect them.

"Very good!" Hera took the lead in applauding. He was thankful that everyone sang the school song with a 'relatively normal' melody, which saved a lot of time in this session. "It's bedtime now, everyone go back to the dormitory."

As usual, the benches were pushed behind them, making a harsh rubbing sound, and hundreds of students began to file out of the auditorium and toward the dormitory.

Hera was not in a hurry to leave, and he and the other professors made sure that all the students left the auditorium obediently.Snape didn't stand up until the Great Hall was empty.

"How long are you going to sit here?"

"I'm just in a daze. The last time I saw such a scene, everything was not like this." Hera said blankly, looking in the direction of the gate.

"Everything is changing. All we can do is to constantly adapt to the environment." Professor McGonagall said softly. She patted Hera on the shoulder and left the long table first.

"Forget it." Hera shook her head, stood up, took Penello's hand and left the long table.

Snape stood where he was, watching their backs with an envious look on his face.

"Don't meddle in young people's affairs, we are already old." Professor Slughorn walked to Snape's side. He had a good impression of the 'young' Slytherin headmaster, and maybe he also made a lot of achievements in Potions, which made him especially close to Snape.

"I suppose you wouldn't allow a student who's only 'good' in OWLs to enter the advanced class?" Snape changed the subject.

Slughorn shrugged. "If you're talking about Harry, I'd be more than happy to accept him in the advanced class."

"That would be a disaster," said Snape coldly, before turning and leaving the hall.

Professor Slughorn had a bad nose, but he didn't feel any embarrassment. He just patted his big belly and said, "What a character boy."

Later, in the principal's office, Hera stood in front of the window sill, looking at the Forbidden Forest not far away. The twinkling stars poured over the Black Forest, which looked extraordinarily charming, but it also made it look extraordinarily dangerous.

"What are you thinking?" Penello hugged Hera from behind wearing a light gauze.

He tilted his head and put his head on Penello's shoulder. "I'm waiting for an owl. I'm eager to hear from Arthur and Mundungus about what happened in Hampshire today."

"The Ministry of Magic and the Death Eaters fought there?"

"I'm afraid that's the case. I saw Scrimgeour today, and it seems that things are not going well. He seems very impatient, as if the situation is not good." Hera's voice was a little low, which was definitely not good news.

Penello said softly in Hera's ear: "You have done well enough, Dumbledore. After leaving, you can still maintain Hogwarts normal school, which already requires a lot of courage."

Hera smiled resentfully, and didn't let Penello see his expression.What was he going to say, was he supposed to tell Penello that this was Voldemort's reward for killing Dumbledore?

This is too ridiculous!

"Don't worry, we have so many excellent wizards, and the Ministry of Magic is here, we can protect the school." Penello gently stroked Hera's broken hair.

Hera nodded emphatically, "We will definitely protect the castle."

Before dinner the next morning, Hera received a letter from Mr. Weasley—in fact, he didn't suspect that the owl arrived in the early morning, because it was obviously still covered with dew.

"Stay here and take your time until you have the strength to fly back." Hera patted the owl's head, and it fell directly to the ground. It seemed that the long-distance journey made it a little overwhelmed.

The content of the letter was generally acceptable. The battle in Hampshire was pretty good. Voldemort did not show up, but it still brought a lot of trouble to the Ministry of Magic, because the Death Eaters used black magic unscrupulously, which caused many Aurors in the Ministry of Magic to be injured.

For this, Scrimgeour was furious at night, annoyed at why they couldn't use dark magic, such as the Unforgivable Curses, and they shouldn't have held back against those evil Death Eaters.

Arthur seemed helpless in the letter. They had never been taught how to use black magic. Whether they were in Hogwarts or joined the Auror office after graduation, they had been peaceful for too many years.

However, even in the darkest of times, Moody, like the best Auror, never used the Unforgivable Curse.

Clearly, Scrimgeour is a very 'personal' minister.

(End of this chapter)