The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 491 Speech (for Youlan Yuehe)

After dinner, it was time for the headmaster's routine speech. Dumbledore's prestige was immediately demonstrated here: none of the students below made a sound at this time.

The headmaster began to talk about the arrangements for this semester, such as telling the students that the administrator Filch requested that students be strictly prohibited from bringing any joke products purchased from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes this year. Of course, everyone present knew that this ban was basically in name only.

Next is the arrangement of Quidditch. Students who want to join the college Quidditch team need to report their names to the dean as in previous years. At the same time, with the graduation of Li Jordan, the school also needs to find a new Quidditch game commentator. Those who are interested can also sign up with the dean.

Finally, it was time to introduce the new professors. "Also, let me introduce to you the new faculty member... Professor Horace Slughorn, the former Slytherin Head of Hogwarts... I have the honor to announce that he has agreed to come back and take over as professor of Potions." As Dumbledore finished his words, Slughorn stood up. His bald head gleamed in the candlelight, and his big belly in the vest cast a large shadow on the table.

"Potions?" The word echoed throughout the hall, and everyone wondered if they had heard it wrong. Hermione frowned and looked at Ryan, "Didn't Harry say in the letter that Dumbledore took him to find Slughorn to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Why is it Potions?"

Before Ryan could answer, Dumbledore raised his voice to drown out the discussion: "In the meantime, Professor Snape will be the teacher of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

The Slytherin students applauded enthusiastically after hearing the news, while the tables of other colleges were filled with buzzing discussions. Everyone was a little bit unbelievable about the news, especially Harry, whose "no" was heard clearly by everyone even in the noise of the entire hall.

Ryan and other people who were familiar with Harry looked at him, and Harry knew that there was something wrong with his information. He tried hard to recall when Dumbledore had told him about this. However, now that he thought about it carefully, he could not remember what subject Slughorn would teach. Instead, he remembered that Slughorn told him that his mother Lily was very good at Potions.

"You know, being the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts is not an attractive position." Ryan said to Hermione beside him, and at the same time helped Harry out. "From what I know, Slughorn is a person who pursues enjoyment and fears risks. He should not have the spirit of sacrifice to take this course, not to mention that he has been the professor of Potions before."

Well, there's one good thing about this," Harry said through gritted teeth, "Snape will be gone in less than a year." "What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"That job is cursed. No one lasts more than a year... Quirrell died in it. I personally hope there's another murder..."

"Harry, please don't say that." Ryan said in a gentle tone, "Enough people have died during this holiday. It is not a good thing to shed more innocent blood." Hermione nodded in agreement after hearing this.

"Snape is still innocent?" Harry did not agree with Ryan's point of view, but Ron said rationally at this time: "I think Snape will probably go back to teach his Potions class at the end of the term. That guy named Slughorn probably doesn't want to stay here for a long time, just like Moody." Harry had to admit that Ron was right, because when he and Dumbledore went to find Slughorn, they learned that the Death Eaters were still trying to find him during the summer vacation. He felt that he was too old and didn't have enough energy to deal with this. He was willing to return to school on the one hand to expand his social circle, and on the other hand because it was safe enough here and he didn't have to flee to various places.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, seemingly unaware of how shocked everyone was by the news he had just announced. He did not say anything more about the teaching position, but waited for a few seconds to make sure everyone was completely quiet before continuing. "Everyone in this hall knows that Voldemort and his followers are stirring up trouble again, and their power is growing..."

There was a dead silence at the Slytherin table, especially Crabbe and Goyle, who were not as arrogant as usual. The result of losing the pillar of the family was that they were completely marginalized, and now they could only watch Malfoy act. Malfoy seemed to be distracted, and no one knew what was in his mind.

"I need to emphasize that the current situation is very dangerous, and each of us at Hogwarts needs to be extremely cautious to ensure our own safety. The castle's magical defenses have been thoroughly strengthened and updated, but each of our teachers and students must still remain vigilant at all times and not take it lightly. Therefore, I require you to strictly abide by every safety regulation and report any abnormal or suspicious circumstances to the faculty immediately. I believe that you will restrain your behavior for the safety of yourself and others." Dumbledore's blue eyes swept over all the students, and then a smile appeared on his face again.

"Well, your beds are waiting for you, as warm and comfortable as you wish. I know your top priority now is to get some rest and prepare for tomorrow's classes. So, let's say 'goodnight'. Sweet dreams!"

As usual, benches were pushed behind them, making harsh friction sounds, and hundreds of students began to leave the auditorium and head towards the dormitory. Ryan and Hermione went to fulfill their duties as prefects to take care of the first-year students. As usual, Hermione stood at the front of the line to introduce the basic knowledge of the castle to the freshmen, while Ryan followed the team silently to see if there were any freshmen left behind, and at the same time released his perception to explore the magic castle.

Just as Dumbledore said, the castle's magical defenses had indeed been strengthened during the summer vacation. Even wizards who knew the rules would have to spend some time to deal with the castle's defenses. However, this defense was dead after all. What really made Hogwarts Castle impregnable was that Dumbledore, a wizard who also knew the rules, was in charge of the castle.

Ryan was certain that as long as there was a wizard who mastered the rules to operate this castle, wizards of the same level would not be able to force their way in no matter what.

Therefore, the reason why Hogwarts is the safest place in the British wizarding world is entirely because Dumbledore is guarding the castle in the school. This also makes Ryan feel that he was right to stop Dumbledore from committing suicide in the last incident of destroying Voldemort's ring Horcrux. As long as Professor Dumbledore can resist Voldemort, he is sure to drain the last drop of blood of those pure-blood families bit by bit, and then throw them into the garbage dump of history.

After returning to the common room, everyone exchanged pleasantries and went to bed quickly because they had been sitting on the train for a whole day. Ryan went to the radiation world to prepare gifts for the Death Eaters who might attack the castle.

(End of this chapter)