Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 154 153. Sorting Ceremony & Lockhart's Patience & New Class

"Ah, look at Ginny now." Ron couldn't help laughing as he searched for his sister in the crowd. "Hahaha, she looks so nervous."

"Oh, our dear little Ronnie, you don't have to laugh at our sister." Putting an arm on Ron's shoulders, George said hypocritically: "To be honest, you looked much more nervous than Ginny when you stood there last year."

Ron suddenly stopped laughing.

What do you mean?
Just like I laughed at the new students this year, were those senior students laughing at me in the same way last year?

This disappointed many senior students who were waiting to see the show. Unlike last year, this year's freshmen did not cause any big noise, let alone an exciting event like a train battle.

For many students, even if they have graduated from Hogwarts in the future, they will never forget the scene where the vast majority of people from the four colleges were put into detention on a large scale, so that the entire common room was empty for many nights, and those who were not punished with detention were the minority, and they seemed to be out of place.

Red-haired Ginny was sorted into Gryffindor as expected. With the good popularity established by her good brothers, she received a very warm welcome - of course, this was also related to the fact that Ginny was indeed a lovely girl.

Apart from that, perhaps another point in the entire sorting ceremony that people couldn't pay attention to was the little girl with dark golden brown hair - if it weren't for her weird appearance that made her look like she would be admitted to Ravenclaw, the sorting hat would have called out the name of the house almost as soon as it touched her head.

What’s important is actually the pair of bull horns on the little girl’s forehead. At this point, which old student at Hogwarts would not recognize the bull horns engraved with runes?

This role has been tied to the Shaman Club and Harry's apprenticeship, which means that this freshman has become Harry's apprentice before he even enters school?
But why did you enter Ravenclaw?
Not going to Gryffindor?
This was somewhat strange for wizards who were used to the division into colleges, but Harry did not think it was a big deal. He waved to Luna as a congratulations, and Luna also waved with a smile, and then sat down at the Ravenclaw table.

With Penelope, the Ravenclaw prefect who was also a shaman apprentice, taking care of him, Harry was not worried that anything would happen to Luna.

When the last freshman went to his table, Dumbledore clapped his hands and the whole restaurant fell silent.

"Welcome - and eat." With a kind smile on his face, Dumbledore was still the same Dumbledore. There was no useless nonsense at all. The next second, four long tables were filled with all kinds of food.

Roast, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, sausages... the house-elf's cooking skills are still impeccable - if you have to be picky about something, you can only mention the British dishes on the table.

As we all know, British food is pure garbage, even the British themselves don't eat it.

Harry ate four fried sausages before stopping. He looked at the guest of honor seats at the four long tables. Professor Flitwick seemed to have told a joke that made Dumbledore laugh out loud. Even Professor McGonagall, who was sitting next to him, pursed her lips and revealed a faint smile.

To be honest, the students did not eat peacefully during this meal. From time to time, people from the four colleges turned their heads to look at the guest of honor seat on the other side where the professors were sitting - well, actually, they were looking at Lockhart who was sitting at the side.

The ones who were agitated were mainly girls, and not just the students in the second year and above who were already familiar with the magical world. Even some first-year wizards were excitedly talking about Lockhart with the people around them... They had probably read the books written by Lockhart, and therefore were full of curiosity and admiration for this man.

To be fair, Harry had also read a few of the books that Lockhart had forced to sell using his professorial authority, and to his surprise, apart from the self-boasting and boastful parts, those books did contain some practical knowledge.

For example, what kind of flaws a dark magic creature like a vampire will unconsciously reveal, how to deal with a female ghost, how to track a snowman on a snowy mountain, etc. - this knowledge is hidden in Lockhart's adventures.

After realizing this, Harry felt that apart from the fact that Lockhart used his professorial rights to sell books for profit, these books could indeed serve as textbooks, telling many ways to deal with dark magic creatures in the magical world that could cause harm to wizards or even endanger their lives.

The most important thing is that these textbooks are presented in the form of adventure stories, and for young wizards, they can indeed read and think more deeply about such stories.

While eating, Harry had heard many senior students arguing about whether the methods Lockhart wrote in the book to deal with dark magical creatures were really useful, or whether there were better ways to deal with them.

Well, Harry wasn't going to lie - it wasn't so much the senior students arguing over points of knowledge as it was wizards and witches arguing.

The appearance that many female students admired Lockhart directly caused those adolescent male students to dislike Lockhart, but in front of these girls, they could not express this dislike directly, and could only rack their brains to attack some loopholes in Lockhart's book.

"They are young after all," Harry thought to himself and shook his head slightly.

For young people, the attention of the opposite sex is indeed more important.

Harry didn't care about this little thing. What made him unhappy was that Lockhart avoided the important things in the knowledge - each of those books revolved around a theme, such as werewolves, snowmen, female ghosts, ghouls and so on.

When talking about the content related to these theme creatures, Lockhart's descriptions are indeed very detailed, from how he discovered that there was something wrong with these dark magic creatures and how to verify the identities of these aliens, to how he dealt with and resolved the specific process of these creatures. He wrote in detail.

But apart from these key points, the rest of the story is completely vague, especially the things that Harry is very interested in and the details that he needs to pay attention to when traveling or adventuring in the wizarding world.

But in general, given that there is indeed valuable knowledge in these books, Harry is not as hostile to Lockhart as the twins - then the question is, why does Lockhart seem to be quite hostile to him?

Even though Lockhart looked optimistic, humorous and cheerful on the surface, and had never looked in his direction, Harry was very sure that Lockhart's eyes always swept over him inadvertently... It was not an illusion, he really felt hostility.

But – why?
Harry didn't understand.

Where does such hostility come from?

There shouldn't be any hatred between him and Lockhart.

"Well, I noticed that your knives and forks have been put back on the plates. It seems that we are all full." Dumbledore's words caused laughter. He clapped his hands, and the next second, every table became clean again, making the new students exclaim in surprise.

"I think you have probably guessed it. Yes, this year we have a new professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts," Dumbledore started briefly, and then the students below all laughed at once.

Fred and George in particular laughed the loudest, as if they were doing it on purpose for Lockhart to hear.

Lockhart's face suddenly turned ugly. He was not a foreign wizard. He graduated from Hogwarts many years ago. How could he not know that the Defense Against the Dark Arts class in Hogwarts was cursed?
However, this change in expression was fleeting. Immediately following Dumbledore's words, Lockhart stood up from the guest of honor seat and nodded slightly towards the four long tables as a greeting.

"Thank you Professor Dumbledore for inviting me to become a professor at my alma mater after so many years," Lockhart said briskly, "Please allow me to take up a little of your time. After all, you don't get to see a living legend every day!"

"I'm Gilderoy Lockhart, honorary member of the Anti-Dark Arts League, recipient of the Third Class Order of Merlin, and five-time winner of the Witch Weekly Most Charming Smile Award - but don't be nervous, at least here, I only have one identity, and that is the professor of your Defense Against the Dark Arts class." After a deliberate pause, Lockhart was satisfied to hear a burst of exclamations... mainly from girls. This kind of admiring voice made him feel a lot better. At least his plan was now going very smoothly.

Yes, plan!
Become a professor at Hogwarts, or rather, become the professor of that now extremely famous boy, then live safely for a year, leave Hogwarts perfectly at the end of the semester, and then write a new book, the name of which will be temporarily named "My Year of Fighting the Curse at Hogwarts".

Such an achievement would surely bring his fame to a higher level, but Lockhart was also very aware of the risks he was taking - the curse was becoming more and more powerful.

Lockhart vaguely remembered how this curse spread among students when he was studying at Hogwarts. At that time, Hogwarts also changed the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts every year, but those professors who were replaced would at most fall or encounter something else and could not continue to serve... It was not like now.

Last year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Quirrell was even a Death Eater. The most important thing was that Quirrell died directly without even the chance to be sent to Azkaban!

This is crazy.

If Lockhart had had no choice, he would never have wanted to take this job and come to Hogwarts - there was no way, he had been forced into a desperate situation!
Being cornered by Harry Potter!!

If one does not seize the opportunity and reach the peak of fame, then fame will be forgotten like a maggot - not to mention that Lockhart also received some news that someone seemed to be investigating something in the place he had been to, damn it!

So he needs more fame, and then be able to enter the Ministry of Magic and turn this fame into real power. Only in this way can he protect himself...but what is the result?
He worked so hard to run the Daily Prophet, risked his life to take the job at Hogwarts, and paid so much, just to use the fact that he became a professor to be on the front page of the Daily Prophet, to maintain his presence and expand his popularity - but what was the result? ! !
No!

Nothing at all! !
The next day's newspaper headlines were not about the famous celebrity Lockhart becoming a professor at Hogwarts, but about the fact that "Mysteries of Magic" had published a new issue after many years, and it seriously proved the real existence of elements, supporting the new magic claimed by Harry Potter.

Even the second edition was not theirs, but a new order urgently issued by the Ministry of Magic to prevent minors from performing elemental magic during the holidays - what the hell is this? !

Lockhart was almost dizzy.

No, it should be said that he had fainted from anger at that time, and he leaned on the chair for a long time before he recovered.

Unwilling to believe, Lockhart even wrapped himself in a robe and went to Diagon Alley and several famous bars in the wizarding community. As a result, no matter where he went, people were talking about Potter's new magic, elemental magic - no one mentioned Lockhart, who was about to become a professor! !

You might as well argue whether Lockhart is qualified to be a professor. At least such an attack can make Lockhart feel that someone is paying attention to him, which can make him feel much better.

To be honest, he couldn't quite remember how he sat down. As soon as Lockhart saw the boy with a scar on his forehead and a pair of horns on his head sitting at the Gryffindor table, he felt a little breathless.

Suddenly, Lockhart shuddered. He turned his head sharply and saw Snape in a black robe staring at him coldly.

"Ah, Snape," Lockhart immediately put on a warm smile and said briskly, "Do you want to know the exclusive potion formula I just mentioned? You're welcome. I just know a little more about potion science than you do. If you're happy--"

Snape couldn't continue talking. He didn't even listen to what Lockhart was saying. He just stood up, and the corner of his robe was blown up and almost hit Lockhart in the face with a strong wind.

"Oh, well, I have to say that not everyone is as willing to share as I am." Without any embarrassment, Lockhart spoke calmly to Professor McGonagall on the other side.

"Thank you for your kindness, Professor Lockhart." Professor McGonagall said coldly, "But now, the party is over."

After saying that, Professor McGonagall also stood up and left the restaurant without looking back.

The students, led by their prefects, have already gone to their respective colleges. Looking at the crowds leaving, no matter how many good memories he had in this castle in the past, at least for Lockhart now, the feeling of returning to this castle is not very pleasant.

Until the start-of-term dinner was over and he returned to Gryffindor Tower, Harry had no idea where Lockhart's hostility towards him came from - it was completely beyond his imagination.

But it’s not a big problem. If this professor really does something out of line... then Harry thinks Dumbledore will stand on his side.

A new semester, new courses, new magic, Harry really likes the feeling of learning new knowledge and becoming stronger. Although his advance learning progress has far exceeded what a second-year student should master, the professors at Hogwarts will also talk about some related content that is not in the textbooks during lectures, so Harry listens quite carefully.

In the first Charms class of the second year, Professor Flitwick did not teach anything new. Instead, he checked the students' summer homework completion status, and then announced with a grim face that this class would be used to review what the students had learned last semester.

Because these playful little bastards had fun throughout the entire holiday, and only managed to complete their homework in a hasty manner before school started - they had forgotten all the knowledge.

But to be fair, Harry felt that this could not be entirely blamed on the students. After all, students were not allowed to use magic during the holidays. If they could not use magic, how were they supposed to practice spells?
But logic aside, after walking around the classroom, Professor Flitwick only smiled in front of good students like Hermione and Harry who had not yet applied the knowledge they had learned last semester, and then waved to Harry to come over first.

"What's the matter, Professor Flitwick?" Harry asked curiously.

Professor Flitwick is a cheerful and approachable old man. Harry received a lot of help and inspiration from him when he was studying spells, so the relationship between the two is quite good.

"Oh, Harry, are you still being modest?" Professor Flitwick patted Harry's back (he couldn't touch Harry because he was taller) with a cheerful look. "Dumbledore has already told us and asked for our advice."

"Huh?" Harry really didn't understand now.

"Huh?" Professor Flitwick imitated Harry's tone and laughed even more happily, "Elemental magic, Shaman - maybe it won't be long before I can call you Professor Potter."

It was not a joking and intimate name like Professor Harry, but a quite formal name.

"Dumbledore has told you?" Harry was stunned.

"Not really," Professor Flitwick said after a shrug. "He just asked us if it would bother us to work with a twelve-year-old, that's all."

"Yes, he did not mention your name, but who could have guessed it?" Professor Flitwick complained, "As far as I know, this matter has been passed by the school board, with seven votes in favor and five against. The opposition was strong, but it was passed in the end."

(End of this chapter)