Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 451 The Anticipated New Professor
This is probably the first time in recent years that Hogwarts students have welcomed the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor so enthusiastically.

The applause and cheers that erupted in the auditorium almost shook away the thick, dark clouds outside the ceiling.

Speaking of which, Sirius Black is quite a legendary figure at Hogwarts.

Because of his escape from Azkaban, Hogwarts had to spend an incredibly oppressive school year surrounded by Dementors.

But soon after, news came that Sirius Black had been acquitted, and that he was innocent, and that the culprit was actually his other friend, Peter Pettigrew.

From what they know, this story is full of twists and turns, and its excitement is no less than that of the most popular serialized story in The Wizarding Weekly.

Unfortunately, very few people know about this. Although they are curious about it like cats scratching their heads, they have never been able to figure out the details of the whole incident.

Unexpectedly, a year later, the person involved in this incident appeared at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and became their new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

The students clapped their hands vigorously, with Harry and Ron being the most enthusiastic, almost standing on their stools, and their palms soon turned bright red.

“Harry, why didn’t you tell me Sirius was coming to be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?” Ron said excitedly. “I thought I was seeing things!”

“I… I just found out myself,” Harry said. “Sirius didn’t tell me before.”

“I know, this is the surprise he prepared for you,” Hermione said, her face flushed with excitement.

"He didn't go to the station to see you off today because he knew you would definitely meet at school."

“One more thing,” Celen said, cutting himself a piece of beef pie. “He wasn’t lying this time; you two really will be seeing each other more often.”

“Yes, that’s true,” Harry said. He looked equally pleased, but at the same time, a hint of worry flashed in his eyes.

Half an hour later, after the students had finished eating and drinking, Dumbledore stood up again as per procedure and announced some important information that everyone needed to know for the new school year.

First, Filch added more than a dozen magical items that were forbidden to be used in the school. They were all written on the long list outside his office, and Dumbledore said that everyone could take a look when they had time.

"It's a shame... we seventh graders are just too busy, I'm afraid we won't have much time to look at that list of prohibited items," Fred said with a grin from the audience.

I'm not sure if I'm mistaken, but Dumbledore seemed to have heard me and even glanced in my direction.

Fortunately, he didn't seem to mind and continued talking about the Quidditch team selection process.

The selection process for new team members was moved up to the first weekend after the start of the school term, instead of the second week as before.

The main reason is that Quidditch matches were canceled and all activities were suspended due to the Triwizard Tournament last year.

This also meant that the team's missing players were not replaced in time, and all of them were postponed until this year. In addition, with the older players who had just graduated, the time available before was not enough.

"What a great opportunity! This year's situation is extremely favorable for us," said Angelina Johnson, the team's new captain, excitedly.

It was then that Celen noticed that almost all the members of the Gryffindor team were present. The oldest, Angelina, Fred, George, and Arya Spinnet, were all in seventh grade.

Needless to say, Harry is also a sixth-year player, and there's also a Chaser, Katie Bell. So all we need to do is find a goalkeeper to replace the graduated former captain, Oliver Wood.

But other colleges are not so relaxed. For example, the Hufflepuff team had three veteran players graduate last year, and with this year's graduates, the entire team is now down to just Cedric and a Chaser, which is practically a completely new team.

And Ravenclaw is also missing almost half of its original members. Even if they were to re-recruit a full squad, such a team would inevitably lack chemistry and its overall strength would decline... unless they find Quidditch geniuses like Viktor Krum.

But this is almost impossible. Hogwarts has only so many students each year, and they are divided into four houses, leaving them with very limited choices.

Angelina is right, Gryffindor has a real advantage this year.

After Dumbledore led everyone in singing the school song in hundreds of different tunes, a clattering sound of tables and chairs filled the air as everyone stood up to leave the Great Hall.

Fortunately, Dumbledore didn't mention anything about Dementors, which means they won't have to keep those monsters company this year.

This is really good news.

At this moment, Hermione jumped up, looking very panicked.

"Harry, we should go and give directions to the first-year students!"

Harry was taken aback for a moment, then hurriedly stood up, clearly having completely forgotten about the incident.

He actually wanted to go find Sirius more, but seeing Hermione's retreating figure, he hesitated for a moment before quickly following her.

"Come here, first-year students, line up here."

……

Siren didn't need to queue with the first-year students; he arrived early with the others via the stairs to the eighth floor, at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

"Password!" The plump lady smoothed out the wrinkles in her pink silk dress and looked at everyone with a stern gaze.

“Mibu Mibu,” Angelina said.

She was also a prefect, a seventh-year student, and had already learned the password from the head of the girls' council while still on the Hogwarts Express.

“Oh, right,” the plump lady said, her portrait opening like a door to reveal a passage behind it.

“This year’s password is really weird,” Lee Jordan complained as he emerged from the tunnel. “It feels like she just came up with a random word.”

Xiren noticed that Ron's face suddenly turned deathly pale, his whole body was trembling, and his throat was moving rapidly, as if he was desperately trying to prevent the contents of his stomach from surging up...

Oh, by the way, the cactus-like plant Neville carried with him on the Hogwarts Express was called Mibu Mibu.

Unlike cacti, Mibumibo is a magical plant that sprays out a foul-smelling sap when stimulated.

More importantly, Ron had been lucky enough to taste it before. The fat lady's command clearly stirred up those less-than-pleasant memories for him.

Siren silently moved two steps to the side, keeping a relatively safe distance from Ron.

……

(End of this chapter)