Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 562 (560): Lupin's Departure and the New Professor (4k)

"You did a good job before I came, didn't you?"

Dumbledore said to the group.

"Headmaster Dumbledore."

The group quickly greeted each other.

Dumbledore gazed at Harry, who was covered in mud, and then at the Dementors in the distance.

His expression changed more than just a little; everyone could tell he was somewhat angry.

Perhaps he was extremely angry?

The wizards heard unpleasant words coming from his mouth.

"I'm fine, Principal."

Harry was fed chocolate by Justin, and he felt a little better.

Dumbledore's expression darkened further.

Before Harry could say anything more, a group of Quidditch players swarmed around him.

“Headmaster Dumbledore—Harry, are you alright?” Fred exclaimed.

“We thought you were dead,” Arya said, trembling.

Can we have a rematch?

Harry quickly asked.

No one spoke.

The terrible truth sank into Harry's heart like a stone.

"Diggory caught the thief,"

George said,
"Right after you fell. He didn't know what had happened. He turned around, saw you on the ground, and wanted to call a timeout to have a rematch. But they won fairly, they won fair and square... even Wood admitted it."

Where is Wood?

Harry suddenly realized Wood was gone and asked.

"Still in the rain,"

Fred said,

"We think he wants to drown himself."

Harry buried his face between his knees and pulled at his hair.

Fred grabbed his shoulders and shook him roughly.

"Alright, Harry, we have plenty of opportunities."

"Perhaps Mr. Weasley is right, but why not help Harry to the school hospital, Mr. Weasley?"

Dumbledore said with a smile.

“Yes, Headmaster Dumbledore—if Ravenclaw defeats Hufflepuff, we still have a chance…”

Fred kept talking as he helped Harry up.

"By the way, where's my broom? Did someone take my Nimbus?"

Harry seemed to remember something important and asked Justin.

"Uh--"

Justin and Hermione exchanged a quick glance.

"what's wrong?"

Harry looked at this, then at that, and asked.

"That's right... when you fell, it was blown away by the wind."

Hermione hesitated and looked in one direction.

Harry followed her gaze and saw a dozen or so pieces of wood and twigs lying near the Whomping Willow. These were the remains of Harry's loyal flying broomstick, which was ultimately smashed.

Harry's vision went black, and he wished he had fainted.

"Don't worry, Harry."

Sheen spoke again in a slow, deliberate voice.

Strangely, everyone fell silent as soon as he spoke.

"You'll get a good broom; someone can't wait to buy you one."

Sheen glanced at the stands.

"What……"

Harry didn't realize what was happening and instinctively believed Sheehan's words.

Dumbledore easily caught the young wizard's expression for a moment, but he didn't do anything. He just squinted as Harry was sent away, and then stopped the young wizard.

"Mr. Green, why don't you come with me for afternoon tea?"

He said.

……

Outside the principal's office.

The stone beast ignored the arrival of the two and simply kept jumping away.

Arriving at his familiar office, Sheen was able to feed Mr. Phoenix some herbs again.

[You have gained the favor of the magical creature Phoenix (Fox) by meeting the beginner's standards, affinity +3]

[Phoenix Focus: Slightly Approachable (Entry-Level) (89/300)]

Mr. Fox's affinity rating continues to rise slowly, as always.

"Oh, is there anything you want to say to me? Anything."

Headmaster Dumbledore flicked his finger, and steaming hot black tea naturally poured out of the teapot.

The hot air clung to the windowpane, forming hexagonal, shimmering ice crystals.

"I've received quite a bit of news from the Ministry of Magic lately, regarding Hogwarts. It seems my understanding of the castle isn't as deep as I thought?"

"Dumbledore said meaningfully."

"This was an accident, Principal."

Sheen said.

The day he was about to inform Headmaster Dumbledore, he was interrupted by Professor Snape.

"Who wouldn't believe you, Mr. Green, who never lies?"

Dumbledore smiled.

"But you caught the fugitive, um... Sirius, and your headmaster knows nothing about it?"

"Oh……"

Sheen said hesitantly,

"I did not catch Sirius."

"It seems I have to make a decision between the Ministry of Magic and you, but it won't be difficult,"

Dumbledore's gaze suddenly became distant.
“They told me the fugitive had been caught, but it wasn’t Sirius… Peter, is that the name, kid?”

Sheen was slightly surprised.

Principal Dumbledore's wisdom seems never to have faded.

"I didn't catch Peter Pettigrew either."

Sheen said sincerely.

"..."

Dumbledore fell silent for the first time.

He considered one last possibility.

Remus Lupin.

Choosing between trusting him and the young wizard before him was far too difficult.

Even he, the greatest white wizard of this century, Dumbledore, could only make a painful choice...

"Professor Snape discovered our capture scene, a fierce battle broke out in the Screaming Shed, and Little Pettigrew escaped."

Fortunately, Sheen's next words greatly eased Dumbledore's worries.

"He ran away again?"

"Dumbledore asked."

Sheen nodded:

"But we've discovered his Animagus form as a rat, so he won't be coming back."

By the way, Professor, during the Divination exam, Professor Trelawney acted very—very strangely. He even made a prophecy about it.

Sheen added.

"is it?"

Dumbledore said,
“Uh—you mean even stranger than usual? Please forgive me, before I met you, I thought there were no prophetes who weren’t strange… not even him.”

"he is?"

Sheen asked, not quite understanding.

"Oh, perhaps he could be one of your teachers."

Dumbledore seemed unwilling to discuss this topic further.
Can you tell me the specifics of her situation?

"Dumbledore asked."

"That day, her voice was low and her eyes darted around. She said... Voldemort's servant was to set off before midnight to meet him... and that the servant would help him make a comeback."

Sheen explained,

"Then Professor Trelawney returned to normal and didn't remember saying those words."

Dumbledore looked somewhat surprised.

“You know what, Green, I think it’s very likely,” he said thoughtfully.
"Who would have thought? That means she's made two real prophecies in total. I should give her a raise... But for now, we should ask those guests to leave."

Dumbledore stood up.

"So you knew everything, Fudge?"

He took out a mirror, revealing Minister Fudge's smooth face.
"Yes, I saw it all through the magic network! The Daily Prophet has something to do again! We discovered the truth, caught Peter, but let him slip through our fingers again! I'm going to become a laughing stock!"

Sigh... I'd better go and inform the Ministry of Magic now..."

"Where are the Dementors?"

Dumbledore asked,
"Shouldn't they have to leave the school?"

“Oh, right, they have to leave,”

In the mirror, Fudge ran his fingers through his hair in frustration and said...
"I can't believe they actually tried to kiss an innocent boy... This is complete chaos... No, I have to drive them back to Azkaban tonight... Maybe we should consider having dragons guard the school gates..."

Hagrid will be very happy.

Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Oh—maybe, who knows?"

Fudge responded irritably.

"At least you discovered the truth, didn't you, sir?"

Sheen suddenly said.

"Mr. Green?"

Fudge seemed somewhat surprised.
"You're here too?"

Good evening, Mr. Fudge.

Sheen greeted him.

"Good evening, Mr. Green,"

Fudge seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, his eyes darting around.
"Of course you won't know, and you don't need to know. The truth is important to you, but others won't be at ease until they see Peter in jail..."

Fortunately, you discovered his foul disguise—he transformed into a rat and slept with the students—"

As Fudge spoke, he seemed to feel disgusted with himself.
"At least we don't have to worry about him sleeping in another student's bed anymore. The Ministry of Magic will thoroughly investigate every single mouse... Oh, and of course, besides that, I have a small favor that I need your permission for..."

"what?"

Sheen asked.

"It's a news report, of course. How about the headline, 'A Secret Sealed for Twelve Years and Its Decryptor Hermes'?"

"That's what Fudge said hopefully."

Sheen roughly understood.

Fudge wanted to distract the wizards with something else so they wouldn't focus too much on the fugitive.

After all, how could a fugitive who had been hiding for twelve years be as attractive as the name Hermes?

"Whatever you prefer."

Sheen said.

Have a pleasant evening.

Fudge, satisfied, disconnected the magic net.
"You are one too, Headmaster Dumbledore."

……

In conclusion, the Dementors were expelled from the school.

Headmaster Dumbledore and Sheehan personally searched every corner to confirm that not a single Dementor could stay at Hogwarts for even a second longer.

Besides that, there is another big event.

That means Professor Lu Ping is leaving.

It was a cold day, and everything around was covered in white snow.

Two wizards, one big and one small, stood at the entrance to the principal's office.

"Professor Lupin is leaving?"

Sheen seemed somewhat surprised.

"Perhaps that's what I should be asking you, child,"

Dumbledore stared at Sheehan with a smile.

"Remus told me he had more important things to do and apologized for some of the things he had kept from me."

"Something important..."

Sheen remained silent for a while.

“I suspect it’s not just him who’s been hiding things… but I thought no one could take him away… but obviously I’m getting old, and Remus thinks he should work for a younger wizard, not me, don’t you think?”

Dumbledore asked kindly.

Sheen was unable to answer.

What should he tell Headmaster Dumbledore?

Was Nagini Voldemort's last Horcrux?
But Professor Trelawney's words echoed in Sheehan's mind:
"He's still cunning..." "Be careful... Seventh..."

The future has already deviated significantly. Will Voldemort's last Horcrux still be Nagini?

Will Voldemort still only create seven Horcruxes? Will he still choose the same materials for the Horcruxes?

Sheen didn't know.

He can only try his best to prevent the future from going astray.

Sheehan was unwilling to elaborate too much on an uncertain future, at least until he found Nagini.

As he said to Lupin:

"Professor, what we are about to do is more unknown and dangerous than anything else, and more important than anything else."

Suddenly, Sheen woke up with a start.

The centaur teacher said that prophecy is an imprecise form of magic. Can his current situation serve as a precise confirmation?

At the same time, he remembered what his teacher, the centaur, had said: prophecies are never wrong.

This made him examine his fate more cautiously, and he became even less willing to waste words on something uncertain.

After all, one thing is certain.

He will continue to increase the power of magic until he can crush all tricks.

"Older people are always more understanding of younger people, aren't they? Even though the facts are right in front of me, I'm still willing to be more understanding. However, I hope to give you a private lesson this semester."

Dumbledore then changed the subject.

"Individual classes?"

Sheen asked curiously.

"Yes. I think it's time for me to teach you more."

Dumbledore smiled and nodded.

"What will you teach me, sir?"

Sheen was already starting to feel a little excited.

"Oh, teach a little of this, and a little of that, okay?"

Dumbledore said it casually.

Sheen nodded, preparing to leave.

Professor Lupin will be leaving soon, probably this afternoon, and Sheen is going to look for him.

"By the way, don't you have anything to ask me?"

Dumbledore said.

Sheen shook his head.

He is leaving.

"Oh, maybe you should think about it carefully."

Dumbledore continued.

Sheen was confused.

"Professor Lupin has left..."

Dumbledore offered a reminder.

"We're missing a professor?"

Sheen asked tentatively.

Dumbledore smiled, as if he had been waiting for Sheen to say those words:

"Of course, that's right... We're short a professor for some, oh, we all know why. So, we need to find another professor."

Perfect timing! I know Professor Snape is willing to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts for the first half of the year, so all we need to do is find a Potions professor.

Even more coincidentally, a potions master was currently at home in retirement…

Dumbledore stared straight at Sheehan.

“Oh, may I know who he is? Headmaster Dumbledore.”

Sheehan, like a machine operating according to a set program, helplessly complied with Headmaster Dumbledore's question.

“Of course, that’s no problem. You should know Slughorn, one of our retired colleagues.”

Dumbledore said.

Is there anything I can do to help?

Sheehan then followed up with Dumbledore's question.

"Oh, I think I'll put you to good use."

Dumbledore suppressed his trembling beard as he laughed.

　The deer has adjusted the outline; there will be more tonight…

　　
　
(End of this chapter)