The Return to Hogwarts

Harry avoided Sirius and Professor Blaine's gazes and stammered,

"We're here to ask you something, Professor Blaine—"

"uh-huh--"

Amosta leaned back in his chair and made a nasal sound to indicate that he was listening.

"There have always been rumors about the Defense Against the Dark Arts course, and the experiences of the professors who teach this course—such as Quirrell's curse, Gilderoy Lockhart's, and Professor Lupin's—prove this to be true. There is only one exception."

Harry cast a hesitant glance at Professor Blaine, while Hermione seemed dismissive of the baseless rumors, staring down at her toes.

Amosta looked enlightened, while Sirius was stunned when Harry revealed his purpose. He stared intently at Harry's face, which resembled James's, his lips pursed, and a glint of light flashed in his light gray eyes.

The unnatural atmosphere made Harry feel suffocated. He lowered his head in embarrassment, but still insisted on asking the question.

"We want to know how you avoided this misfortune."

“Harry—” Sirius’s voice was gentle.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve thought about it. I’m just doing Dumbledore a temporary favor, for less than half a school year. Even if the rumor is true, I believe it won’t be fatal—”

Chapter 367 Tough Style

2023-07-05

In recent years, among the unsolved mysteries of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the rumor that the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts was cursed has been quite popular. Although Dumbledore always kept quiet about it in public, people believed that there was indeed something to it about this course.

One amazing thing is that no matter who the professor of the course is or how they eventually leave, they always manage to stay in that position until the end of the academic year. Of course, Remus Lupin's final fate had factors of human intervention and cannot be used as a standard for judgment.

Outsiders are fascinated by this, believing that the curse associated with the course professor has a time limit and will erupt after a year. However, Amosta, who has personally experienced this curse, has his own perspective.

Amosta believes this curse is more like a slow-acting toxin. Once you are actually hired, this toxin will exist in your body. It won't erupt immediately, but it will silently change your fortune like Felix Felicis. The toxin will slowly accumulate, and all the things that are not good for you will happen quietly in places you can't see, until it will explode after a certain point.

Judging from this curse, it is clear that Voldemort truly deserves the title of a master of dark magic. At least in the years that Amosta has been involved in the European magical world, he has never seen a curse with an effect that is almost causal.

That said, unless you have something like Amosta, it's very difficult to avoid the misfortune caused by the curse. However, it's not impossible to control the harm caused by the curse to a certain extent—one way is to be careful about how much time you spend in the professor's seat for this course.

Someone like Sirius Black, who only intends to help Dumbledore for two or three months, can at least keep the harm within an acceptable range, even though he cannot escape the consequences.

This is why Amosta did not explicitly object to Sirius accepting Dumbledore's offer of employment.

If Dumbledore had the ability to find three or four "big bastards" a year, this course wouldn't have such a bad reputation.

In short, with Professor Blaine's explanation and Sirius's assurance, Harry was finally less worried that his godfather would suddenly die one day.

Over the next two days, only two topics were the most popular at Hogwarts. The first was the true teaching ability of Sirius Black, who had taken over the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Since there was no class for the third-year Gryffindors for those two days, Harry had to inquire about Sirius's performance in class, afraid of hearing any comments that were unfavorable to him. But according to Fred and George, Sirius's teaching was quite interesting, at least no less than Professor Lupin's.

Another topic is that a conflict seems to have broken out within Slytherin. This conflict occurred in the Slytherin common room after dinner on Monday night. It was said to be very intense, to the point that the Head of Slytherin House had to personally intervene to stop it.

However, because the Slytherin group was tight-lipped about their unique traditions, the other three houses didn't get any detailed information.

However, after that conflict, Malfoy and his two henchmen became arrogant again on campus, while his classmates Theodore Nott and Blaise Sabine always appeared on campus with gloomy faces, their bruises telling everyone that they were the losers in the conflict.

on Wednesday

The weather today was as bright as Harry's mood lately. As the golden sunlight streamed into the dormitory through the carved window lattice, Harry leaped from his four-poster bed, quickly donned his school uniform, and strode to Ron's bedside, slapping the edge of Ron's bed vigorously.

"Get up, Ron! We can't miss today's lesson!"

"Well--"

Ron sat up groggily, yawning and rubbing his sleepy eyes. He blinked in confusion as he watched Harry rush into the bathroom to clean up, but then he realized why Harry was so excited.

Neville, Seymour, and Dean got out of bed one after another.

"what happened?"

Simo, who was breathing heavily, asked in bewilderment.

"I've never seen Harry so excited about going to class before?"

“Sirius’s class,” Ron shrugged, “he’s really looking forward to it—”

Hermione wasn't the only one looking forward to Professor Black's class; at least, during breakfast in the Great Hall, she overheard her two roommates, Lavender and Parvati, pointing at Professor Black at the faculty table and occasionally chuckling.

Undeniably, Sirius Black is among the most handsome of the professors. He has striking features, and perhaps because of his past persecution, there is always a faint melancholy in his eyes when he is not speaking. This melancholy is extremely detrimental to these underage witches who yearn for love.

In terms of teaching quality, Sirius may not be as good as Professor Blaine, who has a strong personal style, but at least in terms of appearance, he has almost as many supporters among young wizards as Amosta.

When they entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Sirius Black, dressed in a sky-blue wizard's robe and already prepared for class, was leaning against the podium waiting for the students to enter.

This was a combined lesson with Slytherin, and Sirius Black was clearly not as popular in Gryffindor as he was in Gryffindor. After all the Gryffindor students had arrived, the Slytherin students slowly and indifferently walked into the classroom. It wasn't until a second before the bell rang that Malfoy appeared at the classroom door with Crabbe and Goyle.

Harry immediately glared angrily at Malfoy. He knew that the reason Malfoy was so late was not because he was held up by anything, but because he wanted to give Sirius a hard time.

When it comes to hating Slytherin, Sirius Black is no less than Harry and the others; however, out of respect for Amostella, he doesn't want to go to the level of Slytherin.

"Now we're starting class—"

After Sirius Black took out the roster and called the roll, he returned to the podium with a smile.

"I learned about the teaching progress of this course from Professor Remslupin, and I must say, I am very satisfied with the pace of your course."

Malfoy tilted his head back casually, glancing sideways at Professor Black, and let out a contemptuous yet clear snort that was heard throughout the class.

“If you dare cause trouble, Malfoy,”

Harry turned around, his face ashen, and glared at him fiercely, saying, "I'll make sure the marks on Sabine and Nott's faces are on your face too—"

“I bet, Potter—”

Malfoy continued with a disdainful smile, "You must be incredibly touched, right? To have a godfather with such extensive experience in prison?"

Before Harry could stand up and pull out his wand, Sirius Black, who had appeared beside him unnoticed, had already placed a hand on his shoulder and was staring coldly at Malfoy.

"Slytherin deducted twenty points—do I need to explain why the points were deducted, Malfoy?"

Confronting a professor head-on is not something a third-year wizard can do. Even if he felt contempt for Sirius Black, Malfoy didn't dare to talk back under Professor Black's cold gaze.

"This is the scene I've always dreamed of!"

Under Hermione's disapproving gaze, Ron covered his mouth and chuckled secretly.

"The fun is just beginning! I really hope Malfoy can show some backbone!"

Sirius returned to his podium, looked around at the class, and a smile returned to his face.

"According to the course schedule, we should be learning more about werewolves, but thanks to Professor Torbryan, we have a rare opportunity to understand how to deal with attacks from another creature—"

Chapter 368 Never Indulge

2023-07-06

Sirius walked to a shelf on one side of the classroom, where a birdcage-shaped object covered with a cloth was placed. Many students noticed the cage being banged on as soon as they entered the classroom, but they didn't hear any chirping.

Sirius Black lifted the cloth covering the cage, turned around, and smiled at all his classmates.

"Can anyone tell me the name of this creature? Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't know; strictly speaking, this creature isn't in the Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum—"

Inside the cage was a large bird with brightly colored feathers and a strangely shaped beak. The bird seemed to have been quite frightened. In a corner of the cage, it stared in terror at Sirius Black, which was just inches away, and cried out desperately. But strangely, no one could hear its cries.

"Oh, you wicked bird—"

Hermione craned her neck, showing an interested expression.

"Excellent! Five points to Gryffindor!"

Sirius nodded in satisfaction at Hermione, then crossed his arms.

"Tell me everything you know, Hermione, if you want to earn five more points for Gryffindor!"

Hermione's face immediately turned bright red. She took a deep breath, stood up, and said...

"This creature mostly lives in Africa. Its brightly colored feathers are highly prized by shamans, and the feathers of the Evil Witch have long been a material for making expensive, high-quality quill pens. Just as young mandrakes emit a dizzying cry, the Evil Witch's call has a similar effect, driving people insane."

The eccentric Ulric once tried to prove that the cry of the Evil Witch Bird was actually beneficial to human health, so he listened to it for three months straight without interruption. He reported his findings to the Wizarding Council, but unfortunately, no one in the council believed him, because when he arrived at the meeting, he was wearing nothing on his head except a small wig. But upon closer inspection, people discovered that the wig was actually a dead badger—”

Neville stared at Hermione's retreating figure with adoration, while Ron muttered something under his breath.

"Since it's not in the course syllabus, where did she get this strange and unusual knowledge from—"

Hermione's classmates were once again amazed by her erudition, while most of the Slytherin students wore sneers. Pansy Parkinson imitated Hermione's strange tone of voice, which amused Draco, who had reconciled with her.

"You guys find this interesting, huh?!"

Hermione pursed her lips tightly, her face flushed with embarrassment and anger. Sirius strode over, looking as if he was about to pick up Malfoy and Parkinson and throw them out of the classroom.

"Are you flaunting your ignorance and shallowness to mask your jealousy, Malfoy and Parkinson?"

"Did he steal the spotlight from you two?"

Dean stared at Sirius with admiration, teasing Harry and Ron, who had already drawn their wands.

Now, Malfoy finally realized that Sirius Black was probably not the weak and easily bullied type like Remus Lupin. If he didn't restrain himself, he might face a month of confinement. But this made him feel even more ashamed. A 'criminal' who had spent twelve years in Azkaban, a piece of scum who had betrayed the honor of his pure-blood family and willingly fallen into Gryffindor, was actually yelling at him in front of him, just because he was a professor!

"Ten points will be deducted from everyone!"

Sirius said without any mercy,

"If you can't keep quiet in my class, I'll keep deducting points from Slytherin's score until Snot Snape can no longer find a single point in the Slytherin hourglass, and then I'll put you in detention!"

so cool!

Every young Gryffindor wizard had the same thought in their mind. They looked at the other half of the classroom, where Slytherins stood with livid faces, and felt a sense of exhilaration that made them feel like they could fly.