My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 211, Section 208: The Fake Professor and the Fake Student

This year's opening banquet was as lavish as ever.

Lynn and the other two separated after entering the Great Hall. They usually ate together at the Ravenclaw table, but on this day of the Sorting Ceremony, they would obviously return to their respective house seats.

Hermione still hadn't seen Harry and Ron, and she looked terrible and was in a very bad mood.

As every year, the long table on the high platform of the auditorium was filled with professors, and there was a new face among them—Gidero Lockhart.

Today, the celebrity wizard wasn't wearing his flashy forget-me-not blue robe, but a plain black robe. His cloying smile was also gone; instead, he seemed quite interested in chatting with Professor Flitwick beside him.

This year's Sorting Ceremony wasn't anything special; the only noteworthy event was the admission of Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood, two of Harry Potter's three golden flowers.

However, they are still young, so there's not much to pay attention to.

Halfway through the Sorting Ceremony, Snape and Dumbledore whispered a few words to each other on the professors' table before leaving the Great Hall. Lockhart saw this, smiled, and didn't ask any questions. Instead, he continued discussing with Professor Flitwick the control of emotions over spellcasting.

"Wizards need emotions to use spells, but it's not that the stronger the better. Strong emotions can make the spell's effect more pronounced, but they can also make it difficult for the wizard to control their magic. Therefore, when using magic, a skilled wizard will always find a balance to maximize the spell's effect while also having better control over it."

"So, are spells like the Patronus Charm, which are highly dependent on the wizard's emotions, an exception?"

"No, no spell is an exception. To successfully cast the Patronus Charm, you need to be in a state of happiness. But to condense the spell into the shape of an animal, the wizard needs to consciously control it. To put it bluntly, don't let your emotions override your reason."

Some things are too profound and advanced for Professor Flitwick to cover in his Charms class, but since Lockhart was discussing them under the guise of teacher-to-teacher exchange, Professor Flitwick could certainly go into more depth.

"Thank you for sharing, Professor Flitwick. Your knowledge is truly remarkable," Lockhart said with a smile.

This wasn't Professor Flitwick's first encounter with Lockhart; he had been Lockhart's professor before. However, Lockhart had left a rather poor impression on him back then. He never expected Lockhart to be so refined, easy-going, humble, and polite now.

"It's alright, Lockhart. I've read some of your works as well. It seems that you've changed many of your bad habits since graduating from Hogwarts, and you've also become quite skilled at dealing with dark magical creatures."

Although Lockhart was a fraud, his stories were all true; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to fool so many people in the wizarding world and even obtain the badge of the Order of Merlin.

After the college sorting ceremony, the admission banquet officially began.

Just as the young wizards were enjoying their meal, Snape, who had left during the Sorting Ceremony, suddenly returned. He seemed to be in a very good mood. He went to the professors' table and whispered a few words to Professor McGonagall. Afterward, Professor McGonagall's face turned extremely pale, and she followed Snape away with a grim expression.

Not long after the two of them left the Great Hall, Dumbledore also silently left the long table, clearly to deal with what had just happened between Snape and Professor McGonagall.

Lockhart, who witnessed this scene, knew very well that Harry and Ron had arrived at the school in that flying car and had been captured by Snape.

He didn't think much of this little incident, but instead turned and glared at the Slytherin table with a dark expression.

Lynn was struggling to pull a chicken leg off a whole chicken, looking as excited as a rabbit pulling radishes from its own field. She also had half a pork knuckle in her mouth, and the plate in front of her was piled with various pieces of meat like a small mountain.

Half of the little snakes there were stunned by Lynn's unrestrained eating. She looked as if she hadn't eaten meat at all during the entire summer vacation and wanted to make up for the lack of meat in the past two months with this meal.

Lynn, who was enjoying her meal, suddenly felt a murderous gaze. She immediately stopped what she was doing and stared around to find the source of the gaze. Then she met Professor Lockhart's gaze on the platform.

Professor Lockhart smiled at her, a smile that seemed gentle but sent chills down Lynn's spine.

She immediately abandoned the chicken leg she had been struggling to tear off, swallowed the pork knuckle she had been holding in her mouth whole, threw the bone onto the table, and then sat up straight, quiet as a gentleman, as if the mess in front of her was not her doing.

Dumbledore quickly returned to the Great Hall, and the dinner party ended not long afterward.

The young wizards, who had already eaten and drunk their fill, listened to his annual Defense Against the Dark Arts course presentation. This year, Professor Lockhart was incredibly popular, especially among the young witches, and the applause in the hall was thunderous.

After a chaotic rendition of the school song, the entrance banquet came to an end.

The upperclassmen from each house returned to their dormitories, chatting about topics they hadn't finished discussing. News of Harry and Ron arriving at school in their flying car had already spread, and many people on the train had seen them.

The Gryffindor kids cheered with excitement. They were a bunch of mischievous monkeys, and this cool and fun thing was something they longed for.

The newly appointed Professor Lockhart also ended his discussion with Professor Flitwick about the curse and walked alone to his professor's office.

At Hogwarts, the professors live and work in the same place, but it is divided into two rooms: the outer room is used for office work, and the inner room is used for daily living.

To be honest, if there is such a thing as a haunted house in Hogwarts Castle, then the most haunted place would undoubtedly be the office of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Over the decades, it has changed hands countless times, and no one has ever lived here for more than two years. Most of them either ended up in Azkaban or died in this position.

Last year, in particular, Voldemort possessed Quirrell and essentially lived here for a year as well.

Professor Lockhart entered the office, closed the door, and then removed his disguise from Magus, revealing his true appearance.

Unsurprisingly, the fake "Professor Lockhart" was none other than Lynn.

In the short time after he got off the Hogwarts Express and parted ways with Cedric and the others, he transformed into Lockhart to prepare for attending the opening banquet as a professor.

As for who Lynn is, who appeared in front of the public? Just based on her starving appearance at the banquet, anyone who knows her even slightly would know that she is actually a hamster.

Just as Lynn was about to tidy up the office, there was a knock on the door, and a familiar voice called out from behind the door in a low voice.

"Lynn, it's me."

Lynn opened the door with a dark expression, then peeked out and made sure there was no one else in the hallway before pulling his other self, who was standing outside, inside.

"Didn't I tell you before? When you get to Hogwarts, don't call me Lynn, call me Professor Lockhart."

After entering the office, Umaru acted as if she were at home, collapsing onto the guest sofa as if she had no bones.

"Oh dear, there's no one else here."

"Since there's no one else here, then stop wearing my face and change back right now."

"Compound decoctions are very inconvenient. I can't just switch back whenever I want; I have to wait for the effects of the medicine to wear off on their own."

Lynn reached out to tap her head, but since she was facing his own face, he felt awkward about tapping himself, so he gave up on the idea and decided to lecture her instead.

"What was wrong with you at the dinner party tonight? Did you become unruly just because no one was watching you? You ate like a starving ghost. If you didn't know better, you'd think I was abusing you at home during summer vacation, feeding you cabbage leaves every day."

"I was wrong, I promise I won't do it again next time." Xiao Mai admitted her mistake, but whether she would actually dare to do it next time was anyone's guess.

"You've been following me around all this time, so you should be familiar with my mannerisms and way of speaking. You'd better make your act convincing. If you get caught, you'll be paraded through the streets as a warning. I won't reveal my identity to speak up for you."

"Ah! How heartless you are, Lynn."

"Then you should put your mind to it and stop thinking about eating all the time. You're supposed to be going to Hogwarts next year. What will you do if you're too stupid to learn magic?"

"Then I'll just have to be forced to quit and go home to watch TV all day while waiting for Lynn to support me," Umaru said spinelessly.

Lynn was angered by her unambitious words.

"You sound pretty excited about it? I'm your brother, not your dad, and definitely not your future husband! If you get expelled from Hogwarts, I'll kick you out of the house! You'll be sleeping on the streets!"

"Okay, okay."

Having lived with Lynn for two years, Xiaomai has become increasingly emboldened. At first, when Lynn bought an owl, she was afraid that he was going to throw her away. Now she understands that he was just saying it and that he would not abandon her.

Perhaps it's because of the wrong name, but Lynn noticed that Umaru is becoming more and more of a homebody. She spends most of her time at home watching TV. A while ago, she saw an FC (Famicom) game console in a magazine and excitedly asked Lynn if she could have it for Christmas this year. If this continues, she's really going to become a dried-up girl.

So one of the reasons I brought Umaru to Hogwarts this year was to prevent her from staying at home all day and becoming unambitious.

"Haven't you always wanted a game console?" Lynn suddenly said in a seductive voice.

Umaru jumped up from the sofa in a flash, her eyes shining as she looked at Lynn: "You promised to buy it for me?"

"Buying it isn't out of the question, after all, you're still a child. After studying, you naturally need entertainment. However, you have to meet my requirements," Lynn said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Be a good girl and don't overeat?" Umaru asked, biting her finger.

"This isn't a request, it's something you should have done anyway." Now that the effects of the compound decoction had worn off, Lynn could finally tap her head with his finger.

"My requirements are very simple. I want to be a professor now. Hogwarts has seven years and a lot of classes every week, so you will have to pretend to be me for a long time. During this time, you need to learn magic in advance. You can come to me, go to the library, or ask other teachers for help, it's up to you. At the end of the term, I will give you a test. If you pass the test, I will buy you a game console."

Umaru's expression showed some struggle. Apart from the Animagus, which she was born with, she had never been exposed to any other magic. Moreover, she was now taking Lynn's place in the third year, not starting from scratch. She didn't know what Lynn's final standard was, which made her feel that the possibility of her meeting the standard was very low.

Lynn noticed her predicament and told her about the difficulty of the exam in advance.

"Don't worry, it won't be too difficult. At most, it'll be at the level of a normal first-year final exam at Hogwarts. Besides, you won't lose anything by giving it a try."

Hearing him say that, Umaru finally made up her mind.

"Then it's settled, and you can't go back on your word!"

"When have I ever lied to you? Of course I won't go back on my word."

Umaru seems to have already envisioned her wonderful life after getting the game console. She'll bring it to Hogwarts, Kira will have to watch the house, and Lynn won't be in class with her, so she can play however she wants.

All it takes is one semester of hard work, and the rewards will be in store!

Lynn was tidying up the books on his desk when he caught a glimpse of Umaru's silly, dreamy expression out of the corner of his eye. He could easily guess what she was thinking.

Thinking that once I get my hands on the game console, I'll be free when I go to Hogwarts next year?

Are you kidding me? In Hogwarts, this magical castle, all electronic devices are malfunctioning. Umaru can only play the game console at home for two months during summer vacation. Bringing it to school would just make it a useless metal box.

She's still just a little girl, how could she possibly defeat the great demon king Lynn?

Lynn quickly tidied up the things in the office, and then went to the professors' dormitory at the back and changed all the beds there to her own.

This was Quirrell's place last year. Who knows if Voldemort buried his face in that pillow every day?

Lynn would rather die than have an indirect close encounter with the Dark Lord.

Umaru didn't leave either. She was scared living alone in Lynn's dorm, so she turned into a hamster and slept on the sofa.

There's a Defense Against the Dark Arts class tomorrow morning, so Lynn went to bed early. He's confident in teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, whether it's a seventh-year or first-year student.

(End of this chapter)