From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

“The headmaster went to the owlhouse to reply to Minister Fudge,” William said as he walked. “The situation isn’t good; Black can actually control Dementors…”

"Has he shown up at all?"

“No, it’s probably because it’s too close to Hogwarts…” William shook his head. “Perhaps I’ll have to dedicate two class periods to this in the advanced class. Although the Patronus Charm isn’t on the test, safety is more important in this situation…”

“That’s a problem,” Professor McGonagall nodded. “Is there anything the university needs to provide?”

"Class time... The original class time is already very tight. Maybe we can add one more class a week for the advanced classes in sixth and seventh grade, otherwise we can't arrange extracurricular activities that are not on the exam."

"Then why don't we start a club, Professor William?"

"club?"

"Yes, it's a club to help students with extra learning capacity improve. I personally run a Transfiguration Club on campus..."

Professor McGonagall stopped in her tracks. “You can consult Professor Adams about this. I have to welcome the new students, so please take these to the deans of your respective colleges.”

"Alright, see you later, Professor McGonagall."

William and Lupin, who was behind him, said goodbye to her at the same time, and then led a group of students to the hall.

In fact, they didn't need their guidance—only the second-year students didn't quite understand; the rest of them ran towards their own lounges as soon as they arrived in the lobby.

"Hurry up, kids, the new students are coming! You need to show your most serious attitude and your best side!"

Professor Flitwick called out happily to the children of his own school.

"It's still so vibrant; the traditions of nearly a thousand years haven't changed."

Lupin whispered behind him, and William couldn't help but look at his new colleague—he could no longer contain his smile.

"Tradition?"

"Of course, to scare the first-year students who haven't been sorted yet—if the upperclassmen dress up seriously enough, those first-year students will involuntarily make all sorts of mistakes during the Sorting Ceremony. It's a Hogwarts tradition."

Lupin explained with a smile that William was so skilled that he seemed like the new hire.

'There's no way around it... Last year I was so worried about the curse and whether I would be incompetent that I didn't pay attention to so many details...'

He casually spread his hands, "This year's freshmen are probably the most miserable ever... First, there was the Dementors, then crossing the lake in the rain, and finally, the upperclassmen pulled this stunt. Tsk tsk."

He shook his head. "Let's go, Professor Lupin. I'll introduce you to them—although I guess you already know most of them."

"Not that familiar. It's been a long time since I studied at Hogwarts."

Lupin shook his head and replied with a smile, "It's an honor, Professor William."

-

“William!”

Adams was shouting from a great distance right by the table, completely lacking the demeanor of a professor—but there were no students around now anyway.

The upperclassmen are all busy preparing to scare the new students, who are still struggling with the rain and the lake.

"Adams!"

William walked over with a smile. "How's that batch of herbs?"

“They’re growing well,” Adams replied cheerfully. “I went back to school for the second half of the summer and have been taking care of them ever since. If they’re still not doing well, then I’ll really feel bad for all the hard work I’ve put in all this time.”

"This is my new colleague, Professor Lu Ping."

William introduced Lupin to the professors around him.

“Gryffindor student, I remember you were a prefect back then.”

"Yes, that's right, I was in fourth grade at the time."

"You were sorted into your house the year I graduated, haha, and now you're at Hogwarts too!"

...

Amid a series of welcoming words, William heard a slight nasal tone, tinged with a cold snort.

He glanced in the direction from which the sound came.

Sure enough, it was that person…

Headmaster of Slytherin.

Chapter 268 Opening Ceremony

Lupin was welcomed more than William had expected.

As Professor McGonagall said, Lupin was a distinguished graduate of Gryffindor and a former prefect—meaning that thirteen classes of students might have known him during his seven years at Hogwarts.

'The prefectural head position isn't very prestigious... If the prefectural head were only chosen from the top student, then probably even more people would know him.'

'It's truly terrifying that almost all British wizards come from Hogwarts... If it weren't for the old professor's help, I don't think it would have been so easy for me to integrate into the faculty.'

"Hey William, you came with Professor Lupin?"

While everyone was catching up with the new professor, Adams quietly asked William a question.

“Yes,” William responded softly, “not a pleasant journey, but Professor Lupin was quite a fighter.”

"Of course! He was a Gryffindor prefect when I was in school. Sirius Black was his classmate back then, and he still couldn't beat him!"

Adams spoke in a low voice, but he revealed all the information he needed.

"Is there still this?"

“That’s right,” Adams shook his head. “I was a junior student back then, so I didn’t know much about what Gryffindor was like. I only knew a little bit about it—and after they graduated, I knew nothing more about it.”

'Can't you be a little more gossipy? You Hufflepuff graduates have such a lack of curiosity. If it were a Ravenclaw student, they'd be asking questions about this by now…'

It wasn't that William had any prejudice against Ravenclaw students; several people in Azka's class said the same thing…

Rita Skeeter, the most disliked journalist in the British wizarding world, is a Ravenclaw graduate. To paraphrase the prisoner in the cell two cells next to William's:

"That's a shameless bitch who has never heard of honor. Her greatest talent is fabricating stories! Don't let me see that bitch again after I get out of prison. Even if I have to go back to Azkaban, I'll curse her with the word 'bitch'!"

Because his insults were so classic, and because the one-and-a-half-year sentence for assaulting a journalist was so tragic, William still remembers those exact words very clearly.

It wasn't just Rita—several people in Azkaban who were caught illegally installing spyglasses were also Ravenclaws… Given that, it's perfectly normal for Ravenclaw prisoners to get yelled at with strange things when they get into arguments.

But it's not just Ravenclaw... Honestly, if William were to learn all the sarcastic remarks from Azkaban, he could probably empty the negative emotion boxes of all four Headmasters today...

Slytherin's won't work - you can't refresh the chest twice.

"William?"

Adams suddenly woke William from his reverie.

"what happened?"

"We're about to be assigned to different departments, and the new students are coming. We need to act serious."

Adams pointed to the entrance of the auditorium in the distance. Although he couldn't see any new students there, Professor McGonagall's voice could be heard through the door.

William nodded, putting on a stern face in a very cooperative manner—freshmen are hard to manage, so scare them a bit and they'll listen; that's probably the idea.

-

The sorting ceremony was the same as last year – nervous students, serious and earnest professors, and enthusiastic yet polite upperclassmen.

It's just like the image of various universities' promotional materials after the college entrance examination. It looks good when you arrive, but you'll have to discover for yourself whether it's a university for internet addiction treatment, a university without air conditioning, or a university for rap.

'It's so deceptive; this is probably the only time a year that Gryffindors will behave themselves at the dinner table and not cause any trouble.'

William maintained a polite smile, looking at the new students and the pretentious old students.

"First-year students, a brand new beginning. Hmm, I don't think anyone will object to starting with a simple academic assessment, right?"

There's no way around it; the Hogwarts entrance education is completely different.

Some wizarding families send their children to primary schools in Muggle communities. These children are similar to children from Muggle families and their grades improve rapidly in their first year of school.

It's hard to say about the other wizarding families. Some children complete their early education at home, and what they learn depends entirely on how their mothers teach them. Others are taught by a wizarding village that joins together to pay a wizard to teach them, which is a kind of large-scale private school model.

There are also wild wizards who accept the master-apprentice model passed down through generations, like William's. If they are not satisfied with each other before the age of eleven, the master-apprentice relationship is dissolved—although I haven't heard of any such dissolution in the last hundred years.

In these models, the gap in academic level among first-year students is very large—this does not refer to the difference in their knowledge, but rather to the difference in their understanding and perception of learning.

Some freshmen preview the textbooks and read through all the content before entering school, while others don't know how to preview even when told by their teachers...

“Starting school at eleven…that’s a bit of a waste of preschool education time…but we can’t rush this, I need to do some more research.”

Just as William was contemplating freshman education, the sorting process had already ended.

The Sorting Hat didn't cause any trouble this year, and the Sorting Ceremony went smoothly, with all the students successfully finding their respective colleges.

"welcome!"

Dumbledore stood up from the table, as reassuring as ever.

Welcome to Hogwarts for the new school year!

"Today is a day worth celebrating for everyone—although some unpleasant things happened on the way to school, the matter was resolved relatively well."

He cleared his throat. "The Dementors have gotten a bit out of control. The Ministry of Magic has formed an emergency investigation team and is interrogating all the Dementors present."

"According to the investigation report sent to Hogwarts by the Ministry of Magic, these Dementors were not under magical control, but rather under a special influence." Dumbledore looked around at all the students. "With the Ministry of Magic's assurance, the school has agreed to allow the Ministry to place Dementors guarding the school entrances and exits within a hundred meters, checking everyone who passes by."

'Out of control? What's going on?'

William looked at Lupin, and then received a bewildered look from Lupin.

"When students are granted permission to enter and leave the school in groups, the school will send professors to monitor the Dementors—of course, this does not mean that you can try to provoke or attack the Dementors, that is a serious violation of the law, and those who are discovered will be warned of expulsion or even prosecuted directly."

"I sincerely hope that no one will try to get into conflict with them. Class monitors, as well as our newly appointed male and female student council presidents, you must ensure that you supervise every student during your free time."

“Finally,” Dumbledore said, scanning the room, “I am delighted to welcome two new teachers to our team this year.”

Chapter 269 No matter what, school starts.

"The first professor is Professor Lupin, who will teach the Wizard Self-Defense Magic course together with Professor William."

"Well, Professor Lupin will be in charge of teaching the second, third, and fourth grades, while Professor William will continue to teach the other grades."

A thunderous applause erupted from the audience. William remembered that Professor Lockhart hadn't received such a grand welcome last year.

He couldn't help but look at the students clapping with curiosity, and found that most of them were young students—probably the children in the grades that Lu Ping was in charge of.