From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Hagrid responded incoherently, then walked toward his house.

"He collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious!"

"He collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious!"

...

...

Four spells, four voices, rang out almost simultaneously. The three professors who had been hiding nearby, along with William, chose the moment Hagrid turned around. One after another, brightly colored, scorching spells tore through the air and struck Hagrid accurately on the back of the head.

Just as William unleashed the spell, Hagrid swiftly turned his head, but the ensuing spell struck him mercilessly. He merely showed an incredulous expression before crashing heavily backward.

Hagrid's magic resistance may be terrifyingly strong, but without any warning, being hit by four stun spells, this was all he could do.

'That will definitely hurt his head,' William quickly added a powerful levitation spell, lifting Hagrid into the air before slowly lowering him down.

Even so, Hagrid still kicked up some dust.

"I'm sorry, Hagrid."

He glanced at the fallen giant, then exchanged a brief look with the other three professors.

We had a brief discussion when we came here before. Although no one wanted the current situation, we were still prepared.

The three nodded to each other and then drew their wands.

"one two three."

William gestured with his left hand, and as the third finger rose, he waved his wand, and the roof of Hagrid's room flew up and landed on the ground next to it.

Then, he swung his wand, leaving beautiful marks as spells struck the wall. The wall that was facing William and the others then fell directly to the ground, revealing the scene inside.

The instant the wall collapsed, several extremely fast ropes flew out from Professor McGonagall's side, rushing straight into the house like snakes.

Lupin and Professor Flitwick's wands were positioned in optimal attack positions, ready to strike immediately should any person or object appear.

But there wasn't a single living creature in sight.

Inside, there was only common furniture, and nothing unusual happened. The only sound at the scene was the intermittent repetition of Hagrid's dog peeking out, barking twice, and then retreating.

"Nobody here?"

William, skeptical, pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket, cast a few spells on it, and then tore it to shreds with a single magic spell. As he waved his wand, all the fragments began to flutter wildly throughout the room.

With the paper falling to the ground, William had to abandon his exploration.

"No one can escape, no matter if someone uses a Disillusionment Charm or any other method to hide."

With a simple transformation spell, the fragments were covered in a sticky substance that could adhere to objects—no matter what method the other party used to hide, or even if a repulsion spell was cast on something invisible, it was useless.

It's simple, easy to understand, and convenient from every angle; it's a little trick that William figured out himself.

'Gulp~'

Harry swallowed hard. Although the professor wasn't targeting him specifically, and this wasn't an arrest, he couldn't help but doubt whether his invisibility cloak could evade such detection...

“Harry, I think we should stay away from the professor’s office when we sneak out in the future.”

Ron spoke in his ear, causing Harry to nod in agreement.

"Strange, no one is hiding, why would Hagrid..."

William shook his head, put on his dragon skin gloves, and cast a series of protective spells on himself, including the Ironclad Charm and the Bubble Charm, before cautiously walking into the half-dismantled house.

The house, now without a roof, was incredibly well-lit, and William began to carefully examine Hagrid's house to see if there were any signs of someone else living there.

Then he saw it on the table.

To be precise, it's on the table and under the table.

There were two piles of books over there, including books like "Muggle Early Childhood Education Research," "Muggle Fertility Research," and "How to Get Your Child into Hogwarts," as well as some that looked... well, very Azkaban.

'Now I understand why Hagrid wouldn't let me in…'

William silently shook his head—there were too many books. Judging from the other books purchased in the same batch, it seemed that Hagrid hadn't specified his needs clearly when purchasing the books, and the shop owner had misunderstood the customer's requirements.

But what's the point of this explanation? Given Hagrid's personality, he would never let anyone see such a thing in his house.

...

'If I were Hagrid, I wouldn't let anyone in either!'

Hagrid's house had little room for books, especially since his boss had given him a lot of books this time—there was simply no room for them.

If he were skilled in magic, it would be fine, but Hagrid's magic...

He glanced at the book in front of him, then at the professor outside, and couldn't help but feel worried.

"Who should we bring in so that things don't escalate?"

This kind of thing can't be kept secret. After he finishes his investigation, a professor will definitely come, and then the whole society will be in real trouble.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally chose Lupin, who wouldn't say too much... If it were Professor McGonagall, Hagrid would probably be unable to lift his head for a whole semester.

“Professor Lupin, please come over here,” William called from afar. “I have something important to discuss with you.”

"What is it, Professor William?"

Lupin came over, puzzled, and then William pointed to the book on the table, “Hagrid seems to have bought the wrong thing…that’s why…we have to keep it a secret.”

"But what about Professor McGonagall..."

“Swear in our name,” William said, looking at Lupin. “Please, Professor Lupin.”

"..."

“Okay,” Lupin finally agreed.

Chapter 277 The First Lesson for New Students (Part 1)

When Harry returned to the common room, he was completely dizzy.

Too many things happened today, and it was all too chaotic; he couldn't understand it all at once.

His two friends, too, still didn't understand what had happened that day, even after they got back.

For example, why was Hagrid not angry after being awakened by the spell, but instead became anxious about his room?

For example, when the four professors apologized to Hagrid together, Hagrid not only didn't care, but looked at Harry with concern.

Also, why does everyone seem so happy after listening to Hagrid's lectures?

There were too many things he couldn't understand, and Harry simply couldn't accept them all at once.

"But no matter what, the new professor's spells are really powerful. Even Professor McGonagall called on him when she made her move."

After worrying about Hagrid, Ron started fantasizing about the self-defense course. The new professor looked very strong, which made him quite excited.

“He’s already very strong, Ron. Don’t forget, he and Professor William dealt with the out-of-control Dementors yesterday.”

“I just hope he doesn’t get into making exams like Professor William…” Ron shook his head. “Fred and George were almost at their breaking point around noon today!”

“But there’s nothing we can do about it, it’s the Year of OWLs after all.” He explained to himself, but Harry, unusually, didn’t respond.

"Harry?"

Ron asked in a low voice, but noticed that Harry's brows were already furrowed—he subconsciously followed Harry's gaze and spotted Colin Creevey.

It was a boy a year younger than them, a die-hard Harry fan.

To be precise, Ron had heard Harry complain about the boy many times before. Colin would often take pictures of Harry with his camera, and it only stopped a little when the basilisk was at its most rampant last year.

But this semester has only just begun—has the child started again?

"Harry, should we go tell the prefect?"

Ron whispered a suggestion: following us around to take pictures on the first day of the semester is really going too far.

Harry hesitated for a moment before considering the suggestion.

However, before he could make a decision, the boy named Colin had already run over.

“Sorry…” he said apologetically, then handed Harry a newspaper. “I thought you’d like to see this.”

He shoved the newspaper into Harry's hand and then ran off in a hurry.

“He’s much more polite than last year, Harry.”

Harry wholeheartedly agreed, and then picked up the newspaper to read it—it was already great news for him that Colin didn't have a camera, so he felt he could accept whatever appeared in the newspaper.

[Harry Potter - The Hidden Patronus?]

The deliberately enlarged font of the title caught Harry's eye, and it immediately gave him a stomachache.

He didn't even have the courage to read the newspaper anymore, but it was clear that both of his friends did, and quite a few at that.

Caught in the middle, Harry could only endure his stomachache and read on. He desperately hoped that there would be less coverage of him in the newspapers, and that he would be portrayed as an ordinary student, rather than as exaggerated as the headlines suggested.

Honestly, he'd rather have Snape's scathing remarks than that horrible title...

However, life is full of disappointments.

The Daily Prophet, with its masterful and exaggerated descriptions, likened him to a walking guardian deity, an embodiment of light and love, as if they had witnessed firsthand how the mysterious man had vanished.

"That's terrifying, man."

Ron looked at Harry, "According to the description above, casting a curse on you will backfire on yourself."

“Nonsense…” Harry retorted unhappily, “Lockhart’s spells work very easily!”

"Perhaps those spells weren't evil enough. Think about it, back in first grade, Quirrell wasn't..."

Ron made his guesses quietly, even seeming a little eager to try.

"Alright, we need to hurry to the restaurant, or we'll miss dinner."

Harry's awkward transition topic—there's still over an hour before dinner.

He didn't even bother to take the newspaper; he simply shoved it into Ron's hand and then quickly got up and headed to the restaurant.

“He’s shy,” Ron said decisively. “I have to go back and put my things down before I go find him. I don’t want to bring a book to the restaurant!”

He muttered as he walked towards the dormitory, then put his backpack in his spot and casually added a handful of food to Banban's plate.

How are you feeling today?