From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Only the most powerful wizards can skillfully wield the effects of rituals, which can destroy cities, unleash plagues, grant near-resurrection powers, or bestow permanent blessings (Note 2).

The magical powers accumulated by the new students before they entered school—powers that allowed them to fly, disappear, and even bring objects back to life—were transformed into the strongest protection through the ritual, shielding them during their long years before adulthood. (Note 3)

This preserved ceremony has been continuously improved and restored by generations of principals, resulting in its current form.

In 1876, Peeves, an elf in the castle, escaped a trap and successfully obtained a large-caliber muzzle-loading gun and a small cannon within Hogwarts. (Note 4)

It was almost a battle where Peeves dominated all the professors in the school, and in the end, the school had to grant Peeves various privileges in exchange for peace.

But from that day on, the protective forces of the ritual began to target these Muggle weapons at the cost of sacrificing some of their defenses.

When Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald hit it off, the two young geniuses began researching protective magic against Muggle weapons and made unprecedented progress.

After the two parted ways in anger, Albus Dumbledore continued his research and, after becoming headmaster, used the magic to improve rituals.

Ritual Effect (Wizard is immune to firearms): Any high-speed bullet, upon approaching the wizard within a certain range, will immediately trigger an effect similar to Apparition, transferring the bullet to the ground.

Believe me, moving a thousand bullets is not as difficult as using Phantom Shift once; distinguishing bullets is actually more complicated.

There are always people who want to shout that times have changed, but Albus Dumbledore changed it back.

Card effect: You have gained the Ritual effect for free.

hiss~

William couldn't help but gasp—he finally understood why his magic seemed so much stronger than that of wizards his age.

So, someone else's magic was used to solidify the defensive ritual. All the magic he had accumulated before the age of eleven was no small amount.

Fortunately, he has it now—speaking of which, was the so-called "cannot tell those who haven't been sorted out" about the sorting ceremony related to this ceremony?

However, he no longer needs to be envious; he has it now too.

Note 1: The Magic Institute in Japan is an accredited wizarding school that admits students as young as seven, much earlier than Hogwarts' eleven-year-old policy.

Note 2: This is not an official term, but the spell that resurrected Voldemort was obviously different from a simple one-line incantation. Equally complicated were the unbreakable oath that appeared in the original book, and the long string of words that Ron recited when he started school, which he thought was a spell.

Considering the power of the Fiendfire that Grindelwald himself unleashed, which nearly set all of Paris ablaze, I think it must have been the result of a series of ritual enhancements.

Note 3: Many of the spells used by freshmen before entering school were unintentional, but their power and effect were by no means inferior. Harry was able to make the bulletproof glass in front of the python disappear, and Neville was thrown down from the building and then slowly floated to the ground—keep in mind that Harry, in his second year, was almost killed when he was knocked off his broom by a Quake.

But after enrolling, Ron said that Harry and Malfoy could only make sparks with their wands—their magic had diminished drastically.

Before Harry entered his third year, he was merely angry and blew his aunt far away into the sky without using his wand—if wizards didn't have magical immunity to harm, third-year students would have already caused a fatal incident.

In conclusion, it can be inferred that a wizard's magical power should be greatly weakened upon entering school and converted into self-defense.

Note 4: In 1876, the Hogwarts warden devised a series of traps for Peeves in an attempt to drive him away. He used a series of weapons as bait, including several scimitars, crossbows, a large-caliber muzzle-loading gun, and a small cannon (you read that right, from the original source). However, the traps were destroyed by Peeves. In addition, Peeves fired shots and cannons inside the castle for his own amusement, which led to the school being evacuated for three days.

Three days later, Professor Euprasia Moore, the then-principal, agreed to make a deal with Peeves, in exchange for surrendering his weapons and gaining more privileges (swimming once a week in the boys' washroom on the first floor, having priority to choose which moldy bread in the kitchen to throw away, and receiving a new hat specially made for him by Ms. Bonabile).

So Peeves is really awesome, but at the same time, Hogwarts should have noticed Muggle firearms long ago, which is also the basis for my later deduction.

Chapter 47 It's Best for Alumni Not to Be Colleagues

When William snapped out of his daze at the frightening ceremony, one professor was missing from the faculty dining table.

William, unable to join the professors' conversation, curiously deduced from the professors still present who had disappeared, only to be surprised to find that the missing professor seemed somewhat familiar to him.

It was Potions Professor Snape, an unlucky fellow who had his things stolen and was knocked unconscious by his students—at least that's the information William knows so far.

Where is Professor Severus Snape?

William asked Lockhart in a low voice.

"Are you asking about the old bat? (Note 1)"

Lockhart lowered his voice, as if unwilling to let the other professors hear him.

"Professor William, I have to tell you, when I was in school, Hogwarts had the most unpopular professor ever, and that professor still holds that title to this day. Can you guess which professor it was?"

Lockhart flashed his habitual smile, his teeth gleaming in the candlelight.

"Most unpopular?"

"Of course, not everyone can win the Wizarding Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award five times like I have. He had been vying for the position of professor of black magic—cough, wizarding self-defense magic—but even when I took up the position, he still hadn't succeeded."

Lockhart said smugly, "I won't fail like him. I'm an honorary member of the Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the teachers and students of Hogwarts will cheer for my lessons!"

'So Professor Snape was that unpopular? I don't remember him. My intelligence gathering failed. Also, although Professor Lockhart seems arrogant and comes to Hogwarts looking like he's just there to sell books, he might actually have some tricks up his sleeve. Those awards couldn't be fake, could they?'

William offered a few compliments to his new colleague—his life in Azkaban had made him quite adept at this.

The compliment from his colleague clearly made him exceptionally happy, like a peacock spreading its tail feathers.

“Let me tell you, most of the professors at the school know me. I’ve only been away from Hogwarts for less than ten years. When I first came to the school, Snape wasn’t even a professor.”

"Not a professor?"

"Yes, no, I was a student back then. I remember it clearly. I entered school in 1975. Snape was four years ahead of me at that time. Tsk tsk, if I didn't really want to talk bad about my classmates, I could vividly recount how Snape was left hanging by his classmates back then."

But you've already revealed almost everything.

William believed that if Professor Snape had overheard the conversation, he would not have felt any relief that Lockhart had kept his secret.

But Lockhart was eager to continue the conversation; his desire to perform had only just begun to emerge.

“I’m from Ravenclaw, so I’m not very familiar with the people from those two houses. But Snape was in a lose-lose situation back then. When he was being hung up by the Gryffindors, not a single Slytherin was willing to help him.”

Therefore, it's best if your colleagues don't go to the same school, otherwise you'll have no idea how much of your dark history they know.

William felt that, judging from that long string of words, if he were Professor Snape, he would probably have already challenged the one who was talking nonsense to a duel.

Just then, a new student was assigned to Ravenclaw, which happened to catch Lockhart's attention.

He stood up and congratulated the new student.

The little witch who was assigned to Ravenclaw blushed instantly, and almost forgot to return the Sorting Hat before rushing to Ravenclaw's table. She then pulled a girl of similar age aside and whispered something to her—looking just like a fan who had just received an autographed photo.

Seeing this, William suddenly remembered another identity of his seemingly boastful new colleague—a writer of adventure novels based on his own experiences.

Am I the worst student at this table?

William fell into deep thought.

Thinking of this, William suddenly felt a sudden urge to urinate—he had drunk quite a bit with Hagrid that afternoon, and his thoughts had drifted off into this state.

"Excuse me, I have to go out for a bit."

William circled around to the entrance of the hall from a place where no one was paying attention. He wasn't familiar with Hogwarts Castle yet, so he could only relieve himself in a few toilets that he remembered.

But as William turned the corner, he saw two strange figures, dragging their feet, carrying suitcases, and not very tall—which immediately reminded him of why he had to leave the train at noon to buy two Knight bus tickets.

"Huh? A freshman?"

William gripped the wand in one hand, ready to draw it at any moment, yet asked with unusual ease.

Although it was highly likely to be a newborn, he still took precautions against possible accidents due to the curse.

The two figures came to a stop, and then William spotted a third figure—Professor Snape, who was walking at the front.

“Oh? Professor William, I think you should be at the opening ceremony, not here at this time.”

From the very first sentence of the formal conversation, William instantly understood why this professor was so unpopular in Lockhart's eyes.

"At noon, I specially got off the Hogwarts Express for these two students and then went all the way to King's Cross Station. Now that I see these two students, I'd like to ask them something. Is there anything wrong with that?"

We've never really met before, do you think this is our first time meeting?

If newcomers in Azkaban were so easily manipulated, they could practically take over all the work in the entire cell—William wasn't originally this aggressive, but after leaving Azkaban, his first reaction was to stand up to them in a neither too soft nor too hard way.

"I am Potter's professor!"

"What a coincidence, me too. I thought you were the dean, but when I saw the students' report at noon, I remembered they were Gryffindor?"

William felt a pair of cold eyes looking at him, their gaze completely devoid of the near-madness he had seen earlier—a look William often witnessed in the eyes of newly imprisoned prisoners.

'What's wrong with him? Is he so eager to punish the student that he's lost his normal judgment, and that's why he's ordering me around like he's acting irrationally?'

As William pondered this, he casually pulled out his wand—though he was thinking about it, he couldn't bear to be knocked down by another professor in front of his students.

“Okay, very good. Then please ask Professor William to keep an eye on Potter and the others. I will go find someone who can handle them.”

To William's surprise, the conflict did not continue. Professor Snape quickly left the corridor and headed towards the Great Hall.

Note: Snape attended school from 1971 to 1978, and returned in 1981 to apply for a position as a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, but instead became a Potions professor.

Lockhart studied from 1975 to 1982, which happened to be the period from then on.

Chapter Forty-Eight: This melon...tsk, I didn't get to eat it.

It didn't take long for Professor McGonagall to follow Professor Snape into the corridor.

"Thank you for your hard work, Professor William."

She spoke coldly to William, but William was certain that the coldness in her words wasn't directed at him.

Because in the next moment, William felt as if the air had frozen together.

Professor McGonagall's lips were pressed tightly together, and her eyes were like the unmelting ice on a snow-capped mountain.

"Potter, Weasley, you two, come with me."

The two frightened quails trembled as they followed Professor McGonagall. Only when the three figures disappeared down the corridor did William feel the air around him begin to move.

'This is incredible!'

William felt that it was definitely not just Professor McGonagall's anger that had happened. If he was not mistaken, this master of transformation was almost at the level where she could freely transform the surrounding objects and use them for attack or defense.

Although he had not seen any related books, based on the cards he had seen before, Dumbledore should have the ability to turn any material on the battlefield into a puppet at will.

William, combining information from multiple books and his own memories, made a conjecture: this ability is most likely only possible after magic can directly influence the surroundings without using spells.

So terrifying.

Just as he was making these comments, Professor Snape, who had disappeared at some point, reappeared, this time bringing with him an even more terrifying presence—Dumbledore.

"Professor William, where did Minerva and the others go?"

“Go that way,” William pointed down the corridor—he didn’t know the way, so pointing out the general direction was already quite an achievement.

Dumbledore nodded and hurried over with Snape. However, after taking only a few steps, he noticed William standing still. Dumbledore turned around, his expression softening slightly. "Professor William, you should come along too. You've been there before and know more about it."

"Yes, Principal."