From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

He opened the window and watched Hedwig leave.

-

"Have you both brought everything you need?"

Sirius stood below the platform, watching Lupin and Harry board the Hogwarts Express.

"No problem, I've brought everything!"

Harry and Lupin waved and then boarded the train.

Another school year has begun. Sirius Black has ended his vacation and is back at his detective agency, while Lupin and Harry are returning to school for the new term.

After finding a private room at the back, the two squeezed to the window and waved again at Sirius below.

Sirius whistled, then turned and left with an unusually dashing air.

Although Hogwarts strictly prohibits parental visits—the school board members are exempt from this restriction…

However, this year is the Year of the Owls, and he felt it was better to let Harry focus on his studies at school.

"It's time for some serious exploration; I feel a bit rusty from all this vacation..."

He stretched, then left the platform, preparing to return to his office—Gold Coin and Dobby were already gone; hopefully, this year would bring some interesting things, instead of the constant search for the cat and catching cheaters…

-

"Put my luggage here, you need to go to the prefects' box, Harry."

Lupin watched Sirius walk away, then smiled and said to Harry, "If you stayed in this compartment with me, I doubt many people would want to come here. Besides, according to the information I received earlier, Professor Slughorn will also be taking the train today..."

Harry enjoyed being with Lupin, but the other professor was a different story—especially since he didn't particularly like Professor Slughorn, which only strengthened his resolve to leave.

"OK, all right."

Harry nodded, then picked up his suitcase and headed toward the prefects' box.

That was the largest box—although he didn't like to abuse such privileges, he wasn't bothered by the fact that Ron and Hermione were probably there.

Of course, it would be even better if we could meet Qiu and spend time together in a private room…

-

School is about to start.

William glanced out the window; he hadn't taken the Hogwarts train to school again this year.

'It feels a little strange at first—but then again, starting tonight, I can't freely fly brooms across the Black Lake anymore.'

"I haven't received the class schedule for this semester yet. I'll go to Professor McGonagall's office later to get it."

"For me, it would be March 6th and 5th this year; for Lupin, it would be January 4th; and for Professor Moody, it would be 2027—that's the arrangement for this year. There won't be a Three Kingdoms tournament to disrupt things this year."

Since there is no three-way competition this year, he plans to reduce the number of courses if the students are in good enough condition.

Last year was too stressful, which caused many students to burst into tears at the last minute. That's not good—he's there to teach students how to learn, not to make them work themselves to the bone.

'The practical training could be increased, and the incentives could be strengthened...'

He made slight adjustments based on the total amount for the year and quickly came up with a rough outline for this year's teaching syllabus.

"That's fine then. Let's go get another fish while the weather's still nice. We won't have this much free time once school starts."

-

Inside the prefectural box, a group of prefectural leaders looked on with envy at Monta sitting there doing nothing, but no one dared to say anything.

They now know that these champions are enjoying class leader privileges—which is quite enviable.

Although the prefect has a private box, he can only sit there for a very short time.

A group of students who had been unable to cast spells all summer were eager to cause some trouble with their wands. In addition, a group of first-year students who knew nothing had also sneaked onto the bus—this was no ordinary task to manage.

Now is the time for the student council president to assign tasks to the class leaders, arrange patrol areas, and explain the rights and obligations of class leaders to the new class leaders. Once the train departs, everyone will have to go out on duty.

Warriors who enjoy the privileges of a class leader are different – ​​they can stay in the spacious private room as much as they want and enjoy this privilege.

It was fine when everyone was out on duty, but now it's really hard to accept compared to the past.

Especially Cedric—he was a prefect, so enjoying prefectural privileges wasn't a reward for him, and he had to watch Harry and Montagu happily enjoying their box…

"By the way, where did Harry go?"

After explaining the tasks to the new prefect, the newly elected male student council president, Cedric, inquired about Ron and Hermione.

"We don't know, we haven't seen it either."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance and shook their heads at each other.

"We met Qiu."

The two new Ravenclaw commanders cheerfully revealed the information, making no attempt to conceal anything.

"It seems he has no intention of coming."

Cedric shook his head. "We're going on patrol, Monta. Do you want to come and watch?"

"Not interested. Good luck!"

Monta waved his hand with a cheerful smile, making people want to draw their wands and start a duel.

-

"A new Potions professor arrived this year, a former Head of Slytherin House. Sirius said his courses are excellent..."

Because of the surrounding gazes, Harry could only have a brief exchange with Cho about what happened after their last communication, and then they began to discuss the topic.

Speaking of Slughorn, Harry regretfully recalled something—according to Sirius and the others' previous analysis, Slughorn taught fifth-year students, so the scene of Snape's helplessness that he and Ron shared could not be realized.

"Hey, a new professor? I wonder if he'll have a good temper—and what year he'll be teaching..."

A group of students who had just entered sixth grade looked very relaxed and discussed their professors with confidence—this year they were in an advanced class, which included elective courses, and the professors were all incredibly kind.

Even Professor William, who was like a devil in the previous year, became gentle as if he were a completely different person when dealing with sixth graders.

Just like many former sixth graders have recommended—the most painful lesson in fifth grade was self-defense, but the happiest lesson in sixth grade was still self-defense…

"We definitely need to learn self-defense, otherwise it would be a waste of the suffering we went through last year—I'm really curious, is the sixth-grade curriculum really that good?"

"Yeah, yeah... but they always come back from class smiling, so it doesn't seem like they're faking it..."

"Do you have any other subjects you'd recommend? I don't want to take so many courses..."

……

Just as a group of students were having a lively conversation, the door to the private room was suddenly knocked open.

"They say Harry Potter is in this box—"

A younger student poked his head in and said, "Um, I'll give him this invitation."

A bundle of parchment tied with a purple ribbon was handed to Harry. Harry took it with a puzzled look, said thank you, and then the younger student stumbled away.

"what?"

Harry unfolded the parchment amidst the puzzled looks of the others.

Harry:

I would be very happy if you could have lunch with me in carriage C.

Your faithful

Professor H.E.F. Slughorn

Wow, an invitation from the new professor!

The private room erupted in chatter and noise.

Harry glanced at Cho, but the invitation didn't mention that he could bring a friend...

But not going to the professor's office is not an option—not only is it extremely impolite, but it can also leave a very bad impression.

Fortunately, Qiu smiled and urged him to hurry up and keep the appointment—for most students who are still studying, being invited to lunch by a professor is a very nice and cool thing.

He said his goodbyes in a hurry and then walked along the crowded street.

'I wonder how Lupin is doing... Professor Slughorn doesn't seem to be in the box with him.'

As Harry was pondering this, he suddenly saw Monta hanging around over there—although she was a Slytherin, they had been in a team together since the previous school year and could communicate fairly well.

“Harry,” Monta waved even faster than Harry, “are you going to the banquet too?”

"yes…"

Harry nodded and moved closer.

"You received it too, right? The letter about the individual classes after the start of the semester."

Monta lowered his voice, his tone full of longing.

"received."

To be precise—there are other courses too…so many it's driving me crazy…

"Yes, it's a really pleasant surprise... We did a great job last school year, didn't we?"

“This is much better than the prefect,” Monta said softly. “Speaking of prefects, you remember Draco, right? I heard he was supposed to be elected this year, but his family turned it down.”

???

Harry was a little puzzled—Malfoy had hardly shown any presence lately, so why was Monta bringing this up?

"Actually, it would be a bad thing if he were elected—ever since that incident in his family, not many people like him anymore, and if people oppose him, he won't be able to continue as prefect."

"Or rather... as long as you do a good enough job, being a prefect isn't really that big of a deal. We did a great job last year, and I bet if you were elected prefect, no one would object."

"So don't get upset, Harry, what we've gained is much more than what the prefects have given us."

"It's so important," Monta said earnestly.

...

"Um, I wasn't throwing a tantrum and refusing to go to the prefectural chairs' box... I just wanted to go on a date with Aki..."

...

...