Hogwarts: Me? Fight Voldemort?

The train journey was pleasant. Leaving all worries and work behind, it was great to simply chat and enjoy the youth of being a student.

When the sky outside the train window was completely shrouded in black, the Hogwarts Express was probably about to arrive at the platform.

The steam locomotive slowly came to a stop. Jimmy and Hermione had long been fed up with Harry and Ron's endless discussion of Quidditch.

In particular, Ron's constant boasting about his newly bought Firebolt and his grandstanding about how he would become Gryffindor's strongest shield after being promoted to goalkeeper... it all got tiresome.

Shortly after getting off the bus, Jimmy and the others heard a series of cries.

They didn't understand what was going on when they heard Hagrid's loud voice anxiously explaining.

"Please look carefully, I'm not a troll! I'm the hunting ground guard who leads the newcomers, you little guys, stop crying."

When the group went over to take a look, they all had expressions that were both funny and exasperated.

Hagrid seems to have swelled up again; his current height is estimated to be close to four meters. His strong muscles make him look like a small mountain, and the child in front of him probably doesn't even reach his knees.

Jimmy cast a light spell towards the sky, and a white orb of light illuminated the platform, allowing the timid young wizards who dared not step forward to see Hagrid's face clearly.

When they saw Hagrid's somewhat goofy face, the newly enrolled wizards gradually calmed down.

Hagrid breathed a sigh of relief and waved to Jimmy and the others, "Thank you, Jimmy, and Harry, Hermione, Ron, how was your holiday?"

The group looked up and politely responded to the large Hagrid.

"Everything is fine!"

"We went to see the Quidditch World Cup."

"very good."

"Haha, that's good. See you at the auditorium. I need to take these little ones down another route first."

Hagrid didn't talk much and led the newly enrolled wizards toward the entrance path.

The group separated and boarded a Thestral carriage.

The carriage passed through the gate with a winged boar sculpture and traveled along the wide driveway.

A bolt of lightning struck the sky, and a fierce wind arose, with raindrops forming a thick curtain of rain. Through the rain, the group could only make out the blurry outline of the castle.

Jimmy cast a spell on the open doors on both sides of the carriage, preventing raindrops from getting in.

His decision was correct; at least when they stopped in front of the castle, he and Jimmy weren't soaking wet like the other students.

Why aren't Harry and Ron included?

Harry and Ron were already wet when they got out of the car. They weren't that wet at first, but when they rushed into the deep doorway, they were greeted by two water balloons.

Peeves, floating in mid-air, welcomed the students back to school with two water balloons, a unique welcome ceremony that drew an angry chase from Harry and Ron.

The two took out their wands, intending to teach Peeves a lesson using the spells Professor Lupin had taught them last semester.

Then came Professor McGonagall's shout, "Potter! Weasley! And Peeves! Behave yourselves!"

Peeves floated away, and Jimmy and Hermione slowly walked into the Great Hall.

The two walked seven or eight meters in the heavy rain without getting wet at all, a stark contrast to the other younger students who rushed in.

"Professor McGonagall, good evening."

Good evening, Professor McGonagall.

Upon seeing Jimmy and Hermione, Professor McGonagall's expression and tone underwent a complete 180-degree turn, and she said gently, "Oh! Jimmy, Hermione, welcome back. Let's wait in the Great Hall first; there's the Sorting Ceremony later."

Ron looked very indignant; this preferential treatment was too obvious!

Jimmy raised an eyebrow at Ron. "That's the privilege of being a good student, you know? Privilege!"

Professor McGonagall swept her wand across the students, who were soaking wet, and their robes immediately dried.

The crowd slowly flowed into the auditorium. The professor behind the long table calmly watched the students enter the auditorium and nodded to the students who were familiar with the place.

Chapter 281 Professor Moody

As soon as Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down, their eyes involuntarily turned toward Snape.

They weren't missing Snape; they just wanted to know who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was.

But the new teacher might be late, and the seat next to Snape was empty.

The group also saw a huge chair next to Professor McGonagall, which must have been Hagrid's new chair.

Jimmy already knew what was going to happen next, so he wasn't curious and took out "The Practical Potions Master" to read.

I had only read two pages when a hand reached out and snatched the book away.

It was Hermione; she snatched the book and read it herself, not giving Jimmy a chance to compete.

Jimmy stopped looking and started admiring Hermione's profile. Strangely, some rather childish thoughts suddenly began to pop into his head.

It's only been a few years, how come they've grown so much?

At this moment, the auditorium doors opened, and a group of freshmen lined up to enter the auditorium. The senior students consciously quieted down and turned their attention to the freshmen.

Looking at the nervous yet curious expressions on the faces of the new students, it was as if I were seeing my former self.

Professor McGonagall took out a four-cornered stool and the Sorting Hat, placed the worn-out Sorting Hat on the stool, and the folds of the hat split open as she sang loudly.

"That happened more than a thousand years ago. I had just been formed..."

The four giants all instilled their ideas in me, and from then on, I was in charge of selecting and evaluating them..."

This year's songs are different again; music is different every year.

Professor McGonagall unfolded the parchment with one hand and lifted the Sorting Hat with the other, reading aloud, "Stuart Ackley!"

A boy nervously sat down on the stool and quickly called out his college.

"Ravenclaw!"

The college sorting ceremony proceeded smoothly, with upperclassmen in the audience applauding and cheering for the freshmen who were assigned to their respective colleges.

The Sorting Ceremony ended quickly. Dumbledore stood up, smiling at all the students, and opened his arms in a welcoming gesture. "I only have two words to say to you: Eat!"

The students, like athletes who have heard the whistle, immediately lowered their heads and began to eat, and a third of the exquisite food on the table disappeared in an instant.

Jimmy was very satisfied with his meal; it's nice to eat something different every now and then to change things up.

After a hearty meal, Dumbledore stepped out from behind the professors' table and stood behind a podium in front of the students' table.

"Alright," Dumbledore said with a smile, "Now that we've all eaten and drunk our fill, I must once again ask everyone to pay attention, as I have a few announcements to make."

The students all fell silent, and the only sounds could be heard were the wind and rain outside.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, wants me to inform everyone that several more items have been added to the list of prohibited items in the castle this year: screaming yo-yos, wolf-tooth flying saucers, and boomerangs. The entire list comprises approximately 437 items and can be found in Mr. Filch's office. Anyone interested can check it out."

The upperclassmen were all laughing. Who would want to go to Filch's office to see that thing?

Dumbledore then went on to reiterate some familiar rules, such as not being allowed to cast spells in the hallways during breaks, not being allowed to go to the Forbidden Forest, and only students in their third year and above being allowed to go to Hogsmeade Village…

After the students had processed the information, he suddenly dropped a bombshell.

"I also regret to inform you that the College Cup and Quidditch tournament will not be held this year."

"what!!!"

Ron stood up abruptly from his seat, his face filled with disbelief.

This semester, he was able to officially become the team's goalkeeper with the Fire Arrow, and he had put in so much effort to save enough money to buy the world's best broom.

To complete the task Jimmy gave him, he even forced himself to read the fashion magazines he used to dislike dozens of times!

He and Lavender constantly tried on various clothes, and he spent almost every Hogsmeade week looking in the mirror at the clothing store.

After buying the broom, I practiced at home day and night. So much effort and hard work over so many days, and yet there's no Quidditch tournament this year?!

“Ron, sit down…” Harry was initially quite surprised and confused, and also somewhat dissatisfied, but seeing Ron so devastated that he looked like he was in a daze, his mood inexplicably improved a lot.

Dumbledore looked at Ron, smiled, and continued, "Because a large event will begin in October and continue throughout the school year, taking up a lot of the teachers' time and energy—but I believe you will all enjoy it very much. I am very pleased to announce that this year at Hogwarts—"

Hearing that the school was going to hold some kind of event, everyone temporarily suppressed their dissatisfaction and craned their necks to wait for the announcement of what the event was.

Just as Dumbledore was about to announce the event, the doors to the Great Hall were suddenly flung open.

The students were startled and turned around. Just then, a pale bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the man's figure in the white light.

When the light faded, the students saw his face clearly and gasped in shock.

His face was covered with hideous scars, rough and wrinkled, his mouth was like a crooked gaping mouth, and his nose, which should have been prominent, was missing, as if a child had haphazardly carved it from an old piece of wood.

One eye was very small, while the other was as round and large as a Galon. That large eye darted around, constantly scrutinizing the students in the auditorium.

Thump! Thump!

The man walked into the auditorium with a cane, and only then did the students realize that his other leg was a prosthetic leg, causing him to walk with a limp.

No matter whether they were in higher or lower grades, no student dared to look her in the eye. Only when he looked away or walked past would they dare to stare boldly at this terrifying man.

"Is he our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for this year?" Hermione wondered, turning away from the man's retreating figure.

Dumbledore then proved this conjecture by walking out from behind the podium and shaking hands with the man.

The two stood very close, exchanged a few words, and then Dumbledore nodded. The man then sat down directly next to the expressionless Snape.

Dumbledore returned to the podium and pointed to the man: "Please allow me to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Moody!"

After he finished speaking, he began to clap his hands, and Hagrid also chuckled and waved his huge hands so loudly that the wind pressure from the clapping blew Professor McGonagall's hat off.

Jimmy raised his hand to clap, and after clapping a few times, he realized that none of his classmates seemed to be clapping.

Harry had heard of Mad-Eye Moody, so he asked Ron, "Mad-Eye Moody? The guy your dad said he went to help this morning?"

Ron, now like a mouse seeing a cat, timidly replied, "It must be him."

Hermione overheard their whispers and, seeing Ron's frightened expression, asked in confusion, "He's a former Auror, why are you so afraid of him?"

"The scars on his face make him look pretty scary, don't they..." A superficial answer.

Chapter 282 The Triumph of the Three Kingdoms

After the students had digested the information, Dumbledore said, "As I just mentioned, we will be very honored to host a very exciting event in the coming months, an event that hasn't been held for over a century. We are delighted to announce that the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts!"

Fred yelled, "You're kidding me!"