Hogwarts and the Atypical Wizard

Chapter 354: The School Year Begins

The Sorting Hat began to sing. Unlike previous years, this year the Sorting Hat said a lot of words urging everyone to unite.

There was applause as usual in the auditorium, but people couldn't help whispering.

Professor McGonagall glared sternly at the whispering crowd, and the students immediately quieted down, even the school ghosts.

She said loudly, "Students whose names I call, come forward and put on this hat.

Euan Abercrombie!"

The first person to be called was the student who came out alone when crossing the Black Lake. He stumbled forward and put on the Sorting Hat. The Sorting Hat almost pinned him in, but fortunately his ears were big enough to keep the hat stuck.

"Gryffindor!"

……

……

"Rose Zeller!"

"Hufflepuff!"

The Sorting was over, and Professor McGonagall picked up her hat and stool and strode away.

Dumbledore stood up, said welcome to the new students, then welcome to the old students, and then announced the start of the banquet!

Everyone's front was immediately filled with delicious food.

Sainz likes this thing about Old Dern: he never talks nonsense and never engages in formalities.

Sainz asked Professor Sinistra, "The Sorting Hat just issued a warning. Has this happened before?"

"I heard from the ghosts that they did. I heard that whenever they felt that the school was in great danger, they would issue a warning."

"You say the same thing every time?"

"They're all pretty much the same, warning everyone to stay united and maintain internal stability..."

It’s not surprising that the Sorting Hat knew that the school was facing a crisis. It stayed in the principal’s office every day, so it was normal for it to hear some secret news.

After everyone had eaten, Dumbledore stood up again and said, "Please be quiet for a moment..."

He once again said what he had said in previous years, not to enter the Forbidden Forest, relay Filch's management requirements, and most importantly, not to cast spells in the corridor, etc...

"I am pleased to introduce your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge."

There was a little polite applause from the students below.

Old Dumbledore continued, "The cadets' Quidditch tryouts will be on the second..." He suddenly stopped and turned his head to the side, where Umbridge stood up and was clearing her throat. "Ahem!"

Everyone was surprised, including Old Deng himself. This was the first time he was interrupted by a new professor.

Old Dumbledore's surprise flashed across his face, and the next moment he sat down naturally, as if he was ready to devote all his attention to listening to Umbridge's speech.

This was what was called a gentleman using his own tactics to deceive someone. She was sure that old Dumbledore would not do anything to her, not to mention underworld bosses like Voldemort. However, she certainly would not dare to interrupt "decent" people like Fudge or Crouch when they were speaking.

Take old Crouch for example. Even though he was polite when facing Dumbledore, he was not a polite person.

In the original trajectory, this can be seen from his performance in the Quidditch World Cup. At that time, old Crouch scared Cedric's father a lot. That intimidating look, wow.

The reason is that they know this man's background and that he is a man with an iron fist. When old Crouch was the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he gave the Aurors the right to execute death sentences on the spot. He allowed the Aurors to use the Unforgivable Curses to fight violence with violence.

To be honest, I quite appreciate this point. The Death Eaters can cast the Killing Curse with just a wave of their hands, but the Aurors have to be restrained and it is not surprising that they are beaten to a pulp.

Although this has been criticized by many people, it is undeniable that when Crouch Sr. was in office, he did curb the arrogance of the Death Eaters. If Crouch Jr.'s identity as a Death Eater had not been exposed later, it would be hard to say whether Fudge could have become the Minister of Magic.

Fudge is now facing off against old Dumbledore. As a supporter, Umbridge may be aware of the importance of old Dumbledore, but she wants to "be loyal to her duty" and deliberately make old Dumbledore uncomfortable, and interrupting his speech is a preliminary test.

From Sainz's perspective, he couldn't see Umbridge's expression, but he could imagine her artificial expression, "Thank you, thank you Headmaster, thank you for your warm welcome..."

Her voice was high-pitched and shrill, just as Harry felt in the original storyline, like a little girl. Combined with her short stature, it was extremely annoying.

"It's so great to be back at Hogwarts!

The Ministry of Magic has always believed that the education of young wizards is of great importance..."

It was obvious that the Toad was infected with the bureaucratic style of the Ministry of Magic. It was not known whether the others listened to Sainz seriously, but Sainz was not interested in listening anyway.

After talking for a long time, she finally sat back. Old Deng applauded, and the other professors followed suit politely, but Sai didn't move.

Old Dumbledore nodded to Toad and said, "Thank you very much. Professor Umarich's speech is very inspiring..."

After Old Dumbledore finished speaking, he announced the end of the opening banquet. The students began to leave in an orderly manner, and the new class leaders began to guide the freshmen of each college.

Sainz had sharp ears and eyes. He heard some students say to the people next to them, "My mother didn't want me to come?"

"My grandfather said the same thing..."

"Why?" other students were puzzled. "Where else are we going if we don't come to Hogwarts?"

“So they brought me back.”

"You haven't told me why we didn't let you come back?"

"Didn't you read the newspaper?... I forgot that your place is not very convenient."

"Because..." the voice became a little quieter, "Harry Potter... and Dumbledore..."

"Do you really believe it? Do you believe what it says, that Harry Potter is a liar and Dumbledore is old and confused?"

"...I don't know, but they seem to think so..."

There were more than one such discussions, and after hearing a few similar ones, Sainz stopped paying attention.

This phenomenon is very common in fairy tales: young people hold the truth, while adults are either despicable, mediocre, or just follow the crowd. To sum up, in the world of children, most adults are idiots.

This day, a newspaper article appeared:

Sturgis Podmore was charged with trespassing at the Ministry of Magic on 31 August. Podmore declined to defend himself.

Sainz didn't remember much about this person, but he had some impression of this incident. It seemed that this Podmore was probably a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

Saiens remembered that it seemed that members of the Order of the Phoenix were guarding the Hall of Prophecy, and it seemed that one of them was controlled by Malfoy. Now it seems that it should be Podmore.

He was controlled by Malfoy and tried to cross the Prophecy Hall to grab the prophecy ball, but was arrested by other staff on duty.

No wonder he couldn't defend himself, maybe the Imperius Curse had not been broken, or maybe the Imperius Curse had been broken, but he couldn't explain why he wanted to break into the Hall of Prophecy.

After reading the news, Sainz decided to go find Deng first.