Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard-Chapter 520 - 518: The New Professor

That night, the Hufflepuff common room was naturally filled with another round of celebrations.

The tables were piled mountain-high with cookies and cakes, along with pitchers of pumpkin juice and butterbeer.

But this time, no one really cared much for the delicious snacks; everyone gathered around a table, carefully examining the three red stones placed on it.

"What on earth are these things?"

"No idea." Kael shook his head. "Bagman said they contained clues for the second task, but he didn’t explain how to use them, we’ll need to figure it out ourselves."

"Could it be that we need to roast them over a fire?" Mikel suggested, "Burn off the outer shell and the clues will come out."

"No way." Hannah Abbott immediately shook her head, "What if the real clue gets burned? It’s too risky; I think using a revealing spell would be better."

"I’ll give it a try." Cedric took out his wand and tapped it forcefully on the stones.

"Reveal your true form!"

However, the stones remained unchanged.

"Looks like the revealing spell doesn’t work." He sighed.

"It’s okay, it’s only the first day." Conna said to Kael, "You have three months, you’ll surely figure out the clues."

Kael smiled without saying anything.

In fact, Kael wasn’t particularly concerned about whether he could find out the clues for the second task in advance.

Knowing would be great, but not knowing wouldn’t be a problem... after all, they would announce it on the day of the competition.

Once Kael put away the stones from the table, everyone remembered the cookies and cakes they had neglected for so long.

The second task was pushed to the back of their minds, and everyone began celebrating Kael’s achievements, quickly turning the atmosphere in the common room festive once more.

...

By the time Kael finally returned to the dormitory with Ryan and Mikel, it was already around two or three in the morning. Fortunately, no one tried to force butterbeer on him this time.

Mikel and Ryan seemed to have endless energy, even though it was late, they showed no intention of sleeping.

Mikel placed a wooden stick against the door, using it as a makeshift broomstick. He and Ryan took turns imitating the high-difficulty snatching move Kael used in the final round.

Kael watched from his bed, laughing along with Mikel whenever Ryan fell off the stick.

Honestly, from this angle, it looked quite amusing.

...

After the excitement, Hogwarts entered December.

The weather grew colder, with almost daily gusts and sleet. The once lively shore of the Black Lake was now deserted, except for the Durmstrang ship still anchored in the lake’s center, swaying with the fierce wind.

"It must be freezing in there." Mikel said.

They had just finished their Care of Magical Creatures class and were on their way back to the castle, most of their faces flushed with awkward footsteps.

This was because Hagrid had been feeding the Abraxans pure malt whiskey every day lately, causing the paddock to constantly fill with the heavy scent of whiskey.

Earlier it was manageable, but now, when the wind blows, the smell drifts to the classroom, and the potent liquor makes most students uncomfortable.

"I suspect there’s magic on that ship." Ryan rubbed his face, "Or else in this cold weather, staying in the lake would be unbearable."

"Probably." Mikel replied, "Besides, I’ve heard Durmstrang is even colder than Hogwarts, their school uniforms include fur cloaks."

The cold, wet wind from the Black Lake followed them all the way to the castle, though the previous drowsy feeling disappeared.

Kael put away his books in the dormitory as Cedric happened to come in. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"I was just going to look for you, Kael."

"What for?"

"Well," Cedric said, "the Head Boy just found me, saying Dumbledore requested everyone to have dinner in the auditorium today... I’ve notified the other grades, only you guys left."

"Everyone to the auditorium for dinner?" Kael asked puzzledly, "Did something happen?"

"I don’t know." Cedric shrugged, "It’s probably the Headmaster announcing something."

"Alright then." Kael nodded.

When it was dinner time, Dumbledore indeed arrived, looking quite pleased, conversing continuously with Professor Moody next to him.

"What do you think he’s going to announce?" Conna asked curiously, "Could it be the second task?"

"Probably not." Kael thought for a moment and replied, "If it’s related to the Triwizard Tournament, all three Headmasters should be present."

Out of the three Headmasters, only Dumbledore and Maxime were attending the dinner in the auditorium. As for Karkaroff... he hadn’t been to the auditorium since the first task ended.

Soon, dinner was over.

After the plates were cleared of food, Dumbledore stood up.

Everyone was gazing at him.

"You must all be curious why I asked everyone to have dinner in the auditorium."

Dumbledore glanced around, smiling, "That’s because I have an announcement to make. Come in now."

He extended his hand, gesturing toward the auditorium’s side door.

Someone was walking in from there.

"Oh!"

"Oh my, it’s... "

A chorus of exclamations filled the auditorium, Gryffindor’s long table notably, Harry even stood up excitedly.

"Yes, many of you must have seen him in the newspapers." Dumbledore said, smiling, "But I still need to introduce him to everyone... Sirius Black."

A round of applause filled the auditorium.

"Quiet, quiet, I think you’re cheering too early..." Dumbledore raised his hand, "I’m honored to announce that starting today, Sirius Black will become our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!"

After a brief silence, the applause and enthusiastic cheers were thunderous.

"Professor, what about Professor Moody..." Someone shouted.

While Sirius Black was great, Professor Moody was also very decent, many students enjoyed his classes.

"Regarding that, everyone please be assured; Professor Moody will still be staying around." Dumbledore explained, "Though he has indeed complained to me several times, insisting it’s unfair to have a retired person handle seven years’ worth of classes.

So now Professor Black is here, he’s happily agreed to lighten Professor Moody’s load by taking over Defense Against the Dark Arts classes for years one to four."

Another round of applause followed.

"Oh, why!" Mikel lamented, "Why isn’t he teaching fifth-year classes?"

"Professor Moody isn’t bad either." Cedric said.

"I know." Mikel replied, shaking his head, "I mean, it’s Sirius Black, this year’s legend, aren’t you curious?"

"Well... alright, I’m actually quite curious too." Cedric said, "But it can’t be helped since he’s only handling lower-year classes."

"So envious..."

While they talked, Kael looked over to the left side of the faculty table, where Snape sat.

Snape showed no intent to applaud, merely holding a fork tightly, glaring intently at Sirius who was waving and greeting everyone.

He was squeezing the fork so hard it was bending out of shape.

His expression was as dire as if Dumbledore had just announced he had to drink Mikel’s brewed Potion.