Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard-Chapter 608 - 606: The Start-of-Term Feast

During the rest of the journey, aside from necessary patrols of the compartments, everyone kept talking about the attacked Moody and the Death Eaters.

They were eager to know if this year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would change, or if Sirius alone would handle it.

If it were the latter, would Sirius also be attacked?

The train continued traveling north, the weather remained unpredictable, and it began to rain outside. The raindrops occasionally tapped against the windows, making everyone drowsy.

Suddenly, the carriage lights came on.

"We should change our clothes now." Cho glanced out the window, "We should be arriving soon."

Fred and George started putting on their robes, and Cedric opened the compartment door in advance.

Finally, the train slowly decelerated, and a cacophony surrounded them as everyone crowded into the corridor, ready to disembark.

Because the Prefects had to maintain order, Kael and the others were the last to leave the carriage.

Someone holding an oil lamp loudly called for the first-year students to come over, but the lamp was noticeably lower than in previous years.

"Look, that person isn’t Hagrid." Fred noticed something was off and asked, "Do you know who she is?"

She was a witch, quite unlike the unkempt Hagrid; her hair was neat and meticulously trimmed.

At the moment, she was loudly calling the first-year students to gather in front of her.

But no one had any impression of this person.

"She’s Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank," Kael suddenly said, "a somewhat famous magizoologist who has published many articles about unicorns."

"Fantastic Beasts..." George couldn’t help but say, "The school wouldn’t replace Hagrid, would they?"

"Probably not." Kael shook his head, "I think Hagrid just has something temporary coming up, so they brought her to help welcome the new students."

If he guessed correctly, Hagrid and Ms. Maxime should still be in the giants’ domain... trying to persuade them to join the Order of the Phoenix instead of the Death Eaters.

But that task is not an easy one.

Giants are inherently brutal, and the Death Eaters’ ideology is apparently more in line with their nature... Of course, everything depends on whether Hagrid can persuade them.

Without focusing further on Grubbly-Plank, the group walked along with the crowd toward the carriages.

Along the way, Kael noticed that Conna kept glancing at him now and then.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." Conna shook her head, "I just feel that you seem to be in a good mood, is there something making you happy?"

"Sort of... But is it that obvious?" Kael touched his face.

"Not very obvious, but I can tell." Conna said with a smile: "And on the train, you didn’t slack off... before, you always pushed the Prefect tasks onto Cedric."

"She’s right." Cedric said solemnly beside them.

"Don’t worry, I won’t do it next time." Kael laughed awkwardly twice.

"That’s a given." Cedric said irritably, "I’m in seventh year, graduating next year, I can’t come back just to help you maintain order, can I?"

"That could be a good method too." Kael said with a smile.

He was indeed in a good mood today, mainly because of last night.

After recounting to Newt the scene of seeing Voldemort that day, and how the Death Eaters used this to make trouble for him afterwards, Newt eventually put away the parchment and didn’t mention writing to Dumbledore again.

Of course, Kael also promised him that unless encountering the Death Eaters, he wouldn’t let the things in the box out.

Honestly, that was Kael’s plan all along, so he agreed quickly.

Now he had three trump cards, safety was maximized, and without hesitation, even if he encountered Voldemort, he could handle a couple of moves and then escape.

In such a situation, naturally, he was quite pleased.

Though he tried hard to restrain himself, it was still noticed by Conna.

But Conna didn’t press further, and they all boarded an empty carriage and swayed toward the castle.

After ten minutes or so, the carriage stopped in front of the stone steps leading to the oak front door, Fred was the first to jump off the carriage.

He looked distantly toward the grounds.

"Hagrid’s cabin has no light."

"That’s to be expected." Cho also got off, "If he were here, Ms. Grubbly-Plank wouldn’t be needed to help welcome the new students either.

"Let’s hurry inside, it’s really cold out here."

"Oh, alright." Fred quickly followed the crowd up the stone steps.

They passed through the warm foyer, heading toward the doorway to the auditorium on the right, ready to attend the upcoming Welcoming Feast.

"Look, didn’t I say they would definitely make it?" As soon as they entered the auditorium, Kael pointed at the Gryffindor table and said.

There, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were waving their hands energetically.

They sat at the front, evidently the first to arrive.

If Kael was not mistaken, Mrs. Weasley must have used Disillusionment to take them to Hogsmeade, then back to the school.

That was the fastest way.

Seeing this, Fred and George immediately went over to ask about the issues they’d been pondering the whole way, and Cho went to Ravenclaw.

Kael, Conna, and Cedric headed over to the Hufflepuff table, finding a row of empty seats on the side.

As soon as he sat down, Cedric eagerly looked towards the teachers’ table.

"Oh, good."

Sirius was still sitting in his usual place, which meant the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor hadn’t changed this year.

These days, finding a reliable Defense Against the Dark Arts professor wasn’t easy. Although Sirius wasn’t as good as Professor Moody, he was still decent, at least much better than Quirrell or Lockhart.

The only question now was how long he could continue teaching.

Cedric hoped he could last through this term because he’d be graduating next year, and it wouldn’t matter to him who the new professor was.

That would be Kael’s problem to deal with.

At this thought, he suddenly noticed Kael staring blankly at the teachers’ table.

"What are you looking at?"

Kael shook his head.

He was just a bit surprised not to see Umbridge, but soon realized that made sense.

Because of him, she was probably busy dealing with the Wizengamot. After all, he had already sent the formal application to Amelia Bones at the Law Enforcement Department via owl a few days ago.

By now, the Wizengamot should be taking action, and as someone specifically mentioned, Umbridge wouldn’t have time to come to Hogwarts.

It’s great not to face that dimwitted fool.

Kael felt much better, and even the Sorting Hat’s song sounded more pleasant.

Honestly, the Sorting Hat’s song this year wasn’t great. It seemed to have added something extra on top of the original creation, advising all the students to unite.

Most students were talking about it, except those who knew the truth. They understood it was the Sorting Hat’s warning.

After the Sorting Hat ended its song, Professor McGonagall came out with a list of new students. She glared sternly at the chattering students, and everyone immediately fell silent.

Professor McGonagall glanced at the list in her hand and loudly announced the first name.

"Euan Abercrombie."

A nervous-looking boy stumbled forward and was finally sorted into Gryffindor.

A burst of applause erupted in the auditorium.

Gradually, the long line of new students shrank bit by bit until half an hour later, the last person was sorted into Hufflepuff.

Kael applauded along with everyone else.

The feast officially began, and all sorts of delicious dishes appeared out of thin air on the tables. A few people who had only snacked on the train quickly started to enjoy the feast, without bothering to discuss anything else.

Kael picked himself a piece of beef rib and gave Conna a piece as well. It was the house-elves’ specialty dish; he had tried it once when he gave himself an extra meal last year, and it was quite good.

As usual, the main course was followed by a variety of desserts.

Kael tried the pudding Conna recommended, which had orange marmalade; its sweet and tangy flavors made for a great ending.

After everyone had eaten their fill and the food on the plates was gone, Dumbledore stood up, and the auditorium fell silent once more.

"Well then, while we digest a sumptuous feast, I ask for everyone’s attention as I, as usual, talk about the new term’s notices."

Dumbledore said, "First-year students are not allowed into the Forbidden Forest, and the same goes for older students."

"Also, there are two changes to our teaching staff this year. First, Professor Moody, due to certain special reasons, cannot continue teaching, but Professor Black has agreed to take over the remaining three years’ courses."

A round of applause erupted in the hall, except around the Slytherin table, which remained silent.

They didn’t want Sirius to stay at the school, just as Gryffindor desperately hoped for Snape’s dismissal.

Dumbledore continued, "And I’m delighted to introduce Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be teaching Care of Magical Creatures until our gamekeeper returns."

Professor Grubbly-Plank stood up and nodded to everyone.

A polite round of applause came from the hall.

"Finally, this year’s Quidditch trials will be held in the second week after the start of term."

"Great," Cedric waved his hand excitedly.

He had been waiting for this.

Last year, due to the Triwizard Tournament, the Quidditch matches had been canceled. He had waited a whole school year, and now finally heard this announcement.

"Kael, we’re definitely winning the Quidditch Cup this year, right?" Cedric asked enthusiastically.

"Yes, absolutely," Kael replied, "The championship is ours, as your graduation gift."

"That would be wonderful," Cedric said with a smile.

"Since you’re so happy..." Kael patted his shoulder, "I’ll leave the new students to you then, alright?"

"Sure," Cedric said without thinking.

But he soon realized the sound of scraping chairs and buzzing conversations around him.

Just now, Dumbledore had already announced dismissal, and everyone was getting ready to return to their dorms.

At this time, the Prefects from each house were responsible for leading the new students and taking them to their dormitories.

Clearly, Kael had shoved his duty onto him again, and he had agreed without a second thought.

...