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Kyle coughed lightly and walked past Professor McGonagall without saying a word.
The auditorium was still as magnificent as before, and it was specially decorated for the new semester's banquet. Lightning and thunder flashed on the enchanted ceiling, scaring some younger students into screaming.
Kyle and his friends walked over to the Hufflepuff table and sat down.
Soon, the tables of other colleges were also full of people. Everyone gathered together and chattered about the interesting things that happened during the holidays.
The most mentioned topic was naturally the Quidditch World Cup. Those students who did not go to watch the game were curious about what happened and whether it was as exciting as what was said in the newspapers.
"I wonder who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor will be this year." Cedric glanced at the front row of teachers, and there was not a single unfamiliar face on the table.
"Maybe they can't find anyone." Mikel said, also looking at the teachers' seats.
"Everyone knows that this position is cursed. So far, no professor has been able to survive a school year... Oh..."
Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
"Have you noticed? Professor Snape doesn't seem to be here this year either."
He said excitedly, "Could it be that in addition to Defense Against the Dark Arts, the professor of Potions will also be changed this year?
“Oh my god, this is so good!”
"Maybe he was just delayed by something..." Kyle said coldly.
Snape is probably still busy dealing with Regulus's issues and has no time to attend the opening party.
"Oh, can't you let me be happy for a moment?" Mikel said faintly.
As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the auditorium opened and everyone immediately fell silent.
Professor McGonagall led a group of first-year students into the hall.
"They are really in a mess," Cedric whispered.
The freshmen were all soaked, and it looked as if they had swam directly from the lake instead of taking a boat.
Kyle touched his chin. He thought he could talk to Dumbledore to see if he could take over the job of engraving magic patterns on those small boats.
As long as specific symbols composed of magic patterns are carved on the boat, an invisible shed can be added to the boat, thus blocking the rain.
This way, the current situation will not happen again.
Those freshmen looked really embarrassed. They didn’t even dare to look at the people around them. They just lowered their heads and walked forward silently.
As the Sorting Hat began to sing, he immediately shared his thoughts with Connor.
"That's probably not possible..." Kanna whispered, "Professor Babel can do this job, but so far, those boats are still the same, without any change."
"Let's give it a try. Maybe Professor Babel is too lazy to do it... She even wants to combine the classes together." Kyle said.
Kanna thought about it and it seemed to be true. Professor Barbling would see the principal once a year and want to combine the classes for five grades so that she would have more time to travel.
No matter how you look at it, she doesn't seem like she would waste time carving magic runes on the boat.
"Besides, we have a board of directors." Kyle continued, "It doesn't require Professor Dumbledore to pay for it himself, so he has no reason to refuse."
Connor was convinced. She nodded and said, "Then when are we going to find Professor Dumbledore?"
"There's no rush." Kyle thought for a moment, "This year's freshmen have already arrived, so it's fine before the end of the semester.
How about Christmas or Easter, when we have two weeks off.”
"Okay!" said Connor.
At this time, the Sorting Hat's song just ended.
"I've never been wrong."
"Determine which house you belong to."
As the last word fell, warm applause broke out in the auditorium.
Although Kyle basically didn't hear a word, he clapped along.
Professor McGonagall unrolled a large roll of parchment.
“Whoever I call puts on his hat and sits on the stool,” she told the first-year students.
"Stuart Ackerley!"
A boy walked up and you could see he was shaking from head to toe. It was unclear if it was because of nervousness or the cold.
"Ravenclaw!" The Sorting Hat paused for only two seconds before shouting loudly.
The Ravenclaw table immediately erupted in applause.
……
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 475 The Lowered Age Line
This year's Sorting Hat was very efficient and completed the sorting work in just over half an hour.
Finally, with Kevin Whitby being sorted into Hufflepuff, the sorting ceremony came to an end.
Dumbledore stood up and looked at all the students with a smile, "Eat."
The empty plate was suddenly and magically filled with food.
Mikel scooped himself a large spoonful of mashed potatoes and said: "Although I have seen it many times, every time these foods suddenly appear, I still feel a little weird."
"A staple at Hogwarts," Kyle said with a smile.
While eating delicious steak and ham, they discussed the possibility of engraving magic runes on the boat and also made a preliminary decision on the price.
One hundred galleons per ship.
For several students who have not yet graduated, this number is indeed a little high, but it is a proposal, so if it is not suitable, we can discuss it again.
When the meal was over, Kyle chose a plate of Yorkshire pudding from among the many desserts.
This traditional British pudding tastes great and, more importantly, is not as sweet as treacle tarts, making it a perfect after-meal dessert.
Finally, all the food was cleared away, and the remaining crumbs on the plate disappeared, leaving it clean and shiny again.
At this moment, Dumbledore stood up again. The buzzing voices in the hall stopped immediately and everyone looked at him.
As usual, Dumbledore first emphasized a few points of attention, such as freshmen were not allowed to go to the Forbidden Forest... He said these every year, there was nothing new.
The only difference is that there are a few more prohibited items in the castle, including but not limited to the Screaming Teacup, the Combo Boomerang, and the Biting Quill...all new products from Zonko's Joke Shop last year.
Including these, the entire list has 437 items.
It has to be said that Fred and George made great contributions to the completion of this list. According to conservative estimates, they alone contributed more than a hundred names.
"I regret to inform you that there will be no Quidditch matches this year!" said Dumbledore.
The hall suddenly became chaotic. Everyone was noisy and looked at Dumbledore in disbelief.
But before he could explain, the door of the auditorium was suddenly slammed open.
A man appeared at the door, leaning on a long cane and limping towards the teachers' seats.
Everyone in the auditorium turned to look at him.
Thump, thump, with every step he took, a hollow sound echoed in the auditorium.
Suddenly, a forked bolt of lightning flashed across the ceiling, illuminating his face.
There were gasps in the auditorium one after another.
His face was covered with scars, with almost no good spots, but that wasn't the scariest thing.
The most frightening thing is his eyes.
He only has one normal eye, the other is very large, round like a coin, and bright blue.
"Oh, it's Mad-Eye!" someone shouted subconsciously.
Almost in an instant, the blue eyeball rolled over and drilled into the man's head, as if staring at the person who was talking behind him.
The student who had just shouted Mad-Eye's name quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at him.
The man walked up to Dumbledore, and the two exchanged some words in low voices, before he sat down in one of the empty chairs.
"Allow me to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." Dumbledore said cheerfully, "Professor Alastor Moody!"
The embarrassing thing is that this time, not a single student applauded, only Dumbledore and Hagrid clapped their hands, and the atmosphere was even colder than that of Professor Lupin last year.
At the Hufflepuff table, Kyle looked down at the parchment in his hand.
As soon as Moody entered the room, he opened the Marauder's Map, but strangely, the other party's name was not shown on it, and when he walked towards the teacher's seat, no name moved.
It was as if he didn't exist... To be precise, he must have used some method to make his name unplottable.
Hogwarts is simply unplottable and will not appear on any map.
However, this is normal for an old Auror who is suspicious by nature.
There are many spells related to names in the wizarding world, the most well-known of which is Voldemort.
Anyone who shouts out this name will be found by him and killed directly, which is why most people call him the mysterious man.
To be honest, if Moody's name really appeared on the Marauder's Map, even if it was his real name, Kyle would suspect that he was someone else in disguise.
Now this may actually be true.
It looks like the old Auror escaped… I guess.
Kyle put away the Marauder's Map and continued to look towards the teachers' seats as if nothing had happened.
Dumbledore didn't insist on introducing the new professor anymore.
"Let's continue what we were talking about."
He said: "The reason for cancelling Quidditch is that in the coming months we would have been privileged to host a fantastic event which has not been held for over a century.
I am delighted to announce that the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts this year!"
The entire auditorium was silent for a few seconds, and then erupted into an unprecedented buzz.
"Are you kidding..."
"The Triwizard Tournament... Oh my god..."