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Page 446

"I just don't know what they're going to do." Fred also sat next to him, "Wait, George, do you think Sirius's new car can fly?"

The two of them were stunned at the same time.

"If that's the case..." George said dryly, "I won't be able to sleep at night."

"me too."

"It's easy. You can ask around when you get to school and find out," Cedric said. "But don't you find it strange that the Death Eaters suddenly attacked Professor Moody?"

"Maybe he wants to find out Harry's whereabouts from him." George sighed, "Everyone knows that the You-Know-Who has always wanted to get rid of Harry."

"But we can't figure out why it's Professor Moody," said Fred. "He's obviously a tough nut to crack."

"Do you think... could it be related to the Defense Against the Dark Arts curse?" Qiu said hesitantly. "Isn't it strange? Both professors last school year were fine. This has never happened before."

After hearing what Qiu said, everyone realized that this seemed to be possible.

Indeed, in the previous few decades, every Defense Against the Dark Arts professor could only teach for one year, except Moody and Sirius who managed to hold on until the end of the school year, and left Hogwarts with everyone else during the holidays.

At first everyone thought that it was because of the two professors that the curse was shared between them. As a result, Moody was suddenly attacked on the day before school started.

If there is no connection between the two, it would be too much of a coincidence.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 607: Opening Party

During the rest of the journey, apart from the necessary carriage patrols, everyone's topic was always about Moody who was attacked, and the Death Eaters.

They really wanted to know whether there would be a new professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts this year, or whether Sirius would be in charge alone.

If it was the latter, would Sirius be attacked?

The train continued to travel north. The weather was still changeable. It started raining outside again. The raindrops tapped on the windows intermittently, making people drowsy.

Suddenly, the lights in the carriage came on.

"We'd better change our clothes." Qiu glanced out the window, "We should be here soon."

Fred and George began to put on their robes, and Cedric opened the door of the box in advance.

Finally, the train slowed down slowly, and there was a noisy sound all around. Everyone crowded in the aisle, preparing to get off.

Because the class leader had to maintain order, Kyle and others were the last to leave the carriage.

A man was holding an oil lamp and shouting loudly for the first-year students to come over, but the height of the oil lamp was much lower than in previous years.

"Look, that person is not Hagrid." Fred noticed something was wrong and asked, "Do you know who she is?"

She was a witch. Unlike the unkempt Hagrid, her hair was neatly combed and meticulously trimmed.

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

But no one has any impression of this person.

"She is Wilmina Grubbly-Plank." At this time, Kyle suddenly said, "A little-known magizoologist who has published many articles on unicorns."

"Fantastic Beasts..." George couldn't help but say, "Isn't the school going to replace Hagrid?"

"Probably not." Kyle shook his head. "I think Hagrid just had something urgent to do, so he asked her to help welcome the new students."

If he guessed correctly, Hagrid and Madam Maxime should still be in the giant's territory... persuading them to join the Order of the Phoenix instead of the Death Eaters.

But this task is not easy.

Giants are naturally brutal, and the philosophy of the Death Eaters obviously fits their personalities better... Of course, all this depends on whether Hagrid can convince them.

Without paying any more attention to Graplan, several people walked towards the carriage with the crowd.

Along the way, Kyle noticed that Connor would always glance at him from time to time.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." Kanna shook her head. "I just felt that you seemed to be in a good mood. Is there anything happy?"

“I guess so…but was I that obvious?” Kyle touched his face.

"It's not obvious, but I can see it." Connor said with a smile, "And you didn't slack off on the train... Before, you pushed the prefect task to Cedric."

"She's right." Cedric said quietly beside him.

"Don't worry, I won't do it again next time." Kyle laughed dryly.

"That's for sure." Cedric said unhappily, "I'm in seventh grade this year and will graduate next year. I can't possibly come back specially to help you maintain order."

"That's a good idea," Kyle said with a smile.

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

After telling Newt the whole story of meeting Voldemort that day and how the Death Eaters used this to cause trouble for him, Newt finally put away the parchment and did not mention writing a letter to Dumbledore again.

Of course, Kyle also promised him that he would never take out the contents of the box unless he encountered the Death Eaters.

To be honest, Kyle had been thinking this way, so he agreed readily.

Now he has three trump cards, and his safety is fully utilized. To put it bluntly, even if he meets Voldemort, he can fight with him for a few rounds and then run away calmly.

In this case, he would naturally be very happy.

Although he tried his best to restrain himself, he didn't expect that Kanna still saw through it.

But Kanna didn't ask any more questions. They got on an empty carriage and moved slowly towards the castle.

Ten minutes later, the carriage stopped in front of the stone steps leading to the oak gate, and Fred was the first to jump off the carriage.

He glanced in the direction of the venue from a distance.

"There's no light in Hagrid's hut."

"That's for sure." Qiu also came down, "If he were here, there would be no need for Ms. Grubbly-Plank to help pick up the new students.

"Come in quickly, it's really cold outside."

"Oh, okay." Fred hurriedly followed the crowd up the stone steps.

They walked through the warm foyer and headed towards the door on the right that led to the auditorium, ready to attend the upcoming opening ceremony party.

"Look, I told you they would eventually come." Kyle pointed at the Gryffindor table as they entered the hall.

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

They sat in the front seats and were obviously the first to arrive.

If Kyle guessed correctly, Mrs. Weasley should have used Apparition to send them to Hogsmeade, and then returned to school from there.

This is also the fastest method.

Fred and George immediately walked over upon seeing this, ready to ask the questions that had been bothering them all the way, and Qiu also went to Ravenclaw.

Kyle, Connor, and Cedric came to the Hufflepuff table and found an empty seat at the side.

As soon as he sat down, Cedric looked towards the teacher's seat eagerly.

"Oh, not bad."

Sirius was still sitting in his old seat, which meant that there was no change in the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year.

It is not easy to find a reliable Defense Against the Dark Arts professor these days. Although Sirius is not as good as Professor Moody, he is also pretty good, at least much better than Quirrell and Lockhart.

The only problem now is that no one knows how long he can continue teaching.

Cedric hoped he could make it through this semester. After all, he would graduate next year, and no matter what kind of professor came by then, it would have nothing to do with him.

That's something Kyle should consider.

Thinking of this, he suddenly noticed that Kyle was staring at the teacher's seat in a daze.

"What are you looking at."

Kyle shook his head.

He was just a little surprised not to see Umbridge, but he soon realized that this was normal.

Because of him, the other party should be busy dealing with the Wizengamot people right now. After all, he had sent the formal application to Amelia Bones of the Law Enforcement Department via owl a few days ago.

Judging from the time, the Wizengamot should have taken action. As a person who was mentioned prominently, Umbridge had no time to come to Hogwarts.

That's great. I don't have to deal with that brainless idiot anymore.

Kyle's mood improved a lot, and he even felt that the Sorting Hat's song sounded more pleasant to his ears.

To be honest, the song created by the Sorting Hat this year is really not that good. It seems that something extra was inserted into the song based on the good ones. It is advice to all students, reminding everyone to unite.

Most of the students were talking about it, but those who knew the truth knew that this was a reminder from the Sorting Hat.

After the Sorting Hat finished singing, Professor McGonagall came out with a list of new students. She stared at the students who were whispering to each other with a very stern look, and everyone immediately quieted down.

Professor McGonagall glanced at the list in her hand and called out the first person's name.

"Euan Abercrombie."

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

There was a burst of warm applause in the auditorium.

Slowly, the long line of freshmen shortened a little bit, until half an hour later, the last person was sorted into Hufflepuff.

Kyle clapped along with the others.

The banquet officially began, and all kinds of delicious dishes appeared on the table out of nowhere. The few people who had only eaten two bites on the train had no time to discuss other things and immediately started to enjoy the food.

Kyle chose a piece of beef ribs for himself and picked up another piece for Connor. This was the specialty of the house-elves. He had eaten it once when he had a snack for himself last year. It tasted quite good.

As usual, the main meal is followed by various desserts.

Kyle tried the pudding recommended by Connor, which contained orange marmalade. It was sour and sweet, perfect for ending the meal.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, the food on their plates was cleared away, Dumbledore stood up, and the hall fell silent again.

"Well, while we digest this delicious meal, I ask everyone to be quiet for a while and listen to me talk about the precautions for the new semester as usual."

Dumbledore said, "First years are not allowed in the Forbidden Forest, and the same goes for seniors."

"Also, there are two changes in our teaching staff this year. First, Professor Moody can no longer continue to teach due to some special reasons, but our Professor Black has agreed to take over the remaining three grades."

There was a burst of applause in the hall, except for the silence at the Slytherin table.