Chapter 14 - Opening Banquet

As a time passed, the sky turned dark.

Thousands of candles were lit in the Great Hall, the ceiling was decorated with beautiful starry stars, and the tables and chairs were set up in an orderly manner.

All the professors have arrived, even Dumbledore, and Hagrid is the only one who is away to pick up the first-year wizards.

Not far away, Professor Lockhart stood with Professor Filius and Headmaster Dumbledore, and his self-promoting words could be heard throughout the Hall, "Yes ... it's a simple matter, my badge is not a fake hahaha... ..."

Felix and Snape were in a corner by themselves, watching everything that was going on in the Great Hall around them.

He felt very puzzled at this moment, just now he had spent little effort in guiding this Professor Lockhart to speak freely, he was even willing to share his own adventures, provided he made a proper comic relief on the sidelines.

But ... had a very little harvest.

Is Lockhart wary of him? Not at all. Is he acting? Gathering information through exaggeration and bragging?

Felix is puzzled, as well as a certain professor.

Snape stood in the other corner with a mocking smile on his face, not knowing who he was laughing at.

What had happened to Professor Snape?

He hadn't had such a grim and sarcastic face last time he was at school?

Had something happened in the middle three years?

Feeling that his normally clever brain was not working well enough, Felix became more and more cautious, and then he joined Professor Sprout's conversation, talking to her about magical plants.

"Felix, I have to say, you didn't put too much thought into your herbal class when you were in school."

"Professor, I was distracted by other subjects, I was too busy."

"I don't think so, you were asking me all sorts of questions about those dangerous plants and what their weaknesses were ..." Sprout remembered this vividly.

Well, black history, he really wasn't interested in herb classes back then.

Does it offer him strength?

No? I don't know what to say.

So he never did well in herbalism, hovering between an A (pass) and a P (poor), but he was very good at dealing with dangerous magical plants, even going to great lengths to identify their weaknesses and try to solve them in the least stressful way possible.

This was also his philosophy for his magical creature protection course, too.

Let's just say that he did get a little carried away during those years.

There were a lot of clamours in the distance.

"The students are here!"

Professor McGonagall stood up and departed in a hurry. Felix tried to join Professor Snape in an attempt to see how he had changed over the years, but he dodged fast.

Felix had no choice but to aim for a seat next to Lockhart as his second target.

Professor Filius, who seemed to have been pestered by Lockhart, saw Felix approaching to free himself and without hesitation, he gave Felix his seat.

After sitting down, Felix started the conversation with ease, "Professor Lockhart, your book 'Travels with Vampires' describes the vampire species very well, but I have a few questions ..."

Now it seems Lockhart's turn to fidget, he's a bit of a fence-sitter, always missing the mark, and Felix has to wisely stop the conversation.

Am I hated ...

The atmosphere became a little awkward, but soon Professor McGonagall led the students into the Great Hall, where the young wizards from Year 2 to Year 7 were seated on either side of four long tables according to their houses.

Professor McGonagall seemed to be in a very bad mood, though, as she quickly approached Dumbledore and whispered something, and the Headmaster's face immediately turned serious. He said a few words to McGonagall, she nodded, then she called Snape and the two of them left the Hall.

Is something wrong? Felix was tempted to intervene, but this was not the right occasion for spying.

On the other side of the Hall, the young wizards, who had just enrolled at school, were very excited, chattering away and making the Hall very lively. The professors were quite open-minded and did not step in to stop them, and Headmaster Dumbledore's face became smiling again as he watched the proceedings and stroked his silvery-white beard.

Felix also looked around with interest, there were a lot of people he knew here, after all, he had just graduated three years ago, in other words, all the students from the fourth year onwards had met him before.

Slytherin House.

The tall Marcus Flint is talking about his summer vacation like nobody's around, and his voice can be heard across the three seats, and as he's speaking happily, a fellow student quietly tugs his arm.

Marcus Flint got a little impatient, why? Don't interrupt me, yuck! Don't interrupt me from sharing an interesting experience!

When his companion pulled him harder for the second time, he finally turned his head and saw the boy with a frightened look on his face, shooting frantic glances at the professor's seat.

Did something interesting happen?

A new professor? Isn't that normal, isn't there a professor for a certain course who gets changed every year?

Marcus Flint looked over at the professor's seat, his eyes scanning the place, looking for an unfamiliar figure.

Well, a handsome-looking male wizard, and this is their new professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts?

Nothing special ...

Wait!

Who did he see?

Marcus Flint suddenly let out a short cry, as if he had been bitten by a mouse, and his expression became equally terrified, in sync with his companion beside him.

It was that guy!

How could he be here?

For a moment, his already dull brain became even duller.

With a cry from Marcus Flint, the rest of the Slytherin students followed his gaze to the professor's seat and drew in a cold breath.

Almost instantly, silence fell over the majority of the Slytherin table.

The remaining minority of junior students quickly noticed the unexplained silence of the senior students and also stopped talking, staring at them in confusion.

Malfoy looked at this strange scene at his house and wondered, "What's going on?" as he tugged the senior next to him.

"Shut up and keep your voice down!" The senior rebuked in a low voice, lowering his head and not daring to look at the young man's figure, but pretending to look at a silver tray with keen interest.

Then he whispered, "Draco, keep your voice down, that sir is back."

" That Sir?" asked Malfoy, somewhat puzzled by what sounded like the honorific title of a nobleman.

The senior spat out a few words in a low voice, "The 8-7 duel."

"Hiss!" Malfoy also took a long breath and couldn't help but look at the young professor in the professor's seat quietly.

Was that him?

And as the Slytherin's suddenly settled down, the other houses noticed something strange about them as well.

Hermione had already noticed the figure of Felix earlier, and with her excellent memory, she immediately recognised him as an odd guest she had met during the summer holiday.

So he is a wizard too? No wonder he had such strange demands!

I wonder what course he'll be teaching?

The two unfamiliar faces this year, Lockhart was already acquainted with them, the new professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts, and she had read all his books.

His experience was fantastic!

And the other professor looks young, not too far ahead of her age ... Huh? Why is everyone so quiet?

Hermione looked around, the students of Slytherin House were as quiet as a guard, the other three houses were also silent for a moment, and then the discussion started with a more intense tone, the whole Hall totally exploded.

The seniors were all talking about something, with a "I have a big secret" look on their faces.

She had been worried about Harry and Ron's safety, but she had already informed Professor McGonagall, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?

Hermione stretched her neck and listened without making a sound.