Ever since Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher has been a rare survival rate, no wizard can survive more than one year and still retire with a small degree of success. It has become a ritual at the beginning of each academic year to evaluate the competence of the newly appointed professor.
According to custom, the popularity of this topic usually lasts until the end of the first month of the new term before gradually revealing a widely accepted conclusion.
However, this year's situation is different from the past. Before the class started, Mr. Lupin, who showed up on the Hogwarts Express, quickly gained widespread praise within a week after classes started...
Of course, Slytherin House, which is the most disliked, has maintained its usual style. They couldn't find any fault with Professor Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, so they simply took issue with his plain attire. However, they could only amuse themselves with this, as few people would have any opinion against Professor Lupin because of it.
Now, among the young witches and wizards, the most popular topic is who between Professor Remus Lupin and Professor Amos Brundle is the most 'professional' in the past ten years.
This is not something that can be easily explained with just a few words. Even within Gryffindor, there was much debate on the topic.
"Professionalism is beyond dispute--"
Fred Wesley, one of the rarest quiet evenings among the Wesley brothers, leaned against the extinguished fireplace and said, "But obviously we prefer--"
"Professor Amos Brundle!" the twins said in unison.
Fred and George were proud of their understanding, jumping up and laughing as they bumped elbows in the air.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were sitting on the sofa and Hermione was leaning over a wooden table pre-studying for several subjects at once, felt no surprise. They all knew why Fred and George preferred Professor Brundle; to them, the Bogeyman was clearly less fun than the eight-eyed spider. Reading Alcove.
"Neville and Diagon they prefer Professor Lupin--"
Ron carefully fed Wormtail his tonic, but the creature seemed to dislike it very much. It squirmed around in Ron's hand, trying to escape, and by the end of it, half of the bottle had spilled onto Ron's robes.
"At least they can deal with the Bogeyman in the wardrobe, and as for Professor Brundle..."
Ron suddenly shivered, saying with a sense of caution,
"During the summer holidays, my parents took us to visit mummies in a pyramid, and I had nightmares that night... Remembering the reanimated corpses Professor Brundle brought to class, I doubt I'll ever forget that!"
Hermione, who was hunched over her books writing furiously, suddenly smiled, tilting her head to glance at Ron.
"To be honest, Ron, I never thought that when you faced the Bogeyman, it would turn into a walking corpse or a snake monster, but that you would be afraid of a spider instead?"
The deep topic of this issue lasted for about ten minutes, and finally, Harry and Hermione both understood the reason why Ron was afraid of spiders. In a burst of laughter, Ron accidentally pushed the bottle's neck into Wormtail's nose, resulting in Wormtail's continuous shrieks of pain after giving Ron a bite. This made Ron even more upset; he looked at Harry with a drooping face.
"It's time for you to express your opinion, Harry!"
"Uh--"
Harry hesitated to speak, but it was all feigned.
Hermione admires Professor Lupin for his teaching method that follows the official textbooks systematically, while Ron prefers Professor Brundle... This is not surprising, as Professor Brundle saved half of Ron's siblings and once gave him a very exquisite souvenir coin.
Well, Harry always felt a strange sense of familiarity towards Professor Lupin.
He didn't know what caused this feeling, either... Maybe it was because Professor Lupin saved his life on the Hogwarts Express, or perhaps it was because of his mild-mannered personality. But even so, if he had to choose a better professor between Brundle and Lupin, he would undoubtedly choose Brundle without hesitation.
The reason for his decision was not just Professor Brundle's help during the Chamber of Secrets last semester, but also because, over the summer break, Harry unexpectedly learned about Professor Brundle's background, which made Harry feel a sense of kinship with Professor Brundle.
However, this reason cannot be disclosed, as Harry cannot reveal Professor Brundle's most important privacy without permission, even to Ron and Hermione.
......
Early the next morning, all the young witches and wizards who entered the dining hall for breakfast felt an unspoken oppression. Quickly, they realized that this sense of oppression was emanating from the professor's seating area at the front of the hall.
Besides Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Lupin, almost every professor who came down for breakfast had a newspaper. They ignored the varied delicacies piled up in front of them, focusing instead on the Daily Prophet spread out before them.
"Is there anything new we haven't heard about?"
Harry and Ron, who were late, quickly noticed something was off as they entered the dining hall and ran in, sitting down directly next to Hermione's empty seat.
The atmosphere in the Great Hall was too eerie. Everyone's face wore a heavy expression, young witches and wizards were discussing in low voices, and professors were also exchanging opinions in hushed tones. Only the 'beloved' Potions teacher faced the table with a blank expression, calmly dealing with the white porridge in front of him.
"The Ministry has found Black."
Hermione said seriously, but seeing the shocked expressions of the two young witches, she quickly added, "But he ran again...Simon told us yesterday, oh, it was him who saw Black on the Daily Prophet - there was a muggle who saw Black in the vicinity."
Hermione shook the latest edition of the Daily Prophet in her hand today,
"The newspaper says today that according to the muggle's tip-off, the Aurors have mobilized en masse and followed the clues. Last night, the Aurors blocked him in front of his old family home and engaged in a fierce battle with him!"
Harry eagerly grabbed the newspaper that Hermione passed over and read it with Ron.
...Black was seriously injured and fled...The Auror Office took the initiative to take down Black. In the confrontation with Sirius Black, the Auror, Dudley... A warning from the Aurors and Dementors to continue pursuit... Please keep calm in the magical community...
"Wow!"
Ron, a 'son of a wizard', disliked it and turned his face away.
"Daily Prophet is still the same as before, vague and evasive when it comes to major issues!"
"The problem isn't here, Ron... Look at this again!"
Hermione carefully pulled out another Times newspaper and pushed it under the table to Harry, whose face seemed a bit off.
"Besides me, there's probably nobody else in the school subscribing to Muggle newspapers," Hermione said, pointing to the front page picture that made everyone's blood run cold.
"The Daily Prophet hasn't released the details of last night's capture, but the Muggle newspapers have recorded the scene, with Muggle governments claiming a gas explosion... The excuse is not new, but look at this--"
The huge searchlight lit up the dark night, revealing chilling cracks on the lonely square. The edges of the cracks were in a molten state, and faint wisps of smoke could be seen. In the distance, a large section of pavement had been blown away, and a house on the alleyway had been overturned.
"This... Is all Black's fault?" Ron looked at the Muggle newspaper with wide eyes and almost popped his eyes out of their sockets, "But the Daily Prophet says no muggle died!"
"The Muggle newspapers also say so."
"Pointing to the text under the picture, Hermione looked at Harry who remained silent and said with gravity, "It's true."
"With one man fighting against most of the elite of the Ministry of Magic and causing such destruction, we finally understand why the Ministry is so worried about Sirius Black's escape!"
Reading Alcove
