Trelawney's Prophecy About Snape?

Earlier, since he had been facing the other students, Sean had only given the teachers' table a cursory glance as he approached the Great Hall. Now that the Sorting Ceremony was about to end, he finally had time to take a proper look.

To his surprise, the moment he looked up, his gaze met a pair of bright lake-blue eyes.

Sean recognized the other man at once, because he already had four of his Chocolate Frog Cards.

Albus Dumbledore.

The unexpected eye contact made Sean panic involuntarily. After all, the other man might have been the greatest Legilimency master alive.

Yet out of long-standing habit, Sean still offered an impeccable, elegant smile and gave a slight nod in respect.

Dumbledore's eyes behind his Glasses held a gentle smile. He raised his goblet in greeting from afar, then looked away.

Sean secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Though many people held mixed opinions about the old man, Sean did not think he would casually use Legilimency on a Young Wizard.

In the eyes of many, Dumbledore was a schemer, and they called him the White Dark Lord. But Sean felt that a person's life was not a binary switch. Dumbledore had done both right and wrong, and it was not appropriate to define the old man by whether he was just. If he had to choose an adjective—

Sean believed Dumbledore was undoubtedly a great man.

His thoughts turning, the lengthy Sorting Ceremony finally came to an end after the last Young Wizard was assigned to Slytherin.

Watching Dumbledore rise to his feet, Sean hurriedly opened the system panel and entered the Lottery Draw page.

Though the saying went that superstition could not change bad luck, he believed a person had to have dreams!

Like the other students, he watched Dumbledore, while inwardly roaring madly.

See that old man up there?! Draw him! Draw him!

Dumbledore rose from his golden chair with a broad smile, spreading his arms as though nothing delighted him more than new students arriving at Hogwarts.

"Welcome! Welcome to Hogwarts for the start of a new school year! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

At the same time, Sean watched the old man with a smile on his face while immediately issuing a command in his mind.

"Fifty consecutive draws!"

A blaze of dazzling light flashed past, and Sean immediately spotted a striking golden glow among it.

"Thank you, everyone!" Dumbledore said with a smile as he sat down amid everyone's applause. Below the stage, Sean clapped especially enthusiastically. If not for the manners drilled into him by his family from childhood, he would have leapt up like the Weasley brothers and let out a few whistles.

Thank you, Headmaster!

However, before he could inspect the rewards from the draw, a hand reached over from beside him.

"Hello, Cotton Bourne," an older student introduced himself.

"Hello, pleased to meet you. Sean Wallerup."

Around them, just as the two of them had done, the older students began chatting with the first-years. With his sharp ears, Sean caught snippets from the other house tables: Gryffindor was discussing Quidditch and Wizard Duels, the friendly Hufflepuff seniors had begun introducing the feast's food, while the Ravenclaws were already discussing this term's classes.

After exchanging a few words with Cotton, Sean asked him about the professors at the teachers' table.

"Let's start from the left," Cotton said, clearing his throat. "That's Professor Silvanus Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures professor. My advice is to be careful of every egg he hands you!"

"Next, that lady is Professor Aurora Sinistra, who teaches Astronomy. You can stay in the Common Room a little longer before her class, since the classroom is in the same tower as our Common Room."

"That's Rolanda Hooch, the Flying Class teacher..."

"That's Professor Sybill Trelawney, the Divination professor. She's always muttering mysterious things..."

"That is Professor Charity Burbage, who teaches Muggle Studies. She had originally retired, but Professor Quirrell, the former Muggle Studies teacher, switched to Defense Against the Dark Arts this term, so she had no choice but to return to teaching."

Sean turned his gaze toward Quirrell. He was not wearing a turban and was currently speaking with a colleague beside him.

Was that a coincidence...? Sean kept it in mind.

Cotton continued, "That's Professor Pomona Sprout, the Herbology teacher and Head of Hufflepuff."

"That's our Head of House, Professor Flitwick, who teaches Charms. Don't let his small stature fool you—he was once the Duelling Club champion!"

"Professor Minerva McGonagall teaches Transfiguration and is the Head of Gryffindor. Don't ever get into trouble in front of her!"

After introducing several other teachers, only one somewhat balding old man remained at the table.

"That is the Head of Slytherin and the Potions teacher, Professor Horace Slughorn. Well, this professor doesn't have a very good reputation. You'll understand once you've attended his class."

That old bat Snape wasn't teaching at Hogwarts anymore...? Sean wondered.

But Cotton continued, "Don't let Professor Slughorn's age fool you. He only joined Hogwarts four years ago, the same year I did. Before that, what was the previous Potions teacher called... Professor Snape?" Cotton looked thoughtful. "That should be the name. The older students said his reputation was even worse than Professor Slughorn's."

Sean looked intrigued. "Then why did he leave?"

Cotton shrugged. "I don't know either. But last year, Professor Trelawney made a prophecy. Somehow, word got around that Professor Snape might be coming back, and a lot of students couldn't sleep at the time."

Coming back? Sean revealed an odd smile. This was getting interesting.

Having finished his introductions, Cotton waved a hand. "All right, now it's time to enjoy the food."

Only when Sean turned his head did he realize that a great many delicious dishes had appeared on the long table at some point.

Roast beef, Roast Chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, Steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire Pudding, pea shoots, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

Looks good. Sean avoided the Black Pudding before him and took a piece of Steak.

Though this thing was called Pudding, it was actually blood sausage mixed with minced meat. As for the taste... Sean would never open his mouth except to smile.

While trying his best to maintain elegant dining manners, Sean wolfed down the food. To be honest, the Sorting Ceremony had taken so long that he was starving. During the meal, after the pile of food before him had been reduced by a layer, Sean's eyes happened to meet someone else's across from him. It had to do with the height of the food, and also the height of the other person.

With long silver hair and gold-rimmed Glasses, the petite third-year girl calmly watched him.