The Half-Cripplied Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor

On the first day of school at Hogwarts, it started pouring rain outside.

Jeans drove Aaron to King's Cross Station and carried his suitcase onto the express train at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

"Young Master, I've already prepared your suit. If you're not satisfied with anything, just let me know by owl." Jeans said with a meaningful smile. "Also, I wish you a happy new school term. This year will be very interesting."

"Thank you for your kind words. At least the professors at Hogwarts won't resort to violence like our ancestor Weihert."

"That's not necessarily true."

Aaron frowned slightly. "Is there anything else you're hiding from me?"

Jeans hesitated for a moment, "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor is a tough guy."

"Is there nothing else?"

"He is a legendary Auror."

"You know that's not what I wanted to ask," Aaron said impatiently.

"Uh..." Jeans chuckled awkwardly, "It's really not convenient to say, but the young master will find out in time."

After saying that, he turned and disappeared into the rain, not giving Aaron a chance to ask any more questions.

Aaron grimaced and, carrying Abei, searched for an empty private room in the aisle.

He hadn't walked more than a few steps when he heard Draco's voice, and his eyes lit up.

If anyone he knows could know news from the Magic World in advance, it would definitely be Malfoy.

Aaron walked toward the box from which the sound came. Draco was complaining to Crabbe and Goyle about the quality of Hogwarts ' teaching when he saw Aaron standing at the door.

"Come in quickly." Draco happily opened the sliding door and made way for the window seat.

What are you talking about?

"Durmstrang," Draco said with some regret, "If my mother hadn't been against me going so far, I would be attending that magic school now."

At Durmstrang, you can learn real Dark Magic; at Hogwarts, you can only learn laughable defensive spells.

"Real Dark Magic?" Aaron scoffed upon hearing this. "You might have a chance this semester."

Draco paused for a moment, then exclaimed excitedly, "Could it be that Dumbledore has finally decided to let Professor Snape be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor? He's not senile yet."

"No, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor is an Auror."

Upon hearing this, Draco's interest immediately waned.

He didn't think the Auror ' teaching level was that good, at least not comparable to Professor Snape.

"There's something I want to ask you," Aaron said, looking intently at Draco. "Is there something big going on lately?"

Draco nodded, closed the sliding doors and windows tightly, and then lowered his voice to say, "Cornelius Fudge my father that the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts."

This is internal information from the Ministry of Magic and has not been released yet.

Triwizard Tournament?

Aaron suddenly realized what Bai Jeans was hiding from him.

He recalled a Divination he had done years ago, in which the Crystal Ball indeed showed a cup filled with flames.

A hint of doubt arose in his heart. The Triwizard Tournament was just a competition between three magic schools, and there was no need to hide it from him.

"Do you want to participate?" Draco asked with interest. "If it's you, you might be able to win this honor."

"Heh!" Aaron's lips twitched slightly. "Too dangerous. Besides, keeping a low profile is my consistent principle."

"That's a real shame." Draco shrugged helplessly. "If you hadn't participated, Potter would probably have been in the spotlight. He never misses an opportunity to show off."

Aaron:...

There must be some misunderstanding here.

The train continued northward, and the rain grew heavier, constantly pounding against the windows with a crackling sound.

As time went by, the sky grew darker and darker, with black clouds pressing down as if they were about to descend.

The scene was just as spectacular as the one in the past, but without Dementor blocking the way, it only made the students on the bus feel a little more depressed.

As night fell, the train stopped at Hogsmeade Station, and the students, having changed into their school robes, disembarked in the pouring rain.

A rumble of thunder echoed in the sky, and the first-year students gathered in front of Hagrid in the pouring rain.

The weather was quite bad, but that was no reason to change Hogwarts traditions. First-year Warlock had to cross the Black Lake by boat to reach the castle.

As for Warlock in their first year and above, they would cross the platform, Thestral would pull carriages to take them to Hogwarts ahead of time.

After getting off the carriage, Aaron put Abei in his hood and walked to the Entrance Hall with an umbrella.

"This rain is really heavy." Draco wiped the rain off his face. "I should have brought a bigger umbrella. You two didn't even remind me."

"We didn't expect the rain to last this long!" Crabbe said, feeling aggrieved.

"You're lucky you only got soaked to the bone," Aaron teased. "First-year Warlock have to cross rivers in storms and rain; one wrong move and you'll fall into the Black Lake."

"Oops!"

A red balloon filled with water suddenly fell from the skylight and hit Ron squarely on the head, making him even more disheveled as he was already soaked, and he almost bumped into Harry.

"Haha! Well done," Draco laughed. "I feel much better now."

"Peeves!" Professor McGonagall roared angrily, "Get down here!"

"I didn't do anything," Peeves chuckled, continuing to throw water-filled balloons with abandon until Professor McGonagall brought up Dumbledore he reluctantly flew toward the stairs.

Professor McGonagall led the Warlock in their second year and above to the Great Hall and then quickly returned to the West.

She had to keep the Entrance Hall as clean and tidy as possible before the first-year Warlock arrived.

The Great Hall was very warm, and the students who had been rained on took their seats at the Long Table of their respective colleges.

"Our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is so arrogant, he hasn't even shown up yet." Draco glanced at the empty High Table, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.

"Whether he's late or not doesn't matter; I'm more interested in whether he's reliable or not," Aaron said meaningfully.

Draco nodded in agreement. No one had ever served more than a year Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, especially Gilderoy Lockhart from their second year, who was practically an anomaly in the Warlock world.

At that moment, the Great Hall doors opened, and Professor McGonagall led a line of first-year students to the front of the Great Hall.

These young Warlock didn't seem to have come by ferry; they looked more like they had swum across the lake, as almost every part of their bodies was dry.

Professor McGonagall placed her college cap on the chair. The patched-up cap grinned and recited a brief history of the college, introducing the four Founders of the college and its own origins.

The general idea is that the House Hat is fair and impartial, never misjudging anyone, and will send every young Warlock to the appropriate house.

"Next, whoever's name I call, will sit in the chair." Professor McGonagall unfolded a long roll of parchment containing the list of first-year students. "After the House Hat announces the House, they will sit at the corresponding table."

Stuart Akoy – Ravenclaw.

Malcolm Bardock – Slytherin.

Eyrnn Branstone – Hufflepuff.

Applause rose and fell as each college warmly welcomed its new students.

After the ceremony, almost everyone turned their eager gaze to Dumbledore, even Draco, who disliked him the most.

Dumbledore looked at the expectant crowd, smiled, and opened his arms wide. His Amplification Charm made his loud voice carry to every corner of the Great Hall. "I only have two words to say to you: Eat!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the empty golden tableware was piled high with steaming hot food.

The students, who had been starving all day, couldn't contain themselves any longer and started eating voraciously with their utensils.

"He should have done this a long time ago," Draco said indignantly as he ate.

"Everyone thinks so." Aaron handed Abei a chicken leg, poured a large glass of milk, and then slowly began to cut the steak on his own plate.

"The Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor still hasn't shown up," Draco said gleefully.

"Maybe they were delayed on the way!" Aaron said dismissively.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, the food scraps and tableware disappeared, leaving the Long Table clean and tidy.

Dumbledore stood in the middle of the High Table and, as was customary, introduced some important points to the newly enrolled first-year students before looking at everyone meaningfully, "The House Cup Quidditch will no longer be held this year."

"What?"

The students were all stunned, their mouths agape, and they were momentarily speechless.

The Quidditch Academy members were even more incredulous. If Quidditch matches weren't held, wouldn't they, the players, become nothing more than decorations?

Before the Great Hall became noisy, Dumbledore revealed a mysterious smile, his tone becoming incredibly excited, "This is because this academic year, Hogwarts Castle is not only your home, but also the home of some special guests."

Hogwarts has been chosen to host a highly prestigious tournament...

Before he could finish speaking, the Great Hall doors were rudely kicked open, followed by a deafening roar of the Great Hall.

A hooded man stood in the doorway, and he limped in, leaning on a long cane.

His face was covered in scars, and his organs were damaged to varying degrees. His left eye was small, but his right eye was like a bulging eyeball.

"If nothing unexpected happens, he should be our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor." Aaron forced a smile. "No wonder Jeans said he was a legend among the Auror. It must have been really tough for him to come to class even though he was half-crippled."

"He's a madman." Draco's face darkened. "Mad-Eye Moody, he's a staunch opponent of Dark Wizard, and almost every prisoner in Azkaban knows him."

"Not bad," Aaron said. "That means he has a lot of experience fighting Dark Magic. I doubt even Professor Snape could find fault with his Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"But he's crazy," Draco said with some panic. "He might even experiment with Dark Magic in class."

"Isn't that the true form?" Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you interested in Dark Magic?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant he might use students as guinea pigs."

Aaron:...