A Strange Premonition (Please Keep Reading)

In Lockhart's eyes,

they were a whole bunch of fresh leeks, ripe for harvesting.

He took a deep breath, his smile growing even brighter. "My dear students, are you surprised to see your professors here?"

"I have some very unfortunate news to share with you. Hogwarts may be in danger, and I need to—"

"Professor Lockhart." Professor McGonagall interrupted him with a cold expression. "We'd better not keep the students from their opening feast."

"Now."

"Everyone, line up and wait for the professors to check you."

Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape.

Two stern faces.

No one dared disobey them.

McGonagall waved her wand. Invisible magic surged and swept over the students, while Snape held something that looked like a glass spinning top.

Whenever he passed a young wizard, it flashed and spun rapidly.

Snape watched them coldly, his face expressionless.

The young wizards trembled and pulled several things from their robes, all of them relatively harmless Dark Magic objects.

While the two professors were busy,

Lockhart stood like a peacock, surrounded by a crowd of young witches. This charming wizard was teaching them a few beauty charms.

How to make their hair soft and silky, and their skin smooth and delicate.

Even manicures, teeth whitening, and fresh breath...

Hermione peeked over curiously.

Those spells all sounded so useful.

The two professors went through every young wizard with grim expressions. They found quite a few Dark Magic objects. Slytherin was the worst offender, and Ravenclaw had even more than Gryffindor.

Surprisingly, the Weasley twins weren't carrying a single Dark Magic object.

The Little Badgers were the most well-behaved. Only one fourth-year witch was found carrying a Dark Magic object—and she hadn't even done it on purpose. It was a gift from her boyfriend at Durmstrang.

When Snape scowled and snatched away her amulet, she burst into tears.

Potter's over there.

Go look for him!

Most of the first-years looked bewildered and nervous.

Harry glanced over and noticed one of them. "That red-haired girl—is she your sister?" he asked Ron.

"Yes, she's the youngest in our family." Ron nodded, smiling. "She really looks up to you."

"Too bad she hasn't had a chance to meet you."

Hermione snorted.

Harry frowned. "She seems a little nervous."

"Who wouldn't be, starting school and running into this?" Ron said, spreading his hands. "George and Fred spent the whole summer scaring her."

"You added to the stories too?" Harry asked.

Ron paused, then waved his hands. "I just, you know, described the facts a little—Harry Potter pulled out the Sword of Gryffindor before he was sorted into Gryffindor."

Hermione said crossly, "Your little sister's probably worried she won't even get into the school now."

Harry didn't say anything more.

He glanced at Ginny a couple more times. Her nervousness was different from that of the other young wizards. She was afraid of something, afraid that something might be discovered...

Had the Weasley family run into Malfoy when they went shopping for books that day?

But...

Professor McGonagall walked past her without doing anything.

Professor Snape passed by, and the Sneakoscope in his hand didn't spin either.

Harry didn't pay her any more attention.

Lockhart's incessant chatter, along with the young witches' frequent gasps of amazement, was getting on his nerves.

"Our proud Professor Lockhart, Professor McGonagall and I have finished checking the students. Now, immediately, we're going back to the castle!" Snape ground out, walking over to the group of witches.

He swept his gaze over them coldly.

The young witches scattered, reluctantly.

"Severus, you should..." Lockhart waved a hand regretfully.

"We're not close enough for you to call me by my first name." Snape cut him off.

"Very well, Professor Snape." Lockhart didn't look embarrassed in the slightest. "We should be more understanding of the young wizards."

"Perhaps," Snape said coldly, "but we shouldn't be more understanding of an adult wizard."

"Professor Lockhart, there are other things waiting for us in the castle." In a rare turn, Professor McGonagall backed Snape up. "We don't have any time to spare for you to show off how popular you are with the young witches."

The three of them hurried away, carrying a pile of confiscated Dark Magic objects.

"I've suddenly realized Professor Snape's kind of handsome," Ron remarked.

"He washed his hair," Harry said.

Ron paused.

"The smell of hair oil's a lot fainter," Harry added.

Ron sniffed. "You can smell that?"

"But it's not the shampoo I gave him." Harry nodded. "Maybe he doesn't like that kind? I'll have to pick one carefully for Christmas."

Ron opened his mouth, then closed it.

He didn't think Snape would like any shampoo Harry picked.

But before he could say anything, Hermione and Harry were already following the other students down another muddy path. Ron hurried after them, putting the thought out of his mind. Forget it. What did it matter whether Snape liked it or not?

At the end of the path, a row of carriages was waiting.

"Looks like we're taking carriages," Hermione said excitedly. "I've never been in one before."

Ron climbed into a carriage. "Fred said they're pulled by invisible horses. If you reach out, you can even touch them."

Hermione cautiously reached out her hand.

"They're Thestrals," Harry explained, his eyes softening. "A magical creature that only people who've witnessed a real death can see."

Ron and Hermione froze, feeling sorry for Harry.

"Harry, all that's in the past..." Hermione pressed her lips together and tried to comfort him, though she sounded helpless.

"Too bad you can't see them," Harry sighed. "They're really beautiful, just a little skinny."

A Witcher might get by without a sorceress for a friend, but he absolutely couldn't do without a horse he could bond with.

The two of them froze again.

This was bad. They'd forgotten that Harry's mind worked differently from most people's.

They climbed into the carriage.

Harry wondered how he could tame Dumbledore into letting him take a Thestral. He was still a long way from having the gear of a proper Witcher.

For example, a good horse.

The carriage jolted along.

On the way, the magical atmosphere from the first-years' arrival surged through them again, deepening the mark it had left before.

Inside the castle, the young wizards excitedly discussed what had happened that day. It wasn't an ordinary thing for the professors to be so stern.

Little Dark Magic trinkets weren't unusual.

Older students inevitably came across some, whether as part of their studies or because of their own interests.

Some Dark Magic books were displayed openly in the Restricted Section, including even a few... that could be called advanced.

Before now, as long as no one let the professors catch them, everyone had turned a blind eye.

Was it because of what Quirrell had done last year?

They eagerly discussed the reason.

It wasn't until Professor McGonagall led the young wizards inside that the chattering gradually died down. They listened to the Hat sing, then watched as each first-year was sorted into a house.

Harry couldn't wait. He walked over and picked up the hat.

"Harry!" the Sorting Hat cried excitedly. "At last, we meet again! You missed me too, didn't you?"

"The summer holidays were so boring. Dumbledore was always busy, and the portraits of the old headmasters wouldn't talk to me."

"Even Fawkes is nearing his next rebirth and has no time to play with me... I mean, he doesn't have the strength to bully me anymore."

Harry stuffed it into his robe. "No. I just want the Sword of Gryffindor."

That stone sword he'd fought with Professor Flitwick hadn't been as handy as the Sword of Gryffindor.

"Can't you say something nice?" The Sorting Hat poked Harry in the waist with its pointed top. "At least lie to this old hat and cheer me up. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to tell you more about the trials..."

"Wait!"

"What are you wearing? Why is it so stiff?"

Harry speared a sausage with his fork. "Leather armor, made from that Troll's hide."

"This is a school!" the Sorting Hat exclaimed. "You look like you're going to war. Even Gryffindors don't wear armor."

"Right. This is Hogwarts." Harry nodded.

The Sorting Hat snorted. "The safest place in the world."

"You mean safe like last year, when a Troll, a snake, and a Voldemort—or rather, a Voldemort-like blob—snuck in?" Harry swallowed the sausage in his mouth.

The Sorting Hat had no answer.

"You've been in the headmaster's office all year. You must have heard some rumors, right?" Harry continued. "Even though Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape searched everyone..."

"But..."

He left the sentence unfinished. The Sorting Hat clicked its tongue and fell silent.

Hermione frowned with concern and lowered her voice. "Harry, are you saying something might happen again this year?"

"Malfoy—I mean, Draco Malfoy—might be an idiot, but his father clearly isn't," Harry replied.

Ron agreed. "My father says Lucius Malfoy is really cunning. He managed to scrub his Death Eater identity completely clean."

"He couldn't have failed to notice that Dobby was gone," Harry said, putting down his fork. "But he still had the time to fight Mr. Weasley."

Ron stubbornly stuck out his chin. "He was the one who got beaten!"

"He's no match for my dad."

"And I have a feeling..." Harry shook his head. "Hogwarts might not be as safe as Hagrid says."

Hermione frowned.

"Why are we having British food tonight?" Harry sighed, his face clouded with gloom. "Wouldn't French or German food be better?"

Ron wholeheartedly agreed, then munched through two more sausages.

After dinner,

Dumbledore stood up. He didn't mention Dobby or explain why the Dark Magic objects had been confiscated. He simply introduced Lockhart.

Then, as always, he went over Hogwarts' rules.

No magic in the corridors, and no entering the Forbidden Forest.

That night,

Harry put on the Invisibility Cloak and slipped into the Forbidden Forest. He needed to check whether the Bicorn's movements had changed over the summer.

The good news was, they hadn't.

He could start preparing to hunt this crucial magical creature.

Three chapters today!

Thanks to the reader with the username ending in 1981 for the tip!

Thanks to The Person Under the Moon Has Passed Away for the tip!

Thanks to Zhuge Kongming Giao for the tip!