A Special Sorting Ceremony

The torrential rain outside Hogwarts Castle stood in stark contrast to the warmth and peace within the Great Hall.

The Great Hall had been redecorated, and the magical starry sky overhead shone even more brilliantly than in previous years.

Thousands upon thousands of candles floated beneath the ceiling, their flickering flames seeming brighter than ever.

Under the bright candlelight, the golden plates and goblets on the house tables gleamed brilliantly as well.

Besides the changes to its decorations, the Great Hall had become more spacious, and the house tables were much longer. The students noticed all these changes, and their lively chatter rose and fell without pause.

After greeting his enthusiastic classmates, Wizet heard Anthony's surprised voice. "I really didn't expect it... the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor... to be him..."

A man leaning on a cane entered the Great Hall, draped in a black traveling cloak.

He walked step by step toward the teachers' table, his cane making a wooden thud, thud, thud against the floor.

Such distinctive footsteps could easily draw the students' attention, even in the bustling Great Hall.

Perhaps sensing the students' stares, the man tilted his head toward the house tables. At that moment, a flash of lightning lit up the windows—and his face.

Beneath the hood was a face that looked as though it had been hacked from stone—literally.

Perhaps only a carpenter who had just learned to hold a knife steady, with no idea how to carve a human face, could have produced such a visage.

The scars crisscrossing the man's face were no different from bark. A chunk had been gouged out where his nose should have been, and he was even missing an eye.

While the students around them looked uneasy, Wizet and Luna smiled.

"I certainly didn't expect