Professors

As time passed, more and more people gradually filled the Great Hall.

However, the first to arrive were not the students, but Hogwarts' faculty and staff.

They seemed to have discussed Tver's presence beforehand, so they were not surprised to see him in the Great Hall.

But their attitudes differed.

A long-haired woman dressed more like a Muggle than anyone else present glanced at Tver, gave a soft snort, and walked past him.

"Don't mind her. As the Muggle Studies professor, Burbage simply doesn't know much about Durmstrang," said a professor barely a metre tall, smiling at Tver. "My name is Filius Flitwick. I teach Charms at the school."

"Tver Foley," Tver said, half-squatting to speak with Professor Flitwick. "So you know my alma mater well?"

Professor Flitwick immediately burst into laughter.

"I once went to Durmstrang for an exchange and studied there, mainly duelling techniques. But I also learned about your attitude towards Muggles. It truly isn't what the rumours say."

"You simply don't allow Muggle-born students to attend. In reality, aside from that man, you don't discriminate against Muggles."

"Compared to certain people in Britain, your way of thinking is already quite admirable."

Tver had not come to correct anyone's misconceptions. Durmstrang did not care about outsiders' opinions anyway; if they wanted to misunderstand, then so be it.

He was more interested in what Professor Flitwick had said at the beginning.

"It seems you're highly skilled at duelling. Durmstrang rarely holds exchanges with outsiders, so the fact that you were able to go there shows that the school thought highly of your abilities."

"That was all in my younger days." Professor Flitwick waved a hand.

"After winning the Hogwarts Duelling Club championship, especially after I began teaching at the school, it became difficult to find opportunities to practise."

"But I know you're Durmstrang's finest graduate in recent years. How about it? Shall we have a spar when we have the time?"

Professor Flitwick's hand twitched eagerly, his face brimming with excitement. The years had clearly left him terribly stifled.

"I look forward to the chance to learn from you."

The muscles in Tver's body trembled faintly with excitement as well.

After his fifth year at Durmstrang, there had been few opponents who could let him fight to his heart's content.

He also wanted to see just how much power he could unleash if he gave it his all without using certain kinds of magic.

The two men, united by their shared interests, grew more animated the longer they talked. Flitwick even gave Tver a brief introduction to the faculty present. "Hagrid is our Keeper of Keys and Grounds, but he had to guide the new students across the Black Lake, so he hasn't returned yet."

Tver nodded like an innocent newcomer, while also recognising traces of the people he had seen in films in his previous life.

Professor Snape was indeed gloomy, and his eyes were even more indifferent, as though he wore a mask that made his thoughts impossible to read.

When he looked at Tver, his eyes shifted slightly before the corners of his mouth curled up. It could barely be called a smile.

"I hope you can see the students for what they truly are, rather than foolishly leading them around while they wave their wands."

"No student is born knowing magic. We all began by foolishly waving our wands around, didn't we?" Tver countered politely.

The new professor, only a few years older than the students, actually dared to speak to Snape like that. The professors at the staff table looked at him in a new light.

Snape's smile unexpectedly widened by the slightest degree. "Then I wish you smoother success in your teaching."

"Thank you. I'll do my best."

The professors present finally became a little friendlier towards Tver. Their slight prejudice against him because of Durmstrang had faded, though Professor Burbage still wore a cold expression.

Still, Tver enjoyed talking with Professor Flitwick more. He had no interest in Potions, Herbology, Divination, or the like.

Only when studying Charms that could directly improve his strength could he devote himself to them completely.

Of course, as the finest graduate in Durmstrang's history, he still possessed the capabilities of a typical top student in those areas. He would not be stumped by the professors' subtle probing questions.

After some conversation, they realised that this young new professor was not only polite, but also possessed knowledge no less extensive than their own.

Compared to Quirrell, who stuttered even when speaking, Tver carried himself far more like a real professor.

At that moment, a burst of commotion came from outside the Great Hall.

Led by the prefects, the students streamed into the Great Hall. The young witches and wizards from second to seventh year took their seats at their respective House tables.

"Durmstrang still doesn't divide students into Houses, does it?" Professor Flitwick asked with great interest as he sat beside Tver.

"That's right. We are one whole. There are no Houses, only individual students and the school as a whole."

Tver watched the young wizards chatting about their wonderful summer holidays. At this moment, it was difficult to tell the differences between the four Houses from their expressions.

What was the point of splitting them into four Houses anyway? To make it easier for students to form factions?

Dumbledore, who had been smiling as he watched the students, seemed rather interested in this.

"Tver, what do you think of Hogwarts' House system?"

The professors were accustomed to the division into four Houses, so they were curious how a Durmstrang graduate viewed it.

Tver considered for a moment before speaking calmly.

"It is somewhat extreme. The new students are only eleven years old. They neither have nor can display any single defining trait."

"Dividing them into four different Houses is less about matching their personalities than about letting them gradually grow into students full of stereotypes under the Houses' subtle influence."

"Competition between Houses can encourage progress, but it can also easily breed prejudice."

"This kind of prejudice can erase other qualities that do not fit a House's image."

"Hufflepuff students can be brave too. Slytherins can be loyal. Gryffindors who are filled with a thirst for knowledge are not anomalies, and Ravenclaw students with ambition exist as well."

"But because of the Sorting, these traits of theirs are not acknowledged."

"In truth, they are all members of Hogwarts, and ordinary wizards as well. To pin fixed labels on them is deeply unfair."

When Tver finished speaking, the staff table fell silent, forming a stark contrast with the boisterous students from before.

After a long while, Dumbledore began clapping in approval, pulling the professors lost in thought back to reality. They, too, gently applauded Tver.

"I am very pleased that the school has a professor with different ideas. Breaking down the barriers between Houses is also something I wish to achieve, and that will require all of us to work together."

"Tver, I look forward to the different changes you can bring to Hogwarts."

The sudden applause from the staff table left the students deeply confused. Their animated discussion paused slightly as they looked at the professors in puzzlement.

However, no professor came over to explain, and in the very next moment, their attention was diverted.

The Sorting Ceremony was about to begin!