"Peeves, I warn you..." Professor McGonagall arrived late as if she were a SWAT team in an action movie, but she halted her speech halfway because she witnessed the entire process in which Peeves was hit by a colorful large balloon and went flying upside down.
He really flew backward.
The sound of the impact between the heavy object and his body resonated in the Hogwarts entrance hall, sounding painful.
Professor McGonagall fell silent. This wasn't what she expected. She thought the students were being harassed by Peeves, but it turned out that the students seemed to be fighting back.
Peeves somersaulted in the air several times before stabilizing. He held an iceball, with his broad face sunk into it and his eyes gleaming with revengeful fire.
But Tom, Hermione, and Cedric raised their wands simultaneously and pointed them at him, making Peeves dare not move hastily. Furthermore, Professor McGonagall had already arrived, so Peeves could only grumble while holding the iceball and flying away.
"Twenty points for Ravenclaw and ten points for Hufflepuff," Professor McGonagall immediately rewarded the three who managed to stop Peeves.
"Alright, quickly enter the Great Hall," she ordered the students blocking the entrance. When Tom and the others passed by her, she finally let a smile slip on her serious face. "Excellent combination of spells."
"Thank you for the praise," Tom was very satisfied with his earlier performance and then followed his peers into the Great Hall.
Hogwarts' Great Hall remained as magnificent as ever and had been specially decorated for the start of the new school year; everything looked refreshed.
After entering the Great Hall, the three of them separated. Cedric headed toward the Hufflepuff table, while Tom and Hermione found two seats next to the Ravenclaw table. Cho Chang sat down next to them.
Once seated, Tom looked toward the professors' table and noticed that there were only two empty seats. One belonged to Hagrid, who was currently crossing the lake with the first-year students, and the other was Professor McGonagall's seat, who was busy cleaning up Peeves' mess.
Most of the faces at the professors' table were familiar: Professor Flitwick sitting on a soft cushion, next to him was Professor Sprout, both were chatting with Professor Sinistra, who taught astronomy. Next to Sinistra was Snape, and next to Snape was Professor McGonagall's empty seat, and McGonagall's seat was next to Dumbledore. Tom noticed that Dumbledore was staring at the ceiling motionlessly, as if lost in thought.
The only new face at the professors' table was the man seated to Dumbledore's right. This man also drew the attention of most students in the Great Hall. His face was covered in scars, with a twisted mouth and lacking the tip of his nose, and he had a magical eye.
Just by looking at that face, Tom knew this man was the famous Alastor Moody. At that moment, Moody was constantly scanning every corner of the Great Hall with his magical eye, while examining each student who entered. Students in the audience were also murmuring without ceremony, exchanging rumors about this new professor.
Is this Moody real? Suddenly, Tom had that thought. There was only one person in Voldemort's inner circle who could withstand the role of a spy: Barty Crouch Jr. If Moody had been replaced, they couldn't have done it without them knowing, unless Dumbledore was fishing, that was also possible.
Since Voldemort's resurrection, there haven't been any major attention-grabbing moves, making one have to stay vigilant.
Finally, the doors of the Great Hall opened once again, and Hagrid entered with the newly soaked students. Professor McGonagall carried a stool and the Sorting Hat in front of the professors' table, ready for the Sorting Hat ceremony.
After hearing a new song from the Sorting Hat, the sorting ceremony began. Tom, like all the Ravenclaw students, applauded loudly to welcome the new students joining Ravenclaw.
Finally, with Kevin Whitby assigned to Hufflepuff, the sorting ceremony came to an end. At this point, Tom's stomach was growling with hunger.
"Fortunately, there aren't that many students in the magical world. If we had to sort hundreds of people at once, I think I'd starve," he whispered to Hermione.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't starve if you waited an hour or two to eat!"
After the sorting ceremony, Dumbledore stood up. Like all the headmasters, Dumbledore was going to give a speech at the opening ceremony. However, those who knew him didn't show impatience because they knew Dumbledore wouldn't keep anyone waiting with an empty stomach.
And as expected, Dumbledore uttered a single word: "Feast!"
Suddenly, the empty plates in front of them were filled with food. Tom was delighted and began piling all sorts of delicious-looking dishes onto his plate. Although there was currently only British cuisine to choose from, he knew that this year students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would be coming to Hogwarts, so the elaborate potato dishes in front of him didn't dampen his mood.
Not to mention northern schools like Durmstrang, Beauxbatons is located in southern France, so Hogwarts' cuisine would surely provide plenty of French food.
In the professors' seats, Mad-Eye Moody was eating the food in front of him very cautiously. He examined almost every dish before bringing it to his mouth and refused to use the utensils and glasses provided by Hogwarts.
His strange behavior drew the attention of most students.
"It's really odd," Cho Chang, sitting next to Hermione, watched as Moody pushed aside the pumpkin juice in front of him and pulled a bow-shaped bottle of wine from inside his cloak, taking a big swig before he couldn't help but make negative comments in her heart, and started complaining to Hermione.
"There's no other option; he's experienced too much," Tom still wanted to say some kind words in defense of Moody. "He's always been on the front lines against dark wizards, only retired a few years ago, and he's fully experienced the Wizarding Wars. They say he caught half of the Death Eaters sent to Azkaban."
Listening to Tom's introduction of Moody, the attitudes of the people around him changed immediately.
"All those scars on his body were left by dark wizards; it's understandable that he's become a bit sensitive, and they're focusing their attention on the wrong thing. As a former auror, Moody should have come here as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. This year, our Defense Against the Dark Arts class will surely be very exciting."
Hearing Tom's words, everyone got excited.
After the desserts also disappeared from the plates, Professor Dumbledore stood up again. He first announced some news and then introduced everyone to Mad-Eye Moody.
Finally, with a tone of regret, he said, "Unfortunately, I must inform you all that this year's House Cup Quidditch tournament has been canceled."
The Great Hall erupted into an uproar.