September 1st, King's Cross Station.
Since the news of Voldemort's return has been revealed, the wizarding world fell into a depression.
Although it has not yet reached the point where everyone has started fleeing the country and all shops are closed.
But whether it is Diagon Alley or the Ministry of Magic, the flow of visitors has been greatly reduced.
Just like the King's Cross station at the moment, it will be lifeless in the future.
The parents who came to see off their children were all concerned, while the students boarded the train and just sat in their respective compartments, no longer running around like before.
Lucas normally wouldn't care about the scene in front of him. But for the British wizarding world, Voldemort is synonymous with disaster.
Recently, the stores under the name of the Saints Group have been affected, and the sales profit has been greatly reduced.
'Damn noseless plastic surgery monster!'
Lucas groaned in his heart, and led Hermione and the others towards the train.
"That is Mr. Grindelwald."
"Fortunately, with him here, this train should be safe and sound."
"Hogwarts has Grindelwald and Dumbledore, it should be the safest place in England, it seems that sending our children there is a wise choice."
Some people on the platform pointed at Lucas and talked about it, but even more people looked at the blond boy walking by in awe.
Blame it all on the latest issue of the Daily Prophet this morning. The headline on the front page of this issue was the photo of Lucas stepping on Voldemort in the cemetery.
Rita Skeeter wrote: "The new leader, the sworn enemy of You-Know-Who!"
In her coverage, Lucas was portrayed as a ray of light in the darkness.
Although the writing style was a little exaggerated, ordinary wizards still like her exaggerated style.
The sales of "Daily Prophet" this morning nearly doubled compared to before. The public showed great interest in this 15-year-old boy, and placed high hopes on him."
Boarding the train, things weren't much better inside than outside.
The laughter of the past was long gone.
The students hid in the compartments in groups, discussing in whispers the news they heard from their parents.
The students of Slytherin seemed to have become the plague again.
As long as there are Slytherin students in the compartment, there will be no students from other houses in it.
People who were on good terms with Slytherin in the past also chose to stay away as much as possible.
Seeing the sullen faces of the snakes, Lucas frowned. But now is not the time for lecturing, everything will be discussed at the end of the dinner.
Hermione glanced around and said, "Honey, it seems that Slytherins are not having a good year."
There were many emotions in the eyes of the students when they looked at Lucas, envy, admiration and disgust.
The first two glances were the effect of the newspapers, while the last look was because he was a student of Slytherin.
"Just ignore them for now."
They went to the end carriage, and the Hogwarts Express slowly drove out of the station.
It is rare that the beginning of school this year was sunny, so Lucas accompanied Hermione and others to enjoy the scenery outside the window.
Before they knew it, the sky had darkened.
"First years here, please come here!"
Unexpectedly, it wasn't Hagrid who welcomed the new students this year.
Lucas knew that Hagrid was sent out to contact and win over the Giants, but he was not optimistic about his chances this time.
The giants were cruel and bloodthirsty, and Voldemort could easily win them over as long as he agreed to let them slaughter Muggles wantonly.
Dumbledore obviously wouldn't offer them such a thing.
Lucas and his four Hogwarts girlfriends went to the castle in a Thestral pulled carriage.
When he came to the Slytherin long table, he found that Draco was actually wearing a prefect badge.
"Now that the candidate for the prefect has been confirmed, I will trouble you for the rest of the work, Draco Malfoy."
Draco nodded slightly.
Just then, the Sorting Hat on the bar stool began to sing.
The song that was similar every year changed this year.
"Long ago I was a new hat,
Hogwarts hadn't been built yet,
The four founders of Noble Houses,
Thought they would never part ways.
The same goal connect them,
The wishes of each other are so consistent:
To build the best magic school in the world.
What friends are there in this world,
Could it be better than Slytherin and Gryffindor?
Unless you count another pair of best friends,
Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,
But this year I want to say a few more words,
Please listen to my new song carefully:
Our Hogwarts is in danger,
Enemies outside the school are watching.
We must be closely united internally,
Otherwise everything will fall apart from within.
I have told you frankly,
I've sounded the alarm for you,
Now let's start sorting."
When Lucas heard the new song of the Sorting Hat, he couldn't help looking at the teacher's seats.
Dumbledore probably wanted to use the sorting hat to remind those bright kids in the four houses.
Perhaps he had expected that the Slytherins would be sidelined. After all, most of Voldemort's followers came from Slytherin.
"Chief!"
Lucas looked back and saw the snakes looking at him.
"No matter what, leave it for after the chief challenges, what you have to do now is to fill your stomach."
When the sorting was over, sumptuous food appeared on the long tables.
Compared with the lively dining environment of other Houses, Slytherin seemed very quiet here.
Dang Dang Dang Dang Dang Dang~!
When the meal was over, Dumbledore tapped the goblet with his spoon, and the leftovers on the long tables disappeared immediately.
"I know that everyone is very tired now, but please be patient and listen to my nagging for a bit."
"It started with a request from the caretaker, Mr Filch, who asked me for the 426th time to remind you."
"Everyone is not allowed to cast magic in the corridors between classes. Of course, there are many other regulations. I won't explain them one by one. If you want to know, you can go to Mr Filch's office and check the list."
"The second thing is specifically for the new students. You must not go to the forbidden forest and some places that are strictly forbidden to enter. I believe that many senior students should have a deep understanding."
"The third thing, our professors have changed a bit this year. First of all, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Let's welcome Professor Umbridge with applause."
Umbridge was wearing a pink robe over a pink cardigan today, and there was a pink bow on her slightly curly hair.
She also rubbed a lot of skin care potions on her pale face, as if it would make her look more girlish.
There was warm applause in the auditorium, but those who knew Umbridge didn't join in the applause.
For example, Lucas, or Harry.
Dumbledore waved his hand and continued, "Let us welcome Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be in charge of your Care of Magical Creatures class.
"Where's Hagrid?" Harry looked at his friend curiously.
Ron turned his attention to the twins who were usually the most well-informed.
"Hagrid seems to have received a task arranged by Dumbledore, and he may have left Hogwarts by this time."
"That's right, Hagrid showed off to us for a long time the other day!"
Harry's brows were tightly knit together, little did he know that even Hagrid knew more than he did.
And these days they have all been staying at the old Prewett house, so why did Hagrid meet the twins, but he didn't know anything about it.
Annoyed, he shifted his gaze to the teacher's seat.
Unexpectedly, he just happened to meet Umbridge's eyes, and seeing the maliciousness in her eyes, he immediately felt a bad premonition.
Dumbledore waved again and the great hall returned to calm.
"About the Quidditch trials..."
"Ehem, ehem~"
"They will..."
"Ehem, ehem~"
Being interrupted twice by others, Dumbledore frowned slightly. He looked to the side and saw that Umbridge had stood up from her seat.
Obviously, she had something to say.
Dumbledore's reaction was quick, he didn't even say the rest of the sentence, he just sat back in his seat.
"Thank you, Headmaster!"
Umbridge pretended to thank him sincerely, and then walked out of the teacher's table.
The students looked at the pink toad standing in front of the teachers' table in surprise.
Some people were already secretly laughing at Umbridge's lack of understanding of Hogwarts rules.
They have been in school for so many years, and they have never seen any new professor dare to interrupt the Headmaster.
"Cough, cough" Umbridge cleared her throat and said, "First of all, it's great to be back at Hogwarts."
Umbridge grinned, showing a mouth full of fangs.
"It's great to see so many happy little faces looking at me. I desperately want to meet you all. I believe we can become very good friends."
The students on the four long tables were either surprised or bewildered.
Apart from Umbridge's shrill and fake voice, everyone was even more surprised that someone coaxed them as if they were five or six-year-old children.
Lucas just glanced at Toad and stopped paying attention. He took out his wand and tapped on the table, and a steaming cup of black tea appeared immediately.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he picked up the teacup, he felt the gaze from the teacher's seats.
"I was sent by the Ministry of Magic. In addition to serving as a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, I also hope to investigate and reform Hogwarts education."
"Especially for some students, since they come to the school, they should look like a student, and they can't do whatever they want just because they are strong and have excellent grades."
Everyone followed Toad's gaze and saw Lucas holding a teacup elegantly.
They all have long been accustomed to his privileges in certain aspects, but everyone could see that the new professor seemed to have conflicts with him.
Does this Professor Umbridge think that Lucas didn't dare to do anything to her in front of everyone?
The students were curious, and the professors were equally curious.
Lucas stopped sipping tea and cast a cold glance at Umbridge.
Clang~!
The teacup made a crisp sound when it was placed on the long table.
At this moment, everyone in the great hall was paying close attention to him.
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