He remained speechless for about ten seconds.
Dumbledore bent down and whispered in his ear, "This is the Mirror of Shadows. Don't worry about it—just speak."
The reminder jolted Hoffa into awareness.
He reached into his robes, pulled out a piece of parchment, and began to read word by word:
"Over the past year, we've faced maddened marauders, terrifying wars, and economic collapse. Amid rumors and fears, we worry about societal fractures, about the darkness looming over the future.
But we continue to persevere, to learn, and to achieve breakthroughs in many fields. Now, more than ever, we must have confidence—confidence in our own strength, in our school, and in the brilliance of humanity."
After dryly reciting these formal remarks, Hoffa turned the parchment to the next page. When his eyes fell on the new text, he paused briefly before slowly reading aloud:
"This year, the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts will be Jacob Bohan, the director of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."
Dumbledore led the applause.
A refined, middle-aged man wearing a purple scarf gracefully emerged from the doorway behind the staff table. He smiled warmly and bowed in all directions with impeccable manners.
The students below responded with rhythmic applause.
After bowing, he stepped forward and shook hands with Headmaster Dippet, who limply returned the gesture, his demeanor lifeless.
Having greeted Dumbledore as well, the man raised a hand to calm the applause before taking a seat, adjusting his robes, and watching the two figures at the podium with focused attention.
Hoffa didn't know how to react. The very person who had arranged for him to undertake a search mission during the summer, the one who had nearly landed him in Azkaban, had now become his professor.
He took a deep breath, calming his surging emotions, and continued to unfurl the parchment. What he read next stunned him:
"Due to injury and resignation, Professor Victor Carrow will no longer be teaching Care of Magical Creatures. This year, the subject will be taught by the legendary half-elf from the Delaces family…"
Hoffa hesitated, widening his eyes as he read, word by word, "Fatiel Delaces."
As he spoke, he instinctively glanced toward Aglaia at the Ravenclaw table. She stared back at him, equally shocked. Clearly, she had no idea either.
Reaching the end of the parchment, Hoffa looked around but found no trace of Aglaia's father, nor could the students locate the new professor. The only new face at the staff table was Jacob Bohan.
Dumbledore gave Hoffa a small nudge, prompting him to collect the parchment and step off the podium.
Taking over, Dumbledore addressed the hall:
"Allow me to explain. Professor Delaces is currently unavailable but will, at a later date, invite the top students from third year and above to his ancestral castle in the Hebrides for specialized training.
These are the professor's own words. This year's Care of Magical Creatures class will be both exciting and perilous, and I hope everyone will prepare themselves accordingly and participate eagerly."
With that, he flicked his fingers, causing the goblets to fill and food to appear on the tables. The feast began.
This time, however, most students were less focused on the feast than on animated discussions about the two new professors.
As Hoffa passed Aglaia's seat, he noticed her sitting quietly, head lowered, ignoring the questions from those around her.
Back at his seat, Hoffa found that his peers had turned their attention to the war and the new teachers, leaving him relatively unnoticed. Feeling relieved, he helped himself to a plate of food and ate in silence.
The war had clearly taken a toll; the quality of this year's feast was far below previous years. While they had tried to make it as plentiful as possible, the dishes lacked the refinement of the past.
Potatoes dominated the menu: mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, potato salad, and beef with potatoes. There were other dishes, mostly vegetarian.
Hoffa didn't care about the food. Frankly, he was just grateful to have enough to eat. Many parts of the world, devastated by labor shortages and war, were struggling to feed their people.
He absentmindedly cut his food, not particularly interested in the discussions around him. Honestly, he didn't care who the professors were—war was something that would likely drag on for seven or eight years anyway.
Within three minutes of the feast beginning, Dumbledore helped Headmaster Armando Dippet out of the hall.
They ate for quite a while, but Dippet didn't return.
A sense of unease began to stir within Hoffa. He remembered the strange smoking boy he had encountered on the train and started glancing around.
After looking around for a while, he realized the boy wasn't among the students. Not in Ravenclaw, not in Gryffindor, not in Slytherin, and not in Hufflepuff, which had the largest number of students.
This made him feel odd.
Could it be that the person he met on the train was some kind of ghost?
After finishing the meal, Dumbledore still hadn't returned.
His plan to ask questions was thwarted.
Hoffa had no choice but to follow the new head of Ravenclaw house up to the tower.
The enchanted staircase turned in spirals, guiding the students up the towering tower, and they crossed the narrow bridges in the air. Hoffa returned to the common room he hadn't seen in two months.
The knight in the portrait saw the wizard approach and knelt on one knee, his sword poised.
The eagle-ring, as usual, performed its duty. It spread its bronze-colored metallic wings and asked:
The inventor doesn't want it,
The buyer doesn't need it,
The person who needs it doesn't care about it.
This riddle was particularly difficult, and perhaps the eagle-ring was trying to give the new students a challenge. For a moment, neither new nor old students could answer.
Even Hoffa, who had answered the eagle-ring's riddles many times before, didn't know the answer. He turned to Miranda beside him and asked, "Do you know the answer?"
Miranda shook her head. "Riddles aren't my strong suit."
Hoffa was about to ask Aglaia, but he noticed she was standing three meters away, whispering something to Sherlock.
Then the female head of house stepped forward and said calmly, "A coffin."
The eagle-ring lowered its head and folded its wings. The knight holding the sword turned and opened the door to the common room.
Hoffa walked through the doorway, feeling somewhat unlucky. On the first day of the new term, couldn't the eagle-ring have asked a more pleasant riddle?
(End of chapter)
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09