Chapter 252 Echoes Of The Fire Arrow
"What?" Upon hearing Evan's words, Colin's wide-open mouth might as well have been filled with surprise.
He couldn't believe that Sirius Black would become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts.
Seeing Colin's expression, Evan knew that Sirius had another admirer.
Indeed, the young wizards who were as surprised and thrilled as Colin were not in the minority.
Shortly after, it was announced that Sirius Black would succeed Professor Lupin as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and the entire castle erupted in applause.
Everyone was delighted, embracing the legendary figure of Sirius Black becoming a teacher at the school, with even many Slytherin students eagerly anticipating it.
At the dinner that night, the atmosphere in the Great Hall was undeniably warm.
As Sirius entered, there was a prolonged applause in the Great Hall, and everyone craned their necks, looking curiously to see how he appeared.
The chatter continued, only falling silent when Dumbledore stood up and spoke.
Dumbledore appeared older than a few days ago.
The Wizengamot's trial of Peter Pettigrew for many days seemed to have drained much of his energy.
Nevertheless, his gaze remained bright, and through the half-moon spectacles, his light blue eyes seemed to see through people's hearts.
"Welcome!" said Professor Dumbledore, with the candlelight gleaming on his beard. "After the Christmas holiday, I'm very pleased to see you all at Hogwarts. Before we start our feast, I will introduce a new teacher, Professor Black, who will succeed Professor Lupin as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
Hardly had Dumbledore finished speaking when deafening applause flooded the hall.
The applause at the Gryffindor table was particularly enthusiastic. It went so far that Harry and Ron's palms turned red.
Sirius Black stood up and waved, seated next to Hagrid, and across from Professor McGonagall. At the teachers' table, apart from Snape who looked displeased as if he had swallowed a fly, all the other teachers smiled and clapped.
"Look at Malfoy!" Hermione whispered in Evan's ear.
Evan saw a gloomy Malfoy at the long Slytherin table.
Instead of looking at Sirius, he was glaring at him and Harry with disgust.
Upon noticing Evan's gaze, he quickly averted his eyes elsewhere.
Evan was not surprised. In Lupin's case, Lucius Malfoy took great risks, inciting werewolf disturbances based on Peter Pettigrew's plan, aiming to oust Dumbledore from Hogwarts.
During the trial, Peter Pettigrew confessed it all. He admitted controlling Ron to write to Lucius Malfoy, hoping Lucius could help him deal with Lupin, keep Dumbledore preoccupied, and prevent his return to the castle at a crucial moment.
Although there were suspicions that Lucius orchestrated the werewolf disruptions behind the scenes, there was no other evidence. Lucius did not confess receiving Peter Pettigrew's letter, and the Ministry of Magic had not caught werewolves with Greyback, not even a single hair.
Under such circumstances, Lucius ultimately escaped punishment.
Of course, he paid a high price as well. Fudge and those politicians were not easily bribed; it took an astronomical sum to impress them.
Perhaps the most frustrating for Lucius was not the gold but missing the opportunity to defeat Dumbledore, wasted in vain by Peter Pettigrew. If he had known the truth earlier, he would never have been as reckless as Pettigrew, who was defeated by several twelve or thirteen-year-old wizards.
Lucius currently abhorred Evan, Harry, and the others, despising them to the core.
With that, it was natural for Draco to harbor no goodwill towards Evan. His demeanor was far worse than usual, undoubtedly contemplating how to deal with Evan.
But Evan was unfazed. Within the Malfoy hierarchy, if he wanted to provoke Draco, he was asking for trouble.
That night, the Gryffindor Common Room was still buzzing with conversation about Sirius becoming the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Everyone eagerly awaited his first class.
Unfortunately, it wasn't until Thursday that the second-years had the Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
The discussion on this matter lasted until Harry brought out his broom. Almost instantly, he was surrounded by people eager to see the Firebolt.
"God, this is a Firebolt! I saw it in the window at Quality Quidditch Supplies in Diagon Alley. The price of this broom is astronomical. Where did you get it?"
"Would you let me try it out?"
"Have you flown on it already, Harry?"
"May I just hold it, Harry?"
The Firebolt was passed from hand to hand and admired from every angle.
Upon learning that the broom was a Christmas gift to Harry from Sirius Black, the crowd erupted even more with intense exclamations, eagerly anticipating Sirius's experience as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
"I can't understand, it's just a broom, and it excites everyone in this way," Hermione frowned, sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace reviewing her Christmas holiday homework.
"It is the most expensive broom in the world, more costly than all the brooms at school combined!"
Evan sat on the couch next to her, observing the book he had just borrowed from the library on vampires. He glanced up at Hermione's lengthy parchment. "You have an error here. The ingredients for the Shrinking Potion include pufferfish eyes."
"Oh," Hermione's quill hurried across the parchment.
"Seriously, you're not planning to take that many classes next semester, are you?"
"I know," Hermione sighed, "That Time-Turner is driving me crazy, I have to be in different places at the same time, and it's hard for me not to be noticed. I can't take it anymore. I'm going to drop Muggle Studies and Divination classes next year. That way, I'll have a regular schedule."
"Next year?" Evan immediately caught the moment Hermione mentioned.
"I should finish what I started, Evan," Hermione looked back at her history of magic assignment and continued, "I should live up to the expectations Professor McGonagall has of me. You know, she put in a lot of hard work to help me get this Time-Turner, and she also helped us."
Seeing the determination in Hermione's eyes, Evan didn't know what to say.
Hermione was right; thanks to the help of this Time-Turner, they managed to capture Pettigrew, otherwise, the situation would have been disastrous.
He wasn't against Hermione's persistence. He simply didn't want her to overexert herself and wished she cared more about her well-being.