On the Gryffindor table, the air seemed to freeze.

If there was one house that hated writing the most, it would undoubtedly be the active and energetic Gryffindors. Apart from a select few like Hermione and Percy, most of them dreaded handing in paper assignments.

"It's only the beginning of term? Is this supposed to be a gift?"

Ron Weasley looked at the pile of books under his chair with a constipated expression, saying in disbelief.

Ever since going through the "Big Sister's DingTalk Tutoring" during the summer break, Ron Weasley had become somewhat allergic to such carefully wrapped piles of books. He simply couldn't understand why anyone would give books on such a happy day.

"Oh, wait! Gilderoy Lockhart, I know him—"

George Weasley glanced at the smiling wizard and turned to his brothers.

"I remember Mom seemed to really like his books, right? Fred, when we went to Diagon Alley this year, Mom even made a point of buying a set of his novels. Oh, and Ginny seems to have brought a few to school—"

"Not just that guy, Professor Lockhart."

Percy Weasley frowned, correcting them sternly.

"If you spent less time playing Quidditch and Wizard's Chess and actually read those books, you'd understand that Professor Lockhart is different from those mediocre people. He's a remarkable and respectable wizard. Besides—"

Percy picked up a book and glanced at the corner mark on the spine, a hint of admiration on his face.

"These books aren't cheap at all. Added together, they're worth about a dozen Galleons. Think about how many students there are at Hogwarts. Honestly, in my opinion, he might be better suited to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

"That's right, as a formal Hogwarts professor, Professor Lockhart originally had the right to put these on the book list."

Bill Weasley nodded, glancing at the "A-level" sitting at the staff table, saying with a complex expression.

"In fact, you'll understand after you graduate from school that, given similar magical strength, the art of speaking and a certain level of literacy are the most needed and scarce abilities for a wizard in society."

As a "Gringotts Wizarding Bank-Senior Researcher-B level," Bill Weasley understood the importance of "A-level" personnel in the organization, and the meaning represented by this level itself—irreplaceable, strategically important, powerful.

Especially when Lockhart was still in the containment specialist sequence, it further reflected the young wizard's strength.

As for the cost issue mentioned by Percy Weasley, Bill didn't feel as much shock or concern.

As a crucial A-level member, Gilderoy Lockhart didn't need to worry about money at all. Ever since Gringotts Wizarding Bank was completely taken over by Her Majesty's forces, money was just a number to their level.

"Oh, no—"

Hermione Granger looked at the pile of books under her chair, saying with some distress.

If she had known that Gilderoy Lockhart would be teaching at Hogwarts this year, she wouldn't have begged her parents to change her birthday gift to the complete set of Lockhart's works. She could have used that opportunity to buy other books, or a favorite magical quill.

Unlike the other girlfriends who had made a small fortune by taking "Black Magic Defense Year-End Exams" on behalf of others,

Hermione Granger's only income came from that clearance reward, and the income from publishing articles in *A Bite of Hogwarts* and *The Quibbler* over the past year. Most of the Galleons were now in her Gringotts Wizarding Bank account—she had already discussed it with her parents and would be responsible for her own tuition and expenses from now on.

"It's okay, Granger, now you can have two sets of signed books."

Fred Weasley winked at Hermione, smiling as he comforted her.

"As far as I know, Professor Lockhart has a lot of book fans in the magical world—I believe many witches would be willing to pay to buy a complete set of novels with his autograph. With your grades, it should be easy to get the professor to sign for you. Or you can give them to George and me, and we'll help you sell them and share the money…"

"Don't even think about it, I won't sell them!"

Hermione Granger rolled her eyes at the grinning Fred Weasley, saying in annoyance.

"I've already decided that I'll keep one set at home and one set in the school dormitory. Or maybe next year, I'll take one set and give it to the new students. I don't think such good things will happen every year."

"By the way, Hermione, speaking of…"

Ginny Weasley looked up, glancing at Lockhart not far away, and gently nudged Hermione's elbow, whispering.

"Don't you think Mr. Lockhart is even more handsome in person than in the books…"

"Indeed, he seems to have a bit more composure and depth than on the previous covers—"

Hermione secretly glanced at the wizard with a sunny smile, just as Lockhart's eyes met hers.

The girl's cheeks flushed slightly, but whether it was her imagination or not, the warm smile on Lockhart's face suddenly froze when their eyes met for less than half a second, and he quickly and actively shifted his gaze away from Hermione, looking towards Ravenclaw House.

Unlike the Gryffindors' worries, the atmosphere on the Ravenclaw side was much more relaxed.

Looking at the newly appointed handsome professor, the girls in Ravenclaw were having excited discussions. The girls looked at the young professor with bright golden hair, exchanging stories about him in whispers.

And in the crowd, Aileen, like the other girls, casually glanced at Lockhart.

Along with the girl's gaze, Lockhart heard a mosquito-like devil's whisper in his ear.

"Mr. Lockhart, remember what I said… otherwise… humph…"

"!!!"

Gilderoy Lockhart swallowed nervously and nodded helplessly.

Sometimes having too many fans isn't all good—you know, he was just trying to confirm what those dangerous targets he needed to avoid looked like, so he wouldn't be stuffed into the Hyperion's reactor for no reason.

Hopefully, he could win against Xenophilius Lovegood once when playing rock-paper-scissors next year.

After all, according to the rules set by Aileen, next time it would be a best-of-three series, and he would win as long as he won one game.

That way, Mr. Lovegood could take over as the Hogwarts Language and Literature professor, while he could sit leisurely at home, handling *The Quibbler*'s affairs and updating his novels in peace.

…

In short, compared to the previous two professors, Gilderoy Lockhart was obviously much more popular.

Not only little witches, but as an adventurous hero in the wizarding world, many boys admired and longed for the magical experiences of a savior-like figure after reading Lockhart's books.

Therefore, after a brief pause, a round of applause, albeit somewhat warm, finally broke out in the hall.

Among them, the applause from the Ravenclaw table was particularly enthusiastic. Aileen glanced around at the excited little witches, squinting her eyes with a playful expression, the intriguing look in her eyes becoming more and more obvious.

At the same time, Gilderoy Lockhart, who had been paying attention to the movements here, became even more nervous.

The young wizard looked uneasily at the house banners hanging around the hall, as if he were sitting on a hot stove. For the first time in his life, he had a strange wish—if everyone's attitude could be colder, it might be safer.

At this moment, he hoped to hide in the darkness, as he had a few months ago, controlling the overall situation in an orderly manner.

"Finally, one more thing—"

Fortunately, Professor Dumbledore started talking again, and Lockhart finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I think everyone may have noticed that this year, there are also some familiar faces returning to the classroom at Hogwarts. Regardless of which year you graduated, you will all be in the same class for the next year—and Professor Apocalypse, Newt Scamander and I, will be your instructors for the next year."

Dumbledore turned his head and winked at Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, and the other dozen or so carefully selected Hogwarts "outstanding graduates," saying with a smile.

"However… your courses will start from the second week—partly because Professor Scamander has other things to do, and partly because before the official course begins, you will need to participate in a training session with the new students."

"...Training? Us, with the new students?"

Charlie Weasley repeated in confusion.

At the same time, Fred Weasley and George Weasley looked at each other and smiled maliciously.

"That's right, this is a new feature of Hogwarts—"

"If you need fruit or drinks, remember to exchange them for that treasured book of yours—"

"Hmm? What book? It seems we brothers need to have a good chat."

Charlie Weasley glanced thoughtfully at his grinning brothers, cracking his knuckles, preparing to press them for information.

Judging from Fred and George's expressions, they had obviously secretly flipped through his "study book," otherwise they would never have shown such a mischievous expression—this behavior could not be tolerated, Mom would kill him along with them if she found out.

"Alright, that's all for the important matters."

Just then, Dumbledore clapped his hands lightly, saying in a cheerful tone.

"I think everyone must be starving, right? Let the feast begin!"

Immediately afterwards, the gold plates and goblets on the tables suddenly appeared full of food and drinks.

In the aroma of steaming food, the students' attention instantly shifted from professors, new courses, and new teaching materials to the delicious food they had been thinking about all summer.

If there were no surprises, this might be the most sumptuous dinner at Hogwarts this school year.

Because according to the tradition that started last year, the exclusive vegetable gardens of the four houses will all be reopened next week. After that, the dishes that appear on the tables of each house will still be processed according to the list of raw materials provided by each house.

The only difference is that at least this time, everyone will have more experience when choosing seeds.

…

Undoubtedly, this was a delicious feast.

Laughter echoed in the hall, along with the clinking of knives and forks.

However, as time gradually passed, a hint of disharmony appeared at the Ravenclaw table, and the cause of all this came from a "forbidden question" inadvertently raised by a certain first-year student.

"Senior Qiu Zhang, I saw in *Hogwarts, A History* that each house at Hogwarts has a unique way of entering. So, what is our Ravenclaw house's way of entering? Is it something like a password?"

Danilova Alexsei asked curiously in a low voice while cutting her sausage.

Clank—

Along with the girl's unintentional question, the dining knife in the hand of the originally smiling Qiu Zhang suddenly paused, striking the golden plate and making a somewhat abrupt sound, and the students around who heard the question also stopped.

That's right, almost forgot—the Eagle Ring!

Because today was the first day of school, there was no one on duty in the common room!

The upperclassmen of Ravenclaw looked at each other, the smiles on their faces gradually disappearing. At this moment, they recalled once again the fear and humiliation dominated by the bronze eagle ring's questions after the opening banquet a year ago.

Qiu Zhang took a deep breath, saying with a solemn expression, as if telling a terrifying ghost story.

"Um, Danny, you may need to be mentally prepared…"

"The Ravenclaw door knocker? Well, it's just a talking bronze eagle ring."

Luna Lovegood chewed on her veal steak, vaguely explaining casually.

"The first questions aren't too difficult. Generally, the difficulty increases in order as the semester progresses. I heard that the topic on the first day of school last year seemed to be a very interesting math problem, such as putting rabbits and ravens in the same cage, telling you that there are a total of thirty-eight heads and ninety-six feet, and then asking for the number of ravens and rabbits respectively…"

"Oh? Is that all? Ten and twenty-eight, that's indeed quite simple…"

Danilova was slightly stunned, then breathed a sigh of relief, and continued to focus on dealing with the sausage on her plate.

She could mentally solve this simple system of two linear equations in two variables in ten seconds when she was six or seven years old.

When she first saw everyone's expressions, Danilova thought it would be some kind of headache-inducing higher mathematics problem, or very brain-burning philosophical speculation. If it was just these simple math problems, it would even be a bit of a stretch for a break-time pastime.

"Danny, you're happy too soon, that was a year ago…"

Just then, prefect "Peach" shook her head with a solemn expression, saying in a deep voice.

"Do you know what question the bronze eagle ring asked us in the last week we left school, that is, the week when the Ravenclaw common room was about to close? It wanted us to help answer a question raised by a stubborn barber—"

"A stubborn...barber?"

The dining knife in Dannylova's hand stopped. She seemed to have heard a similar bedtime story from her father.

"Um...from that day on, no one has ever answered the questions in the common room again."

Prefect "Peach" nodded with a heavy face, a hint of unbearable humiliation appearing on her face.

"Taking turns on duty, and then opening the door once every hour to let people in, is our only way…"

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Chapter 2! Big chapter! OMG!!!

I've updated nearly 7000 words today. I'm going to try on wedding dresses tomorrow, so I may not have time to update~ cuckoo~