According to the convention, the first-year students were taken across the lake by Hagrid, while the rest of the students took the carriage and walked along the path to the main entrance of the school.

School Hall.

"My Lord, this way please--" Peeves somersaulted in the air, bowing and nodding as he led a strange ghost to the hall. The tall ghost hid himself tightly, and from under the cloak, only a pair of silver, emotionless eyes could be seen.

Peeves said with a smile: "Then I won't bother you for now, I have something else to do... I have prepared a lot of balloons filled with water for the new students. Don't you want to see the water balloons explode on the heads of the cute little guys?"

The ghost said nothing, and Peeves turned around and was about to leave. A big silver hand reached out from under the cloak, quickly grabbed Peeves' neck, and shook it hard.

Peeves struggled twice, but didn't break free. Instead, he swayed rhythmically, floating, with a helpless look on his face.

He was a spirit born from the castle, and compared with ordinary ghosts, he had stronger abilities. Ordinary ghosts can only slightly interfere with reality, but he is different. If he really wants to compete, he can compete with students to see who is stronger, even wrestling is not a problem.

What makes him afraid is, first, the professors in the school - as a collection of students' emotions, Peeves' fear of professors is engraved in his bones, but at the same time, he is the representative of naughty students, always eloquent, and he is actually afraid of professors who are full of majesty and integrity;

second, powerful wizards who can influence him, such as Headmaster Dumbledore and Felix Hep;

third, the outliers among ghosts, such as the Bloody Baron, and -

the short Peeves looked at the tall and indifferent ghost in front of him and cursed in a low voice. The silver eyes under the ghost's cloak suddenly looked at him, and Peeves immediately filled with a naive smile and kept rubbing his fingers.

The ghosts in the hall talked about it -

"Is there a new person again?" The resident ghost of Gryffindor College - Almost Headless Nick said sentimentally.

"Looks like a tough guy." The ghost of Hufflepuff, the fat monk, said cheerfully, "Great, someone has to deal with Peeves."

"Yes, that's right." Nearly Headless Nick said, "Ever since the Bloody Baron left..." He looked around meaningfully, attracting a lot of echoes and condemnations of Peeves' bad deeds.

"By the way," a ghost asked, "Does anyone still have the photo of Peeves?"

"The one of the mischievous twins, blowing Peeves around the castle with a fan?" Nearly Headless Nick asked with great interest, and he showed a satisfied smile, "I have it, I exchanged five secrets for it."

"How about holding a viewing?" The ghost suggested.

About a year ago, when it was Felix's first year in office, facing the provocation of Peeves, he cast a Confusion Charm, which confused the concept of time and made Peeves mistakenly think that he had just been born. He was unable to deal with the various chaotic and mischievous ideas of the students and became confused.

His old rival, the Weasley twins, took the opportunity to conjure up two fans and took Peeves around for exhibitions. They almost successfully held a party, but it was stopped by Professor McGonagall halfway. Many young wizards and all the ghosts expressed regret.

Someone among the onlookers took a photo of the grand scene, and the photos began to spread later, attracting many people to grab them. However, after Peeves recovered, he was angry and snatched most of the photos.

During that time, Moaning Myrtle shuttled through the girls' bathrooms on each floor, telling every student about Peeves' evil deeds of bullying her.

...

In the teacher's seat, Felix and Professor McGonagall were chatting about the unfinished topic in the headmaster's office. Flitwick joined in halfway and discussed which spells were suitable to be included in the "must-master category".

Professor McGonagall said seriously: "If possible, I hope that the young wizards can master all the knowledge. Every class is important."

"But Minerva, if we are going to do something, we must consider how to make the students accept it." Flitwick said sharply.

Professor McGonagall snorted. She certainly knew this, but she just had too high expectations for her students.

Felix nodded slightly, "My idea is to break these spells up and assign them to different grades. For example, the Disarming Charm is more suitable for third-year students to learn and fourth-year students to take exams, while Apparition may need to be learned in sixth-year students and taken exams in seventh-year students."

He added, "The purpose of the exams is not to give grades, but to allow them to truly master these spells, so I think the exam time should be as flexible as possible, and there should be no limit on the number of times."

Flitwick thought for a while and said, "That's a good idea. If we concentrate the exams in the last year, most students may keep dragging it out. What do you think, Severus?"

"I have no objection. You didn't include potions." Snape said coldly.

"This..." Flitwick stammered, "You are also one of the regular professors of the Duelling Club, aren't you? You should know that Defense Against the Dark Arts has always been a weak point for students. Fortunately, the Duelling Club can make up for some of the deficiencies."

"Lupin taught well last year," Professor McGonagall interrupted.

"I understand," said Flitwick, "and Belby, they are all very good, but..."

He hesitated, trying to organize his words, "But we all know what this course is like - each professor only teaches for one year, and I don't deny that Dumbledore has tried his best to find excellent wizards to teach this course, but excellent wizards and excellent professors are two different things."

"Just because you learn well doesn't mean you can teach others," Felix concluded.

"That's right!" Flitwick's eyes lit up, "That's right! A good professor needs rich experience and can understand the various difficulties students encounter... This process may take several years, but it is impossible for the professor of this course to do so."

"Although both Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts teach spells, their emphasis is completely different. I teach general practical magic, which of course includes various basic skills, and those offensive and defensive spells that can be used in duels are basically classified as Defense Against the Dark Arts..." "

It just so happens that the professor of this course is the most unstable. If you meet a good teacher, you can learn more. If you meet an unsuitable one or one who is not good at teaching, the class will be a mess."

The professors were all silent, and a long list of the names of the professors of Defense Against the Dark Arts over the years popped up in their minds, and they checked themselves off one by one.

Felix also thought about the professors he had met - both those he met at school and those he met at work. Frankly speaking, Lockhart was the bottom line in all senses. Most of them were just mediocre, or not good at teaching students. They often described a simple problem in a confusing way, leaving the young wizards confused; or they were completely based on their own experience and talked to themselves, and could not effectively solve the problems encountered by students.

There was another problem hidden behind this, that is, this course had never been properly planned. Experienced professors like Flitwick and McGonagall, who taught from the first grade to graduation, knew the characteristics of each student very well and would give targeted guidance. Moreover, it was very

clear what should be taught in each grade, how much to teach, and what feedback should be given in general.

When it came to Defense Against the Dark Arts... it was already good enough to be able to read from the book. Professors like Lupin who considered the students and tried to make up for their lack of homework were rare.

Most people still followed their own habits, talking here and there. A hammer here, a stick there.

So some students will be surprised to find that they have attended seven classes with the same content in seven years - from seven different professors.

...

Snape snorted disdainfully beside him. Isn't this a fact? What is there to discuss? He glanced at the new ghost in the corner a few times and felt that it was related to Felix. The shiny cloak looked very familiar.

Moreover, this ghost never spoke from beginning to end. He put on a cold attitude, which made Nick, who almost had no head, go back embarrassed when he came to talk to him.

There was a noise in the hallway. The students' carriages stopped at the door. They ran into the castle in the heavy rain, chattering non-stop. The school was immediately filled with a lively atmosphere.

Felix stopped talking, his eyes were slightly shining, and the ghost standing quietly in the corner of the hall suddenly moved, grabbed Peeves and flew towards the hall.

The students walked into the cave-like hallway, using the torches hanging high on the wall to shake off the rain on their bodies.

"Oh my god," Ron said, shaking his head vigorously, splashing water everywhere, "I'm soaked."

Harry silently twisted his sleeves to squeeze out a large puddle of water. His shoes and pants were also soaked with water, dragging down heavily, and his hair was wet and stuck to his head.

"What is that--" Neville, who came with them in the same carriage, shouted with shock.

Several people around him looked up at the marble steps leading to the hall. At the entrance, in the flickering firelight, a tall figure was suspended in the air, wearing a long cloak, with fluttering sleeves, and silver eyes were very cold.

"What is he holding in his hand?" Someone in the distance noticed the movement here.

"A freshman?" Someone guessed, but it was too short, like a little carrot head.

"How is it possible? They should still be floating on the lake. Wait..." A senior student widened his eyes, "That's Peeves!"

"Peeves is being held in his hand? Oh my God!"

"No, that's a Dementor!" A student with particularly poor eyesight screamed.

The air froze instantly, and the students took a breath of cold air, their bodies trembled, and they were in a mess.

"Hoo-God-Guardian!" Harry pulled out his wand and shouted.

Silver light sprinkled on the ground, and a silver shadow flew out from his wand. It was a stag, leaping towards the Dementor nimbly and fearlessly.

Harry didn't have time to think about why the Dementors suddenly appeared in the castle. He looked at his patronus with expectation, and was extremely sure that it would once again serve him as before.

"Ziz~"

Harry wondered if he had seen it wrong, but the tall Dementor stretched out his free hand and supported the stag's horns at once, and his patronus was forced to stop.

He blinked in disbelief. The lens was indeed a little blurry, but such a big patronus could not be wrong.

Ron stammered, "Is this the leader of the Dementors? Looking at its height, it's possible..."

Hermione trembled all over and took out her wand to try to save herself, "Exude~Humanity~Exude——Protection——"

"Exude!"

a seventh-year student shouted, and a silver leopard rushed up, but was slapped away by the Dementors. Peeves, who had gained freedom, immediately got into the wall and disappeared.

Before leaving, he shouted exaggeratedly, "The new ghost and the students are fighting! The new ghost and the students are fighting!"

Professor McGonagall hurried over, her pointed hat tilted, and she shouted angrily, "Peeves, what are you doing again?" But the scene in front of her was not what she imagined, she blinked and looked at the scene.

"Minerva, it's me." The ghost had to speak, and a gentle voice said. Seeing that the Dementors actually spoke, this scene scared several students nearby and they hugged each other.

Professor McGonagall recognized his voice and yelled at the ghost in a low voice with anger: "Felix Hep, pretending to be a ghost to scare students is simply outrageous, I tell you-"

"Uh, this is an accident, sorry, Minerva, they took me for a Dementor..."

Ghost Felix said awkwardly. He never thought that someone would point to a ghost as a Dementor. What's more outrageous is that Harry immediately released the Patronus Charm to attack him.

Where's the brain?

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, her nostrils opened and closed, and she made a heavy breathing sound. This is a sign that she is about to explode. It is usually accompanied by a reprimand and deduction of points, with a minimum of 20 points, plus a varying amount of detention. However, since Felix is ​​a professor himself, the latter is not necessary.

"I'll leave now." The ghost said hurriedly. He didn't want to provoke the angry lion. In this state, McGonagall would not be scolded even by Dumbledore. He disappeared with a "whoosh".

Professor McGonagall's chest kept rising and falling. She glanced at the hourglass in the hall that recorded the scores of the colleges. After a while, she sternly said to the people who were soaked like drowned rats, "What are you waiting for? Enter the hall, hurry up!"

She walked into the hall first, followed by the dejected students. The sound of water clanging as she walked made a sound, leaving behind wet footprints.

"If I were you, I would try to use a spell to dry the water on my body."

Professor McGonagall stopped and said with a headache. It was hard to imagine that among these students, there would be a warrior representing Hogwarts to participate in the championship in more than a month and win glory for the school.