"You're so brave." Neville gave Harry a thumbs up and praised him from the bottom of his heart. He sat next to Harry, and Hannah and Susan Bones sat next to them.

"I just thought of it at the last minute." Harry muttered, feeling his face getting hot. He really didn't think too much, and didn't even intend to ask others to learn from him, so he didn't say anything. It was Hermione who discovered his intention in time.

"That's great, leading by example." Ernie Macmillan said loudly, leaning over and patting Harry on the shoulder, looking at the badge on Harry's chest with envy.

"By the way, I wonder if there are any changes in the teaching positions this year?" Harry said hurriedly.

He looked in the direction of the professor's seat - it wasn't full yet, but he could see Snape and Professor Slughorn sitting together. Slughorn looked at Harry with admiration without concealing his eyes, with his hands folded together; Snape's eyes were empty, making it impossible to catch his emotions. A few seats away, Professor Sprout and Astronomy Professor Aurora Sinistra were talking in a low voice, with obvious smiles on their faces.

"Not all of them are here yet. Well, I think we came early." Susan stretched her neck and said, "But at least we can be sure that the positions of Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology and Astronomy will not change much."

"The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor has not changed... It's really surprising." Ernie exchanged a meaningful look with the others. Harry knew that the names of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors who came and went over the years must have flashed through everyone's minds.

But Harry himself didn't feel the slightest bit strange. Voldemort was dead, and the shadow hovering over Hogwarts naturally disappeared.

"What do you think, could it be that Slughorn and Snape swapped positions? Snape continues to teach Potions, and Professor Slughorn teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Unlikely." Harry said immediately.

"Why?" Hannah asked curiously.

Harry's eyes became stagnant. Yes, why are you so sure? He couldn't give any conclusive evidence, he just felt that this kind of thing would not happen. He couldn't help but suspect that it was because he had been recalling what he saw in the stone pensieve recently. "Is there any need to ask? He must have got the inside information." A voice interrupted.

It was Mafalda. She was holding a small notebook and holding a ballpoint pen that was only sold in Muggle stores in her other hand. She looked at him without blinking, as if she had smelled the smell of exclusive news.

"Tell me quickly." Mafalda said with a look of curiosity, "I think the most likely changes are the Ancient Runes and Transfiguration classes. Professor Hep was appointed as the special envoy of the International Confederation of Wizards some time ago and visited more than a dozen magical ministries. He may not have much time in the next few days; the latter - Professor McGonagall should not teach students this year. She is the headmaster now, right?"

She said everything she knew in one breath, and then looked at Harry with an inquiring look.

Harry stared back at her, probably knowing that every word he said next would appear in the Puzzle Wall tabloid, so he decided not to say a word - and he really didn't know the answer, but it didn't stop him from making up a plausible excuse.

"You'll know soon enough, and you'll be surprised." He said in a vague, almost all-knowing tone. The next second, Harry found himself imitating Trelawney's words, which made him a little unhappy.

Neville obviously took Harry's words as a clue and thought hard.

"Who could it be?" He frowned and looked at Harry carefully and said, "It should be someone I know, but it won't be easy for people to associate with it, so that it can be a surprise..." Harry looked at him nervously, afraid that his big talk would be exposed in a while, but Mafalda was there, so he couldn't remind him.

Sometimes Harry thought that Ron's distant relative was not here to study, just like some painters would carry their drawing boards around, their purpose was to collect useful materials that could be put into their works.

"Could it be Mr. Longbottom? If so, it would be quite surprising..." Hannah Abbott guessed.

Harry's heart moved, thinking that it was indeed possible.

"No," Neville shook his head and said firmly, "Because Professor McGonagall really approached my father and hoped that he would teach at the school."

"Professor McGonagall invited Mr. Longbottom?" Harry said in surprise.

"Yes, but my father refused. He didn't want to be separated from my mother. The two of them are choosing a site for a new wizard town together." Neville explained.

After being cured by Professor Happ, the Longbottom couple first traveled abroad. After the outbreak of the wizard war, they immediately decided to contribute their own strength. When the war was over, they had no intention of joining the Ministry of Magic, but chose to open a small shop and prepare to live their own lives. Until the recent exposure of the wizarding world, they were invited by the Ministry of Magic to act as professionals. It was heard that they participated in the operation of sweeping the black market and smuggling trade in the UK before, but it was the first time that Neville mentioned what they were doing recently.

"New wizard town-what is that?" Mafalda raised her head from the small notebook and asked shrewdly.

Harry thought of the recent hot news. If wizards and Muggles want to trade with each other, they must have a fixed location. Could it be related to this? But he soon found that he had thought wrong. "It is to settle the foreign wizards who have moved here recently." Neville said.

"It was indeed mentioned on the radio..." Mafalda said thoughtfully.

"Aunt is very troubled by them." Susan Bones interrupted, "The number of registered people has exceeded 300. In order to prevent them from causing trouble, the Ministry has urgently transferred a group of people."

"This is not surprising. Those people are more or less related to the wizards here." Ernie Macmillan said disapprovingly, "My father said that during the First Wizarding War, many people fled abroad. The current situation is just the opposite. I believe there are many surnames that you are familiar with, such as Shafiq."

"I have the impression that they came back before the wizarding world was completely exposed." Hannah Abbott said slowly.

Ernie shrugged.

"I didn't pay much attention..."

Mafalda left contentedly, and then she flew to another flower bush like a bee that worked hard to collect pollen - Hermione was chatting with Luna and Ginny. Following Mafalda's back, Harry saw Ron looking over here listlessly, with an eager expression, as if he wanted to come over.

When Felix and Professor McGonagall appeared together, they keenly noticed the chaos of seating in the hall. They sat down on the wide chairs and swept across the four long dining tables with serious and inquiring eyes, like a lion and a snake patrolling their territory.

"The new male and female student union presidents have brought us a surprise. Are you satisfied?" Snape said softly, his tone as if someone had broken into his private storage room and relocated rows of familiar potion jars.

"I am indeed satisfied, Severus. I am very happy to see this change happen during my tenure." Professor McGonagall said happily, and then she looked at Felix with a strange expression, "But Felix - I must remind you that you have an important mission today, so don't act like nothing happened."

Felix was talking to Slughorn about the progress of improving the potion formula. Hearing this, he turned around and looked at her innocently.

"Sorting, Felix, Sorting." Professor McGonagall reminded him.

"Oh, I almost forgot that I have to preside over the Sorting ceremony - thank you, Minerva." Felix stood up happily, reached out to pick up a dirty hat from the air, shook it vigorously, and then strode towards the entrance hall.

Just as he was waiting at the door for Hagrid to lead the new students, he met Firenze.

"Hello, Firenze." He said to the centaur, knowing that Firenze had made a lot of efforts in persuading the centaur to join the Pan-Magic Union.

"Alas, I didn't intend to show up," the centaur said sadly, "I'm not used to human food."

"Don't worry, the house elves have prepared fresh vegetables, all natural," said Felix. He watched the centaur go in, Firenze's tail flicked back and forth, not knowing whether it was irritation or nervousness. After a few minutes, he heard heavy footsteps.

Hagrid's tangled, fluffy hair appeared in sight, followed by a group of little wizards who were curious about everything, like bean sprouts that could walk on their own.

"Is everything going well, Hagrid?"

Hagrid was stunned for a moment, and obviously, like Felix before, he had forgotten the question of who would preside over the sorting ceremony tonight. "Oh... it went well..." He turned his head and shouted behind him, "Don't squeeze, line up and come in one by one! Felix, I'll leave the new students to you, not one less." He said to Felix.

"By the way, I put the little house next to the forbidden forest, and little Grawp is very happy."

Hagrid was referring to Grawp's temporary residence at Bill and Fleur's wedding. When the wedding was over, Felix turned it back into a painting and was brought back by Hagrid.

Felix blinked and said, "That's good."

After Hagrid left, he took the first-year students to a separate room, where he introduced them to the rules of the sorting and the basic situation of the four houses. Under the soft white light of the magic lamp, the excitement and anticipation on their faces were clearly visible. Felix smiled.

"Sir?" At this time, a freshman spoke in a trembling voice, "Excuse me, are you Felix Hepp? I have read your name in the newspaper."

"You can call me Professor Hepp," Felix said gently, "Even if you can't take my class now, you can still call me that. As for your question, I think it's true. There should be no other Felix Hepp who has appeared in newspapers more than me recently. So, what's your name?"

"Locke," the freshman said quickly, "Locke Irving."

"...Oh, oh, okay, Mr. Irving. You surprised me. Your name happens to be the same as a friend of mine." Felix said, "I wish you to be sorted into the ideal college - I mean - have a happy time." "There is still a while

before the sorting begins. You can get to know each other. If nothing unexpected happens, you will be together for seven years."

While the freshmen looked at each other and introduced themselves, the students in the hall were overwhelmed by the new faces that appeared one after another.

First was a centaur - "Hey, it's Firenze!" Ron shouted at the Ravenclaw table. A few minutes later, the castle manager Filch led two people in. All the students were intimidated by the tall and thin old man who led the way. He was wearing a gray robe, with wisps of gray hair and beard like metallic wire, and wearing glasses.

It was not until he approached that some students realized that this person was actually the waiter of the Hog's Head Inn, and therefore ignored the witch behind him who was wearing a dark green shawl, looking dignified and elegant, and serious. But Harry would never leave her behind. He, Neville, and Ron and Hermione standing at the next table opened their eyes at the same time.

"It turned out to be Aunt Emmeline Vance." Neville breathed softly.

Aberforth Dumbledore and Emmeline Vance chose a seat and sat down. The professors welcomed them. Aberforth chose to sit at the edge, with no expression on his face. He picked up the fork on the table and knocked it twice. The centaur Firenze next to him rubbed the ground with his hoof in annoyance.

"Am I bothering you?" Aberforth asked in a rough voice.

"No." Firenze said politely but unfamiliarly, and his keen sense of smell detected a faint smell of sheep.

At this time, the students below came back to their senses and started a heated discussion. Many people felt that if they had to pick one of the three as the Transfiguration Professor, they would prefer to choose the witch who looked elegant and had good manners - few people knew the identity of Aberforth. They had previously suspected that they had seen it wrong. But Harry knew more. Aberforth could not be the Transfiguration Professor because Transfiguration was a rigorous magical subject, and as far as he knew, Aberforth was not very good at cultural subjects. On the contrary, Emmeline Vance was a very talented witch, a few years older than Sirius and Amelia, and like the Longbottoms, she participated in two wars and survived.

Felix led the freshmen into the hall and stopped in front of the professor's seat. He conjured up a small stool and placed the Sorting Hat on it. Then the Sorting Hat began to sing. The old students were very familiar with this routine, except that -

"Why is the Sorting Hat singing so weak this year?" Ron muttered. Of course, he was just saying it casually. As the Sorting began, the enchanted ceiling above his head reflected the mysterious starry sky trajectory - Firenze looked up - Felix took out a piece of parchment and read out the first name. "

Locke Irving."

A freshman stumbled out of the crowd and put on the Sorting Hat. After a moment -

"Ravenclaw!" The Sorting Hat shouted.

The hall was filled with thunderous applause. The freshman put down the hat and hesitantly got off the stool. Felix said gently: "Pick a free seat and sit down. The house only affects your class schedule." So Irving ran to the Slytherin table and sat down. Draco Malfoy, the prefect, stood up and shook hands with him.

The Sorting was carried out in an orderly manner without any accidents. When the ceremony was over, Professor McGonagall, as President, gave a welcome speech to the students and announced several new appointments for the school this year:

"Professor Emmeline Vance will be the professor of Transfiguration... Professor Firenze has just returned from a trip and is very knowledgeable in astrology and pyrodivination. He will teach a branch of the Divination class for students who have passed the OWLs assessment to choose from... Also, this year's Ancient Magic Runes class will be held in classroom seven. Classroom seven and the underground playground will also be reopened to students, and the administrator of these two places will be Mr. Aberforth Dumbledore..."

Professor McGonagall swept the hall with a serious look, and then smiled.

"Once again, welcome back. In this situation, I am very happy to see that everyone can unite and work together. This is our most powerful weapon. That's all I have to say. Let's start eating."