The Sorting Hat tilted back, with its point drooping.

The familiar ceiling, the candles floating all over the room, oh, and Minerva's serious face.

Serious, responsible, and meticulously dressed.

And the little wizards who were lively and gathered together in the Hogwarts Great Hall.

Hogwarts.

This word made him shudder so much that his whole hat trembled.

"Today is the first day of school?" The Sorting Hat stammered, looking lost.

Professor McGonagall grabbed the tip of the hat and lifted it up to her eye level. "Of course, Mr. Hat always looks forward to this day, doesn't he?"

"I'm sure you'll be ready for today, too."

The Sorting Hat shook itself, "Well, of course. I think it should be ready."

"Let us begin the Sorting joyfully."

"The first-year wizards shouldn't be here yet?"

Professor McGonagall nodded, "Not yet. It's foggy today, so they may be a little late."

The Sorting Hat breathed a sigh of relief, and its entire body collapsed visibly. "That's great..."

"I mean, it's such a pity that I can't meet these lovely children earlier."

He said so.

But every wrinkle on the hat is filled with the gratitude of "That's great, I still have time."

The Sorting Hat was placed on the three-cornered platform, and he shook his head and muttered to himself.

After the little wizards had struggled across the mountain paths and lakes and entered the castle, he managed to compose a cheerful little song, using the tune he was most familiar with - the rock style that Godric liked recently, and sang it briefly.

The young wizards cheered.

The other students also applauded.

"This year's songs are of a very high standard," Ron muttered, "I would like it to sing more."

"It's a Led Zeppelin song," Hermione began to explain. "I've heard it before, but I can't remember which song it was."

"What is that?" Ron asked, "I haven't heard of it. This level should be very famous."

Harry nodded. "Yes, it is famous."

"It's Sirius' favorite band. He says it's better than the Beatles and the Rolling Stones."

Hermione looked at him and both of them wanted to laugh.

"But I seriously doubt that Sirius felt a sense of identity with these four people because they are as handsome as himself." Harry said softly.

"They're not wizards," Hermione added.

Ron nodded: "Then I'll have to ask Sirius to borrow the record."

While they were talking.

The Sorting Hat assigned the young wizards to their houses. This year, Slytherin was a bit lively. Apart from Hufflepuff, they were the house with the most students - in previous years it was Gryffindor and occasionally Ravenclaw.

Wait until the dinner is over.

Dumbledore stood up and smiled slightly. "A pleasant dinner."

"I have to say, the house elves are getting better at their craft again."

The smile on his face seemed a little helpless.

This is Yennefer's masterpiece.

Although the lady only lived in the castle for a few days, her high demands and strict standards were remembered by the house-elves. After Yennefer left, they collectively punished themselves for half a month, which gave Filch a headache. Although he could nominally command these elves, he did not know magic and was powerless.

After punishing themselves, the house-elves taught themselves and made Hogwarts give them a long bill for the summer vacation.

Not only did the Hogwarts board of directors have no objection, they even allocated a large amount of Galleons and promised that every professor's annual salary would increase by two-thirds, even the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position.

Follow their words.

Hogwarts is worthy of being the best magic school in Europe. It has trained such an outstanding student as Harry Potter. Moreover, this year's Owls exams have ushered in a wave of positive growth after a long period of adversity. These Galleons are what Hogwarts deserves.

The young wizards agreed with Dumbledore's words.

"Although there were some minor incidents last year, overall it was a peaceful year." Dumbledore raised his hand and gently pushed his glasses. "This has never happened in the history of Hogwarts. The four houses united as one to drive the unwelcome people out of Hogwarts."

"Professor Black also submitted a satisfactory answer."

"Twelve people, a full twelve people, received an 'O' in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and 70% of the students successfully obtained the Defense Against the Dark Arts certificate."

"He is a very good and popular professor. But I have to regretfully inform you that Professor Black does not plan to stay at Hogwarts this year. He has more important things to do."

He glanced at Harry.

The current situation is somewhat unexpected.

The Ministry of Magic was unable to spare any manpower, and they were caught in the dilemma of internal investigation. From the time Scrimgeour took over the position of Minister of Magic to now, less than a month had passed since the start of the school year, and he had already received more than 30 letters of complaint.

And a joint letter involving almost two-thirds of the Ministry of Magic.

They all begged Scrimgeour to keep Thicknesse in the Ministry of Magic as Head of the Auror Office, for the sake of his surrender. Or, if all else failed, to send him back to his original position as Captain of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad.

The names above are on the Death Eaters list.

There are also pure-blood families that are not on the Death Eater list.

Scrimgeour had suggested more than once that they should first allocate forces to help Harry and find the remaining Death Eaters and the whereabouts of the goblins.

But the Ministry of Magic has been dragged into the situation and has to deal with this conflict that has been exposed and intensified first.

The Ministry of Magic couldn't spare any manpower.

The Order of the Phoenix only has those few people, Rita, Mundungus...

It would be very problematic to search the whole of London, let alone the whole of Great Britain or even the whole of Europe. It is relatively safer now, and Sirius has also joined the journey to find Voldemort, the girl named "Ciri", and the Wild Hunt.

Gryffindor burst into a groan of complaint after hearing what Dumbledore said.

They liked Sirius very much, and even though they were Gryffindors after graduation, they got along very well.

Dumbledore waved his hand: "I believe we will have a chance to meet Professor Black again."

"Next, let's introduce our new professor."

"I think many of you have heard of him, Horace Slughorn, a very good potion master who once worked at Hogwarts and taught a very good potion master like Severus. Starting this year, he will return to Hogwarts and become your new Potions professor."

Slughorn stood up and said cheerfully, "Hello everyone, the atmosphere at Hogwarts is so cheerful."

“I hope we can get along well.”

The students were about to applaud in welcome, but they were slow to react to the word in Dumbledore's words - it was not "Defense Against the Dark Arts" but "Potions Class".

Can……

Hogwarts is not short of Potions professors now, we still have Snape, what about him?

Dumbledore went on: "Yes, as some students have guessed, starting this year, Professor Snape will be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

The young wizards were in an uproar.

"Professor Snape's Defense Against the Dark Arts is no worse than his Potions skills." Dumbledore waved his hand again to suppress their exclamations. "Both Harry and I can prove to Professor Snape that he will be a qualified professor."

Snape did not stand up, but sat coldly on the table, saying nothing.

There was some sparse applause.

Dumbledore coughed lightly, and after saying the important things, he began to talk about the old things and those well-known things.

Forbidden Forest, Quidditch, prank props...

This year is the year without the Weasley twins.

Both Professor McGonagall and Filch were quite relaxed.

Of course, they knew that even if Dumbledore repeatedly emphasized that Hogwarts would ban all props from the Weasley brothers' joke workshop, just like last year, these things would still appear in every corner of the castle, and they didn't know when they would bring them huge surprises.

This would be better than facing George and Fred in person.

After Dumbledore finished speaking, he smiled slightly and said, "I think you are tired of hearing these things every year at the beginning of the school year."

"That's all I have to say."

"This will definitely be a different school year. I assure you that all the troubles have been resolved and we will have a perfect school year without any surprises."

The little wizards curled their lips.

Dumbledore had promised the same thing last year.

As a result, the Ministry of Magic sent Umbridge, who caused them more than two months of disgust.

What about this year?

What surprises would come from that Professor Slughorn?

"Well, your beds are waiting for you, just as warm and comfortable as you wish. Your top priority now is to get some rest and prepare for tomorrow's classes. So, let's say 'good night'."

The little wizards left.

The four grade prefects greeted the freshmen.

Harry and Hermione strolled towards Gryffindor Tower.

"I returned the Time-Turner," Hermione said without thinking.

"Don't you plan to get twelve 'O's in your Newts?" Harry asked her with a smile.

Hermione shook her head: "Twelve 'O's don't mean anything. There are only three people in the history of Hogwarts who have achieved twelve 'O's. But whether it's you, Professor Dumbledore, or even Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout... they can all get twelve 'O's."

"Yennefer told me that there's no need to expect to be a jack of all trades."

“You have to work hard in the area you are best at in order to grow the fastest.”

She clenched her fist, "I'm not planning on taking Divination or Arithmancy this year, but I'm a little hesitant about Care of Magical Creatures. Will you take it, Harry?"

"That's Hagrid's class," Harry said softly.

Not because of their relationship with Hagrid.

Several professors of the main courses are masters in their fields, but not all of the professors of the elective courses are masters in their fields. Hagrid is one of the few genuine masters in the elective courses.