Harry Potter: The Rise Of Malfoy

Chapter 46.

The opening dinner began in the same manner as last year.

After the Sorting Hat sang its unpleasant song, the Sorting Ceremony commenced, with first-year students putting on the Sorting Hat to determine which house they would belong to. The hat would loudly announce the house most suitable for each student.

Among this year's first-year students was a familiar face to Soren, Daphne's younger sister, Astoria Greengrass.

Daphne came to Soren's compartment because she needed to settle her sister on the train beforehand, which caused her to delay quite a bit, allowing Luna to sneak into Soren's compartment before she and Meredith arrived.

Astoria resembled Daphne to some extent, also having beautiful blond hair, but her complexion hinted at a frail pallor—Daphne had mentioned that Astoria's bloodline curse had been activated, rendering her weak and sickly since childhood. Soren remembered from the original story that she married Draco and had a child, but she did not survive the backlash of the bloodline curse and died young.

Unsurprisingly, Astoria was sorted into Slytherin, joining her sister in the same house.

This year's new Slytherins featured quite a few good prospects.

Soren's magical eye detected powerful magical fluctuations in several of the new students, surpassing that of their peers, which typically indicated exceptional magical talent and suggested they had received family training in magic before entering school—Hestia Carrow, Flora Carrow... Soren silently committed these names to memory.

Then Professor Dumbledore stood up to speak, and the hall immediately fell silent.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore said, the candlelight shimmering on his beard, "Welcome back to Hogwarts! I have a few things to share with all of you, one of which is very important, so I think it best to clarify it before you enjoy the delicious feast and your minds get muddled..."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "Our school is currently hosting a few Dementors from Azkaban. They have been sent by the Ministry of Magic to carry out their duties, as you must already know, because they conducted a search on the Hogwarts Express."

"They are stationed at the very entrance of the school," Dumbledore continued, "I must be clear: when they are present, no one is allowed to leave the school without permission. Any trickery, gimmicks, or disguises will not fool the Dementors—even including invisibility cloaks." He added lightly, "Dementors do not understand excuses or pleas. Therefore, I remind everyone here, do not give them a reason to harm you. I expect the prefects and our newly elected Head girl and boy to ensure that no student comes into conflict with the Dementors."

This year's Head boy is Percy Weasley. He was puffing out his chest and looking around with an air of self-importance.

The Head Girl is Penelope Clearwater, who, it is said, has become Percy's girlfriend.

To outsiders, they seem to be a perfect match, yet Soren, familiar with the plot, is not optimistic about their relationship; Percy is an ambitious person, and to him, Penelope, a Muggle-born witch, can only be a romantic interest, while a woman who could assist his career would be a suitable marriage partner.

Slytherin's Gemma Farley was not elected. Soren had already learned from Gemma's letters over the summer that Gemma's disappointment was evident between the lines.

To be honest, Gemma is indeed very capable and a dedicated, enthusiastic prefect. However, comparing her to Penelope, Penelope undoubtedly excelled academically, making her election as Head girl well-deserved.

Soren had already worded his reply to Gemma with comforting remarks, but of course, he still rejected the invitation Gemma took the opportunity to extend. This was not due to Soren's disdain for Gemma's older age; rather, he felt he already had enough female friends around him and did not want to complicate matters of the heart.

"What's truly exciting," Dumbledore suddenly raised his voice, causing everyone to perk up, "is that this year, I am pleased to welcome three new teachers to our ranks."

"The first is Professor Remus Lupin, who has graciously agreed to fill the vacancy in the Defense Against the Dark Arts course." The applause was sparse, and a few teachers clapped a few times before awkwardly stopping.

The students had not much confidence in Dumbledore's ability to find a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher after the upheavals of the past two years. Professor Lupin, looking frail and easily toppled like a sickly man, donned a patched robe, resembling Professor Quirrell from their first year.

"Look at Professor Snape!" Daphne whispered.

Soren's gaze turned to the staff table, where he found Professor Snape glaring at Lupin with predatory intensity.

Clearly, due to old grudges from their youth, Snape's opinion of Lupin was less than favorable. He must have been worried that Lupin would bring Sirius Black into the school to target Harry, but his hostility was so blatant that everyone assumed he was just frustrated about failing to apply for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position again.

Lupin maintained his composure well; in the face of the terrifying silence from both the stage and the audience, he revealed no emotion, merely smiling as he looked out at the students. Fortunately, Dumbledore stepped in just in time to ease the tension.

"As for the second teacher," Dumbledore sighed regretfully, "our Care of Magical Creatures professor, Professor Kettleburn, retired at the end of last term to enjoy more time with his old limbs. However, I'm pleased to announce that the person stepping into his role is none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to teach this class in addition to his duties as Keeper of Keys and Grounds."

The applause erupted once more, this time particularly enthusiastic from the Gryffindor table.

"As for the third teacher," Dumbledore's gaze wandered casually over the Slytherin table, making Soren hold his breath anxiously. He hoped there wouldn't be any changes due to Lucius being ousted from the board last year.

"Hogwarts has, after some discussion and effort from the board of governors, decided to reintroduce the elective class of Alchemy for this year's third-year students. We are delighted to welcome the renowned Master of Alchemy, Professor Ibis Bock, to teach this new course." Dumbledore pointed to an elderly man in a luxurious black velvet robe seated at the staff table. He stood and bowed to the four tables below.

This time, the applause was noticeably more enthusiastic, especially from the Slytherin table.

While Professor Bock's skills, accomplishments, and fame might not match those of Nicolas Flamel, he was still a well-known figure in alchemy, a rarity in the British wizarding world. Over thirty years ago, he presented a research paper on Vanishing Cabinets at an International Alchemy Conference, establishing himself as a specialist in the field of Vanishing Cabinets and spatial magical items.

If Soren was not mistaken, the Vanishing Cabinet in Borgin and Burkes, which was repaired, had been handled by him, but the other cabinet linked to it had ended up at Hogwarts under unknown circumstances, which was why it had never been used.

After the dinner concluded and they returned to the common room, Soren was stopped by Pansy, whom he hadn't seen all summer. After a summer apart, Pansy had grown taller and turned into a lovely young girl. Behind her were several other girls, including Tracey and Audrey, all of whom were gazing at Soren with eager eyes, making him suddenly feel like a prized delicacy.

Pansy flashed a playful smile and teased him, "Soren, I heard you were as usual amazing on the train, able to drive away the Dementors! What spell did you use?"

The Slytherins who had been heading back to their dorms slowed their pace, ears tuned in to eavesdrop. The proud Slytherins wouldn't lower themselves to ask Soren directly but were eager to catch any information on how to fend off Dementors.

"It wasn't anything secret; I used the Patronus Charm, which is rather obscure and advanced, used to repel Dementors," Soren replied quickly. "It was my first time using it, so I could only produce a little bit of bright light and couldn't form a complete corporeal Patronus. If you all want to learn it, I can teach you." The girls nodded eagerly, and one little blonde girl standing behind Daphne, with a youthful face full of admiration for Soren, was none other than Daphne's sister, Astoria.

With Daphne's introduction, Astoria, like a fan meeting her idol, was excited and starry-eyed as she got to know Soren.

Daphne clearly cares deeply for her sister; she does not hesitate to entrust Soren, hoping that Soren can take care of her sister. Soren has always wanted to establish a good relationship with the two sisters and the Greengrass family to build her initial connections, so she naturally agrees without hesitation.

The new semester has begun, and everyone is once again immersed in intense study.

The coursework in the third grade is at least two subjects more than in the second grade, making study time even more compact than before.

On the first morning of school, Soren first attended a Transfiguration class with Hufflepuff.

Professor McGonagall demonstrated Animagus transformation and explained the underlying principles.

Animagus is regarded as the highest achievement in Transfiguration, allowing wizards to transform into animals while retaining human consciousness, and they can change back to human form at any time without a wand. However, once transformed into an animal, they cannot use magic, so most of the time it can only be used for three purposes: lurking, gathering intelligence, and escaping.

These three purposes are still based on the premise that the Animagus is not registered with the Ministry of Magic.

If someone knows in advance about the transformed state, then the practicality of these three purposes will significantly decrease, and there is also the risk of being sent to Azkaban. Despite Sirius Black's claims of innocence and that being labeled a Death Eater was a miscarriage of justice—if he were reported as an illegal Animagus, he would still have to return to Azkaban.

Soren thought this magic is rather useless—due to the complexity of becoming an Animagus, wizards can only turn into ordinary animals because the souls of magical creatures are more complex than those of ordinary animals. Transforming into a magical creature could lead to unimaginable disasters.

As for turning into small animals like cats, dogs, or mice, Soren really cannot see any practical use. Wild cats and dogs are not common on the streets of England, and becoming a wild dog would carry the risk of being forcibly captured by Muggle authorities.

Moreover, the type of animal an Animagus transforms into has a certain level of randomness; while the transformed shape usually reflects the caster's mind, what it ultimately turns into is unpredictable. If one were to transform into a stag like James Potter, it would lose its only disguising purpose; aside from accompanying his werewolf friend, Soren cannot think of any practical use.

You might say Sirius used it to deceive Dementors? A skilled Occlumency spell could easily do that as well.

You might say Sirius used it to cross the prison bars? A skilled Transfiguration or shrinking spell could do that too.

You might say Sirius infiltrated the heavily guarded Hogwarts? Skilled Disguising Magic is even more effective.

Furthermore, the form an Animagus takes is very likely to be the same as the caster's Patronus form. Soren was already able to perform a complete corporeal Patronus at home during the summer, which is one of the reasons he decided to give up on becoming an Animagus.

Next, he attended a Charms class with Ravenclaw, where Professor Flitwick explained how charms can influence emotions and demonstrated five mental charms: Happiness Charm, Sadness Charm, Rage Charm, Anxiety Charm, and Fear Charm, assigning the students to write a paper on charms and emotions as homework.

Harry and the trio also attended their first Divination class. During lunch, news of Professor Trelawney's prediction that Harry saw a "Grim" spread throughout Hogwarts, and when viewed alongside Sirius's escape, many began to avoid Harry at all costs.

Ron did not speak out, but he was indeed very wary of the Grim, worrying about Harry's safety while also secretly reminding himself to be cautious this semester. Hermione, on the other hand, thought Professor Trelawney was just trying to be mysterious and ended up arguing with Ron over it.

The Grim seems to suggest "unlucky" at face value, but in the world of Divination, it actually represents the Grim Reaper, meaning that anyone who sees a Grim is said to face a "death omen."

*****

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