Chapter 37. Why Does Harry Potter Keep Looking at You
With the last student Sorted, the Sorting Ceremony came to an end.
Dumbledore rose to his feet, faced the whole school, and lifted his hands to ask for silence.
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" he said with a smile, adjusting his half-moon spectacles. "Before we enjoy a delicious feast, I have a few announcements."
The Great Hall gradually quieted, and all eyes fixed on him.
"This year, there will be a small change to our teaching staff," Dumbledore's gaze swept along the staff table and finally came to rest on Quirrell. "Professor Quirinus Quirrell will serve as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor."
Quirrell stood up, nodded to everyone, and sat down again; the enormous purple turban on his head was conspicuous.
Harry recognised him as the man he had met earlier at the Leaky Cauldron.
"Er, let's hope Professor Quirrell won't be too unlucky," Harry heard a Gryffindor next to him mutter under his breath.
Right now, however, Harry's thoughts were clearly not on Quirrell, but on Adrian Wesson farther along.
If Quirrell was the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, then his teacher…
As Harry had suspected, Dumbledore's next words confirmed it.
"Also, Professor Kettleburn, who teaches Care of Magical Creatures, is officially retiring this term. He will be succeeded by Professor Adrian Wesson."
Although Harry had already suspected as much, when the news actually came from Dumbledore's mouth, he still found it a little hard to believe.
"What are you grinning about?" Ron nudged Harry with his elbow. "Granted, getting into Gryffindor is something to be happy about."
Harry snapped back to himself and hurriedly smoothed his expression.
Following Dumbledore's words, Wesson rose and gave the students a wave—no more than a greeting.
He had not expected that, the moment his name was read out, a murmur would suddenly rise from the Hufflepuff table.
"Professor Adrian Wesson? Is it that person…"
"It should be. I've seen his photo—looks exactly the same, and the name matches."
Then came a burst of applause and cheers, mostly from the little badgers.
?
Had he done something?
Puzzled, Wesson couldn't help checking his reflection in the polished tabletop.
His hair wasn't messy, either.
As Wesson sat down looking thoroughly confused, Professor Sprout leaned over with a quiet laugh. "You're as popular as ever, Professor Wesson. Look—those upper-years still recognise you, and even some lower-years have heard of you."
Wesson looked even more puzzled at Professor Sprout's explanation.
Was he popular as a student?
Why was it, in his memory, that he had been practically invisible?
Besides, even if he had once been popular, six years had passed—those who knew him ought to have graduated by now.
How baffling.
…
After introducing the new professors, Dumbledore spoke again. "Before the feast begins, I would like to say a few words. And they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you all!"
Once Dumbledore finished those seemingly nonsensical words, the feast officially began.
All sorts of dishes appeared on the tables.
A variety of food also appeared before Wesson: boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, pan-fried potatoes, crisps, mashed potatoes…
"…"
The fork in his hand paused at once.
He did quite like potatoes, but—
Fortunately, Professor Sprout swapped her roast beef with the boiled potatoes in front of Wesson, finally giving him something to put his fork into.
As they enjoyed the food, Professor Flitwick beside Wesson seemed to notice something. He glanced towards the Gryffindor table, then back at Wesson.
His sharp eye had picked up on something out of the ordinary.
"Why does Harry Potter keep looking at you, Professor Wesson?" Professor Flitwick asked curiously. "Does he know you?"
"I've noticed it as well, Filius—Harry Potter keeps glancing this way," Professor Sprout turned her head too, looking at Wesson in puzzlement.
For Wesson, this wasn't anything that had to be kept secret.
"I live near his relatives," Wesson said with a casual shrug. "Harry often comes to my shop. You know, I cast a Muggle-Repelling Charm on it; the moment Harry walked in, I knew—he was a wizard. Of course, I didn't realise at first that he was the legendary Harry Potter."
Professors Flitwick and Sprout exchanged looks of dawning understanding.
"Oh, that explains it," Professor Sprout nodded.
They hadn't been making any special effort to keep their voices down.
Even Dumbledore was drawn into the conversation.
"You never mentioned that to me, Professor Wesson," Dumbledore said, eyes crinkling as he smiled at Wesson.
At that, Wesson was a little surprised; he had thought Dumbledore knew that Harry had approached him.
After all, in Dumbledore's eyes, Harry was unquestionably important.
Wesson even felt it would be normal if Dumbledore kept constant watch over Harry.
But he quickly dismissed that thought.
Just look at how Harry lived with the Dursleys—worse than livestock!
Wesson believed that if Dumbledore had seen Harry living like that, he would at least have given him some help.
"Harry and I have a bit of a connection," Wesson smiled at Dumbledore. "It's a long story, but in the end, it's simply that I happen to live near his relatives, nothing more."
Behind his lenses, Dumbledore's blue eyes narrowed slightly, as if in thought. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table, gazing at Wesson with a pensive look.
Wesson felt a little uneasy under Dumbledore's gaze.
Of course, it might not have been Dumbledore's eyes at all.
Because Wesson had discovered that someone else was staring fixedly at him.
Ever since Professor Flitwick had spoken the name "Harry Potter," Severus Snape's sharp gaze had been circling this way.
If anyone here paid the most attention to the name "Harry Potter," it was certainly Snape.
As for why—
"…"
Wesson decided he'd rather not think about those things. He didn't like sad stories.
Naturally, although he sympathised with Snape, that didn't conflict with the fact that he didn't like the man.
So Wesson simply ignored Snape's gaze.
Stare all you like—if I look back, I lose, Wesson thought to himself.
"Speaking of which, what kind of child is Harry Potter?" Professor Sprout asked with lively interest.
Clearly, it wasn't only the students—the professors, too, were very curious about the so-called "Saviour."
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