"Skyl, hurry up. We saved you a seat ages ago. We almost thought you'd missed the train."
Skyl's two roommates were calling to him. After a whole summer, both of them had tanned quite a bit. It looked like they had also vacationed somewhere sunny. Muggle middle-class white families liked getting a tan to show they had both money and free time, and both of his roommates came from Muggle families. During summer break, they had followed their families out for sunbathing and developed a healthy, wheat-colored complexion.
Harry seemed to have something he wanted to talk to Skyl about, but before he could speak, Skyl smiled and said, "You've all grown up. We can't squeeze into one compartment like we used to anymore. I won't join you for now. Whatever you want to say, we can talk once we get to Hogwarts."
Indeed, children in their early teens grew quickly. Harry was much taller than that actor Daniel from the films, while Ron and Neville had been training under the mages of Winterhold inside The Tower of Tomes and were already starting to look broad and sturdy. Four children like this could still squeeze into one compartment, but it would definitely feel cramped.
"But we've always sat in the same compartment!" Hermione said reluctantly. "Merlin's beard, I feel like some of the happy old days really aren't coming back, are they?"
"Mr. Skyl is already in his seventh year. This is his final year at Hogwarts," Harry said calmly, stating the truth. "Parting was always inevitable."
Skyl waved and chose to pair up with his roommates instead.
Ron looked dejected. "Aw, I still wanted to talk with Skyl about Sirius Black breaking out of prison."
That was something that had happened during summer break. Sirius Black, a prisoner of Azkaban, had escaped from prison. This man had a fearsome reputation. Rumor had it that he was the culprit who had caused the deaths of Harry Potter's parents, a notorious Death Eater. His sudden escape had pulled the already tense nerves of Britain's magical world even tighter. The shadow of the Dark Lord had never truly gone away. The harder people tried to forget, the deeper Voldemort's terror rooted itself in their hearts.
Many people guessed that Sirius had escaped to harm the Savior, Harry Potter, or to stir up trouble for the Dark Lord lying low in the shadows. In short, as someone directly connected to the incident, Harry received a great deal of attention. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had repeatedly warned him to be careful, saying Hogwarts was absolutely safe and that it would be best for him to stay at school the entire time.
However, after Harry himself learned about the matter, he had a completely different idea.
As early as two years ago, through Skyl's prophecy, he had already seen the future. Harry knew that the person who had caused his parents' deaths was not Sirius, but Peter Pettigrew. This cowardly, despicable Death Eater was an illegal Animagus who had spent many years hiding in the Weasley household in the form of a rat, namely Ron's pet, Scabbers.
Harry was no longer that rash child who knew nothing about magic. In his second year, he had defeated a basilisk on his own, proving that he possessed strength, courage, and calm judgment. He had spent a long time thinking about how he should handle the grudges of the previous generation. He had never acted rashly, and he had not even told Ron that his beloved pet Scabbers was actually a balding, middle-aged, creepy wizard.
It was not because Harry was cold-blooded. In fact, researching dark magic had indeed caused the child's personality to shift somewhat. He simply did not want to alert the enemy.
Harry, who had received the revelation of a prophecy, was somewhat like a reborn person from a parallel world. He had enough time to repeatedly weigh the advantages and disadvantages of what might happen.
Sirius was undoubtedly innocent, and Harry wanted to save him. Peter, the true culprit, needed to be punished. Harry did not mind using a bit of the dark magic he had newly learned, but the best method would be to send him before the Wizengamot, so the truth could be revealed to the world.
Harry knew he would be rather busy this new school year.
On the other side, inside Skyl's compartment, his two roommates also began talking about the effects of Sirius's prison break.
"The Ministry of Magic really is useless. This Minister Fudge only knows how to call for everyone to stay calm, as if saying a few harmless, pleasant words in the newspaper will make an escaped Death Eater give up doing evil."
"I just hope this Sirius business won't affect Hogwarts. Last year, a basilisk appeared in the castle, and that already caused us enough trouble."
Skyl only listened and did not offer any opinion. At that moment, a fine, drizzling rain began to fall. Through the wet glass streaked with rain, the fields outside the window looked as though they had been covered in a layer of mist.
"Skyl, what do you think?"
"What?" Skyl came back to himself. He had been lost in the scenery and had not noticed where the topic had gone.
"The new professor. We haven't met him yet, so we don't know what kind of person he is."
"You should trust Professor Dumbledore's judgment," Skyl said comfortingly. "Think of our two previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professors. One was an outstanding Ravenclaw graduate, and the other was a witch with remarkable strength. This year will probably bring a pleasant surprise too."
His words gave his roommates a great deal of confidence.
Skyl thought to himself that, if nothing went wrong, this year's new professor should be Remus John Lupin, one of the Marauders, the werewolf wizard code-named Moony. He was a good teacher. Compared with the two disaster professors from the original first two years, Quirrell and Lockhart, Professor Lupin brought hope to Hogwarts students' pitiful Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons and finally allowed them to learn real knowledge.
At the same time, Harry and the others had entered the last carriage of the train early and finally found a compartment that was not full.
The four young wizards stopped at the door and looked at the only passenger inside.
The man was an adult wizard. He wore a dignified, carefully tailored black wizard robe, and his bearing carried the grace of an old-fashioned noble. His gaze was turned toward the window, and this wet, rainy weather seemed to please him greatly.
The Hogwarts Express usually carried students, and Harry and the others had never seen an adult passenger before. Moreover, there was an indescribably deep aura around this wizard, deeper than night itself, making him seem difficult to approach.
"Hello." Hermione smiled and greeted him openly and naturally. "The other compartments are all full. May we sit here?"
Ron whispered to Harry and Neville, "I really admire her. She can act familiar with anyone she meets."
The wizard moved his gaze away from the window and let it fall on the children. His handsome young face was extremely pale, the kind of paleness that came from rarely seeing the sun. His eyes were a strange dark gold, like honey, yet they carried an alien, predatory chill.
All four young wizards were stunned by that gaze. Alarm bells suddenly rang in Harry's heart, and without realizing it, he placed his hand on his wand holster.
The wizard smiled. Unexpectedly, the smile was warm, like a soft spring breeze. He beckoned the young wizards over.
"Choose any seats you like, gentlemen, and young lady. I was just hoping to ask some students a few questions. Ah, right. I am your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. You may call me... Mr. Gellert."
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