章節 10: Good luck, Professor Anthony
Anthony held the book list and walked on the stairs leading to the second floor. He planned to visit the Hogwarts library.
"Extraordinary intelligence is the greatest wealth of mankind." Professor Flitwick said as he listed the books to him. "You don't want to miss the Hogwarts vault, Professor Anthony."
Some stairs may suddenly appear or disappear, causing students to have to try to remember the temperament of all the stairs in the castle, but the professor always has a little privilege - he can take the most convenient spiral staircase. Anthony followed the stairs to the sun-filled corridor on the second floor. Looking outside, the lawn spreads a green warmth under the sun, extending into the dark forbidden forest.
Inside the library, sunlight filters through stained glass windows, casting colorful patterns on the rows of bookshelves on the walls. Hogwarts has not yet started the school, and there is no one else in the library except the administrator, Mrs. Pince. The air smelled of old parchment and dust. Neatly arranged long wooden tables were placed around the room, quietly waiting for those who wanted to know.
When Anthony entered the library, Mrs. Pince looked at him sternly: "Professor Anthony?"
"It's me," Anthony said.
"Okay, please sign here. When students want to borrow books from the restricted area, they may ask you for permission." Mrs. Pince handed him a heavy big book, "There are rules for banned books. You have your own reasons. The books here are relatively dangerous, so please be careful."
Anthony wrote his own name under Quirrell's trembling signature: "I presume there are no Muggle studies books in the restricted area?"
"Muggle studies, no." Mrs. Pince said. "Muggle studies, lots of them, and very dangerous. If you're interested, they're all in the Dark Arts area."
"Let's look at ordinary books first." Anthony declined. He took out the book list, "I want to find these books."
…
With the help of Mrs. Pince, he quickly found all the books listed by Professor Burbage. Some of the books recommended by Professor Flitwick are in the restricted area.
"Strange, I remember it being here." Mrs. Pings frowned and looked at the bookshelf. On the full bookshelf, there is a tiny gap. The book to its left began to drip with blood-red viscous liquid, dripping onto the shelf below, making a sharp howl.
Mrs. Pince unceremoniously slapped the spine of the book with a feather duster. The fluid and the scream were gone.
Anthony looked down at the book list. "Under Magic".
"Ma'am, is this dangerous?" he asked. "I mean, are we going to save some student who has been passed out in the dormitory for the whole vacation?"
Mrs. Pince shook her head in confusion: "No, there is no fatal magic in the missing book. It became a banned book because of its content. Its author is also a magic theorist and magical animal expert, and is very keen to explore the role of magic in wizards and magical beasts. The difference in the way magical beasts are displayed has led to many illegal experiments - he may have died in Azkaban. We were worried that some ignorant students would be deceived by the contents of the book, so we listed it as a banned book. Yes. I can't think of anyone who would steal this."
She stared at that position, as if she wanted to poke the thief's soul out of the gap with her eyes.
"Is there surveillance in the restricted book area?"
Mrs. Pince was offended: "I am, the only one, and I never let up."
"No, I'm not talking about that." Anthony realized she had misunderstood, "I'm talking about the camera."
"camera?"
"Forget it." Anthony gave up. He was not prepared to explain what CCTV was.
But Mrs. Pince refused to let him go: "Are you talking about a Muggle thing, Professor Anthony?"
So Anthony spent more than half an hour explaining to her what he knew about how Muggle libraries are managed.
Mrs. Pince asked more and more questions, and Anthony had no choice but to tell her that Muggle librarianship was a complex subject. Muggle schools had corresponding majors and it took students several years to graduate. He is just an ordinary reader and cannot answer overly professional questions.
"How interesting," said Mrs. Pince thoughtfully. "I didn't know they had a library."
Anthony took a deep breath and whispered to himself: "I'm used to it."
"What, Professor?" Mrs. Pince asked absently. She began to stare at the gap persistently again.
"I'm saying I'm going to try my best to teach Muggle Studies," Anthony said.
"You'll do great, Professor Anthony," Mrs. Pince said. "When's the first class?"
"The second day of school, Gryffindor and Slytherin third years."
Mrs. Pince's eyes widened: "Oh." She glanced at Anthony pityingly, "I wish you good luck."
…
The half month before the start of school passed quickly. When Anthony goes out, he eats, drinks tea, and exchanges knowledge with the professors. When he returns to his room, he concentrates on making up lessons, preparing lessons, and playing with the cat. He has time to reply to Mr. Weasley.
Professor Flitwick praised his talent for spells and praised him for his "great trust in his magic".
"Charms and transfiguration are very similar, but there is a slight difference." Professor Flitwick told Anthony when he said that his progress in transfiguration was very slow. The only requirement is confidence. You have to believe that the magic will respond to you! I have seen many students who have the right gestures and the right spells, but are unable to cast the perfect spell because of fear of failure."
Professor Flitwick happily handed Anthony a piece of cake: "You trust magic very much, Professor Anthony, so magic favors you. Even imperfect gestures, because of your strong confidence, you can get the correct effect. But Transfiguration No... no, it is the art of restraint and precision. I would say, I prefer the charm of tolerance." He whispered to Anthony, "Don't tell Minerva."
Anthony nodded sincerely and stuffed the cake into his mouth to show that his mouth was tightly sealed. Professor Flitwick cheerfully directed the teapot to pour him a cup of tea.
But then again, no matter who it is, who has spent a long time crawling out of the coffin, and is woken up by wraith chicken every day, and whose pet is a skeleton... he should probably trust magic very much.
He also took the time to have a drink with Hagrid.
Tom was right, Hagrid was a rough and passionate best friend, with an innocent temperament that belied his fierce appearance.
He was very happy when he heard that Anthony had a cat: "You should take it out for a walk, Henry. The sun is very nice recently, and the students haven't come yet, so you don't have to worry about anyone scaring your cat."
Anthony thought back to his own temperament of keeping cats away from living creatures. He is worried that it is not the students who scare the cats, but the cats that scare the students.
"I'll give it a try," he finally promised into Hagrid's sincere black eyes.
Hagrid also shared a lot of information about Hogwarts with him. Anthony now knows that this year's coming savior was hugged by Hagrid when he was a child. He knows that there are many magical creatures living in the Forbidden Forest, including unicorns he has never seen. He also knows that the whole school likes to sneak into the Forbidden Forest. The King is the Weasley twins, a pair of third-year Gryffindors.
When Hagrid heard that Anthony's first class happened to be Gryffindor and Slytherin in the third year, he patted Anthony on the shoulder with his huge palm (almost hitting him under the table): "I wish you good luck, you'll be fine."
He was pretty sure the twins would take Anthony's class.
"Look on the bright side," Hagrid said optimistically, "at least no Slytherins will pick your classes."
…
The opening banquet on September 1st was very grand.
The elf planned the menu at least two days in advance and asked the professor one by one for his preferences and suggestions. The surrounding weather has been adjusted again and again, just to make the floating candles in the hall look bright and warm against the ceiling that synchronizes with the sky.
On the night of the banquet, a milky-white ghost came out of the wall, frightening Anthony. The ghost is completely different from his wraith: the wraith has a physical body - otherwise the wraith chicken wouldn't peck him to wake him up - while the ghost obviously does not. He had never seen these ghosts in the castle before. He didn't know if they had anything to do with necromancy, and whether he could tell that he was a necromancer.
"Oh, you haven't visited Professor Binns yet." Professor Sprout saw his reaction and said to him through Trelawney, "He is a professor of the History of Magic and a ghost".
The Sorting Hat sits on a wooden bench, waiting to sort the first years into their respective houses. Professors were asked to dress in their finest robes and take their seats in the guest chair, ready to welcome new students into the magical world.
"Take a second look at Severus's robe. You only see that robe a few times a year." Professor Burbage said to Anthony, "Eight thousand Galleons, a graduate gave it to him."
Anthony turned and glanced. Snape sat next to Professor Quirrell, looking impatient. His black robe... was very black. Anthony had no idea of the standards of appreciation for wizard robes. He is now wearing his most expensive robe, eleven galleons.
"I didn't find the eight thousand galleons," he whispered to Professor Burbage.
Professor Burbage chuckled. Anthony swore that Snape looked at them mockingly and began talking quietly to Quirrell.
…
After Professor McGonagall brought the new students in, the professors stopped chatting. It was Anthony's first time to attend the opening party. He sat up straight and stared blankly at the empty plate in front of him. Dumbledore, wearing his favorite wizard hat, watched with interest as the new students walked toward the Sorting Hat with pale faces and trembling hands, tapping their fingers to a cheerful rhythm on the table.
Freshmen are sorted into various houses. Some people were obviously very satisfied with their results, but some students were at a loss when they took off the sorting hat and walked back to the long table of their own house.
Harry Potter - just as Hagrid had predicted with Anthony over drinks - was in Gryffindor. Deafening cheers erupted in the Great Hall, and the Gryffindor table burst into cheers. Anthony noticed two red-haired boys with identical appearances jumping on the chairs, waving their hats and shouting: "We have Potter! We have Potter!" If Professor McGonagall hadn't been standing nearby, Anthony bet they could do a bull dance on the chairs.
Professor Burbage noticed him looking at the twins.
"Yes, you have them in your first class." She said helplessly, "Fred Weasley and George Weasley, the Weasley twins. Good luck to you, Professor Anthony."
Professor Trelawney, who was on the other side of Anthony, stretched out her thin arm covered with bracelets, took Anthony's tea cup, and stared at it for a while: "Doom, Professor Anthony. Inevitable doom."
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