The professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class has changed again. The students were surprised but accepting of the change.
After all, this had already happened once before Christmas.
At that time, Adrian had taken over the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and the teaching results were unexpectedly good.
However, this time the professor change came especially suddenly, without even a hint of warning.
Students were busy speculating about the mysterious disappearance of Professor Quirrell.
Based on the fate of previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professors,
Some guessed that Quirrell had accidentally triggered a dark magic curse and turned into a stone statue.
Others guessed that Quirrell had made an error while Apparating, sending his lower half to the other side of the earth.
In short, rumors were flying.
There was also another matter: Gryffindor had suddenly gained a substantial number of house points, and everyone was guessing who was responsible.
Now, Gryffindor's house points were leading Slytherin, in second place, by nearly forty points.
This was not an easy lead to overcome.
Ravenclaw was in third place, and Hufflepuff in fourth. Although Adrian showed a slight preference toward Hufflepuff and would often give them more points,
The little ones didn't have much desire to compete for first place.
Perhaps this was just the Hufflepuff way.
Adrian didn't particularly care about the points either.
Time arrived at the first day of June.
Tomorrow would be the day of Hogwarts' final exams.
From Adrian's observation, the students had clearly become much more anxious.
There were even ill-intentioned students who came to Adrian's office, hoping he might reveal some content from the Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts final exams.
Of course, Adrian kept his lips sealed.
During breakfast, Adrian once again received a message from Professor McGonagall, asking him to visit the headmaster's office.
This time, Adrian finally remembered to ask Professor McGonagall for the headmaster's office password.
"Sugar Mice," Adrian recited the correct password. The stone gargoyle slowly rotated, revealing the spiral staircase leading upward.
"Excuse me."
After entering the headmaster's office, Adrian found Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, looking at an old newspaper.
"I'm sorry to call you here at this time, Professor Westeros," Dumbledore put down the newspaper in his hand and said, "There's a matter I need your opinion on."
"?"
Adrian sat down across from Dumbledore with confusion. He had thought this visit was about the Philosopher's Stone, since Dumbledore had previously said he would take him to meet Nicolas Flamel.
"It's about the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor position for next year," Dumbledore pushed his half-moon spectacles and said, "I would like to formally invite you to take this position, after all, the students greatly approve of your teaching."
Adrian was taken aback.
Asking him to formally become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?
This was no joke!
And if he became the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, what about Lockhart?
Oh, at this point in the timeline, Lockhart probably hadn't appeared in the plot yet, so that wasn't an issue.
"I'm afraid that wouldn't be appropriate, Professor," Adrian politely declined. "I am the Care of Magical Creatures professor, and besides, that position doesn't suit me."
Dumbledore nodded after receiving the reply, saying with regret, "Very well, Professor Westeros, it's fine if you're unwilling."
In fact, this was within his expectations; he was merely asking as a formality.
If Adrian had agreed, that would have been better, but it didn't matter if he declined.
At this moment, Adrian suddenly noticed the headline on the newspaper on the desk: "Gilderoy Lockhart Announces Book Signing Event in Britain."
Adrian nodded to himself; it seemed that Dumbledore had already set his sights on Lockhart.
Seeing that Adrian's gaze had fallen on the newspaper, Dumbledore asked, "Do you remember Gilderoy Lockhart?"
"Quite vividly," Adrian replied dryly.
Lockhart was only a year older than Adrian, which meant during their student years, Lockhart had been Adrian's senior.
Of course, Adrian had almost remembered only bad impressions of this Ravenclaw senior.
These included, but were not limited to, writing hundreds of cards to himself on Valentine's Day, fabricating a group of nonexistent admirers to write him letters, hanging photos of himself all over the dormitory...
Adrian could only describe this senior with two words.
Bizarre!
Of course, Adrian hadn't had much contact with this person during his school years.
"What do you think about having him as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" Dumbledore suddenly asked. "He's quite a celebrity now."
Adrian hadn't expected Dumbledore to discuss this matter with him.
"I think it should be fine," Adrian said casually. "I've read his books, including 'Wandering with Werewolves' and 'Holidays with Hags.' They're quite good stories."
In fact, driven by curiosity, Adrian had actually read Lockhart's books.
He could only say that the stories were well-written.
If there were fewer self-glorifying parts, they would have been even better.
Subsequently, Dumbledore also asked Adrian about some arrangements for the final exams, since Adrian was responsible for many exams.
Before leaving, Dumbledore suddenly remembered something and said to Adrian, "Ah, one more thing, please leave some free time in the days before summer vacation begins."
"Alright."
Adrian left the headmaster's office and walked down the corridor.
Students passed by from time to time, most of them hurrying along with thick books in their arms, apparently making last-minute preparations for tomorrow's exams.
As he turned a corner, Adrian suddenly saw Filch laboriously dragging a large box.
The box scraped against the floor, making a harsh "ouch" sound.
It seemed to be filled with miscellaneous items.
"Need any help, Filch?" Adrian stopped and couldn't help asking.
Filch seemed startled, abruptly letting go of the box, causing a few pieces of parchment to fall out.
Upon seeing it was Adrian, Filch let out a sigh of relief and said, "No need, Professor. I... I'm sorting through the things in Professor Quirrell's office."
"Leave it here, Filch," Adrian said gently. "I'll help you."
"But—"
Before Filch could finish, Adrian immediately waved his wand. A silver light flashed, and the box floated up lightly.
Even the parchments that had fallen to the ground flew back into the box.
Seeing this, Filch had no choice but to let go.
"Thank you then, Professor Westeros," he said dryly.
After Filch left, Adrian carried the pile of belongings back to Quirrell's office.
Quirrell's office was empty except for a locked cabinet.
The other things had probably all been collected by Filch into the box in front of him.
Adrian first rummaged through the box, which contained various miscellaneous items.
Then, there was the locked cabinet.
"Alohomora!"
Adrian cast an unlocking charm on the cabinet, but it had no effect.
It seemed the lock on the cabinet had been reinforced.
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