A few minutes later, the three people came back together. Dumbledore looked normal, but Snape and McGonagall's expressions were obviously not good to the naked eye, so much so that Lockhart didn't dare to talk to them.
After everyone had almost finished eating, the main meal was taken away, and then a variety of desserts popped out from the plates, and the air seemed to be filled with a sweet smell.
So after another delicious meal, the grand dinner ended. Dumbledore gave everyone a few minutes to rest. Then, he introduced the two new professors to everyone:
"First of all, there is Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. You all must have heard his name. He will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year."
There was thunderous applause, and Lockhart responded with his most standard smile - the kind that would win a prize.
"Then……"
Dumbledore raised his voice slightly: "It's Professor Aaron Custer. He will be the Potions Professor together with Professor Snape, teaching the first to fourth years."
"You may not have heard of his name, but I would like to assure you that he must be an excellent young teacher."
The applause this time was even louder than that for Lockhart, mainly coming from the other three houses except Slytherin - especially Neville, whose round face turned red with excitement and wished he could grow more. Two hands came to applaud.
"Okay, okay, stop it, Mr. Longbottom. I can understand your enthusiasm for welcoming the new professor, but if you keep applauding like this, you may have to book a bed with Madam Pomfrey (the school nurse)."
After everyone's applause gradually subsided, Neville was still clapping his hands excitedly, so Dumbledore reminded him kindly.
And Snape - his deep black eyes were fixed on Neville, and Aaron had no doubt that Snape was planning to shoot two sharp swords to stab Neville to death - if he could do it .
"Okay, okay, happy time is always short. It's bedtime now. Now please go back to your respective dormitories."
Dumbledore said in a rich voice, and he waved his hand, indicating that everyone could lead the team to leave.
So the students from the four colleges left the auditorium in an orderly manner under the leadership of their respective prefects. Aaron could clearly hear them talking about Ron and Harry, as well as the flying car that broke the Whomping Willow, George and Fred excitedly discussed whether to go to the Forbidden Forest to fish it out one day.
Hermione was among them, and Aaron greeted her. Hermione stopped politely, forced a smile in response - Aaron could see how forced it was, and went to find her two hands angrily. A friend went.
Aaron smiled, thinking that he was really a child, his happiness and anger were almost all on his face.
The staff left their seats one after another, and Aaron also stood up and said good night to everyone. Among all the people, his greeting to Snape was particularly appropriate and his tone was very precise. This made Snape's already ugly expression Even colder than frost.
"Oh, the friendship between colleagues!" Dumbledore joined in with a smile, as if he didn't even realize that his behavior was close to being irritating:
"It seems that you have a good relationship with Professor Snape, Aaron."
In this regard, Aaron behaved appropriately and casually said a few beautiful words to thank Professor Snape for teaching him. He also said that he still had many shortcomings and would definitely ask Snape for advice in the future. Dumbledore nodded repeatedly, but his smile looked a bit funny no matter how you looked at it.
In comparison, Snape was a lot worse - he suffered a lot of blows today and his mental state was average. He just didn't want to offend Dumbledore, so he forced a smile to say goodbye to Aaron. Good night - the smile looked only slightly more genuine than the smile he gave Harry Potter.
Aaron made another success, so he walked towards his office with a smile on his face.
After he left, Snape immediately changed his fake smile and said coldly: "I think I need to repeat it again: recruiting him into the school is definitely a huge mistake."
"Really? Severus, I don't think so." Dumbledore looked like he was just watching the excitement, "We have already recruited an unqualified teacher this year, and we have to do it again." Let’s recruit someone who is good enough to make up for it.”
When he said this, Dumbledore's eyes quietly turned to Lockhart, who was handing out signed photos to several female students. He raised his voice slightly and said:
"Alright, Miss Mattie, you can get the autographed photo anytime. It's time to go to bed now. Please take your friends back to the dormitory."
The girls immediately blushed and trotted out of the auditorium. Lockhart turned to wave to Dumbledore and then strode away.
"You will regret it, Dumbledore. He will - turn Hogwarts upside down, I have a feeling."
Extremely rare, Snape said in a helpless, sighing tone.
"Then I'll wait and see." Dumbledore responded with a smile.
…
After arriving at his office, Aaron was surprised to find that, apart from being empty, the place was unexpectedly neat and clean.
Aaron immediately realized that Professor McGonagall had found someone to take care of it for him, so he couldn't help but feel grateful.
He looked up and down. This office was not too small. It had two floors. The second floor was just a narrow platform with a door. Behind the door was a room about fifteen feet long and wide. There was also a window in the room. , is used as a bedroom.
Aaron opened the suitcase: he had a lot of luggage: a lot of clothes, various decorations such as tapestries and paintings, a mirror, all kinds of strange instruments, many books, a carpet, There were even a few armchairs and a whole sofa that he admired very much...
Finally, and most importantly, there is a piece of 'luggage' - Runas.
It flapped its transparent wings and got out of the pocket without Aaron's instructions. Aaron looked at the room and asked in an uncertain tone:
"Can you still have control here like you did at the mansion?"
Runas returned: "I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you, sir. This castle is filled with all kinds of powerful defensive magic. I can't connect my consciousness to it yet."
Aaron thought thoughtfully: "It means that the firewall is too powerful and your computing power is not enough to hack in?"
"Although I don't understand it, your metaphor must be quite brilliant."
"There's no need to tease me. Are you any different here than when you were at the mansion?"
"In terms of wisdom and knowledge, there is no difference. My mind and the body in the mansion are connected together; but in terms of magic, there are indeed some gaps. The power I can use here is much weaker."
"Specifically in?"
"There might have been a hundred hands, but now there's only one left."
"It doesn't matter." Aaron shook his head, and then took out his wand, "Come on, help us, we need to decorate our new home."
"Okay, sir."
