It seemed that every year recently, during the start-of-term feast, he had to lay down a few rules targeting certain young wizards.
And it was always after Filch came to him to complain.
However, this was almost over; just two more years, and he could endure it.
"As before, I must remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest on the grounds is off-limits to students, and Hogsmeade Village is not to be visited by any student below the third year."
"Finally, I must also regretfully inform you that the House Cup Quidditch matches will not be held this year."
"What?"
A chorus of exclamations came from below, for the students' love of Quidditch was beyond doubt.
They might skip practicing spells, or avoid the library, or even copy homework last night, but they couldn't skip Quidditch.
This was the behavior of a significant portion of Hogwarts students.
Now, suddenly hearing that the Quidditch House Cup was canceled, how could they possibly remain calm?
Especially after just experiencing the Quidditch World Cup, many young wizards had learned a trick or two during the matches, or figured out a few strategies, and were ready to show off this year.
As a result, this was nipped in the bud.
Dumbledore ignored the commotion below and continued to speak:
"This is because a large event will begin in October and continue throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy, but I believe you will all derive great pleasure from it."
"Therefore, I am very pleased to announce to everyone that this year at Hogwarts—"
Before Dumbledore could finish speaking, a deafening thunderclap echoed in the sky, and at the same time, the doors of the Great Hall were slammed open.
A man stood in the doorway, leaning on a long staff, wrapped in a black traveling cloak.
The young wizards in the hall also turned to look at this sudden stranger, and at the same time, a forked lightning bolt flashed across the ceiling, illuminating the stranger.
He took off his hood, revealing a head of long, gray-white hair, and began to walk towards the staff table.
With each step he took, a hollow thud echoed in the hall.
At this time, the young wizards also saw his appearance clearly. His face seemed to be carved from a piece of rotten wood, every inch of skin seemed scarred, and his mouth was like a crooked gash. Where his nose should have been, there was nothing.
And the most terrifying thing was his eyes. One of his eyes was small and dark, looking relatively normal, although rather ugly.
The other eye was very large, round like a coin, and presented a distinct bright blue color.
That blue eye moved non-stop, turning up, down, left, and right. Suddenly, the blue eyeball rolled back into the man's head, and everyone could only see a large white eyeball.
Seeing this scene, many people gasped.
Regarding his identity, the vast majority of people did not know, but everyone could be sure of one thing: this must be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
The annual change of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was already the norm. There were no new faces at the professor's table just now, and anyone arriving at this time could only be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
After the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor arrived, he spoke a few words with Dumbledore and then found an empty seat and sat down.
Then, he took out a small knife from his pocket, poked it into one end of a sausage, and began to eat.
His normal eye stared at the sausage, but his blue eye continued to turn non-stop in its socket, looking around the hall and at the students.
Many young wizards were complaining in their hearts, even if the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was a disposable type.
They shouldn't have found such a thing!
It was obvious that this was not a normal person.
They had heard before that Dumbledore went to Azkaban to find a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. It seemed that this rumor was not false, and this new professor must have come from there.
"Allow me to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Dumbledore cheerfully broke the silence, "Professor Moody."
Under normal circumstances, when a new teacher met everyone, everyone would applaud to welcome them, but now, except for Dumbledore and Hagrid, not a single teacher or student applauded.
It was even more pathetic than Lupin back then.
Of course, Moody didn't care either.
He ignored the large jug of pumpkin juice on the table, reached into his traveling cloak, took out a curved flask, and took a big gulp.
Seeing this scene, Ethan knew that this should still be the fake Moody.
What he was drinking now was most likely Polyjuice Potion, with the potion stored in the flask for easy drinking at any time.
Seeing this, Dumbledore also gave up the idea of introducing Moody, and immediately cleared his throat, continuing the topic that had been interrupted.
"In the coming months, we will have the great honor of hosting a very exciting event, an event that has not been held for over a century: the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts this year."
Next, Dumbledore introduced the Triwizard Tournament to everyone.
He emphasized that only those who were seventeen years old, that is, adults in the wizarding world, could register to participate in the Triwizard Tournament.
Chapter 245: Bubotubers and Blast-Ended Skrewts
The next morning, the storm had stopped.
When Ethan and the others arrived in the hall, the ceiling was still a scene of gloom, with large masses of gray-blue clouds constantly churning.
At this time, many young wizards had already arrived in the hall.
But at this moment, the topic was no longer the Quidditch World Cup, or the canceled House Cup.
Even the destruction of Gringotts was no longer a concern.
Everyone was talking about things related to the Triwizard Tournament.
Yesterday, Dumbledore had introduced the Triwizard Tournament. Even those who didn't know much about it had gone back to ask their classmates.
Now, they basically knew the value of the Triwizard Tournament, and everyone was looking forward to the competition.
Especially being chosen as the champion representing Hogwarts, wouldn't that prove that they were the most outstanding student at Hogwarts?
Of course, there was a prerequisite: being over seventeen years old.
When passing the Gryffindor table, George and Fred, along with their roommates, were discussing how to cheat to change their age to participate in the competition.
Seeing Ethan, Fred immediately got up and trotted over to Ethan's side.
They also really wanted to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, but unfortunately, they were a few months too young.
Unlike the two brothers, Cedric, although also a sixth-year student, was over seventeen and qualified to participate in the Triwizard Tournament.
The twins were quite annoyed by this, and even almost sent a letter home last night to ask their dear mother why she didn't give birth to them a few months earlier.
If that were the case, they wouldn't need to think of these ways to cheat now.
"Ethan, do you have a way to bypass the age setting that Dumbledore mentioned?"
They had been discussing it for a long time, but they couldn't come up with a solution, but that doesn't mean Ethan couldn't.
Of course, if Ethan couldn't do anything, then they wouldn't need to consider it, and just go back to sleep.
"Although the champions of each school are selected by the Goblet of Fire, due to the age limit, Dumbledore must have other arrangements, which are not clear now and difficult to deal with."
"But there is also a simple and effective way: let your dad go to the Ministry of Magic to change your date of birth, just say that you drank too much and filled in the wrong date."
Like the Muggle world, wizards' birth dates are required to be registered, and the probability of registration errors due to various situations is not low.
Changing the age is not a big deal, especially in the wizarding world, where a greeting with someone in the Ministry of Magic is enough.
Arthur is also the head of an office, so as long as he comes forward, there will basically be no problems.
As long as the age is changed in the Ministry of Magic's register, even if Dumbledore sets a spell, it should be difficult to take effect.
Because the Ministry of Magic really has many contract spells that restrict age, Dumbledore should also be borrowing some of them. Once the age change is successful, they will naturally not be restricted.
"This, my dad probably won't agree!"
George and Fred exchanged glances. This method is indeed simple, but it requires their own father to come forward.
Judging from their father's attitude towards Dumbledore, the probability of helping his two sons to fool Dumbledore is infinitely close to zero.
"Then drink the Ageing Potion and insist that you are an adult."
Ethan didn't know if this would work.
Taking the Ageing Potion can change appearance, muscle condition, and even bone age.
But Ethan really couldn't be sure whether it would work for contract spells.
"Okay, let's go prepare the Ageing Potion."
George also felt that this was more reliable.
Moreover, he seemed to have seen this potion somewhere, and now he will find it and brew it himself.
George is quite confident in his potion level. Even if it is difficult, there is still more than a month, enough!
After separating from the twins, Ethan came to the Ravenclaw table and sat down.
Ethan had also made a decision about whether to participate in the Triwizard Tournament.
Even a school version of the Wizarding Duel Competition had achievement rewards.
Now that the Triwizard Tournament is held, there will naturally be no shortage of rewards if you win.
For this reward, Ethan has to go through it.
Moreover, there is no need to be so troublesome at all. The simplest Confundus Charm is enough for Ethan to cheat and participate in it.
Other people can only use tricks to deal with Dumbledore's spells, but this does not include Ethan.
While eating breakfast, he looked at this year's class schedule.
It's the same as last year, all those courses.
Elective courses can be changed, but Ethan still has Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Ancient Runes this year.
It's just that the course time is a little different from last year.
And today, the morning is Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, and the afternoon is Divination.
After a quick glance, Ethan put down the class schedule and concentrated on enjoying breakfast.
At the same time, the windows of the Great Hall were opened, and hundreds of owls flew in through the open windows. In response, Ethan used a small spell to protect this area, otherwise this breakfast would not be eaten.
The places where the owls flew by were full of feathers and bird droppings. The little wizards have been reacting to this for who knows how many years, but Hogwarts just doesn't know how to change it.
Every day, owls are let in to deliver letters or items while eating breakfast.
Even the Ministry of Magic initially replaced the communicating owls with paper airplanes, and then replaced them with wizard mailboxes.
In Ethan's perception, an owl was flying towards him, and Ethan directly stretched out his right hand.
Then the thing that the owl was holding on its feet automatically flew to Ethan's palm.
The owl was not surprised by this scene, and immediately turned around and flew out of the window.
It and the other owls in the shop had experienced this countless times in the past.
Moreover, unlike other wizards, although he gave the owls a very kind feeling, he never invited the owls to eat nuts or dried rat meat, not once.
Anyway, it hadn't heard any of its colleagues say that they had eaten the food he gave them.
Therefore, it would naturally not be boring to fly over with a cheeky face.
Ethan didn't open the thing in his hand to look at it immediately.
Ethan knew what this was. It was nothing more than the magazines and newspapers he had ordered.
After going to school, these things were naturally sent to Hogwarts.
"Ethan, can I take a look?"
Terry, who was sitting next to Ethan, looked at the things in Ethan's hand with interest.
He also knew what it was. After all, owls had been sending these to Ethan every morning for the past few years.
At the same time, Terry himself did not subscribe to any newspapers or magazines.
The price of these things is not cheap, and they need to be delivered by special owls.
Although he earned some money because of Ethan, he had no other channels to make money, so naturally he saved as much as he could.
Besides, after Ethan finished reading, he didn't want these things anymore, and they could watch them at any time, just a little later.
"Yeah!"
Nodding, Ethan threw the package in his hand over.
