Chapter 14
Hermione, hearing George, suspected that she'd heard something wrong and asked, "What?"
"Relax, Hermione." George backed down a little, seeing his mother's shadow in Hermione all of a sudden, and then added, "Anyway, Dad's car is not simple, so I don't think both of them would face any problem before reaching Hogwarts."
"No, that's not what I meant.... Aren't you guys worried...?" Hermione, with her breath short, tried to ask, but Fred and George had already left the compartment with the "Daily Prophet," probably to share the news with their friend Lee Jordan.
"That's so cool." Neville suddenly whispered, as he too couldn't help but imagine the scene where he too was part of the group flying the car.
"Neville, you too."
"Calm down, Miss Granger, you're worrying too much." Alan said, with a smile trying to calm down Hermione, "And you seem to be forgetting the fact that Ron and Harry are wizards too, so even if something were to happen, both of them could use magic to rescue them."
"Professor, I'm not worried about that." Hermione said, her face anxious as she added, "Isn't doing this illegal? They will even cause problems for Mr. Weasley." More importantly, she was worried that they might even get expelled from Hogwarts.
"Well, that's certainly true; Mr. Weasley might go under trial for enchanting his car with magic, but there might've been a reason for doing this." Alan explained and continued, "So instead of thinking too much, you should calm down and let the adults handle the rest, alright?"
Though Alan had said that, Hermione still looked worried, mixed with a bit of dissatisfaction. And with that, the rest of the journey continued gloomily, while Alan spent most of his time studying the new book he had purchased from Diagon Alley, since he knew that he wouldn't be able to dispel Hermione's worry without trying too hard, which he didn't want to do.
Finally, a few hours later, the train stopped at the platform, and Alan, leaving his luggage in the train, walked off the train, since the house elves would deliver his luggage to his office.
In the relatively cold night, Alan could see a lamp lit up a little far and swaying above the student's head, followed by a rough voice shouting, "First-years! First-year students, come to this side."
Alan walked toward the towering giant holding the lantern in his hand and was swarmed by first-years and greeted him, as he had a great connection with this half-giant when he was studying at Hogwarts.
"Goodbye, professor." Hermione and Neville, who were following Alan, finally bid him farewell for now while disappearing in the dark.
Looking at the Hogwarts castle that stood high on the hillside, Alan finally made his way toward the Hogwarts castle, and the first person he met was Professor McGonagall, so Alan greeted her, "Good evening, Professor McGonagall."
"Good evening, Alan, or should I say Professor Alan?" Professor McGonagall said with a smile on her face as she stood in front of the door waiting for Hagrid to bring over the first-year students to her.
"Anything you prefer will be fine by me, professor." Alan couldn't help but say it out loud, since seeing a smile on Professor McGonagall's stern face was like seeing some hidden treasure.
"Alright, you can go inside." McGonagall, back to her usual stern face, said, while gesturing to Alan to walk through the big main hall's door.
Alan, nodding to Professor McGonagall, pushed open the door, and after an eight-year gap, he once again entered the Hogwarts Great Hall.
Students from the four houses were already gathered around on the respective four long tables. At the same time, candles floated above them, illuminating the great hall brightly, and right in front was another long table in the auditorium, where the professor sat, and Alan's destination too.
"Look, there's our other new professor."
"Is he the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor or the combat professor?"
"Probably the Combat professor, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is Gilderoy Lockhart, who is a famous name."
As soon as Alan walked in, the students began to chatter about and discuss which subject's professor he was, at the same time laughing in his heart, as just a few months later, these little fellows would realize the true worth of their famous professor Gilderoy Lockhart.
But then looking at that guy Gilderoy, he sure had put a lot of effort into putting makeup on himself, as currently he looked like a rabbit in a dog's dinner party.
"Hello, you must be Professor Smith. I'm Gilderoy Lockhart." As soon as Alan arrived at the professor's table, Lockhart was the first one to greet him, or boast about himself to him, as he added, "You must know about me, right? I've been awarded the Order of Merlin, Third Class, an Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, and, of course, five times the winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award." The guy almost pushed back his chair while saying all of that and flashing his bright teeth right in front of Alan's face.
The other seated professor, hearing that rant just now, cast a side glance at Lockhart in dissatisfaction, but looking at Alan, most of them nodded kindly at him.
Alan, with great effort, finally managed to get free from Gilderoy's continuous chatter and walked toward Professor Flitwick, who greeted him with a warm smile. "Alan, welcome back. Anyway, I've readied all the contents you asked me for via letters. I also believe that the charm class will be very closely related to the combat class."
"Yes, Professor Flitwick, and thank you for replying to all of my questions." Alan, saying thank you, finally sat down on his seat. On his left was the professor of the divination class, Professor Trelawney, and on the right was the new defense against the dark arts professor.