Daily News: The Prophet of Hogwarts

Chapter 37 The Ownership of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Class

"Headmaster? I think the last part of the prophecy refers to Professor Snape and the student he's been paying attention to?"

Seeing that Dumbledore remained silent, Lane had no choice but to ask himself.

"Lane, you are the prophet, I am not." Dumbledore opened his eyes, pretending to be just a lonely and ignorant old man.

Ryan: (°ー°〃)

Dumbledore: (◦˙▽˙◦)

"Severus should be on his way to the school hospital to see Quirinus by now," Dumbledore said, naturally changing the subject.

"I don't think Quirinus's physical condition is good enough to allow him to continue teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. What do you think, Ryan?"

What else can I do but sit and watch? My opinion doesn't matter... Ryan said, "Whatever the principal says, we'll do."

He knew very well that even if Professor Quirrell truly had a change of heart that night and fought against Voldemort, thus absolving him of the crime of colluding with Voldemort.

However, under Voldemort's coercion, he Apparated within Hogwarts Castle, and the injuries inflicted by resisting Voldemort afterward were enough to knock him down from a great height, making it difficult for him to cast spells in the future.

Ryan felt that if his guesses about magic were correct, Professor Quirrell would become a Squib if he didn't recover properly in his hospital room.

A dud that will be fired the day after tomorrow.

"By the way, Ryan, what level of wizard is Quirinus in your rating?" Dumbledore asked casually, suddenly bringing up the much-discussed topic of wizard rankings.

"Principal, you're joking. I was just talking casually with my friends. It's not a serious matter." This sudden change in tone sent a chill down Ryan's spine, as if he had a premonition that something was about to weigh on him. He quickly downplayed his own position, hoping that the principal wouldn't have any ulterior motives.

"Ryan, you have always been so humble, but I have always respected you and considered you to be the best student in a century."

Dumbledore said, almost to himself, "A student like you, I think, is worthy of being entrusted with important responsibilities."

"I am too incompetent to shoulder this responsibility!" Ryan immediately said. Now that he had put it that way, how could he not know what Dumbledore meant?

Who doesn't know that the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is cursed by Voldemort?

In particular, during a failed magical experiment, Ryan actually saw a sinister and chilling black cloud from a certain level!

Voldemort, through some unknown means, merged the curse with Hogwarts Castle. With the curse cast by Voldemort and the magic of Hogwarts Castle complementing each other, Ryan now has no choice but to hide.

Dumbledore wants to discard someone after they've served their purpose!

He wanted to appoint Lane as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and then have him leave Hogwarts in a sorry state under Voldemort's curse!

He, Lane Welsh, would never accept such an ending!

"How could that be? Based on my understanding of Quirinas, his magical level should only be equivalent to that of a formal Auror. In your theory, this level is that of an elite wizard."

"If it's an elite Auror, they might have mastered multiple areas. But for a formal Auror like Quirinus, his magical prowess might only be in combat or, more specifically, in defense against the Dark Arts?" Dumbledore ignored Lane's statement and continued talking to himself.

Oh no, this is sticking to me... Ryan desperately wanted to go back to the afternoon of the first gathering of the Adventurers' Club, to grab his past self who was plotting how to show off in front of everyone and give him a good beating.

Just as he was regretting his decision, he heard Dumbledore's voice: "And I know someone who has mastered Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and so on—a truly exceptional talent. I believe the responsibility of Defence Against the Dark Arts should be entrusted to such a person. Ryan, what do you think?"

"Oh, right, there's also a talented individual who's always wanted to become the headmaster of Hogwarts. I think he fits the bill perfectly. Ryan, what do you think?"

Dumbledore suddenly noticed that Lane had conjured up a pair of sunglasses and a cane.

Before he could understand what Ryan was trying to do, he saw Ryan put on sunglasses, tapping the floor with one hand while leaning on his cane, and groping around in the air with the other hand, saying, "Headmaster, I can't see, I'm blind."

..........

School clinic.

As a potions expert invited by the Hogwarts infirmary, Snape and Madam Pomfrey had a decent relationship. After exchanging a few words at the door, he entered Quirrell's ward without any trouble.

Quirrell was the only person in the ward, and his bedside was covered with gifts.

Snape glanced at the hanging business cards and noticed that among the gifts were Hogwarts staff and students.

Although Quirinus Quirrell didn't teach for very long, averaging only one class per year and per house, he shouldn't have had many young wizards visiting him, but he was a "legendary figure"!

Quirinus Quirrell was the first professor to be sent to the infirmary after only a few days in office since the Defense Against the Dark Arts professorship went wrong!

Before him, all the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors had encountered various unusual occurrences close to the end of the semester.

If Hogwarts had a trending topics list right now, the topic "[The weakest professor: Quirrell]" would definitely be number three on the list.

"S... Snape... Professor Snape." Quirrell saw Snape and quickly struggled to his feet to greet him.

He himself is now one of the professors at Hogwarts, so he could directly call Snape "Severus".

Perhaps because Quirrell felt that his current social situation and physical condition were not optimistic, he referred to Snape as "Professor".

"Dumbledore said you need a special potion here, and asked me to brew it and send it to you." Snape sat down on the empty bed opposite Quirrell, took out a crystal bottle and placed it on the bedside table in front of Quirrell's bed.

"Thank you...," Quirrell said. He didn't go to get the potion to check it, whether he trusted Snape's potion-making skills or didn't have the courage to check Snape's potions in front of him.

"Dumbledore also asked me to ask how your health is recovering and when you can resume teaching young wizards, Defense Against the Dark Arts." Snape repeated the last course title heavily.

"I...I...don't...know, Mrs. Pomfrey...said...that I...suffered...seriously, and needed...more rest..." Quirrell's face was full of sorrow.

He continued, "For at least... six months, you can't use... magic."

Snape: "The headmaster didn't tell me why. I'm curious, what happened to you that would bring a professor to this state?"

Quirrell stammered and hesitated for a long time before finally telling Snape the truth under his empty gaze.

"You were possessed by the Dark Lord, and you even banished him?" Snape's tone was unreadable.

Before Quirrell could speak, he was interrupted by Snape's rapid-fire words, as if he were suppressing something: "I have only one request: you must let me be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year."

"This...this...it depends on...the headmaster's...will..." Quirrell lowered his head, avoiding Snape's gaze, not daring to look him in the eye, appearing very cowardly.

Snape stared at Quirrell for a long time, his gaze empty, cold, and devoid of emotion, like a decaying corpse that still couldn't close its eyes in peace.

Then he stood up and strode away, his black wizard robes billowing behind him, blocking Mrs. Pomfrey's view of Quirrell from the outside the moment he passed through the school infirmary door.

"Severus, I think you need to explain the situation to the principal. At least for last semester, Quirinas was unable to hold his current teaching position," Mrs. Pomfrey said.

"Of course I will," Snape said, his tone seemingly pleased.