September 1st, the first day of term.
The Great Hall inside the castle had been arranged into a warm, festive scene. Students filed in by year and House, while the professors gradually took their seats as well.
Lynn sat near the end of the staff table, looking around with keen interest.
He had to admit that, while Hogwarts’ lighting system was hopelessly outdated, the sight of thousands upon thousands of candles floating in midair really was breathtaking.
Lynn looked up at the brilliant stars reflected on the enchanted ceiling and adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses with one hand.
These were an alchemical item he had made himself. The glasses had been enchanted with Permanency and a 5th-circle divination spell, allowing Lynn to rapidly analyze the people, objects, and even spells he saw.
A permanently fixed high-circle illusion, combined with real-time awareness of the weather outside the castle. What an interesting magical combination. Hogwarts truly lived up to its reputation.
"Professor Gray, still in his younger days and already so accomplished."
Not far away sat Professor Flitwick, small in stature and perched atop a stack of books, raising his goblet toward Lynn in greeting.
Lynn lifted his own glass and gave a slight nod.
"Very pleased to meet you, Professor Gray!"
A rough, hearty voice came from his other side.
"I’m Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys!"
Turning his head, Lynn saw the half-giant’s large face, half-buried beneath a wild tangle of beard, already flushed bright red. Clearly, he had been drinking quite a bit.
"Professor Dumbledore told me you lived in the forest for ten years! Blimey, then you must’ve seen loads o’ magical creatures, eh? We’ve got to have a good talk sometime. I just love those dangerous little darlings!"
"We’ll have the chance, Hagrid." Lynn smiled and raised his glass in return.
At that moment, Lynn felt the temperature beside him drop sharply.
A black figure, trailing a medicinal scent and a chill gust of air, swept down into the empty seat beside him like a giant bat.
Severus Snape.
Even at an occasion like this, the Potions professor still wore that deadpan expression, as though the whole world owed him five hundred Galleons.
His greasy black hair hung down on either side of his face, and his empty black eyes swept coldly over the chattering students below before finally settling on Lynn.
"It seems Dumbledore is growing more senile by the day."
Snape spoke in that smooth yet barbed voice of his.
"To let someone young who’s barely weaned teach Defense Against the Dark Arts... I only hope you last until Christmas."
There was clearly more than one meaning in that remark. He was obviously referring to the "curse" that kept Defense Against the Dark Arts professors from lasting a full year.
Lynn took an elegant sip of red wine from his goblet, then turned and looked at Snape with perfect sincerity.
"I hope you last a little longer as well, Professor Snape."
"I have been teaching Potions here for eleven years, Professor Gray. I hardly require your concern."
"Oh, dear Professor Snape, I wasn’t referring to your years as a professor."
Still smiling, Lynn continued, "I was talking about your hair. Being trapped in a gloomy, irritable emotional state for too long can lead to endocrine imbalance, excessive oil production, and even... hair loss. Judging by the condition of your hair, I’m afraid it may not hold out much longer."
Snape whipped his head around and glared at Lynn as though he wanted to carve him open with Sectumsempra on the spot.
Lynn, however, continued smiling as though nothing was wrong.
"Of course, if you need them, I can recommend a few excellent oil-control shampoos. Muggle products are actually quite good in that area."
If he could have, Snape would probably have hit Lynn with the Cruciatus Curse right then and there. But at the start-of-term feast, all he could do was let out a cold snort, turn away, and refuse to engage any further.
...
By now, the Sorting Ceremony was nearing its end.
Lynn watched as Professor McGonagall took away the Sorting Hat, then pushed up his glasses.
[Item Name: Godric Gryffindor’s Sorting Hat]
[Type: Wondrous Item]
[Rarity: Legendary]
[Properties:]
[Sentient Item] (the wearer can converse with it)
[Personality Analysis] (can analyze the wearer’s personality)
[???] (unknown ability)
"So it’s actually a legendary item..."
A flicker of surprise passed through Lynn’s eyes.
On Faerûn, legendary items were usually in the realm of artifacts. He had not expected this famous hat to be a legendary item as well. As for that unknown property, it was probably the ability to pull out Gryffindor’s sword from within it.
As the feast began, Lynn lowered his gaze toward the long House tables below.
The Gryffindor table was lively and noisy, but he quickly noticed one figure who seemed somewhat out of place.
She was a girl with bushy brown hair, but her expression was full of anxiety. The food in front of her remained untouched as she kept turning to look at the doors of the hall, then at the two empty seats beside her. She was obviously searching for someone.
Hermione Granger.
Sure enough, his impression from the films before transmigrating had definitely come with a filter. The real Hermione did look clever, but her appearance was not especially stunning. More than that, she clearly put no effort into tidying herself up. At the moment, she looked much more like an awkward little bookworm who had not yet grown into herself.
Out of curiosity, Lynn glanced at her attributes through his glasses and was surprised to find that, at only second year, the girl’s Intelligence had already reached an astonishing 15. When he had first transmigrated, his own starting Intelligence had only been 17.
As expected of Hogwarts’ number-one academic monster.
Finding it rather interesting, Lynn casually observed students from the other Houses as well.
He discovered that Slytherin wizards generally had higher Charisma, and several of the older students even ranged from 16 to 18.
As expected of the famous pure-blood House.
What surprised him somewhat, however, was that the Ravenclaws, who in his impression were known for "intelligence", generally possessed relatively high Wisdom rather than the Intelligence he had expected.
Thinking about it carefully, that actually made sense. The Ravenclaws he remembered, whether Luna or Professor Trelawney, were either delightfully eccentric or downright mystical.
About halfway through the feast, when everyone was eating roast chicken and pudding, the caretaker Filch came hurrying over to the staff table with a newspaper in one hand and his cat following behind him, his face filled with panic.
He glanced at Dumbledore, who was focused on eating his pudding, but did not go to him. Instead, he leaned down close to Snape and whispered something in his ear.
Lynn saw Snape’s face turn even darker, though mixed into that darkness was what looked suspiciously like wild delight.
"Excellent... excellent..."
Snape muttered under his breath. Without even offering an explanation, he swept out of the hall in a swirl of black robes.
Lynn was not actually all that familiar with the plot of Harry Potter. He had read the books and watched the films, yes, but that had all been before high school. He had forgotten most of the finer details by now.
So it was only after Snape left that Lynn suddenly remembered: this year was Harry Potter’s second year. According to the "plot," he and Ron would arrive at Hogwarts in the flying car. That was why Hermione kept searching for the two of them.
Thinking of that, Lynn wiped his mouth and rose leisurely to his feet.
Let me go have a look at our "protagonist" too.
...
The dungeon. Snape’s office.
Harry and Ron were huddled in a corner, trembling. They had just survived a terrifying ordeal in the air and a car crash, only to find themselves now facing something even more frightening than the Whomping Willow, Snape.
"...I’m going to fetch the person who truly has the delightful privilege of dealing with this. You two will wait here."
After scolding them both, Snape opened the door, preparing to fetch Professor McGonagall, only to run directly into Lynn coming the other way.
"Professor Gray? What are you doing here?" Snape asked coldly.
"I came... to show a little concern for the students I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting." Lynn smiled at Snape.
"They’re about to stop being your students."
Snape was clearly not interested in speaking with him any longer. With a sharp sweep of his robes, he strode upstairs.
Lynn pushed open the door and looked around at the animal specimens in Snape’s office, then at the two boys sitting stiffly in front of the desk with anxious expressions, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.
Walking over to them, Lynn reached out and brushed the dust from Ron’s shoulder, then looked at Harry’s broken glasses.
"Um... who are you, sir?" Harry turned to look at Lynn, clearly not recognizing the professor.
"Lynn Gray. Your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
"H-hello, Professor Gray."
"Don’t be afraid. You won’t be expelled."
Lynn tapped Harry’s glasses with his wand and cast Mending.
"Two second-year wizards, without adult supervision, piloting an unstable magical vehicle halfway across Britain..."
Lynn met the puzzled eyes of Harry and Ron.
"I think that, far from being expelled, you ought to be commended instead. Kids should go on more adventures."
Harry and Ron froze.
Whether it was Harry or Ron, neither of them had ever, in all their lives, had anyone treat their troublemaking as "no big deal," let alone evaluate it in a tone that came dangerously close to admiration.
Lynn looked at them and blinked.
"Next time, remember to fix the invisibility booster before you hit the road."
At that moment, Harry and Ron had already secretly decided that Defense Against the Dark Arts was going to be their favorite class of the year.
"Absurd! Absolutely absurd!"
A voice erupted from the doorway, and there was no need to guess who it belonged to. Snape.
"Professor McGonagall, I believe Professor Gray’s teaching methods are deeply problematic! How can he indulge students like this?"
"Indulge?" Seeing McGonagall and Dumbledore standing behind Snape, Lynn remained perfectly calm.
"I’m simply appreciating the students’ ’practical initiative’ from another angle. After learning they had missed the train, their first instinct was not to ask adults for help, but to think of a solution themselves. Isn’t that sort of spirit worth encouraging?"
"...That is still a violation of school rules, and indeed of the law." McGonagall kept a stern face, though she seemed to think Lynn’s words made at least a little sense.
"Although our two Gryffindors have shown admirable courage, "
Dumbledore, who had been standing at the back, finally spoke up. He cast Lynn a glance, then continued, "breaking rules still requires punishment."
"I must make you understand the seriousness of what you’ve done. I shall write to your families tonight. And I must warn you both that if such behavior happens again, I shall have no choice but to expel you."
"Now, let Professor McGonagall decide your punishment," Dumbledore said calmly. "I must return to the feast, Minerva. I have several notices to announce. Come along, Severus, Gray. There seems to be an excellent custard tart on offer, I suggest both of you try it."
Snape shot Harry and Ron a vicious glare. As Lynn was being ushered out by Dumbledore, he smiled at Harry, and at the same time used his glasses to check his panel:
[Name: Harry Potter]
[Race: Human]
[Class: None]
[Level: 1]
[Attributes:]
[Strength: 6]
[Dexterity: 11]
[Constitution: 9]
[Intelligence: 8]
[Wisdom: 10]
[Charisma: 14 (+1 Feat)]
[Feats:]
[Flying Talent] (Dexterity +1 when using a flying broom)
[Parselmouth] (can understand and communicate with serpentine creatures)
[The Boy Who Lived] (Charisma +1, has a strange connection to a certain undying being)
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