Stepping out of the oak front door of his office, a faint cold draft rushed in.
Hogwarts weather was strange; even though autumn hadn’t yet arrived, the nights were excessively chilly.
The wind wasn’t fierce, but it carried a bone-deep cold.
Of course, with Lorin’s current physical constitution, he didn’t fear it; he was just a bit sentimental.
Wearing a cloak like this was merely to look more reasonable.
“Lumos.”
Although Lorin could ignore the darkness, keeping a light on while patrolling made him less likely to arouse Albus Dumbledore’s suspicion, and made it easier for him to steal the Philosopher’s Stone in the future…
“Get out of here, Peeves, you miserable ghost!”
Reaching the fourth floor, Lorin happened to hear Argus Filch’s angry roar.
“Merlin’s beard, I almost forgot about this mischievous little poltergeist.”
Lorin walked with easy strides toward Filch, strolling through the fourth floor of Hogwarts Castle as if taking a leisurely walk in a courtyard.
Yet he was incredibly fast; in almost an instant, Lorin arrived at Filch’s side.
“Gagaga!
Angry Filch, angry Filch!”
Peeves cackled as he threw dungbombs, which he had procured from Lord knows where, all over the corridor.
“Oh, damn it!
I should have gotten the Bloody Baron to deal with you long ago!”
Filch, exasperated, chased Peeves with a broom, but the poltergeist flew in midair, giving Filch no chance at all.
Instead, Filch ended up splattered with quite a few dungbombs.
“Ah-gaga, fun, fun!”
“The corridor is going to stink, stupid Filch!
Hahahaha!”
“Scourgify.”
Just as the poltergeist was cackling, a spell washed over the entire corridor, instantly clearing away all traces of the dungbombs.
Well, including Filch.
“Sorry, Argus, that was my oversight.”
“N-no problem, Mr.
Montmorency.
Peeves has always been like this…”
Filch’s face flushed with various shades of red and green, but he still thanked Lorin for showing up:
“Thank you so much this time, Mr.
Montmorency.”
“No need, Argus.
In truth, I’m the one who took over your job.”
Lorin waved his wand again with a relaxed tone, scaring Peeves into dodging back and forth several times, though Lorin didn’t actually cast a single spell.
“Tsk.
If I were you, Peeves, I wouldn’t do something as stupid as smearing the castle with dungbombs.”
“Oh, look who it is!
The new caretaker.
Is he going to be a nagging, old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud?
Gagaga!”
Clearly, Peeves had not yet realized the gravity of the situation and was still trying to include Lorin in his prank:
“Have a taste of this!
And this…”
Lorin didn’t stop Peeves from throwing the dungbombs.
He simply watched him with a smile, casually waving his silver-white wand from time to time.
And Lorin had obtained a single, massive, compressed dungbomb!
Looking at the clean-as-new corridor, Peeves pulled an angry face:
“Oh, Lord Peeves is angry!
Gaga…
urgh!”
As Peeves opened his mouth, Lorin, holding back his laughter, used his wand to shove the compressed giant dungbomb right into Peeves’s mouth.
Filch, who had moved slightly away holding his lantern, watched this scene open-mouthed:
“M-Merlin’s beard…”
“Just some faithful advice.
Mischief and pranks shouldn’t go too far, Peeves.”
Watching Peeves clutch his own throat, gagging repeatedly as he flew higher and higher, Lorin stood on the spot and waved with a smile:
“You’re welcome to come play again next time, lovely little poltergeist Peeves.”
“Also, please mind your manners and elegance.
Hogwarts is a school, not a place for street brawls.”
“Urgh…
hateful Montmorency!”
“Damn it!
You’ve stunk out the great King Peeves!”
…
And so, despite this minor interlude, Lorin’s night patrol went very smoothly.
Perhaps because the school year had just started, the Weasley twins didn’t seem to have slipped out to cause trouble.
As for Harry and Ron…
The exhausted first-year wizards were probably fast asleep in their dormitories.
Having walked through most of the castle, Lorin held his wand, humming a cheerful tune as he finished his round.
However, when Lorin looped back to the door on the right side of the fourth floor, he hesitated.
Should he go in and take a look first…?
One of the noble rules: never fight an unprepared battle.
According to Dumbledore’s baiting scheme, if he rushed in now, the protective traps set by the various professors might not even be completed yet.
Aside from alerting the entirety of Hogwarts, Lorin saw no practical benefit whatsoever.
“Let’s wait a bit longer.
It’s only a few months; I can afford to wait…”
Calming his slightly stirred emotions, Lorin turned and left.
“Because I don’t know if I will ever meet you again in the next life…”
Humming a tune from before his transmigration, Lorin returned to the caretaker’s office.
He entered Silas Castle.
And went to sleep!
The next morning.
Lorin was shirtless, alone in Silas Castle, striking one strange posture after another.
Don’t misunderstand; this was merely his training for the Knight’s Breathing Technique, [The Heavenly Scripture].
“Phew…”
“Looks like it’s almost time.
It’s really worth looking forward to—what form will my exclusive combat aura take?”
Returning to the bathroom, he washed his sweat-drenched body, changed into light gray wizard robes adorned with silver decorations, and went to the Great Hall for breakfast.
“So early, Lorin?” Find the original chapter at g.com.
The moment he stepped into the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall put down her bread and bacon and waved at Lorin.
“Of course, Minerva.
Waking up early is a good habit.”
Lorin replied with a smile, naturally sitting down next to Professor McGonagall:
“And so is going to bed early, of course.”
“Then my habits might already be as good as they can possibly be,” Professor McGonagall said with a smile.
The students eating in the Great Hall watched the handsome caretaker chatting and laughing with Professor McGonagall, speculating amongst themselves about who this caretaker actually was.
Lorin didn’t care about that, focusing instead on his necessary daily breakfast routine.
Several fried eggs, along with lettuce, tomatoes, and vinaigrette, quickly appeared on the plate before him…
Well, and the indispensable staple: bread.
“Are you adjusting well to the work, Lorin?”
Seeing that Lorin hadn’t initiated a conversation, Professor McGonagall spoke up to show her concern.
“Of course, it couldn’t be better.”
Lorin shifted his mind from his longing for Fleur back to the Great Hall of Hogwarts, replying to Professor McGonagall.
“My apologies, Minerva.
I was thinking of my dear fiancée and got a bit distracted.”
“Oh, Merlin’s beard!
Lorin, you’re already engaged?”
“Not yet, but soon.
She is a beautiful French girl, but she is only in her fourth year at Beauxbatons, so it will be some time before we can marry…”
“How envious.
Then you two…”
“Minerva, as much as I’d love to talk about my beloved, I have to interrupt you.”
Seeing the fire of gossip slowly kindling on McGonagall’s face, Lorin quickly extinguished it:
“There are only ten minutes left before the first class begins.”
“Merlin’s beard, time flies!”
“I must rush to class.
See you, Lorin!”
McGonagall swallowed her last gulp of milk, a hint of exhaustion already showing in her eyes before class had even started:
“I do hope the new students this year will be a bit more normal.
Oh, Merlin, in my first class last year, I spent a whole half-hour just teaching them the definition of Transfiguration!”
“That sounds quite frustrating indeed.
But I believe things will be better with this year’s batch.”
Lorin waved to Professor McGonagall, pointing toward a brown-haired girl in the Great Hall who was tackling two sandwiches all by herself:
“I have high hopes for that student, Minerva.”
Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow in surprise, but she didn’t recognize who this newly enrolled little witch was.
After all, classes hadn’t even started yet.
But since Lorin said he had high hopes for her, perhaps this little witch really did have something extraordinary about her?
“From your lips to Merlin’s ears, Lorin.
See you!”
“Goodbye, Minerva.
Have a pleasant morning.”
Eating the last of his fried egg, Lorin slowly finished the milk in his cup and left the staff table.
As he walked to the door, Lorin noticed that the brown-haired young witch was looking him over with curiosity.
Lorin nodded to her with a smile and left the Great Hall.