Seeing old friends, both Harry and Katie were very happy.
"Hi, Katie." Harry greeted her, "Nice to see you."
"I knew you would get it, really nice." Katie said loudly, pointing to the captain's badge on Harry's chest, "Let me know when you're holding the tryouts!"
"Don't be silly," Harry shrugged, "You don't need to try out, I've been watching you play for five years now..."
"Don't start like that." Katie warned, "You all know, there are people much better at the game than I am—there were some really great teams ruined because the captain always let familiar faces play, letting their friends in, and ended up ruining good teams..."
Ron: ?
You might as well be clearer about what you mean!
"Don't worry, Katie." Harry said nonchalantly, "How could I be that kind of person? Besides, our new members have already been tested in matches—look, both Ron and Ginny are qualified."
"I wasn't talking about them." Katie immediately corrected herself, realizing her earlier slip, "I was just referring to others... the Weasley siblings actually play quite well, and we've all seen it."
Saying this, she also turned to Ron and said, "Sorry, Weasley—I didn't mean it that way."
"I know." Ron smiled at her kindly.
Katie and her classmates went off to class, leaving Harry and Ron in the common room.
There was no one else in the common room, just the two of them, so they decided to play a game of Wizard Chess.
However, Ron had no intention of going easy on Harry, and actually enjoyed defeating him, often leaving Harry with just a king and queen to defend, resulting in a miserable loss.
"Not playing anymore." Harry said, putting down the chess pieces uninterestedly, "Chess is really boring."
"Why do I find it so fun?" Ron said with a grin.
An hour later, they reluctantly left the sunlit common room to go downstairs for Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
Hermione was already lined up outside the classroom, holding a large pile of heavy books, looking somewhat mistreated.
"There's a heap of Runic Language homework," she said anxiously as Harry and Ron joined her in line, "a fifteen-inch essay, two translations, and all these books to read by Wednesday!"
"What a bummer." Ron yawned, "Serves you right for choosing so many courses, huh? Wouldn't it be much better if you picked fewer? At least you wouldn't be so stressed like now."
Hermione had no reply, and instead kicked Ron harshly on the shin with her foot.
Seeing this, Harry shook his head helplessly.
Ah...
Never argue with a woman, my friend...
"I think the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor—" Harry mentioned Professor Slughorn, "seems to be a reasonable teacher, what do you guys think?"
"Let's hope so." Ron said, repeating, "He better be!"
Soon, Slughorn arrived in the classroom.
"For those who are able to attend this class, they've achieved a mark of Exceeds Expectations or better in your O.W.L.s." Professor Slughorn chuckled, his chubbiness making him seem as cuddly as a panda, "But I hear, so far, you've had five different teachers for this course."
"It's six, Professor." Ron corrected, raising his hand, "Besides those professors, there was also Harry; he filled in as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for a bit."
"Oh, I think I've heard about that." Professor Slughorn said with an interested look, "After Umbridge's abuses last year, Harry taught Defense Against the Dark Arts for a while—I heard you all liked him quite a bit?"
"Yes, Professor." Everyone said in unison.
"Well then, it seems I have to do even better so that you don't have your hearts set on him." Slughorn said with a chuckle.
At that moment, everyone nearly found this plump old professor quite likable.
Fortunately, Professor Snape wasn't appointed as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, otherwise, the subject might as well have been ruined.
But they hadn't considered, could this free up the Magic Potion class?
As the saying goes, losing at one, gaining at another, that's the principle.
"Alright," Professor Slughorn continued, "I've spoken with Professor Lupin to understand your progress, so... I believe it's time to truly teach some defense against Dark Magic—now, who can introduce Dark Magic?"
Hermione immediately raised her hand, along with a few other students.
"Miss Parkinson." Professor Slughorn motioned for Pansy to stand up and answer.
As the old head of Slytherin, these points... indeed should appropriately favor Slytherin, who haven't claimed the championship for several years.
This was also a small personal bias of the old head, an invisible helping hand.
"Dark Magic is the general term for various evil magics." Pansy answered methodically, "Dark Magic comes in many forms, numerous, ever-changing, and endless... For wizards attempting to combat Dark Magic, it is quite troublesome."
"Not bad, not bad." Professor Slughorn clapped his hands, "Five points to Slytherin—before attending this lesson, there was an anonymous Professor of Potions who shared with me the preparations they made for this course... Naturally, up until yesterday, they assumed they'd undoubtedly become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."