Although Kyle wasn't too fond of traveling by train, chatting and laughing with Kanna along the way made the journey far from dull.

Professor Sykes occasionally joined their conversation, but more often, she simply sat quietly, gazing out the window at the passing scenery, as if reminiscing about her own days as a student at Hogwarts.

By evening, the train arrived at the Hogsmeade station right on schedule.

Hagrid came over carrying an oil lamp, loudly calling for the first-year students to gather around him.

As per tradition, he would ferry the new students across the lake to the castle.

"Long time no see, Hagrid!" Kyle leaned out the window to greet him.

"Long time no see." Hagrid waved cheerfully.

"I've been waiting for you all day. Didn't expect you to take the train—you're always saying it's too slow and boring."

"I said taking the train alone is boring," Kyle corrected.

At that moment, Kanna leaned out the window and gave Hagrid a wave.

"Oh, Kanna," Hagrid said warmly. "Minerva already told me—congratulations on becoming a teaching assistant at Hogwarts."

"Thank you," Kanna replied with a smile.

"By the way, Hagrid," Kyle asked, "you said you'd been waiting for me all day. Was there something you needed? Why didn't you just use the parchment I gave you? You could've written on it and I'd have seen it."

"It's nothing, just wanted to share some good news." Hagrid beamed, leaning in and lowering his voice. "But now that you're here, I'll let Minerva tell you herself. I promise, it'll make you so happy you'll be jumping for joy."

"Jumping for joy…" Kyle raised an eyebrow. "What, is the school giving me a raise?"

"No," Hagrid shook his head. "All professors earn the same. You only get a raise if you become a Head of House."

"So you're saying I'm becoming a Head of House?"

"..." Hagrid paused, then said, "Kyle, if you're short on Galleons, I can lend you some."

"Galleons? I'm not short."

"Then why's the first thing you think of a pay raise?"

"Because that's the only thing that might actually make me jump for joy."

Hagrid fell silent again, as did Sykes, who was sitting in the compartment.

Still, to be fair, a raise would make anyone happy.

"Anyway, you'll find out soon enough," Hagrid said. "Also, Bathsheda brought you a gift—I left it in your locker." With that, he hurried off to get the new students onto the boats.

Kyle, Kanna, and Sykes took a carriage into Hogwarts along with most of the other students.

Kanna seemed especially curious about the good news Hagrid had mentioned and kept speculating about what it could be.

Now that it definitely wasn't a raise, maybe it was a promotion… but there hadn't been any news of a Head of House position opening up.

Although Snape, the Head of Slytherin, had been temporarily dismissed at one point, Minerva McGonagall had reinstated him as both Head of Slytherin and Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts as soon as the two hearings concluded.

Surely Minerva wasn't going to offer Kyle the now-vacant Gryffindor Head of House position—he hadn't even graduated from Gryffindor.

"You really should've pressed Hagrid a bit more," Kanna said, unable to hold back. "If you'd asked a few more questions, he might've let something slip without realizing."

At this point, it seemed like a lot of people had figured out how to get secrets out of Hagrid.

"It's fine," Kyle said with a smile. "He already told us, actually."

"Huh?" Kanna blinked. "When?"

"Didn't he say Professor Babbling is back?"

Just then, the carriage came to a stop.

They had arrived—right ahead stood the open gates of Hogwarts Castle. Headmistress McGonagall waited at the front, followed by Sprout, Snape, Slughorn, and Flitwick, who was mostly obscured behind someone's legs, only a few tufts of hair peeking out.

Kyle didn't continue the conversation. He was the first to hop down from the carriage, then helped Sykes down alongside Kanna.

The three of them walked up the stone steps.

"Welcome aboard, Professor," Minerva McGonagall said warmly as she stepped forward to embrace Sykes.

Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout also appeared genuinely enthusiastic.

Although Hogwarts often ranked near the bottom among wizarding schools, it had no shortage of brilliant professors.

This newly joined Potions professor alone was enough to make the heads of the other schools green with envy.

Slughorn was just as delighted, his belly wobbling with each step as he came over.

"Horace Slughorn. It's an honor to work with you."

"I know. Armando once told me he'd found a truly excellent Potions professor."

At that, the flesh on Slughorn's face began to jiggle as well.

While they spoke, Kyle and Kanna didn't linger. They headed straight into the Great Hall.

"You still haven't told me what the good news is," Kanna said.

"I haven't?" Kyle glanced around the Hall, as if searching for something.

"Did you forget? You were just about to tell me when the carriage stopped."

"Oh… right." Kyle looked around one last time, then turned back to her. "Well, it's just a guess for now. I'm not completely sure. Better wait for the Headmistress to announce it at the feast."

Kanna mumbled under her breath, forced once again to seriously consider why Professor Babbling's return would be such great news.

Wasn't Kyle already the Ancient Runes professor?

And it's not like that class needed two professors.

Kanna didn't have long to wait. Just a few minutes later, Sykes entered the Great Hall alongside Headmistress McGonagall, and the two took the center seats at the staff table.

They were followed by Professor Flitwick, and behind him, two neat rows of new students.

Kyle sat watching with interest.

Come to think of it, this was his first time truly attending the Start-of-Term Feast as a professor in his own right.

Last year didn't really count—even though he'd sat at the staff table, he'd been there as Dumbledore.

The Sorting Hat's song was as striking as ever, making the new students widen their eyes in amazement, and giving the Muggle-borns their first real taste of magical wonder.

Then Professor Flitwick began the Sorting Ceremony.

"Where were you during the holidays?" Hagrid entered through the side door and sat down beside Kyle.

"I heard from Bill he hasn't seen you at all."

"I was working on a new spell," Kyle replied.

"Ah, I see. Still, next time you're on break, you should stop by to check on the fire in the garden..."

His voice suddenly cut off—or rather, Kyle had cast a Muffliato just in time.

Even though Hagrid had tried to lower his voice, he'd forgotten one key detail: as a half-giant, even his "quiet" voice still came out quite loud to everyone else.

And Kyle wasn't too eager to let everyone know that the dragon that had appeared suddenly the other day was one he'd raised.

Sure, a few people had likely already guessed the truth—but as long as Kyle didn't confirm anything, it remained just that: a guess.

Of course, if someone got a little too curious and decided to sneak into the garden for a look, Kyle wouldn't stop them.

As long as they could handle a hot-tempered Hungarian Horntail, that was.

Kyle turned instinctively, glancing to the far end of the staff table—just in time to catch Snape looking quickly away.

"I read somewhere that you need to spend a lot of time around dragons if you're raising them," Hagrid continued, unaware Kyle had muffled his voice. "Otherwise, those big lugs forget you fast."

"Dragons are clever—but sometimes they're thick, too. You have to show your face regularly, or they'll start treating you like an enemy."

"Don't worry. I've got it under control," Kyle said with a nod, just as a golden pork chop appeared on the plate in front of him.

While he'd been talking with Hagrid, the Sorting Ceremony had ended. It was now time for the feast.

The welcoming feast for first-years was the grandest banquet of the Hogwarts year. Every year, the house-elves in the kitchens pulled out all the stops to prepare an extravagant spread.

This year, there seemed to be more French cuisine than usual.

Kyle spotted a dish of assorted fish stew and beef braised in red wine. The taste wasn't quite on par with the authentic French food he'd had at Beauxbatons, but it was close enough.

Soon enough, dessert vanished from their plates, and everyone put down their cutlery.

Minerva McGonagall rose from her seat behind the table, and the chatter filling the Great Hall fell silent almost instantly.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, first-years. And of course, welcome back to all our returning students. Before we conclude the feast, I have a few announcements…"

"First, Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to remind you that all items purchased from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes are strictly prohibited within the school."

"And now, regarding Quidditch tryouts..."

Compared to Dumbledore, McGonagall was far more concise—just like her brisk, no-nonsense personality.

After covering the usual notices, she formally introduced Sykes as the new Potions professor, and Kanna as her teaching assistant.

Kyle watched as Kanna stood up, fists clenched tightly and body rigid, as if she were bracing herself against the floor through the soles of her shoes.

He felt a laugh bubbling up, but forced it down—retaliation was never out of the question with her.

When the students heard Sykes' name, there were two distinct reactions.

Some applauded calmly and politely. Others gaped, craning their necks in surprise to get a better look at the staff table.

Clearly, the polite ones didn't recognize Sykes.

Which wasn't surprising. Sykes wasn't Dumbledore. Especially in recent decades, she'd appeared almost exclusively within the walls of St. Mungo's. Naturally, many had never even heard of her. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on Nove1Fire.net

Sykes remained composed. She gave a small wave and took her seat. Seeing this, Kanna quickly followed and sat down as well.

Then she turned her eyes to Headmistress McGonagall, staring intently.

She was still thinking about the other matter—the good news she'd been guessing at the entire way here.

If something truly unusual were happening, McGonagall would almost certainly announce it at the Start-of-Term Feast, in front of everyone.

"At the same time, I have another piece of good news to announce."

Minerva McGonagall's voice cut through the rising murmur in the Great Hall, restoring silence once again.

"This year, Hogwarts will be adding a new subject... Alchemy!"

"Alchemy?"

"Alchemy?"

The word echoed across the hall, as if everyone was questioning whether they'd heard her right.

The Hogwarts curriculum had been unchanged for centuries—why introduce a new course all of a sudden?

But rather than excited, the students mostly looked uneasy. Many were frowning.

"But Headmistress, if there's a new subject, what happens with our exams?" a fifth-year Ravenclaw called out.

He was due to sit his O.W.L.s this year, and if Alchemy was part of the syllabus, it might jeopardize his scores.

"You needn't worry about that."

McGonagall had to raise her voice over the growing hum of concern. "All exam subjects will remain the same. In fact, Alchemy will only be available to third-year students.

"I imagine those of you in third year have already noticed there's a new option on your course selection sheet this term."

With that, the fifth- and seventh-years finally relaxed.

As long as it didn't affect their exams, they could accept it.

"But Headmistress, who's the new professor?" Ginny couldn't help asking.

She'd just scanned the staff table. Aside from Sykes and Kanna, there were no unfamiliar faces—and both of them were teaching Potions. One covered fifth and seventh years, the other, first and second.

So who was teaching Alchemy?

Unlike the confused Ginny, Kanna immediately turned to look at Kyle the moment she heard "Alchemy." Something had clearly clicked.

"The professor in charge of Alchemy is right here…" McGonagall said with a smile.

And as she extended her hand, Kyle stood up—as if he'd known this was coming all along.

He'd already guessed it when Hagrid mentioned Professor Bubblay's return.

Of course Professor Bubblay would be teaching Ancient Runes again—and that class certainly didn't need two professors.

Combine that with the "good news" Hagrid had hinted at, and the answer was obvious.

He was still a professor, just switching subjects—this time, to the newly introduced Alchemy course.

What puzzled Kyle, though, was that he hadn't received any official letter from Hogwarts.

A change this significant—especially switching teaching subjects—required advance preparation and confirmation of new materials. Hogwarts would never skip notifying the professor involved.

Kyle was absolutely sure: over the entire break, he hadn't received any letters from Hogwarts.

Even though he'd been busy with research into the Horcrux curse, he hadn't shut himself off completely—he was still fully reachable by owl.

But the only letter that had arrived was the one instructing him and Sykes to take the train together. Nothing else.

And knowing Minerva McGonagall's meticulous nature, she wasn't the type to overlook something so basic.

Which was exactly why Kyle hadn't mentioned any of this to Kanna earlier.

A thunder of applause erupted through the Great Hall—louder even than when Sykes had been introduced.

That was likely because most of the students knew Kyle already. As the only professor hired fresh out of graduation, nearly every student above third year had taken a class with him at some point.