Rumor had it that the curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts post at Hogwarts wasn't just groundless conjecture.
During Amosta's years at Hogwarts, he never saw a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor walk out of Hogwarts standing up after a year's term. Many professors had a seamless transition from Hogwarts to St. Mungo's, making money here and going to get treatment there, with no delays.
Although Professor McGonagall was only inviting him to be an assistant teacher, that didn't mean there was no risk involved. Amosta didn't want to use the money he worked so hard to earn to boost St. Mungo's Hospital's revenue.
The preliminary preparations were basically done, but that didn't mean Amosta had nothing to do.
During the week Mr. Vance was preparing the Omnioculars, he had to become familiar with the castle again. Some remote places that didn't affect the young wizards and professors' lives and teaching should be sealed off.
Additionally, he needed to design the specific surveillance setup points based on the castle's architectural structure, creating a surveillance network with no blind spots.
In his plan, besides the classrooms for each subject, the common rooms of the four Houses, the young wizards' dormitories, and private spaces such as the male and female restrooms, the remaining activity areas needed to be under surveillance.
In fact, with his level, adding a sound-monitoring function to the Omnioculars wasn't difficult, but that would be too excessive. Probably few professors would agree, so after much deliberation, Amosta abandoned this plan.
"Hagrid, you're definitely hiding something!"
A shout suddenly came from the other end of the corridor, interrupting Amosta's thoughts. As far as he knew, there seemed to be few students staying at school for the Christmas holidays.
"Don't pry into things, Harry and Ron!" The previously rough voice said a little impatiently, "I'm not hiding any secrets!"
Harry, Ron, and Hagrid?
Amosta raised an eyebrow, looking in the distance. That clear voice was Harry Potter's?
"Am I finally going to meet the Chosen One of this world?" Amosta's heartbeat involuntarily sped up a few beats, his eyes filled with curiosity and anticipation.
"You know, Hagrid, your eyes dart around when you lie!" Harry and Ron stuck closely to Hagrid's behind, persistently asking,
"You also said you were going to find Headmaster Dumbledore to ask about Brain being appointed as a Ministry of Magic investigator, but changed your mind for no reason after going upstairs. Why, Hagrid!"
"And, you seem very afraid!" Ron pointed out keenly.
An investigator from the Ministry of Magic?
Amosta scratched his head, his face full of confusion. Had he ever said that?
"Why can't you be honest, Hagrid?"
A huge figure suddenly appeared from the other end of the corridor, with two people hanging behind him. They quickly approached the middle of the corridor. Harry was still喋喋不休ing, trying to persuade Hagrid to reveal the secret, because his keen intuition told Harry that the secret Hagrid was hiding must be very important.
"Hey, Harry!"
Ron noticed Amosta first. He tugged on Harry's robes, reminding him in a low voice, "Look over there, who's that person?"
Hagrid suddenly braked, standing still. The Harry, who hadn't reacted, crashed into Hagrid's waist. That spot seemed to be wearing a stiff dragon-hide belt, which made his nose suffer a lot.
"Why did you suddenly stop again, Hagrid?"
Harry rubbed his crooked nose, standing behind Hagrid and muttering unhappily, "Did you change your mind again?"
Hagrid didn't answer. His expression was very interesting. The face behind his thick beard, which had been weathered by wind and sun for years, actually turned pale when he noticed Amosta. Large drops of sweat oozed from his forehead, and his two large hands had nowhere to rest, constantly groping his upper body, as if checking if his attire was proper.
"Brain, is that you?"
Hagrid's smile was awkward. He looked uneasily at Amosta's strange expression, stammering,
"Long time no see, I, I heard you're working for the Ministry of Magic now. Congratulations… I mean, congratulations on finding a good job."
Hagrid had been the gamekeeper at Hogwarts for decades, accompanying graduating class after graduating class. In terms of seniority, even the heads of the four Houses were inferior to him. Amosta naturally recognized him.
However, there was no animosity between them. The only contact they had was after the incident before Christmas of his fifth year. He had entered the area where he fought the black witch with Hagrid again, led by Dumbledore, and conducted a search. After that, there had been no private communication. At most, they would greet each other when they met on weekdays.
But although there was no friendship, there was even less animosity!
Why would he show that expression after seeing me? Moreover, Hagrid seemed to care a lot about me returning to school as an investigator—Amosta's heart was filled with deep confusion.
"It has indeed been a long time, Mr. Hagrid."
Amosta's eyebrows were raised, temporarily ignoring Hagrid's strange behavior.
He looked at the freckled little boy beside Hagrid and immediately recognized him. There was no way around it; that red hair was too recognizable, exactly like Bill's and Charlie's.
Amosta noticed the restraint in Ron's eyes. This wasn't strange; it was very normal for a thirteen or fourteen-year-old wizard to show resistance to an unfamiliar adult. What Amosta didn't understand was why he also sensed a bit of longing and fear in Ron's eyes.
Oh, a Weasley child. Maybe he heard from his family that I beat up his two older brothers before?
Just as Amosta was about to offer Ron a smile and greet him, a skinny little boy with a fairly handsome face, green eyes, and messy hair suddenly popped out from behind Hagrid, looking at himself with almost the same expression as Ron.
The moment he saw this boy, without any warning, Amosta's head suddenly buzzed, as if a muffled thunderbolt had directly exploded in his brain, shocking him so much that his vision blurred, and he could barely maintain his balance!
"Oh!"
Seeing Amosta about to fall, Hagrid quickly stepped forward and supported his shoulders.
"What's wrong, Amosta? You look like you've been hit with a Stunner?"
Behind Hagrid, Harry and Ron exchanged a secretive glance, both noticing the shock in each other's eyes. This Slytherin alumnus, who had driven away a powerful dark wizard who had invaded the school in his fifth year, and who was a tough guy who had fought Headmaster Dumbledore, looked so weak?
"Oh, thank you, Hagrid. I probably got up too early this morning and the cold wind made me a little dizzy. Can you let go of my shoulders? I feel like my shoulder blades are about to break."
Amosta frowned, gently rubbing his temples, calmly digesting a piece of information that had suddenly appeared in his brain.
"It seems,"
After a while, Amosta finally felt better. His expression returned to normal, smiling as he sized up this little wizard who, in Professor Snape's estimation, was arrogant, conceited, liked to show off, and was particularly cocky. His gaze finally gathered on the scar on his forehead.
"I seem to have met the famous Harry Potter?"
Ever since Harry entered the magical world, he had encountered countless strangers who showed great interest in his scar, and he was already used to it.
However, thinking that this person was sent to Hogwarts to investigate the Chamber of Secrets attacks, and that he himself was the undisputed candidate for Slytherin's heir, Harry felt uncomfortable all over. It was as if, in the next second, the man before him would pull out handcuffs from his pocket and shackle his hands.
Oh, no, that's what Muggle police would do. Wizards usually choose to confiscate the culprit's wand first.
"Hello, Mr. Brain. You haven't mistaken me."
Amosta's gaze, though not sharp, made Harry feel uneasy all over. He leaned towards Hagrid instinctively, but then, thinking of the other's 'glorious' achievements, the sense of security brought by Hagrid's enormous body suddenly disappeared…
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