Harry and Ron's faces were now completely devoid of the joy they had felt during the day.
They didn't know if the students of Hogwarts looked at them with respect.
But when Snape caught them, he expressed his newfound respect for them in a sinister tone.
"Indeed, it's the highly skilled Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley, who never fails to cause trouble for his family. Did you think that by making yourselves look like this, you could avoid punishment?"
Harry and Ron did indeed look terrible.
The clothes on both of them were tattered and torn, practically reduced to rags.
Ron's wand had been snapped in two, with only a few wood splinters barely holding it together.
His arm was bent at an unnatural angle, the pain of the fracture making his face pale, his lips tremble uncontrollably, and small groans escape his throat.
Harry was supporting Ron, his own condition not much better.
Blood streamed down his face from a head wound. Outwardly, he looked even worse than Ron.
As the car approached Hogwarts, it suddenly went out of control, crashing them both into the Whomping Willow behind the castle.
The magical Whomping Willow, as if sensing a threat to its life, attacked Harry and Ron in the car with what seemed like madness.
Although they managed to escape, they ended up in their current miserable state.
Harry now felt dizzy and nauseous.
The injury to his head wasn't from the Whomping Willow itself, but from the force of the impact when the car crashed into it, slamming his head against the windshield.
He said weakly,
"Professor, I think we should—"
"Silence!"
Snape interrupted him coldly.
"Wait here! Don't go anywhere!"
He settled them in a small cubicle next to the Great Hall, then hurried out. He returned quickly with two potion bottles in his hands.
"Drink this!"
He placed the two potion bottles in front of Harry and Ron respectively.
Seeing that it was a potion from him, Harry instinctively felt suspicious and resistant.
But looking at Snape's expression, as if he would pry open his mouth with pliers and force-feed him the potion if he didn't drink it immediately, he had no choice but to overcome his psychological barrier.
He closed his eyes, steeled himself, and downed the potion in one go.
The potion took effect quickly. Harry's originally pale lips immediately turned rosy after drinking it, his dizziness disappeared, and the pain from his wound lessened.
Seeing that even Harry had drunk Snape's potion, Ron extended his good arm and shakily poured the potion into his stomach.
Soon, the pain in his body subsided. Although his broken arm was still not healed, his overall condition was much better than before.
After Harry and Ron realized that Snape was actually helping them, they felt a rare sense of gratitude towards him.
However, before this gratitude could fully develop, Snape's next words made them wonder if their brains had been eaten by dogs for even considering being grateful to him.
"Arriving at Hogwarts in an illegally modified car, seen by countless Muggles along the way, and even making it into today's newspaper, then damaging a very precious Whomping Willow at the school. Well done, Potter!"
"It's a pity you're not students in my house; I don't have the authority to expel you. But I will go and find the person who truly has this delightful privilege. You wait here for me!"
With that,
he left the room with a satisfied smile, leaving Harry and Ron to look at each other in dismay.
"That willow really went crazy! It wanted to kill us!" Ron said.
Harry was carefully wiping the bloodstains from his face with strips of cloth from his clothes.
"It wasn't that it wanted to kill us; it's that it thought we wanted to kill it."
"Why were we so unlucky today? The barrier at the platform had problems, the car had problems, and we were almost beaten to death by a willow tree!"
"You forgot one thing: we're also very likely to be expelled from Hogwarts next."
At this point, they both fell silent.
They both desperately guessed in their hearts that they had truly made a big mistake this time, and that even Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore might not forgive them.
Of course, Dumbledore would not expel them.
After arriving at the room and learning the specifics of what had happened from them, he handed over the authority to punish them to Professor McGonagall.
He himself then returned with Snape to continue attending the still ongoing start-of-term banquet.
In the Great Hall, the students had already filled their stomachs, and Sherlock had finished his chat with Professor Flitwick.
Although it was called a chat, most of the time the small professor was rambling on, imparting his experience on how to deal with the troublesome children of Hogwarts. Sherlock mostly just nodded in agreement.
"I know you must be very tired at this hour and eager to return to your warm common rooms for a good night's sleep, but please allow this annoying old man to ramble on for a few more words."
Dumbledore stood up, his voice carrying to every corner of the hall.
"I am pleased to announce that a new teacher has joined our ranks this year. Professor Cavendish will be filling the vacant position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor and will begin teaching you starting tomorrow."
The applause from below wasn't enthusiastic, but it wasn't weak either.
Sherlock's excellent appearance won him the initial favor of many girls at Hogwarts.
As headmaster, Dumbledore didn't have many lengthy speeches.
After briefly introducing Sherlock, he emphasized a few things that were stressed every year and then announced the end of the banquet.
The students chatted as they left the Great Hall and returned to their respective house common rooms, while Sherlock was led by the castle caretaker, Filch, to his future residence and office at Hogwarts.
"Professor Cavendish, I remember you. When you hadn't graduated, I already thought you were the most promising student at the time. Sure enough, now you've become a professor at Hogwarts."
Filch's words were flattering, but Sherlock remained expressionless and said blandly,
"When I graduated, I said that I would return to this castle. Now I'm just fulfilling my promise."
Then he asked, as if casually,
"Will you still be patrolling the castle tonight?"
Filch usually only dared to show off in front of the students, but in front of the real professors, he became the most polite person in the entire castle.
"On the first night of the new term, some disobedient students sometimes run around, so after I take you to your residence, I'll do a quick check of the castle first."
Sherlock nodded lightly. He said casually and calmly,
"I'll take a walk around the castle with you later. It's been three years since I left here, and I want to refamiliarise myself with the environment." (TN: Wow! A romantic midnight stroll with Filch.)