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"Come in."
Click.
The door opened once again, and a somewhat haggard-looking middle-aged wizard walked in.
Lynn turned his head, confirming that he had indeed never seen this person before.
Edgar and the other two also looked at the newcomer with expressions of confusion.
"Excuse me, who are you?" William asked.
"I forgot to introduce myself; I am your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for this year, Remus Lupin."
The four exchanged glances, not understanding what the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor wanted with them.
Though they didn't understand, they were still polite.
"Hello, Professor!" x4
After responding, Lupin stated his purpose for coming over. "You weren't hurt by the Dementors, were you? I heard from students in the nearby compartments that you were attacked by Dementors."
"Thank you for your concern, Professor, we're fine."
Confirming that the few of them were truly alright, Lupin nodded, but still cautioned, "If there are any problems, you must tell a professor."
Lupin came and went in a hurry; as soon as he left, several Hufflepuff students from the next compartment crowded into the doorway of Lynn's compartment.
"Um... Lynn? Edgar? William? Ollie?" one of the short, chubby boys asked tentatively. "Can we... can we come in? Just to ask a few questions!"
Looking at the faces full of curiosity at the door, Lynn sighed and resignedly took off his eye mask again.
Edgar, on the other hand, perked up and waved enthusiastically, "Come in, come in! Sit, sit, sit! Don't be shy!"
A few Hufflepuff students squeezed in sporadically, making the already small compartment suddenly feel a bit cramped. Their gazes focused uniformly on Lynn.
"Lynn!" the chubby boy spoke first, his eyes shining. "What you summoned just now was a Patronus, right? It was definitely the Patronus Charm! I've read descriptions of it in books! It looked so cool!"
"Was it a Phoenix?" another girl wearing glasses asked. "I heard Headmaster Dumbledore's Patronus is also a Phoenix! But... it seemed to feel a bit different?"
"Edgar!" another student looked at Edgar and asked curiously, "What animal was the Patronus you summoned? It was silvery and looked a bit... well, silly and bouncy. I've never seen it before! Is it some kind of magical creature?"
"William's Patronus was an octopus, right? So amazing! Ollie's was an elephant? They're all so impressive!"
"How did you learn the Patronus Charm? Isn't that an advanced spell that isn't even required for the O.W.L. exams?"
"Weren't you scared when facing the Dementors? How did you concentrate?"
"Can you teach us? Even just a few tips?"
"Why did that Dementor run away as soon as it saw you? It even helped you close the door! That was so weird!"
Questions hit them like a rapid-fire barrage.
The four were overwhelmed by the questioning, but Edgar was enjoying himself, explaining his 'rare magical creature Patronus.'
Lynn first answered the question about the Patronus's form:
"My Patronus is indeed in the form of a Phoenix. As for whether there's a difference from the Headmaster's... a Patronus is a manifestation of an individual's inner self. Similar forms don't mean they're exactly the same; that's quite normal."
"As for how we learned it..." Lynn glanced at Ollie and William, and the three exchanged a knowing look. "Read more books, practice more, and most importantly, find a memory that can truly make you feel happy."
Regarding the Dementor's strange behavior, Lynn looked puzzled. "Why did it run? Maybe it was... polite? Or maybe it suddenly remembered it left the kettle on the stove at home?"
This ridiculous answer left the Hufflepuff students looking at each other. Was he just brushing them off?!
As for the teaching requests, they were all agreed to. Whether they could learn it or not depended on their own comprehension!
After a round of perfunctory answers and explanations, the Hufflepuff students left satisfied.
They were off to spread the word to the other students.
The compartment door closed once again...
The start-of-term feast was as lively as ever, even though the Dementor incident had become a hot topic of discussion.
The aroma of food and the sound of laughter and joy floated through the Great Hall.
After the Sorting Ceremony ended, Professor Dumbledore briefly welcomed the new students and introduced the new professor, Lupin, who received reasonably warm applause. After all, compared to the previous ones, Lupin looked much more normal.
Afterward, he sternly reminded everyone to stay safe and keep away from the areas guarded by Dementors.
When the feast ended, students from each house flocked to their respective common rooms.
The four returned to the Hufflepuff dormitory and soon found their new semester class schedules neatly laid out on their desks by the house-elves.
Edgar picked up his schedule, and with just one look, he let out an exaggerated wail: "Argh—!! Merlin! Why are there so many classes in third year! My Quidditch training time! My precious free flying time! It's been reduced again!"
The densely packed course schedule was indeed much tighter than that of the second year.
"Learning more isn't a bad thing."
William had already picked up his schedule and was scrutinizing it carefully.
He always had a plan for his actions and had only chosen two electives: Ancient Runes and Arithmancy.
Edgar curled his lip and held up his schedule. "Divination and Muggle Studies, let me see which period..."
"Over at Professor Trelawney's, it's said that as long as you can make things up... er, I mean, 'elaborate' on those vague omens, it's not hard to get marks."
Ollie's choices were Divination and Care of Magical Creatures.
On Lynn's schedule, the electives were the same as Ollie's: Divination and Care of Magical Creatures.
He had initially considered adding Ancient Runes, but on second thought, while Professor Babbling was very knowledgeable, she probably didn't know as many Ancient Runes as he did.
After all, he had a cheat.
"William, why didn't you choose Divination? Why Arithmancy of all things?" Edgar leaned over to look at William's schedule, curious. "Divination is so interesting, looking into crystal balls, no need to use much brainpower..."
William pushed up his glasses. "Divination relies too much on talent, whereas Arithmancy, although it has 'mancy' in the name, is closer to a predictive science based on numbers, charts, and logical deduction. There are patterns to follow; it's more... scientific."
He used a 'Muggle' term, but it was very apt.
Hearing this, Lynn cut in with a smile, "Maybe the 'Grim' Professor Trelawney predicts every year using Arithmancy? Like, 'There will surely be one student who meets with misfortune this year, with a probability as high as 2.5%'?"
Edgar and Ollie both laughed. William, however, thought about it seriously. "I can't rule out that possibility, but her way of expressing it is clearly not precise enough."
The few laughed and joked for a while. Seeing that it was getting late, they went to rest, preparing to welcome the new classes starting tomorrow.