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Chapter 98: The first professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts to be re-elected.

In a dark doorway, two ragged wizards were whispering and eyeing him, while some creature-like beings were licking their lips in his direction.

Harry felt a shiver run down his spine and wanted to leave this eerie place as quickly as possible.

He jogged along, occasionally adjusting his broken glasses.

...However, after two minutes, he sadly realized he had lost his way.

"Lost, are we, dear?"

Suddenly, an old, unpleasant voice startled Harry.

An old witch stood in front of him, holding a dish that resembled a collection of deceased fingernails. She looked at him menacingly, exposing teeth that appeared to be covered in moss.

Harry trembled, backing away in a panic.

"I'm fine, thank you," he stammered, "I just..."

At that moment, Harry suddenly felt something grab his shoulder and lift him off the ground.

The old witch below reached out with sharp nails, trying to pull Harry down, but he was ascending too quickly for her to reach.

With his feet off the ground, Harry flailed his legs desperately, trying to escape, but afraid that if he fell, he would become the old witch's prey.

Summoning his courage, Harry turned his head, hoping the thing grabbing him was something he had learned about in Defense Against the Dark Arts... As the top student in his first-year Defense Against the Dark Arts final exam, he might find a solution!

Turning his head, Harry saw a huge bat grasping his back, its wings flapping continuously.

The bat seemed somewhat familiar...

Like...

Like the one that caught him on the Quidditch pitch!

Harry's heart instantly lightened, and he even began to enjoy the view from up high.

He saw the ugly old witch's begrudging expression, the many shady wizards in the narrow street staring up at him in surprise, and a luxurious window that seemed out of place in the alley...

Inside that window was a silver-haired man, elegantly holding a crystal goblet and sipping wine.

The bat's wingbeats slowed as it hovered next to the window. Then, it suddenly accelerated, flinging Harry's small body toward the wall beside the window.

"Ah..." Harry cried out in terror as the wall loomed closer.

Just as Harry was about to crash into the marble wall, the silver-haired man inside glanced over at him.

The next moment, the marble wall seemed to turn into liquid, rippling with spiral waves.

Harry passed straight through the thick wall and landed heavily on a soft sofa.

"Mr. Potter, I believe you need to explain why you are in such a dangerous place as Knockturn Alley?" Dracula's calm voice came from beside Harry. "Curious about the place and sneaking in?"

"Professor Dracula!" Hearing that voice, Harry's anxiety dissipated completely, and he hoarsely shouted, "I got lost... It was my first time using Floo Powder today, and I inhaled some of the ash... So I might have said the wrong word..."

"Diagon and Knockturn don't sound very similar, do they? How much ash did you inhale?" Dracula asked with a hint of amusement.

He then noticed that Harry was indeed covered in soot, which had even dirtied the luxurious sofa cushions in the compartment.

Dracula frowned.

"Well, it's clear you've inhaled quite a bit of ash."

As he spoke, he snapped his fingers. The soot in the compartment vanished instantly, and Harry's glasses were repaired and as good as new.

"Thank you, Professor..." Harry said weakly, "This Knockturn Alley doesn't seem like a place where respectable people would come... Ah, no, Professor, I didn't mean to imply that you're not respectable."

Dracula's expression immediately darkened.

"Do you know who that old witch who stopped you just now was?" he sneered with malicious intent, "This is something to be covered in second-year classes. If you had studied well at home, this question shouldn't be too hard to answer."

"Ah?" Harry was stunned. "Wasn't she just an old witch with a peculiar appearance and personality?"

"It seems you didn't study the upcoming content at all," Dracula said with a pleased smile. "If you had observed carefully, you would have noticed that the old witch had many warts on her face and neck, similar to fungi or solid blisters growing on her skin."

"If you had looked even more closely, you might have noticed that the front of her feet was much narrower than that of a normal person, because such creatures only have four toes."

"So... that old witch wasn't a witch at all?!" Harry asked in shock.

"Correct, she was a hag," Dracula said with a chuckle. "Hags particularly enjoy eating raw liver, especially that of children. If I hadn't happened to be nearby and found you, you might have already had your heart and liver taken out, leaving nothing but a corpse!"

Harry broke out in a cold sweat, feeling a wave of relief. He swore never to come to Knockturn Alley again!

"Well, since you didn't study properly at home, you'll have double the homework compared to others for the first two weeks after you return to Hogwarts," Dracula said, glancing at Harry, whose face had turned pale with fear, nonchalantly.

"Professor, there's a reason I didn't study!" Harry quickly explained. "After returning to the Muggle community, my aunt and uncle hid all my magical things, so I had no chance to prepare!"

"What a poor child," Dracula said.

Harry's face showed a glimmer of joy, thinking that perhaps his homework wouldn't be doubled after all.

"But what does that have to do with me?" Dracula's next sentence shattered Harry's brief joy. "And how would I know if that isn't just an excuse?"

"I'll assume what you said is true, but since you used Floo Powder to come to Knockturn Alley, it means you must have left your Muggle family and stayed with a wizarding family for a while, hmm, I'd guess the Weasleys."

"So during your stay with the Weasleys, did you spend all your time playing and completely neglect your studies?"

Harry stared blankly at Professor Dracula's long-winded explanation and finally understood—

Whether he had studied or not was irrelevant; the petty professor was simply looking for revenge for his casual remark about "unrespectable"!

He stood up indignantly and stared at Dracula, saying resolutely:

"Professor, I accept the doubled homework!"

Seeing Dracula's smirking expression, Harry decisively chose to submit. He realized that resisting would be futile and that agreeing now was better than having the workload tripled. Besides, Dracula didn't usually assign much homework anyway... assuming he could prevent Hermione from reminding him!

"Professor, you're right. I am currently staying with the Weasleys," Harry said. "I mistakenly arrived at Knockturn Alley and now I've lost my way. They must be very worried. So... could you please take me to Diagon Alley?"

Dracula glanced at him and casually placed his crystal goblet on the table.

"Alright then, I should be leaving anyway," he said, standing up and walking to the window of the compartment, lifting the closed window.

In fact, when this compartment was first built, the luxurious window couldn't be opened to ensure privacy.

But Dracula found it too cumbersome to bypass the central hall, walk through many booths, and descend the stairs from the second floor of the White Dragon Tavern to the black wizard tattoo shop on the first floor. It was faster to simply jump out the window.

So, to accommodate Dracula's preference, the tavern's owner had specially modified the window to be operable.

At this moment, Dracula skillfully lifted the window and jumped out.

Having had previous experience in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Harry gritted his teeth and followed Dracula out the window.

Indeed, just before hitting the ground, a bat skillfully flew beneath Harry's feet, providing enough cushioning for a smooth landing in the dark, narrow alley.

After the two left, the luxurious window in the White Dragon Tavern automatically closed, returning to its original tight-sealing state, leaving no chance for curious onlookers to peep.

Dracula, arms crossed, leisurely guided Harry through the winding, narrow alleys toward Diagon Alley.

Harry noticed that the previously sinister and malevolent gazes from the alley's denizens had changed.

Upon seeing Dracula beside Harry, their eyes showed fear and respect. They didn't dare to linger their gaze on the two and quickly looked away.

"Professor, it seems like people in this alley are quite afraid of you?" Harry asked curiously. "Did you deal with them before?"

Dracula glanced dismissively at the various dark wizards and creatures along the street and sneered. "Them? I couldn't be bothered to deal with them."

Harry could only silently give a thumbs up to Dracula's extreme confidence, as he had no way to refute...

The real reason wasn't complicated.

In an alley filled with dark magic like Knockturn Alley, a dark source like Dracula, even showing a hint of darkness, could have a significant impact on the dark wizards and creatures here.

The beings that managed to survive in this place were not fools; their senses were sharper than ordinary people's. Even if they hadn't met Dracula before, they could deeply feel that the silver-haired man was... not to be trifled with!

After walking for about five or six minutes, the light in front of Knockturn Alley grew brighter, gradually dispelling the gloom and darkness of the alley.

The two finally emerged into the bright sunlight of the outside world. Harry saw a familiar white marble building from a distance: Gringotts Bank.

"I suppose you don't need me to guide you the rest of the way?" Dracula asked, stopping his steps.

He disdainfully glanced at the sunlight streaming into the alley, stepped aside, and stood in the shadow of a shop's eaves.

"Hmm!" Harry nodded vigorously. "Thank you for your help today, Professor Dracula!"

As he spoke, he ran toward Gringotts, where he saw Hermione standing on the white steps, happily waving at him.

Dracula watched Harry's departing figure, then saw the Weasley family hurriedly coming from afar. He chuckled and shook his head.

In the next moment, his figure disappeared into the shadow under the eaves.

---

In the Hogwarts Great Hall, the staff had almost all arrived.

At this magical school, there was a peculiar phenomenon—many Hogwarts professors lived within the school.

Professors like Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Flitwick could all be considered aging single wizards. They had no family burdens and didn't need to return home to spend time with family during their off hours.

Or rather, the students at Hogwarts were their family.

So, unless they had other academic exchanges to attend, these professors spent most of the summer at Hogwarts.

At this moment, Snape was leaning over to whisper something to Dumbledore, McGonagall was busy organizing the new student list and the opening banquet schedule, and Flitwick was cheerfully chatting with Professor Sprout...

Suddenly, the light in the Great Hall seemed to dim.

"Hmm, is it going to rain?" Professor Flitwick looked curiously at the magically enhanced ceiling of the hall. "There don't seem to be any clouds up there?"

"It might also be that Professor Dracula has arrived," Professor McGonagall said calmly, writing on parchment while speaking to Flitwick. "Whenever the students are not around, he tends to do things like this."

Sure enough, in the next moment, Dracula appeared at the professor's table and elegantly took his seat.

Dracula had never liked the magically enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall because it made him feel the sunlight indoors.

So he had devised a good method using the Hogwarts property deeds—to control the magical node of the castle to adjust the light transmission of the ceiling.

In simple terms, it was about adjusting the brightness of the ceiling!

However, this wasn't very suitable when there were too many students. On one hand, it affected the mood of the little witches and wizards while dining, and on the other hand, it could reveal Dracula's aversion to sunlight, exposing his vampire identity.

Of course, Dracula himself never cared about revealing his identity; it was Dumbledore who was concerned about it for him...

Thus, the sudden darkening of the sky was the result of these various reasons.

Seeing Dracula seated, Dumbledore dismissed Snape to his own seat and led the applause.

"Let us congratulate Professor Dracula! He has become Hogwarts' first Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to be reappointed for a second year in decades!"