Hearing Dumbledore's congratulations, the auditorium burst into warm applause.
All the faculty and staff clapped willingly and wholeheartedly.
After all, being able to be re-elected for a second year in such an unorthodox position as Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts is something that has never happened in decades!
"Professor Dracula seems to have good luck. He hasn't encountered any messy things since he took office." Professor Flitwick said with emotion, "Those Defense Against the Dark Arts professors before always encountered all kinds of strange things. Look, It’s heart-wrenching!”
"Filius, you don't know something about this." Dumbledore looked at Professor Flitwick with a smile, "In fact, Professor Dracula encountered many strange things, but they were all cleverly managed by him. It’s just resolved.”
This is indeed the case.
Voldemort's curse on the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor seems to have a limit, and the current professor cannot be killed directly.
This curse is like a subtle influence, guiding and changing a person's fortune, amplifying their bad luck, making them choke their teeth when drinking cold water, fall down when they touch their left foot with the right foot, and make themselves laugh when they hear a joke. die…
The closer this fortune-changing effect is to the one-year deadline, the more obvious and damaging it will become.
However, Dracula doesn't care about these little things that can make people unlucky, and there are no difficulties that can really affect him.
For example, meeting Fred and George, two twins who want to make big news, being attacked by a troll from behind on Halloween, staring into the eyes of a basilisk that is about to die in a restricted area, and confronting the notorious wizard in the wizarding world. The Dark Lord fights…
Dracula has encountered enough strange things, but these things have no impact on him at all. At most, they add a bit of fun to his boring life.
In a lively atmosphere, this luncheon exclusively for faculty and staff ended unknowingly.
After the dinner plate disappeared from the table, Dumbledore called Dracula, and the two of them left the Great Hall and walked to the Hogwarts Headmaster's office.
"Professor Dracula, before you leave, I would like to trouble you to adjust the brightness of the ceiling of the auditorium to the previous state." Dumbledore smiled. "In addition, in such bright sunshine, you probably don't want to go directly from the entrance courtyard. Fly to the eighth floor?"
"You're right." Dracula nodded noncommittally, walked out of the auditorium door, and then restored the ceiling to its original state, "But this does not mean that I will have the leisure to accompany you to climb the stairs."
Before he finished speaking, Dracula disappeared from the spot, apparating into the principal's office before Dumbledore.
Dumbledore shook his head helplessly, and called Phoenix Fawkes over, taking him into his office instantly.
"Professor Dracula, actually I don't think you need to seek excitement and fast pace in everything. You can try to feel the special fun from ordinary little things." As soon as Dumbledore appeared in the principal's office, he looked at the sofa lying on the sofa. Dracula, who was playing with the Sorting Hat, persuaded,
"As an old man over a hundred years old, I have probably lost the impatience of my youth. Sometimes I feel that walking quietly on the stairs is also a beautiful thing. Happiness is not an emotional expression, but a state of life. It’s about feeling the joy of every little thing in the castle with peace of mind.”
Dracula threw the squealing Sorting Hat aside and glanced at Dumbledore.
"That's right. As an old man over a hundred years old, you can indeed feel pleasure from the little things around you." He said casually, "But as an older man over a thousand years old, those little things are not interesting. I'm tired of watching it a long time ago, so why should I accompany you up the stairs?"
Dumbledore's expression froze with emotion.
Faced with such a young face and an out-of-the-box personality, he always subconsciously ignores the fact that Dracula is thousands of years old. Today, he actually uses age as an example in front of this old immortal who has lived for more than a thousand years...
"Ah, Professor Dracula, have you heard any secret rumors recently?" Dumbledore decisively changed the topic.
"Secret rumors? How secretive?" Dracula became interested and sat up straighter.
Dumbledore's face also became serious, and he looked deeply into Dracula's eyes.
"Voldemort is back." He said solemnly.
However, Dracula curled his lips and lay back on the sofa, "Why do I feel...someone always wants to tell me about Voldemort's return during this time?"
"Have you already heard the news, Professor Dracula?" Dumbledore was a little surprised.
"Yeah, is there anything strange? I've met so many people who know about this recently, I almost thought everyone knew about it." Dracula said casually, "Your news comes from Snape. Is it right?"
"Do you even know this?" Dumbledore felt a little numb. He looked helplessly at Dracula in front of him, with a rare feeling of powerlessness.
"Yeah, it's so obvious." Dracula said, "When Snape was fighting with me in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom last year, I accidentally saw the Dark Mark on his arm, so I randomly checked his deeds.”
"Since Snape, a former Death Eater with serious stains, can actually gain your trust, then the matter is already very clear - he must have defected to your side before the end of the last Wizarding War. He is definitely not the kind of person who will change the family after Voldemort is overthrown. "
"It's a pity that Voldemort is a fool, otherwise he would have known with his nose that there must be something fishy in Snape's ability to gain the trust of a smart man like you!"
Dumbledore couldn't help but laugh and said, "Don't say that, Tom was actually very smart when he was young. Even now, his strength and intelligence cannot be underestimated, and we cannot take it lightly."
"Tsk, you use black magic to transform your body indiscriminately, and tear out your soul for such a boring thing as immortality." Dracula said with relish, "I disagree with your use of the word 'smart' to evaluate Voldemort."
"Let's get back to the topic, Professor Dracula." Dumbledore smiled and shook his head, "After being beaten by you and running away, Voldemort didn't seem to be seriously injured. He only used a few... Within a month, he returned to the magical world and even had a body... "
"His experience is tantamount to a slap in your face, Lord Earl."
Dumbledore looked into Dracula's eyes, deliberately used the honorific, and said to him with a half-smile.
Dracula's eyes twitched.
When he heard the news about Voldemort's return, he had not thought about this level. But after Dumbledore pointed out the matter bluntly, Dracula did feel a little embarrassed.
Voldemort was able to recover so quickly after his soul was annihilated. This was completely a provocation to his face!
"No, the more I think about it, the more angry I get!" Dracula sat up from the sofa bitterly, "I'm going to catch Voldemort right now and deal with him again!"
"Might as well wait a moment, Professor Dracula."
Dumbledore seemed to have anticipated Dracula's mood, and calmly took out a piece of parchment from the drawer with the words "Plan" written on it.
"Instead of trying in vain to eliminate Voldemort's broken soul and resurrect him under the blessing of Horcruxes, we should think about how to completely eliminate him!"
He pushed the plan in front of Dracula.
Dracula looked down at the parchment and saw three preparations that should be made in advance -
"The first point is to investigate the reason why Voldemort quickly recovered his strength and gained a body; the second point is to determine the actual number of Voldemort's Horcruxes and destroy them one by one; the third point is to use undercover agents to understand Voldemort's movements and prevent him from threatening the magical world in a timely manner Dangerous Action."
…
At the same time, Voldemort himself, who was being intensely discussed by Dracula and Dumbledore, was walking on a path in the Albanian forest with a happy face.
After retiring for more than ten years, Voldemort was very satisfied that there were still so many men who could respond to the call of the Dark Mark and obey his orders. What's more, among these people are many powerful figures in the wizarding world, and even Dumbledore's confidants like Snape.
Voldemort had an evil smile on his face and silently laughed at Dumbledore in his heart:
Dumbledore prides himself on seeing people's hearts, but he doesn't know that Dean Slytherin, whom he trusts so much, has joined the great Dark Lord and has been lurking in Hogwarts for more than ten years, doing his best to spy on the Dark Lord. All kinds of information!
Thinking of Hogwarts, Voldemort couldn't help but think of the vampire count who was looking for work as a teacher in the school, and his expression couldn't help but become ferocious.
Why was Dracula born with the power of immortality, and even looked down upon his unremitting efforts for immortality because of it
Moreover, if Dracula is not a good vampire count, why would he go to Hogwarts to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor when he has nothing to do, and even sabotage his plan!
Voldemort was so angry that he wanted to cast countless Cruciatus Curses on Dracula immediately, and finally used a Death Curse to end his effortless immortality.
But he also knew that he was no match for Dracula now.
He had to grow slowly until his Horcrux diary received Harry Potter's blood, and his body was completely molded, so that his strength could reach its peak.
By that time, Voldemort is confident that he will be able to fight Dracula!
In order to gain greater power against Dracula, Voldemort decided to advance an important matter—
He has always believed that the number "seven" is a very magical number in the magic world, so he wants to divide his soul into seven parts, thinking that he can obtain more powerful power.
Voldemort didn't know that as early as twelve years ago in Godric's Hollow, he had accidentally left the seventh soul fragment in the body of Harry Potter, his old enemy.
Therefore, he came to the Albanian forest this time to make what he thought was the last Horcrux!
He had already chosen the target of the sixth Horcrux.
That was the big snake that often accompanied him during that time when he was worse than the humblest wandering soul - Nagini.
Of course, there are risks. Even masters of soul splitting and Horcrux making like Voldemort have never experienced splitting souls in living creatures with their own hands.
But he liked Nagini so much.
Unlike those stupid snakes who only follow orders, this viper named Nagini has extremely high intelligence. She can talk to him fluently, understand his difficulties, and share his anger.
Not only that, even the name Nagini was learned by Voldemort from the mouth of the Viper.
Therefore, he must make this magical viper into his Horcrux so that she can always be by his side and become the only partner who can communicate with him when he feels too cold at high places!
Walking in the Albanian forest, Voldemort looked for traces of Nagini with a smile on his face.
Several hours passed, and Voldemort kept calling loudly in the forest in a snake-like voice, trying to get a response from Nagini.
However, walking throughout the forest and using snake accents continuously made Voldemort's voice hoarse. The only responses he received were all kinds of stupid little snakes living in the forest. Nagini seemed to disappear out of thin air.
Voldemort's face became extremely gloomy.
…
In a hidden cave, two snakes, one large and one small, were hiding quietly in the dim shadows.
To say they are one big and one small is actually just a comparison.
In fact, both snakes are so huge that the appearance of either snake in front of a Muggle would cause an uproar in the biological world.
One of them is a big dazzling green snake, about fifty feet long, with a bright red feather on its head; the other big snake is a viper with spots all over its body, and its body is as long as Twelve feet, although it was much smaller than the big snake next to him, it was still a huge creature.
At this time, two big snakes were hiding in the shadows and shivering. From time to time, the snakes' hissing voice came from outside the cave, but they pretended not to hear it.
Suddenly, Voldemort outside the cave changed his previous tone and shouted in a commanding tone:
"Nagini, come out to me!"
Hearing the commanding tone of the old snake, the smaller viper instantly lost its mind, swung its body, and was about to climb out of the cave.
However, the huge basilisk relied on its size advantage to tightly restrain Nagini's body at this moment, preventing her from going out and throwing herself into Voldemort's trap.
After Voldemort left, Nagini finally regained her consciousness and looked a little dazed.
"I'm right, Nagini," the basilisk hissed, "but if you don't see him for a while, he will yell at you in such a fierce tone. Let me tell you, This Voldemort is definitely not a good person!"
Nagini tapped the snake's head twice and looked at the basilisk next to her with a clear conscience.
"Thank you this time, grandpa." She hissed in response, "If it weren't for you, I might not be able to see through this man's true face for another twelve years!"
…
…