The students eagerly looked at the Headmaster as they awaited his announcement, though some of the smarter students as well as the majority of Ravenclaw students had already guessed what the announcement was.

“I’d like to introduce-” the Headmaster looked back and gestured towards a man in a brown coat. He had brown hair and a goatee of the same color. He had green eyes and looked quite humble. He stood up and nodded to the Headmaster with a smile as the latter continued, “-Professor Remus Lupin. He will be your Professor for Defense Against Dark Arts this year.”

“Huh? He looks surprisingly normal,” Sol remarked.

Cormac nodded in relief, “Yeah, he’s by far the most normal Defense Against Dark Arts professor I’ve ever met.”

“Huh?” Sol looked at him with surprise, “What about that Professor from our first year?”

“No, even she gave me wrong vibes.”

“She?” Sol was stunned, “Wasn’t it a man?”

“No, it was a lady. Don’t you remember? The Professor of Defense Against Dark Arts had red hair and blue eyes. However, her haughty attitude was too annoying.” Cormac scoffed.

“Wha-?” Sol went into deep thought. What’s happening? I’m sure it was a man! Where did this blue eyes, red dragon- er, I mean red-haired Professor come from?

“You remember her name?” Sol asked again.

“Haha, it seems she didn't leave that much of an impression on you. How did you even forget her name?”

“Just tell me.”

“If I remember right, her name was Professor Something Rakepick.”

“Professor…Rakepick?” Sol thought hard about it. How? He had a feeling his memory had been tampered with. The Professor in 1990 definitely wasn’t a woman neither were they someone called Rakepick. Was it my memory that had been tampered with or theirs? He looked at Cormac with a thoughtful gaze.

The second conjecture was much more likely. The Law of the World of a fictional world had little to no influence on outsiders. Although the Law of fictional worlds with linear stories had a stronger hold over the world, it still could not take initiative to directly influence outsiders.

Sol looked around. The students warmly welcomed and applauded the new Professor. But the problem is- why did the Law of the World make such a move? Did I alter the story progression too much? No, the real question right now is- what did it hope to achieve by bringing in someone new?

Sol groaned. The students stopped clapping as the Headmaster continued on with his speech. Yet it didn’t reach Sol’s ears as he fell into deep thought. The more he guessed, the more he understood.

For example- why did the Law of the World not introduce this Rakepick woman this year if it really wanted to stop Sol from disturbing the flow of the plot? The answer he derived is- because the arrival from Professor Lupin must be a bigger plot point than Rakepick.

Another question is: why did it choose to replace Sol’s first-year professor? Answer: it’s because that professor might be a background character, unimportant to the story. After all, Harry might be the protagonist of this fictional world, so it should make sense that a professor from his previous year to who he had no connections would be a background character.

However, no matter how he thought, the most important still remained unanswered. It was- what did introducing Rakepick bring to the table?

At one point, food magically appeared on the tables. Sol did not say much even though the people around him started clamoring and chatting without care. He just instinctively shoveled food into his mouth with cutlery.

As he wracked his brain, he felt someone tap his shoulder. He jerked back and turned around. He saw Katie look at him worriedly.

“Is something wrong? You’ve been awfully silent,” she inquired with a worried gaze.

“No,” Sol denied without hesitation. He smiled, “Just thinking of some things back at home.”

“Already homesick?” she snickered.

“Maybe,” he drank from his cup and side-eyed her. He joined the conversation yet his worried did not cease. Unless he knew what all this entails, perhaps they will never cease.

The second-year students talked to the new first-years. One of the more playful and extroverted second-year students started introducing the upperclassmen one by one.

“Those fifth-year twins are the infamous Weasley twins, Fred and George! Be wary of them, we’ve fallen victim to their pranks so many times.” That second-year student made an exaggerated aggrieved expression.

“It seems he’s cheeky enough to mock his seniors, isn’t he Fred?” George nudged Fred.

“Quite right, George. It seems he’s voluntarily stepped up to help us with our new experiments.”

“I did no such thing,” the second-year student shivered. After a round of laughter, he continued the introductions.

“That’s Hermione Granger. If you don’t see her reading in the common room, then she’s probably reading in the library.”

“Well, unlike someone who’s at the bottom of the class, I strive to be at the top,” Hermione snorted and the student stuck his tongue out playfully.

“That’s Ron Weasley. Yep, he’s the twins’ brother. You’ll most likely see him with Harry Potter. In his spare time, he retorts to absurd situations.”

“Harry Potter?” one of the first-years repeated with their eyes wide as discs.

“Yep,” the second-year student gestured pointed towards Harry, “this is the famous Harry Potter! The boy who lived!”

“H-Hello,” Harry waved at the eager first-years uncomfortably.

“Move on with your introductions, Donny!” Sol placed his mug on the table.

The second-year student called Donny laughed, “Sure!” He then looked at the first-years and gestured at Sol, “That’s Sol Balor. He lazes around in his spare time. But don’t cross him, he’s like a mad tyrant when he gets-”

“Donny-” Sol cut him off, “if I’m not wrong, don’t you have a crush on Hufflepuff’s-”

“NO!” Donny yelled out in shock and fear. “Please don’t!”

“Haha!” Sol smirked at him. “You thought I wouldn’t know; especially when you’re so bad at hiding it?”

“Please, I’m begging you!” Donny had almost been reduced to tears.

“Sure!” Sol sipped from his mug and shooed him away. Donny pitifully slumped his shoulders.

“You know…” Katie felt sorry for Donny and glared at Sol, “he wasn’t that far off calling you a mad tyrant.”

“But aren’t you the one who punches me and Cormac whenever you get annoyed,” Sol looked at her with a bewildered expression.

“At least, I don’t do…” she took another peek at Donny who seemed to have recovered enough to talk with others again, “whatever you just did!”

“Oh, come on!” Sol scoffed. “I was just bluffing. Why would I care who he liked when I don’t even have time to care for myself?”

“Humph!” this time Cormac snorted, “Then you getting ‘Acceptable’ in all subjects is just a fluke?”

“Why are you acting like this?” Sol shifted his gaze towards him. “If you have time to be jealous of my results; then be jealous of those who get ‘Exceeds Expectations’ or ‘Outstanding’ in all subjects, or better yet, start studying!”

“People at least get ‘Poor’ or ‘Dreadful’ in one or two subjects and ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Exceeds Expectation’ in others. But what about you? You got ‘Acceptable’ in everything!”

“See how average I am? At least, they excel at something. I’m just average at everything.”

“I think being average at everything is a far better talent than being good at any one thing.”

“I give up!” Sol put his hands up in surrender. “It’s useless talking to a moron.”

“Hey, who’s the moron here?” Cormac protested.

“Look it’s about time we head to the common room,” Sol pointed towards the prefects who had started instructing the students of all the houses to follow them. The prefects lined up all the students and brought them to their respective common rooms.

With a full stomach, Sol sat down on the sofa and leaned back. He rubbed his face and looked at the ceiling above. The emergence of a new Professor was constantly weighing on his mind. It was worse since this Professor was already outside and not inside the school.

This was a bad scenario for Sol. Had this Rakepick woman been inside the castle, then she would’ve had less room to maneuver.

Sol sighed and looked at the mingling Gryffindor students. Looks like my dreams of a peaceful year might be out the window…