Snape, Flitwick, Sprout and the other teachers sat in their seats.
The very end of the table was adorned with the frightening figure of the big Hagrid.
Richard thought:
"It's strange, why such discrimination? The dreaded forester gets a seat at the festive table with the teachers, while the caretaker gets shortchanged. They could at least show some respect for the old man a few times a year during the holidays. He may be mean and grumpy, but he's still a school employee. It'll be even more offensive for Filch, since he knows the forester gets a seat at the table while the caretaker doesn't. At my company, which has grown from one employee to twenty, everyone is invited to corporate events: from managers to couriers and cleaners. People, regardless of their position, need to understand that they're part of the team, that the company doesn't forget about them."
Colin Creevey approached the stool. Professor McGonagall helped him place the Sorting Hat on his head.
The hat on Colin's head thought for a very long time.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" she loudly pronounced her verdict.
As soon as Professor McGonagall removed the hat from Creevey's head, the boy rushed toward the Hufflepuff table. The students of that house loudly applauded their new comrade.
Colin sat between Dawson and Richard. Beaming with delight, he said:
"Richie, we're going to be in the same house! I'm so happy! That stupid hat tried to send me to the wrong house."
"Yes?" Richard raised his right eyebrow.
"Yes, yes," Colin began nodding vigorously. "She was telling me about bravery and courage, about the noble house. Ha! I may be a milkman's son, but I'm no fool! I told the hat straight out: 'You impudent piece of felt, you can't fool me! I know noble lords are in Hufflepuff, and you're trying to sell me some Gryffindor!' I'm so happy I managed to talk the hat into putting me in Hufflepuff."
"Colin, congratulations," Richard gave the freshman a warm smile. "You've made an excellent choice."
Of the first-years being sorted, Richard was only interested in the fates of Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood. The rest of the first-years seemed uninteresting to him. They were nothing special, mere blanks for adults with no firm principles or goals. There were no rich or influential people among them, nor any connections of any real use.
Richard was attracted to Ginny as the daughter of the manager of his wizarding business. She joined her brothers in Gryffindor.
Luna, however, intrigued Rich with her knowledge of strange magical creatures. Moreover, as far as he could piece together, Lovegood was the daughter of the editor of a wizarding magazine. Not exactly a high-flyer, but it was useful to have such connections, just in case. Luna was sorted into Ravenclaw.
Finally, the distribution was complete. A variety of food appeared on the tables. The children, hungry from the day, pounced on the food greedily.
After finishing the late supper, Headmaster Dumbledore rose from his seat and delivered a speech virtually identical to the previous year. The only difference was that his delivery made no mention of the castle's forbidden areas. And in place of the late Quirrell, he introduced Gilderoy Lockhart as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Lockhart exuded an aura of positivity. He beamed with happiness and seemed to revel in the attention, like a once-famous but forgotten star of a B-movie.
After the school song, everyone went to their bedrooms. The students had no strength left for anything but crawling to their beds.
Richard noticed that this year, Hufflepuff had almost twice as many students as last year. He believed, not without reason, that he himself had been the reason the first-year dormitories were filled to capacity. If Richie hadn't strolled down the last carriage of the Hogwarts Express and left a positive impression, things might have been different.
The next day, the weather was bleak from the very morning. The magical ceiling of the Great Hall was covered in dull gray clouds. The dining tables of all the houses were, as expected, laden with bowls of porridge, plates of smoked herring, toast, and dishes of fried eggs and bacon. Basically, a traditional English breakfast.
Richard decided to check out his textbooks right during breakfast. He opened a copy of "I Am a Wizard" and began reading quickly. The more he read, the more furrowed his brow became.
Harry and Ron sat at their desk next to Hermione, who was also reading Lockhart's book at that moment.
Justin, who was sitting next to Richard, nudged his friend and asked:
"Richie, are you considering reading a Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook? I read them all over the summer. Lockhart is incredibly cool! If a vampire had attacked me in a phone booth, I'd have died of fear. But he didn't give a damn! He fought and won. Fantastic! I gave these books to my mom to read, and she realized how wonderful it is to have a wizard in the family, especially an educated one.
Richard looked up from his book and smiled at Finch-Fletchley.
"Justin, this doesn't look like a textbook at all. It's a great book, I'd give it a ten out of ten, but it's a work of fiction disguised as an autobiography. Where are the spell descriptions? Where are the drawings of wand movements? Where are the history of the spells, how to use them, and the dangers of misuse? It looks like the slick writer who's going to teach us Defense Against the Dark Arts decided to make money off us and sold his fantasy fiction under the guise of textbooks. He'd be better off asking for money outright than deceiving us like that. Although, as a businessman, I can understand him to some extent."
"You think so?" Justin's voice was tinged with doubt. "But I thought he was strong..."
"Justin, open any textbook and compare it to these books," Richie waved Lockhart's work under his friend's nose. "Spot the difference, as they say. Anyone who's ever opened a textbook would never confuse it with a work of fiction. God forbid Lockhart knows all the spells described in his books and didn't find their descriptions in the library."
Justin shrugged and said,
- Wizards believe that Lockhart accomplished all the feats he describes, and Headmaster Dumbledore would hardly have hired an incompetent person.
"Did I say Lockhart was incompetent?" Richard raised his right eyebrow. "No, Jas. He's at least a talented writer. But to be a good writer and beautifully describe heroic deeds, you don't have to be a badass Rambo. A writer could just hear an Auror tell a story in a pub, say, about fighting a Yeti, and then use his imagination and put it all beautifully on paper."
"What about the Auror?" Justin drawled. "Won't he make a claim? After all, by that logic, he was the one who defeated the Yeti."
"Why would that be?" Richard asked, surprised. "A writer has the right to describe any adventure in a work of fiction. And if the Auror didn't want his story put on paper, then he shouldn't have been telling it to everyone who wanted it."