HP: Professor From Azkaban

The atmosphere turned awkward, yet no one dared to laugh.

Even Dumbledore, seated among the professors at William's table, maintained a calm and composed demeanor, as if nothing had happened. He stared intently at the table as though pondering what odd thing to transfigure it into for entertainment later.

The students sat in perfect silence, their behavior so disciplined that William almost thought he'd misheard what had just occurred.

While he wondered if the timeline had somehow gone off course, Professor McGonagall waved her wand. A sharp whistling noise echoed through the hall, followed by a tightly rolled parchment shooting into the Great Hall like an arrow.

With an air of calm, McGonagall caught the parchment and unrolled it to examine its contents.

William clearly heard a collective sigh of relief from the entire staff table. It was evident that everyone had been holding their breath.

The hall also seemed to come alive again. The previously rigid students relaxed, whispering quietly among themselves.

After a quick review of the parchment, McGonagall placed it down and addressed the first-years once more.

"The Sorting will now resume. When I call your name, come forward and wait to be sorted," she announced.

"Barry Baker."

A small boy timidly stepped out of the group, obediently placed the Sorting Hat on his head, and sat on the stool.

"Ravenclaw!"

The hat immediately shouted the house name, and thunderous applause erupted from the Ravenclaw table.

William, however, froze entirely in his seat.

[You have witnessed a grand ceremony and received: Treasure Chest x1.]

Grand? How?

It was nothing more than wearing a thousand-year-old hat and being assigned to a house. He had asked about this before; no one ever failed this step!

Describing such a straightforward process as "grand" seemed utterly exaggerated to him.

Suppressing his internal complaints, William casually opened the treasure chest.

[Hope of the Ritual (UR)(Special): Since 993 AD, Gryffindor's hat has been used as a tool to select students for the four houses. The four great founders blessed the hat and imbued the Sorting Ceremony with layers of protective magic.

Across the wizarding world, enrollment ages vary. Some magical schools even accept students as young as seven. Only Hogwarts admits students at the age of eleven.

The strongest wizards can master ritual magic, capable of destroying cities, spreading plagues, granting near-immortal healing powers, or bestowing permanent blessings.

Before admission, the innate magic accumulated by young witches and wizards; enabling them to defy gravity or make objects disappear and reappear; is transformed through the ritual into the ultimate protective force to safeguard them through their formative years.

This ritual, refined and improved by generations of headmasters, has evolved into its present form.

In 1876, the castle's resident poltergeist, Peeves, escaped a trap and managed to acquire a large-caliber musket and a small cannon within Hogwarts.

What followed was essentially a one-sided battle, with Peeves suppressing the school's professors. In the end, the school had to grant Peeves several privileges in exchange for peace.

Since that day, the ritual's protective power has included specific defenses against Muggle weaponry, albeit at the cost of reducing some general defensive capabilities.

When Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald first bonded over their shared vision, the two young geniuses began researching magical defenses against Muggle weaponry, making unprecedented breakthroughs.

After their fallout, Dumbledore continued this line of research. Upon becoming headmaster, he incorporated these protective enchantments into the improved ritual.]

[Ritual Effect (Wizards Immune to Firearms): Any high-speed projectile, such as a bullet, triggers a magical effect similar to Apparition when it comes within a certain range of a wizard, instantly diverting the projectile underground.

Trust me, diverting a thousand bullets isn't as difficult as Apparating even once. Identifying bullets, though, is slightly more complex.

There will always be someone who wants to shout, 'The times have changed!' But Albus Dumbledore has changed them back.

Card Effect: You have gained the ritual effect for free.]

"Phew--"

William couldn't help but take a deep breath. At last, he understood why his magical power seemed so much stronger than that of wizards his age.

Apparently, while others' magic had been used to solidify their defensive rituals, all the magic he had accumulated before turning eleven had gone entirely untouched. That wasn't a small amount of magic by any means.

Luckily, now he had the ritual too. Speaking of which, was the secrecy around the Sorting Ceremony somehow connected to this magical ritual?

Well, it didn't matter now. He had it too. There was no need to feel jealous anymore.

***

Note 1: The magical institution in Japan is a recognized wizarding school that admits students as young as seven, far earlier than Hogwarts' standard enrollment age of eleven.

Note 2: Though not officially named, Voldemort's resurrection ritual clearly differs from simple one-line spells. Similarly, complex rituals include the Unbreakable Vow seen in the original story, as well as the lengthy incantation Ron mistakenly recited on his first day at Hogwarts, thinking it was a spell.

Considering the devastating power of the Fiendfyre unleashed by Grindelwald, which almost consumed all of Paris, it's reasonable to conclude that such effects were enhanced by a series of rituals.

Note 3: Before enrolling at Hogwarts, young witches and wizards often use accidental magic unconsciously, yet the effects are no less potent. For example, Harry made the unbreakable glass in front of a boa constrictor vanish, while Neville floated gently to the ground after being thrown from a window.

In contrast, second-year students like Harry and Malfoy could barely produce sparks with their wands, showing a sharp decline in magical potency.

Before Harry entered his third year, however, he managed to inflate Aunt Marge into a human balloon and send her drifting far away; without even using his wand. If there weren't magical protections against harm among wizards, third-year students would have caused significant accidents by then.

In summary, it appears that a wizard's magical power is significantly diminished upon enrollment, with the lost magic being transformed into personal protective effects.

Note 4: In 1876, Hogwarts' caretaker at the time devised numerous traps in an attempt to expel Peeves. The traps used bait that included several curved swords, a few crossbows, a large-caliber musket, and a small cannon (yes, these were listed in the original records). However, Peeves dismantled the traps and, for his amusement, used the weapons to fire shots and cannonballs inside the castle. This led to a three-day evacuation of the school.

After three days, the then-headmistress, Eupraxia Mole, negotiated an agreement with Peeves. In exchange for surrendering the weapons, Peeves was granted additional privileges, including weekly swims in the boys' first-floor lavatory, priority access to moldy bread in the kitchen for throwing purposes, and a custom-made new hat commissioned from Madame Bonhabille.

Thus, Peeves truly earned his reputation as a legend. At the same time, Hogwarts began paying closer attention to Muggle firearms, forming the basis for later theories and practices.