Harry Potter: The Golden Viper

The Easter holiday was still a week away, but Professor McGonagall had already handed out the new course list for the third year to the second-year wizards. She told them they had to make their choices before the break, which threw Hermione into a frenzy of indecision. She spent the whole weekend poring over the pamphlet, fascinated by every subject and unwilling to give up any of them.

Even when she went to help Professor Lockhart with his fan mail on Sunday afternoon, which had become a regular chore, she brought the course list with her, hoping to get some guidance from Professor Watson. The young Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was always in his office, assisting Lockhart with his correspondence and offering his own insights on various topics.

"Interest is the best teacher, Granger–"

Bryan said with a smile, as he watched Hermione scribble down a polite reply to a witch who had sent Lockhart a love potion.

"But you can't do everything at once. You have to prioritize. If you want my advice, I think Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes are more practical than the others."

"She's already made up her mind to take all of them–"

Harry said cautiously, as he leaned against the wall. He had followed Hermione to Professor Watson's office, not because he enjoyed writing letters for Lockhart, but because he hoped to find some clues about how to deal with the inferi from Professor Watson. The young teacher had hinted that he knew something about them when he visited Harry in the hospital wing during their encounter.

"All of them?"

Bryan looked at Hermione with a mixture of admiration and concern. He saw the determination in her brown eyes and the slight frown on her forehead. He knew she was not easily swayed.

"That might be a problem, Granger. Some of these courses overlap in time. You can't be in two places at once."

"That's not a problem, Professor Watson. Professor McGonagall gave me a great suggestion–"

Hermione said confidently, as she finished writing the letter and sealed it with wax. She reached for another envelope, eager to get through the pile of mail as soon as possible.

"What about you, Potter?"

Bryan changed the subject and turned to Harry. He noticed that Harry looked restless and curious, as if he wanted to ask something else.

"Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, Professor. Ron and I both chose these two courses."

Harry answered quickly, trying to sound casual. He wondered how to steer the conversation to the topic of inferi without arousing suspicion. Bryan nodded approvingly and muttered under his breath,

"I heard that Professor Kettleburn of Care of Magical Creatures is going to retire at the end of the year. It seems that Headmaster Dumbledore will have a lot on his plate next year. He has to find two new professors to fill the gaps–"

Harry's eyes widened in surprise, and even Hermione stopped writing and looked up at Professor Watson in disbelief. They exchanged a glance and then Hermione asked tentatively, "Don't you want to stay at Hogwarts, Professor?"

"Hehe–"

Bryan chuckled softly. He picked up a framed photo from his desk and gently wiped off the dust on it. It was a picture of him when he was young.

"I'm afraid I have to disappoint you, Granger, Potter. Being a professor at Hogwarts may be a good job for some people. Maybe one day in the future, I will come back here as a teacher, but not anytime soon. I have other plans."

Professor Watson's answer made Hermione's face fall. Even Harry felt a pang of sadness. He stared at the young face in the photo, which looked too young. He noticed that Professor Watson's purple eyes were quite darker than when they first met him at the start of the term. He suddenly remembered what Hagrid had told them about Professor Watson's school days.

"Professor,"

Harry hesitated for a moment, but he couldn't suppress his curiosity any longer. He asked in a low voice, "We heard some things about your time at Hogwarts from Hagrid. The dark witch you met in the Forbidden Forest in your fifth year, did you ever find out who she was?"

Bryan's hand stopped moving. He looked at Harry and smiled mysteriously.

"That's a good question, Potter. To be honest, I've been wondering about that for years. I've always wanted to know what her motive was for breaking into Hogwarts and trying to kill me when I was just a kid. But it wasn't until recently that I figured it out."

"Who is she?!" Harry and Hermione gasped in unison, their eyes wide with curiosity and astonishment.

"I can't tell you yet–"

Bryan lowered his eyes and smiled as he put the photo frame back in place. Seeing that the two little wizards looked obviously disappointed, he pursed his lips and thought for a while before smiling again.

"Well then, as compensation, you can ask me something else. I'll try to answer you as best I can. Of course, Potter, if you want to find out from me how to pass the 'practical class', don't bother!"

Harry, who was seen through by Professor Watson, smiled sheepishly. He regretted his words and glanced at the photo that Professor Watson had put down. He noticed something else that intrigued him: Professor Watson's eyes were different in the photo.

The first time he walked into this office, Harry was very curious why Professor Watson's eyes had changed so much from when he was in school. It was a rare opportunity to figure this out, since Professor Watson was willing to answer his questions.

He blinked and chuckled softly. "Alright. If you're really curious,"

"Are you willing to tell us?"

Harry asked timidly, hoping not to offend him.

"There's nothing I can't say, Potter–" Bryan leaned back on his leather chair and smiled gently.

"Actually, this has something to do with what happened on the night of Christmas Eve in my fifth year."

Hermione dropped her quill and parchment on the desk and sat upright, her face serious and attentive. She loved hearing stories from the past, especially from someone who had witnessed so many important events in the wizarding world.

"That night, there were two things that made me uneasy. The first one was the black witch who suddenly broke into Hogwarts, and the second one was Headmaster Dumbledore–"

Bryan raised his hand to stop Harry, who opened his mouth to defend Dumbledore. He looked up at the cold stone ceiling and smiled wistfully, his eyes distant and nostalgic.

"That night, Headmaster Dumbledore showed me what it was like to stand at the top of the contemporary wizarding world with a simple disarming spell. A truly powerful wizard. For a while after that night, I kept thinking about this question: if in the future, for some reason, I had to fight a wizard as powerful as Headmaster Dumbledore, how would I ensure that I could survive or even win against such a wizard?"

Harry and Hermione exchanged uneasy glances. They felt a chill run down their spines as they imagined such a scenario.

After a while, Harry said softly, "That was just a misunderstanding, Professor. Under normal circumstances, Headmaster Dumbledore would never hurt you."

"Headmaster Dumbledore is the greatest white wizard of our time. I think that losing to such a wizard-"

Hermione couldn't finish her sentence under Professor Watson's brilliant eyes, but she still expressed her admiration. In the contemporary wizarding world, no one would think that losing to Dumbledore was a shameful thing.

"My opinion is different from yours, Miss Granger."

Bryan rubbed his fingers together and said calmly, "The first step to surpass someone is that you have to believe in your heart that you can do it. There is no one in this world who is invincible. No matter how powerful a wizard is, he is destined to be surpassed by later generations. So I never think that Headmaster Dumbledore or the Dark Lord are absolutely unbeatable–"

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