Chapter 114 – Ophelia (1)

Watching the girl walk towards the Slytherin table, Dumbledore saw the shadow of her father overlapping with the girl. A flash of concern reflected in his blue eyes but disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

Rising from the head seat, the entire Great Hall suddenly fell silent. Dumbledore smiled at all his beloved students and began to speak, his voice reverberating through the hall.

"First, let us welcome all the new students!"

With his words, all the students started clapping, a barrage of applause sounding extremely loud, causing the new students to look at the Headmaster with excitement. As the applause died down, Dumbledore continued speaking.

"Some rumors are circulating about a supposed tournament of magic and witchcraft." Dumbledore paused and looked at the visibly anxious and excited students with a smile, then continued, "The rumors are true. Hogwarts will host the International Magic and Witchcraft Tournament."

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall erupted into complete chaos, with screams of excitement and joy! Even the older students, accustomed to fighting cursed spirits, could not hide their excitement at this moment.

"We must win!" Gryffindor shouted loudly, full of bravery.

"We will win with our minds!" The Ravenclaw students, not wanting to be left behind, shouted together.

"We will win together!" Hufflepuff shouted loudly.

"We will win at all costs!" The Slytherin students followed suit and shouted loudly together.

For the first time in hundreds of years, all four houses of Hogwarts seemed truly united for a moment. This made the professors look at each other in surprise and smile at one another. Seeing something like this brought a very pleasant feeling to them.

Dumbledore smiled at the scene in front of him and resumed speaking when the applause and shouts ceased.

"Twelve magical schools around the world will participate in the tournament. It has been decided that each school will present four representatives to compete in the International Tournament." Dumbledore patiently explained a few things, and all the students listened attentively, afraid of missing any details.

"A selection will be held to decide each representative of Hogwarts. You will be able to vote for whom you believe can bring victory to Hogwarts. The date of the selection will be the same day all the schools arrive at Hogwarts." Dumbledore finished explaining and turned his gaze to the teachers' table, where a man in a beautiful blue suit and a charismatic smile stood up, drawing everyone's attention. Those who already recognized the man stood up and shouted, trying to get their idol's attention, especially the girls, who seemed to be seeing their god.

Dumbledore looked at the blond man with a deep gaze and announced with a smile, "After the disappearance of Professor Quirinus, we are pleased to announce that Gilderoy Lockhart is our newest member of the Hogwarts teaching committee. He will assume the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in place of Professor Quirinus." With that said, the Headmaster of Hogwarts took the initiative to clap, followed by everyone else, welcoming the new professor to Hogwarts.

Dumbledore sat back in his seat while bringing the metal goblet to his lips, watching Lockhart and narrowing his eyes thoughtfully.

"Thank you for the kind words, Professor Dumbledore," Gilderoy first thanked Dumbledore and then looked at all the students with a sense of pride. "You are lucky to have the best teacher you could ever have." He began, causing some girls to scream with joy. Winking elegantly at the girls, Gilderoy continued speaking with a broad, impeccably white smile. "I will fulfill the sacred duty of teaching young witches and wizards with all respect and pride. By the way, be sure to purchase the latest edition of my book, *Vampires and Their Macabre Stories*."

Snape, at the teachers' table, scowled at the shamelessness of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. His eyes, dark as two black holes, stared at Gilderoy with a touch of dissatisfaction. The other professors were also displeased that a peacock like Gilderoy had secured one of the most coveted positions in British magical society.

At the Slytherin table, Asterion looked at the fraud with a hint of disgust in his eyes. Weak, Gilderoy was terribly weak, not even a level 2 wizard. At the same time, he wondered why Dumbledore had chosen such a worthless piece of trash to be a professor at Hogwarts, especially for one of the most important classes—Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Sipping some wine from his goblet, Asterion looked at the man sitting in the head seat at the teachers' table, who seemed to feel his gaze and raised his goblet, greeting him with a smile. Asterion raised his own goblet and smiled back at the man over a hundred years old. Then, his smile completely disappeared as his gaze fell upon the girl beside Astoria and Ginny, his supposed cousin—Ophelia Riddle.

Bellatrix had a daughter with Voldemort. That was the only possibility he could think of at that moment. But if such a thing happened, Bellatrix would certainly have told him; he did not doubt his mad cousin's loyalty.

So, one option remained: Voldemort had used Obliviate on Bellatrix, making her forget she had a daughter with him. Only a powerful wizard like Voldemort could use Obliviate on an extremely powerful witch like Bellatrix Black. Any other wizard would have had their head ripped off before they could cast the spell on Bella.

If it were true, then Ophelia was his cousin, and he had killed the girl's father. If Ophelia grew up without a father or mother, then Asterion was almost sure that Ophelia would hate him if she found out her true parentage. After all, only an orphan or someone abandoned knows how lonely it is to grow up without someone by their side.

Any orphan yearning for parental love would give anything to grow up with their parents, regardless of whether those parents were good or bad. Love truly was an extremely complicated feeling. Suddenly, Asterion felt a delicate hand intertwine with his. He turned his head and saw Daphne looking at him with a calm and somewhat concerned expression.

"You seem worried," Daphne whispered, gazing at him with her beautiful icy blue eyes. It was the first time she had seen such an expression on her fiancé, who had always been confident and calm in any situation. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew it had something to do with the new Slytherin student—Ophelia Riddle.

The resemblance between Asterion and Ophelia was obvious; all the Slytherins had noticed it, but no one said anything to avoid creating an awkward atmosphere.

"Come to my room tonight, and I'll tell you everything," Asterion whispered, deciding to tell Daphne about Voldemort's true identity. Letting out a tired sigh, he felt that the coming days would be stressful, but first, he needed to talk privately with Ophelia and question her amicably.

Daphne nodded and asked no more questions. She began to lift the atmosphere at the table with a few words, making it more lively and relaxed for the new freshmen.

With the end of Gilderoy's presentation, dinner was served, appearing suddenly on the table, shocking the new Muggle-born students. They were still amazed by this new magical and beautiful world, but they didn't know that behind this beauty lay a very cruel and cold world. But that they would have to face at another time. For now, everyone focused on the delicious food on the tables, enjoying the most magical moment of their lives.

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Author's Thoughts: Initially, Ophelia was supposed to be Sirius's daughter, but when I saw Alkole's comment on Patreon, I changed my mind at the last minute. I had to redo some scripts and so on, but everything turned out well in the end. Thank you for the comments, and I hope you enjoy the chapters. :D

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Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 115 – Ophelia (2), Chapter 116 – Doubts (1), Chapter 117 – Humbug (1), Chapter 118 - Ophelia's Mother (1), Chapter 119 - I Decided to Seduce Daphne (1), Chapter 120 - Arrival of the Twelve Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1), Chapter 121 - Arrival of the Twelve Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry (2), Chapter 122 - Arrival of the Twelve Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry (3), Chapter 123 - Arrival of the Twelve Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry (4), Chapter 124 - Conspiracy In Progress (1), Chapter 125 - Conspiracy In Progress (2), Chapter 126 - Ophelia, Narcissa And Andromeda (1), Chapter 127 - Ophelia, Narcissa And Andromeda (2), Chapter 128 - The Four Representatives of Hogwarts (1), Chapter 129 - The Four Representatives of Hogwarts (2), Chapter 130 - The Four Hogwarts Representatives (3), Chapter 131 - The First Trial (1), Chapter 132 - The First Trial (2), Chapter 133 - King's Game (1), Chapter 134 - King's Game (2).