I’m Only A Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor

Chapter 46: Second Generation of The Order

Not only the others but even Sherlock himself was a bit shocked and choked on his own saliva.

Before he could speak, Tonks spoke again, “Wait, you all think I used my identity to go to Forrest to confess about it? How can I do that to myself?

She explained, “It’s for my friend in the same dormitory, Penny. She has always had a crush on Forrest but is too shy to admit it herself. I helped her convey her feelings toward him; if he agrees, Penny will go on a date, and if he refuses, she wouldn’t be too sad because he’s rejecting me anyway.”

When they heard the explanation, they recovered from their shocked expressions, and Kingsley asked with interest, “Did Sherlock agree at that time?”

They all turned their eyes to Sherlock. Sherlock was speechless for a while. How could he know whether he answered or not, so he could only shake his head.

“I can’t remember.”

“Wow, that’s so cruel. Although I didn’t confess it for myself, I said it three times that I confessed to you, and you don’t even remember any of it.” Tonks looked sad, but obviously, she was pretending.

“When you rejected me, I acted the same way as you. I covered my face and cried, ran away, and I thought you would catch up.” Even Bill said with a smile.

“Sherlock is very popular at school back then. Every semester, there are many students who write love letters to him. I’ve heard his popularity goes across two different grades.”

“But he’s already twenty years old and doesn’t have a girlfriend yet.” Kingsley was really worried about this, “Would you like me to introduce someone to you, Sherlock? There are a lot of newcomers to the Ministry of Magic recently, and they were amazing people.”

Sherlock complained helplessly in his heart about the current topic revolving around relationships, and of course, he refused at this time.

“I have no plans for that kind of stuff for the time being. I want to do my job as a professor at Hogwarts first.” Just when Kingsley was still trying to persuade him, Mrs. Weasley saved him. The dinner preparations were done, and the dinner could begin.

They sat down on both sides of the long table, with Dumbledore sitting in the first seat. Even without the name of the Order of the Phoenix, he is the oldest and the highest-ranking person here, and he should be sitting in this position.

Professor McGonagall was sitting on the left, and Sherlock was about to walk by and sit with Bill in the corner of the last row of the long table. Dumbledore suddenly grabbed his arm and gestured to the chair on the right.

“You can sit here, Sherlock.”

Sherlock didn’t want to make himself so obvious in front of so many people, but he couldn’t refuse Dumbledore’s words and could only sit down to the right side.

There were about 20 or 30 people who came to the party. Just as Dumbledore said, these people had all kinds of professions. Most of them were middle-aged wizards. The old and young only accounted for a small portion of the group.

After learning that the original Sherlock had joined the Order of the Phoenix, Sherlock had done a lot of homework and learned what the Order of the Phoenix had done since its establishment. He knew very well why there were so few old people in this organization that had been established for 20 years.

Most of those first-generation members of the Order of the Phoenix died in the First Wizarding War, at the war with Voldemort in the 1970s.

The young ones have grown into the group of middle-aged people today, like Kingsley.

Because their operation has ceased for the past ten years, the Order of the Phoenix has gotten very few young members, most of whom are internally recruited. For example, the Weasleys intend to bring Bill into the Order of the Phoenix. Tonks is a random person recruited to the Order of the Phoenix because her mother, Andromeda Tonks, was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

As for Sherlock, he could guess by now that the original Sherlock’s mother was probably a member of the Order of the Phoenix before her death. Otherwise, the Weasleys, Professor McGonagall, Moody, and Kingsley, the previous Order of the Phoenix’s members, would have no reason to pay attention to him that much.

Therefore, the young ones who join the Order of the Phoenix now are basically the second generation of the Order, and it is difficult to recruit more from outside sources. This is understandable. They were mainly avoiding the eyes of the politicians in the Ministry of Magic.

Of course, the people here are not all of the current members of the Order of the Phoenix, and many people couldn’t have come over.

After everyone was seated, Dumbledore looked around at everyone with a smile, “I am very happy to see all of you here this year. It proves that you have had a good time this year. What makes me even more happy is that there are new faces to join this year.”

Without unnecessary chitchat or long speeches. He just said a few words and made all the people at the table laugh about the dinner that they were about to have. The wizards began to chat and laugh about their experiences in the past year.

Some of them are professional adventurers who spent a year traveling around the entire Eurasian continent, chatting about their experiences in different places. An owner of a magic item shop in Diagon Alley talked about what new gadgets in the wizarding world have come up with this year.

The atmosphere of the dinner was good. Sherlock could see that the people gathered here were not for any interests or status but had common views and goals.

Just as the dinner was going on in a friendly manner, a stout-looking wizard spoke to Dumbledore.

“While we want to get a lot of new blood coming in, but I think that letting Sherlock join the Order of the Phoenix is a bit opposite to the Unbreakable Vow we set, Dumbledore.”

The person who said that was Dedalus Diggle. He was one of the original members of the Order of the Phoenix, and he was considered to be the only elder here.

As soon as he opened his mouth, the chatting on the table became quiet. The few dozen Order of the Phoenix members who knew the inside story looked at Dumbledore. Obviously, they all had the same opinion as Diggle.

Sherlock sat upright on the chair with a cold expression. When he was about to pretend to ask why he couldn’t join the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore gently waved his hand and stopped him.

Dumbledore’s face was calm. He said seriously, “I know what about your doubts. After all, we made a promise at that time, but we must also respect Sherlock’s choice about it.”