days at Hogwarts

Chapter 221 Christmas Eve
On December 12, the clouds that had piled up for more than half a month finally cracked a hole, and the long-shaded sunlight fell on the snow.The crystal light is reflected by the white snow, which makes people almost unable to open their eyes.

It has been almost a week since the basilisk incident.The school board and the Ministry of Magic still did not send anyone to investigate, and the matter seemed not as urgent as Snape said.

In this regard, Loren's guess is that the Crabbe family is dredging the relationship and trying to find a way to exonerate Vincent Crabbe.

It's just that none of this has anything to do with Loren and the others at school. They are immersed in the gradually thickening festive atmosphere, waiting for Christmas with great anticipation.

Hogwarts Castle, School Infirmary.

Sunlight pours in through the grid-shaped glass, illuminating the entire room brightly.

Madam Pomfrey moved the petrified Colin and Justin to the window, allowing them to bask in the long-lost sun.

There was no one else in the school infirmary, and Loren pulled up the curtain of Hermione's cubicle, found a random bandage and tied it into a bundle, so the sunlight shone on Hermione's hospital bed without hindrance.

Under the warm and bright sunlight, the slender cat fur shone with crystal light.

Hermione fulfilled her promise, took Loren to review the knowledge points of the Transfiguration Club, and forced him to recite the notes at her own pace.

The curled up little paws were inconvenient to flip through the notes, so Hermione's two hands were used as book holders, and Loren did the flipping of the book.The two of them leaned on the bedside shelf, shoulder to shoulder, heads together, discussing a few words about the notes in a low voice from time to time.

Bright and warm sunlight filled the room. In the quiet infirmary, there was only the sound of pages being turned in a notebook. After a long interval, the two whispered.

Although there was no one else in the school infirmary, they subconsciously lowered their voices.

The sun was warm, maybe it was affected by the Polyjuice Potion, Hermione's eyelids started to twitch after being in the sun for a while.

"On a stormy night, the mixture in the crystal medicine bottle will turn blood red..." Loren read in a low voice, and suddenly felt the weight of a small head on his shoulders, and the fluffy cat ears pressed against his cheek, bringing Come tickle the touch.

Hearing Hermione's breathing slowly became longer, Loren raised his hand, gently pushed Hermione's head, and reminded in a low voice: "Hey, it's reviewing, why did you fall asleep?"

Hermione's throat let out a thin purr, lazily, apparently unconscious.

"How can I sleep while reviewing?" Loren twisted his body and bumped her slightly.

"Don't move!" Hermione muttered, she couldn't tell the situation, she just felt that the sun was so soft and the cushion was so comfortable to sleep on.

"Cats are like this..." She said in a daze, leaning on Loren's shoulder, and fell asleep under the warm sunshine.

For some reason, Loren suddenly felt very good, just like the sun now.He also felt that the current scene was very suitable for sleeping. He supported the bed and moved his body. Loren lifted the quilt up a little. The two of them fell into a deep dream together in the bright sunshine...

After an unknown amount of time, Loren was the first to wake up from his sleep.

The originally golden and bright sunlight has begun to turn yellow, and the brightness has begun to fade. The sun is slowly setting towards the hills in the west.

Hermione's breathing was still long, and a small grunt came out of her throat, which sounded soft.

After watching for a while, Loren saw Hermione's slender eyelashes trembling, but she didn't wake up.

Hermione felt a shyness in her heart. It was obvious that she proposed to supervise Loren's review, but she took the lead in being lazy and fell asleep...

Damn, this person will definitely make fun of himself.Hermione could feel his scrutinizing eyes, she didn't open her eyes, she pretended to be still asleep, trying to get away with it.Thinking about waiting for Loren to leave and she wakes up again, just pretend that this didn't happen.

Noticing that the rhythm of her breathing had changed, but the little witch was still pretending to sleep, Loren pursed her lips and smiled silently.

Hermione didn't notice that a little fluffy tail stretched out restlessly from under the quilt, hanging on the side of the bed, still swaying, shaking, shaking, shaking...

"Are cats and tails really two kinds of creatures? I want to study it." Loren said to himself, making excuses for his behavior.

He stretched out his hand, picked up the constantly shaking long tail, and gently squeezed it.Although it looks fluffy and has a certain volume, but the fluffy hair is pressed tightly, and the inside is actually quite thin, soft and seems to have no strength.

Loren twirled it lightly, and suddenly the tail tensed up, and slipped away from his hand against the smooth fur.

Loren, who was addicted to petting the cat, didn't think much, grabbed the tail again and fished it back.

...and slipped out again in an instant.

Loren noticed something was wrong and turned to look at Hermione who was supposed to be sleeping.

Hermione didn't know when she had opened her eyes, her big round eyes staring at him without blinking, with confusion in her eyes.

Suddenly, Hermione tilted her head, controlled the tail to lift up, and took the initiative to get into his palm.

So Loren smoothly stroked from the middle of the tail to the tip of the tail.

Hermione didn't say a word, Loren pretended not to know, lowered her head seriously and played with Little Tail.

Until the platinum-yellow sun turned into a bright red, and the mighty clouds dyed the sky, and the branches of the Forbidden Forest were all red.

Hermione finally pushed him away in disgust, and retracted her little tail under the quilt: "The school allows pets, you can go to Diagon Alley to buy a cat, we saw it last time."

Loren stood up and looked at the sunset outside the window, stretched his waist and stretched his sleeping body.

"Are you really not going to the Christmas dinner?" When he sat down again, Loren seemed to have completely forgotten what he had done just now, and naturally started the next topic.

Hermione is much less hairy than she was a week ago, but it certainly won't be back before Christmas dinner.

Poor technique of changing the subject... Hermione rolled her eyes contemptuously, and said angrily, "Depends on the situation, if the cat's features are not so obvious, I can wear a hood and a robe to cover it up."

Loren nodded: "It's definitely no problem!"

"whispering sound!"

As the sun sets, night gradually falls.

The Christmas break for adult wizards starts later than school, and of course the holidays are shorter.

In the Ministry of Magic, people from various departments handed over the remaining work to the staff on duty during the holidays.Saying goodbye to each other with big smiles on everyone's faces because of the upcoming Christmas holidays.

Throughout the Ministry of Magic, employees of all sizes received invitations to the dinner at the Malfoy Manor. Those left behind on duty could not attend the banquet, but they received a beautiful Christmas gift box from Malfoy.

Everyone praised Mr. Lucius Malfoy's generosity.

Barty Crouch finished his day's work, even though he was physically and mentally exhausted, but his short gray hair was still combed meticulously. The whole day's work did not affect the image of the director of the International Department of Magical Cooperation.

After handing over the work, Barty Crouch embarked on his way home. The golden fence door slid open slightly. As soon as he stepped into the elevator, he saw Dolores in a pink skirt and a pink hairpin. S Umbridge, with a girlish smile on her face.

Crouch frowned slightly, and had to admit that even though he could speak mermaid language, turkey language, and even troll language, Crouch, who is proficient in more than 200 languages, still didn't know what to say when facing this woman. say something.Before he could speak, Umbridge took the initiative to help him press the floor, and politely greeted in a girlish voice: "Mr. Crouch, I wish you a Merry Christmas in advance."

Crouch nodded: "You too, Merry Christmas."

Before the elevator fell completely silent, Umbridge asked aloud, "Sir, I heard that you declined Malfoy's invitation to the dinner party. Why?"

Without waiting for Crouch to answer, Umbridge continued with a sweet voice: "I looked at the roster, and you are not on the list of people left behind. I remember that your wife has died of illness for several years. As for your son... …Ha, so I'm very curious, why did you decline Malfoy's invitation to dinner?"

Before she finished speaking, Crouch's teeth were clenched together, the blood vessels in his temples were bulging, and invisible anger raged in his heart.

Letting go of his clenched fists, Crouch said flatly, "I just want to have some more time to rest. After all, the Department of International Magical Cooperation usually has enough entertainment work."

"And you?" Crouch asked back, "Why did Ms. Umbridge take the initiative to apply to stay in the Ministry on duty, and would rather be on duty than reject Malfoy's invitation?"

"Hahahahaha!" Umbridge's shrill laughter was particularly piercing in the enclosed elevator, "Of course not, I just thought that if I took the initiative to stay behind, I would be able to give one more colleague a vacation and enjoy family fun happy time."

Her words are full of boast and complacency. She led the introduction of the "Anti-Werewolf Act", and recently she has been in the limelight among the top officials of the Ministry of Magic.She was determined to win the vacated position of Senior Deputy Minister of Magic.

The current attitude of caring for the low-level employees is just to reduce the resistance to promotion.

"After all, I have always been such a considerate person for my colleagues." Umbridge said hypocritically.

The chain rattled, and the elevator finally arrived. Crouch hurriedly stepped out of the elevator.Umbridge followed him, as if he still wanted to say something to him.

Crouch's eyes moved and he noticed the only person in the hall, Arthur Weasley of the Department of Misuse of Muggle Articles of the Ministry of Magic.

Thank you Merlin... Crouch muttered in his heart, quickly responded, and said warmly: "Oh, look who is so eager to go home? Arthur Weasley, Christmas must be very lively in your family, It's really enviable."

Looking at the director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Arthur, who just got off work, was a little confused. When did he get so familiar with Crouch?

However, the Weasley family has many children and a happy family, which is well-known in the Ministry of Magic.If people catch up and say good things, they cannot be pushed back.

He didn't notice that Umbridge's face gradually became gloomy, and a smile appeared on Mr. Weasley's face: "What's the matter, we plan to go to Egypt to visit our kid this holiday, so let the other kids stay It's Christmas at Hogwarts, so I'm probably already playing crazy at school."

Crouch remembered something about Vincent Crabbe, and while it wasn't his job, he knew something about it.

Anyway, leaving Umbridge aside now is the business, he took the initiative to care: "It seems that something happened to Hogwarts recently, the children had better take it back."

Mr. Crouch is really a good man, but his son Crouch Jr.... Arthur didn't think about it anymore. He smiled naively: "Don't forget, Dumbledore is the principal of Hogwarts. I believe there is no safer place than school.”

"Well, that makes sense. When are you going to leave?"

"Leave early tomorrow morning."

"Have the immigration procedures been completed?"

"It was fixed a week in advance, don't worry."

Crouch and Arthur walked away one by one, and Umbridge stared at the backs of the two with gloomy eyes, and suddenly showed a sweet smile of relief.

Who cares about your attitude, power is the most important thing...

The thick black night slowly enveloped the whole world. Today's weather is very good, and there are no thick clouds covering the sky at night. The cool stars and moonlight float down from the sky, coldly illuminating the snow color of the whole world.

Wiltshire, Malfoy Manor is brightly lit tonight.

Thousands of candles taller than a person float in mid-air, emitting a variety of magnificent lights.Food was placed on long tables, the air was filled with the sweetness of wine, and young men and women swayed happily on the dance floor.

Veela, the Weird Sisters, Quidditch players... the generous Mr. Lucius Malfoy shows off the wealth of the Malfoy family.

Just when the dinner party was full of excitement and excitement, a remote island far away in the sea showed a completely different scene.

In Azkaban, in a special prison cell, the entire room was sealed off by a fine silk screen, and strands of powerful lightning flashed above it from time to time.

Pettigrew Peter, who was swollen and bruised, was lying on the floor in the middle of the room with his eyes blank. His beard and hair seemed to have been chewed by a dog, and there were still clear shoe prints on the bald skin on the top of his head. Embarrassed and sloppy.

The cell door suddenly opened, and a figure wearing a cloak floated in from outside. His whole body was like a corpse soaked in water, exuding a rotten and muddy smell.

The dementors are coming again... Pettigrew Peter felt a chill in his heart, he trembled all over, thinking of the torment of the dementors, he tried his best to restrain the urge to turn into a mouse to hide.

Because if he uses Animagus to avoid the soul torture of the Dementors, he will be physically tortured by the guarding wizard, which is how the scars all over his body are left.

The Dementor cannot be completely avoided, nor can the guards kill him.After nearly a year of torture, Peter Pettigrew gradually worked out a way to barely survive.

In the room, Peter Pettigrew forced himself to allow the dementor to suck the happy emotions and memories in his mind, until he was about to lose consciousness completely, and his body began to twist, shrinking into a rat with missing fingers and withered hair.

How ironic that the most happy memories that come to mind are the time spent with Prongs and the others... Wormtail thought sadly before falling into coma again.

The food in front of him suddenly disappeared, and the dementor floating in the air had a short-circuited brain, and it didn't understand the situation in front of it at all.After waiting in a daze for a while, he finally withdrew helplessly.

After the figure of the dementor walked away, a figure in a thoughtful suit walked into the cell, stayed for less than a minute, and then came out with a look of disgust.

The opportunity is rare, and he moves quickly.

After a long distance, an ordinary wizard guard who was waiting outside the cell door came up to meet him. He didn't see his boss's little movement of pressing his pocket tightly.

The little guard smiled and said flatteringly: "Don't worry, Deputy Director, Mr. Moody has specifically told us that we will "take good care" of him. "

Hearing this, the Deputy Director of the Prison Department of the Ministry of Magic poured out his anger from his words, and he roared in a rough voice: "Moody, Moody! Moody! Let alone he has retired, he is a member of the Department of Law Enforcement, what? Is it time to manage Azkaban? Or do you want to become an Auror with him?"

The little guard was stunned, and he didn't know why the deputy director suddenly became so angry.But being an Auror is not as comfortable as fishing in Azkaban, he quickly bowed his head and admitted his mistake: "I'm sorry, sir."

The deputy minister's tone softened a lot, and his expression was not so rigid: "Don't do unnecessary things in the future, as long as this mouse is still in the ward, even if it dies, don't worry about it. He is the minion of the mysterious man who has been lurking for many years, who knows Did he have any trouble with him, don't you think?"

"You are right, sir, we will not do unnecessary things in the future."

The deputy minister nodded, and said with gentle concern: "If I remember correctly, you are going to get married next year, why don't you spend Christmas with your fiancée?"

The little guard scratched his head: "I want to save some money for our honeymoon next year."

"Well, the daughter of the Avery family, isn't it, hahaha..."

The atmosphere of the festival rose in the sea of ​​joy. No one noticed that the disabled mouse in the special cell in Azkaban seemed to have new wounds on its front paws, and its fur became much cleaner... …

(End of this chapter)