days at Hogwarts

Chapter 780 Going home for the holidays
Saturday, October 12.

In the Gryffindor boys' dormitory, Loren and others got up earlier than usual for class. After breakfast, they returned to the dormitory, tidied up the sheets and quilt covers, stuffed them into the closet, put in an insect and moth-proofing bag, and waited until the holiday was over before taking them out. They could also put a few cattails in there, as those little guys could also prevent insects and moths.

Before leaving, I lowered the curtains to prevent the bed from accumulating dust, and put all my things in order, waiting for the train to arrive.

Loren was counting the Christmas presents for the professors. In previous years, they were delivered by owls on Christmas Eve, but this year he planned to leave them in Hogwarts Castle and deliver them to the professors' offices early Christmas morning.

"Tsk tsk..."

Every time Loren imagined the professors' expressions when they received their gifts, he couldn't help but lean back and smile.

What is Merlin's surprise?

This is called Merlin's surprise!
I don't know what Ximo was thinking. Although he was a student staying on campus, he got up early with them, went downstairs to have breakfast, and when he returned to the dormitory, he didn't take a nap. Instead, he sat next to them and watched them pack their things.

Looking eagerly, like a left-behind child.

Loren didn't care. He patted the brown paper package in his hand and said with a smile: "Simo, this is my Christmas present for you. I will hide it in the castle and it will appear in front of you on Christmas Day."

"So what are you telling me to do now?"

Ximo frowned and stared at the package, his expression a little uncomfortable: "It only aroused my curiosity and made me eager to know what was inside."

Loren chuckled a few times: "This is exactly the effect I want!"

Several roommates who were listening in condemned his bad behavior, and then told Seamus that the gifts they had prepared had been given to the house-elves and would be delivered on Christmas Day. If he was curious about what the gifts were, they could provide him with some clues to guess.

Seamus: "..."

After a while of laughing and joking, they packed up their things and sat by the window to share the snack box provided by Neville. Hogsmeade Station could not be seen from here, but the steam and smoke from the train chimney could be seen.

"Harry, where are you planning to spend Christmas?" Lauren turned to look at Harry. "The Burrow, the Black mansion, or go back to the Dursleys' house?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm going back to Godric's Hollow to clean up the house my parents left behind. I'm about to graduate, and I have to find a place to live for myself. I can't always stay at Ron's or Sirius's house."

"What's wrong with that?"

Ron shouted immediately, "Our whole family welcomes you to visit us. I told Mum you were coming to the Burrow for Christmas and she was so happy!"

Harry just smiled and shook his head without further explanation: "Of course I'd like to spend Christmas at the Burrow. I believe it will be an extremely happy holiday. I just need some time to clean up the house left behind by my parents."

"Well, we can go help you clean it."

"That couldn't be better."

"..."

Loren listened to the conversation between the two and turned to look out the window. The howling snow and wind froze the ground. The forbidden forest and distant mountains were covered with a layer of snow. The sky and the ground were almost the same color, a vast expanse of white.

Not only him and Hermione, but also the group of friends around them, have grown up without them noticing.

……

Ten o'clock in the morning.

The biting cold north wind rushed into the hall from the door. The torches on the wall swayed and flickered, stubbornly keeping the severe cold outside the hall.

The weather was so cold that the young wizard had no mood to talk. Students who were about to leave Hogwarts gathered at the door, with suitcases beside them, their necks tightly wrapped in scarves in the school's colors, their chins buried in their collars and scarves, leaving no room for the cold to invade.

Loren and Hermione stood side by side inside the entrance hall. They saw several friends from other colleges passing by. They just nodded to each other without much greeting.

The melodious sound of a train whistle was heard in the distance, and a few wisps of coal smoke floated in the sky above the station.

There was suddenly more chattering among the students. A group of people put on gloves, pulled up their hoods, tightened their scarves, and dragged their suitcases into the wind and snow.

"Let's go."

"goodbye!"

The figure gradually disappeared in the white snow, leaving only footprints that stretched forward, which were gradually covered by the footprints of the students behind.

I walked into the car, untied my scarf, and let out a long, refreshing breath.

Although the power and driving method of the Hogwarts Express were still unclear after seven years, Loren was sure that there was a boiler burning on the train, as evidenced by the warm air in the carriages.

I found a quiet and empty compartment, put my box away, took off my gloves, sat down, stretched, and wanted to sleep.

"..."

Hermione put away her suitcase and owl cage, turned her head and looked at Loren, her expression somewhat helpless: "Did you forget that Mr. Colehaug is still waiting for you in the back?"

"I almost forgot."

Loren stood up again and muttered, "Then I'll go to the back to meet Mr. Kohaug. You wait here for me to come back. If the witch selling snacks passes by, please help me order a glass of pumpkin juice."

"Ah."

"I want it hot."

"understood."

"Another box of chocolate frogs."

"..."

A few minutes later, Loren left the compartment and walked back along the aisle of the carriage.

At the end of the carriage, in front of a closed and quiet compartment, Loren stopped, glanced at the serial number on it, and reached out to knock on the door.

The next moment, a middle-aged wizard with a full beard opened the door. His face was somewhat rough and bold, and he looked at the young wizard who knocked on the compartment door with a smile:

"Oh, dear Loren, long time no see, please come in." "Long time no see, Mr. Kohaug." Loren walked into the compartment.

The compartment was spacious and clean. The temperature difference between inside and outside caused a thin layer of mist on the window glass. The scenery outside turned into a blurry color block. There was no one in the compartment. The two sat opposite each other. Their faces had not changed much compared to a few months ago.

Looking at the young wizard opposite him, he seemed to have grown a little taller. Although he was obviously a child still growing, Kou Haog did not feel any contempt for him.

A few months ago, he had witnessed the duel of the century with his own eyes. The underage young wizard defeated the most powerful dark wizard in history. The battle lasted less than ten minutes. There was no suspense and it was a quick and clean victory.

It is foreseeable that this young wizard will grow into a great legendary wizard like Dumbledore, influencing the world for a long time, even an entire era.

Loren was also looking at Mr. Kohaug opposite him. He seemed to be unable to adapt to the lifestyle here during this period. His beard became even thicker and almost as thick as Hagrid.

This was actually the first time the two of them met alone. Thinking of this, the atmosphere became inexplicably stiff, and they unconsciously started to show their hospitality etiquette.

Loren quickly adjusted his expression and a gentle smile appeared on his face, completely different from the sleepiness he had a few minutes ago. "Mr. Colehaug, I didn't expect you to set the meeting place on the Hogwarts Express."

Colehaug laughed heartily. "I've been here for half a year. Scrimgeour took me to many places, including wizard villages and No-Majs' cities. I've seen a lot of different things, but I've never had the chance to visit Hogwarts. So I might as well take this opportunity to experience your train."

"how do you feel?"

"Very smooth, much better than the school bus at Ilvermorny."

"You've also ridden the Ilvermorny school bus?"

"I also went to school at Ilvermorny when I was young. The school buses at that time were old diesel cars. They kept shaking even when driving on flat ground, and there was an unpleasant smell of oil smoke... Oh, don't mention it."

Kouhaog covered his nose and waved his hand, as if he recalled the smell of the past. "Let's not talk about this anymore, let's talk about business. I want to know, is there anything worthy of a future legendary wizard asking me to meet?"

"Stop making fun of me, Mr. Kohaug."

Loren smiled and shook his head. After a pause, he said, "But I do have an important matter that I would like to ask you for help with."

"You said."

"As the future president of the Magical Congress of the United States, I wonder what you think of the current mainstream space transfer methods in the magic world, or in other words, have you noticed their flaws?"

"Flaws? Can you be more specific?" Kohaug was a little curious. His politician's intuition made him keenly aware that there was another meaning hidden in these words, like business, or something more profound, which aroused his interest.

Loren thought about the wording and explained slowly: "Apparition is only suitable for short-distance teleportation. The teleportation location is limited to places that the caster has been to or seen with his own eyes. Just like when Hermione and I stayed in New York during the summer vacation, and Mr. Colehaug stayed in London these few months, we could only slowly explore the unfamiliar environment, and it required strict wizard skills, and the entire teleportation process was full of risks. The traditional fireplace teleportation has even more restrictions. It needs to be connected to the Traffic Management Department, and can only teleport fireplaces connected to the Floo network. Not to mention the door key..."

These are all clichés from books and materials. The above-mentioned methods of space shifting have a history of hundreds or even thousands of years. Countless wizards have already summarized their advantages and disadvantages, and they are also mentioned in student textbooks.

Kohaug sat opposite and listened quietly, his eyes flashing with a shrewdness that didn't match his face. He said thoughtfully: "It sounds like you have a solution to these defects?"

Loren nodded slightly, a smile on his face: "Mr. Colehaug has been in the Ministry of Magic for nearly half a year. He should have known Mr. Tycross, right?"

"You mean they're working on improving Apparition?"

The pale face of the Director of the Transportation Department emerged in Colehaug's mind. He lacked political experience, and the academic type of official just fit the current situation of the Ministry of Magic. He recalled the information he had come across in the past few months, and said thoughtfully: "Even if the Apparition is improved based on the new principle, it only reduces the risk of splitting, improves the safety of spellcasting and teleportation, and can increase the teleportation distance to a certain extent, but the original defects still exist... I don't understand what you mean."

"No, I want to introduce you to a new space-shifting device."

Loren stretched out his magic wand and tapped it gently in the air. Countless sparkling runes appeared out of thin air. Illusory lights and shadows gathered together and condensed into a complex and obscure alchemical array:

"With the help of the legendary wizard Nicolas Flamel and several professors at Hogwarts, we have designed a new spatial teleportation device that greatly improves the shortcomings of traditional teleportation methods. It has the convenience and comfort of the Floo Network, and its teleportation distance is comparable to or even exceeds that of a portkey."

In Kou Haoge's mind, he sketched out the glowing spatial magic circle in front of him, and compared it with the meager alchemy knowledge he had accumulated during his student days, but it only made him dizzy and he couldn't understand anything.

He blinked his eyes, glanced at the space array in front of him, and looked at the young wizard opposite him: "So, what is the purpose of your meeting with me today?"

Loren waved his wand to eliminate the runes that filled the compartment and chuckled, "As the future president of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, you are the most likely candidate to succeed the president of the International Confederation of Wizards after Dumbledore retires. I hope you can help us promote the new space-shifting device to the world."

"New devices... all over the world..."

Kou Haoge was obviously a little surprised by his request. He intuitively felt that there was a deeper meaning hidden in it, but he couldn't figure it out in a short time. He could only repeat the words in a low voice.

Judging from a purely politician's perspective, if the new device really makes up for the shortcomings of the traditional device, it will naturally replace it slowly in the next few decades. However, this attitude of rapid promotion to the whole world makes him subconsciously feel uneasy.

Kohaug narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at the young wizard opposite him. Loren's expression was calm and he continued to smile.

After thinking for a long time, Kou Haoge still couldn't come up with an answer, so he gave up thinking and leaned back on the back of the chair: "I'm very sorry, dear Loren, I can't just promise you this."

"Why?" Loren didn't seem surprised.

"I wonder what you can get out of this?"

Kohaug answered calmly, his tone gentle, revealing the demeanor of a mature official: "Since graduation, I have been transferred between various departments of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and have frequently communicated and connected with the No-Maj government. I have come into contact with thousands of humans, whether wizards or No-Maj, and they all have their own pursuits and desires."

"Dumbledore often said that experience is wisdom." Loren nodded in agreement.

"So I am even more confused. You want to promote the new space device to the whole world..." Kou Haoge stared straight into his eyes, as if he wanted to read his thoughts through his eyes. "What is the reason?"

"Maybe it's wealth, maybe it's fame, it's all possible."

"If you really pursue these, alchemy will make you rich and infinite. Publicizing the duel that night will make wizards all over the world praise your name... In fact, you don't pursue these."

The middle-aged wizard's words were full of praise. Dumbledore's recommendation made him willing to trust Loren, but decades of political career made him instinctively reject things that he could not see through, and there was still a hint of wariness in his eyes.

Loren smiled gently and responded to his praise: "With his keen intuition and wisdom that penetrates the soul, Mr. Kohaug will definitely become a great president of the Congress in the future."

"You still haven't answered my question, Mr. Morgan."

"Before answering this question, we need to talk about another topic."

"Another topic?"

"The conflict between wizards and muggles, or the conflict between technological civilization and magical civilization."

(End of this chapter)