days at Hogwarts

Chapter 785 Good Sleeping Environment

The bell rang on time.

Loren and Dumbledore turned and walked into the Great Hall.

Crookshanks stared at the two men's backs. Normally, if they went to the hall and lay down at the Hufflepuff table at this time, they could get chicken legs and ribs or something, but Crookshanks had a better choice.

He crossed his front paws and pressed them hard, then stretched himself and walked towards the basement stairs with light steps.

He went straight downstairs to the kitchen. The house-elf there knew its owner and he could choose the food in the kitchen for him to choose from, and occasionally he could even pack a portion for Yaya.

"In fact, I don't have a deep friendship with Mr. Colehaug, and the officials of the Magical Congress of the United States of America do not have the authority to ask Hogwarts to provide student information. It's just out of courtesy. Maybe I can write a less detailed letter to reply to him and attach some archival materials. But I don't need to reveal the adventures we experienced together to him. What do you think?"

"What archival material?"

"I asked Professor McGonagall for your transcripts and commendation certificates from the past few years. I plan to make a copy and send it to Mr. Colehaug."

"What reward do I have?"

"It was proposed during the regular teacher meeting before the holidays. Severus believes that you will definitely become famous in the wizarding world after graduation, so Hogwarts should give you some awards before you graduate."

"Distinguished alumnus, huh?"

"In fact, we all agree that because you have fully proved yourself in the past few years, you have repeatedly stopped the conspiracy of dark wizards, improved and optimized the wolfsbane potion, achieved excellent results, and helped your classmates. In view of your outstanding performance during your time at school, several professors agree to award you the Outstanding Moral Character Award and the Special Contribution Award. The trophy has been placed in the display room, and you should be able to see it during your detention."

"Why am I only finding out about this now?"

Dumbledore blinked and said, "Because after the reward proposal, we will discuss the punishment for you for placing alchemical items in the school at will."

"Very reasonable..."

There is indeed a clear distinction between rewards and punishments.

Loren walked into the auditorium beside the principal.

Back at the table, the dinner had already begun. Professor McGonagall stood in the middle of the guest of honor table and gave a speech at the beginning of the semester:
"Welcome! Welcome back to Hogwarts! The next few months will be the second half of this school year, and also a brand new semester in 1998. I hope that you will greet the new courses with a brand new attitude..."

His voice was steady and powerful, and his speaking pace was neither fast nor slow. He was not as serious as Professor McGonagall usually is, but rather amiable. Apart from the lack of awkward and boring jokes, his opening speech already had the bearing of a headmaster.

The young wizards in the audience opened their eyes wide, looked at Professor McGonagall who was speaking, and then looked at Dumbledore who slowly sat down at the side of the guest of honor seat, as if they had understood something.

Our cat dean is going to be promoted to principal!

The Gryffindor students looked excited. They had never listened to the opening speech so seriously before.

Just as the preparatory headmaster was about to continue his long speech, the former headmaster Dumbledore picked up his glass and took a sip of sparkling wine, quietly tugging at her sleeve under the table.

Professor McGonagall was silent for a moment. "We'll talk about the list of prohibited items after the banquet. Now I declare that the banquet is about to begin!"

"Long live Professor McGonagall!"

The students' cheers suddenly broke out, drowning out the entire hall. There were also a few shouts of "Principal McGonagall" in between. The Gryffindor students' chins almost reached the ceiling, and when their own head of house looked over, they immediately lowered their heads and avoided his gaze, looking obedient.

"Does Harry look like the original Draco?"

Loren turned around and grinned at Hermione.

Hermione: "..."

Food appeared out of thin air on dinner plates, and wine glasses were emptied and then filled.

The flickering torches and candlelight by the wall are a sign of the bright future that teachers and students are looking forward to.

……

"Myrtle is in the prefects' bathroom, are you still going to take a shower, Neville?"

Loren was wearing cashmere pajamas with a towel draped over his shoulders. Warm steam was emanating from his body. He threw his clothes into the laundry basket, took out his magic wand and waved it at his head. Several wisps of whirlwind swirled above his head, completing the blow-drying and styling steps at the same time.

Neville silently picked up his toiletries and change of clothes and walked towards the bathroom in the dormitory. Ever since he learned that Myrtle often visited the prefect's bathroom, he basically gave up this prefect's privilege. On the contrary, the other people in the dormitory felt awkward at the first few times, but basically didn't care after that.

Rolling over the bed and stretching vigorously, Loren exhaled a sigh of relief. Harry and Ron were working on their homework next to them, with Loren and Neville's examples in front of them. They could quickly take a few glances and extract the content worth learning from, then prepare a draft in their mind and write it down directly on parchment, skipping the copying step and making rapid progress.

The experience accumulated over the years has formed muscle memory.

Simo's speed was much slower. In front of him were textbooks and reference books. When he encountered a difficult problem, he would flip through the books. If he couldn't find the answer, he would ask Loren and Neville for help. His focused and serious attitude was touching.

"Loren, it says here to add belladonna juice at the right time...when is this right time?"

"Potions homework? Didn't you choose the advanced Potions course?"

"This will not affect my NEWT exam in Potions."

"??"

"Maybe on the day of the exam, Merlin blessed me, and the goddess of luck favored me, and the examiner accidentally let me get an extra certificate. This is not impossible, right?"

"Makes sense."

"So when is the right time?"

"The potion is boiling slightly, and small bubbles are appearing at the bottom of the crucible."

"How much belladonna?"

"Add slowly until the potion changes color."

"Slowly... add more..." Seamus muttered as he wrote on the parchment.

Loren looked at the three people studying hard and felt a little awkward. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "When is the next Quidditch match for our college?"

Ron answered immediately, without looking up: "Before Easter."

"Who is the other party, Hufflepuff?"

"Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff lost the last match. Their Seeker was sleepwalking throughout the game. He didn't even see the Golden Snitch. He was like a headless fly."

Harry stopped writing with his quill, looked up at him, and frowned slightly: "Hey, don't say that, he's just a new player and has no game experience."

"..." Ron waved his hand indifferently and was busy finishing his homework.

"Is that right?"

Loren secretly glanced at the two people's expressions and added at the right time: "Actually, I think their goalkeeper is also quite stupid. What's his name?"

"Flitt is a brother of the previous goalkeeper. His football skills are not outstanding, but he is very good at commanding and controlling the game. He is the brains of the Hufflepuff team." Ron still didn't look up.

Harry had already put down his quill, "I think his football skills are terrible. He always fails to keep the goal. His brains are just rhetoric. Justin always says that he became a goalkeeper through connections."

Ron looked up and frowned, staring at Harry. "That's just an outsider's opinion."

“I am also an outsider!?”

"I hate to say this, but Harry, you Seekers hardly ever participate in infield battles, and you only have a vague understanding of tactical arrangements?"

"I only know half of it!?"

"That's clear from your comments about Flitt just now."

"Then your comments on Hufflepuff's new Seeker were equally amateurish!"

"I'm the Quidditch Captain, I can see clearly!"

"But you don't understand Seeker at all."

"..."

Loren listened to their well-reasoned debate, lay down, covered himself with the quilt, said goodnight to Seamus who was still studying late into the night, and closed his eyes contentedly.

(End of this chapter)