days at Hogwarts

Chapter 812
When the ginger kitten opened the door again, it was already winter a year later.

At the end of 1999, it was still snowing heavily in London.

Loren took over Christmas dinner, and has been doing so since last year, and the family has no problem with it.

As night falls, the lights in each house become dim. A verdant Christmas tree stands in the courtyard, and branches of mistletoe and holly hang on the wall, dotted with red ribbons.

It's just different from previous years. The festive atmosphere this year is not as strong. Compared with Christmas Eve, which comes every year, New Year's Eve a week later is the highlight. It ends this century and opens a new one. It only happens once in a hundred years, and ordinary people will only experience it once in their lifetime. The news said that a grand fireworks show was prepared by the Thames. Although the TV station announced that it would broadcast the whole show live, more residents preferred to go to the scene to join in the fun. Tickets for the core area were sold out half a month ago.

Loren and the others did not join in the fun as they had other things to do on New Year's Eve.

The combined power of wizards and magical creatures from all over the world is beyond imagination, and the magic migration plan is progressing faster than expected, as if there is a hidden and powerful force driving the plan. Everything is going incredibly smoothly, and in just a year and a half, all preparations are ready, waiting for the arrival of a new era.

There are also a very small number of stubborn wizards who try to sabotage the plan.

A few hours ago, someone released a Level 5X dangerous animal into Diagon Alley. As an employee of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Hermione had to interrupt her Christmas vacation and return to her post to control the situation. If everything went well, she should be able to make it in time for dinner.

Dinner was at Granger's house.

A few months ago, Monica renovated the restaurant. The fireplace was refurbished and was no longer just a useless decoration. At this moment, a blue flame was quietly burning in the furnace. The temperature was just right, warm but not hot. The gas stove was upgraded and an old-fashioned oven was added. The dining table was replaced with a solid wood round dining table, which is slightly smaller than the original one, just right for a family of five to sit together.

In the middle of the table was a soup pot, bubbling, carrots and white radishes rolling, white steam rising, and fragrance overflowing. This was the highlight that he had devoted most of his energy to - a pot of snow-white mutton soup. As for the woody roast turkey, it was just a casual decoration to cope with traditional customs.

"Loren, did you eat secretly?"

"Um!?"

Loren opened his eyes wide, very unconvinced: "What do you mean by stealing? I just need to season it, it's the chef's job, how can it be considered stealing?"

“Pumpkin pie needs seasoning too?”

"Let me taste it to see if it's done."

As the last few dishes were served, the family sat down near the dining table. They had dinner together frequently this winter, and the Grangers and Grandpa Bates were used to it. The fire in the fireplace burned quietly, keeping the cold of late winter out.

"When will Hermione come back?" Wendell muttered.

Loren took out his communicator and glanced at it, then handed them the cutlery. "The incident isn't serious. We just need to cooperate with the Auror's investigation. Fill out the registration form and we'll be back."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a noise from the fireplace, the flames leaped, and a few clusters of green sparks splashed.

Hermione was promoted to team leader a few months ago. Her winter benefits included a uniform robe, which was thick but not bulky. At this moment, a layer of snow fell on her shoulders. She walked out of the fireplace and paused for a few seconds before adapting to the warm air in the room. She smelled the rich and tempting aroma and took a deep breath.

Loren walked over and patted her robe to brush off the ash and snow. "Why did you come back so late?"

Hermione stood there, letting him pat her, with a well-behaved expression: "Among the running animals, there was an Erumpent. It knocked down the door of Gringotts. The goblins demanded that the Erumpent be used to compensate for the damage, but I disagreed."

"and then?"

“And then we have been negotiating until now.”

"Wash your hands and eat."

"Oh……"

The three parents at the dining table looked at the two people over there and smiled. Even Wendel was not dissatisfied. He had received a gift not long ago, a special fishing rod made by an alchemist, the kind that could reel in and organize the hook by itself. It was very useful.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Bang~"

The glasses clinked together, bubbles in the champagne and cola rose with a slight hissing sound, the mutton soup in the pot was still bubbling, and the hot white vapor blurred the window glass.

"Loren, Hermione." Grandpa Bates glanced at the two of them.

"Ok?"

"When do you plan to get engaged?"

"Cough cough..."

Hermione lowered her head and sipped her broth in silence.

Loren thought for a moment and said, "Next autumn, the scenery will be beautiful, the weather will be good, neither too hot nor too cold."

"Does your... your migration plan have any impact?"

"The migration plan is not to isolate wizards and ordinary people all at once. It will be done step by step." Loren explained in words they could understand. "The first step is to tighten the confidentiality law. A group of pure-blood wizards and isolated magical creatures will move there first, such as Ron and Xiaomei. Then half-blood wizards and Muggle-born wizards will follow. The number of creatures related to magic on the earth will be gradually reduced. It will take more than ten years or even decades to completely cut off the number of magic creatures on the earth."

"Oh, I see..." Bates seemed to understand what he said.

"And it's not like we can't come back after migration. At least in the short term, we can just live a normal life, eat when we should, go to work when we should, and get married when we should," Loren said.

Hermione lowered her head and fell into deep silence, sipping the boiling mutton soup in small sips, her cheeks slightly hot.

On the other side, Monica and Wendell exchanged glances while enjoying the food. They understood each other tacitly and had smiles on their faces all the time.

Under the table, Crookshanks had his face buried in his food bowl, making slurping sounds of pleasure.

The heavy snow outside had not stopped yet and was still falling.

……

The end of 1999 was colder than usual in the Scottish Highlands.

Perhaps it was because the snowflakes were bigger and faster, and arrived earlier than in previous years. As January was approaching, the forest next to Hogwarts was already covered with ice and snow, the ground was frozen, and the grass and trees were covered with a layer of white frost. In the center of the deep forest, at the junction of the centaurs and unicorns, there was a bare open space, with trees standing on the periphery, surrounding a simple tower.

A group of wizards climbed up the tower one by one, wearing robes and with solemn expressions. The emblems on their chests could identify their identities: the British Ministry of Magic, the American Magical Congress, the French Ministry of Magic...

The centaur Firenze followed closely behind.

In addition, the open space was surrounded by many centaurs kicking their hooves, unicorns pacing back and forth, and sleepy eight-eyed giant spiders... The house-elves led by Wheat maintained order at the scene.

Some Pukki and fairies realized what was about to happen, and their hearts couldn't help but beat faster, revealing expressions of excitement that were visible to the naked eye. Their skinny fingers were clenched together and trembling slightly.

Hogwarts professors were also allowed to go up to the tower and watch, but they didn't want to get too close because the tower was too crowded.

Many wizards know in their hearts that a new era is about to come and a new world is before their eyes. They are the witnesses who will witness the opening of the era. This is the future created by the entire wizarding world.

Headmaster McGonagall and Vice-Headmaster Snape looked at the young wizard standing on the top of the tower with deep eyes. Professors Flitwick and Sprout were a little emotional and whispered about the interesting things that happened when their students were studying.

Night gradually fell.

The mermaid tribes scattered in various waters sent news that they were ready. Representatives of the pure-blood families who volunteered to be the first group of explorers took out their communicators and said that they were ready as well.

All creatures present knew that everything was ready.

There was no exciting speech, nor any complicated and lengthy launching ceremony. After activating the rune array, they were ready to link up the space teleportation devices scattered around the world.

Representatives of wizarding governments and magical creatures from various countries slowed their breathing.

"The Egyptian Alchemy Research Center has poor aesthetics. The things they refine only consider their functions, and they are not beautiful at all."

Loren muttered silently in his heart.

Many images flashed through my mind, such as Abraham, the Book of Fantasy, the Starry Sky, and the Fountain of Good Luck...

I felt a little dazed, but not nervous or sad.

With a touch of his hands on the pendant, the magic stone was embedded in the center of the magic circle. The magic power of time and space quietly flowed and infused, and the entire tower was suddenly lit up. The crystal clear light flowed, illuminating the entire forest.

A vast magical force swept over, instantly distorting the dimensions beyond reality and spreading across the entire planet.

The stars suddenly appeared in the night sky, as if the entire sky was lit up, the stars were shining brightly, and the space transmission devices on the ground gradually glowed, as if responding to the stars.

Under the shining starry sky, among the brilliant and dreamy light and shadow, it seemed as if several pairs of eyes were watching this scene through endless time and space. One of them was slightly familiar, it was Ms. Daisy Doddridge from the time and space gap, and there was another pair that was somewhat familiar, with black eyes flashing with crystal blue light and a gentle gaze.

Loren was in a daze, his eyes shining.

"That is……"

"Thank you."

In a trance, an old voice came through the space, and it was hard to tell whether it was a man or a woman. Maybe it was Merlin, or maybe it was the fairy Morgan.

The next moment, countless magical creatures around the world turned into glimmers of light, flowing quietly, merging into the dazzling sea of ​​stars, crossing the boundless and endless distance, and heading towards a new world.

……

On the banks of the Thames, New Year's Eve fireworks bloomed, making it seem as bright as day.

Dumbledore looked up at the gorgeous sky, smiling, and muttered to himself:

"The blue and black people, at the turn of the old and the new, set off a wave... So that's how it is."

(End of this chapter)