Hogwarts: Bourne Returns from Warhammer

Chapter 112 The first night back to school

"Papa~~"

"Ouch~~"

"Ouch~~"

Two crisp slaps, accompanied by the soft calls of Ron and Harry, echoed in the empty castle foyer.

Filch, who was standing aside, let out a strange laugh, as if he was a fisherman who had finally escaped the bad luck of the "Air Force", and his shape was not very decent.

In fact, if the time hadn't been right, he would have even wanted to go inside, take out an iron basin, bang it, and celebrate the two big fish he "caught" tonight.

It turned out that Professor Snape, who was awakened by Horace's Tiber warthog patron saint, was currently wearing pajamas of the same style as his regular clothes, with a pale face behind the two young wizards. He was stunned when he walked over. It didn't make any sound.

I don’t know how he chose pajamas. Apart from the material being closer to the body and the texture being softer, this piece of clothing doesn’t look much different from a normal wizard’s robe.

"Two people went out for a night out at night. Ten points from Gryffindor. Go back to your dormitory and sleep!"

Snape said impatiently, and then looked at the Slughorn family and his grandson, of course, mainly at Horace.

He nodded to his senior, Horace, the former Head of Slytherin and Potions Professor, and both of them had a tacit understanding.

Although the Tebbo warthog patron saint had briefly explained tonight's events to Snape, the two wizards who were proficient in "Legilimency" quickly exchanged their thoughts after meeting.

Although this program looks very complicated, it looks like a secret service. However, when communicating important matters, wizards with some means and status will usually do this.

After all, using Legilimency to communicate can not only completely avoid the loss of information caused by imprecise words, but also have the effect of identifying lies to a certain extent.

"I see," Snape nodded slightly.

However, in the memory given by Horace, he also "saw" Quirrell rushing back to school on the Knight Bus.

This made him alert again.

"You little wizard," Snape was referring to Bourne. "Because of the special circumstances today, although it is not considered a night outing, according to school rules, you must go back to the dormitory immediately and go to bed."

"Okay, Professor Snape. But..."

Because Horace was at the scene, Bourne, who felt that the backstage was okay, felt that he could still save Gryffindor's house points.

"...The deduction you just made seems a bit inappropriate. The currently implemented "School Rules" are all about punishments and rewards for little wizards while they are in school. There is no precedent for deducting points for little wizards during holidays."

Snape narrowed his eyes.

However, for the sake of Horace, he did not reprimand the little wizard Bourne on the spot, but changed the punishment method in another way.

"The deduction of points can be cancelled, but your two classmates will be punished to participate in voluntary labor during the holidays to help me deal with some potion materials that will be used in the next semester."

After saying that, Snape mentally patted himself on the back - this was a brilliant idea that "killed two birds with one stone".

Next semester, the little wizards will use several pounds of potion ingredients such as the eyes of the horned toad, the lubricant secreted by the flame slug, and the dust from the wings of the ghost-faced moth.

If he was left to prepare alone, he would probably not be able to eat anything during this Christmas holiday. And if one or two young wizards were involved, Snape's work would undoubtedly be many times easier.

What's more, that Quirrell guy seems to be a lackey of the Dark Lord. During the vacation, he was probably gearing up to do something big to claim credit from his master.

Snape didn't want Quirrell to succeed. At the same time, he didn't want Harry Potter, whose cool figure is his father, to run into Quirrell like a mindless rabbit.

Therefore, calling Harry Potter to the Potions Office to process materials during the holidays was undoubtedly a good idea to get the best of both worlds.

"That's it." Snape made up his mind. As the only remaining dean in the school, he now had the power equivalent to Vice Principal McGonagall.

Then, in a non-negotiable tone, he reiterated to Bourne the instruction to go back to his dormitory and sleep. After watching Bourne walk up the stairs leading to the Gryffindor common room and saying goodbye to Snape and Filch, Horace reluctantly embarked on the journey back to Palermo, dragging his old bones with him.

Bourne walked over to the portrait of the Fat Lady, said "Merry Christmas" - Gryffindor's holiday password - and slipped into the passage where the portrait opened.

The negotiation with Professor Snape was successful, and Bourne was still a little happy.

Gryffindor's eternal "not rich" house points will not make things worse, and Harry and Ron don't have to worry about facing the pointing fingers of other Gryffindor little lions after the holidays. Everyone has a bright future. .

The Gryffindor lounge during the holidays was much deserted than usual, although the fire in the fireplace was still burning brightly.

Bourne's two pets did not return to the dormitory. They both stayed in the common room to rest.

Ruth, the swallow-tailed dog, was lying next to the fireplace, sleeping soundly, drooling a lot, and seemed to be eating something delicious while dreaming.

The cat named Ryan, who was always elusive at night, made a rare return today and was currently nesting in the Gryffindor-style red and yellow long sofa.

As soon as Bourne entered the common room, Ruth didn't react at all, but Ryan opened his eyes in alertness.

However, after seeing who it was, it turned its head towards the back of the sofa. Just when he turned over, he waved his paw to his nominal master, which seemed to say: Leave everything alone and don't touch me.

"Sure enough, Ryan has no secrets." Bourne chuckled and whispered a joke that only he could understand, and then walked towards the dormitory.

He realized that he seemed to have forgotten something, but it didn't seem to be anything important, so he didn't think about it deeply.
-
Flamel's country house, Devon.

A mixed-breed Niffler waited eagerly all night, but could not wait for the mixed-breed Niffler keeper who was supposed to come to pick him up.

While munching on delicious berry and nut snacks, it used a variety of words that it didn't even understand, using a "clumsy tongue" to criticize Bourne for forgetting it at someone else's house.

"Humph, man."
-
Bourne sneezed. It wasn't that he had a cold, but as soon as he entered the dormitory, he discovered that the two roommates who had just been caught by Filch, who was just waiting for him to wait, were still awake.

Harry and Ron were wearing pajamas and sitting barefoot on the carpet facing each other. They were eating a plate of crispy horn-like snacks and writing on a piece of parchment spread on the carpet.

The reason why Bourne sneezed was because those snacks were covered in something like chili powder, which constantly emitted a pungent smell.

"Bourne, do you want to try it?" Ron picked up a biscuit and waved to Bourne, "This is the 'Pepper Squawk' we bought in Hogsmeade Village. It's a new product from Honeydukes store. Snacks, but they have to be eaten with 'Shunshun Drink'."

Only then did Bourne see that there was a Coke-sized drink bottle next to the two roommates, which contained some light blue drinks.

"What will happen if you don't drink?"

Curiously, Bourne took the snack handed to him by Ron. As soon as he touched it, Bourne felt a faint tingling sensation on his fingertips.

"Then it might be like poor Banban..."

Looking at the pet rat that he put to rest on his pillow, Ron said with lingering fear: "...it just ate a piece of peppercorns while we were not paying attention, and it sprayed out from its buttocks. A flash of sparks.”

"There may be some materials from Motla rats in this snack."

The Motla rat is a magical animal that looks very similar to a field mouse, but has a large anemone-like growth on its back. They usually feed on crustaceans (but will also bite the feet of those who step on them), so they can be found in many places along the British coast.

People bitten by Motla rats will have symptoms of retching. In more serious cases, the bitten person will have sparks shooting out from the buttocks, but this will not last more than 48 hours.

The sea anemone-like growth on the back of this magical animal is a good potion material. After being simply pickled, eating it can enhance the wizard's resistance to evil spells and bad luck. It is also one of the raw materials for preparing elixirs. But if you eat too much, that "greedy" guy will grow a lot of ugly purple hair from his ears.

After tasting a piece of 'pepper horn', Bourne thought it just tasted like ordinary crispy horns, but its effect was obviously much more interesting than Muggle snacks.

"So, you guys went to Hogsmeade for a night out tonight?"

While sharing the snacks bought by his roommate, Bourne asked this question inadvertently.

It wasn't that he had any other ideas, he was simply curious - because in his impression, in the Harry Potter stories, there were only three secret passages from Hogwarts Castle to Hogsmeade Village.

The first is behind a one-eyed witch statue that leads directly to Honeydukes' cellar.

The second secret passage, strictly speaking, is not in the castle, but in the hole of the Whomping Willow tree outside the castle, and the exit is in the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade.

The third secret passage is also the most secret passage. Bourne was led through it once by the Weasley twins. That time, they rushed to Hogsmeade through the secret passage from the Room of Requirement to the Hog's Head Bar, where they blocked an unscrupulous businessman selling the blood of magical animals. Bourne gave Professor Quirrell and Voldemort a fight due to the expansion potion. A little shock.

But tonight, Harry and Ron were fished out by Filch from under the statue of Merlin in the foyer.

This secret passage never appeared in the original work.

Although it is not ruled out that the two of them got the information from George and Fred, it is worth noting that the twins also stayed at school during the holidays this year.

(Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went to the Romanian dragon farm to visit their second son Charlie who had just started working)

No matter how unreliable the pair were, they would not let Harry, their youngest brother Ron, and two first-year wizards sneak away from the castle to Hogsmeade at night, just to go to Honey. The Duke bought some snacks to eat.

So what is the reason?

Fortunately, Ron has one advantage: he will never be a Riddler in this life.

Bourne just asked the beginning, and the child, who was still immersed in the excitement brought by the adventure, immediately gave the ending.

"We have a new discovery!"

Ron said in a slightly showy tone.

"The ghosts who live in the castle - such as Professor Binns who teaches us the history of magic - and the moving magical portraits hanging on the walls, most of them also attended Hogwarts during their lifetimes. He studies, so he knows a lot about the secret passages in the castle.

As long as you can make them happy, they will tell you some unknown secrets. I can vouch for those secret passages, even Fred and George probably can’t say they know them all.

We knew from a magical portrait that there was an annual celebration in Hogsmeade tonight, Christmas Eve, and he also told us about the secret passage hidden in the entrance hall.

Originally, we just wanted to go to the Owl Post Office and borrow an owl to deliver a letter to Hermione. But when we arrived at Hogsmeade, the celebrations there were so fun that we lost track of time and wanted to go to the post office again. Only to find that it was closed. "

As he spoke, Ron gradually became a little embarrassed from being cheerful at the beginning.

This is because the reason why they failed to get things done was because he participated in the wizard chess competition held by Honeydukes and wasted some time in order to obtain the final prize of the competition.

As a result, the only reward they gained from this adventure was the prize for the wizard chess competition - and at the same time, it was also the new product "Pepper Horn" that Honeydukes was promoting in this marketing campaign.

"That's it," Bourne looked at the piece of letter paper lying on the ground. The short paragraph written on it was indeed a greeting to the little witch Hermione and her family.

He didn't ask Harry and Ron why they didn't go to the school's owl loft to borrow an owl, or why they didn't just ask Harry's pet Hedwig to deliver the letter.

The reason is actually very simple. It is now the Christmas holiday, and the school's public owl has been borrowed by many little wizards to deliver gifts. Hathaway also left Hogwarts Castle during the day today to send holiday gifts to its owner. .

Harry said: "We are going to finish writing this letter tonight. Early tomorrow morning, when Hedwig flies back, we can deliver the letter to Hermione after a short rest."

"Then good luck and Merry Christmas."

Bourne and Harrow were polite, used their wands to "clean up" on themselves, and then climbed into their own big bed.

That night, he slept soundly.

(End of this chapter)