From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 228 The Banquet is Just in Time

What Ivy didn't expect was that the first person to arrive at the venue was Snape, the Potions professor.

When he walked through the porch of the Room of Requirement and met Ivy under the guidance of the butler Bobby, he said something dryly like "thank you for the invitation", but what surprised Ivy most was the warm smile on his face.

Ivy had always thought he would just sneer.

"Please take a seat, Professor." Ivy guided him into the reception room. "Once everyone is here, we can have dinner! I prepared today's dinner myself!"

"I am flattered by your invitation." Snape's expression did not change, and the legs under the black robe remained standing in the same place, "So I brought a little insignificant gift."

Snape took out a small transparent narrow-mouthed bottle from his pocket, which contained a golden liquid that looked like flowing sunlight.

"Lucky Potion?" Ivy raised his eyebrows. "Did you make it yourself? No, this thing takes six months to work, and the effect is only average. It's not a real lucky potion."

Snape explained, "I have some connections in the Extraordinary Apothecary Guild, so someone gave me a bottle."

Ivy was very sure that this was a lie. No matter how useful the title of "Potion Master" was, no one would give away high-value potions like Felix Felicis everywhere. Besides, Snape never liked potions that were more hype than substance, so he must have spent a lot of money to get this bottle of Felix Felicis.

But one thing is certain, Snape really knows the key to gift-giving - spending a lot of money to give the most cost-effective things. Because this kind of things are generally not bought by anyone, so when they are given as gifts, the recipient will think of the giver as long as he sees them.

The Lucky Potion is undoubtedly a potion with a very low cost-effectiveness. The hard-to-obtain ingredients and complicated preparation steps make it expensive, but the actual effect is not as good as expected. It is more like a confidence potion than a lucky potion.

However, things like lucky potions do exist in the DND worldview.

After all, it was a world where you had to roll dice for everything, and there were a few ways to increase your luck. When Ivy was choosing a specialty, he saw an entry called "Luck", which gave him three chances to change the probability every day. He could make it easier for his attacks to hit the enemy, or for the enemy's attacks to hit him. In short, it was something that could fiddle with the dice rolled by fate.

Ivy waved the bottle of molten gold-like Felicis in front of his eyes, then sighed softly: "I will remember this, Professor Snape. Please take a seat quickly."

Snape nodded reservedly and turned to walk towards the banquet hall.

"Welcome! Doudou welcomes you on behalf of the great master, Grandpa Doom!" Doudou, who was wearing a neat butler's uniform and had a big afro, bowed 90 degrees and greeted Harry and Ron who broke into the Room of Requirement.

"Uh... hello..." Harry, who was wearing pajamas, greeted hesitantly. He had never seen the creature in front of him before.

"Is he a goblin?" Harry nudged Ron beside him. He was also in pajamas. Perhaps they both regarded this party as an ordinary night outing.

"Doudou is a house-elf!" Doudou obviously heard Harry's question, and answered while extending his hand to lead the way for them, "This way! Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley!"

"House elves?" Ron was surprised. "I've never seen house elves like you. I remember that they didn't wear clothes... I mean, compared to your kind, you look much better!"

"Thank you for the compliment!" Doudou puffed out his chest, looking proud. "It was Master Doom who used magic to transform Doudou! Doudou is a unique house-elf!"

"You are from the Weasley family. Diego wants to meet you very much!" said the butler Bobby.

"Diego?"

"He is the house-elf of the Weasley family, but he works for Master Doom at the request of his master. When he finishes training us, the house-elves that belong to Master Doom, he will return to the Weasley family."

"Ron! That's your elf!" Harry was obviously remembering the stories Ivy had told them, including Professor Matilda Weasley and her elf Digger.

Ron's eyes began to light up. Ever since he learned about the species of house-elves, he felt that his family particularly needed one, which would definitely help his mother reduce a lot of housework burden.

Doudou led the two into the reception room with his head held high: "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, please wait here for a moment before the banquet begins!"

"Oh, thank you." Harry thanked politely.

And Ron was worrying about something else: "Which Weasley family do you think he will return to?"

"What?" Harry was confused. "I only know one Weasley among you!"

"Oh, our family has always been large..." Ron shook his head, "I have several cousins, and my father has several brothers... Obviously, an elf can't serve several different families..."

As they were talking, Ron felt a piercing chill coming from behind. He turned around and saw Snape staring at them with a sneer.

Ron gasped and fell into a state of shock, obviously not expecting to see the professor here.

"Harry! Ron!" Hermione's familiar voice called their souls back to their bodies, "I knew you couldn't remember to wear formal clothes!"

Unlike her two reckless companions, Hermione was neatly dressed in her school robes and was glaring at their wrinkled pajamas.

"Shh..." Ron put his finger to his mouth, signaling Hermione to be quiet, and then secretly pointed at Snape on the other side of the living room.

Hermione was visibly startled and began looking for a place to hide.

"He won't deduct points from us, will he?" Hermione put her face behind a suit of armor holding a shield and whispered to her two companions for their opinions.

"I'm not sure..." Ron was also trying his best to avoid Snape's gaze, "I really should have brought Harry's Invisibility Cloak..."

"Ahem..." A pretentious cough came from behind. The three turned around and saw Malfoy who had just arrived. He was wearing an expensive-looking robe with gold embroidered on the collar.

"What a unique outfit, Mr. Potter?" Malfoy glanced proudly at Harry and Ron's pajamas, and then saw Snape sitting at the other end of the living room, "Ah, Professor!"

Snape glared at Harry before nodding at Malfoy.

Malfoy felt that he should sit over there. Before leaving, he whispered to the Gryffindor trio: "This is Ivy's territory. I won't do anything to you... But if you ask me, you two don't even have the most basic respect for Ivy... Pajamas... Humph."

Harry and Ron suddenly felt their faces burning and they wished they could turn into air and disappear as soon as possible.

At this time, new guests came in, Sirius and Lupin.

Harry's godfather pulled him up from the ground and gave him a huge hug. "I knew you were there too! Hey! What happened to you? Ivy didn't tell us it was a pajama party!"

"Professor Lupin!" Hermione felt like she could hardly breathe. She didn't expect to meet so many professors in the middle of the night.

"Relax, girl." Lupin gave a kind smile, "No one will deduct points from Gryffindor for this."

Sirius and Lupin both noticed Snape sitting on the other side, but the adults were very restrained and did not have a conflict. Instead, they chatted intimately with the children of their own college.

"This room is so interesting!" Sirius shared excitedly. Although he had been here before, he had always been very restrained in keeping the secret for Ivy. Now that he saw his godson in the Room of Requirement, he finally didn't have to suppress his strong desire to share.

"The entrance is in Ivy's magic book! And the interior furnishings can be adjusted at will according to his thoughts! I have never seen such a magical place!"

The arrival of the godfather undoubtedly eased Harry's mood greatly. He began to ask Sirius all kinds of questions, and the latter obviously enjoyed this atmosphere.

"Hey! Are you all here?" Hagrid, with wet hands, walked in from another door of the reception room. He had been staying in the magical creature enclosure in the Room of Requirement. When Ivy sent him the invitation, he asked to meet Ivy's "friends".

While several Gryffindors were chatting animatedly, Cassandra quietly passed by them and sat at the other end of the reception room. Compared to the Gryffindors, the three Slytherins seemed much more restrained. They just watched coldly and talked in low voices from time to time, as if the excitement on the other side of the hall had nothing to do with them.

Now, with the table in the middle of the reception room as the center of the circle, there are five Gryffindors near the door, and three Slytherins sitting in a position symmetrical to them. It is as if an invisible wall has fallen from the sky, dividing the teachers and students in the same school into two distinct factions.

This was the scene Ivy saw when he re-entered the living room.

"Only Dumbledore hasn't arrived yet..." Ivy looked around the living room but didn't see the white-bearded man. "Could it be that he overslept?"

The bell in the Room of Requirement rang twelve times, officially marking the time for the banquet to begin.

Ivy raised his hand: "Never mind him... All the dishes are here, everyone come in and eat!" Everyone in the living room stood up and prepared to go to the banquet hall.

"Is dinner ready? Looks like I've arrived just in time!" Dumbledore's cheerful voice came from the direction of the porch. Everyone couldn't help but turn around to take a look at what the headmaster of Hogwarts looked like, even though they were already very familiar with his appearance.

Like Harry and Ron, Dumbledore was also wearing a nightgown. The difference between him and Harry was that he was also wearing a nightcap with a star sewn on the top. The star was drooping limply on his shoulders.

Seeing the headmaster dressed like this made Harry and Ron feel instantly more at ease, something even Sirius' teasing had failed to do.

"Yeah, you're just in time." Ivy shook his head. If you make friends with an old man, you have to tolerate some of his quirks. Fortunately, Dumbledore is still reliable in most cases.

So everyone sat down in a circle at the dining table. Gryffindor and Slytherin tried not to sit with each other. Only Dumbledore sat stubbornly between Sirius and Snape, while Harry and Malfoy sat next to Ivy.

As was the case at any other banquet at Hogwarts, many people looked at Dumbledore as usual, and Dumbledore looked at Ivy.

Ivy raised his glass and said simply, "For Hogwarts!"

"For Hogwarts!" Everyone raised their cups together, and Dumbledore was particularly happy.

Looking at the dazzling array of dishes, Ron swallowed hard and waited for Ivy's order.

"Eat it quickly! These are all my cooking!"

The banquet officially began amid the crowd's bustling praises.

Ron was so busy stuffing various foods into his mouth that he almost swallowed his tongue.

Harry was just as good as him, and was now competing with his godfather across several dishes to see who could finish a whole honey-roasted steak first. Obviously he failed, and Harry still had a large piece of steak left, while Sirius only had a little bit of soup left on his plate.

Sirius laughed, seeming satisfied that he had beaten his godson in a meat-eating contest.

Hagrid picked up the cup, which was almost a small wooden barrel, and poured the spiced wine into his stomach.

Dumbledore was already enjoying his dessert, and he was almost as interested in telling Snape jokes as he was in honey cream puffs.

The latter was cutting the pheasant on his plate with an unhappy look on his face, as if Dumbledore's corny jokes had disturbed his mood for dining. For this reason, Snape even made the plate creak, hoping that the old wizard would come to his senses and stop his verbal harassment.

Cassandra was very interested in the forest vegetable salad on the table. The rich texture and progressive taste experience gave her a great impact.

It was Hermione who kept attacking the pan-fried trout and seafood soup. She wielded the spoon quickly, meticulously putting every bit of meat on the skeleton into her stomach.

Malfoy obviously enjoyed the dinner very much, but in order to form a sharp contrast with Harry, he always tried his best to maintain his demeanor. However, when he saw that there was less and less food on the plate, he didn't care about much anymore and grabbed the pie with his hands and stuffed it into his mouth.

Lupin ate very carefully, and every piece of food on the table was found on his plate. He ate the most food without saying a word, more than Ron, who never stopped eating.

The heated atmosphere did not last long. After all, it was midnight, and apart from the old wizard who often wandered into the kitchen at night, few people present had the habit of eating in the middle of the night.

So more chatting occurred at the table, with Harry, Ron and Malfoy asking about Ivy's past adventures.

Lupin and Sirius were talking and laughing loudly.

Snape ignored Dumbledore and answered Cassandra's question. Hermione across from them was also listening intently and looked like she was about to cross the table and join in.

Until someone asked a question: "Did Peter receive the Dementor's kiss? His name hasn't been mentioned in the Daily Prophet for many days."

The table suddenly became very quiet, and everyone looked at Sirius, who looked at Lupin, whose cheeks were red, obviously having drunk a lot of hot cider.

No one spoke for a long moment, until Dumbledore said, "He is dead, Remus."

"How did he die?" Sirius asked impatiently.

"Fudge wrote to tell me that it was suicide..." Dumbledore frowned, obviously not wanting to talk about someone's death at Ivy's party, especially in front of so many students. "There are also many desserts! I think this candied apple is great. Would you like some, Sirius?"

"Give me some, Dumbledore," said Snape, with a strange smile on his face, sweet and relaxed. "I could use a little of that—apple."

The word "apple" sounds like "revenge" to him.

Sirius was almost the first to realize what was happening.

He stared at Snape, not understanding why he would do that.

Sirius didn't recover until Snape finished eating all the apples on the plate and stood up to say goodbye to Ivy.

"It's too late, we should all go to bed!" Dumbledore patted his belly happily and touched Hagrid, who was snoring on the table, with his finger, and the latter immediately floated up.

After asking that question, Lupin was obviously much more sober, and was now pulling Sirius towards the door obediently.

Malfoy tried hard to control his yawn, said goodbye to Ivy, and walked out of the banquet hall before Harry.

"House-elf!" Hermione just realized that the furry little creature that led her was a house-elf. "I remember that the house-elves in the book didn't look like this!"

"Because Ivy used magic to change their appearance." Ron said indifferently, "Go back quickly, I'm already sleepy... Harry, what do you think is the possibility that Diego will come to my house?"

"The books say they never wear clothes and are almost slaves of wizards!" Hermione's indignant voice still echoed in the corridor.

"Doudou is not a slave!" Butler Bobby retorted, "Doudou has a salary! He has holidays! Master Doom also provides Doudou with the best dormitory! Doudou is happy to work for Master Doom! Doudou is different from other house-elves!"

Ivy used his own contract magic to replace the contract magic planted in their blood by wizards, so the speed at which this group of house-elves changed their minds was beyond everyone's imagination, including Ivy himself.

In Ivy's words: House-elves are simply too easily affected by wizards' magic. They are almost shaped into this way by magic, and of course they are also very easily changed by magic.

There was no more sound from the corridor, and it seemed that all the visitors had returned the same way.

Ivy finally had time to look at his new heirloom item.

As an ancient item of the same level as the Ravenclaw Diadem, the ancient ritual of the gold cup is also divided into three stages. After completing the primary ancient ritual, Ivy unlocked its two abilities.

First, the golden cup will naturally produce liquid, and will not be spilled by any action other than drinking or pouring. If the liquid in the cup is exhausted, it will be refilled after 10 minutes if no one uses it.

The first ability at level 10 is "Drinking from a Golden Cup", which is to drink liquid from a golden cup. You can choose to sip or drink, which is the difference between drinking in small sips and drinking in large gulps.

When sipped, the cup grants the drinker a number of temporary hit points equal to 1d4 + 1/2 the cup's owner's level, and the temporary hit points last for minute.

If you drink it in big gulps, the liquid in the golden cup can be drunk three times in total, and it will also provide life recovery and temporary health points to the drinker, but the effect is stronger. On the basis of the treatment provided by small sips, each level of Ivy will provide an additional d4 healing die.

Even if all the liquid in the cup is drunk, Ivy can still sip from the golden cup because it will continue to produce liquid.

The 11th level Gold Cup ability increases the healing die to d6, and sipping cures bleeding effects and reduces the effects of poison by half, while guzzling cures deafness and blindness and reduces the effects of disease by half.

The healing effect of the gold cup is so strong that it is like a mobile fountain. You should know that as a mage, Ivy only gains d6 health points each time she levels up, but the gold cup can fill up with health points after one sip, and she can drink it three times every ten minutes. Not to mention that it can also provide resistance to abnormal status.

Although the gold cup does not provide any attribute enhancements for the time being, the terrifying amount of healing it can provide is enough to make it a divine weapon.

(End of this chapter)