Hogwarts Study Panel.

Chapter 616, Section 614: Quidditch World Cup

"Welcome! Welcome!"

They were greeted by a sprightly old wizard who stood under the beech trees, grinning like a bear emerging from hibernation.

"Mr. McGonagall."

The two young wizards greeted each other.

Then he cautiously looked around, as if searching for something.

"oh----"

Marcus seemed to understand. His eyes darted around, and he led the young wizards toward the villa.

"Mr. McGonagall, where is Sheehan?"

As they walked past the pool, Hermione couldn't help but ask.

"Oh, I haven't told him you arrived half an hour early—that would be a fun surprise, wouldn't it?"

Marcus, hands on his hips, said with a grin.

"Maybe."

Hermione said.

Hermione and Justin walked past the yard where the shears moved on their own, keeping the lawn neatly trimmed, and past the fountain that floated in the air, without blinking an eye.

"Some simple life magic. The farm wasn't always like this. As you can guess, most of the McGonagall family are Muggles, and we're good neighbors with them —"

Marcus muttered to himself as he walked, "But things are different lately. Wizards and Muggles need to keep their distance; Muggles can't withstand attacks targeting wizards."

"Is the situation—very serious?"

Hermione asked nervously.

"Perfect for an Auror."

Marcus winked mischievously. "You should worry about whether your bellies can hold the soup, not about adult things. You can worry about that when you're adults."

Hermione pouted, wanting to tell the old wizard how many adventures they had gone through, but in the end she didn't.

Only the old wizard watched them thoughtfully, his gaze gradually becoming profound.

Pushing open the villa's door, you are greeted by a spacious living room.

A variety of foods, mostly desserts, are laid out on a rustic long table.

The pumpkin juice bubbled and bubbled, and when the bubbles burst, three wizards—one big, one small, and one young—could be seen on the table.

Sheen sipped his pumpkin juice, holding a disguised copy of "The Secrets of Cutting-Edge Black Magic" in his hand.

Although Grindelwald is impulsive, his impulsiveness is full of consideration.

He casually assigned a lot of homework, and as Sheen improved step by step, Sheen gradually developed different insights into dark magic.

To the side, Minerva was reading a newspaper, a teapot floating in the air beside her, slowly pouring black tea into a teacup.

From the seat furthest away, all you could see was a tuft of blonde hair—that was Zoe, forcing herself to read seriously.

The moment the footsteps sounded, Sheen looked up and saw Hermione with her face upturned and arms crossed, and Justin smiling gently.

"Good morning."

Sheen said with a smile.

It didn't seem too surprising.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Finley."

Minerva put down her newspaper and stared at the two of them.

Instantly, Hermione and Justin froze, too afraid to move.

"Would you like some pumpkin juice?"

Minerva said.

Hermione and Justin nodded stiffly.

Then I saw Minerva walk into the kitchen.

"This is----"

While Professor McGonagall was away, Justin slowly moved closer to the table.

"Cough cough————"

Hermione coughed twice, and Justin quickly exchanged a glance with Sheehan.

Farm life was more pleasant than Hermione and Justin had imagined.

Or rather, wizards themselves are a model of self-sufficiency and contentment.

After settling into the villa, Justin and Hermione spent their days trying to figure out how to quell the old wizard's enthusiasm.

But what they found more novel was living under the same roof as a professor.

Gradually, they discovered that their Transfiguration professor was not exactly the same as they had imagined.

She would occasionally bicker with the old wizard, sometimes laugh uncontrollably when she saw interesting news, and even more occasionally, she could find a tabby cat sunbathing by a haystack.

"I never expected Professor McGonagall to be like this—"

Hermione blushed and whispered to Justin, "Cute."

"That's what the tabby cat lady is like."

Justin laughed.

Privately, they secretly gave Professor McGonagall a code name to distinguish her from the Professor McGonagall of her Hogwarts days.

Very easily, Justin thought of Ms. Tabby Cat.

Hermione found it quite amusing, and there was a strange thrill in using the name.

She could probably understand how Harry and Ron felt when they called Snape the Black Bat.

Lying in chairs that could change shape to make wizards more comfortable, Justin and Hermione encountered the same problem as before.

They still couldn't find Sheen.

Except for mealtimes, the little wizard was nowhere to be seen all day.

He left the villa when it was still foggy in the early morning, and he still hadn't returned when the stars were twinkling at night.

Fortunately, there were several intelligent cats in the villa, which prevented them from getting bored.

"Sarah, don't run away!"

Hermione chased a cat lizard across the living room; the cat had just snatched Hermione's wand.

The McGonagall family seems to love cats; for example, Marcus calls this cat his granddaughter.

This cat named Sarah seems to know that she is loved, so she is mischievous and naughty.

Running around aimlessly, it's causing trouble because it's fully automated.

If it weren't for the fact that she always gets caught by snacks, Hermione really wouldn't know what to do with her.

Compared to Sarah, Bud was much more obedient. He would always silently lick his paws and occasionally jump onto someone's shoulder and follow them for a while.

"Got you!"

Hermione pinched Sarah's tail triumphantly, and Sarah shuddered, then rolled around on the ground.

"That's strange, I get the feeling you're like a real wizard."

Hermione looked into Sarah's eyes and muttered to herself.

Sheen, who had just returned, witnessed this scene. He hesitated, wondering whether he should tell Hermione that it was actually a small white dog.

But after thinking about it for a while, I decided against it.

Hermione should enjoy the process of solving the mystery.

"Sheen?"

Justin seemed to have radar installed; he noticed Sheehan had just returned to the villa ahead of schedule.

Good morning.

Sheen said.

"Oh, right, the Quidditch World Cup is about to start. We were supposed to go to Hermione's house first, but Mr. Marcus's invitation made us change our plans—so, we're going to watch the Quidditch World Cup together—I mean, who are we going to see—"

Justin, holding a spatula and a fruit knife, spoke to Sheehan amidst the clattering of ping-pong balls on the kitchen table.

"I have no idea."

Sheen then noticed how quickly time had passed.

More than a month has passed in fact.

During this period, his mastery of the Fiery Spell had approached one-third, and he was no longer far from becoming a legend.

Kong Fu's recovery is also progressing relatively quickly, and it is foreseeable that it will be less than half a month before he enters the border area again.

Time always seems to slip away —

Justin smiled and handed a freshly baked mousse block to Sheehan.

"Um.

""

Sheehan felt he needed to ask Professor McGonagall for her opinion.

If he could, he wouldn't want more people going to the Quidditch World Cup, as it was destined to be unsafe.

"Ron and Harry too—"

Just as Justin opened his mouth, the Magic Hand Mirror beeped.

Along with Ron's face appeared a lot of red hair.

"Ireland will definitely win."

With his mouth full of potatoes, wizard Charlie muttered, "They beat Peru in the semi-finals."

"But Bulgaria has Viktor Krum."

Fred said.

"Krum is good, but he's just one person; Ireland has seven good players."

Charlie said impatiently, "But I really hope England can qualify. It's such a disgrace."

They lost to Transylvania, 10 to 390.

Charlie said with a gloomy face, "The performance was terrible. Wales lost to Uganda, and Scotland was thrashed by Luxembourg."

"Sheen, Sheen!"

Ron and Harry squeezed into the center of the picture with the many red hairs.

"Are you guys going to the Quidditch World Cup?"

Ron said excitedly.

"Yes."

Justin answered quickly.

"Very good!"

Ron cheered, "Make sure to contact us when we get there, and we'll set up our tents together!"

"Ron!"

With a call, the magic hand mirror gradually closed.

During dinner, before Sheen could ask, Marcus brought up the matter.

"Of course, it's a big event. We all have to go. We have a big tent, and everyone will be there. I hope you won't be too surprised to see whoever we see."

Marcus said this with a pointed remark.

The three young wizards, Sheehan, Hermione, and Justin, could not quite understand what he was saying.

Only at night, when Minerva picks up a mirror, might she be able to answer this question.

"We have separate tents. It's enough for three people."

she says.

"I will come."

A deep voice came from the other end.

That's how it should be.

She was somewhat surprised, but also seemed somewhat relieved.

"This is our first trip in a long time."

Her stern features softened slightly, as if she were looking at a junior who had been a source of worry since childhood.

Silence fell on the other side of the magic mirror.

"Things have been turbulent lately, be careful, Severus. That child will worry about you."

"As if remembering something," Minerva said.

The call ended there.

The next morning, when we set off.

The air was cold, and the moon still hung high in the sky. Only a faint gray-green tinge appeared on the horizon to their right, indicating that dawn was slowly approaching.

Sheehan was thinking about the thousands of wizards rushing to watch Quidditch matches. He had never seen so many wizards gathered before, and wondered what it would be like.

Hermione covered her face, Justin rubbed his hands, and the three of them followed Marcus and Minerva.

"Mr. Marcus, how do you suggest we get there without attracting the attention of the Muggles?"

Hermione asked.

"Organizational work is fraught with difficulties."

Marcus was happy to answer, "The main problem is that there are about 100,000 wizards coming to watch the World Cup, and we certainly can't find a magical venue that can accommodate so many people."

There are places that Muggles can't go, but imagine how we could possibly cram 100,000 wizards into Diagon Alley or Platform 9%?

So we had to find a deserted swamp and take all necessary precautions against Muggles. It's said that the entire Ministry of Magic was busy with this for several months.

First, of course, we have to stagger everyone's arrival times. Those with cheaper tickets have to arrive two weeks in advance.

Some people use Muggle transportation, but the number is limited, and too many people cannot be allowed to crammed Muggle buses and trains—don't forget, wizards from all over the world come here.

Of course, some people use Apparition, but we must designate safe places for them to Apparate, away from all Muggles.

I think there's probably a grove of trees nearby that could serve as a foothold for Apparition. For those who don't want to or can't Apparition, use the Portkey.

This thing is used to transport wizards from one place to another within a specified time. If necessary, it can transport a large number of people at once.

Two hundred door keys were distributed across the UK, and the one closest to us is in my hand.

"What is a door key?"

Justin asked curiously.

"Ah, all sorts of things, all kinds. Of course, they're all unremarkable-looking items, so Muggles won't pick them up and fidget with them—they'll think someone just threw them away—"

"So who are we?"

Hermione wanted to know how they should get there.

Are we using a door key?

"Of course it's Apparition!"

Marcus said without hesitation.

"ah?!"

Hermione said in surprise.

"Oh, you haven't passed the test yet?"

Marcus seemed to have been waiting for this moment.

"I thought they all passed. Well, Little Green passed the exam on his third day of training. Of course, the practice time wasn't enough, it was too short. But the Education Department rated it as exceptionally good Apparition, so he passed—"

Watching the incessant chatter of Marcus, Minerva silently pinched his waist.

The old wizard let out a soft "Ouch!" and fell silent.

"Drink some potions; the first Apparition experience wasn't very comfortable."

"Mileva said gently."

Looking into her beautiful blue eyes, Justin and Hermione thought for a moment that they probably had a deep misunderstanding of the professor.

"You are holding Marcus's hand."

"After they drank the potion," Minerva said.

Then he naturally took Sheen's hand.

"Oh, but doesn't Sheen possess the ability to Apparate?"

Hermione asked.

"His Apparition skills are still quite raw."

Minerva said.

His tone carried a hint of unquestionable authority.

Marcus blinked, thinking it was obviously a blatant lie.

Unless all the wizards in charge of the exam at the Ministry of Magic fail in their duties, such a poorly written highest score would not occur.

"Alright, alright, kids. Are you all ready? Hold my hand, we're about to set off."

By the way, if you want to use the Portkey, you can let me know, but I think Apparition is more convenient, especially this year when you're preparing for exams. It's always good to be among the first to try it out.

Marcus said with a smile.