The days at Hogwarts

Loren hastily put on the thick sweater that Mrs. Weasley had knitted for him, then wrapped himself in a winter magic robe, washed up, and walked out of the dormitory despite feeling sleepy.

On the sofa in the common room, a pretty girl was sitting holding her notebook, her concentration was so intense that one couldn't take their eyes off her. Hermione had been waiting for him in the common room early, and she had also taken the time to review the 173 common Animagus animals.

Feeling the sofa beside her collapse, Hermione looked him up and down carefully, frowning her delicate brows slightly.

Loren yawned and grinned at her, "Good morning!"

"Good morning."

Hermione put the notebook into the cloth bag she was carrying across her body, stood up and walked out, ready to have breakfast. "It hasn't even started snowing yet, and you can't get up in the morning."

"It's not that I want to stay in bed because of the weather. I'm just really sleepy." Loren Anxin followed her downstairs, with tears of sleepiness in his eyes. He couldn't see the road clearly and didn't want to bother dealing with the winding stairs.

"What did you do last night?"

"Fight monsters and maintain peace in the castle."

Because it was the weekend, there were few wizards who woke up early, and they didn't meet many people on the road, so they arrived at the auditorium smoothly. The hot steam was mixed with the tempting aroma of food, which just refreshed Loren.

Toasted waffles, bacon, ham and sausage, a grapefruit cut in half, and two drinks, hot milk and orange juice.

Loren reached out, took a portion of each and put them on his plate.

Hermione watched his actions, took half of his food, and asked while eating, "Have you copied the notes I lent you?"

"I have copied it. Are you still not confident in me?"

Hermione was worried that he would only copy and recite the underlined key points, so she asked him to check other knowledge points: "What is the time point for holding the mandrake in your mouth?"

Loren buried his head in the plate and swallowed the food in big mouthfuls: "No full moon, no, until the next full moon."

"What materials should be placed in the crystal bottle?"

"Saliva, mandrake, a strand of hair, a teaspoon of dew, and the chrysalis of a hawk moth..."

The little wizards near them were trembling with fear when they heard this, and they shouted in their hearts: It's the weekend! It's breakfast time!

Suddenly, the scene in front of them made them tremble even more violently. A transparent ghost head flew out from under the plate of fruit salad, and the skin and tendons stuck to the neck were stretched very long, and finally pulled Nick's body out.

The faces of several young wizards turned pale on the spot, their throats moved up and down, and they kept using swallowing movements to suppress their twitching stomachs and the feeling of vomiting.

Hermione also turned pale. After swallowing the last piece of bacon in her mouth with difficulty, she expressed strong condemnation to him with her eyes.

Only Loren remained calm, drinking the milk to smooth the waffle in his mouth, and burped at the ghost. He smiled and said, "Good morning, Sir Nicholas."

Nick looked at him with resentment: "I'm not fine. The Professor Lockhart you found took care of my death anniversary, as if he was the master of the death anniversary."

He arranged the venue decorations, prepared the food for the party, directed the elves to rehearse the procedures of the party, and even his inscription on the tombstone cake was snatched away by Lockhart on the grounds that his handwriting was more beautiful.

This is not Nick's 500th birthday, it's clearly Lockhart's ghost gathering.

Loren frowned. If his tricking of Lockhart affected the party, then he had screwed Nick. He asked worriedly, "Did Lockhart do anything stupid? Will he mess up your Deathday party?"

"No, he did a good job." Nick said frustratedly.

Lockhart had attended countless book signing events and had extensive experience with such gatherings. Under his direction, the elves arranged the venue in perfect order, leaving the ghost with no fault to find.

Hermione couldn't help laughing quietly. Nick's transparent face turned even darker. He said sullenly, "I'm going back to continue rehearsing my poetry recitation. Remember to attend my party."

"Look, your taunting is upsetting Nick."

"It was you who tricked Lockhart into attending the party and made him unhappy."

……

Looking forward to it, looking forward to it, Halloween is here.

As if to set off the atmosphere of Halloween, it started to rain heavily outside the castle. The thick black clouds, like ink, covered the sky tightly, not letting in any light. The dome of the castle also changed into a rainstorm scene, and from time to time there would be deafening thunder, and it was hard to tell whether it was a real sound outside or an illusion created by magic.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

A group of little wizards gathered together, screaming and counting down. George aimed at a huge pumpkin lantern hanging in the air and threw a string of colorful firecrackers into it.

With a loud "boom!", the pumpkin lantern that was big enough for three or five people to sit inside exploded.

A stream of blue smoke came out of the hollowed-out cracks, and the live bats hidden in the pumpkin lanterns jumped out one after another and flew around in the air above the auditorium. The other live bats used for decoration were startled and also flew around, chirping.

A few lively little white mice exploded from the colorful firecrackers and landed on the little wizard who was watching the fun below, startling him and causing him to scream.

The little wizard nearby who was not affected laughed happily.

At the guest of honor seat, Hagrid's beard swayed with joy. He said to Professor McGonagall, "I wouldn't be surprised if the two Weasley boys blew up the school one day. Hahaha!"

On this special day, Professor McGonagall was rarely angry and smiled.

Loren and his group played in the auditorium until seven o'clock, and then reluctantly prepared to go to the banquet.

"I heard that Headmaster Dumbledore has booked a skeleton dance troupe. I don't even want to go to the ghost banquet." Seamus said reluctantly.

Ron was playing with the plush doll that he had opened from the firecracker bag, and he was also very regretful: "Why doesn't magic have the art of cloning? Then I can attend two parties at the same time and enjoy double the happiness."

Harry and Neville nodded vigorously.

"We must keep our promise! We said we would go to the Deathday party!" Hermione couldn't stand the dilatory behavior of several people, so she dragged Loren and walked quickly through the corridor to the basement.

Loren said innocently: "Eh!? Don't worry! I still want to see if George and Fred can blow down the jack-o'-lantern on Dumbledore's head!"

The corridors in the basement were lit with tiny candles, the wax was black, and when it burned it shone with a blue light, which looked eerie on the faces of the living. The temperature dropped by one point with every step the little wizards took, and Harry's teeth were chattering and knocking when he reached the door.

He clung to Hermione, and the little witch was warm and soft, like a small stove. There was no Deathday banquet plot in the movie, so it shouldn't matter. Loren felt that it was safe tonight and he could enjoy the festive banquet leisurely.

The welcoming music is the sound of nails scraping on a blackboard, creating a rhythm that gives people goose bumps.

Nick stood at the door, covered with a black velvet curtain, and he said with infinite sadness: "My dear friends, welcome, welcome...you——"

Before he had finished, Lockhart, dressed in a fancy gold and blue suit, came out, took off his hat, turned it around his hand twice, and bowed gracefully.

Loren was a little slow to react and stood there in a daze for a moment.

"My dear friends!" Lockhart winked at them. "That's right. On this special day, don't treat me as a serious professor. I am your close friend!"

"I'm so glad you can come. Anyway, welcome to Porpington's 500th Deathday Party!" Lockhart warmly invited them to go inside, then waved to Nick who was standing at the door, "Leave the welcoming to me, go and prepare your show, you are the protagonist today~"

Loren and the others had complicated expressions. They seemed to understand why Nick was so depressed.

The temperature in this underground classroom was so low that a living person could exhale clouds of mist. It was filled with hundreds of milky white, translucent figures. They danced and wandered in the center dance floor, dancing a dance that belonged to ghosts.

But the background music is creepy. The sound of the bowstring being pulled on the musical saw is like the sound of nails scratching a blackboard, which gives people goose bumps.

The ghost of a sullen nun, the ghost of a man in rags and chains, the Fat Friar, Myrtle, the Bloody Baron...

Neville hid behind Seamus and Dean trembling, but he wanted to take a look. He would take a look, then shrink back, take a look, then shrink back. His timid look was very funny.

"Hey, don't be scared, they can't hurt you."

"I...I know, but I'm still afraid..."

After the young wizards adjusted themselves for a while and confirmed that there was no danger, they split into several groups to check around. Harry and Ron went to find Nick together; Seamus, Dean and Neville went around to look for strange ghosts.

Loren and Hermione went to the food area together.

The long table was covered with black velvet and smelled foul. Chunks of rotten meat were lying around, the stuffing was full of wriggling worms, and the cheese was covered in mold and green hair.

The tombstone cake that Nick had been dreaming about was placed in the middle. The crust had been baked into a gray-brown charcoal, and on it were two lines of beautiful cursive words written in icing that looked like tar:

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington

Died on October 1492, 10]

Myrtle floated to the two of them at some point and whispered sadly, "Even if the food is rotten like this, the ghost's body can't feel it."

"Oh, Myrtle!" Hermione said in a panic. "No, I mean, good evening, Myrtle."

The name of Crying Myrtle is very famous among girls. Many people have warned Hermione not to go to the girls' bathroom on the second floor, and it is best to turn around and leave if you see Myrtle.

Myrtle seemed to understand her thoughts: "Good evening, Miss Granger. Don't worry, I haven't screamed and cried at anyone for a long time since Loren fixed my toilet."

But your toilet is in the girls' bathroom!

Hermione's eyes widened, and she looked at Myrtle, then at Loren, her little face full of disbelief.

"This matter is very complicated. I will explain it to you slowly later." Loren reached out and closed her shocked jaw.

Myrtle suddenly let out a shrill laugh: "I won't bother you anymore. The Headless Hunters are here. I'm going to the front to watch the show."

She floated quickly to the front row of the dance floor.

The other ghosts seemed to have similar feelings. The band suddenly stopped playing, the underground classroom fell into silence, and many ghosts looked around excitedly.

Accompanied by the sound of a horn, twelve ghost horses rushed out from the wall. The knights on the horses held their heads in their hands and used them as props to perform various difficult juggling moves.

The applause never stopped during the performance, and it was obvious that the Headless Hunters were very famous in the ghost world. Ten minutes later, they dispersed and rushed into the ghost group, receiving a warm welcome.

Then, Lockhart's voice sounded: "What a wonderful performance! I have never seen such a wonderful performance in all my years of adventuring. Then I declare! The Deathday Party! Officially begins!"

"Please come in, Nick!"

All the candles in the underground classroom were extinguished. Nick slowly floated down from the ceiling and sang affectionately in a low voice: "Which wizard would not make this kind of mistake? When you are busy and exhausted, a trivial mistake will kill me directly. I found that my head was about to be chopped off..."

Beneath Nick's soulful poetry, Harry heard another familiar voice.

"...Tear you apart...Tear you apart...Kill you..."

More horrifying, more creepy, and more murderous!

Unlike before, this time he could clearly hear the direction the sound came from: upstairs, moving quickly in one direction! As if chasing something!

Harry's first reaction was to look at Lockhart next to the dance floor... Yes, it must be Lockhart who was attracting attention here, and his dark magic items took the opportunity to commit murders.

He put his ear against the wall, listening attentively, sensing the direction of the sound.

Ron asked curiously, "Harry, why are you -"

"Hush!" Harry heard the voice again.

"…I'm starving…I've been starving for a long, long time…"

"…It's time to kill…"

Without caring about other unnecessary thoughts, Harry pulled Ron up and ran upstairs...

Chapter 189 The Existence of Ghosts

"In the night, I shouted to fix my teeth immediately, but the trial process was so rough and simple. They took out the beheading stone but forgot to grind the stone. They usually sharpen the axe first..."

On the stage, Nick's song was reaching its climax, and the ghosts were listening solemnly.

But the sawing sound in the background was not suitable for living ears. Loren and Hermione could not hear the lyrics of Nick's singing at all, so they preferred to observe the strange food on the table.

Although it was disgusting, Hermione was as curious as a cat. If she didn't take a closer look, she would feel like her heart was being scratched by claws.

She leaned in to take a closer look at the stuffed lamb tripe. Coincidentally, the fermenting gas in the tripe burst a belly bag, and a stronger stench leaked out and went into her nose, making her little face wrinkle tightly.

Some maggots splashed onto the table, squirming and twisting. Hermione pulled Loren away from them, fearing that they would get stained by the falling maggots.

Loren watched her series of actions and tried hard to hold back his smile.

The leader of the Dullahan was near Loren and Hermione. His voice, which sounded a little emotional, reached their ears: "Oh, what a pity...but..."

He turned around and saw the two people. He jumped back in shock, his head dropped to the floor and he shouted, "Are they alive?"

"Hello, Sir Patrick." Loren greeted politely, "Nick told us about the Headless Hunter Team."

"Hello." Hermione was behind him, curiously looking at the broken section of Patrick's head and neck, trying to figure out the cause of the decapitation.

"Ha, Nick!" Patrick's head shouted. "He must still be upset that we didn't let him join the Hunters!"

Hermione came out from behind Loren and tried to help Nick. "I think Nick is already headless. He only has some elastic flesh and skin left. He can still do more tricks."

She paused, then added: "And Nick is very scary."

Loren couldn't help but look at Hermione helplessly. The second half of the sentence was what Nick said, and the first half was what you wanted to say.

"Haha!" Patrick picked up the head from the ground, "I guess Nick told you to say that!"

After he installed the head, he shook it. It was shaky and about to fall off at any time. "My rejection of him was not just about whether my head could be used as a ball, but more importantly, I didn't want to deepen Nick's attachment to the world."

"Attachment?" Loren and Hermione looked at him puzzledly.

"There are many reasons why ghosts are unwilling to accept death and stay in the world, but the essence is that they are attached to the world of the living and don't want to leave."

Patrick raised his collar to hold his head in place to prevent it from falling. "Nick felt that his death was too absurd, too hasty, and hard to accept. The glory of the Porpington family had not been passed down for generations, and he had not experienced the vast world. All kinds of chaos and confusion made up his fear of death and his attachment to the world of the living."