The days at Hogwarts

By the time he returned, Loren's robes were clean and he had changed out of his gardener's boots, and the four of them set out on the journey back to the castle.

The sun has been completely blocked by the distant mountains, leaving only a large gradient from orange to red on the horizon, just like the representative colors of Gryffindor on the little wizard's belt. The shadows elongated by the sunset leaped with the footsteps, like burning flames.

Ron continued to tease with a smile: "Honestly, Hermione, don't be like Percy. Prefect, head student, top of every subject, Tom Riddle is like this too, it sounds terrible."

"From what you said, it seems that the results above are not very good. If Percy knew that his own brother said this about him, he would be very sad."

Hermione spoke up for Percy in a slightly hurt voice; she was in a good mood today.

As she spoke, Hermione slapped Loren's robes again, just to tease him. When he used his eyes to express his condemnation, Hermione immediately put on a serious look:

"Tell me about your work. Professor Sprout has been asking you to take care of mandrakes lately. Are your ears okay?"

"In fact, mandrakes are rapidly moving beyond their childhood and becoming somewhat taciturn." Ron kicked a small stone away.

"Not entirely. Some of the precocious mandrakes have reached their rebellious stage. They are moody. If they find someone without earmuffs, they will definitely learn a lesson they will never forget."

As they moved forward, the four of them caught up with the pebble again, and Harry kicked it again.

Hermione followed suit and kicked, her kick being the farthest with her strength: "That's good news. According to the information, as long as they get rid of the acne and heal, we can move them to a bigger pot and wait for them to mature."

“Then you can cut the mandrake and boil it over the fire to make a soup.”

Loren didn't notice any signs of injury on Hermione, and after feeling relieved, he kicked the pebble away.

Hermione: "..."

Harry and Ron: "..."

Meeting their inexplicable gazes, Loren asked doubtfully, "Is there a problem?"

Harry's expression was complicated: "You know, this sounds a bit cruel."

Something even more cruel almost happened later. On February 13, the night before Valentine's Day, Loren and his friends had finished dinner and were enjoying the sweet after-dinner pudding.

"Don't say I didn't remind you. Don't go to the Black Lake tomorrow, don't go to the bushes in the courtyard, and don't enter the abandoned empty classroom casually." Simo said listlessly.

Harry swallowed the last bite and tilted his head to look at him in confusion: "Why?"

"Because you never know which couples will kiss secretly and where." Loren answered for him.

The little wizards around heard it and laughed secretly at the same time.

"You also think they should be bolder, right?" Sirius came over and sat down between Harry and Ron in a familiar manner.

Quidditch, flying cars, flying motorcycles... They have been playing together for almost a month and have become familiar with each other.

Although Sirius' eyes still had some red bloodshot, his pupils were bright and he looked in good spirits.

Loren was not surprised. The illusion only caused Sirius to have nightmares instead of completely depriving him of sleep. For a wizard, this was not a big problem.

"What do you mean, Sirius -" Ron paused, "Professor Black."

"Come and look at this. It should be left by your Professor Lockhart." Sirius took out a beautifully wrapped letter from his arms.

Harry and Ron immediately gathered around and saw the signature on the envelope: "Dwarf Choir?"

Sirius raised his chin, motioning them to continue reading, while he reached into his pocket, pulled out a curved tin can, put it to his mouth and took a sip.

Sensing Loren's scrutinizing gaze, Sirius knew that he had just behaved like a drunkard. He smiled and explained, "Madam Pomfrey helped me prepare the potion, the diluted Bafey brain-stimulating agent and something else. I'm not too sure."

"I seem to have not adapted to the life of a professor yet. I have trouble sleeping and I'm worried that it will affect my classes, so I use this to refresh myself." Sirius said, and took another sip.

Hermione's lips were tightly pressed into a straight line, and even the strawberry pudding seemed unpalatable. She looked cautiously at Loren next to her, and saw that his expression was normal, and she breathed a sigh of relief for some reason.

I wonder when Dumbledore will be able to come up with the results of his investigation, Hermione thought secretly. She thought Loren was a good person, and the new Professor Black was also a good person...

Next to them, Harry and Ron had finished reading the letter, both with indescribable expressions on their faces.

"According to the letter, Lockhart has been planning this since Halloween. He hired twelve dwarfs and planned to have them deliver Valentine's Day cards to students. They will read the love letters aloud and even sing them with music."

Harry paused, "In front of everyone."

The incident was so outrageous that the little wizards around were silent. They were taking time to digest the incident.

"Lockhart has already paid a deposit, and the dwarf wrote to ask if I would like to continue this service. I guess the correspondence address Lockhart left is the office of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Sirius was very interested in this and waved his hand, "I came to ask if you would like to add some other services. I think twelve dwarfs are too few."

Harry coughed violently, and the pudding choked his trachea. "No, no need. I don't even need the original service."

Ron, Seamus and the others also rushed forward to explain the pros and cons, saying that they would not use this service at all.

After some persuasion, Sirius was still a little hesitant: "None of you are in a relationship... Besides, Lockhart has been voted the most popular many times... I mean, there should be some merit to his plan, right?"

Harry had no gift of prophecy, but he had a strong, ominous premonition. Driven by this premonition, he finally persuaded Sirius to give up his strange idea.

……

In March, several mandrakes gave a lively and noisy dance in greenhouse three, which made Professor Sprout very happy.

After the Herbology class that day, Sprout said to Harry and the others who stayed behind, "When they want to move to other pots, we'll know they're fully mature. Then we can bring those poor people in the hospital back to life."

Despite this, Harry and Ron continued their previous work, checking the growth of the mandrakes and recording them.

According to past experience, Loren would stay and help them, while Hermione would mysteriously disappear for a while.

But this time was a little different. Not long after Professor Sprout left, an owl flew in and landed on her shoulder.

Rubbing the owl's head, Hermione took the letter from its legs, a small note.

"It's a letter from Professor McGonagall." Hermione's face wrinkled up, revealing a difficult expression. "Professor McGonagall asked me to go to her office immediately."

"Then go?" Loren was puzzled. What's wrong with your expression? If someone didn't know, they would think Snape asked you to go.

"I, I--" Hermione couldn't say anything. She couldn't say that she had an appointment with Professor Flitwick to meet at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and going to Professor McGonagall would mean breaking the appointment.

In a panic, Hermione's eyes drifted towards the Forbidden Forest from time to time. Loren caught this detail... If she was really going to see Hagrid, why would she worry about breaking the appointment? No matter how late she was, Hagrid wouldn't care.

After a moment's thought, Loren understood her concerns.

"Send an owl to take a message to Professor McGonagall, telling her that she will be a little late. You should take care of things over there first." Loren nodded at Jin Lin.

Hermione said a little anxiously, "What if, what if Professor McGonagall's matter is urgent and can't be delayed."

The little witch looked pitiful. Loren sighed and said, "You go to the Forbidden Forest first. I will go to Professor McGonagall to explain the situation. If there is anything, I should be able to help."

"you are the best!"

……

Standing at the door of Professor McGonagall's office, Loren knocked on the door, and after hearing the answer, he pushed the door open and walked in.

Professor McGonagall was not marking papers or reviewing any documents, but was taking some time to read the newspaper. However, her face was serious, and the news in the newspaper might make her unhappy.

As Professor McGonagall laid the newspaper flat, Lauren stood on tiptoe and glanced at a few headlines.

"The Daily Prophet", a photo of Hogwarts Castle occupied the center front page, with the shadow of Dumbledore and the shadow of a huge basilisk floating above the castle on the left and right. The title of the news was "Basilisk? The Mysterious Man?".

This is not a hint at all, it is simply pointing out that Dumbledore is the mysterious man.

Loren stood on tiptoe again, this time craning her neck to get a closer look. Sure enough, the reporter was Rita Skeeter.

Seeing him standing on tiptoe, his neck almost stretched out in front of him, Professor McGonagall's temples throbbed, and she picked up a stack of documents and pressed them on the newspaper to block his prying eyes.

"I haven't finished watching it yet." Loren muttered softly.

Professor McGonagall: "..."

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and said, "Why are you here? Where's Miss Granger?"

"Hermione couldn't spare the time, and she was worried about the urgency of your matter, so she asked me to come."

Loren sat down at his desk, imitating Hermione's movements in class, sitting up straight like a good student, and said passionately, "Is there anything I can help you with, Professor?"

There weren't many things to deal with today, but Professor McGonagall suddenly felt tired. She just wanted to get rid of Loren as soon as possible.

Pulling out four notices from the drawer and handing them to him, Professor McGonagall said briefly, "The candidates who have passed the Animagus test have been selected. Please post these lists in the common room."

Chapter 235 Related Reports

Coming out of Professor McGonagall's office, Lauren was on his way back to the common room. Although Professor McGonagall had given him four notices, he didn't plan to go to every college.

The entrance to Gryffindor Tower is on the eighth floor. As you walk up slowly, you will always meet members from other houses.

Of course, before that, he wanted to take advantage of his position to get a sneak peek. Loren unfolded a parchment notice and read it with interest.

The list was arranged by grade, with the names of the second graders who passed the exam at the top. There were only three second graders who passed the exam. Loren raised his eyebrows when he saw three familiar names.

It was not surprising that he and Hermione passed the exam. His understanding of Transfiguration far exceeded that of his peers, and during the time Hermione was idle in the infirmary, she had memorized almost all the knowledge points.

The others were more or less slack during the holidays. Harry and Ron were examples. They barely finished their holiday homework, let alone review it.

Neville probably spent his entire holiday preparing for this exam, and the rewards he got now were what he deserved.

When passing by the third floor, he met Luna and Ginny, and Loren gave Luna the Ravenclaw notice. On the fourth floor, he met Blaise Zabini, a black Slytherin classmate, and gave him the Slytherin notice as well.

Blaise Zabini's expression was interesting when he opened the report card. His face was full of disbelief: "How could it be possible? How could all the second-year students be Gryffindors, and there are two of them..."

He didn't dare say the word "Mudblood" in front of Loren, and he left in a daze.

"Tsk!" Loren was a little surprised.

He couldn't understand why a black British man would become a supporter of pure-bloods. Didn't Blaise Zabini have any doubts about his own origins?

Loren didn't meet any young wizards from Hufflepuff House until he reached the seventh floor. Just when he thought he had to make one more trip to the Hufflepuff common room, he ran into Hannah who was coming down from the eighth floor.

"Hello, Loren." Hannah greeted cheerfully, her voice sounding like a hum.

"Hey, Hannah, you're just in time." Loren took out a piece of parchment and handed it over. "The list of people who passed the Animagus exam is out. Please take a copy and post it on the bulletin board in your lounge."

"Okay." Hannah took the parchment and unfolded it casually.

Seeing Neville's name, she smiled happily and walked downstairs with light steps. Even Loren could sense the joy emanating from her.

……

On the other side, Hermione was not doing well in practicing Apparition at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

boom!

The little witch appeared in an instant, and Hermione's pale face was bloodless, and she coughed violently. The teleportation process that was squeezed by space just now made her feel a little uncomfortable.

"This--" Professor Flitwick frowned tightly...the landing point of the teleportation was too far away from the target old-fashioned wooden circle. How come the little witch's level regressed after just a few days of not practicing?

"Miss Granger, you seemed very anxious from the beginning. Is there something wrong?" Professor Flitwick asked in a shrill voice.

Hermione slowly recovered her breath and replied sheepishly, "I'm sorry, Professor. I received a note from Professor McGonagall when I came here. I asked Loren to go to Professor McGonagall for me. I've been thinking about this."

"Remember, the most important thing when Apparating is to remember the three Ds! That is, goal, determination, and composure!" Professor Flitwick patiently reminded him, "You didn't bring the three Ds with you today, so let's stop practicing here."

"I'm sorry, Professor..." Hermione felt even more guilty. She lowered her head and looked at her shoes carefully, not daring to look at Professor Flitwick's eyes.

Professor Flitwick gently comforted him, "It's nothing. You were learning too fast before, and I was a little worried. Tell me in advance if something like this happens next time. You should know that if you haven't learned well before, you may not be able to concentrate and you may be separated during the teleportation process."

Professor Flitwick comforted his favorite student for a while, even used a flying spell to give her a ride, and considerately took her back to the castle early.

Hermione went to Professor McGonagall's office first, and after learning that nothing was wrong, she walked back to the Gryffindor common room at a leisurely pace.

After climbing out of the portrait hole, Hermione saw George and Fred gathered in front of the notice board, with seven or eight young wizards gathered around them, chattering about the list.

Hermione felt nervous and regretted in her heart that she had forgotten to ask Professor McGonagall about her grades.

She walked over and saw Neville occupying the seat closest to the notice board, grinning foolishly. He was immersed in his own world and couldn't get out. The people around him couldn't push him away.

George said proudly, "Look, all the Weasleys passed the exam except Ron!"

"Alas~" Fred sighed and added, "Maybe our mother forgot to give him a brain when she was pregnant."

Hermione looked around but didn't see Harry and Ron. Otherwise, based on this sentence, the Weasley brothers would have been fighting to the death again tonight.

Angelina, who was joining in the fun, saw Hermione stuck outside the crowd and shouted at her, "Don't push. Wait until there are fewer people around before you come back. You and Loren are both on the list!"

Hermione was stunned for a moment, then she felt happy and left happily.

She found Loren in the corner of the lounge, along with Seamus and Dean. They were huddled together reading a copy of the Daily Prophet. The three of them were staring at the same page, with Seamus and Dean's faces full of indignation.

"What are you looking at?"

Loren, Seamus, and Dean all looked up when they heard the voice. Loren unfolded the newspaper and spread it on the small wooden table in front of them.

Weird news headlines: "Basilisk? Mystery Man?"

Large photo of unclear meaning - Basilisk and Dumbledore.

Hermione's anger suddenly flared up, and she read the report carefully and angrily.