The days at Hogwarts

"Grandpa Bates, I'm back!"

Loren opened the door and found the house clean and tidy, but it was cold and deserted, and no one answered. It was lunchtime, but there was no smell of food at home.

"Mr. Bates doesn't seem to be here either," Hermione followed in and said in a low voice.

"Maybe he went out to play."

Loren opened the refrigerator and found no other ingredients except drinks. It seemed that Grandpa Bates didn't usually cook at home.

On the other side, Hermione also searched into the kitchen. There were some rust marks on the bottom of the iron pot on the gas hood. A small piece of light reddish brown was left by the oxidation of the residual water from washing the pot.

Hermione reached out and poked the rust. The reddish-brown rust powder stained her white fingertips. She poked Loren's arm with the same finger and said, "Let's go to my house first. There should be some food in my refrigerator."

Loren nodded reluctantly.

After two explosions, they appeared in front of the Granger family's refrigerator.

Loren opened the Granger family's refrigerator skillfully, then looked at the goat's milk ricotta cheese inside and fell into deep thought.

Sheep milk cheese with the aroma of lemon juice.

This is what he taught Grandpa Bates in the mountains.

Loren took a bottle of Coke from the refrigerator, took the bottle opener hanging on the side of the refrigerator, opened the bottle cap, inserted a straw and handed it to Hermione: "I think I know why the pot at home is rusted."

"Grandpa Bates is having dinner at my house." Hermione took a sip of Coke and smiled.

Although Loren looked helpless, he was grateful in his heart. Fortunately, he met Hermione, and fortunately, Grandpa Bates met the kind Grangers. Otherwise, when he went to school, Bates, who had no relatives or friends, could only be alone at home in misery.

He breathed a sigh of relief: "How about fried egg noodles? You only have eggs and pasta at home, and you can't use other kinds of jams."

Hermione obediently retreated to the kitchen door, making room for him and signaled him to play freely.

Fry the eggs in hot oil until they are crispy, add water, cover and simmer for a while until the boiled water is thick and white, like a broth, then add the noodles. When cooked, remove the noodles from the pot, rinse them in cold water, and add salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.

In less than ten minutes, two bowls of steaming fried egg noodles came out of the pot.

"Eat faster. Pasta doesn't taste good if it's soaked for too long." Loren said, turning the fork into two thin wooden sticks and picking up the noodles flexibly to eat.

Hermione rolled up the noodles with her fork and put them into her mouth, sipping a little of the broth.

Wow, why can fried egg noodles be so delicious when the process is so simple?

Hermione sighed and looked at Loren with envy as he used two small wooden sticks to simmer the noodles. She always felt that he tasted better.

After the meal, both of them started to feel lazy and didn't want to clean up the table. They just sat on the sofa and watched TV. They didn't care what was on TV, they just simply enjoyed the comfort of sitting down after eating.

When you're with the right people, the afternoons can be incredibly peaceful and relaxing.

As he was getting sleepy, Loren listened carefully and heard an astronomy news report on TV.

BBC News: Two months ago, American astronomers Eugene and Caroline Shoemaker and astronomy enthusiast David Levy discovered a comet at the Palomar Observatory in California, USA... It was named Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

In the process of orbiting the sun, it was captured by Jupiter's strong gravity and became a short-period comet orbiting Jupiter. Due to Jupiter's strong tidal force, it was torn into 21 pieces. After becoming fragments, this comet will continue to orbit Jupiter for a long time...

As they listened, their eyes slowly lost focus, and finally they closed their eyes and fell asleep.

Loren had a dream. It was a blurry world where it was impossible to distinguish between day and night, and there were no living creatures.

In the endless yellow smoke, the bright white clouds were swept into the white oval anticyclonic storm and spread into a larger tornado. The turbulent storm swept across the vast world at high speed, and the blazing rain of fire fell like a meteor, igniting the entire sky, and the sea of ​​fire was boiling...

I don't know how much time had passed, but when Loren woke up, he found that the TV had been turned off. He leaned against the back of the sofa, Hermione rested her head on his shoulder, and the aroma of stewed beef floated in the air.

"Mr. Bates, call the two little ones to get up for dinner!" Monica's gentle voice came from the kitchen.

He heard Grandpa Bates's steady footsteps approaching, and a warm hand pressed against his hair and rubbed it, "Boy, wake up now!"

Loren slowly came back to his senses and saw that the sky outside had been dyed a brilliant orange by the setting sun. The halo of the sunset looked like a burning flame.

In a trance, he recalled the scene he had just seen in his dream.

Hermione woke up drowsily after hearing the noise and muttered in a sticky voice, "Long time no see, Grandpa Bates."

Bates replied with a kind smile: "Long time no see, little Hermione!"

The two of them understood the situation at almost the same time and their cheeks blushed, but fortunately the light from the setting sun covered it up and it was not obvious.

The two of them actually slept on the sofa for the entire afternoon and were seen by parents from both sides.

"It's time to eat!" Monica called again.

He hurriedly got up and ran to the dining table to sit down. Wendell was already sitting there with an evening paper in his hand. The most eye-catching headline was: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, the sword of Damocles that almost destroyed the earth.

Seeing the news about the comet again, Loren's gaze paused for a moment.

"Your letter said you would be back today, so we thought you would be back in the evening. After all, the Hogwarts Express takes a whole day to run." Wendell put down the newspaper and handed them the fork.

Bates sat down at the seat next to him: "I was still at home at eleven o'clock, and when you guys didn't come back at lunch time, I became more convinced. I didn't expect you guys to really come back at lunch time, ugh!"

"You must be exhausted, you've been sleeping for the whole afternoon!" Monica came out of the kitchen and looked at the two children with loving care.

During dinner, the table is filled with greetings between relatives. To outsiders, it sounds like long-winded chatter and nonsense, but the parties involved are filled with warmth and peace of mind.

"Grandpa Bates, when did you start eating at the Granger family? It seems like our kitchen hasn't been cooked for a long time." Loren asked inquiringly.

"During the Christmas holidays." Bates sighed in mock sadness, "Two indifferent people would rather spend Christmas at school than go home to spend time with us old guys."

Hermione straightened up quickly and explained: "It's all Loren's fault! He and..."

The little witch began to tell what happened in Hogwarts this school year. A certain hateful person colluded with the mysterious headmaster and manipulated the basilisk to cause panic in the castle. In order to maintain the peace of Hogwarts, she was forced to stay and investigate.

Finally, Hermione concluded: "It's all Loren's fault. He even hid it from me. It's too much!"

"That's right! Loren went too far!" Bates said in support.

Although he didn't quite understand what the little girl had just said, how could little Hermione be wrong? It must be Loren's fault.

Wendell and Monica did not participate, but watched with smiles.

Although they didn't know what Voldemort, the Basilisk and the Ministry of Magic were, and didn't know what the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor did, they could tell that all the risks were under the control of the old headmaster from the beginning, and they were no longer worried knowing that the two children were safe.

Loren defended himself for a while, but was unable to defeat these two unreasonable men. In the end, he was forced to plead guilty and was sentenced to one week of house service.

The topic went back and forth, from interesting things in the magic school, to strange patients in the dentist's office, to the financial products Bates had recently purchased...

The Granger family hadn't been so lively for a long time, and the laughter never stopped.

During the conversation, Wendell happened to glance at the evening paper he hadn't finished reading, and suddenly had an interesting question: "Did you see what was said in the newspaper? If it weren't for Jupiter, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 would have hit the earth and wiped out humans just like it wiped out the dinosaurs hundreds of millions of years ago.

Suppose, I mean suppose, when our missiles and rockets cannot stop this comet, facing this kind of world disaster, will the wizards have a way to deal with it?"

Wendell almost danced with joy: "Is this how Stonehenge and crop circles were formed?"

The interesting idea made Hermione's eyes light up, and she began to think about this problem seriously: "Slowing spell, Levitation spell... Many spells seem to be applicable. But the comet is too big, and there may be no wizard with such powerful magic... I wonder if Headmaster Dumbledore can do it?"

This was the third time Loren heard the news about Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, and he vaguely felt a strange feeling, like... some kind of sign.

Loren's eyes moved. The feeling was very subtle. He had only received news about the comet, but some mysterious intuition reminded him that the comet was related to him.

This reminded Loren of a conversation he had had with Flamel after the bright night of Mars, when he asked Flamel when he would next open the Book of Abraham.

Flamel replied: "You will know when the time comes..."

"Speaking of comets, I remember the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. One of the mysterious rooms there is said to be the Planet Room." Hermione sighed regretfully, "But I didn't see what the Planet Room looked like last time. I wonder if there is another chance? Loren, what do you think about us working in the Ministry of Magic after we graduate?"

"Ah! Huh?"

Loren came back to his senses from his thoughts about the comet, "Just work, I'm not interested."

Bates was so angry that he slapped him and asked what nonsense the kid was talking about.

Chapter 264: Holiday Begins

They kept chatting until the sky outside became completely dark, and then Loren and Bates said goodbye.

The summer night is filled with the chirping of various insects. Only a small part of the moon is visible, which is not very colorful. The sparse stars are very bright.

Loren looked up at the crescent moon in the sky: "Grandpa Bates, how is your werewolf disease? Have you felt any discomfort in the past year?"

"Haha!" Bates patted his chest. "It hasn't happened since your Headmaster Dumbledore treated it last time."

He put his arm around Loren and patted him on the shoulder: "Study magic well and become a wizard like Headmaster Dumbledore in the future."

"Oh."

Bates thought about it again and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't become that kind of wizard. Just live your life happily and don't worry about life."

You are quite open-minded.

Loren was happy: "I have always done this."

Bates thought of the little episode at the dining table just now, rubbed his head, and reminded him with a smile: "Whether you want to work or not, if little Hermione wants to do it, you have to help her."

"Forget about this. What she has to do is too troublesome."

"Hey? You little brat..."

The two walked on the small path at night, and the shadows behind them were stretched into long and thin strips by the street lights.

Back at home, he made his bed and put some daily clothes in the pendant into the closet. Fortunately, there were housework magics such as cleaning spells to help. It was less than ten o'clock when Loren tidied his bedroom, washed up and lay down.

After rubbing his quilt a few times to adapt to the bed at home and find a comfortable position, Loren took out the Book of Fantasy and lightly touched the book-shaped icon with his finger.

His consciousness changed, and the next moment, Loren appeared in the bright virtual library.

The current library has expanded several times in size compared to the original one, and Flamel has opened up an area specifically for storing Muggle books.

The current library of fantasy books includes Nicolas Flamel's collection of books over the past six hundred years, as well as all the books in a national library. Loren feels that he will never have the chance to finish reading all these books in his lifetime.

Flamel seemed to still have such a vision. Every time Loren entered the fantasy book, he would immerse himself in the sea of ​​books.

He seems to be more interested in books in the humanities and social sciences. He only skims the surface of books on natural sciences, taking a quick look without delving into in-depth theories.

Loren said he could understand that even a ghost without a physical body would have a headache seeing those things.

"You look a little confused?" Flamel looked up from a book called Studies in Hysteria.

Loren nodded. "After returning from school, I heard about a comet on TV and had a strange dream. It seemed like some kind of omen."

Flamel put down the book and showed an interested look: "Tell me about this comet."

"The news said that this comet broke away from the asteroid belt outside the solar system and entered the solar system as a periodic comet. On July 1992, 7, when it was 8 kilometers from the surface of Jupiter, it was split into 4 fragments due to strong tidal forces. It is now being pulled by Jupiter's gravity and is expected to collide with Jupiter's southern hemisphere."

"The power of the stars, this is indeed a sign of opening the Book of Abraham." Flamel nodded, "What about your dream? What did you dream about?"

Loren thought for a moment, pulled out his magic wand and put it against his temple, pulling out a wisp of silver-white memory. He waved the magic wand upwards, shooting the dream memory into the dome of the virtual space.

The dome of the library above his head faded, light and shadows flowed, and the scene in Loren's dream emerged.

Endless yellow smoke and bright white clouds were swept into the white oval anticyclonic storm and spread into a larger tornado. The turbulent storm swept across the vast world at high speed. The blazing rain of fire fell like a meteor, igniting the entire sky. The sea of ​​fire was boiling and burning.

The burning flint dragged out a gorgeous flame tail, carrying incredible power and crashing directly into the smoke and dust. The violent vibrations swept across the entire world, and more dim dust rose up, obscuring everything in sight...

"It doesn't look like a scene on Earth?" Flamel frowned. "Based on your description, I guess this might be a prophetic dream, in which a comet hits Jupiter."

"So, what should I do to prepare for this dream?" Loren asked.

"Faced with the power of the star universe, what preparations can you make?" Flamel spread his hands. "The Book of Abraham is too mysterious. Your situation is completely different from Nico's. I can't give you any advice."

Loren was a little depressed: "What should I do? Just wait patiently?"

"It seems that this is the only way now."

……

London, Creevey's house.

"Colin! Come down to dinner!" Mrs. Creevy called upstairs, bringing a plate of Yorkshire puddings to the table.

Like Colin, Mrs. Creevy had curly sandy hair and was not very old.

She complained: "This kid, he didn't even have a good chat with his family when he came back from vacation. How can he fix the camera when it's in such a bad condition?"

Mr. Creevey sat in his seat, teasing his youngest son Dennis with a smile: "Let him play if he wants. If he can't fix it, I'll get him a new camera."

Mrs. Creevey was immediately angry: "Change one!? Do you think the Creeveys are some wealthy family? How many milkmen do you have to deliver to earn the money for a camera?"

Mr. Creevey was a milkman. Although his friendly personality and attentive service attracted many customers, enough to support a family, this was not enough for the Creevey family to buy cameras at will.

Mr. Creevey was not annoyed by his wife's scolding. He put his youngest son Dennis on the chair next to him and began to set the tableware: "Don't be so angry. At worst, we can go to the second-hand electrical appliance store to buy a used one."

He smiled at his wife. "Have you seen the pictures Colin took? They actually move! I didn't believe at first that there are so many wizards and magic in this world."

"Your son does so many strange things that I have long believed. Dennis is also like this. He is probably a wizard."

Mrs. Creevy raised her head again and called upstairs, "Colin! If you don't come down, I'll make your camera your dinner!"