The days at Hogwarts

"Great!"

Myrtle happily circled Hermione and reached out to pull her arm. The ghost arm went straight through, which made Myrtle a little regretful: "Hermione, just commit suicide."

"!"

Hermione's eyes widened.

"This way I can take you to watch the boys take a bath. You don't know, they take baths very frequently when the weather gets hot... Oliver Wood of Gryffindor is about to graduate. If you don't watch, you won't be able to see him again."

"..."

Hermione silently made up her mind that Loren would never be allowed to take a bath in the prefects' bathroom in the future.

"Fortunately, there is also Hufflepuff's Cedric Diggory. He is so handsome..."

After listening to Myrtle muttering for a while, Hermione tried to persuade her: "Why don't you find other ways of entertainment, Myrtle? For example, some more serious hobbies, like Sir Nicholas..."

"Do you think I don't want to?" Myrtle sobbed sadly, "But I am different from other ghosts. I have no ghost friends. I can't take my head off! I can't go to Kent on vacation like Nick. Meet his widowed friend! You guys are back home for the holidays, and I can only wander around the castle, hiding from the nasty Peeves!"

I seem to have heard some strange news...

Hermione suggested bravely: "Why not try to put on a play? Sir Nicholas's decapitation show is very popular at every banquet. I think you can also try putting the story of the basilisk into a stage play."

"Really?" Myrtle's eyes suddenly burst out with joy.

Hermione nodded carefully and slowly: "You can try."

"Great Hermione! When you die, I will show you more boys taking baths!"

Myrtle cheered, rose into the air, turned around and fell headfirst into the toilet, splashing water and disappearing along the water pipe.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, patted her cheeks and walked outside.

It felt like dealing with Myrtle was more taxing than dealing with Loren.

……

Soon it was the last day of term, and the exam results were out. Loren and his friends passed every exam, even Harry passed Potions.

Hermione still ranked first in her grade. Under the influence of her good mood, she no longer cared about Loren's blackmail crime.

Percy got high marks in the Ultimate Wizarding Exam, and Fred and George finally got some points in the Ordinary Wizarding Exam.

Gryffindor House, mainly relying on its outstanding performance in the Quidditch Cup, won the House Cup for the third year in a row, which meant that the end-of-term banquet was held in red and gold decorations.

The Gryffindor table was the liveliest, and everyone was celebrating, especially the members of the Quidditch team. They made a fuss around Wood for a long time, until Professor McGonagall glared at them and stopped.

"I didn't see Professor Lupin..."

Neville looked around carefully, lowered his head and asked, "Is he sick again?"

Loren temporarily stopped his knife and fork and sighed: "Neville, Professor Lupin has resigned and left the school."

"Resign?" Neville was stunned for a moment, "But I haven't thanked him yet. My parents heard that my Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was Mr. Lupin, and asked me to answer their greetings... To be honest. , I didn’t even know they knew each other.”

Hermione comforted: "Don't worry, Neville, we will see you again."

Neville sat on the stool in a daze. It took him a few minutes to come back to his senses and slowly eat the food on the table.

Compared to Neville, Loren and others knew the news a few days earlier and had already gotten over the shadow of separation.

Harry returned to his seat with the beef ribs in his arms and said while chewing: "I think it was Dumbledore who intervened to prevent Snape from failing me on purpose."

"Yeah!" Ron's cheeks were stuffed full of roasted chicken legs, and he couldn't say a complete sentence.

Harry quietly glanced at the professors at the guest table, and happened to catch Snape's gaze. He saw the muscles in the corner of Snape's thin lips twitching ugly, and his fingers kept flexing and stretching on the table, looking like It's like I want to grab someone's throat.

Sensing Snape's bad mood, Harry was even happier, and even Professor Lupin's regret of not being able to attend the final banquet was diluted.

Snape looked away in disgust when he saw Harry's silly smile on the long table.

Really blind.

The steak's grease and sauce covered half of his face. I really don't know how he eats. Did he learn to chew bones from Hagrid's hound...

Dumbledore sat next to him, looking at the joyful scene of the little wizards in the auditorium, sniffing, and said with great emotion: "Sincere and warm emotions are as intoxicating as the smell of wheat bread. Such a scene I’ve seen it year after year, but every time it’s as touching as the first time…”

"Oh, I can't hold back the tears! Do you feel it, Severus?"

Snape replied coldly: "No."

"This is really a shame..."

"Sorry, maybe we are all busy planning business for the school summer vacation. Pomona has to go to Africa to check out raw materials, Minerva has to check accounts and negotiate with others, and Filius and I are too busy..."

Snape mocked: "Unlike you, the leisurely headmaster, we can't feel the "wheat scent"! "

Dumbledore blinked, decided to defend himself, and said in an aggrieved tone: "But I need to prepare for the International Wizarding Confederation I am about to attend, and next year's Triwizard Tournament, no, maybe the semi-finals Competition."

"Competition?"

"Yes." Dumbledore lowered his head and stroked his beard, then picked up a knife and fork to cut a piece of steak. "They decided to restart the Triwizard Tournament. Even the American Ilvermorny also participated, so it became four Strong competition."

"At this time..." Snape frowned and looked at him, "I think it should be prudent. It is best not to let strangers enter Hogwarts, especially the American Ilvermorny."

"Don't be so nervous. We can relax a little."

Dumbledore was obviously aware of his concerns, but his attitude was not clear and even sounded a bit noncommittal: "Voldemort has not yet been completely resurrected. Under the supervision of the four magic schools and the Ministry of Magic, he can only carefully shrink his tail..."

Moreover, changes are not necessarily a bad thing...

Dumbledore picked up a piece of beef with a dining knife and put it into his mouth, chewing it slowly and vigorously. His blue eyes were hidden behind his glasses and were blurry.

Chapter 388 On the train

As if overnight, the little wizards packed their belongings and boarded the Hogwarts Express the next morning.

At the edge of the platform behind the Black Lake, Mr. Hagrid, the gamekeeper and professor of Care of Magical Creatures, and Mr. Filch, the castle administrator, stood together, directing the young wizards to board the train, occasionally scolding a few who were running around. Little wizard.

"Those two with red hair! Get in the car quickly! Don't chase them down there!" Hagrid shouted.

"Got it—Professor Hagrid—"

The twins replied in a weird accent, making the junior wizards nearby laugh out loud. They were already familiar with Professor Hagrid. Although he looked intimidatingly tall, he was actually a big, enthusiastic man.

I heard that this final exam for Care of Magical Creatures was the easiest exam in the past ten years, and everyone passed it with high scores.

Well-informed second-year students generally took Professor Haig's courses.

The laughter of the little wizards gradually weakened in their ears. Professor McGonagall looked at the right-hand man in front of him with a gentle expression, and asked softly: "Percy, have you really thought about it? You have completed your work during the internship." Very good, several deans and I plan to let you take charge of more important things..."

"Thank you for your trust, Professor!" Percy smiled brightly, "Influenced by my father, I have always wanted to visit the Ministry of Magic, especially after I heard that this year's International Confederation of Wizards will be held in New York, I even I want to see it."

Professor McGonagall sighed, looking a little regretful.

"Don't worry, Professor, I will definitely come back when Hogwarts needs me." Percy said firmly.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and gave him an encouraging smile: "You're right Percy, you're still young, you should see the world... I wish you good luck in the future."

"Thank you for your continued care, Professor McGonagall!"

"goodbye……"

"goodbye!"

huh-huh-

The whistle of the old-fashioned train spewed out a burst of white smoke, the drive shaft drove the tires to make a "clang-dang-dang" sound, and the bright red Hogwarts Express slowly drove out of the station.

Harry leaned against the glass window, watching the distant mountains and woods outside the window running backwards quickly, as if it was time that would never come back. He sighed deeply: "It will take another summer vacation before we can see each other again. Time It goes by so fast, don’t you think?”

Ron was counting the days until the Quidditch World Cup on his fingers, Loren was leaning back on his seat, closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep, and Hermione was holding Crookshanks in her arms and was brushing away his thick hair to check the health of his skin. state.

Harry frowned and thought. Could it be that the train was too loud and they didn't hear him?

He cleared his throat and raised his voice slightly: "We will be in fourth grade next time we go back to school. Looking back on the first day of school, it's like yesterday. It's really nostalgic, isn't it?"

"..."

No one paid any attention to him, and the not-so-large compartment fell into silence.

Everyone else was busy with their own things. Ron's fingers couldn't break it apart, and he was doing it for the second time. Loren's head shook, and he slowly leaned on Hermione's shoulder. Hermione moved slightly closer in cooperation. Some.

Only Crookshanks raised his head slightly, glanced at him with a slit in his eyes, and the next moment he lowered his head and continued to lick his paws.

Harry stared at them expressionlessly.

On purpose, absolutely on purpose!

The cubicle is so big, they must have heard it!

Harry turned his head and looked at Hedwig on the luggage rack, and silently made up his mind: "Don't blame me if you do this. I won't talk to you for the rest of the journey until the train arrives at the station."

Hedwig tilted her head and moved a few steps to the side.

"What's outside your car window?" Hermione suddenly said.

"Ignore them, ignore them..."

Harry thought silently in his mind, but he still turned around and saw a small, gray thing rising and falling outside the window glass, appearing and disappearing.

Ron stood up and took a closer look at the glass: "Oh, it's a little owl! There's a letter in its mouth. It's here to find us!"

This owl is so small that it can be held in the palm of your hand. It keeps turning somersaults in the air and being knocked around by the train's airflow.

Hermione rocked someone who was pretending to sleep, so Loren couldn't sleep anymore. He pulled down the window, reached out and grabbed the fluffy little guy, and gently brought it in.

The owl chirped, dropped the letter on Harry's seat, and began to fly around in the carriage, obviously very satisfied that it had completed its task.

Hathaway's mouth clicked in a noble display of dissatisfaction.

Crookshanks also raised his head from Hermione's arms, following the little bird with his big yellow eyes.

"It's a letter from Sirius!"

Harry exclaimed in surprise. He no longer cared about taking revenge on these people. He opened the envelope and read:

"Dear Harry:

Hopefully this letter will arrive before you meet your aunt and uncle. I wonder if they were used to owl messengers.

I had picked this owl hastily, and I had some doubts about its reliability, but it was the best one I could find, and it seemed eager to take on the task.

I was already aware of Remus's resignation, having written to me before he left. He still likes to take on responsibilities that are not his own as before. James and I always say that he became a prefect because he likes to be nosy, but now I seem to understand him a little bit.

It's a pity that I still can't tell you where I am, what I'm doing, don't worry about me, I'm living in a completely new place, and honestly I'm living it to the fullest and feel happier than ever for this fulfillment.

I'll try to come back before the Quidditch World Cup finals and maybe introduce you to a new friend. If you can't come back, I'll probably have to ask Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to take care of you for a while..."

Hearing this, Hermione glanced at Loren and quietly moved closer to him, trying to give him some comfort in this way.

Loren smiled at her.

Since dealing with Peter Pettigrew, he has been able to face these things calmly.

Harry continued: "I think your friend Ron might be willing to adopt this owl, as compensation for the damage caused by the mouse, and as a reward for taking care of you for me. Ask him for me.

By the way, I would like to say hello to Loren and Hermione. I would like to express my sincere apologies and gratitude. I wish you all the best. If you need me, send me a message and your owl will find me. I'll be writing to you soon, Sirius..."

Harry finished the last sentence slowly, feeling hot satisfaction and a little regret in his heart.

"Adopt it?"

Ron's eyes widened, and he said doubtfully, "Did Sirius really say that? I mean, ever since the damn Wormtail incident, I no longer have any hope for pets."

"That's indeed what he said..." Harry nodded, "Don't worry, there are so many Animagus in the world, haven't we both not succeeded in Animagus yet?"

In the past two months, they have not been able to encounter thunderstorms, and the secret medicine is still buried in the soil of the Forbidden Forest. Unless Hogwarts has good weather until term starts, they have failed.

Ron stared at the little owl carefully for a long time, but in the end he couldn't see anything interesting, so he could only look at Loren for help.

Loren nodded: "Take it, this is indeed an owl, even though it looks very small."

"Good enough for me!" Ron happily picked it up and cheered, "It's mine!"

In the following time, Harry read Sirius's letter over and over again, and Ron indulged in teasing the little owl, even smiling when his fingers were pecked.

Hermione put Crookshanks into the wooden basket next to her and took out the notes left by Professor Lupin. It seemed that looking back at the previous contents combined with her own understanding of the Patronus Charm would always lead to new thoughts.

Loren leaned his head on the girl's shoulder, pretending to read a book with her, but he was obviously not as patient as Hermione about what he had memorized, and it didn't take long for his eyes to start rolling.

From this angle, you can see Hermione's side face. The train passes through the wilderness, mountain roads and tunnels. The light and shadow outside the window are constantly changing. Golden sunlight shines in and shines on her face, which can illuminate the fine hairs and make her skin white and delicate. , combined with the girl’s focused and serious expression, the whole portrait really shines.

The round earlobes were like pearls, Loren secretly admired them.

Perhaps his gaze was more burning than the sun. Hermione quickly noticed it and pushed him shyly: "Get up and read if you can't sleep."