The days at Hogwarts

Everyone said little along the way and just wanted to go home quickly and have breakfast.

……

In the early morning, the city of London has been awakened by the noisy whistle, and the smell of coffee and breakfast sandwiches is wafting on the road.

"Taotao Department Store."

Dumbledore looked at the sign on the red brick store with great interest, and in his mind used a Scrabble game to reorganize it into "Dad's foot was bitten by a snake". This secret little thought hides an unknown interest. .

"I want to write this matter into my travel diary after retirement..." Dumbledore thought silently.

Suddenly, he squinted his eyes and looked at the sign carefully... Although the name was still the same as before, the style was even more outdated. It should be that St. Mungo's Hospital had received another donation from the Malfoy family not long ago, so there was enough funds to replace the sign.

Well... I had enough funds, so I replaced the sign with a more worn one.

Dumbledore nodded to the ugly doll in the window and smiled: "Good morning, I'm visiting the patient who was sent last night."

Silent magic fluctuations covered the window glass, and Dumbledore stepped through the glass and came to the crowded waiting room of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Maladies.

"Dumbledore, you are finally here!"

A middle-aged wizard came up to him immediately. He had dark brown hair and thick eyebrows mixed with strands of gray, and a pair of sharp eyes behind gold-rimmed glasses.

He was a bit lame, but he walked with a graceful stride that made people immediately feel that he was a sharp and tough guy.

Dumbledore turned his head with a smile: "Sorry, Rufus, there are a lot of things going on at Hogwarts as the term begins."

Rufus Scrimgeour, Director of the Auror Office, spent most of his time fighting against Dark Wizards after joining the job. Only a few people in the entire Ministry of Magic believed Dumbledore's warning about the return of the Dark Lord. Firth is one of them.

He is a man who hates evil as much as he hates it and is resolute in his actions... although he always disagrees with Dumbledore.

Rufus said hello and walked up the stairs. Next to the cross sign of St. Mungo's bones and wands on the wall, there was a road sign with "Second Floor - Biological Injury Department" engraved on it.

Dumbledore walked up with him, smiling and nodding to the magical portrait of Dilys de Winter and saying hello.

Going up the steps, Dumbledore asked softly: "Is there anything you can tell me now, Rufus?"

"I don't think you know any less than me..." Rufus frowned, but still explained, "There was a riot at the Quidditch World Cup last night, and a group of Veela and wizards launched an attack..."

"..."

Listening to Rufus recounting everything that happened last night, Dumbledore had a strange expression on his face, especially when he heard that a basilisk with gray scales petrified a hundred Veela and three or four hundred wizards participating in the parade. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

"The petrified people have been moved to the Biological Injury Department on the second floor. Therapist Hibbert Smethyk has repeatedly confirmed that it is indeed the influence of the basilisk." Rufus paused, "One thing is very special Strangely, no one was fatally injured."

Dumbledore's lips curled up: "Perhaps, this is a kind-hearted basilisk."

"..."

Seeing the smile on the old wizard's face, Rufus was silent for a moment: "We have contacted the MACUSA and confirmed that this basilisk is the same basilisk that appeared in New York. From New York to Devon, the basilisk There must be a mysterious wizard hiding behind it, and we will summon Newt Scamander later. Many people in the ministry suspect that the Basilisk was ordered by him."

Dumbledore: ...

He had a hunch that Newt might be blamed for more than just this in the future.

There were not many steps, and the two of them soon arrived at the closed ward on the second floor. Hundreds of beds were neatly arranged. Even though Rufus witnessed the execution of the Traceless Stretch Curse with his own eyes, he was still a little shocked for a moment.

"If it's just petrified, the treatment is very simple. It's just that procuring mandrake might be a little more troublesome." Dumbledore looked at the person lying on the hospital bed, "So, do you have any plans to come to me?"

"I want you to check these Veela. There are traces of the Imperius Curse on them, but the magic of the basilisk interfered with our exploration."

"Is that just that?" Dumbledore stopped and turned around, with a pair of bottomless blue eyes, "I thought you cared more about the Dark Mark, Rufus."

……

On the dining table of the Burrow, the crisp sound of knives and forks clashing with dishes kept ringing, and the steaming breakfast had a pleasant smell wafting around it.

Arthur took a sip of strong tea and hurriedly browsed the first page of the "Daily Prophet" he had just received. Percy looked over his shoulder, his expression getting increasingly ugly.

"The Ministry of Magic is panicking...the criminals are still not caught...security is relaxed...the basilisk saves the Ministry of Magic...bringing shame to the country..." Arthur's eyebrows knitted together, "Who wrote this? Ah... It's her, Rita Skeeter."

"That woman is specifically against the Ministry of Magic!" Percy was indignant. "She said last week that we should go all out to deal with vampires and werewolves, but she wasted a lot of time on the thickness of the crucible! Really, she I don’t seem to know that the International Federation of Wizards has revised the “Code for the Treatment of Non-Human Half-Wizards”..."

Harry quickly swallowed the bacon in his mouth: "Isn't Rita Skeeter working with the Ministry of Magic? She has written many articles in the past to advocate Fudge and slander Dumbledore..."

"She's not with the Ministry of Magic, she's just with Dolores Umbridge..." Percy muttered.

"Oh, my God! I was mentioned in the newspaper!" Arthur turned over a page of the newspaper and continued reading with wide eyes, "The first news from the scene, when the wizards were lining up to evacuate in the early morning, a Ministry of Magic official revealed, He claimed that no one was harmed, but refused to disclose more information. Whether his words are enough to quell the rumors that bodies are being lifted out of the woods one after another remains to be seen..."

"She writes like I'm lying. It's true that no one was harmed. What else can I say?" Arthur handed the newspaper to Percy angrily. "The body was taken out of the woods. She is clearly spreading panic. rumor!"

Molly said with some annoyance: "If you don't say anything, that old guy Rita will comment that people from the Ministry of Magic don't say a word, which is beneath their status."

Bill spread his hands: "Rita Skeeter is like this, she never writes good things about others. She once interviewed all the curse breakers in Gringotts, and then called me "The Shaggy Ghost"! "

"No, I have to go back to the office. This matter needs to be clarified."

Arthur babbled and went to change clothes, and Percy followed him. In the end, the two of them disappeared into the flames of the fireplace.

……

The sun broke out of the clouds, and the sky that had been frozen for a long time finally let out light. The golden sunlight shone in from the window, illuminating the room and the heart.

The young man couldn't keep his worries in mind and was very sleepy on the road, but he became energetic after breakfast.

Ron and his brothers murmured for a while, then raised their heads excitedly: "Harry, how about we have a Quidditch match in the orchard, three people against three people, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George all participating... …You can try the Wronsky fake…”

"I don't want to play Quidditch now, I think we all need to go to bed..." Harry shook his head, his mind was in a mess, and the Dark Mark last night reminded him of the dream he had not long ago.

Ron was a little disappointed and turned to look at his sister: "Ginny, will you participate?"

Ginny hesitated and nodded.

Just as the Weasley brothers were about to go out, Harry stood up and said, "Wait a minute, I'm going to get my Firebolt."

Seeing them becoming active and going out in a lively manner, Molly gradually relaxed her heart and shook her head with a smile: "These kids!"

Hermione was looking intently at the newspaper on the table, not paying attention to the milk froth on her lips, and just biting the bread.

Loren tore off a piece of bread, wiped the foam from her lips, and stuffed it into the girl's mouth.

Hermione opened her mouth to accept the feeding, chewing and swallowing subconsciously. After completing a series of actions, she realized something was wrong and turned her head to stare at him blankly.

Loren waved his hand: "You're welcome."

……

For the next week, Arthur and Percy were rarely at home. They left home for work before dawn every day and didn't come back until late at night. Molly always sighed while watching the dinner which had been heated several times and became limp.

The day when school starts is getting closer and closer with such sighs.

At the end of August, the howling wind blew against the upstairs windows of the Burrow, and the old loose leaves made a creaking sound.

Charlie was darning a fireproof hood, and Harry and Ron were concentrating on maintaining the Firebolt, with disgustingly gentle expressions.

Loren grabbed Crookshanks' two front paws and controlled it to attack Hermione's legs continuously, muttering strange words such as 'Godzilla in the form of a cat and nugget' and 'Element Devourer'.

Hermione was holding "Standard Spells - Level 4" in her hands, her face expressionless, she just thought he was bored.

It was a fourth-grade textbook. She borrowed George and Fred's to look at first.

It would be meaningless if the person being provoked did not respond. Loren simply abandoned Crookshanks and massaged Hermione's legs himself: "The fourth-year spells are not difficult. Haven't you seen them before?"

"The test scores of the fourth grade are related to the advanced class of the fifth grade." Hermione looked at him seriously, "I will supervise your study after school starts!"

"Oh, Professor Granger."

"..."

There was a snap.

The "Thousands of Magical Herbs and Mushrooms" that was stuck with the magic transparent tape suddenly fell apart. Ginny looked at several books on the carpet, sighed, and started to paste and repair it again.

After putting the booklets together in order, Ginny looked up at her mother who was holding the list of items. Her mother had been in a daze for a quarter of an hour from just now.

"Mom..." Ginny poked Molly, "Can you pass me the tape?"

"Ah, oh, okay..." Molly picked up the tape and handed it over, then picked up the list again and was dazed.

"Dress robe..."

Molly couldn't help but worry as she read out the last item on the list of must-have supplies for fourth graders.

Many of the items brought from the Quidditch camp tent were burnt to ashes, and Perkins needed to be compensated for his tent. The family was in poor condition and was in a tight situation, so they couldn't afford to buy Ron a ceremonial robe.

He definitely couldn't accept ugly second-hand dresses. Molly planned to buy them behind his back tomorrow and hand them to him when school starts...

Molly looked at the twins in the corner. Fred and George were sitting there, holding quills, with their heads on a piece of parchment, talking quietly about something, and laughing from time to time.

Looking at Ron who was wiping the Firebolt, Molly pursed her lips. She decided to talk to Ron. Maybe they could go to a second-hand robe store to buy a nicer ceremonial robe.

Chapter 436 Shopping at the beginning of school

"Because...well, I can only buy you second-hand goods, my little Ronnie. There shouldn't be much choice like this."

Molly's face was a little red and she didn't dare to meet Ron's eyes.

Harry sat silently next to him, holding the broomstick care tool in his hand and rubbing the Firebolt carefully. He was afraid of being noticed by Molly and Ron. It was not good to get up and leave now, nor was it good to sit where he was.

He felt like sharp needles were growing out of the floor under his buttocks, making him restless.

To be honest, he would rather take all the money he had in the Gringotts vault and give it to the Weasleys, but he also knew they wouldn't accept it.

"Why are all my things junk..."

Ron muttered something in a low voice. In fact, his mother's embarrassment made him feel more uncomfortable than the old ceremonial robe.

The owl piglet lay in his arms. When he saw the corn kernel in his owner's hand, he was twisting it for a long time without feeding it. He couldn't help but arch his head to catch his finger.

Ron fed the corn kernels to the piglet, stroked its back feathers, and sighed: "Okay, Mom, but I have to choose the color I like. If the style doesn't look good, you have to help me change it." change."

"Oh!" Molly suddenly laughed happily, hugged Ron and kissed him on the forehead, "My dear little Ronny, you are so kind..."

"Don't call me Ronny anymore!" Ron blushed and broke away from the embrace, wiping his forehead in disgust, "I'm a big kid already!"

"You will always be your mother's good boy!"

Molly pressed Ron's head and kissed it again, then happily got up and went to the kitchen, planning to reheat the already cold dinner.

Ron rubbed his cheeks fiercely, noticed the appraising eyes on the left and right, and looked at them fiercely.

Harry lowered his head and carefully wiped the Firebolt, Hermione was concentrating on looking at the fourth grade textbook, and Loren tilted her head to look at the old clock opposite the fireplace with interest.

There was a faint smile on their faces.

Loren liked this clock very much. It had nine golden hands, and each hand was engraved with the name of a Weasley family member. There are no numbers on the clock, but the place where each family member may be is written: home, school, work...

There are also words such as "on the road", "missing", "hospital" and "prison". At twelve o'clock on the ordinary clock, "life danger" is marked. At this moment, all seven needles pointed to the position of "home", and the two needles of Arthur and Percy still pointed to "work".

Loren and Bill had discussed the magic of this clock. They always thought that it had shadows of ancient alchemy and involved mysterious blood magic, but they couldn't figure out the reason without taking it apart.

This was their family heirloom, and of course Loren wouldn't be stupid enough to ask if he could take it apart. It was said that George and Fred gave it some thought and ended up with a mixed doubles of Arthur and Molly.

Suddenly, the two golden hands that Loren saw suddenly jumped from "work" to "on the road". A second later, they tremblingly stopped at the "home" position together with the other needles.

He shouted: "Oh, Percy and the others are back!"

Molly didn't answer, but Loren knew she heard because the sound of spatulas turning became lighter in the kitchen.

After a while, Arthur and Percy walked into the warm living room carrying their dinner on a tray.

Arthur sat in an armchair by the fireplace, playing listlessly with some wrinkled cauliflower on the plate, looking exhausted: "Well, things are getting out of hand, Rita Skeeter. They were all scrounging around, searching for more chaos in the Ministry of Magic to report. Now that she had discovered that poor Bertha's wand had released the Dark Mark, it looked like that would be the headline of the Daily Prophet tomorrow. …”

After swallowing a mouthful of broccoli, Arthur realized that no one around him cared about the situation. Everyone was surrounding his third son, Percy, who was sitting on the dining table and waving his hands in excitement:

"Mr. Crouch put a lot of important things in my hands...For a whole week, it was like I was putting out a fire. People kept sending howler letters, and you know, if you don't open the howler letter right away, it will It will explode! There are scorch marks all over my desk, and the best quill has turned into a pile of cinders."

Ginny asked curiously: "Why do they send howler letters?"

Percy smiled pretending to be mysterious and whetted his appetite before continuing: "They want compensation for their damaged property. Mundungus Fletcher filed a claim for a roof with twelve bedrooms and supporting massage. Bathtub tent, but I got to know him. I knew he actually spent the night under a cloak propped up on a stick."

Molly remembered now: "Did you say before that we can get some compensation?"

"Yes, Mom! I have expected this a long time ago!" Percy suddenly raised his voice several times. He took out a receipt with the Ministry of Magic's emblem, and his pride was almost written on his face, "Since Quirk After that night at the Diqi World Cup, Mr. Crouch paid special attention to me, probably because he discovered my potential, so as soon as my application for compensation was submitted, he approved it for a full eight hundred galleons..."

No one heard him talk about how highly Crouch valued him. Everyone gathered around Molly, craning their necks to look at the bill, especially the numbers on the amount column.

"Eight hundred Galleons!" Ron's eyes widened and he shouted excitedly, "Then I don't have to buy second-hand dress robes!"

George and Fred hugged each other and jumped for joy:

“Our store is ready to open!”

“Where should the store be located?”

“Diagon Alley is great!”