The days at Hogwarts

"Hermione," Wendell looked at Hermione eagerly and rubbed his hands together, "will this car fit in?"

Hermione was stunned for a moment. She turned her head to look at Loren, then looked at her father, and said hesitantly, "It should be OK. I'm not sure. This is made by Loren."

"If there's enough space, it should be able to fit." Loren wasn't sure. Hermione's pockets had plenty of space.

Wendell shouted happily: "Then-"

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Monica. She slapped Wendell hard and complained, "Hermione is ignorant, aren't you ignorant too?"

Monica stepped forward and touched Hermione's head. "Take out the bag. We can't go camping empty-handed. If we meet other people, we won't be able to explain it clearly."

This is the business area of ​​the hotel. There are definitely more than just them coming in during the summer vacation. It might be hard to run into them, but it would be hard to explain if you did.

Hermione gave a sheepish smile, "I hadn't thought of that."

She took out her backpack again, but it was filled with tent cloth, blankets, sleeping bags and other things that took up space but were lightweight. The rest was still packed in a small space bag.

The four of them, each with a backpack, walked leisurely into the forest. The ground was covered with thick fallen leaves, which made a rustling sound when they stepped on them. It was very soft.

Two adults each held a child to prevent them from falling, Wendell held Loren and Monica held Hermione.

Wendell shook his shoulders. He had never enjoyed such a relaxing camping trip before. He sighed, "Magic is so convenient."

No one ignored him.

“This is a beech,” Monica said, pointing to a tree with broad leaves.

So Hermione stared at the tree, memorized the characteristics of its leaves and bark, nodded and repeated: "This is a beech."

A few minutes later, Wendell shook his shoulders again and sighed, "Magic is so convenient."

Loren looked up, unsure whether to respond.

A few minutes later, Wendell exclaimed for the third time: "Convenient, convenient."

Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Don't even think about it. It's against the law to use the Traceless Extension Charm without permission, and it's even more against the law to use it on ordinary people."

They will be punished for multiple crimes and can be transferred directly to Azkaban when the time comes.

Wendell was not disappointed when his secret thoughts were exposed, "I was just sighing."

The group chatted and laughed, following the occasional road signs and maps, and soon they came to a flat area, which was their camp.

Wendell and Monica began to set up the tent, while Loren and Hermione poured out the contents of the space bag and spread them on the ground, passing things from time to time.

Hermione didn't like the job of setting up the tent, and she wanted to take Loren for a walk in the forest.

Wendell spread out the inner tent while patiently imparting his experience: "Pitch the tent on a hard and flat place, not on the river bank or dry riverbed."

Hermione handed over a pole: "Where is the river here?"

Wendell didn't answer the question. He stretched out the tent poles. "Stay away from the hillsides with rolling rocks."

Hermione helped to steady the pole, "Where are the rolling stones and hills here?"

"The entrance to the tent should be sheltered from the wind."

"Which side of the forest is sheltered from the wind?"

Wendell tried to hold back for a moment, but couldn't help it, so he looked up and said, "If you don't want to set up the tent, go collect some dry firewood."

Although there are fallen leaves everywhere on the ground, leaves are not resistant to burning, so the bonfire at night still mainly relies on dry firewood.

"no problem!"

Hermione agreed immediately. She turned to look at Loren who was helping Monica and said, "Loren, let's go collect some dry firewood!"

It wasn't Hermione's first time camping, so she skipped away with Loren.

"Don't run too far, be careful!" Wendel warned loudly.

Hermione waved her hand without looking back: "Got it, we are wizards!"

Monica looked up at their backs and said with a smile, "Hermione has really changed a lot compared to a year ago."

Wendell nodded: "Yeah, and a lot more naughty."

The two had already discussed last night about sneaking into the study to read and the lack of carbonated drinks in the refrigerator.

The couple smiled at each other, lowered their heads and cooperated tacitly to continue setting up the tent.

There were not only a lot of fallen leaves in the forest, but also dry branches and trunks everywhere. Hermione and Loren threw them into their space bags when they found them, planning to go back and chop them slowly.

Loren looked around at the forest. There were forests on the mountains, but none of them were so tall and thick, and he had never been to such a deep place.

He thought of the letter Hermione wrote on Christmas, "Have you ever camped here during the Christmas holidays? It must have been so cold."

Hermione has been in high spirits since entering the forest. "It's not cold. We were in a camp not far from the hotel. Many people lit bonfires. If you feel cold at night, you can go back to the hotel directly."

"Huh?" Loren teased, "I feel like camping in the winter is a lot easier."

Hermione didn't think so, "It would be nice to go deep into the woods and enjoy nature during summer camping."

Loren kicked a branch with his thick-soled boots, picked it up and threw it into the space bag, "How much firewood do we need?"

Hermione looked into the space bag and said, "Put more in there so we can find some dry firewood for the next few days."

As wizards, neither of them worried about safety. They walked in the same direction, occasionally leaving marks on tree trunks. In the forest, there were the same trees everywhere, and the same layer of fallen leaves on the ground. Neither of them noticed how far they had walked.

Hermione ran ahead, deftly crossing a small ridge covered with fallen leaves, and continued to look for dry firewood.

Loren followed closely behind, and when he crossed the small ridge, his eyes suddenly lit up with a faint crystal blue light. Loren looked around, but didn't find any magical light. He used the method Dumbledore taught him to calm down and look, but there was nothing unusual. There were ordinary trees around.

He was puzzled for a moment, and just thought that it was the three-no golden finger that was activated by itself, so he didn't pay much attention to the lack of magic light.

"Slow down, wait for me." Loren quickly caught up with Hermione and continued walking forward.

No one noticed that the small dirt ridge that the two people had just stepped over was like a shadow, which rippled a few times and then disappeared. If someone stood at the position of the small ridge and looked to both sides, they would be shocked to find that the scenes on both sides were exactly the same.

It's just like a mirror!

A few minutes later, Loren and Hermione stood on the side of the road, lost in thought.

They walked for a while and came to the road after passing through a pine forest. Across the road was a hotel that was smaller than the one outside the forest. The lights were on and it was obviously a chain hotel.

"So every camp has a convenient hotel like this?" Loren murmured as he looked at the bright hotel lights. "The service is really thoughtful."

Hermione opened her mouth but couldn't speak.

"Do you two little guests need help?" a voice came from the side.

The two looked to their side at the same time. It was the hotel manager in a suit who had introduced the car to Wendel in the afternoon. He was looking at them with a gentle smile.

Loren's eyes were still faintly glowing with a crystal blue light, but it was not noticeable in the daytime. In his eyes, everything except the one in front of Hermione had no magical light.

"Do you remember us?" Loren asked.

The suit manager was very patient, "Of course, Mr. Granger is our old customer."

Hermione noticed something suspicious, "Aren't you at the hotel outside the forest? Why are you here now?"

The manager in suits smiled and said, "I'm here to hand over the customer information. For customers in this area, you can come here directly to get consumables."

He extended his left hand and leaned over to invite, "Would you like to go in and restock your supplies? There might be some hot food right out of the pot. We can start camping tomorrow."

It would have been better if he didn't say it. After he said it, Loren and Hermione both felt a little hungry.

The two looked at each other, smiled at the same time, and reached a consensus: bring some food back.

Chapter 131 Countess Lixter

Chapter 131 Countess Lee Kester

The hotel manager, dressed in a neat suit, led the two into the hotel at the campsite.

The hotel is brightly lit. The smooth tile decorations reflect the light of the gorgeous chandeliers on the ceiling. The candles placed everywhere complement each other, highlighting a hazy beauty.

Loren and Hermione walked in, and the brilliant light shone into their eyes, making it difficult for them to open their eyes.

It was strange to see so many candles in such a modern hotel. The main light in the middle of the ceiling was still an electric light, and it was glowing normally, and there didn't seem to be a power shortage here.

Loren squinted his eyes slightly to adjust for a while, then asked, "Why are there so many candles?"

"The hotel has prepared a candlelight dance tonight. If you are interested, you are welcome to join us." replied the hotel manager.

Hermione looked around and didn't see anyone else, so she asked in confusion, "Where are the guests attending the ball?"

The hotel manager paused and replied, "Some guests are outside, and some are in their rooms. The party hasn't officially started yet, so it's quite quiet."

Loren and his companion were taken to a room on the side of the lobby, where a table was filled with hot food prepared for the dance.

On the plate on the snow-white tablecloth, various cheeses, crackers, fried chicken nuggets, and cocktail meatballs were arranged in the shape of a small mountain.

There are also empty wine glasses stacked into a hill according to the Fibonacci sequence. It looks like the wine will only be poured from the top glass when the banquet begins, and the overflowing wine will flow into the glasses in the next row.

"Wait a mininute."

The hotel manager in a suit smiled politely, "I'll go find you a box to put your food in so that you can carry it with you. If you are hungry, you can take the food here. All the food is provided free of charge by our hotel."

After saying this, he bowed slightly and left the room.

Hermione was a little uneasy. She whispered, "Loren, I feel this hotel is weird, and this person's way of speaking is also abnormal, like, like..."

Loren added: "Like a puppet without emotions."

Bright lights, an empty hotel, and it was so quiet, so abnormally quiet.

Loren also felt vaguely uneasy, and looked around with his eyes glowing crystal blue, but did not detect any fluctuations in magical power.

Since he entered the hotel, he had felt a strange feeling. Although he didn't know where the feeling came from, he didn't want to take any risks and said to Hermione, "Let's go now."

Just as the two were about to leave, the hotel manager came in with another woman in a women's suit.

The male hotel manager in a suit always maintained a polite and graceful demeanor. He introduced: "This is the manager in charge here, Countess Lee Kester. The kitchen is out of boxes for takeout food. She came to apologize to you."

"Countess? That sounds like a title from many years ago," Hermione asked, but quickly realized that it was rude and stopped.

Countess Lee Kester's face looked snow-white under the light. She looked a little old, with clear lines on her neck and wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, but her back was still straight and she looked very energetic.

She smiled sincerely, "I'm sorry, this is our negligence. To compensate for your losses, I sincerely invite you to attend the dance tonight, and all your subsequent consumption in this hotel will be free of charge. Our hotel will pay attention to this issue, and I'm sorry for bringing you a bad travel experience."

His voice was a little hoarse, as if he had a cold.

Both of them gave Loren a very bad feeling, just like a hotel with bright lights and no one in sight, which made people feel uneasy.

Loren shook his head and refused, "We don't plan to attend the dance, so we'll go back first."

He pulled Hermione and was about to walk out of the room.

The female hotel manager reached out to stop them. She bent one knee and squatted down, her head level with Loren and Hermione's. Her eyes held their reflections. She said in a calm, emotionless voice, "The ball has already started. Don't you want to take a look?"

Her eyes widened slightly, her pupils shrank into a black dot, and the black color on her pupils gradually spread to the whites of her eyes until the entire eyeball turned black.

Loren and Hermione stared at the eyes, their gazes gradually blurred, and they mechanically repeated: "The ball has started, look."

The door of the room suddenly opened, and the hall outside was already crowded with people. They were wearing exquisite dresses and skirts, and swaying their bodies to the soothing music under the lights.

The lights and the shadows filled the two men's minds. Their thinking became slow, as if they were drunk. The only thing they remembered was watching the dance.

Loren kept walking forward. He vaguely realized that he had forgotten something. There was always a voice in his heart repeating something, but it was difficult to hear clearly.

The hotel's lobby was transformed into a castle hall, with giant candelabra hanging from the dome emitting soft light, illuminating the entire ball scene, and the walls were hung with gorgeous tapestries with brightly colored patterns.

The snow-white hotel walls turned into gray castle stone walls, and the candlesticks hanging diagonally on the walls were gently shaking their candlelight.

On the central dance floor, a gorgeously dressed musician played soft music, and the melodious melody echoed throughout the room. The ladies' dresses were flowing and graceful, with delicate silks embellished with lace and pearls, loose sleeves, loose overall cuts, rich details, and ornate decorations, and colorful ribbons fluttering to the music.

Loren and Hermione walked through bell-shaped hems, floor-length dresses, and fluffy skirts, but no one at the ball noticed them. The ball was just a textured image for Loren and Hermione, and the people in the image could not perceive the audience.

Loren was half asleep and half awake, confused, and only remembered looking at the dance, looking at the dance, but his subconscious mind pointed in the opposite direction.

A strong panic was in his heart, as if something terrible was about to happen, but he could not think of anything. The two of them walked to the corner of the room mechanically and took in the whole scene of the dance.

Bang bang bang!

The sound of rapid and strong knocking on the door interrupted the musician's performance, and the entire ballroom fell into an eerie silence.

Bang bang bang!

The knock on the door sounded again, and the sound echoed in the ballroom and above the people.

The crowded crowd made way for a path from the door to the center of the dance floor, where stood Countess Lee Kester and a housekeeper.

They also couldn't see the two people in the corner.

At this time, Countess Lee Kester had the face of her youth, with delicate, fair skin and plump cheeks. She walked to the door with neat girlish manners, and the housekeeper reached out to open the door.