The years of welding at Hogwarts

When all the guests in the conference hall stood up, Griselda Marchbank drew out her wand and raised it into the air, and all the seats in the venue disappeared.

People were surprised to find that the distance between themselves and the people around them was widening. It was not that they themselves were moving, but that the space inside the venue was once again widened by the effect of the Traceless Stretching Spell.

A set of tables and chairs covered with exquisite tablecloths emerged from the void, accurately finding the gaps between the crowd and placing themselves without colliding with anyone in the venue.

Although it is a very simple magic, it requires extremely strong magic control to be able to perform it.

Of course, Griselda Marchbanks did not have such strength. Her initial gesture of waving her staff was just to tell the house-elves who had been hiding nearby that they could start working.

Waiters in waiter uniforms also began to enter. Trays filled with delicious food floated beside them under the effect of a levitation spell. Glasses of champagne were delivered to the dining table under the command of magic and automatically stacked into beautiful wine glass towers.

The literal meaning of banquet should be a feast or gathering, which is based on food and extends to social needs.

But in such a large banquet hall, there are only a few people who really focus on eating.

Apart from a fat turkey whose mind was only occupied with eating, fighting and picking quarrels, the only one who could focus all his attention on eating was Ron, the youngest son of the Weasley family.

"Would you please stop eating!" Ginny slapped her stupid brother in annoyance.

She stared at Ron angrily. "Before we left, you promised me that you would help me create an opportunity to be alone with Harry!"

Ron devoured a piece of dark roasted steak and looked at his love-brained little sister in silence. He looked around and said, "There are so many people here. Where are you going to be alone with Harry?"

Before Ginny could speak, he retorted, "The only place you can be alone is in the bathroom stall."

Ginny angrily punched Ron on his soft spot, almost making him vomit out the food he had just eaten.

Can't you hear me, you giant monster? I mean for you to get out of the way and give me this spot under your butt next to Harry!

The entire Weasley family was gathered around a large round table. Fortunately, the table was large enough and everyone kept a certain distance from each other, so Harry did not notice anything unusual about Ginny.

Mr. Weasley's face was beaming as he held a bottle of champagne that had just been opened and was still bubbling.

His two most mischievous sons actually won the third-class medal of the Order of Merlin. Although it was only the lowest level medal, it was enough to bring honor to this hard-working old father.

Although the Weasley family is poor, they are not in dire straits at all, and Mr. Weasley's extraordinary network of contacts is enough to prove this.

Just as Arthur was happily drinking the wine that Molly had repeatedly forbidden him to drink, wizards who were dressed in luxurious clothes and looked very prestigious kept coming to congratulate him.

Of course, as he meets more people, he sometimes runs into people he doesn't want to see.

After all, the magical world is such a small place, and this banquet has gathered so many people. It would be quite difficult not to meet a certain person.

"Look who this is?"

Lucius Malfoy was wearing a well-cut dark black robe. The pattern embroidered on the robe was simple but elegant, and the silky fabric looked very high-end.

His usually indifferent blue-gray eyes revealed a hint of smile at this moment, "Isn't this Arthur Weasley, the father of George Weasley and Fred Weasley, two winners of the Order of Merlin?"

Mr. Weasley never showed any good face to this old rival who was unable to produce ivory from a dog's mouth.

He didn't care at all that many of his children were still here, and it was not appropriate to swear in such an occasion. He simply squeezed out two impolite words from his throat.

"Get lost."

Lucius smiled and put his arm around Mr. Weasley's shoulders, pretending to be very familiar with each other and had a close relationship, and drawled out his words in an annoying way.

"Watch your language, Weasley, don't lead your children astray."

Having said that, Lucius suddenly stood up straight, slapped his head with his hand, and let out a slightly exaggerated "Oh——"

"I forgot that you don't care whether your child will be led astray by you. After all, with your family's financial situation, if you want to raise a child who will stand out, you can only rely on giving birth to more children like a fat pig giving birth to piglets."

In response to this insulting comment, Mr. Weasley stood up from the dining table, and a group of his sons also stood up and glared at Lucius.

Lucius didn't care at all.

After all, what I said was all true. Could they possibly beat me up?

So he continued to mock, "Raising them in a free-range way, letting them grow wildly, and hoping that chance will produce an excellent child for you."

His eyes swept back and forth between the twin brothers, with a contemptuous look as if he was selecting pork on the chopping board in the vegetable market.

"According to the Muggles' probability theory, this method is somewhat feasible."

"That's enough!" George roared, "Who the hell do you think you are to say that about my father!"

Fred stared at Lucius' neck, as if he was calculating where to cut so as to accurately sever his aorta and trachea.

Charlie, who had the hottest temper, snatched the bottle from Mr. Weasley's hand and threw it on the dining table. The bottle, which was broken into two pieces, became his most handy weapon.

The jagged broken edge flashed a chilling light, and combined with Charlie's muscular body honed in the dragon farm, there was no doubt that he had the strength to thrust the bottle into Lucius' heart.

Looking at the furious Weasley family, a hint of satisfaction appeared on Lucius' pale face.

He raised his chin proudly, "Who am I?"

Taking two steps forward slowly, Lucius stretched out his finger and poked Arthur's heart again and again, "I am the father of Draco Malfoy, winner of the Order of Merlin, Second Class!"

He waved behind him, and Draco, looking like his father's good boy, came over arrogantly. He even deliberately puffed out his chest high, almost face to face with Ron, just to let the Weasley family see the second-class medal on his chest more clearly.

Grabbing Draco's shoulders and pulling his embarrassing son back a step, Lucius continued:

"At the same time, I am also a senior advisor to the British Ministry of Magic and one of the twelve directors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Then, he proudly showed Mr. Weasley an exquisite silver medal, "Also, just now, the chief magician of the Wizengamot, Ms. Griselda Marchbank, personally invited me to join the Wizengamot."

"So, I am still a member of the Wizengamot."

As he spoke, Lucius raised his middle finger towards Arthur again. A huge gem as big as a pigeon egg on the ring was shining brightly under the lights of the banquet hall.

"If we put aside these titles,

I am still a celebrity in the upper echelons of the magic world, a millionaire with a net worth of millions of Galleons..."

Lucius, who usually looked cold, smiled like a sunny and cheerful boy. Seeing Mr. Weasley speechless, he stretched out his finger and poked him in the heart.

"On the contrary, I want to ask you, who are you, Arthur Weasley?"

Even though his two sons won the third-level medal, this was quite exciting for the Weasley family, which had been in decline for a long time. It could even be said to be a major event that brought honor to the family.

But at this moment, Mr. Weasley's excitement was overwhelmed by anger and jealousy.

His fingernails had sunk deeply into the flesh of his palms. If he hadn't had the good habit of trimming his nails regularly, his palms would have been pierced by his nails by now.

Mr. Weasley's hands were clenched into fists and were shaking with anger. The veins on his arms hidden in his sleeves were bulging.

Fortunately, he still retained his last bit of rationality and did not punch Lucius directly in the face.

Although it would be very satisfying to do so, the possible consequences of doing so include but are not limited to being fired by the Ministry of Magic and the child's reputation being ruined by his father who has a serious tendency towards violence...

All in all, there is no good aspect to it other than relieving one's anger.

Finally, he dejectedly loosened his tightly clenched fists, stretched out his hand and pressed down the raised arm of Charlie, who was on the verge of losing control and might rush forward to stab Lucius with a glass bottle at any time.

Lucius, who already has 50% of Snape's venomous tongue, also knows that too much is as bad as too little and that one should stop when one is ahead.

Seeing Mr. Weasley going back to his seat like a loser without getting angry with him, Lucius felt extremely happy.

In a good mood, he grabbed Draco's shoulder and said, "Let's go, Draco."

Before leaving with his father, Draco, with a smile on his face, turned around and made a face at his old rival Ron.

Looking at the departing backs of Malfoy and his son, Ron, who was so angry, felt the blood rushing to his head crazily. He pulled out his wand without considering any consequences.

Before anyone could react, he raised his hand and shot Draco with a "leg freeze" move.

However, he had not expected Draco's reaction to be so quick.

Without even turning his head, Draco seemed to have eyes on the back of his head and accurately captured Ron's sudden attack.

After all, Noah’s devilish training over the past year or so was no exaggeration.

With his palms open, a silent and wandless Shield Charm quietly intercepted between him and Ron, causing the Leg-Locking Charm cast by Ron to be rebounded and fly straight towards Ron along the same route, just hitting Mr. Weasley who hurriedly walked forward and tried to snatch the wand from Ron's hand.

Mr. Weasley was originally walking at a brisk pace, but under the influence of magic, his legs instantly became uncontrollable, extremely stiff and forced together and locked.

Under the influence of inertia, Mr. Weasley fell straight forward to the ground, kneeling in the direction of Lucius in a posture of worship.

The noise coming from behind made Lucius look back, and he happened to see Mr. Weasley in such a miserable state.

He said with an exaggerated expression, "Hey, Arthur, what are you doing? You don't have to be so polite to me."

Lucius's sarcasm made the young people in the Weasley family unable to sit still.

Ron still held his wand in his hand, and he raised his hand and cast a Slug Curse at Lucius's disgusting pretty face.

Although Ron was only a first-year wizard and had average talent in learning proper spells, he and Ginny both had maxed out their talent points in some evil curses like the Hairy Curse, the Bat Curse, and the Slug Curse.

A simple little curse like the Slug Curse was no problem for him.

Lucius had no idea that Mr. Weasley's appearance was due to magic, so he was not on guard at all.

It must be that his son Draco has better combat skills.

The Shield Charm, which was also cast silently and without a wand, intercepted Ron's spell and Lucius's. Ron's Slug Curse was deflected in one direction by the barrier formed by the Shield Charm and accurately hit Harry who was standing beside him.

Harry, the son-in-law who was originally planning to help Arthur Weasley up, immediately knelt on the ground and vomited.

Five slimy slugs, each three fingers wide, slid out of Harry's throat in an instant, and fell to the ground in a large puddle with a plop. Their slimy bodies kept moving on the ground.

The people watching the fun around all looked disgusted and disdainful.

Draco's silent and wandless spellcasting skills were not very proficient, but he was able to cast two Shield Charms instantly in such a short period of time. This was already a magic level that surpassed 95% of the wizards in the world.

In a hurry, he only had time to help his father block Ron's sneak attack, but he couldn't stop the twin brothers from throwing

That round projectile.

The shock wave that suddenly exploded behind Lucius instantly pushed him forward. With a not-so-elegant toad jump followed by a flat sand falling wild goose jump, he lay in front of Mr. Weasley like a giant toad.

After the initial confusion, Lucius looked at Mr. Weasley's face which was so close to him, the unwilling look on his lips, and the endless anger in his eyes.

Completely ignoring the fact that he was still lying on the ground like Arthur Weasley, he moved his face forward with an extremely exaggerated and shameless expression.

"I've always wanted to see this expression on your face."

At this moment, Lucius did not have any of the etiquette of a so-called pure-blood aristocrat. All he had was a shrill laughter similar to that of the Laughing Four of Slytherin.

“That expression of jealousy towards me, hahahahaha!”

Even the most honest person will have the taut string in his brain break when faced with such despicable ridicule.

Mr. Weasley, who couldn't help but feel angry, completely ignored the fact that he was still lying on the ground. After supporting his body weight with one hand, he swung his right hand, which he had just freed, towards Lucius's ugly face.

The punch, which was filled with anger, hit Lucius' nose right in the process, causing blood to spurt out and his nose to be crooked.

It was like a sauce shop, with salty, sour and spicy flavors all pouring out.

Before Lucius could react, Mr. Weasley raised his fist and punched him again in the eye socket and eyebrow. This time, the crack of his eye socket was cracked and his eyeball was popped out.

It was like a colorful silk shop, with red, black and purple all blooming.

Although only his upper body could move freely, and both legs were still firmly restrained by the Leg-Locking Curse, Mr. Weasley's muscular body, which was developed from his time as a car mechanic, was no joke.

His actions perfectly illustrate what a ground god of war is.

With only his hands able to move, Mr. Weasley managed to advance more than a meter by slapping the ground with his hands, made a perfect circumvention, and then strangled Lucius' neck.

Even though the wand was hidden in his sleeve, Lucius didn't even have the chance to get the wand. He was pinned to the ground and unable to move by Arthur's superb naked choke technique.

He tried his best to grab his wand, but the distance that was so close seemed as far away as the end of the world for him because all the joints were restrained.

In desperation, Lucius could only frantically punch Mr. Weasley's arm with his soft and powerless fists, hoping to relieve the suffocating feeling that was gradually rising to his brain.

When the youngsters of the Weasley family saw their old father taking action, they immediately rushed towards Draco with red eyes.

They all wisely chose not to use magic.

Ron's wand was also snatched away by Bill, the eldest brother of the Weasley family.

If it was just a fistfight, no matter how fiercely they fought, the level of this matter would not rise to a very high level in the end.

But if magic is used, the nature of the matter will be completely different.

Not to mention that in such a crowded environment, the rebounded spell is likely to hurt innocent onlookers.

Even a seemingly harmless water-calling spell could turn into a water dungeon capable of suffocating a person, or a high-pressure water gun with extreme cutting power.

In such a situation, the spells cast by both parties are definitely aimed at causing harm to the other party.

If magic is used, it will easily lead to both sides increasing the power of their spells little by little in a rage, until it ends up being a life-and-death situation with a sniper confrontation at the door of Avada Kedavra.

On the ground, it was a battle between their fathers, and it was obviously not appropriate for them, as sons, to get involved.

But for Draco in front of them, the Weasley family had no pressure at all to take action.

However, Bill and Charlie, two adult wizards who have graduated from Hogwarts, still have some dignity. Percy, being a good student, naturally would not roll up his sleeves and fight with others.