Chapter 196 The Favor Dumbledore Owes
The Great Hall of Hogwarts was brightly lit, with thousands of candles floating in the air.
The ceiling was enchanted to reflect the twilight sky. Half of it is the faintly lit stars, and the other half is the rain clouds that have not dispersed.
Occasionally, there are raindrops falling on the seemingly transparent roof, creating crystalline water lines, sliding down to both ends along the sloping ceiling of the auditorium, and finally dripping onto the ground with a ticking sound.
The decorations and furnishings for the opening dinner have been completed. Four long tables are arranged parallel in the auditorium, extending from the stage of the faculty seats in the front to the door in the back.
Countless fine tableware made of gold or silver are neatly displayed on the long table, and the plates are all empty. When the principal announces that the dinner has officially begun, the house elves in the kitchen will use magic to deliver all the meals to the auditorium. inside.
The young wizards have not yet arrived, and the senior students who came in the Thestral carriage are walking from the main entrance on the north side of the castle to the southernmost auditorium.
The first-year freshmen have just boarded the boat, and under the leadership of Hagrid, they are experiencing the journey that the Big Four must take to reach the highlands where Hogwarts is located.
However, two sudden voices suddenly came from the empty auditorium.
"The dementors are trying to attack the students. As a professor, is there anything wrong with taking the lead in the resistance?" Several bat shadows floated away, and Dracula's figure appeared in front of the auditorium and sat in his seat.
Almost indistinguishable from the bat shadow, a golden-red flame burned out of thin air.
"There is indeed no problem in theory." Dumbledore walked out of the flames, pulled out Professor Flitwick's chair next to Dracula and sat down, "Professor Dracula, those dementors did make a mistake, but After all, they are still employees of the Ministry of Magic..."
"Indeed, I should ask the Ministry of Magic for some hard work for teaching rebellious employees." Dracula pinched his chin and raised the corners of his mouth maliciously, "Let me think about how much I should charge..."
"Professor Dracula, that's not what I'm talking about." Dumbledore said helplessly. "It is really not appropriate to wantonly capture employees of the Ministry of Magic. Moreover, Fudge wrote to me that these dementors are still stationed in Hogg." Watts’ mission.”
"Look, let's release these dementors first, at least let them deal with the Ministry of Magic's inspection of Sirius."
In fact, Dumbledore was quite helpless. Fudge was so outrageous that he wanted to arrange for dementors to set up traps in Hogwarts to find Sirius...
I don’t know how worried he is that such a wanted criminal will affect his career prospects, so much so that he doesn’t even want to gain reputation among students.
"Release? Why can't I understand what you are talking about, Principal Dumbledore?" Dracula looked bored, folded his hands behind his head, and leaned on the back of the chair, "Charming Soul" A monster attacked the students, and with my hard work to resist, I accidentally killed all the dementors. Is there any problem?"
According to how much Dracula hates Dementors, he is certainly not willing to put this dark and evil species in Hogwarts.
"Ahem... Professor Dracula, it's not like I can only know the news on the train through witnessing it with my own eyes." Dumbledore seemed to be choked and coughed twice, "I have already asked the students, they That you strung the dementors together...and threw them into the trash can?"
"Which little wizard is so lax that he leaked this matter so quickly?" Dracula narrowed his eyes.
He didn't really expect that this matter could be hidden from the "all-knowing" Dumbledore, but he didn't expect it to be exposed so quickly, and the time interval in between might not even be half an hour!
"Is it so easy for you to comply with the requirements of the Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore? Even if it is such an unreasonable decision?" Dracula asked, "Isn't it too depressing to live like this?"
"It's not that serious. It's just that I owe Fudge two favors this year." Dumbledore shook his head slightly, "So his appeal should be considered more."
"Oh?" Dracula raised his eyes, "Do you still need his help with anything?"
"You may not know that Harry used magic illegally outside school some time ago and then ran away from home." Dumbledore explained. "Fudge responded quickly and immediately arranged for Aurors to take him to a safe place."
"He is protecting Potter just to secure his position, right?" Dracula glanced sideways at Dumbledore, "If the so-called 'savior' of the wizarding world is really killed by Sirius Black, then the public sentiment will In the excitement, Fudge's Minister of Magic sat down."
"Theoretically, this is indeed the case, but judging from the results, we still have to accept his favor." Dumbledore sighed.
"What about the other thing?" Dracula curled his lips and then asked.
He didn't quite understand Dumbledore's concept of humanity. It can only be said that people with such noble qualities have set their own rules of conduct in their hearts, which is difficult for others to do.
"The other thing is not that important. It's just that Hogwarts applied for a magic item for a little witch." Dumbledore said, "Although it is highly likely to be passed according to common sense, the process must also be It’s signed by Fudge.”
"So in fact, your two favors are clearly Fudge's business, right?" Dracula's mouth twitched, "I really don't understand why you remember these things so clearly..."
"After all, you still have to set a standard for yourself, especially for people like me who have never been able to withstand temptation." Dumbledore smiled and shook his head, with a look of reminiscence in his eyes, and sadness lingering around him. temperament.
He always remembers the mistakes he made when he was young, and therefore understands that he is not a person who can withstand the temptation of power and desire.
Dumbledore used this as a lifelong warning. Whenever he was about to be overwhelmed by his own powerful power, majestic image, lofty reputation and easy access to power, he would use the most painful memory in his life to remind himself. All desires go away from you...
Dracula looked at Dumbledore's suddenly depressed mood, shrugged helplessly, raised his hand and threw a trash can into his arms.
"Here, that's it, take it to repay your favor." He glared at Dumbledore with disgust and said to him.
Dumbledore was startled for a moment, and then he realized that something was wrong with his emotions. He quickly put his sadness into his heart and smiled at Dracula.
"I'm sorry, Professor Dracula, I just lost my temper." He smiled and apologized to Dracula.
Then, Dumbledore looked inside the trash can that had been casted by the Traceless Stretching Charm.
He saw a group of ugly, rotten dementors connected together by a silver thread, crumpled into a big autumn, crowded together one by one, their bodies were squeezed out of shape.
"Is there enough?" Dumbledore looked at the dementors in the barrel and asked subconsciously.
"Ahem... I guess so." Dracula said with a guilty conscience.
Dumbledore looked up and glanced at him suspiciously.
"If Fudge asks, you will say that you resisted too fiercely and accidentally killed a few." Dracula immediately adjusted his tone, "Anyway, these dementors must be enough for you to repay the favor."
Dumbledore smiled noncommittally, reached out and pointed at the trash can, turning it into a small container the size of a pen holder and putting it away.
…
As time passed, the little wizards came to the auditorium one after another.
A sea of pointed black hats gradually formed in the brightly lit auditorium. Each long table was filled with students, their faces lit up by thousands of candles.
Before the sorting ceremony began, Professor McGonagall took Harry and Hermione to the Vice-Principal's office, not knowing what to do.
Dracula guessed that she was concerned about Harry being frightened by dementors and fainting on the road. Oh, yes, Madam Pomfrey was not at the staff seat either. Professor McGonagall should have called the head nurse. Help check Harry's body.
Since the Vice-Chancellor was not present, the Sorting Ceremony for this academic year was presided over by Professor Flitwick.
Professor Flitwick, a short wizard, walked into the auditorium carrying a brand new Sorting Hat and a three-legged stool.
His height was no higher than a stool, which made him look a little funny. Most of the young wizards who participated in the sorting ceremony suppressed their laughter.
"Romilda Venn!"
"Gryffindor!"
"Astoria Greengrass!"
"..."
When Professor McGonagall took Harry and Hermione out of the vice-principal's office, the sorting ceremony, which was still going on in an orderly manner, had ended.
"Oh," Hermione said to Harry with some regret as they walked on the road, "It's such a pity that we missed the sorting ceremony."
"Don't be stupid, Hermione." Harry said sensibly, "Do you still want to hear the Sorting Hat sing its annual Sorting Hat Song with its ugly voice?"
"…Forget it then."
Professor McGonagall walked slowly towards her empty seat at the professor's chair, while Harry and Hermione walked as quietly as possible in the opposite direction, to the Gryffindor House table.
As they walked along the back of the Great Hall, people turned to look at them, and several pointed at Harry.
It seemed that the news of Harry passing out in front of the Dementors had spread very quickly. Harry guessed that it was Draco Malfoy who was not far from their box. That annoying guy liked to make up bad things about him.
He and Hermione finally reached the Gryffindor table and sat on either side of Ron. Ron saved a seat for them.
"What did Professor McGonagall ask you to do just now?" He asked Harry in a low voice. "This is the first time I have seen the sorting ceremony hosted by Professor Flitwick."
Harry began to explain to him in a low voice what Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey had done to examine his body, but he didn't know what Professor McGonagall meant when she later called Hermione alone into the office.
Ron originally wanted to ask, but after receiving a glare from Hermione, he didn't have the courage to ask.
At this time, the principal stood up and began to speak, which just solved Ron and Harry's embarrassment.
Professor Dumbledore's beard seems to be longer and he is older, but he can still give people the impression of energy.
As the greatest wizard of our time and the pillar of the wizarding world, Harry couldn't help but feel relieved and left his trust completely to Professor Dumbledore. For the first time since the dementor had entered the train car, he was truly calm.
"Welcome!" said Professor Dumbledore, his beard glinting in the light of the candle.
"Welcome to Hogwarts in the new school year! I have a few words to say to all of you, and one of them is very serious. I thought it would be better to get this out of the way before you get carried away by this delicious meal. Let’s make things clear…”
Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued. "After the Dementors raided the Hogwarts Express, you must all know. Currently our school has to receive a number of Dementors from Azkaban. They are here to perform official duties of the Ministry of Magic."
He paused for a moment, and it was obvious that even if Dumbledore wanted to return the favor, he was still very unhappy about the dementors guarding the school.
"They are stationed at all entrances to the school grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are here, I must make it clear that no one is allowed to leave the school without permission!"
"In addition, dementors, with their unique characteristics, will never be deceived by tricks or disguises - not even invisibility cloaks." He added this sentence expressionlessly.
Harry and Ron looked at each other and knew that the headmaster was probably talking about Harry's invisibility cloak.
"Dementors are not born to understand requests or excuses. Therefore, I warn each of you: Do not give them any excuse to harm you. I hope that the prefects, as well as our newly appointed Head Boy and Girl Student Council Chairman, you must ensure that no student will conflict with a dementor."
Percy, who was sitting only a few seats away from Harry, puffed out his chest and looked around impressively.
He was successfully elected as the President of the Hogwarts Student Union this year, which made him extremely proud.
Dumbledore paused again and glanced around the auditorium with a rather serious expression. No one moved or made a sound.
"What's more gratifying is," he suddenly smiled and continued, "this year, I am happy to welcome a new teacher to join our team!"
"In fact, everyone may be familiar with the professor we appointed," Dumbledore smiled and said to the young wizards, "Before introducing this professor, I first want to announce one thing -"
"I'm sorry to tell you that our Care of Magical Creatures professor, Professor Kettleburn, officially retired at the end of last year to spend more time with his remaining Rugrats."
"Now please allow me to introduce to you the new professor of Care of Magical Creatures. It is none other than Rubeus Hagrid to fill his vacancy. Hagrid has agreed to take up the position of professor in addition to his role as gamekeeper."
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, dumbfounded, then joined in the applause, which was particularly enthusiastic from the long Gryffindor table.
Hagrid's face was red and he stared at his big hands. His proud, nervous, reserved and shy smile was all hidden in his messy black beard.
…
…
