Chapter 154 Halloween

As long as there is enough profit, there will always be journalists who dare to publish articles that those in power don't want to see.

Fortunately, after the arrow of responsibility pointed to Barty Crouch, the Ministry of Magic's originally tough attitude did indeed ease.

Barty Crouch was once the director of the Ministry of Magic's Law Enforcement Department and the most promising Minister of Magic.

In other words, he was Fudge's former strong competitor.

But after Voldemort's fall, Barty Crouch's son was found to be a Death Eater, and he personally sent his son to Azkaban.

This incident caused Barty Crouch to gradually lose his prestige and failed to become the Minister of Magic. Now he serves as the director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation.

This position is similar to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Muggle government, but its importance is completely incomparable to the latter. Most of the time, it is dealing with trivial matters such as "the thickness of imported crucibles" and "the differences in the standards of contraband in various countries".

The reporters did not worry that Barty Crouch would retaliate against them at all. They wantonly described Crouch during the war as a cruel tyrant and began to dig up other people who were sent to Azkaban without trial.

The Ministry of Magic was also happy to let Crouch take the responsibility. During the interview, Fudge wiped his tears in front of the camera and confessed that he "trusted the wrong person".

The Ministry of Magic still had an ambiguous attitude on the release of Sirius. However, the overwhelming public opinion has forced the Ministry of Magic to make a decision as soon as possible, and Dumbledore has been working hard for this.

"Lupin said that the court should be opened after Halloween to re-examine Sirius's case."

Harry told his friends: "Many people think he is innocent and there is a high probability that he will be acquitted."

Michael knew that Harry had always understood the most optimistic part. He whispered to Wade: "Is that really the case?"

Wade nodded: "This time it's true."

Only a small number of people in the Ministry of Magic insisted that Sirius should not be released, and most people actually didn't care about it.

Marchionne told Wade that most prisoners in Azkaban went crazy within a few weeks and could not even maintain the simplest thoughts.

Therefore, many people think that there is nothing to worry about releasing a madman who is likely to have no self-awareness, not to mention that he was wronged.

The students in the school were completely unaware of the changes in public opinion and the pressure from all sides.

They only saw the stories of Sirius Black reported in newspapers, sometimes with photos of the young wizard during school.

The handsome appearance and tragic experience of the boy aroused the sympathy of almost all female wizards, bringing him unexpected help.

Gilderoy Lockhart seemed to think that this was a hot spot that could be used. In the Defense Against the Dark Arts class this week, he rarely asked students to perform dramas, but talked about his friendship with Sirius Black.

Although the Marauders were about to graduate when he enrolled. But in Lockhart's story, they sympathized with each other.

"I saw at a glance that Peter Pettigrew was a man with ulterior motives, and I specifically warned them, but unfortunately no one took my words seriously."

"Alas, I was as young as you are now. Although I had excellent eyesight and amazing insight, I did not get the respect I deserved."

"If they had listened to me earlier, maybe everything would be different, right?"

Lockhart said, shaking his head regretfully.

The girls in the classroom looked at him admiringly, tears in their eyes, and comforted him distressedly: "It's not your fault, professor! You have done everything you can!"

Ron saw that Harry seemed to be a little shaken, and hurriedly said: "You didn't take his nonsense seriously, brother? You know Lockhart is a brainless idiot."

"But...but he has written so many books, right?" Harry said: "He may be good at observation."

After finishing his homework in the Umbrella House, Harry asked Lupin in the Friends' Book.

[Lupin: Gilderoy Lockhart? ]

The characters in Lupin's reply seemed to be full of question marks: [Who is that? ]

Harry wrote down all Lockhart's self-boasting words.

After a long while, Lupin seemed to remember this person.

[Lupin: I have indeed heard of this person you are talking about. He is a very famous Ravenclaw. ]

[But that is not because of his insight or strong magic, but because shortly after he entered school, he claimed that he could make the Philosopher's Stone before graduation and lead the England Quidditch team to win the World Cup. ]

[The Ravenclaw team allowed him to participate in the selection as an exception, but he fell off his broom. ]

[In addition, he has several famous things, such as carving his name on the Quidditch field in 20-foot-long letters. ]

[Also, we were busy competing with Slytherin in the last few years of school, exploring everywhere to draw the Marauder's Map, or caring about the situation of the war at that time, and we had no time to deal with a junior Ravenclaw student. ]

Lupin's reaction seemed very intense...

Looking at the words popping out one after another on the parchment, Harry thought to himself.

Michael pointed out bluntly: "It seems that he doesn't want to have anything to do with Lockhart at all. You'd better not mention it."

Harry nodded silently.

He put aside his unrealistic expectations of Lockhart and asked everyone: "Hey, guys, do you want to attend Nick's death anniversary party? It's on Halloween."

Everyone was silent for a while.

Michael: "I think I heard it wrong... What party?"

Theo: "Who is Nick?"

Neville: "Headless Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor."

"Ghost's Deathday party?" Padma wrinkled her nose: "Will there be many ghosts?"

"Should... should be..."

Harry said hesitantly, and then tried to encourage everyone:

"This year's Halloween is Nick's 500th deathday. Think about it... Halloween is every year, but the Deathday party may only happen once in a lifetime! Don't you want to participate?"

"Uh..." Michael asked: "You haven't promised to go?"

"Yes!" Harry said, and then looked at his friends pitifully.

"I want to go." Hermione said excitedly: "It must be wonderful!"

"Are there any other people going, Harry?" Theo asked: "Or just you... and Hermione?"

"... Ron also promised to accompany me." Harry said.

"Then... if you want, I can..." Neville said hesitantly.

But after he finished speaking, looking at his expression, it seemed that he immediately regretted it.

Harry did not give him a chance to regret, and immediately said happily: "Then it's settled! What about you?"

"No." Wade shook his head.

He knew that the party was full of dark dishes, and he had no interest in attending.

"Of course we have to attend!" Fred said excitedly: "Ghosts! I haven't seen ghosts anywhere else except at school!"

George also nodded.

Harry felt a little comforted, but after another calculation...

Hmm? Aren't all of them Gryffindor?

He looked at the others.

Theo glanced at Ryan and said with a smile: "We won't go either...but I'll save dinner for you."

"What do you mean?" Harry had a bad feeling in his heart: "Deathday party...no food?"

Theo said tactfully: "They should only provide ghost food."

Harry blinked.

"Should I...shouldn't I agree to Nick's deathday party?"

"But you already agreed." Padma said gloatingly.

Hermione nodded: "Once a word is spoken, it can't be taken back! Besides, the party is not just about eating!"

Michael smiled and said: "It's a rare view, isn't it? Most people don't have this opportunity."

"Do you want this opportunity?" Neville asked nervously.

"Well... forget it." Michael refused gently but firmly.

"Wear more." Wade finally reminded: "Where ghosts gather will be very cold."

...

In the blink of an eye, Halloween is here.

At night, Wade and others came to the hall. Like last year, countless candles were hung above the hall, and bats decorated the ceiling.

The huge pumpkin was carved into lanterns of various shapes, fairies flew around on the vines, and the tips of the tiny wands sprayed colorful starlight.

The golden plates on the long table were filled with delicious food, most of which were not usually seen on the dining table.

Michael took two pieces of fried crispy cheese and took a big bite. The rich and crispy taste was almost addictive.

He finished the meal in a few bites, put two more pieces on his plate, and said happily to Wade: "If Harry and the others knew how many delicious foods there were tonight, they would definitely regret it."

"I guess they regret it now." Wade forked a piece of French lamb chops, and then said: "Ghost food is rotten."

"Uh..." Michael advised: "Don't say such terrible things while eating?"

During the meal, there was also a skeleton dance troupe on the stage to perform.

The pale skeletons danced hand in hand with the cheerful music, sometimes floated up like soft bones, and even suddenly scattered skeletons on the ground and pieced them together.

The teeth of these skeletons were clicking, leading the audience to clap and cheer with them, and the atmosphere was extremely warm.

Except for Professor Snape who was as black-faced as always, the students and teachers were very happy, and the applause continued.

"This is great!"

Gryffindor's Lee Jordan pulled a black girl onto the stage and danced with the skeletons, bringing the heat of the whole venue to a new level.

After the dinner, when the students returned to the lounge, Wade saw Harry and his group who had just walked up from the basement.

Except for Fred and George who still had smiles on their faces, everyone else looked extremely haggard.

"It's terrible." Ron groaned: "Moldy, maggoty, stinky food... Everything there makes me sick."

Theo and others laughed and shared the food they brought from the hall with them.

"Thank you so much." Harry stuffed the food into his pocket and sighed: "But I can't eat anything now... I think my nose is about to fail."

A group of people walked out of the hall, then separated and followed the crowd to the lounge of their own college.

"This is the best Halloween of my life."

On the way back to the dormitory, Michael was still talking excitedly.

Padma unconsciously hummed a song sung by the Skeleton Dance Troupe and said, "Yeah. It was great last year, but the trolls messed everything up."

"That's not the case." Michael said, "You joined us after that day, so that Halloween was great too."

Padma looked at Michael and smiled sweetly.

Ved consciously shook them off and returned to the lounge first.

He took out the gift for the house elves from his bag - a mask that can be transformed - and then wrote a blessing message and put it on the table.

So that they can get it in the evening.

Even though Vader had a good relationship with several elves, they still abided by the moral code of house elves. Unless summoned, they would not easily appear in front of Vader.

Veder stood by the window and waited for a while.

The huge castle gradually quieted down, and the students of Ravenclaw fell asleep one after another, and presumably the students of other colleges were the same.

No screams, no petrification, no chaos and fear.

This is exactly what he expected - a peaceful, fulfilling and interesting school life.

Veder smiled.

……

On the second day of Halloween, after the afternoon class, Vader received a note from Professor Sprout -

[Come to the third greenhouse after dinner. 】

Ved was delighted. After dinner, he could not wait to come to the third greenhouse and saw that the grown mandrakes were shaking slightly.

"Although the mandrakes are not yet mature, their leaves can be used." Professor Sprout said.

A purple vine tried to quietly hook the witch's shoulder, but she calmly slapped it away.

"Great!" Vader said happily: "Then I can use it to practice Animagus, right?"

"Yes, yes." Professor Sprout smiled and said: "In fact, it can be used a week ago, but I think it would be a pity to let you miss the Halloween dinner for this, isn't it?"

"Thank you, professor." Vader said gratefully.

"Learning Animagus is a long process, Vader."

Professor Sprout said as he took out a pair of large scissors and carefully searched among the mandrakes.

"You have been very successful in learning magic, but you should know that it is normal to fail two or three times in practicing Animagus, especially in the first step."

"For a whole month, you must hold a leaf of Mandrake in your mouth. You cannot swallow it or take it out. If you fail, the whole process must be restarted."

"Let's choose the leaves today. Before the full moon, you must get used to the feeling of talking, eating, and sleeping with a leaf of similar size in your mouth, and be careful not to swallow it. Practicing in advance can help you know what mistakes to avoid when you officially start."

Professor Sprout held the scissors and smiled and said, "Then choose one, Wade."

Still two-in-one, 4,000 words.

Tomorrow's update will probably still be in the evening