Chapter 1190 The First Day of School Without Vincent
9 month 1 day,
At 11:00 am, the Hogwarts Express departed from King's Cross Station nine and three quarters on time.
In the new semester, Hermione and Ron became Gryffindor prefects.
But they were not staying in the prefects' compartment, but in compartment W as in previous years.
Ron, sitting by the window, still couldn't believe that he would be chosen as the school's prefect.
Even if Vincent wasn't here, it should still be Harry's turn.
"Harry——"
Ron called out several times before Harry, who was sitting next to him, turned his gaze diagonally across the street.
"What's wrong, Ron?"
"Harry, why do you think Professor Dumbledore made me a prefect?"
Harry shook his head. "I don't know, but Ron, since it's Professor Dumbledore's decision, it means he believes you can do a good job as a prefect."
Ron looked at Hermione who was chatting with Ginny across from him, "But I don't believe I can do it well. My grades are so bad. I can't compare to Vincent and Hermione in any way..."
He suddenly straightened up and said, "If it's a competition of deductions, I'm confident."
Harry smiled and shook his head. "Isn't that great? Ron, being a prefect is a great exercise for you. You have to trust Professor Dumbledore's judgment."
Ron took a deep breath, and his waist, which had just straightened up, bent down again. "I still don't think I can do it well."
Harry didn't know what to say.
At first Ron was very excited when he learned that he was chosen as a prefect, but since boarding the train, he has been in a state of anxiety.
He is extremely lacking in self-confidence and is afraid of messing up everything he does, but he will muster up the courage to stand up at critical moments.
Harry felt that Ron would grow tremendously as a prefect, and he began to look forward to the new semester.
After a few minutes, his gaze shifted to the opposite side.
Ginny had a fashion magazine in her hand, and Hermione seemed to be explaining some things to pay attention to when matching clothes.
Luna, sitting next to them, was holding a magazine with the cover upside down. She was reading it with great interest and did not notice Crookshanks' arrival.
"Meow—" Crookshanks jumped onto her thighs swiftly, sniffed her scent, then slowly crawled into Ginny's arms and was picked up by Hermione.
"What are you looking for?"
"Meow--"
Hermione gently rubbed its flattened face and said, "He's not here. I'll take you to see him during the Christmas holidays, okay?"
Crookshanks licked her little hand, as if to express that the agreement was established.
"Him?" Luna suddenly put down the magazine. "Are you talking about Vincent? Did he really go back to England?"
Hermione seemed a little flustered, "It's him, but how did you know he was back?"
Luna pointed to the magazine in her hand, which contained an article written by her father himself.
Gellert Grindelwald's Heir: An Update on Vincent Wayne
The corners of Hermione's eyes twitched wildly, and she had an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
"An informant in close contact with the Ministry of Magic recently revealed that the families of the Wiccan Party elders rescued by Wayne from the Extag Wizarding Prison in Germany disappeared en masse after the Berlin Incident.
The so-called Berlin incident is probably just a cover. Wayne's real purpose is to reorganize the Wiccan Party. Although his ultimate goal is not clear yet, he is very likely to inherit Grindelwald's ambition.
His performance at this year's International Confederation of Wizards conference shows that he has successfully reorganized the Wizarding Party. I boldly predict that this organization, called the "Order of Order," will likely return to Britain next, fully infiltrating the British wizarding community in a ghostly manner."
Xenophilius is quite capable. Although "The Quibbler" is a piece of street literature and is full of his irresponsible and exaggerated imagination, he actually guessed a few key points.
Hermione returned the magazine to Luna expressionlessly. "He's just back in England for some business and will be leaving soon."
Luna's eyes widened, a little excited. "Is he going to infiltrate the British wizarding world in a ghostly manner? My father said that those escaped Death Eaters were just a bunch of rabble-rousers. The truly terrifying ones are him and his Order of the Order."
In some ways, Xenophilius was right.
"Yeah." Hermione answered perfunctorily, "It seems he has reached some kind of agreement with the top Muggle government officials."
"By high-ranking officials, do you mean the Muggle Queen and the Muggle Prime Minister?"
"probably."
"Wow——" Luna's bright big eyes radiated a different kind of brilliance.
Hermione continued to explain clothing matching to Ginny with a somewhat amused look.
If it were her old self, her attitude towards Luna would definitely not be the same as it is now.
The weather outside the train was changeable, and raindrops were hitting the windows intermittently.
Soon, the clouds drifted away and the sun lazily peeked out.
Before nightfall, the alchemically modified Hogwarts Express arrived safely at Hogsmeade Station.
It's two hours faster than in previous years, and it's only getting close to evening.
"First-year students, please line up here! All first-year students, follow me!"
Not Hagrid's rough, loud voice, but Professor Grubbly-Plank's crisp, clear voice.
She was supplying the Magical Creatures class, having taught several classes last term while Hagrid was away.
Harry and Ron went up to her and asked where Hagrid was, and the answer was that he had asked for leave.
"Professor Grubbly-Plank, do you know when he will be back?"
"I don't know." She looked at the neatly lined-up first-year students. "Okay, two curious kids, if you have any questions, go ask Professor Dumbledore."
Harry and Ron thanked him apologetically and walked into a muddy street outside the station washed by rain.
There were a hundred brand new carriages parked here, and the Hogwarts emblem of lion, eagle, badger and snake emitted a faint light.
The two of them picked a fight at random, and just as they were about to go up, they ran into Draco and his two minions.
Ron was about to shout "We were here first", but Draco turned around and took his younger brother to get on another carriage next to him.
If it were in the past, he would definitely have insisted on having a fight, but today he actually "ran away".
"What's wrong with Malfoy?"
"Who knows, maybe he thinks we are not easy to mess with."
Harry and Ron didn't think much about it. After getting on the carriage, they talked about the upcoming back-to-school dinner.
The Thestrals pulled the carriage towards the castle. There was no bumpy ride like in previous years. The new carriage seemed to have been modified using alchemy, just like the Hogwarts Express.
The carriage carrying the students passed the tall stone pillars on both sides of the venue's gate and stopped in front of the stone steps leading to the oak gate.
It was not completely dark yet, and Hogwarts Castle was not as brightly lit as in previous years. It looked gray, as if shrouded in a shadow.
……
……
