Chapter 337 Homecoming and Opening Dinner
On the Hogwarts Express, Harry was holding an extremely thick magic book, reading and taking notes with a shorthand quill.
Hermione was also memorizing the History of Magic textbook. She also wanted to take the interview for this course in advance to reduce the study pressure this year.
Ron was feeling a little bored, so he played with the magic figure of Krum he had just bought, but got bored after playing with it for a while.
"That's enough for you two. School hasn't started yet. There's no need to be so tired. Come and chat together."
Ron complained softly: "Harry, what book are you reading that makes you look so frowned? Tell us about it. Maybe Hermione can help you."
Harry raised his eyes from the book and answered absentmindedly, "I'm learning about Occlumency, but the content is a bit obscure and difficult to understand. It's a bit difficult to read."
Occlumency?
Hermione put down her History of Magic textbook and asked in confusion, "I read in a book that this is a very advanced magic. Why are you learning it?"
"It's mainly related to my scar." Harry thought about it and realized that he hadn't told his two friends about the scar yet.
So he sat up straight and told Ron and Hermione about the pain in his scar and his dream about Voldemort.
"Professor Swann said that Occlumency can effectively prevent Voldemort from invading my brain, so he will formally teach me this magic after school starts."
"I thought I'd learn it by myself in advance, so it would be easier to learn it later."
"That's cool, man," Ron said excitedly, "You can actually see what You-Know-Who sees."
"Can you discuss this with Professor Swan and ask him to think of a way to not completely block your connection with the mysterious man, so that you can monitor the mysterious man unilaterally?"
"Ron!" Hermione raised her eyebrows and gently patted him with the textbook in her hand. "This is not a joke. That's the You-Know-Who. We can't give him any chance to take advantage of us."
"Don't forget, someone has released the Dark Mark in the Quidditch camp, which means his men are active again."
"Okay, okay," Ron said angrily, hiding behind Hermione's book, "I'm not joking, let's liven up the atmosphere."
"I don't know who released the Dark Mark. Dad said the Ministry of Magic still has no news."
As they were talking, the snack cart passed by their carriage. Harry put away his magic book, stood up and walked outside the carriage.
After a long while, he returned to the carriage with a bunch of snacks, put them on the small table, and waved to Hermione and Ron, indicating that they could choose whatever they wanted.
Ron unwrapped a box of chocolate frogs without hesitation. "Harry, why don't you invite Cho Chang in for a snack? Do you want me to stop her?"
"Ahem," Harry's face flushed and he coughed twice, "Why call Qiu Zhang? We don't know her well."
"Oh..." Ron said in a long voice, "Your eyes have been on her. I thought you wanted to make friends with her."
"I didn't, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!" Harry waved his hands and denied it seriously.
"Eat your chocolate quickly. There's nothing you can eat to keep you from getting hungry."
Ron bit off the head of the Chocolate Frog and muttered incoherently, "You can fool me, buddy, but don't fool yourself."
Looking at Harry, whose face was as red as an apple, Hermione could not help but shook her head, and at the same time silently mourned for her little sister Ginny in her heart.
Amid the noise, the sky gradually darkened. Outside the window, there was a storm and the raindrops hit the window like countless small drum beats, which sounded particularly clear in the carriage.
Slowly, the Hogwarts Express began to slow down, and finally stopped steadily at Hogsmeade Station.
The car door opened and cold wind rushed in immediately, bringing with it the damp smell of rain.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood in the doorway, squinting their eyes out.
The wind mixed with violent raindrops hit their faces, making them shrink their necks involuntarily.
Harry took out his wand and skillfully cast the Fire and Water Immunity Charm on his clothes. Then, holding an umbrella conjured by Transfiguration, he walked into the rain.
Ron muttered in a low voice: "The first-year wizards are guilty of having to brave such a storm to cross the Black Lake."
Although it was not a pleasant feeling to travel in the rain, the students' enthusiasm was not dampened by the storm.
What's more, when passing through the auditorium door, the professors' drying spell had blown away all the moisture and coldness on their bodies.
Led by their class leaders, the students sat down at their respective long tables in an orderly manner. The floating ghosts greeted them warmly, welcoming them back to school to start a new semester.
"There are no new faces in the professor's chair. Is there no professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts this year?"
"Or..." Ron guessed excitedly, "One of the professors here is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year?"
"It would be nice if Professor Swan taught this course."
As soon as he finished speaking, he attracted Harry's attention.
Good man, you must have a grudge against Professor Swann, for letting him teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
"Give up, Ron," Harry chuckled, "Professor Swann said that he would definitely not touch the Defense Against the Dark Arts class until the curse is removed."
"Who could it be? Could it be Professor Snape?"
"Ron, that's enough..."
As he was speaking, Professor McGonagall had already led the first-year students into the auditorium and started the sorting ceremony.
Among them, a little guy named Dennis Creevey was so excited that he ran towards the Gryffindor table with the Sorting Hat on his head, causing everyone to burst into laughter.
What a good attitude!
I was extremely nervous when I was assigned to the branch school.
Looking at the little kid talking to Colin, Harry smiled knowingly, but soon he couldn't smile anymore.
Because Colin was loudly proclaiming that his brother was sorted into Gryffindor entirely as a result of the inner prayers of the savior Harry Potter.
"Hey, Harry," Ron sneered, "Congratulations, you've gained a new fanatic fan."
"Stop talking nonsense, Ron, the headmaster announces the start of the dinner."
In a flash, the plates on the long table were piled with sumptuous food.
Seeing this, Ron picked up a chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth: "Finally it has come to this time, I'm almost starving."
Just then, Nearly Headless Nick came out from under the long table: "Good evening, everyone!"
"You are very lucky today. Because of Peeves, the dinner party was almost ruined."
Hearing that the dinner was almost ruined, Ron swallowed the food in his mouth and asked curiously, "What did Peeves do again?"
"What else can you expect Peeves to do? Cause havoc," Nick said, shaking his head, but his head was not stable enough and he almost shook it off.
"It made a huge mess, with pots and pans scattered everywhere, and it flooded the entire kitchen, ruining all the prepared food."
"The house elves were in a mess. It took a lot of effort for them to not delay the dinner tonight."
"That's terrible," Ron said thankfully, "Luckily the house-elves are so helpful, otherwise I would have gone hungry tonight."
Bang...
Hermione's fork fell onto her plate and she looked up at the nearly headless Nick and shouted in shock.
"Hogwarts has house-elves too?"
"Are all these meals cooked by the house-elves?"
......
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