Chapter 344 The Camellia Blooms
It was mid-December.
It was an ordinary weekend, with fine rain mixed with a few snowflakes, falling on the ground.
Perhaps it was not the right season, or perhaps it was accompanied by rain, which made the falling snow never stay.
The snowflakes often disappeared without a trace before they landed.
…
Although Christmas was approaching, the gray sky, coupled with the cold and humid environment.
The little wizards in the castle fell into a state of almost hibernation, and everything seemed depressed and silent.
The burning fireplace and the warm public lounge.
No one was willing to leave this comfortable environment unless necessary.
However, these were all referring to the little wizards in the castle.
…
Outside the main building of the castle.
In an abandoned greenhouse, there was another scene.
"Timmy, Neelu, print this photo in, remember to mark it with a special font..."
Draco sat in front of a large desk and instructed the compartment on the other side of the room.
The once deserted room is now decorated with gold and splendor. There are no less than a dozen magic lamps on the wall alone.
The orange warm light seems even warmer in this dim winter.
"Got it! My boss!" A childish reply. Then the compartment door was pushed open, and a small puppet about one foot tall ran out.
The puppet quickly ran to the table, picked up the photo, and quickly returned to the original compartment, closing the door.
As the puppet left, Draco looked at another table beside him, on which was a work card marked: Deputy Editor (Special Correspondent)
"Colin! I will allocate another 5 Galleons of funds for you to collect more interesting news, Scarhead... No, Potter's news is out of date."
Hearing his name being called, Colin raised his head blankly. After a long while, he showed a helpless expression.
"It's outdated, but there's nothing new to say. I can only write about Miss Delacour's scandal..."
Colin felt a little pressure. Recently, the castle has become unusually calm, like a stagnant pool of water. He can no longer see the explosive news from half a month ago.
...
Thinking of half a month ago, Colin couldn't help but recall the sudden changes during that period.
First, Harry was vindicated, and the truth about the killing curse was revealed.
According to the description of the Daily Prophet, the culprit was an unknown dark wizard who first attacked Director Crouch and then controlled him to cast a dark magic curse on Harry.
This sounds a bit childish, but no one doubts its authenticity.
It's very simple, because of this attack, Bartemius Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, was seriously injured and even had to resign on his own initiative.
The Ministry of Magic has only seven departments in total, so each director holds real power and can even challenge the Minister.
To defend Harry, dismiss a director? Don't be ridiculous, no one in the magic world will believe this reason.
Even if Harry has a high reputation, such a thing would not happen.
…
"It's a pity that no one has verified the authenticity of little Barty..."
At his workstation, Colin sighed with some regret.
The article "The Mask of Hypocrisy" was written by him. Although it was widely spread in the castle, the Ministry of Magic turned a blind eye and did not even ask about it.
On the side, Draco heard Colin sighing and mumbling to himself, and shook his head with some amusement, and could not help but say aloud:
"Don't feel sorry anymore! No one will really make things difficult for old Barty, especially when he resigned on his own initiative."
Although it was a little funny that Colin could not see the situation clearly, Draco also knew that the current situation was not clear to Colin, even his father Lucius could not see it clearly.
In the past half month, the Ministry of Magic suddenly became weird.
So much so that when he received a letter from home, there was only one instruction in the letter: follow Ino closely and maintain and strengthen the existing relationship.
Although he understood that this was a sign of concern, Draco was somewhat disgusted by the content of the letter. Friends should not be mixed with utilitarianism.
Therefore, after receiving the letter, he spread it out on the dormitory table.
…
"Knock~knock!"
Suddenly, a series of tight knocks on the door interrupted Draco's thoughts.
"Come in!"
As the voice fell, a girl with golden ponytails walked in from outside the door.
Draco recognized the other party, the girl from the Abbott family, and a frequent visitor to their "Hogwarts Past" information department.
"I'm here to sell news again!" Hannah walked with a cheerful pace, and her golden ponytails swayed left and right.
"It's an honor! Please sit down, Miss Abbott." Draco stood up. The girl in front of him was the foundation of their magazine.
Hearing this, Hannah was not polite and sat down on the guest sofa next to her, then crossed her legs, looking like a young and mature person.
"Today's news, at 9:30 in the morning, someone saw Ino and Granger dating in the Astronomy Tower. Ravenclaw's seventh-year prefect, Gudgion, sent a love letter to Delacour at 11 o'clock in the morning, but it was replaced by someone else..." Hannah spoke slowly, while the automatic writing feather pen beside her quickly recorded.
...
"A-choo!"
In the shelter, Ino rubbed his sore nose. There was no doubt that someone was slandering him behind his back.
He could do nothing about this kind of thing, after all, the mouth is on someone else's body.
Unless he also learned from Voldemort and cursed his name, even Dumbledore would be talked about behind his back.
Although he thought so, he did not forget the purpose of this trip. He sat down under the oak tree and began to pick from a pile of messy gems.
As Christmas approached, and also because of George and Fred's unintentional words before.
Ino planned to use gems as raw materials to make a pair of beautiful straw rings.
In any case, the sense of ceremony should be there.
I once received a basket of straw rings, but I didn't expect that one day I would take the initiative to give them away, and this ring was made by myself.
It seems to really prove that fate is unpredictable.
...
A ten-foot oak tree.
There are all kinds of gems piled under the tree, and the dazzling pearls echo the colorful rivers in the sky.
Ino sat on the ground, and after weighing the pros and cons, he still chose two moonstones that emit white and soft light.
Of course, moonstone also has a romantic name-lover's stone.
It symbolizes gentleness and purity, and this gem can show a moonlight effect. That is, when it is illuminated by light, it will show a warm and delicate luster like moonlight.
After selecting and confirming the raw materials, Ino stood up and walked towards the frozen path outside the valley.
Because if nothing unexpected happens, a new story will be opened here around Christmas.
The red maple tree full of stories, the creeping anaconda, but the most attractive is the azure ice flower.
It is obviously only a branch of about two feet, but it blooms a flower as big as a teacup.
The dark blue stamens and the sea blue petals are layered and clearly layered, which is not only pleasing to the eye, but also fresh and elegant.
"Camellia..."
Because of its unique shape, Ino recognized the blooming ice flower at a glance.
