Homecoming from Hogwarts

A heavy rain disrupted the daily routine of Harry and the other two. After dinner, the flood that still accumulated on the marble steps made their wish to do morning exercises completely thwarted.

However, this also brought some fun to the young wizards. Fred and George were the first to take off their robes and jump into the ocean to play in the water, followed by Neville Longbottom and several Hufflepuff students, and then more and more boys jumped into the water and went crazy.

Dozens of heads were floating in the rippling water. Professor McGonagall, who had returned to her office to work overtime after lunch, saw the little wizards struggling in the water from her window and was so scared that she almost jumped out of her office window.

And when she rushed downstairs to find out the truth of the matter, the rage that erupted in an instant made the flames of the torches in the hallway tremble.

Every little wizard who went into the water lost ten points and faced a week of confinement.

Judging from the number of young wizards who received punishments, Filch would have no problem finding help with his work until the end of the term.

"Where are Potter and Weasley? Don't tell me they are still in the water!"

In the hallway, the young wizards who had been pulled out of the water lowered their heads obediently and endured the preaching. When Professor McGonagall's sharp eyes swept across everyone's faces and did not find Harry and Ron, who she thought must have participated in this dangerous game, her heart skipped a beat.

"Oh, here we are, Professor McGonagall!"

Harry and Ron, who were standing on the stairs leading to the second floor with their classmates and watching the fun, raised their hands, Ron said.

"Oh, you didn't go down?"

Professor McGonagall looked at Harry and Ron, whose clothes were dry, with a very surprised look, and then she nodded approvingly.

"Very wisely, gentlemen, you seem to have finally realized that your behavior should be consistent with your age. On the contrary, Mr. Longbottom!"

Professor McGonagall stared at Neville with great sorrow as he smiled indifferently.
"You are so modest and prudent, Mr. Longbottom. Oh, I will write to your grandma, your parents, and you, Fred and George, about what happened today. If you wish, your parents will come to Hogwarts in person to take you home!"

"This is totally prejudice--"

As the crowd of onlookers were being herded upstairs by Professor McGonagall, Ron shrugged and said to Harry,
"She thought we must have gone into the water, too!"

"Oh, actually, you do intend to do that, don't you, Ron?"

Hermione chuckled a few times.

"You got away with it because you promised to accompany me to practice spells tonight."

As the third game of the championship approaches, the Warriors have begun to prepare in advance.

Although there is no news about the competition items so far, this game will ultimately test the courage and skills of the warriors and their ability to solve problems with magic.

So, since late May, Harry and Ron had been taking time out to help Hermione with her practice.

It was nine o'clock in the evening when they left the abandoned classroom and returned to the Gryffindor common room. Without using the invisibility cloak, Hermione used her newly mastered Disillusionment Charm to help them avoid Mrs. Norris's tracking.

When they entered the common room through the doorway behind the Fat Lady, the celebratory dinner here had not yet ended to celebrate the heroic act of several Gryffindors who jumped into the water to catch waves in the evening. Neville was standing on a table, bragging to Dean that if Professor McGonagall hadn't called him up, he would have planned to swim into the Black Lake to meet those ugly mermaids!

Ron was taken away by Lavindra in the blink of an eye. Harry knew that he would not be able to come back for a while, and when he came back, he might have more "wounds" on his neck.

Turning his head, Harry found Hermione looking at him, her pure eyes sparkling in the steady candlelight.
"Want to talk, Harry?"

Harry's eyelids twitched slightly, and he immediately realized that the hidden worries that had been lurking in his heart since the day Percy visited Professor Braine's office were seen through by Hermione. She must have noticed that something was wrong with him, but it was hard to say how much she had guessed.

Based on Harry's understanding of Hermione, she would only come to him if she had guessed it almost exactly.

"Oh, maybe next time, Hermione--"

The trouble he encountered this time was unusual. He had murderous intentions towards Percy and Professor Blaine, very strong murderous intentions, and he almost put them into action. He never understood what happened to him at that time, or he was unwilling to face the answer that frightened him.

"I'm a little tired today." After saying this, he said goodbye to Hermione and turned to walk towards the spiral staircase of the boys' dormitory.

After a quick wash, Harry jumped onto his four-poster bed, and now he was the only one in the gloomy dormitory.

The quiet dormitory did not make him feel lonely, but instead gave him a sense of security. He was afraid that he would suddenly lose control and attack his roommate who was with him day and night.

After the rain fell, midsummer suddenly arrived.

Harry, who was suddenly awakened from his sleep, could hear the noisy cicadas from the Forbidden Forest coming into the dormitory through the open window. He propped himself up in the dark, rubbed his hands on the headboard for a while, and then put on his glasses.

In the bright moonlight, Harry saw that everyone had returned to the dormitory. Neville and Ron were sleeping in their beds. He glanced at the gold watch that Professor Brain gave him and was placed on the bedside. The hour hand on it pointed to '12'.

Harry didn't know why, but he started to put on his clothes - sweater, trousers, socks, shoes, and then he gently fished his Invisibility Cloak out of his schoolbag.

When Harry went down to the common room, which was bathed in moonlight, it had been tidyed up. Harry was sure that he saw a dark shadow flash by the fireplace with wisps of smoke coming out. That figure was definitely not that of a wizard, it could only be an elf.

"More than?"

Harry asked in a low voice, but the little guy hiding behind the curtain just trembled a few times and didn't come out.

It doesn't look like Dobby - Harry thought, and put on the Invisibility Cloak before leaving the common room.

The Fat Lady was complaining angrily behind him, but Harry ignored her and went down the spiral staircase of the tower quickly. His hurried footsteps echoed in the empty castle.

call!
On the platform on the third floor, Harry panted a few times, then turned and walked towards the corridor where the ground was reflected by the moonlight.

The midnight wind made Harry's mind clearer, and as he got closer to the office, his heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably.

But apart from Professor Brain, who else in Hogwarts could answer his questions?

Oh, of course, Professor Dumbledore must have known that, and to this day, people still believe that Professor Dumbledore is the wizard Voldemort fears the most.

Although he fully trusted Professor Dumbledore, knocking on the headmaster's office door in the middle of the night and asking about his scar and the abnormality on his body was a severe test of Harry's courage.

But when Harry finally arrived at Professor Blaine's office, he let out a sigh of disappointment.

There was no light coming through the crack in the door, it seemed that Professor Brain had fallen asleep.
This was not normal. Harry knew that Professor Brain was a night owl and he usually went to bed in the second half of the night.

He lingered in front of Professor Brian's door for a while, hoping that Professor Brian would get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and accidentally discover him, but unfortunately, after waiting for half an hour, the office was still quiet and there was no sound.

A sigh dissipated in the ancient stone corridor, and Harry reluctantly admitted that his plan for tonight had failed.

When passing the corridor again, Harry accidentally discovered that the light was still on in the small tower where Professor Dumbledore's office was located, and it seemed that he was not asleep. Just when he was hesitating whether to go to Professor Dumbledore to try his luck and see if there would be any unexpected gains--
Click!

In a corner of the Forbidden Forest, a golden bolt of lightning suddenly fell from the cloudless night sky. The overwhelming pressure brought by the strong wind made Harry so frightened that the space in his sight became hazy!
The next second, a huge wave of golden fire surged up into the sky from the dark horizon, covering a large area of ​​the forbidden forest like a canopy. The dazzling light even made Harry mistakenly believe that the sun had risen.

"I'll only say it once!"

A high-pitched, cold voice rang out, covering the Forbidden Forest, Hogwarts, and even Hogsmeade.
"Submission or destruction, these are the only two choices you have!"

boom!
In an instant, Hogwarts was in a state of chaos.

(End of this chapter)