days at Hogwarts

Chapter 561 Train Arrives
Draco stared blankly at the pair of eyes that suddenly became stern. The edges of the dark and deep pupils were tinged with a light blue, which was somewhat similar to the gloomy sky outside, so gray that it was difficult to see clearly. He couldn't understand why the action that he was proud of did not win praise, but instead earned him a severe reprimand.

Draco put away the smug smile on his face, pursed his lips and said: "I thought..."

"What do you think?"

Loren asked softly, his voice mixed with the chill of autumn rain, "You don't know who Sturgis Podmore is, you don't know what he was assigned to do, and you don't know what role your father plays in this, so you acted rashly and self-righteously on your own, and even felt good about yourself?"

Draco's face looked a little ugly. He held his breath and said weakly, "I... I just want to do something useful."

"You think too simply..."

Listening to his slightly childish words, Loren sighed silently and explained quietly, "You don't know what Sturgis Podmore is going to do and what kind of impact it will cause. Foolishly jumping out to interrupt the process will only put you and your father in danger. It will have no effect. If one Sturgis Podmore escapes, they can use the Imperius Curse to control the next Sturgis Podmore, Sturgis Podris, or someone else..."

"In danger, me and my father?" Draco's voice was so tiny, like the trembling raindrops.

Loren nodded. "Whatever the mission at Podmore is, it is the responsibility of your father, Lucius Malfoy. Use your troll brain to think carefully. If he escapes, who will Voldemort blame?"

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault!" Draco's heart sank little by little, his face gradually turned pale, and he murmured in panic, "I must inform him as soon as possible, I have to write him a letter..."

"What's the point of writing a letter now? Will it cause trouble for your father?" Loren glanced at him, and gradually sorted out the complicated and chaotic thoughts in his mind, and calmed down completely. "The matter ends here. Just think of it as Podmore's determination to break free from the control of the Imperius Curse on his own... While Voldemort is still dormant, he still has to rely on your family's wealth. In order not to torture him with the Cruciatus Curse, he can only curse at him at most."

"So...should I tell him about this?" Draco asked in a low voice.

Loren raised his eyebrows: "Voldemort is a master of Legilimency, are you sure you want to do this?"

Draco shook his head quickly. Because he had used too much force, his hair, which had been combed smooth with hairspray, no longer stuck to his scalp.

"Not only can you not tell your parents, you can't go back during the Christmas holidays. It's best not to appear in front of Voldemort to avoid getting into trouble."

"I see..." Draco lowered his eyes and responded in a low voice, "My father also won't let me go back. I have to stay at school during the Christmas holidays, and it's better not to stay at home during the summer vacation."

"Just be your Slytherin prefect. If you still have any concerns, go talk to Headmaster Dumbledore in the evening."

"..."

Loren returned to the box, and the rich sweet smell of the magic candy made him drool.

The food cart had already arrived, and the snacks on the table had piled up into a small mountain. Harry and Ginny had finished their Every Flavour Beans and were busy exchanging Chocolate Frog cards. Crookshanks and a few owls had received pumpkin pies and were eating in silence.

Because he had collected the entire set of cards, Ron was too arrogant and was excluded by his best friend and sister. They refused to let him participate in the discussion and he could only talk to Luna who was sitting next to him about the new prefects of the four colleges.

"Our Gryffindor prefects are Neville and Parvati."

"The one from Ravenclaw is Padma. She and Parvati are twin sisters. The male class leader is Anthony Goldstein, but I am not familiar with him..."

"Did you see who the Hufflepuff prefect is?"

"Ernie MacMillan and Hannah Abbott."

"Guess who's the Slytherin prefect?"

"Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson."

"Oh, Malfoy is a cocky guy, but his grades are okay." Ron said vaguely while chewing a chocolate frog, "But how can Parkinson, that cow, be a prefect? ​​She's dumber than a troll with a concussion..." "A cow! Oh, what a funny metaphor..."

It seemed like Luna was hearing this for the first time and she started to giggle. Her laughter was so sharp and piercing that she held her stomach and laughed so hard that tears came out of her bright eyes.

Ron became interested and said excitedly, "Have you seen her ranking in grades? She's only slightly better than Goyle."

"..."

Hermione was sitting by the window, still reading the clickbait magazine, with a bag of liquorice wands in her hand and one in her mouth, the icing on her lips shining faintly.

Loren sat down beside her carelessly, snatched the licorice wand from her mouth, chewed it up in two bites and swallowed it. It was indeed strawberry flavored.

Hermione looked up and rolled her eyes at him, then caught a glimpse of the Slytherin prefect walking hurriedly outside, with a gleam in her eyes.

"Is it delicious, Mr. Morgan?"

“I don’t like strawberry flavor.”

"Then you still want to rob?"

"I just said I don't like strawberry flavor, I didn't say it's not delicious!" Loren took another cigarette from her hand, bit off a section, and whispered in her ear, "I don't like strawberry flavor, but I like Hermione flavor!"

"I'm too lazy to care about you."

Hermione whispered, and stuffed the whole bag of licorice wands in her hand into his hands. Seeing that others were studying the chocolate frog pictures, she lowered her voice and asked, "Did Malfoy come to see you on purpose? Do you have any information about the mysterious man?"

"Indeed, there is information..." It was inconvenient for him to speak with something in his mouth, so Loren took the opportunity to feed her the licorice wand in his mouth, "Remember the guard who was late this morning, Sturgis Podmore?"

"..."

Hermione bit it off silently and held the remaining half in her hand, "What happened to him?"

"I don't know the details, but Draco saw him under the Imperius Curse at Malfoy Manor. After being ordered by Lucius Malfoy to leave the manor, this guy was so excited that he actually followed him and cast a few spells to break the curse..."

"what?"

Hermione sat up straight in an instant, glanced at the four people around her, and asked in a low voice: "What should we do now? Should we notify Professor Moody as soon as possible, and Mrs. Weasley?"

"Go directly to the school and find Headmaster Dumbledore. They should have a more convenient way to contact you."

Hermione gradually calmed down and put the licorice wand back into her mouth.

The discussion in the compartment was still heated. The train continued to move north. The weather was still changeable. Raindrops hit the windows from time to time. The sun occasionally peeked out lazily, but soon the clouds passed and covered it again.

As night fell, the train slowly slowed down.

The small lights in the box emitted a soft glow. Many little wizards pressed their foreheads against the windows, but they could not see anything clearly. It was a moonless night, and the windows were dirty from being wet by the rain.

(End of this chapter)