days at Hogwarts

Chapter 562: Passengers in need are requested to transfer to carriages
Heading west from the Hogsmeade platform, the ominous Thestrals pulled a carriage through the path. At the end of the path, there were tall stone pillars on both sides of the gate, with winged wild boar statues on top of the pillars.

After entering the gate and crossing a vast field, the Hogwarts Castle is right in front of you. The towering towers appear even darker against the dark night sky. Occasionally, tiny lights can be seen flickering behind the windows. Mysterious ghosts also appear from the walls, chasing and playing around the towers, startling the birds perched on the roof tiles, which chirp and flap their wings, flying towards the even more distant and mysterious Forbidden Forest.

The various wizard portraits, movable armor, statues with hidden magic mechanisms, and tricky stairs constitute a magical part of the castle. Over thousands of years, they have brought countless laughter and screams, allowing all senior students to reach an unspoken understanding -

Keep it a secret from the freshmen and let them explore the castle on their own.

Stand in front of the monster statue on the third floor, tell it the command you set in advance, step into the stone door that opens, take the spiral staircase all the way up, and behind the oak door on the eighth floor is the principal's office of Hogwarts, where the current principal Dumbledore works.

Behind the oval desk in the office, an old wizard in a simple gray magic robe was looking through the information of the new professor.

The broken nose bridge was more or less inconvenient, and Dumbledore pushed the crescent-shaped glasses on his nose. His deep blue eyes were sunken in his eye sockets, his silver hair and beard were neatly combed, and he was a little thin, but considering his age, he could perhaps be considered strong among his peers. The outline between his eyebrows was clear, showing the traces left by the years.

A phoenix with golden and red feathers stood on the wooden frame nearby, resting its head on an old pointed wizard hat, nodding its head as it listened to the strangely sung lyrics.

The hat was very well worn, the dark black fabric looked gray and had dirty patches on it, and if you looked closely you could see dust mixed with spider webs and an unknown paint-like slime.

Dumbledore's ears moved, and he heard a very interesting lyric. He hummed along without raising his head: "What other friends in this world are better than Slytherin and Gryffindor? How can such a friendship be written off..."

Fox also liked this sentence and flapped his wings happily to the beat.

At this moment, a knock on the door suddenly sounded from outside, interrupting the chorus between the old wizard, the phoenix and the tattered hat.

Dumbledore signaled the choir to be quiet, then turned and said, "Come in."

The oak door of the office opened, and Professor McGonagall, dressed in a black wizard dress, hurried in with a serious expression: "Albus, Alastor just sent a letter, you must read it!"

"Alastor's letter..."

Dumbledore's crescent-shaped lenses flashed with light, and he took the letter and quickly read it. "Sturges was attacked by the Imperius Curse. Malfoy ordered him to sneak into the Department of Mysteries and seize the prophecy..."

"This is what happened last night. Sturgis said someone helped him escape, but that person was wearing an invisibility cloak, so we couldn't see who it was..." Professor McGonagall spoke quickly, with worry in her tone, "I've asked Molly and the others, and they're sure that this invisibility cloak isn't Harry's. Albus, who do you think it could be?"

The use of the invisibility cloak shows that the person's magic level is not strong, and he has not even mastered the Disillusionment Charm. If such a person is discovered by Voldemort or the Death Eaters, he will only suffer from the Cruciatus Curse and end up with a tragic death.

"Don't lose your composure, Minerva. Sturgis escaped safely, which means no one saw them at the time."

Dumbledore tapped his fingers lightly on the parchment letter, and the barely perceptible tapping sound echoed in the office. "Whoever this person is, he must be on our side. Wait for the news... He will give us the answer."

Professor McGonagall was still a little worried, but she didn't ask any more questions: "What about the prophecy?" "Don't worry, the prophecy can only be touched by the person involved in the prophecy..."

Dumbledore laughed. "It seems that the news of McNeill's arrest has made Tom impatient. He himself does not have the courage to break into the heavily guarded Ministry of Magic, so he can only let others try blindly."

"We can't let our guard down, he might set his sights on Harry." Professor McGonagall said calmly.

"Of course, but before that..." Dumbledore waved his hand gently, letting the dirty Sorting Hat fly over and land in front of her. "The children are here. Let's enjoy the banquet tonight. Minerva, you go and greet the new students first. I'll change my clothes and come down."

"..."

Outside the window, a rough, dull voice slowly floated up: "First-year students, come here... First-year students..."

The surface of the Black Lake was rippling with ripples. A small boat was moored on the rocks on the shore. A tall and burly half-blood giant was the first to get off the boat, holding under his arms two unlucky guys who accidentally fell into the water. A bunch of little kids followed behind him, stepping on the grass with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

Not far away, the carriage left clearly visible wheel marks on the dirt road. It creaked and swayed as it moved along the road, and finally stopped with a clanging sound beside the stone steps leading to the entrance hall.

Between the shafts stood an animal that looked like a horse, but not a horse. It was shriveled and skinny, without any flesh. Its black fur clung to its frame, and every bone was clearly visible. From the bulge between its shoulder bones grew broad, tough wings that looked like a bat, horribly rugged. Its head looked like a dragon's, with hollow white eyes without pupils that shone brightly.

The Thestrals stood motionless and silently in the deepening darkness, looking eerie and ominous.

Loren walked out of the carriage, holding a licorice wand in his hand, and turned to shout to the new prefect who came down from the next carriage: "Pay attention to your appearance, Neville. The freshmen who are assigned to our Gryffindor tonight will take you as an example! And you too!"

Hufflepuff prefect Hannah Abbott glared at him, then pulled Neville up the steps and joined the crowd in the corridor.

"Tsk... You're a prefect now, why are you still so shy?"

Loren was amused. He clearly saw Neville adjust his prefect badge after turning around, and even smoothed his hair that was messed up by the night wind.

"..."

Hermione glanced at the man and then looked away calmly.

I thought to myself, he is already in the fifth grade, but his personality is still so bad.

Groups of little wizards dragged their heavy feet down from the carriages and slowly moved towards the door. The entrance hall was illuminated red by the torches and echoed with the footsteps of the students.

(End of this chapter)