days at Hogwarts

Chapter 670 Winter Night Courtyard
Walking out of the auditorium, leaving the noisy discussions and the warm fire inside the house, the cold air coming from the foyer and the courtyard gave me a shock and suddenly woke me up.

Loren was about to walk towards the marble staircase when he suddenly caught a glimpse of silver in the courtyard. He paused and walked in another direction, strolling through the corridor and straight into the courtyard.

On a winter night in November, a few stars were sparsely hanging in the sky. There was no moon, and the sky was neither bright nor dark. It was bright enough to see a few shrubs still standing strong in the courtyard. I couldn't tell their names, but their branches and leaves were covered with snow. The corners of the walls and the eaves were also covered with snow. It was a silver world.

But the old man sitting on the bench was wearing a gray cloth robe, and his fluffy beard and hair were all gray. If you didn't look carefully, you would think he was a snowman made by someone.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

"It's Loren, good evening."

"Good evening..." Loren greeted politely subconsciously, then reacted, "What are you doing here?"

"I left school in the evening to meet a friend, and came back a little late. I was planning to go upstairs to the office, but suddenly I found the scenery in the courtyard very beautiful, so I decided to sit here for a while." Dumbledore casually brushed away the snow on the seat next to him, patted the vine-woven bench, and motioned for him to sit down and take a look.

Loren sat down next to him. “It sounds like something you would do, but it feels weird.”

Dumbledore smiled gently, and without waiting for him to ask, he took the initiative to speak: "Rufus asked me to meet him at the Hog's Head Inn to talk about some Death Eaters..."

The information was similar to what Loren already knew. After a period of stalemate between the Ministry of Magic and Voldemort, there was some progress.

Several weeks had passed since Voldemort occupied the Ministry of Magic. As he had no manpower to consolidate and expand his rule, Voldemort proposed to exchange prisoners with Rufus, Ministry staff for Death Eaters. After a period of negotiation or delay, they reached a preliminary agreement. Voldemort agreed to restore the Floo Network connection, and Scrimgeour promised to start the first exchange during the Christmas holidays.

"Voldemort's patience is beyond my expectations..." Loren said with some emotion.

Dumbledore smiled and said, "He is indeed not in a hurry. According to the news I received, he has been immersed in the Department of Mysteries these days, studying the strange powers in those rooms, especially the Love Room that almost turned him into a ghost last time."

"He won't come up with anything troublesome, will he?"

"What can he find out?" Dumbledore glanced at him dimly. "The Hall of Time and the Hall of Planets are empty. The Hall of Prophecy has lost its value to him. There is no real wisdom in the Hall of Brains. He cannot open the door of love... There is indeed another extraordinary magic behind the curtain of death, but death is exactly what Voldemort fears the most. He fears that door and resists that curtain.

Dumbledore shook his head, with real pity in his eyes: "Poor Tom, guarding the treasure house, can't get anything."

"..."

Lucky Loren, he went to the treasury and almost emptied it out.

Someone lowered his head and glanced at the pendant on his neck: "After the exchange is completed, how are you and Minister Scrimgeour going to deal with Voldemort?"

"I have a comprehensive plan, and I place my hopes of success on you."

"us?"

Loren was a little surprised.

If it is placed on Harry, it is understandable. After all, the scar on Harry's forehead holds the last fragment of Voldemort's soul, and he should be responsible for ending the final battle.

Loren looked at him suspiciously: "You are not going to come up with some weird plan to lure the enemy in, to die on your own initiative, to let Voldemort relax his vigilance or something like that..."

"Why do you think so?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, his deep blue eyes were unclear.

"I don't know." Loren shook his head and complained, "I just feel that you old guys are always weird. You always only say half of what you want to say, and you have to hide the other half with some abstract metaphors. I don't rule out the idea of ​​sacrificing yourself." "Well... I may disappoint you. I'm probably not as noble as you think. I also look forward to traveling around the world after retirement. I have a notebook in which I record the interesting places I have heard of over the years. The one that attracts me the most is the place where the snowman appears in Lockhart's book..."

"Then you should retire early."

"thank you for your good wishes."

Dumbledore looked into his eyes, smiled, exhaled a breath of white air, and his voice suddenly became brisk, even with a clear smile, "Let's not talk about this anymore, let's talk about something happy. I heard that you defeated Gellert in class this afternoon. He must be feeling embarrassed in his office now. Tell me how you did it."

"It was just an accident. I used the power of Hogwarts."

Dumbledore gave him a strange look: "Oh? Then I am even more curious."

"The protective alchemy array at Hogwarts has banned all magic involving space movement in the school, so Professor Bagshot couldn't use Apparition during the battle. His profound experience in dodging was useless, and he was forced to fight me head-on... But he didn't know that I had mastered a new kind of space magic that happened to break through this limitation."

As Loren spoke, he stretched out his hand toward the bushes not far away.

The heavy snow caused the branches to sink. In the blink of an eye, the snow disappeared. The branches, suddenly relaxed, swayed up and down happily, as if waving in response to Loren.

Dumbledore turned his head and looked again. The ball of snow had appeared in Loren's hand. He kneaded it into a snowball and threw it not far away. It sank into the snow with a puff.

"The magical power of space is not an accident, nor is it a trick. Taking advantage of the environment is also an important combat skill. When I was young, I met an old wizard..."

Being old means having rich experience and profound knowledge. Moreover, unlike wizards like Flamel who are not good at dueling, Dumbledore has unique and profound insights. Even for such new magic, he can offer his own suggestions.

Loren sat nearby and listened carefully, gaining a lot.

Neither of them noticed the passage of time until they were brought back to their senses by the noise in the auditorium. Turning around, they saw that dinner time was over and the young wizards were returning to the common room in groups, chattering, and the corridor and stairs were very lively.

Perhaps it was because Loren's black magic robe did not blend in with the surrounding environment, Hermione saw him at a glance, and then noticed Dumbledore, who looked like a snowman next to him. She called out to Harry and Ron and ran over in small steps.

"Loren, Professor Dumbledore, what are you doing here?"

"The professor came back late from outside and planned to drink all he could here. I came to talk him down."

Hermione turned to look at Dumbledore beside her: "I have a mango pudding here, professor, would you like some?"

Loren's eyes widened: "That's my pudding!"

"You've already had dinner."

"..."

Harry and Ron, who came over from behind, also heard the conversation between the two and took out snacks from their storage scales, reminding Dumbledore that he could go to the kitchen, where there should be hot food.

Dumbledore looked at the four people in the courtyard and smiled unconsciously with a gentle look in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)