days at Hogwarts

Chapter 734 Night falls
The round and plump granules of caviar are crushed with a silver spoon. The broken mucus and sauce draw long brown-black marks on the delicate white porcelain plate, releasing a slight fishy and salty smell.

"Harry, does this look like the soil collected by Little Hangleton?" Ron asked in a low voice, turning to look at Harry and pointing at the white plate in front of him with a beaming expression -

The marks left on the white porcelain are particularly eye-catching.

Harry stared at the long mark and swallowed hard. Faced with a table full of delicious food, he suddenly had no appetite. He couldn't help but regret why he sat next to this guy when he chose his seat.

Loren couldn't help but smile when he heard their conversation. He raised his glass and raised his voice slightly: "Harry."

"Um, ah?"

"Happy birthday."

Everyone raised their glasses together. The crisp sound of glass bottles colliding together was soon suppressed by the low and melodious sound of the violin, and the sound of bows and strings clashing echoed in every corner of the restaurant.

This restaurant is located on the top floor of a hotel in London's Mayfair district. It is said to be a renovated century-old building. There are staggered wooden floors underfoot, neat vertical stripes on the walls, and a nearly 30-foot-high dome with chandeliers inlaid with bronze metal hanging down from it.

At this moment, the lights are dim, and the brightness is at a perfect critical point, which does not dim people's vision and makes it difficult to see the guests at the next table.

The few waiters who were serving food noticed that only Loren and his friends were dressed casually in the entire restaurant. The other guests were all in elegant and luxurious formal attire. The men were basically in black suits and shirts with stand-up collars, while the ladies were in long skirts of various colors, lace socks, and beautiful but shabby shoes...

Hagrid, wearing a homemade leather jacket, swallowed a whole lamb chop, wiped his mouth with a tissue, and let out a long breath.

It is said that the food is from sheep less than six months old in Suffolk. Anyway, that's how he felt when eating it. The tableware provided is too small and the food portions are small. He felt uncomfortable eating it and it was not very satisfying.

A few hours ago, they were still in the forest full of snakes and insects, collecting the blood-stained soil of corpses, and now they were sitting in a quiet restaurant, enjoying warm and delicious food. They originally planned to go back to school for dinner, but they went to too many places today, and it was already late when they left Little Hanger. Loren took the opportunity to suggest finding a restaurant in the city to have dinner and celebrate Harry's birthday.

Ron was very interested in the Muggle restaurant, and no one else objected.

So now they were sitting here, enjoying the service provided by the Muggle restaurant somewhat awkwardly.

The nearest light source is the lit candlestick on the table. The faint candlelight burns quietly, giving the people sitting at the table a faint warm color.

"The Daily Prophet once published news about Mr. Crouch," Hermione said softly, putting a small mouthful of applesauce into her mouth, waiting for the cream to gradually melt before continuing, "The division of the Crouch family's property caused chaos. Although Crouch has no heirs, there are still some distant blood relatives who are fighting fiercely for the inheritance. The goblins of Gringotts don't want to pay attention to anyone, and they spread the word that if no one produces legal documents to inherit the inheritance within 50 years, the treasure in the vault will belong to Gringotts."

"That sounds like a goblin," Loren said casually as he worked on a serving of pumpkin pudding with Alpine toffee flavor.

"Gringotts—"

"Stop, Gringotts needs to be rectified and regulated... If you want to discuss this with me in detail, I suggest you wait until I fall asleep."

Hermione pursed her lips. "I mean, Mr. Crouch was buried on the bank of the stream outside Crouch House. If this blood-stained soil has any use, we can um..."

Loren fed her a spoonful of pumpkin pudding with a somewhat emotional expression.

She used to be such a good girl, she didn't even want to go out for a night walk, now she's thinking about digging other people's graves while eating.

At least we should wait until there is not enough soil before bringing it up, or let others bring it up.

"..."

Another dish was served on the table. As the silver lid was opened, wisps of white smoke flowed out, bringing with it a faint cool breeze.

Ginny tugged at Harry's sleeve and asked softly, "What is this cold white smoke? Why is it flowing instead of floating upwards? It feels very magical."

"The waiter just said it was dry ice, carbon dioxide at low temperatures."

"What is carbon dioxide?" Ginny smoothed her hair on her forehead and tilted her head to look at him, her eyes reflecting the light of the candle.

Harry was distracted for a second, not just because of the girl's pretty face.

In this candlelit restaurant, the girl he likes asked him a very simple question. He couldn't explain it clearly, but he didn't feel ashamed or embarrassed. This calmness and composure came from his entire past, those experiences, those adventures...

He suddenly realized that after tonight, he would be an adult wizard.

……

When the last rays of sunset faded from the horizon, a slender crescent moon appeared, and Loren saw stars dotted against the deep blue sky.

The street lamps on both sides of the road were dim and blurry. The slightly yellowish light illuminated the pebbled ground and the faces of the wizards returning late. The heavy footsteps of the half-blood giant filled everyone's hearts with a sense of security.

Ron and Hagrid huddled together, muttering to themselves about the restaurant and the food. Even for an average person's size, the portions were too small.

Harry and Ginny fell behind and whispered. Occasionally, words like "gift" and "like" could be heard. If there hadn't been so many people around them, Loren suspected that they would have been kissing under the street light.

The boar sculpture on top of the school gate spread its wings, and the light cast a large shadow on the road. When Loren and others saw the school gate, they felt an inexplicable feeling in their hearts, and an inaudible voice whispered in their ears that it was right to come back here, as they still had things to do.

Apparently, the effects of the Felixir had not yet worn off.

Hermione frowned slightly, revealing a thoughtful expression, vaguely like Professor McGonagall. She muttered the things she had collected, and the whole day's itinerary flashed through her mind.

Little Whinging, Privet Drive, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, Gaunt's old house and graveyard at Little Hangleton...surely it wasn't for Legilimency practice.

Hagrid opened the door and followed everyone into the castle foyer and up the stairs.

"Did you feel it?" Loren stopped at the fork in the stairs on the second floor, resting his chin on his hand and looking to the right, which was the direction of Myrtle's bathroom. "It seems that we are not going to Gryffindor Tower."

No one answered, as they already had the answer in their hearts: Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets.

(End of this chapter)