Hogwarts 1991

Chapter 517 October [-]th

On the morning of October 10th, when McGuffin and the others went downstairs to have breakfast, they suddenly found that the super-large auditorium had been decorated overnight.

There are huge silk banners hanging on the wall, two on each side...red, blue, yellow and green...golden lion, copper eagle, black badger, silver python, and the representative badges of the four colleges are vivid and lifelike in the banners.

There were even roars and neighs coming from inside.

The original four long tables were directly extended to fill up... this super huge auditorium.

And also... six long tables of equal length were placed.

The original rostrum was enlarged and lengthened, and behind it was also hung a large banner with the Hogwarts coat of arms on it: lions, eagles, badgers, and snakes intertwined and intertwined to form a capital letter 'H'.

However, now there are only some house elves who suddenly appeared and disappeared, and some staff of the Ministry of Magic, with some gold and silver dishes, knives, forks, spoons and chopsticks placed on them...

It seems to be troubled by it, and I don't know how to put it in order to conform to the etiquette of various countries.

While Harry and the others were admiring all this, Hermione stared at everything in front of her with a little disgust,
"Slave labor... For the house elves, this is ten times more work than usual. This kind of exploitation... is simply intolerable!" she said viciously.

Ron rolled his eyes, "Forgive me, Hermione! This is something house-elves are happy to do... Besides, they can use magic, and are very good at this kind of house magic... They don't usually use it, but they like to do housework for wizards... Otherwise, you would think that there are so many different delicacies at every Hogwarts dinner... How can those house-elves be so busy."

He said it as a matter of course.

Hermione exploded, "Ron!"

While the two of them were arguing endlessly, they found a seat in front of the special long dining table and sat down, continuing to argue.

McGuffin and Harry have nothing to do with them.

until……

An owl took a strange envelope that was folded...in a triangular shape, and flung it in front of the McGuffin.

Ron stopped arguing with Hermione, and asked a little strangely, "McGuffin, didn't you send this yesterday? Why...it came back again."

McGuffin looked at the envelope that hadn't even been opened, with a playful smile on his face.

"Looks like someone is avoiding me...that's okay, he won't be able to avoid me anytime soon."

"What do you mean? Who is avoiding you? Why..." Hermione asked strangely.

"It's nothing, it's just that someone owed me a debt, and he actually thought he could just dodge it like this..." McGuffin's smile was a little dangerous, and Harry thought it would be better for him not to ask, apparently Hermione thought so too.

Ron stared at McGuffin's letter in a daze, and watched with pity that McGuffin took out his wand and tapped it lightly, directly turning the envelope into a blank sheet of paper.

At this time, George and Fred suddenly appeared behind them and sat down beside them.

"Who dares to owe you money..." George asked curiously, "Aren't you afraid that you will sink into the black lake?"

After speaking, he couldn't help but sneered.

After laughing for a while, George and Fred said solemnly, "McGuffin, are you really not going to participate in the 'Top Ten Tournament?' Didn't Professor Dumbledore say... that there is no mandatory age limit? Outside of the ten warriors, if anyone is likely to be selected by the referee, it must be you..."

These words really don't seem to come from the mouths of these two guys...,
Not only McGuffin, but also Ron and the others stared at the two suspiciously.

"What do you two... want to do?"

"Okay, let's be honest. We really can't find out from Professor McGonagall... how the warriors were selected, maybe you can ask her. After all, you were the McGuffin who saved Hogwarts last semester. You should be able to ask this question, right?"

The twins knew the truth about the dementor disaster last semester. Obviously, when they couldn't get into the 'Top Ten Tournament', they decided on McGuffin's head.

"Uh... I can indeed ask. But it probably won't be very useful, because Professor McGonagall refused me to participate in this competition, and I also promised her to leave Hogwarts in these two days... so as not to make any mistakes..."

"What, how can you allow this to happen? It's unfair..."

"What's wrong?"

George and Fred kept shouting, as if they had been treated unfairly.

Ron and Hermione understood something. They looked at each other the same way, mainly looking at each other's head...or the hair on it.

Ron quickly changed the subject, "I don't know what items are in the 'Top Ten Tournament'? If it's not that difficult? We can do it too, Harry... After all, we have experienced many adventures before..."

"However, I already know what one of them is related to." Ron said to the twins next to him with a smile.

"How could you possibly know! Professor McGonagall told neither of us..."

"We pestered her for a long time. Professor McGonagall only said that when the 'Triwizard Tournament' was held in the past, the referees would score the warriors according to the quality of the projects they completed..."

"According to what she said... Warriors need to participate in every competition, and comprehensively use all the magic knowledge they have learned in school: potions, spells, transfiguration, and even divination... It is the ultimate test of intelligence and strength. The referees will give their own scores after comprehensive consideration of the performance of the warriors."

asked George in great surprise.

Hermione also interjected, "I don't think you guys should take it seriously, I'm sure this match... definitely won't be the case."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Oh, because Professor McGonagall also said... This is the rule of the previous Triwizard Tournament. Now there are ten magic schools participating. If the previous rules are followed, it will cause great confusion."

Seeing doubts on the faces of several people, Hermione added helplessly: "Okay, don't you read books? Let me tell you... In the era of the 'Triwizard Tournament', the referees usually decided the score of the game...and principals, representatives of the Ministry of Magic, and powerful wizards in the magic world usually served as members of the referee..."

"...But in the last 'Triwizard Tournament', because some referees of the referee group colluded with each other behind the scenes, they seemed to be blind, and deliberately used various methods...such as not following the etiquette, not saluting the referee...all kinds of messy things, the scores of the Hogwarts warriors were lowered...caused it to lose the championship."

"This not only aroused the anger of the warriors and audience present at the time, but also caused the then headmaster of Hogwarts to lift his wand and directly on the rostrum of the referee team... to start a wizard duel with the headmaster of magic at the time, German Shepherd Strong..."

"There was a big disturbance, and the two principals almost died at the same time..."

"Because of this incident, and the fact that too many people died in the 'Triwizard Tournament' at that time, this type of competition was directly banned in the end..."

Hermione's words caught everyone's attention.

"You?... Where did you read it?" Fred asked dumbfounded, "We didn't find it in "Hogwarts, A School History"."

""European Magic World, Unknown Hidden Legends"... can be borrowed in the restricted area, but Mrs. Pince probably won't lend it out. Now all the books in the restricted area have been temporarily sealed..."

"Also, let me tell you that "Hogwarts, A History" is not that reliable....Maybe it is more appropriate to call it "A Revised History of Hogwarts"...or "Hogwarts, A Propaganda Toolbook Compiled by a Dictator...All Dark and Cruel Sides Are Covered"..."

"What are you talking about?" The twins were even more shocked by Hermione's direct attack on the school and didn't know what to say.

"Oh, my Merlin, walk around us! Hermione..." Ron exclaimed.

Hermione's determination to pursue justice for the house-elves did not dissipate with the suppression of the prefects of various colleges and representatives of male and female students.

This, on the contrary, aroused her burning fighting spirit.

During the whole lunch time, McGuffin and the others were annoyed enough by Hermione. She kept on promoting around them, trying to get them to wear the SPEW (vomit) badge again.

It's a pity that only Neville couldn't bear Hermione's "dead stare", so with a frustrated face, he pinned the badge on his chest.

Even McGuffin and Harry refused to do what Hermione said.

If wizards from other schools see this thing, not only will they lose face, but even Hogwarts will lose face.

It's a pity that Hermione just can't see this, or she should think that this can attract the attention of professors or other wizards in the wizarding world, and maybe make Hogwarts pay attention to the slave treatment of house elves...

Except for Hermione, all the students were curious and looking forward to the many foreign schools that would come to this evening.

That inexplicable emotion echoed in everyone's unspoken eye contact.

Even in potions class in the afternoon, no one exclaimed when Professor Slughorn brewed a 'split potion' that could split one person into two.

After the bell rang half an hour earlier, Professor Slughorn seemed to know what the students were thinking, and he dismissed the students easily, without even assigning homework and usual papers.

The Gryffindor students cheered and rushed to the tower, returned to the dormitory to put down their schoolbags and textbooks, put on brand new and washed wizard robes, and came to the hall with a cloak.

The students began to group together in single-line formations according to their colleges.

At the time of the first-year sorting ceremony, Professor McGonagall corrected the clothes of each of the McGuffins... one by one, and told them not to cast any magic this time, including the 'Luminescent Curse' (this seems to be a matter of politeness in the magic world), before allowing them to go out.

Afterwards, McGuffin and the others filed down the steps and stood in front of the castle.

(It was only when Professor McGonagall, most of the prefects, and the staff of the Ministry of Magic walked to the front lawn field and left the student team. The formation here was completely chaotic within a few minutes. The students crowded together, as if they were watching Quidditch, and crowded into a bloated formation according to their physical strength. They formed a large crooked circle, followed the professor in front and looked at the distant sky.)
At this time, the sky has gradually sunk into the embrace of night,
One by one, the faint clouds are intertwined like woven mats, and at the same time, they are as light as tulle, a round of pure white, and the translucent bright moon is half exposed from the clouds from time to time, casting bright moonlight.

The field was dim and dark. Although it was not completely dark, the appearance of the students and the professors...was blurred and unclear at a distance.

The entire venue was pitch black, and it was extremely noisy with people coming and going.

At the beginning, Professor McGonagall tried to maintain order, but later found that it was a waste of effort to restore the original state again and again, and gave up this effort.

"It's almost six o'clock, do we really have to wait until tomorrow morning?" Ron looked at his magic watch and looked at the driveway of the front door. "How will these guys come...by train, or by Thestral carriage?"

"I don't think so!"

A familiar voice came in. The people who came were unusually tall, and their silver-white beards were very conspicuous in this dim environment.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione's voice was pleasantly surprised. "Why... By the way, Professor, I have something to tell you. I told you last time... About domestication..."

Hermione was interrupted by Dumbledore before she finished speaking.

"Miss Granger, this is not the time to talk about this, before Beauxbaton and Demu Strong come... I have something to say to Albert..."

"You haven't forgotten what Professor Snape told you, have you? MacGuffin!...'Cold' is in Hagrid's cabin now, and after tonight, you will go to that place with him..."

"Well, I see, Professor." In the dark, McGuffin's tone was not fluctuating, as if he had agreed to a small matter from Professor Dumbledore.

"Cold!" Harry was very surprised. "Bligh... Padfoot, is he here? Why didn't anyone tell me...Professor Dumbledore, what's the matter? Can't I go with them?"

Harry's voice was eager.

"From now on... from now on! Harry!"

Dumbledore seemed to be dodging a little bit.

"Professor Dumbledore!"

At this time, Professor McGonagall did not know what method to use, so he chased him directly.

"Professor Dumbledore, what are you doing here?" Professor McGonagall didn't care about the answer to this question. She asked the exact same question as Ron just now, "...do we have so many students... tonight, have to wait for all nine schools to arrive one by one?"

"And Cornelius Fudge? Didn't the Minister say he would come in person?"

"Fudge and the others are coming soon... You don't have to wait too long, and Professor McGonagall, you should know what kind of communication between wizards from different countries is like, especially when they are separated by groups..."

"What do you mean?"

"We will always show off to each other! Even if the words don't come at the same time, everyone will be crowded at the same time... Otherwise, how can we suppress each other's limelight... Oh, Minerva...Look, they are here, look at Beauxbaton's carriage..."

"What carriage?"

After the students in front of them heard this sentence, they immediately looked around.

Nothing was found.

Later, following a whirring sound in the sky...like something passing through the air, and the sound of rumbling wheels turning, the students looked towards the sky above the Forbidden Forest.

A huge black thing, like a small house... is speeding... across the sky beyond the Forbidden Forest,
It slanted and descended toward the castle, getting bigger and bigger.

(End of this chapter)