Hogwarts: Harry's Path to Witches

Chapter 163 Merlin Memorial Hall

Professor Dumbledore took Harry all the way to the Merlin Memorial Hall, the auditorium where the investiture ceremony was held.

Along the way, people kept saying hello to Professor Dumbledore, shaking hands or hugging him.

Although Harry was still with him, Professor Dumbledore still stopped several times and chatted for a while before getting away.

Professor Slughorn saw some old friends on the way, so he had already been separated from the two of them.

Harley also met many people she knew along the way, many of whom were magic masters she had met at Nico's house.

There were also many people whom Harley didn't know who deliberately came up to greet her, hoping to make acquaintance with the protagonist of this investiture ceremony.

It was only an hour before the investiture ceremony, and Harry finally arrived at the Merlin Memorial Hall.

The inside of the Merlin Memorial Hall is much larger than it looks from the outside, probably because of the Invisible Stretching Charm.

The auditorium is a semicircular hall modeled after the style of the ancient Roman Coliseum, but it is not an open-air building.

But there are various decoration styles on the walls. Harry can at least recognize the relief of the Fire Giant in the mythical creature form of the Hunter Path and the relief of Quetzalcoatl in the mythical creature form of the Death Path.

However, according to Professor Dumbledore, the former is a character in Norse mythology, while the latter is a character in Native American mythology.

Many decorations, including these reliefs, symbolize Britain's glory as an empire on which the sun never set.

The British style decoration is the least, with only thirteen statues clinging to the wall, twelve of which surround the audience seats, and one is located behind the rostrum.

Each statue wears a different style of helmet and holds a sword, representing King Arthur and his twelve Knights of the Round Table.

The auditorium was already filled with seats, and many of the seats were filled with middle-aged or elderly wizards in gorgeous clothes.

As the protagonist of this ceremony, Harley's position is at the front of the Merlin Memorial Hall.

This is a place dedicated to recipients of the Order of Merlin and their invited companions.

Harry was originally going to invite Hermione and Fleur, but Hermione was in France and couldn't come back in time, and Madam Maxime would bring Fleur.

So in the end, Harry chose to ask Professor Dumbledore to invite the four deans of Hogwarts.

As for Hagrid, he seemed to be planning something and had already gone to Egypt, so he couldn't come.

At this time, the deans were sitting in the first row of the Merlin Memorial Hall, surrounded by many former students and current Ministry of Magic officials.

Especially Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick, both of whom have taught at Hogwarts for decades and have excellent reputations.

Even Slytherin, who doesn't deal with Gryffindor, most people respect Professor McGonagall very much.

The deans changed their usual style and put on their most appropriate attire.

Especially Professor Snape, who was finally willing to change out of the black robe that had remained unchanged for thousands of years and wear a brand new dark green robe.

"Harry, this way." Professor McGonagall greeted Harry and rubbed her hair after she sat down.

"Congratulations on winning the First Class Order of Merlin and winning the Magic School Potions Championship. You are worthy of being our Gryffindor student!"

The faces of several Gryffindor-graduated witches and wizards surrounding him were obviously more proud as they greeted their fellow students.

Correspondingly, the smiles on the faces of several Slytherin-graduated officials faded slightly.

The seats in the auditorium gradually filled up, and Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge also came, followed by many people.

"Harry, my dear child." Minister Fudge greeted with a slightly exaggerated expression, with a smile on his face.

Although Sirius has not been caught yet, Harley's appearance still made him feel a lot better.

Fudge enthusiastically introduced the experienced wizards to Haru: "This is the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Burns;

This is Piers Thicknesse, Deputy Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement;

You should have seen this, the head of the Auror Office, Rufus Scrimgeour..."

Those who could come with Fudge were all core officials of the Ministry of Magic, and Harry saw an acquaintance inside, Lucius Malfoy, senior adviser to the Minister of Magic.

When Harry saw Malfoy, his eyes were as usual, but suddenly she remembered that she seemed to have a score to settle with him.

"I wonder what will happen if I tell Lucius that he wasted Voldemort's life and may have revealed Voldemort's secrets?"

Harry calculated in her mind that this would be more painful than killing Lucius Malfoy outright.

Lucius obviously saw Harley, but his expression remained normal, and he could even say hello to her with a smile.

……

With the arrival of Secretary Fudge, there were almost no empty seats in the auditorium.

From a distance, Harry saw Ms. Maxim sitting in the back row with Fleur, but the distance between them was too far, so she could only say hello with her eyes.

Finally, members of the British Wizengamot filled the remaining seats in the first few rows, all wearing purple robes with a delicate silver "W" embroidered on the left chest.

Professor Dumbledore, wearing the same clothes as them, stood up with an extremely happy expression on his face.

He strode to the front of the auditorium, raised his head, and looked at everyone with his bright blue eyes through the half-moon eyes on the bridge of his aquiline nose.

All eyes were cast on Professor Dumbledore, and they fell silent instantly.

"This is the appeal of the greatest white wizard in the world!" Many people sighed in their hearts, but the underlying emotions were different.

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat and said in a loud voice:

"Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

Welcome to the Merlin Memorial Hall to participate in the 100th Order of Merlin investiture ceremony. "

Professor Dumbledore gave an impassioned speech, lamenting the changes in the wizarding world and commending the recipients of the Order of Merlin for their contributions to the wizarding world.

Finally, he finally introduced the topic,

"...And this time, we held the Merlin Order of Merlin investiture ceremony to honor Miss Harry Potter.

While she was studying at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as a young wizard who was only twelve years old and had not yet finished her second year, she defeated a basilisk that had been hidden in Hogwarts for many years and had harmed several young wizards.

Moreover, she also assisted the Ministry of Magic to solve an unsolved case 50 years ago and found Gilderoy Lockhart, who used black magic to usurp the identity of Slytherin's heir.

Therefore, on behalf of the Order of Merlin, the British Wizengamot and the British wizarding community, I would like to award Miss Harry Potter the Order of Merlin, First Class! "

……

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(Thanks to Jiuwei Yanhu for the tip!)