Together [HP]

"It's really a novel thing." Jacqueline lowered her voice and said in Pansy's ear, her eyes slowly swept across the teacher's bench, and most of the professors on the teacher's bench were as surprised as the ones below. s student.

But Snape and Yuna sat there motionless like sculptures, keeping their chins on one hand, expressionless.

Dumbledore, unbelievably, was still able to maintain his smile.The face of Professor McGonagall standing opposite the sorting hat could only be described as livid. She slowed down for a while before staring at the whispering students with stern eyes.But Jacqueline can guarantee that she also wants to ask Dumbledore to understand.

And that, Jacqueline thought, was a witch from the Ministry of Magic who looked like a peeled toad, and she frowned disapprovingly, as if someone had set a plate of dead flies in front of her.

"Has the Sorting Hat issued such a warning before? Mr. Barrow." Jacqueline turned to look at the bloody Barrow.Baro didn't speak, just nodded very heavily.

The humming and discussion in the auditorium gradually died down, until finally the entire auditorium returned to silence.Professor McGonagall frowned and glanced at the four tables again, then looked down at the long piece of parchment in his hand, and called out the first name.

"Euan Abercrombie."

A little boy with a panicked look stumbled forward and put the hat on his head.It was only thanks to his prodigiously large ears that the cap didn't slip off his shoulders.The Sorting Hat considered for a moment, and then the slit by the brim opened again, announcing loudly, "Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor classmates applauded enthusiastically, and Euan staggered to their table and sat down. Judging by his expression, he seemed to wish there was a hole in the ground for him to get in, and no one would stare at him again. looked at him.

Slowly, the long line of freshmen shortened a little.At the end, Ross Zeller was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Professor McGonagall strode away with his hat and stool, when Professor Dumbledore stood up.

Jacqueline looked at him. He seemed older than the last time Jacqueline saw him at the Ministry of Magic, looking a little overwhelmed by the Order of the Phoenix.Jacqueline didn't know how he was able to be flattered by the revocation of the two honors of President of the International Federation of Magic and Chief Magician of the Supreme Wizarding Court.If this were in their house, they would definitely be nailed to the wall of shame.It's just that no one dares to revoke the honor of their family.

"Welcome to our new students," said Dumbledore loudly, with his arms outstretched and a broad smile on his lips. "Welcome! Welcome to our old students, welcome back! There's plenty of time for speeches, but not now." .Eat it to your heart's content!"

There was appreciative laughter and enthusiastic applause throughout the Great Hall, and Dumbledore sat down squarely, throwing his long beard over his shoulders so they didn't get in the way of his plate.Delicious food suddenly fell from the sky, and the five long tables were suddenly piled up with large pieces of beef, pies, plates of vegetables, bread, jam and pots of pumpkin juice, and they groaned because they were overwhelmed.

"I'm already on the verge of starvation madness." Jacqueline said salivating, she slowly took five or six yuan from the plate of garlic and honey chicken wings closest to her, trying to remember her own movements and The smell, the color of the food.

"Wow, I thought you were going to get started directly, but you are a bit like Professor Graham." Pansy said in surprise, "What terrible things did you go through this summer vacation?"

"Blame our family's secret training." Jacqueline carefully cut open the chicken wings with a knife, and after confirming that she had observed the chicken wings thoroughly, she stuffed them into her mouth. "I find it very strange, how can a hat know that the school is in danger?"

"It's usually in Dumbledore's office, and it always hears something." Bloody Baron looked at the Ravenclaw dining table and spoke slowly. Ms. Gray was sitting in the middle of a group of students. "As for peaceful coexistence, should we work together..."

"That's not possible." Pansy laughed sarcastically, she put down the fork in her hand, and counted with her fingers. "Gryffindor, well, maybe their force is what we need. Ravenclaw, if we need someone to give us some insane advice. But Hufflepuff, seriously, they can give What are we? Worthless integrity?"

"Existence is reasonable, Pansy." Jacqueline said casually while enjoying her mayonnaise pizza with relish, "They don't exist for no reason."

The students were all full, and the sound of the auditorium gradually became noisy. At this time, Dumbledore stood up again.The talking stopped immediately, and everyone turned to the headmaster.Most of the students are feeling a little drowsy by now.They all looked at Dumbledore expectantly, hoping that his speech would be shorter, and shorter.

"Okay, now that we are digesting another extremely rich and delicious meal, I ask everyone to be quiet for a while, and listen to me talk about the precautions for the new semester as usual." Dumbledore said, "First-year students should know that the hunting ground Students are not allowed to enter the Forbidden Forest here, and our senior students should know this by now."

"Mr. Filch, the administrator, asked me, and he told me that this is the sixth time in the 420th, to remind you all that magic is not allowed in the corridors in class, and many other regulations, which are listed in that long on the list, taped to Mr. Filch's office door."

"This year, we have had two changes in our teaching staff. We are delighted to welcome back Professor Graplan, who will teach you Care of Magical Creatures. We are equally pleased to introduce Professor Umbridge, Head of our Defense Against the Dark Arts class. New teacher."

There was a polite but not very enthusiastic applause in the auditorium, and Dumbledore continued: "The selection of the college Quidditch team will be..."

He stopped short, and looked at Professor Umbridge questioningly.Since she was not much taller when she stood up than when she was sitting, no one could understand why Dumbledore stopped talking suddenly. At this time, Professor Umbridge cleared his throat: "cough, cough It was only then that everyone realized that she had stood up and was about to give a speech.

Dumbledore only looked surprised for a moment, and then he sat down alertly, looking intently at Professor Umbridge, as if he couldn't wait to hear what she had to say.Other teachers concealed their astonishment less subtly.Professor Sprout's eyebrows were almost tucked into her flowing hair, and Professor McGonagall kept her mouth as tight as Jacqueline had ever seen it.Dumbledore had never been interrupted by a new teacher before.Many students were secretly laughing: this woman obviously didn't understand the rules of Hogwarts.

"Thank you, Headmaster," said Professor Umbridge with a smirk, "for such a warm welcome."

Her voice was high, high-pitched, and breathy, like a little girl's voice, and Jacqueline felt a sudden strong revulsion, and she felt like she wanted to spit out the delicious food she had just eaten.Professor Umbridge cleared his throat with another cough and continued, "Well, I must say, it's great to be back at Hogwarts!" Pointy Teeth, "It's so nice to see these happy little faces looking up at me!"

Jacqueline and Pansy exchanged glances, then looked around, and none of the faces she saw were happy.On the contrary, they all looked surprised that someone took them for five-year-old children.

"I am eager to get to know you all soon, I am sure we will become very good friends!"

After hearing this, the students exchanged glances with each other.Some had almost undisguised smirks. "If she's willing to throw away that sweater of hers, I'm still willing to consider it," Pansy whispered to Jacqueline, and they both laughed silently.

Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again, but some of the breathiness in her voice was lost as she continued.Her voice was much more serious now, and her words were dry, as if they had been memorized by heart.

"The Ministry of Magic has always believed that educating young wizards is a very important matter. Some of the valuable talents you are born with may be fruitless if they are not cultivated and exercised under careful and meticulous guidance. Unique to the wizarding world Ancient arts must be passed on from generation to generation, or they will be lost. The treasure trove of magical knowledge accumulated by our ancestors must be preserved, supplemented and perfected by those who are fortunate enough to practice the noble profession of education."

At this point, Professor Umbridge stopped talking and bowed slightly to the other teachers, but none of them returned the bow to her.Professor McGonagall's black eyebrows were drawn so tightly together that she looked like a hawk, and Jacqueline could see clearly when Umbridge gave another little "cough, cough" to continue her During the speech, Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout exchanged a meaningful look.

"The successive Headmasters of Hogwarts have all innovated in their charge of running this historic school, and this is entirely due, because if there is no progress, it will stagnate and decay. At the same time, however, progress for the sake of progress This practice should never be encouraged. Our traditions have been tempered and often do not need bad revisions. To achieve a balance, between the old and the new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation between."

Most of the students in the cafeteria gradually lost their concentration, as if their brains had started to wander.While Dumbledore was speaking there was silence, and now the students were whispering, whispering, giggling, and the Great Hall was buzzing.

Over there at the Ravenclaw table, Cho Chang was chatting cheerfully with his friends.Luna Lovegood, who was a few seats away from her, pulled out a copy of The Quibbler.

Meanwhile, at the Hufflepuff table, Ernie MacMillan was one of the few students still staring at Professor Umbridge, but his gaze was so glazed that Jacqueline could Surely he was only pretending to be listening, to live up to the new, shiny prefect badge on his chest.

Jacqueline looked at Hermione on the Gryffindor table, very strange, she seemed to be listening with gusto.She wouldn't even like this professor.Jacqueline felt the hairs on her own back stand on end.

Professor Umbridge didn't seem to notice the fidgeting in the audience.It seemed that even with a massive riot going on right under her nose, she would continue to speak at a leisurely pace.However, the teachers listened carefully one by one. Hermione seemed to be absorbed in every word Umbridge said, but judging from her expression, she didn't like to hear these words.

"Because some changes have good results, and others will be found to be poor decisions in due time. At the same time, some old habits will be retained, which is understandable, and some habits are outdated. It must be discarded. Let us move forward into a new age of enlightenment, efficiency and reason, insisting on maintaining what should be maintained, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and discarding what we should prohibit."

She sat down.Dumbledore began to clap, and the other teachers followed suit, although some of them only clapped once or twice before putting their hands down.A few students also applauded together, but most of the students deserted after listening to two or three sentences. At this moment, they didn't realize that the speech was over. Before they started applauding, Dumbledore stood up again.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, your speech was very enlightening." As he said, he bowed to her, "Okay, as I said just now, the Quidditch selection will be... "

Pansy nudged Jacqueline with her elbow, "Can you explain what nonsense she said?"

"To sum it up, Pansy." Jacqueline yawned, she stood up slowly, and there was a sound of clashing tables, chairs and benches around her. Obviously, Dumbledore had announced that the teachers and students of the school were disbanded. Stand up and prepare to leave the auditorium. "The Ministry of Magic is about to start interfering with Hogwarts."

"What?" The two of them mingled with the crowd that filed out, and walked towards their lounge in the basement with difficulty, "but I don't think the Ministry of Magic can and should not interfere with the school."

"They shouldn't." Jacqueline and Pansy walked up the long stairs leading to the dungeon, and came to the stone wall of the Slytherin lounge, "Political interference in education is a big no-no. Well, I remember the password Professor Snape told me was, Veritaserum."

A narrow stone path leading to the lounge emerges behind that wall.Jacqueline and Pansy walked in.The Slytherin common room looked as dark and warm as ever.There was a green velvet loveseat opposite the crackling and crackling fireplace, and Busley was sitting at a table chatting with a girl.

Pansy said good night to him cheerfully and went straight into their room.

Their luggage was already in their new room, and Pansy unpacked hers and began to put posters and photos on the walls.Jacqueline took out her new books one by one to put them in the nightstand.

"Oh, Merlin!" Jacqueline shouted excitedly when she couldn't restrain her voice as soon as she opened the first drawer of her bedside table. "They're all there, they're all there!"

"What happened?" Pansy poked her head over from her side, "What treasure did you find?"

"My textbook!" Jacqueline said happily, and she frantically took out the textbooks in the drawer one by one. "Even Professor McGonagall's notebook is still there. How nice it is!"

"Congratulations." Pansy said with a slight smile.

"That's right!" Jacqueline unexpectedly kissed Professor McGonagall's old notebook.

Pansy pulled out a set of beige pajamas from her suitcase, "Back to what happened just now, why is the Ministry of Magic intervening in Hogwarts now?"

Jacqueline knelt down and started putting her old textbooks back into the drawer again, "Listen to my mother, Headmaster Dumbledore gave a speech about the return of You-Know-Who. Presumably Fudge wanted to put this rumor to rest. Kill it at the source."

"Oh," said Pansy, buttoning up her pajamas, "but didn't Fudge think Potter was a liar and Dumbledore was an old fool? But my dad thought Dumbledore was right, and there are a lot of There are signs that the mysterious man is back, although they are not very obvious."

"So," Jacqueline drawled, she patted her pillow and lay down on the bed, "it's Fudge who's going to go downhill, not Dumbledore."

"I hope they both go downhill at the same time." Pansy smiled, "But if the mysterious man does come back, only Dumbledore can defeat her. Good night, Jacqueline."

"Good night, Pansy." Jacqueline lay in bed, feeling very happy, and this term was going to be a lot of fun.Now, relax, let go of your emotions, and empty your mind.