The Admiral of Hogwarts

At midnight, the band stopped playing, and everyone gave them one last round of enthusiastic applause before heading towards the entrance hall. Many wished the ball could have lasted longer; it was their happiest night since entering the school.

On the second day of Christmas, everyone woke up late, engaging in desultory conversations, frequently interrupted by yawns.

Hermione's hair had become bushy again. Before the ball, she used her ship girl abilities to make her hair smooth. However, to avoid arousing suspicion, she could only gradually make her hair more manageable each day.

After breakfast, Hugo and Hermione, along with some other students, headed to Hogsmeade Station. Due to this year's Christmas ball, the school had arranged a special Hogwarts Express train to take students home after Christmas.

As for Firefly and Veneto, they remained at the school because the ship girls felt this would better conceal their relationship and prevent malicious individuals from discovering it and taking advantage.

Upon boarding the train, they found the carriages quite empty, as many younger students had already left. Hugo and his sister were even able to occupy a compartment all to themselves.

"What exactly did Massachusetts and the others discover?" Hermione asked curiously, drawing her wand and casting several spells to ensure the compartment was safe. "They urgently requested our presence even during Christmas."

Hermione would have preferred to stay at school and read if Massachusetts hadn't extended such a sudden invitation.

"I'm not sure; they said they have a surprise for me," Hugo replied, shrugging. "But judging from their tone, this discovery is definitely groundbreaking."

After speculating for a while about what the ship girls might have discovered, a tapping sound came from the window. It was an owl carrying a newspaper.

"My subscription to 'The Daily Prophet' has arrived," Hermione said, opening the train window to let the owl in, and then unfolding the newspaper. She gasped as soon as she saw the front page.

"Is today's news that sensational?" Hugo asked, moving closer to his sister and looking at the newspaper in her hand. He was shocked by the headline on the front page.

《Harry Potter's Orientation Becomes a Mystery: First a Brother, Then a Sister - What's the Meaning?》

《The Boy Who Lived: Love and Hate Between Him and the Pure-Blood Families.》

Beneath these sensational headlines were two photos. One showed Harry and Ginny holding hands as they walked along the rose-covered path in the garden, while the other showed Ron sitting alone at a round table in the ballroom.

"As expected, this is Rita Skeeter's writing," Hermione said, quickly flipping to the end of the article and finding the words 'By Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent'. "That woman just wants to stir up trouble."

"There's nothing we can do; 'The Daily Prophet' has to make a living too," Hugo said, glancing at the official article about the Christmas ball on page three.

"I heard from others that 'The Daily Prophet' wasn't like this a decade ago. But since Fudge came to power, he's reduced funding to improve economic figures, including funding for 'The Daily Prophet'."

"Out of desperation, 'The Daily Prophet' had to try commercial operations, which required a sufficient number of subscribers to earn enough money."

"Obviously, simply reprinting Ministry of Magic announcements wouldn't attract many people to subscribe. So, the newspaper organizers had to make the newspaper's style similar to 'The Sun', and that's when Rita Skeeter became famous."

"I understand; it all comes down to money," Hermione said, shaking her head as she looked at the newspaper in her hand. "At least, compared to those formal match reports, news like this, which starts with a picture and relies entirely on fabrication, is more eye-catching."

"That's right, but we should also feel fortunate," Hugo said, pointing to the corner of the newspaper where the match report was. "At least Veneto lacks the sensationalism of Harry, so they didn't target her with fabricated news."

By lunchtime, almost everyone knew about Rita Skeeter's new report. As Hugo went out to buy lunch, he heard similar conversations coming from every compartment.

Finally, the train pulled into King's Cross Station amidst the heavy snow. When Hugo and Hermione left the station, Repulse was already waiting for them at the entrance.

Since Hugo and Hermione had said they wouldn't be home for Christmas, the Granger parents had taken the opportunity to travel to Southeast Asia. With no one at home, Hugo and Hermione headed straight to Hood's residence.

"Can you tell us what Massachusetts and the others have been up to?" Hugo asked his head maid on the way. "All I know is that since the situation with the Soviets was resolved, the United States has become our biggest source of resource outflow."

"It's actually the result of everyone's collective effort, involving a series of extremely complex experiments," Repulse said as she drove. "If this project succeeds in the end, we can change the course of history for the entire planet."

"The course of history for the entire planet!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes widening. "Is it really that important? Of course, I'm not saying I don't trust you, but this news is just too shocking."

"Actually, I had the same thought as you before I understood the situation," Repulse said, shaking her head with an incredulous expression.

"But that's the reality. They've achieved something unprecedented. Honestly, I took a look, and I can say that even the preliminary results far exceed my previous imagination."

Hugo and Hermione's interest was piqued by Repulse's words. So, after entering Hood's mansion, they hastily ate a little of the dinner Hood had prepared and then used the sub-dimension to cross the Atlantic Ocean to America.

When Hugo and Hermione emerged from the sub-dimension, they realized they hadn't appeared in the ship girls' core locations of New York on the East Coast or Los Angeles on the West Coast.

"Where is this?" Hugo asked, looking bewildered at the surrounding buildings. From the environment, it seemed to be a city located in an inland desert.

"We are now in Mexico, in a small city located less than 30 kilometers from the Mexican border," Repulse explained simply. "And our secret laboratory is now located in the desert hills outside the city."

"This is mainly for concealment and security, because this laboratory doesn't only contain us, but also personnel from various forces taken in by the ship girls."

"In addition to wizards, there are also Squibs and even ordinary people," Repulse explained as she walked out of the room, opened the car door in the courtyard, and motioned for them to get in.

"This is clearly a public violation of the Statute of Secrecy, so we have to be careful."