Chapter 607: Back-to-school banquet
Chapter 607: School Opening Banquet
During the subsequent journey, apart from the necessary inspections of the carriages, everyone's topic of conversation was always on Moody, who was under attack, and the Death Eaters.
They wanted to know whether there would be a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year, or whether Sirius would be in charge alone.
If it's the latter, will Sirius be attacked?
The train continued to travel north, the weather was still changing, and it started to rain again outside. The raindrops knocked on the window one after another, making people drowsy.
Suddenly, the lights in the carriage came on.
"We'd better change clothes." Qiu glanced out the window, "We should be there soon."
Fred and George began to put on their robes, and Cedric also opened the box door in advance.
Finally, the train slowed down slowly, and there was a loud noise all around. Everyone was crowded in the aisle, preparing to get off.
Because the prefects wanted to maintain order, Kyle and others were the last to leave the carriage.
A man was holding an oil lamp and shouting loudly for the first-year students to pass, but the height of the oil lamp was much lower than in previous years.
“Look, that person is not Hagrid.” Fred noticed something was wrong and asked, “Do you know who she is?”
That was a witch. Unlike the unkempt Hagrid, her hair was neat and her hair was meticulously maintained.
At this time, she was shouting loudly, asking the first-year students to gather in front of them.
But no one has any impression of this person.
"She is Wilmina Graplan." At this time, Kyle suddenly said: "A slightly famous magical zoologist who has published many articles about unicorns."
"Fantastic Beasts..." George couldn't help but said: "Isn't the school going to replace Hagrid?"
"Probably not." Kyle shook his head, "I think Hagrid just had something to do temporarily, so I asked her to help welcome the new students."
If he guessed correctly, Hagrid and Ms. Maxim should still be in the giant's territory at this moment...persuading them to join the Order of the Phoenix instead of the Death Eaters.
But this job is not easy.
Giants are naturally cruel, and the concept of Death Eaters is obviously more in line with their personalities... Of course, it all depends on whether Hagrid can convince them.
Without paying attention to Graplan, several people walked towards the direction of the carriage together with the crowd.
Along the way, Kyle noticed that Kangna would always look at him from time to time.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
"Nothing." Kangna shook her head, "I just feel that you are in a good mood. Is there anything you are happy about?"
"So be it...but did I show it so obviously?" Kyle touched his face.
"It's not obvious, but I can see it." Kang Na said with a smile: "And you were not lazy when we were on the train... You always pushed the prefect task to Cedric before."
“She’s right.” Cedric said quietly from the side.
“Don’t worry, it won’t happen next time.” Kyle laughed dryly.
"That's for sure." Cedric said angrily, "I am in seventh grade this year and will graduate next year. I can't come back specially to help you maintain order."
“That’s a good idea too.” Kyle said with a smile.
He is indeed in a good mood today, mainly because of last night.
After completely telling Newt the scene of meeting Voldemort that day, and the whole process of how the Death Eaters used this to cause trouble for him afterwards, Newt finally put away the parchment and did not mention writing to Dumbledore again. matter.
Of course, Kyle also promised him that he would never release the contents of the box until he encountered Death Eaters.
To be honest, Kyle originally thought so, so he agreed happily.
Now he has three trump cards, all of which are fully loaded. To put it bluntly, even if he encounters Voldemort, he can fight with the opponent and then run away calmly.
In this case, he will naturally be very happy.
Although he had tried his best to restrain himself, Kangna unexpectedly noticed it.
However, Kangna did not continue to ask any more questions after that. Several people got into an empty carriage and wandered towards the castle.
Ten minutes later, the carriage stopped in front of the stone steps leading to the oak door, and Fred was the first to jump out of the carriage.
He glanced in the direction of the field from a distance.
“There is no light in Hagrid’s hut.”
"That's for sure." Qiu also walked down, "If he was here, there would be no need for Ms. Grapeland to help pick up the new students.
“Come in quickly, it’s really cold outside.”
“Oh, okay.” Fred quickly followed the crowd up the stone steps.
They walked through the warm foyer and walked towards the door leading to the auditorium on the right, preparing to attend the upcoming opening banquet.
"Look, I said they can always come." As soon as they entered the auditorium, Kyle pointed to the Gryffindor table and said.
There, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were waving their hands.
They were sitting at the front and were obviously the first to arrive.
If Kyle guessed correctly, Mrs. Weasley should have used Apparition to send them to Hogsmeade, and then returned to school from there.
This is also the fastest method.
Fred and George immediately walked over when they saw this, ready to ask the questions they had been struggling with all the way. Qiu also went to Ravenclaw.
Keir, Connor, and Cedric came to the Hufflepuff table and found an empty row next to it.
As soon as he sat down, Cedric looked eagerly at the teacher's desk. “Oh, not bad.”
Sirius is still sitting in his original position, which means that there is no replacement of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year.
It is not easy to find a reliable Defense Against the Dark Arts professor these days. Although Sirius is not as good as Professor Moody, he is still pretty good, at least much better than Quirrell and Lockhart.
The only problem now is that no one knows how long he can continue teaching.
Cedric hopes that he can survive this semester. After all, he will graduate next year, and no matter what kind of professor comes then, it will have nothing to do with him.
That's something Kyle should consider.
Thinking of this, he suddenly noticed that Kyle was staring at the teacher's chair in a daze.
"What are you looking at."
Kyle shook his head.
He was just a little surprised not to see Umbridge, but he soon realized that this was normal.
For his own sake, the other party must be busy dealing with the people of the Wizengamot at the moment. After all, he had sent the formal application to Amelia Bones of the Legal Enforcement Department via owl a few days ago.
Calculating the time, the Wizengamot side should also take action. As the person who was highlighted, Umbridge did not have time to come to Hogwarts.
It's great, you don't have to deal with that stupid idiot.
Kyle's mood improved a lot, and he felt that the Sorting Hat's song was pleasant to his ears.
Most students were talking about it, but only those who knew the truth knew that this was a reminder from the Sorting Hat.
After the Sorting Hat's song ended, Professor McGonagall came out with a list of new students. She glared at the students who were whispering with a very stern look, and everyone immediately fell silent.
Professor McGonagall glanced at the list in her hand and loudly announced the name of the first person.
“Euan Abercrombie.”
A nervous boy stumbled forward and was eventually sorted into Gryffindor.
There was a burst of warm applause in the auditorium.
Slowly, the long line of freshmen shortened little by little, until half an hour later, the last person was assigned to Hufflepuff.
Kyle applauded along with the others.
The banquet officially began, and all kinds of delicacies appeared on the table out of thin air. The few people who had only dealt with two people on the train did not care about discussing other things and immediately started to enjoy the food.
Kyle chose a piece of beef rib for himself and another piece for Connor. This is the house elf's specialty. He had it once when he was eating for himself last year. It tasted quite good.
According to tradition, after the main meal there are various desserts.
Kyle tried the pudding recommended by Kangna. It contained orange marmalade, which was sour and sweet, and was very suitable for finishing.
After everyone had eaten and drank, the food on the plates was cleared away, Dumbledore stood up, and the auditorium fell silent again.
“Well, as we digest a sumptuous meal, I ask everyone to be quiet for a while and listen to me talk about the things to pay attention to in the new semester as usual.”
Dumbledore said, "First-year students are not allowed to enter the Forbidden Forest, and the same is true for senior students."
"Also, there are two changes in our teaching team this year. First, Professor Moody can no longer continue teaching due to some special reasons, but our Professor Black has agreed to take over the courses for the remaining three grades. ."
There was a burst of applause in the auditorium, but there was silence around the Slytherin table.
They didn't want Sirius to be in school any more than Gryffindor wanted Snape to be expelled.
Dumbledore continued: "Also, I have the pleasure to introduce to you Professor Grubblyplan, who will be teaching you Care of Magical Creatures before our gamekeeper returns."
Professor Grapland stood up and nodded to everyone.
A burst of polite applause came from the auditorium.
“Finally, this year’s Quidditch tryouts will be held in the second week of school.”
“Great.” Cedric waved his hand.
He has been waiting for this.
Last year because of the Triwizard Tournament, the Quidditch match was canceled. He waited for a whole school year, and now he finally heard the news again.
“Kyle, we will definitely win the Quidditch Cup this year, right?” Cedric asked happily.
"Yeah, that's right." Kyle said, "The championship is definitely ours, as your graduation gift."
“That would be wonderful,” Cedric said with a smile.
"Since you are so happy..." Kyle patted him on the shoulder, "Then the rest of the freshman year will be left to you, no problem."
“No problem.” Cedric blurted out without thinking.
However, he soon discovered that the sounds of tables and chairs colliding with each other, as well as buzzing discussions, were constantly coming from around him.
Just now, Dumbledore has announced the disbandment and everyone is preparing to return to the dormitory.
At this time, the prefects of each college are responsible for guiding the new students and sending them to the dormitories.
Obviously, Kyle pushed his task to him again, and he accepted it vaguely.
…
(End of this chapter)