harry potter book of crimes

October 30th, a sunny Friday.

Just like today's weather, the smiles on the faces of the students at Hogwarts have almost never stopped since early in the morning. Even the air seems to be filled with a joy called "expectation."

In class, no one was paying attention to the lecture anymore - even Hermione was a little absent-minded. Everyone was thinking that people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were coming tonight.

Probably because class had to end half an hour early, even the most unbearable Potions class on weekdays didn't seem so difficult.

When the bell rang early, Harry, Ron and Hermione hurried to Gryffindor Tower. They put down their schoolbags and textbooks as instructed by the teacher, put on their cloaks, and then took three steps in two steps.

He rushed down the stairs and walked quickly towards the auditorium.

In the hall, the deans of each college were directing the students of their respective colleges to line up to welcome them.

Professor McGonagall still looks serious and methodical; the short Professor Flitwick jumps up from time to time to straighten the wrinkles on a Ravenclaw student's clothes; and Professor Snape is still the same as before.

He is cold and cold, and it is said that he seems to have a worse temper recently.

It is worth mentioning that Professor Sprout of Hufflepuff House seems to be a little depressed, although she still fulfills her every duty.

"Maka is gone, Professor Sprout seems very sad..." Hermione looked at her from a distance and bit her lip subconsciously, "That bad guy is really annoying!"

"What are you talking about?" Ron, who was standing behind, took two steps forward and asked a little strangely.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and turned away.

"Nothing!" she said angrily.

Ron looked at Harry with an inexplicable expression and wondered: "What did I do wrong... shouldn't I ask?"

Harry shrugged, indicating that he didn't know either.

Obviously, when Hermione couldn't find anyone to vent her anger on, Ron did it himself. Who can blame her?

"Please follow me," Professor McGonagall said. "The first-year students are in front... don't crowd..."

The little wizards lined up and walked down the steps and stood neatly in front of the castle.

It was almost night now, the sun had completely set below the horizon, and the sky was being swallowed up by darkness. A hazy and white moon was already hanging over the Forbidden Forest.

The weather has been quite cold recently, and the temperature has dropped very quickly. Everyone feels a little cold. But fortunately, the air here is still so fresh, making people want to take a few more breaths.

Harry stood between Ron and Hermione, just to the left of the fourth row; Luna stood on the far right of the third row.

Everyone was excitedly scanning the darkening venue, but could not see any movement. Everything was so silent, just like Hogwarts at night, silent.

"It's almost six o'clock," Ron said, looking at his watch and looking at the driveway leading to the front door. "How do you think they're going to get here? By train?"

"I don't think so," said Hermione.

"How come? A flying broomstick?" Harry guessed, looking up at the starry sky.

"I don't think... from that far away..."

"Portkey?" Ron guessed. "Or they could Apparate - maybe in their part of the world people under seventeen are allowed to Apparate?"

"Apparition is not allowed within the confines of Hogwarts, how many times do you have to tell me?" Hermione said impatiently.

Harry rubbed his arms vigorously - he did feel a little cold.

"I just hope they can hurry up..." Harry trembled and muttered softly.

He remembered what Mr. Weasley said in the camp before the Quidditch World Cup final: "It's always like this - whenever everyone gets together, they can't help but show off..."

Perhaps those foreign students are also preparing for a dramatic entrance ceremony!

At this moment, Dumbledore, who was standing in the back row with other teachers, suddenly spoke.

"Oh, if I'm not mistaken, the Beauxbatons representative has already arrived."

"Where?"

Many students looked hurriedly in different directions.

"There!" a sixth-grade student shouted loudly, pointing to the sky above the Forbidden Forest.

It was a huge thing, and it was flying rapidly across the dark blue sky, flying towards the castle. It was hard to see clearly at first, but as it got closer, it slowly became bigger and bigger.

"It's a dragon!" a first-year freshman couldn't help but screamed. Obviously, he was so excited that he didn't know what to do.

"Don't be silly...that's a house flying!" another freshman argued.

When the dark behemoth passed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and was illuminated by the light from the castle window, they saw it clearly - it was a huge pink-blue carriage!

It was really as big as a house, and it was pulled into the air by twelve winged horses, all of them silver-maned horses, each about the same size as an elephant.

If Maka had been there, he would have recognized it at a glance: it was a precious specialty of the French magic world - the Talisman Horse.

When he was at Chateau Blois, Willy's father took a carriage drawn by runes on a trip to meet guests. Although the carriage was also quite exquisitely made, it didn't seem to have the four features of Beauxbatons's carriage.

One-third the size.

The carriage flew lower, and it was landing in the open space in front of everyone at an extremely fast speed. The students standing in the first three rows hurriedly took several steps back.

Immediately afterwards, there was an earth-shattering loud noise, which scared Neville to jump back, and he stepped heavily on the foot of a fifth-year Slytherin classmate.

I saw those horse hooves hitting the ground with a thud, each one as big as a Hogwarts dinner plate.

In the blink of an eye, the carriage also landed - its huge body shook a few times on the equally huge wheels. At the same time, the golden horses shook their huge heads, and their big fiery red eyes turned around.

Got up.

There is a coat of arms printed on the car door, which consists of two golden, crossed wands, with three bright stars emerging from the tip of each wand.

Soon, the car door was opened from the inside.

A boy wearing a light blue robe jumped out of the carriage, bent down, and groped a few times on the floor of the carriage. Immediately, a golden spiral staircase was opened.

He jumped back respectfully, and everyone saw a shiny black high-heeled shoe sticking out of the carriage - the shoe was as big as a child's sleigh!

The next moment, a woman who was as big as the shoe got out of the carriage. If there was anyone who could compare in size to this woman, it was obviously Hagrid.

Dumbledore started to applaud, and the classmates also clapped their hands. Many people stood on tiptoes, trying to see this woman more clearly.

Her face relaxed into an elegant smile.

Then, she stretched out a sparkling hand and walked towards Dumbledore. Although Dumbledore was also tall, he hardly had to bend down when kissing this hand.

"Dear Mrs. Maxim," said Dumbledore, "welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbledore," Madam Maxime said in a low voice, "I hope everything is well with you."

"Very good, thank you." Dumbledore said politely.

"My student," Madame Maxime said, waving her huge hand carelessly behind her.

At this time, everyone who looked away from her noticed that about twelve or three male and female students had gotten off the carriage, and they were standing behind Madame Maxime.

Judging from their appearance, they were all probably around 18 years old, and all of them were trembling slightly.

It is not surprising that they feel cold, because the robes they wear seem to be made of fine silk, and no one is wearing a cloak. A few students have their heads wrapped with scarves or turbans.

"Is Karkaroff here?" Madame Maxime asked.

"He will be here at any time, are you..." Dumbledore said, suddenly turning his head, "Oh, it seems he has already arrived."

The little wizards who were listening to the conversation between Madame Maxime and Dumbledore immediately looked in the direction Dumbledore was looking.

Soon, everyone heard a very loud and strange sound coming towards them from the darkness.

It seemed to be a suppressed rumble and bubble, like a giant vacuum cleaner moving along the river bed...

"It's at the bottom of the lake!" Some students pointed to the surface of the lake and said, "Look at that lake!"

No need for him to say anything, everyone has already seen it.

Everyone stood on the slope of the lawn overlooking the field, and could clearly see the calm, dark water.

At this time, the lake surface suddenly became no longer calm.

There was a commotion under the water in the middle of the lake, and huge waves surged on the surface, pushing the water to hit the shore one after another.

Then, right in the middle of the lake, a large whirlpool appeared, as if some terrifying water monster was greedily sucking the cold water in the lake.

Suddenly, something like a long black pole suddenly rose from the whirlpool. It seemed to be a thick ship mast.

As if to confirm everyone's guess, a large ship broke through the water and slowly appeared in everyone's sight.

It looks weird. The keel of the ship protrudes slightly, like the skeleton of a giant creature. The whole ship has a dilapidated and gloomy look, as if it is the remains of a sunken ship that has just been salvaged. There are even holes in the portholes.

Not even a glimmer of light can be seen...

Just when everyone thought that the ship would sail towards the shore in their direction, a small figure suddenly flew up from the deck of the ship and rushed towards them at a very fast speed.

"That is--"

Harry, Ron and Hermione were all shocked, but not far from them, Luna showed an innocent smile.