The Bard at Hogwarts

Halloween, if you really want to know, has a longer history than Christmas, and can probably be traced back to 500 BC.

It was originally October 31st, and it originated from the exorcism ceremony at the turn of autumn and winter.

In the early Muggle society with low productivity, the cold winter was always the most difficult season.

Both humans and livestock would get sick due to the cold, so people in that era generally believed that it was the work of the devil.

So on this day, everyone extinguished all the candles and fires, and then dressed themselves up as scary, hoping to scare away the devil.

In the ninth century, the church found that there was no festival for saints, so November 1st was designated as the festival for all saints.

Then, people merged the exorcism ceremony of the previous day and the saints' festival of the next day, and then Halloween was born.

…

October 31st, the day of the dinner.

Whether it was Hogwarts or Hogsmeade, it seemed a bit lively.

In fact, this is also normal. It seems that only these two places in England can give wizards a sense of security.

In this regard, even Diagon Alley cannot compare.

Honeydukes.

Frumm walked out of the cellar with two boxes of bloody lollipops. Every Halloween, this kind of weird candy always has good sales.

After placing these scarlet candies in the window, Frumm sat quietly on the chair behind the counter, looking at the street outside the transparent window quietly.

Although it was almost evening, there were very few customers in the candy store today.

Admittedly, this has something to do with the new system of Hogwarts.

After all, only students in the fifth grade and above can go to Hogsmeade now, and the little wizards in the third and fourth grades, the main force of candy, are missing.

But in fact, Frumm knows that the culprit of everything is the current undercurrent of the magic world.

Just like his candy store, the store is not afraid of the appearance of magical animals such as Tebo Warthogs that cause destruction and run rampant. After all, it is easy to deal with them if they can see them.

On the contrary, what he feared most was the traces of the fire ash snake that accidentally appeared in the store a few years ago.

Although it was just a trace, it was terrifying because no one knew where the fire ash snake hid and laid eggs.

There are too many examples in the magic world where a whole house was burned to ashes because of a fire ash snake.

And the magic world today is no different.

…

Honeydukes Candy Store.

Frum sat in a chair bored.

Looking at the slightly cleared street outside the window, he felt a little drowsy.

Having opened a candy store in Hogsmeade for decades, Frum didn't care about business and profits. After all, the store belonged to their family and there was no pressure at all.

What he really cared about was the fun of running a candy store. Seeing the happy eyes of the little wizards every time they got some gifts, all of this was very happy.

Even some of them came to try the little guys purely under the banner of buying, and he chose to see through it without saying anything. If you want to eat, eat it, just one or two pieces of candy.

Suddenly, Flume stood up abruptly.

The door of the shop was pushed open from the outside, and a crisp bell rang along with the sound of conversation:

"Professor, do you need anything? A pile of cockroaches or something else? I'll treat you today! Of course, it's limited to one Galleon."

Ino said in a "generous" way. Although the profit from the video mirror was too much to spend, he liked this kind of communication full of life.

On the side, after hearing the limit of one Galleon, Dumbledore stood there and thought seriously, as if he was calculating the unit price of candy.

After a moment, Dumbledore said with a somewhat lost tone:

"Forget about the pile of cockroaches, one Galleon can't buy much. But you can have some bloody lollipops. Although I rarely eat them, I always buy some for Halloween decorations."

The bright red bloody lollipops, lying quietly in the window, are like gems strung together, very beautiful.

"Hahaha, you don't need to spend money today! Halloween giveaway."

Frum's face was filled with a warm smile. Hogsmeade and even the English magic world were able to enjoy the current stability temporarily, all thanks to the two people in front of him.

And his experience in running a shop for many years made him very clear that the two people would not just come to buy candy.

After all, the two people together have three phoenixes, and Hogwarts will also hold a regular dinner today, and Dumbledore, as the headmaster, will not be so idle.

At the same time.

After hearing that the bill was free, Ino also became interested.

"Since Mr. Frum is so generous to treat us, give me one of each candy. In return, I will also give you a candy gift package before Christmas."

For candy, Ino is also obsessed.

When Voldemort knocked on the door with cream toffee, he always felt a little uncomfortable.

Now that he has the opportunity, he must return it anyway.

But because he didn't know what Senior Tom liked, he could only have one of each, and he would always be able to find the flavor he liked at that time.

…

Honeydukes, while Flume was packing candy, the Hogwarts Halloween dinner was held as scheduled.

At 7:30 in the evening, almost everyone gathered in the hall.

At the Gryffindor table, Harry looked around with great energy. The lively scene made him feel as if he had returned to the opening dinner six years ago.

“Great!”

Harry sighed to himself, and his hand inadvertently touched the pendant on his chest, a wooden wine cork strung with silver thread.

"It's very good, but I don't think I saw Headmaster Dumbledore tonight."

Ginny took over the conversation and looked at her boyfriend tenderly.

Harry's change made her happy and full of hope for the future.

"There are many people missing today, not only Professor Dumbledore, but even Moody is not here."

Perhaps others can ignore Moody, but Harry is always grateful to him for the short time they spent together. Otherwise, the dragon would have killed him in the Goblet of Fire competition two years ago.

Thinking of the Goblet of Fire and the Triwizard Tournament, Harry couldn't help but feel a little regretful. If he were asked to fight the dragon again now, it might be easy.

At the long table, Harry and Ginny didn't deliberately lower their voices, so Hermione heard every word of their conversation.

After learning that Moody was also missing, she couldn't help but feel a little happy. There is strength in numbers, not to mention Moody, an experienced retired Auror.

...

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the Hogwarts dinner officially began.

Today, for most people, it is a night of joy.

But there are still a small number of people who can only choose to contribute silently during the festival.

In a broad-leaved forest outside London.

The Director of the Law Enforcement Department, Emilia, gathered all the forces she could mobilize.

The Aurors, strikers, and even some retired combatants of the entire British Ministry of Magic have come out in full force at this moment and are all gathered here.

As a country with a magic school on its own, the power of the English Ministry of Magic has always been ranked at the top.

Although there are only a hundred people present, each of them is an elite selected from layers of layers. Whether it is strength or combat awareness, it is far beyond the imagination of ordinary adult wizards.

At the moment, although these people do not understand the purpose of the gathering, their long-term cultivation and discipline make them silent.

A hundred people gathered together, but there was no sound. Even friends who are very familiar with each other would not greet each other at this moment.