The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

"Not only the transfiguration, the lower layer of the stone shell is also engraved with the seal and the protective alchemy circle. From this point of view, there are only two ways to open the stone ball and completely remove the Resurrection Stone. One is for Dumbledore to unlock the seal himself. One is to surpass Dumbledore in magic and alchemy."

"Of course, this is not absolute. The violent stone ball can also be opened with Li Fire or the Sword of Gryffindor, but it will be destroyed together with the Resurrection Stone hidden inside."

Loren held the dark stone ball in front of his eyes, his eyes penetrated the surface of the stone shell, and saw the complex alchemy circle inside, analyzing the alchemy inside.

After the trip to Gaunt's old house, Loren did not follow Dumbledore back to Hogwarts Castle. Since he had left school anyway, he simply took advantage of the weekend to go home and enjoy a rare vacation.

There was Lockhart's Oblivion Charm lesson on Saturday night, and he could stay until tomorrow afternoon before returning to school.

"Loren, it's time for dinner." Bates's voice came from the dining table, full of anger.

Bates placed wooden bowls and wooden spoons on the dining table, filled with wheat porridge boiled in goat's milk. On the dining table were savory smoked lamb and a plate of small wild berries of various colors.

He raised his eyebrows proudly: "Wendell and I picked these wild berries when we were fishing by the river. All my catch today was used to exchange these wild berries with him."

It doesn't take much thinking to guess that Wendell must have taken the fish to show off in front of Monica, bragging that the fish they caught was his alone.

That's what fishing guys are like.

Loren directly grabbed a large handful of small wild berries and threw them into his mouth. He immediately shuddered. He frowned at the sourness and said, "Bah, don't pick them again. The berries here are sour."

"You are just a picky eater, how could it be sour? Wendell and I tasted it before picking it."

Bates snorted, grabbed a large handful in his big hands, and threw it all into his mouth. His expression turned ferocious for a moment, and he was trembling with soreness. The veins on his neck bulged from the stimulation of the sour berry juice that burst into his mouth.

"It's not sour," Bates swallowed with difficulty, forcing himself to lie, "It's not sour at all..."

"Come on, you're almost turning into a werewolf."

"You brat, why are you talking...it's strange, you obviously weren't angry at the time..."

…

After the meal, Bates took the remaining berries to the next door to share them. In his words: This is also the result of Wendell's labor, and he cannot monopolize it.

Loren lay back on the sofa and opened a copy of the Evening Standard to pass the time leisurely. An urgent report caught his attention:

On November 20, 1992, a fire broke out at Windsor Castle.

The fire started in a small chapel in the northeast of the castle and spread rapidly. Smoke from the fire could be seen rising from 5 miles away.

More than 200 firefighters rushed to the scene to put out the fire... Prince Andrew, the Queen's second son, who was at the castle when the fire broke out, also joined the "human chain" to rescue precious cultural relics... The world's largest single carpet from the Victorian era was also used by people Rescued. Prince Andrew was interviewed by reporters at the scene. He highly praised people's brave, quick and effective fire-fighting actions.

The Brunswick Tower, the private prayer room of the church, the St. George's State Banquet Hall, the Crimson Drawing Room, the Chester Tower and other buildings in the castle have been severely burned. The roof of the St. George's State Banquet Hall has collapsed. Six famous paintings were also burned. The losses amounted to tens of millions of pounds.

"No one has died in this fire." Loren read the last line softly.

The timing of the fire was too coincidental. According to calculations, he and Dumbledore had just left Windsor Castle, and a fire broke out immediately in the castle.

He didn't know how many fire-fighting facilities there were in the castle, which invested huge amounts of money every year to maintain it. He didn't know whether there was sufficient protection against fires, and he didn't know what the possibility was of causing a fire if there were no other factors.

He didn't know a lot of things, he didn't have any clues, or any evidence, but it was such a coincidence that he could figure out that the fire was related to the house elf without having to think about it.

He had taken away the only unicorn horn in the castle that had anything to do with the wizarding world, and he was sure that the house elves had no reason to set the castle on fire. But as if there was no need for any reason, for the magical house elf, this might just be a snap of his fingers.

Just like a long time ago, when he went to the mountains to herd sheep, he crushed the grasshoppers on the roadside to death without any reason.

The pictures of the fire scene in the newspaper were in color, and rubbing the printing ink marks on them made Loren feel very complicated in his heart.

To the world of ordinary people, an inconspicuous house elf is like a natural disaster. People have no choice but to bear the disaster caused by magic.

To magical creatures, Muggles are grasshoppers that can be easily crushed by the roadside.

To the magical world, human society is like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered...

Loren could not arrest the house elf who set the fire, and Muggles had no court to judge house elves. No matter how many thoughts and thoughts I had when I woke up, they were completely forgotten.

The next day, Loren, carrying a hoe and shovel that was taller than him, helped Bates dig holes, fill soil, and plant a few low sycamore trees in the backyard.

He didn't use magic at all, just like an ordinary Muggle.

Loren squatted next to the last sycamore tree that had just been filled with soil, watching Bates running the water pipe and watering the roots of the tree.

"Are you sure you water it like this? We are transplanting trees, not growing wheat. You won't drown them, right?" Loren asked.

Without looking at him, Bates replied angrily: "On Arbor Day two weeks ago, the Mayor of London went to Hyde Park to plant trees. Wendell took me to see them. This is how they water the trees."

Loren muttered: "A politician's show job? Can you believe this? The trees planted by the mayor can come back to life even if they die..."

It was a crisp autumn day, the dirt in the backyard was wet, and there was still cold moisture in the air, but the leaves of these sycamore trees were still green. Squatting under the tree and raising your head to look up, the green leaves make the blue sky look like forget-me-not flowers. The blue is so deep that it makes people immersed in it.

…

After dinner, Loren returned to Hogwarts with a package full of sweets, and easily found the conspiring trio in Myrtle's bathroom.

"So you have confirmed the monster in the secret room?" Loren threw chocolates into his mouth one after another, with no expression of surprise on his face.

"Yes." "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" was spread out in front of Harry, and it was the page recording the basilisk: "After Mrs. Norris was attacked, Hermione concluded that there are two types of petrification and snakes. Clues, lead us to find monsters based on these two clues. But later she has to focus on brewing the potion, so this work will be left to the two of us."

"I met Rolf in the library. I thought that's what their family does, so I asked, and he pointed out the basilisk to us immediately." Ron smiled and unfolded the picture of him carrying Mrs. Pince on his back. Torn pages.

Hermione also had a smile on her face: "We have already met with Dumbledore. He said that after the Christmas vacation, when most students go home, they will conduct a comprehensive search in the castle."

Loren looked weird, are you sure Dumbledore wasn't delaying time by saying this...

He considered his words: "But Harry, there is still a month until Christmas. According to you, this is enough for Malfoy, no, this is enough for the Basilisk to send half of the Muggle wizards to the school hospital."

He pointed them to a passage that introduced the basilisk's abilities. "Only when the victim's gaze meets the basilisk's gaze indirectly, such as through reflection, will they be petrified. Most of the time, anyone will be petrified by its gaze." If you look at it, you will die immediately.”

"Does this mean that Mrs. Loris and Colin are just lucky? If other people encounter the basilisk, they may not just end up in the campus hospital." Loren frantically put pressure on the three of them, laughing wildly in his heart.

The joy on the three little ones' faces froze.

Loren suppressed the smile on his lips and continued: "One more thing, what if a comprehensive search cannot be found? Think about it, the basilisk only comes out when it commits crimes and usually hides in the secret room. And for thousands of years , no one has found any trace of the secret room, will a comprehensive search be able to find the secret room?"

Harry and Ron looked at each other, got up, and ran towards the principal's office. They were going to tell Dumbledore about this.

Hermione stood up with a hand, walked to the cauldron where the fire was out, and continued to brew the polyjuice potion without saying a word.

Loren stood up and followed him, stuffing snacks into his mouth, and when Hermione couldn't spare her time, he also fed her.

"Hey, where have you been for the past day and a half?" Hermione had a whole piece of chocolate wrapped in her mouth and was careful not to let the chocolate fall into the crucible when she spoke.

"Dumbledore took me to visit a senior. Then I took advantage of the weekend and went home for a day."

Loren felt that there was nothing wrong with what he said. Tom Riddle introduced himself as a senior, a real senior.

Hermione swallowed the chocolate, and her tone was a little coquettish because of envy: "I think I can only wait until Christmas to go home, but the school may search for basilisks during Christmas vacation, and I also want to stay in school to see the basilisk."

"Go home, the basilisk is not as important as going home." Loren fed him another biscuit.

"But maybe the basilisk can only be seen this once." Hermione sighed quietly. For her who was very curious, this was a dilemma.

"Maybe we can find the basilisk before the Christmas holidays?"

Loren looked at the quality of the lacewings in the crucible and estimated the progress: "Oh, it doesn't look like it's going to work. The ceasefire has been too long. It will take double the time to make up for it."

"Ah - you are so annoying!"

…

Night, corridor.

Loren was walking on the way to Lockhart's office, his footsteps echoing in the silent corridor, so quiet, as if he was the only one in the entire corridor.

But it's just as if.

He was unprepared before, so he didn't notice it. After being reminded by Dumbledore outside Windsor Castle, Loren began to pay attention to the sight of house elves.

Sure enough, when he came out of the auditorium after dinner, he felt a special gaze following him. He wanted to wait until the matter was over and ask the house elf why he set fire to Windsor Castle.

But don't act rashly yet. Dumbledore wants to leave the people behind the scenes to be Harry's whetstone.

Hidden in the shadows around corners, hidden behind staircases, and hidden in hollow armor, the little house wizard's mobility in the castle is extremely convenient. Compared to yesterday, the house elf, who was missing a little finger on his right hand, closed the distance closer and followed him more closely.

"The missing finger is the master's punishment for my incompetence in doing things. Yes, I should be punished." The house elf whispered words that only he could hear, with a mean tone and a high-pitched voice.

He felt the pain from his fingers, and his tone turned resentful: "I hope this damn little Muggle wizard will never leave the castle again. If he gets lost again, my head will definitely be used to hatch snake eggs..."

Arriving at the door of Lockhart's office, Loren knocked on the door, then pushed the door open and said, "Good evening, Professor Lockhart."

The office is still filled with portraits and photos of Lockhart, each of them smiling delicately and radiantly.

Lockhart was standing in front of the mirror, arranging his appearance. He was wearing a conspicuous purple-red gorgeous robe, holding a wand in his hand, and was changing into handsome dueling postures. He was constantly adjusting his eyes to strive for the best viewing effect.

"Hey, Loren, you're here just in time! Come and help me see, which dueling position with a wand do you think looks better?"

Better looking? Shouldn't the standard for dueling postures be more convenient for casting spells? Loren was silent.

Lockhart didn't care when he didn't get an answer. He kept switching actions in front of the mirror: "You should have seen the notice posted in the common room. Tomorrow at eight o'clock in the evening, I will launch the duel club's second session in the auditorium. An event.”

Loren hasn't visited the common room since he returned to the castle, so he doesn't know about the Duel Club. He thought of Lockhart's other club: "Professor, do you still have your professional club?"

"Oh...um..." Lockhart faltered for a while.

He later learned that when the time was right, the dean of the college would actually find the young wizard for one-on-one career counseling sessions. In contrast, his lectures were all false and self-promoting. The young wizards were willing to listen to the entire lecture simply because of his good stories and the temptation of letters of recommendation.

Lockhart defended himself and said: "I gave all the content that the professional club has to talk about to the four deans. You will know it when you are in fifth grade."

He convinced himself in an instant, and his tone became enthusiastic: "Yes, I will not teach at Hogwarts for too long. You know, I am an adventurer after all. Just like the unruly wind, an People with an adventurous spirit don't stay in one place for long. So I handed over the professional club to four deans who I trust will carry on my belief."

"But don't worry, I will teach you the Forgetting Charm." Lockhart patted Loren's shoulder affectionately and started tonight's teaching...