great-warnovel Chapter 119 Death Anniversary Party
Chapter 119 Death Anniversary Party
Chapter 119 Death Anniversary Party
Time flies, another month has passed in the blink of an eye, and Halloween is almost here.
Hermes felt at ease with the peaceful and wonderful campus life. She had finally finished reading Percy's textbook and her paper on the shattered rock was almost complete, but she hadn't shown it to Professor Flitwick yet. The overall revisions would probably take some time, but she should be able to finish it after Halloween.
As the end of October approached, the weather seemed to turn cold in an instant. Even inside the warm Hogwarts, one could feel a chill seeping in from outside the barrier.
The castle is now located in the south of France, an area frequently cleared by the fascists. Here you can see many cities and villages burned to the ground, and occasionally groups of silent wizards dressed in black robes.
Holding uniform wands, they drove the Fiendfire as if herding sheep, letting these black flames of destruction slowly chew up the earth. According to Professor Lockhart, this was to sever the goblins' connection with the land, preventing them from building hidden goblin caves here.
Of course, these wizards couldn't find Hogwarts, but it seemed that Grindelwald could observe the surrounding scenery through them. When the castle was about to leave France, he sent someone to the school to deliver another gift to Dumbledore, the same magical potion, but this time it wasn't that annoying Peter Pettigrew who came.
Lockhart's classes are becoming increasingly successful. In recent theory and practical classes, his broad knowledge and tactical teaching methods, tailored to each student, have won over their hearts. He's on his way to becoming the students' favorite professor. Even the Slytherins, who are quite dissatisfied with his remarks, have to admit that this young, handsome, erudite, skilled, and humorous professor is truly flawless. Of course, it would be even better if he could be a typical Malfoyburg nobleman.
Harry, Ron, and Neville were invited by the ghosts to attend the anniversary party in the underground hall on Halloween. They deliberately chose a time when Hermione was not there, as the ghosts were quite afraid of her and therefore did not want her to attend the party.
When Harry told Hermione about it with some difficulty, she solemnly told him that it was best not to attend the ghosts' gathering, as it was not good for the living.
Ron, however, believed it was due to her jealousy at not receiving an invitation: "Merlin, this is the first death anniversary celebration at Hogwarts in decades! It's also the 500th anniversary of Sir Nick's death!"
He declared confidently, "Sir Nick is going to announce to the world the return of the Hogwarts ghost! It's even rumored that Dumbledore will be involved, and they're going to invite the Headless Horsemen! They'll be at Hogwarts on Halloween night!"
Although the three boys all came from magical families, they had hardly ever seen a ghost in their short lives, let alone attended a ghost party. They thought it would be fun, since few living people would be invited, just like in Lockhart's book, to dance with ghosts.
But Hermione didn't think so. The thought of the death ritual spears flying everywhere at the border gave her a headache. Every night, the second thing travelers feared most was the Night Riders, and the first was the Dead Birds. These creatures, which looked like giant, monstrous babies with skulls, had the same power as Voldemort to stop even a child in their tracks.
Since the boys didn't take her words to heart, Hermione wasn't going to try to persuade them further. Letting them go and get what they want was fine; it was just a matter of two potions at the hospital, and with Dumbledore, the biggest ghost leader, around, they probably wouldn't blow the ceiling off and fly to the ground.
Therefore, on Halloween, among all the second-year students in Gryffindor, only Hermione was sitting at the long table enjoying her meal. She astutely noticed that not only Harry and his friends, but also many other students had received invitations.
The ghosts, having been imprisoned inside Dumbledore for decades, possessed an unimaginable thirst for social interaction. Each of them invited familiar students and professors to their respective houses. However, just as Hermione had predicted, the only ones who actually accepted the invitations were clueless underclassmen and those who were quite confident in their abilities—such as Lockhart.
He was the only adult besides Dumbledore who was willing to attend the anniversary party. Oh, if Dumbledore is considered dead, then Lockhart is the only living adult. He knew the habits of ghosts well, so he was practically walking into a tiger's den.
It is said that it was because Myrtle coveted Lockhart's good looks and kept pestering him, even when he went to the toilet. Lockhart was really bad at dealing with the opposite sex, and he accepted the invitation in a moment of confusion.
Even the professors probably didn't expect that so many lower-year students would attend the ghosts' party.
When Harry and his friends returned to the common room that evening, their lips were blue from the cold. The thermal charms on their school uniforms were no match for the chill brought by the ghosts. What was even harder to bear than the cold was that they had been starving all night.
"Those rotten intestines covered in green mold! And the spilled cheese and tombstone cake! It was a disaster!"
"Professor Lockhart didn't even tell us beforehand! He was bundled up like a brown bear, cast several spells, and even drank some stimulant beforehand; his ears were practically smoking all night!"
Colin and Ginny were in a better situation; they had managed to get two chocolate frogs from Lockhart: "The professor didn't know there would be so many underclassmen participating, otherwise he would have brought enough potions and food."
"However, he didn't seem to be in very good condition either. He mistook Ginny for someone else and muttered to himself."
"Not to mention the professor, even Dumbledore didn't expect so many children to come. This is the first time I've seen our headmaster look so surprised." Harry rubbed his legs together, trying to warm them up.
Hermione, who was prepared, brought out the pies and roasted rat she had brought back from the party: "Hopefully this will teach you a lesson, so you won't join in every little thing."
"Merlin, this is a lifesaver! But you sound exactly like the Professor," Ron complained, taking a big bite of pie.
Lockhart wanted to send us back sooner, even though it was impolite, but Dumbledore believed that even junior wizards had to be responsible for their words and actions, so he grinned mischievously and made us at least watch the Headless Horseman's performance!
"You have no idea how bad the second half of the party was!" Harry said as if recalling a nightmare.
"First, the fat monk led the ghost owls into the arena, and they indiscriminately rained down bird droppings. Then the arrival of the headless horsemen frightened the birds, and they began to squawk, flap their wings, and excrete more and more violently. In a sense, they are quite similar to cats. When they are stressed, they are super terrifying. The whole party turned into chaos, and everyone was screaming and running away."
"Except for Dumbledore," Neville muttered, gnawing on a rat leg.
"He didn't seem to feel cold at all, and he got along very well with the ghosts." Ginny recalled, while constantly cleansing herself of the new learning she had just released.
Hermione shrugged. "He is, after all, the strongest white wizard."
It's best not to let the children know that the principal is a ghost.