great-warnovel Chapter 69 Leaving School and the Surprise Candy Box
Chapter 69 Leaving School and the Surprise Candy Box
With the Quidditch Cup title won and Hermione as the scoring machine, this year's House Cup is a foregone conclusion.
Before the last day of the term, the arrogant Weasley twins had already begun decorating the Great Hall. Although they had only contributed negative credits throughout the year, it did not stop them from now on mocking Slytherin with their noses in the air.
Their wands were also quite interesting; they were a pair of almost identical magic hats. They often hid forbidden magical items inside them, and no one but themselves and the other could retrieve anything from them.
Now, they are constantly pulling out long red ribbons embroidered with lions from inside, directing them to float to every corner of the hall.
They hid this during their last Christmas party, and now that it's been modified and put back into use, they end up getting chased and beaten up by Filch, who has finally found the real culprit behind the theft.
As expected, Hermione ranked first in the final exams, far surpassing Draco, who came in second. Yes, Draco was second. Since his father's accident, he had been ostracized in the school and had devoted himself to studying. Apart from the classroom, library, and Great Hall, he was rarely seen. It was precisely because of this that he was able to surpass Harry, who came in third, in his History of Magic and Astronomy classes.
In the practical exam, Hermione finally softened and gave her a break. Except for a little badger who couldn't move when he saw her, everyone else passed smoothly. But there was no way around it; with such poor mental fortitude, they would have to repeat a year.
Hogwarts stopped near a small wizarding village near Venice. It was more of a village than a village, with only two or three wizarding families living together and supporting each other. The whole village had only one fireplace that connected to the Floo Network.
This is also the norm for wizards nowadays who are unwilling to join powerful forces and be exploited, and who are unable to live independently. However, compared to those wizard families who are well-educated and have formed a reconstruction committee, their closed-off wild wizard families are quite "retro".
Although they generally lived a decent life, they were like savages compared to the Weasleys, Potters, or other wizarding families in other regions.
Even if they have children, they refuse to send them to school and instead homeschool them. If the head wizard is even slightly shrewd and takes in some Muggles who can't even find a burrow, then in just a few years, this place will develop into a sizable settlement, with wizards providing shelter and Muggles providing labor.
The original wizarding families would become nobles, arrogant and foolish.
The castle was located here to be near a more stable Floo Network node. Hogwarts being in this vicinity ensured that when the numerous fireplaces in the school were in use simultaneously, chaos would not ensue, and students would not be thrown into a burning Paris.
The consequence of the misuse of Portkeys is that even a massive organization like Hogwarts dares not open the FlooNet too many times in a single moment, especially since it is always moving.
The castle will remain here until the start of the school term, and only after the Book of Admission stops adding new names will the journey begin.
The village's owner was an old wizard dressed in clothes that looked like tree bark, with a long, greasy, gray beard. He stared at McGonagall with wary and resistant eyes, and was not very polite when dealing with her.
In fact, Hogwarts could have easily crushed the village with a single step. Even if Professor McGonagall hadn't wanted to, this uneducated wizard, whose Floo Network was inherited from his ancestors, wouldn't have been able to discover the massive castle protected by sophisticated spells. However, out of courtesy, Professor McGonagall still showed up and negotiated with them, hoping they would send their children to the castle to receive a proper magical education.
But the result was predictable: they firmly rejected Professor McGonagall's offer, believing that their child could master his own magic well with just a set of magical toys passed down from 200 years ago, and had no need to go to any damn magic school.
The child looked about Hermione's age, covered in dirt, with several oddly shaped blocks floating around him, covered with almost indistinguishable symbols—the "omnipotent" magical toys their elders had mentioned.
This thing can indeed train a young wizard's control over magic, but its simple and outdated spell word rules only include less than thirty basic spells in total.
Hermione watched the child from afar, feeling a pang of pity. Ignorance and stupidity had not only destroyed most of Muggle civilization, but wizards had also suffered greatly from it.
At the year-end banquet, Dumbledore reappeared and announced in a grand manner that Gryffindor had won this year's House Cup, and made the ribbons that George and the others had hung up even more gorgeous and exquisite.
"I must say, there have been a lot of banquets this year, but I wouldn't mind having even more of these."
"Alright, I'm sure everyone's had enough of this old man's nagging. Now, let's enjoy our delicious meal!"
While Hermione and Neville were racing to eat, her mind was already on Godric's Hollow, where Harry's house was. After dinner, they would follow Mrs. Lily through the fireplace in the Potions Department office to get there.
"Hey, look at Draco, his face is as black as the bottom of a pot," Ron gloated.
"I heard he's homeless now, and he'll have to stay at Hogwarts with his mother all summer," Harry said with some pity.
"If you ask me, this punishment isn't enough. Lucius almost killed everyone in the entire castle! What kind of punishment is it to just lock him up in the dungeon of Malfoy Castle!" Ron said, pursing his lips.
"I've heard there used to be a place called Azkaban, where Dementors served as jailers. That was the real place to imprison these villains! Unfortunately, Dementors are now roaming the world, and wizards no longer have the ability to keep them under control."
"But Draco is innocent. He didn't do anything. He wasn't even hiding from the ghosts with us, was he?"
As they were talking, Nick, who was sitting next to him and was almost headless, turned his head and glanced at him.
"Hey Harry, he stole your second place, and you're taking his side!" Ron said, displeased.
Harry choked up. He began to regret not having studied the history of magic and astronomy classes more seriously. Although his potion grades were far ahead of Draco's, his practical skills and transfiguration were not significantly better. His herbology was only average, even worse than Neville, who had enrolled later.
"Given Professor Potter's temperament, losing to Hermione is one thing, but losing to Draco means you're unlikely to have a good summer," Ron said with a sly smile.
"Don't get cocky! If Mom wants to make me take extra classes, you'll have to come with me!" Harry snapped. The Weasleys had entrusted Mrs. Potter with the responsibility of disciplining Ron this summer, and his grades were almost worse than Neville's, which infuriated Mrs. Molly.
The boys' wails were the perfect accompaniment to their meal, and Hermione finished off three plates with great satisfaction before reluctantly ending the dinner.
However, just as she was about to get up and leave, Dumbledore called her back and placed a smooth, exquisite little aluminum box in her hand.
"Consider it a prize for being first in the grade, or a belated Christmas present," Dumbledore winked at her.
She opened the box, which was full of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"This box will be refilled with candy every day, but don't eat too much, or you'll get cavities."
Hermione feigned displeasure: "I would be happier if it were Olaf the Lemon, Professor."
"Flavorful Beans aren't bad, are they? Life should have a few surprises." Dumbledore laughed. "Give them back if you don't want them; this treasure is my lifeblood."
Hermione immediately packed up the box and ran away.