Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 198 Interview
It was unknown how much time had passed, but Dumbledore, who was looking up at the starry sky, finally came to his senses. He sighed softly and spoke to break the gloomy atmosphere in the hall.

"This year was difficult. We were attacked by an ancient basilisk. The basilisk was like a cloud of fear hanging over us, causing the entire Hogwarts Castle to fall into panic. We spent a long time crowded in this hall, eating food that was hard to swallow. Every day felt like a year."

As Dumbledore recounted the basilisk incident in the first half of this year in a low voice, the expressions of everyone in the hall became sad.

But before everyone could grieve for too long, Dumbledore's tone suddenly changed, and he said in a high voice: "But! We are not defeated. We are united, determined to defeat the strong enemy and overcome the difficulties!

Countless warriors stood up. For the safety of everyone and the future of Hogwarts, they patrolled the school at the risk of being attacked by the basilisk at any time. During this period, three brave martyrs even paid their lives for this!
Their sacrifice was worth it, we finally defeated the powerful enemy! Finally, we ushered in the dawn of victory! The thousand-year-old basilisk may be strong, but our united strength is stronger than it! In front of this power, the basilisk is simply vulnerable!"

Dumbledore's powerful speech completely ignited the young wizards in the audience. The Slytherin students were fine, but the members of Gryffindor House were so excited that they were shaking. Mike swore that even if Dumbledore asked them to go find Voldemort and die, they would rush forward.

Not only them, but also many students in the usually calm and rational Ravenclaw house believed Dumbledore's nonsense. At this moment, their eyes were red and their fists were clenched.

That's right, Mike's comment on Dumbledore's speech is bullshit.

He participated in and witnessed the entire snake hunting activity and knew the situation on the scene very well.

Dumbledore killed the powerful basilisk in an instant with ease. What was he doing with such strong strength?

Don't say that Dumbledore couldn't find the location of the basilisk. Mike might have believed this when he first entered Hogwarts, but he no longer believed it after he understood how terrifying the mental power of a great wizard like Dumbledore could be.

Just as Mike was complaining wildly in his heart, Dumbledore on the stage started talking again.

"Although the basilisk has been destroyed, the danger has not disappeared. The so-called heir who released the basilisk was not caught, but lurked among the students. Fortunately, Hogwarts always produces heroes to turn the tide in times of crisis!" Dumbledore paused, then pointed in the direction of Mike and said, "Mr. Mike Tonley, this young man who has all the excellent qualities of the four major colleges stood up and defeated the heir hiding among us! For this, after discussing with the professors, I decided to award him the Hogwarts Special Contribution Award!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the little wizards opened their mouths in surprise.

It was no wonder they were so surprised, because the matter of Voldemort's Horcrux could not be leaked, otherwise it would cause panic. At the same time, Percy might be ostracized because of this matter, so the news that Michael defeated Percy who was controlled by the Horcrux and won the special contribution award was only circulated in a very small circle.

Just when everyone was so shocked that they were speechless, Dumbledore took the lead in applauding, and everyone finally came to their senses and began to applaud, even the professors in the teaching seats were no exception.

At this time, Mike was drowned in the applause and was a little overwhelmed. He didn't even see Dumbledore's gesture to invite him to the stage.

Fortunately, Penelo and others were sitting next to him. Penelo stretched out two fingers to make a sword shape and stabbed them just above Mike's lower back.

Anyone who has had a similar experience will definitely know that no matter how much force you use, once this position is poked, an indescribable sour feeling will rush straight to the top of your head.

Mike was no exception, and his body twitched violently when he was poked. But thanks to this poking, Mike also noticed Dumbledore's gesture on the stage, and stood up in a flash, and walked to Dumbledore's side in the envious and jealous eyes of everyone.

"Congratulations Mike."

Dumbledore smiled and handed a golden medal to Mike. In addition to Mike's name, the golden medal also had the reason why Mike won the award written in very small words at the bottom.

"You are too kind. I owe my current achievements to your education!"

Mike and Dumbledore praised each other's business on the podium. Finally, the two of them held up the special contribution award medal and took a photo together. Then Mike returned to the long table of Ravenclaw with the medal.

As soon as Mike sat down, the students sitting nearby rushed over and surrounded him. They all wanted to touch the legendary Special Contribution Award medal.

Mike could understand their behavior. There were many people who had won the Hogwarts Special Contribution Award in history, and their medals were kept in the Hogwarts Trophy Room. Although Hogwarts students could visit it often, they could not touch it. So they especially cherished this opportunity.

In fact, the medal in Mike's hand will be handed over to Dumbledore later and he will put it in the trophy display room. Now Mike is just holding it in his hand to feel it.

So this medal representing honor was circulated quickly on the long table in Ravenclaw. It had to be quick. If the person who got the medal delayed for a little longer, the next person would rush him.

The young wizards from other colleges could only stretch their necks and look at the Ravenclaw table with envy. They also wanted to touch the medal with their own hands, but the distance between them and the table where Mike was was too far.

"Well, after listening to this nagging old man of mine for so long, I believe everyone has become a little impatient." Dumbledore clapped his hands to shift everyone's attention from the medals to him again, "Then I declare the dinner officially open!"

Following Dumbledore's order, countless delicacies suddenly appeared out of thin air on the plates neatly arranged on the long table, and the entire hall was immediately filled with the aroma of food.

The students who had originally craned their necks to look at Mike were also attracted by the aroma and began to fight with the food. Only a few Ravenclaw students remained unmoved and continued to pass around Mike's medal.

Mike didn't care at all who had his medal. He would give it to Dumbledore later anyway. He didn't believe that anyone would be stupid enough to steal it, so he concentrated on eating the food in front of him.

The food at the Hogwarts banquet was as plain as ever, with roast chickens piled up like mountains, steaks smothered in brightly colored sauces, and an unlimited supply of countless delicacies that Mike couldn't name. The moment an empty plate appeared, it would disappear, and a plate filled with the same food would appear right after.

An hour later, Mike, who had finished the last piece of pudding, let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair.

The dinner was over, and at the same time, Mike officially ended his second year of study at Hogwarts. After Dumbledore gave the order, the students in the hall returned to their dormitories under the leadership of their respective college heads. Only Mike followed Professor Flitwick to the backstage of the hall for a short break.

As soon as he entered the lounge, Mike found that the middle-aged woman with 6-centimeter-long nails was also there, looking at him with a smile.

On the desk next to her was an open notebook, with a feather pen hovering motionlessly above the notebook.

"Mike, this is Ms. Rita Skeeter. She's a reporter from the Daily Prophet and she's here to interview you." Professor Flitwick introduced her to Mike.

As soon as Professor Flitwick said her name, Mike remembered the identity of this Rita Skeeter.

She is the Animagus reporter who can transform into a beetle in the original book. Of course, she did not go to the Ministry of Magic to register.

It is precisely because of her Animagus form's tiny size and ability to fly that Rita Skeeter can transform herself into the best gossip reporter, digging into the privacy and scandals of celebrities.

Moreover, this reporter is good at distorting facts. In order to attract readers' attention, she often writes some fictitious things. For example, in the original book, Harry and others were severely slandered by her.

"Mike, don't be nervous, just act like normal."

As if noticing that Mike was not in good condition, Professor Flitwick patted Mike on the back to comfort him.

The scene at this moment was funny. Due to Mike's crazy growth in this year, his height was now close to 1.75 meters. The short Professor Flitwick could only stand on tiptoe with all his strength to barely pat Mike's back, otherwise he could only pat Mike's butt.

After being slapped by Professor Flitwick, Mike came back to his senses.

He narrowed his eyes and was extremely alert, looking warily at Rita Skeeter in front of him. After a long moment, he smiled and said hello.

To Mike's surprise, the famous reporter stood up from his seat in an instant, took two steps at a time and came to Mike in an instant, shook Mike's hand and said:
"You are Mr. McTomley! The hero who saved Hogwarts and the strongest duelist who won the Hogwarts Dueling Tournament. I have heard of your name for a long time!"

Rita Skeeter's long nails made Mike feel very disgusted, so he broke free from her hand without leaving a trace.

Although Mike was somewhat puzzled by Rita Skeeter's attentiveness, he was still on guard. This old woman was famous for her ability to write negative articles, and Mike didn't want to see a negative article about him published in the most famous newspaper in the British wizard world - The Daily Prophet.

"You flatter me. These are just some insignificant achievements."

Rita Skeeter wanted to say something, but Professor Flitwick at the side glanced at the magic clock hanging on the wall and saw that it was getting late, so he said, "Let's get started quickly. Mike is very tired today and he needs to rest early."

Hearing this, the smile on Rita Skeeter's face froze for a moment, but she immediately returned to normal. She smiled and sat back in her seat and began to interview Mike.

Although it was only a moment, Mike was able to detect the subtle change in her expression with his powerful mental strength, and immediately had a guess in his mind.

Could it be that Rita Skeeter had already been warned by Professor Flitwick, and came here just to write a report praising herself?

Although there were already speculations, Mike was still very tight in the interview, leaving no room for Rita Skeeter to talk. Rita Skeeter's interview method was also very special. Nowadays, reporters in the Muggle society use handwriting to record the content of the interview, but in later generations, it was much more advanced. Most reporters would use recording equipment or simply take a video.

But Rita Skeeter was different. She sat comfortably on the sofa and didn't have to do anything at all. The automatic recording feather pen next to her would automatically record the content of their visit.

Mike originally wanted to ask her why she chose this recording method, because as far as Mike knew, although the fully automatic recording feather pen wrote extremely fast, there were also many typos, and the actual work efficiency would not be improved much.

But when Mike saw the carefully maintained nails on the ten fingers again, he did not ask. With such long nails, it must be very difficult for her to hold a pen and write, let alone real-time shorthand.

Half an hour later, Rita Skeeter's interview with Mike finally ended.

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Townley. If nothing unexpected happens, you will be able to see the content of today's interview in the Daily Prophet soon."

Rita Skeeter put away her notepad and quill and said to Mike with a smile.

Mike also breathed a sigh of relief. He had been highly focused throughout the interview, and he had just eaten. So even though the questions Rita Skeeter asked were very common ones, Mike still felt a little tired.

After forcing himself to say goodbye to Rita Skeeter, Mike left the room and returned to the Ravenclaw common room, leaving Professor Flitwick and Rita Skeeter alone in the small common room.

As for what Professor Flitwick and Rita Skeeter would do, Mike didn't care. He just wanted to go back to his bed and have a good sleep.

ps: coo coo coo…

(End of this chapter)