Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 228 It’s the first day of school again
Seeing the Dementor, which had been so arrogant and threatening in front of him, being chased by Lupin's patronus like a stray dog, Mike felt a little uncomfortable at the same time as he breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, Lupin's somewhat urgent voice came from behind them.

"Sorry, I'm late!"

Everyone in the carriage looked back quickly and saw Professor Lupin running towards them, panting.

It can be seen that Professor Lupin is very weak. After running such a short distance, he broke out in cold sweat.

Lupin took the opportunity to greet everyone and rest for a while, then ran towards the front of the car again, while his Patronus flew there before him.

This made Mike very jealous. A powerful patronus could travel far away from the person who released it. Some powerful wizards even developed the ability to use patronus to send messages over long distances.

Not long after Lupin left, the train continued to move. Mike did not go with Lupin to check on the driver, nor did he go to Harry's side. Instead, he stayed in the original carriage to accompany Penelope.

Perhaps the shock the Dementors had just given her was too great, from the moment Mike appeared, Penelope threw herself into his arms, hanging on him like a koala, and refused to let go no matter what.

Mike could feel Penelope's body was shaking constantly. Feeling a little distressed, Mike took out a large bar of chocolate and distributed some to the rest of the people in the carriage. Then he took out a cup of water, melted a cup of hot chocolate with a fire spell and handed it to Penelope.

"Be good, drink this and you'll feel much better."

Penelope poked her head out of Mike's arms and opened her mouth but said nothing.

The meaning was already very clear, and Mike took out a spoon and fed Penelope mouthful by mouthful.

Logically speaking, the effect of hot chocolate should be better than eating it directly, but Penelope's body kept shaking uncontrollably, which made Mike very anxious.

Penelope seemed to realize that chocolate was of little use to her, so she took a small bite of the chocolate, put her arms around Mike's neck and kissed him.

What do a girl’s lips taste like?
An experienced person can tell you from experience that it is an extremely special sweet fragrance, which is very light and you can't feel it at all if you don't taste it carefully.

At this moment, Mike could not feel any taste at all. The chocolate in Penelope's mouth turned into a rich sweetness that hit his taste buds, making him unable to taste any other taste at all.

Penelope's movements were very intense, and Mike responded to her enthusiastically.

Surprisingly, after a while, Mike found that Penelope was no longer trembling and her emotions gradually calmed down.

Even so, the two did not stop, but became more intense.

However, at this moment, a familiar voice came from the side.

"Oh! Oh! Sorry! Mike, I didn't mean to bother you."

The two hurriedly separated, and when Penelope saw that it was Professor Lupin, she shyly buried her head in Mike's arms like an ostrich, while Mike looked at Lupin speechlessly.

"I just wanted to ask if you want to go check on Harry. Someone told me that he has woken up. It's okay if you don't want to go. You can continue." Lupin stepped back awkwardly. "To be honest, it's the right thing to do. Kissing, like chocolate, can quickly make people happy. Of course, the premise is that you are with the person you love."

After saying this, Lupin quickly disappeared from Mike's sight, leaving only Mike and Penelope in the dark compartment.

"What he said was true. I feel much better now."

Mike turned his head when he heard the voice and saw Penelope looking at him with sharp eyes.

"So, you have to continue..."

Mike laughed when he heard it and said something jokingly, but his mouth was blocked before he could finish his words.

……

On the other side, Harry was surrounded by a large group of people.

Most of them were there to watch the fun, and few were really worried about Harry. After all, it was really funny that the boy who survived was frightened unconscious by the Dementors.

In fact, Harry himself thought so too. In the past two years since entering the wizarding world, he has been trying hard to play the role of a savior hero. But at this moment, everyone else was fine but he suddenly fainted. This made Harry feel very embarrassed and he had the urge to find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

Fortunately, Lupin arrived in time and dispersed the crowd of onlookers, which prevented this embarrassing scene from continuing.

"Harry, how are you feeling now? Did you eat the chocolate?"

Lupin asked Harry with concern, but Harry was not in a good mood at the moment. Facing Lupin's question, he just lowered his head and said, "Well, I feel good now."

Although he said he felt good, anyone with a discerning eye could see that Harry was in a bad mood.

After saying that, Harry suddenly raised his head and looked around. Seeing that all his friends were there, but one person was missing, he hurriedly asked, "Where's Mike?"

Harry felt a little sad, Mike could be said to be the first friend he had ever known, but now he was not there when he was in trouble.

"He's in the front carriage." Lupin said with a strange expression, "His girlfriend is in a bad condition, and he is comforting her there."

"Oh, is that so?"

Harry didn't notice Lupin's expression at all, he just felt that his mood improved a little.

'Mike didn't mean it, there are people who need him more,' Harry thought.

The train was running at high speed and soon arrived at Hogwarts.

This year's Hogwarts looks particularly gloomy. Many dark shadows are hovering over the castle, which was brightly lit in the past, making people feel creepy.

Mike and other old and new students separated at the station and arrived at the castle in the Night Unicorn carriage.

As soon as he arrived at the castle, Mike saw Professor McGonagall hurriedly running into the students and leading Harry and others out of the crowd.

Mike walked forward calmly, still holding Penelope's hand. The woman had recovered after being comforted by Mike in the car, but she was unwilling to let go of Mike's hand. Mike had no choice but to hold her hand all the way to the castle's auditorium.

The new year's opening dinner has begun again. There is really not much to say about the process of the dinner. Mike has participated in two sessions and is already very familiar with the process.

First, the Sorting Hat presented the song he had prepared for a whole year, and then the new students were sorted into their houses one by one...

The only difference here is that the old students from various colleges are much more enthusiastic than in the past two years. Whenever a freshman is successfully assigned to a college, his college will erupt in deafening cheers.

Mike understood their behavior. After having just experienced such a fright on the train, it was normal for them to release their inner fear in this way. This is called compensatory psychology.

Deep down, they want to rely on this kind of carnival to make up for themselves.

This kind of mentality may also appear in people who work very hard.

The actual manifestation is that a person often works overtime and is very tired. But the more this happens, the less he will rest when it is time to rest, but instead go to various exciting places such as bars, clubs, and Internet cafes to party. This is the compensatory psychology.

In this joyful atmosphere, Mike seemed a little lonely. He had just been hit hard by the Dementors on the train.

He originally thought that with his current level of Patronus Charm, he should be able to at least protect himself, let alone drive away the Dementors.

However, reality gave him a hard slap in the face.

Not to mention protecting himself, if Lupin hadn't arrived in time today, both he and Penelope would have been in danger.

Casting the Patronus Charm during training and casting the Patronus Charm in front of Dementors are two completely different experiences. During training, you are in an absolutely safe environment, in which case it is easy for you to generate positive emotions.

However, when facing Dementors in actual combat, your subconscious mind is always warning you to stay away from the monster as soon as possible. This sense of danger will make people very nervous, which will in turn affect the release of the Patronus Charm.

Not to mention, Dementors themselves can absorb joyful emotions, and the difficulty of casting the Patronus Charm increases exponentially under this double effect.

In fact, it's pretty good that Mike can use the Patronus Charm in front of the Dementors. Most beginners will become cold and frozen in place when facing the Dementors for the first time, and they won't be able to cast the spell at all.

"are you OK?"

Penelope looked at Mike worriedly and held Mike's hand tightly.

She had noticed in the car just now that Mike was in a very low mood.

At first she thought that the side effects of the Dementors had not yet subsided, so she kept looking for Mike for comfort. She herself was not a person with a particularly strong desire in this regard, she just wanted to use this method to make Mike recover.

However, judging from the current situation, there must be something else behind Mike's emotional problems.

Feeling the warmth in his hands, Mike showed a forced smile on his face and said firmly: "It's okay, I'll take care of it!"

Penelope looked at Mike with her eyes flashing. She didn't understand what Mike was going to do. But none of this mattered. Penelope had great confidence in Mike. Since Mike said he would do it, then it must be okay.

"Yeah! I believe you!"

Looking at Penelope's sincere smile, the smile on Mike's face gradually became genuine.

At the same time, the sorting ceremony was over, and Headmaster Dumbledore slowly walked up to the podium and began his annual speech to encourage students to study.

"Welcome! Welcome back to Hogwarts! I have a few things to tell you, one of which is extremely important, so..." Dumbledore paused, "So I thought it would be best to tell you before you enjoy your delicious meal and your mind becomes confused."

Dumbledore's British joke once again made many people in the audience laugh, but Mike looked indifferent. He didn't feel the funny part of the joke at all, he just felt embarrassed.

"Our school has recently welcomed several Dementors from Azkaban. They are sent by the Ministry of Magic to perform official duties. You probably already know this because they searched the train."

Dumbledore paused again here. Mike noticed that Dumbledore's expression looked particularly ugly under the candlelight. It seemed that Dumbledore was also very dissatisfied with the behavior of these Dementors.

"What I want to say is that the nature of Dementors will not understand any excuses or sophistry, so I remind everyone here not to give them any reason to hurt you. They will be stationed at various entrances of the school and will not allow anyone to leave the school without permission. No tricks, tricks or disguises can fool them, including the invisibility cloak and the disillusionment charm."

When Dumbledore talked about the Disillusionment Charm, he glanced at Mike, which made Mike's heart tremble. It seemed that Dumbledore had known that he used the Disillusionment Charm to travel at night.

Fortunately, Dumbledore only glanced at it and then looked away and continued, "Well, let's talk about something light. We have two new teachers this semester."

Dumbledore extended his hand to Lupin who was standing beside him and said, "First, Professor Lupin. He came to Hogwarts at my invitation to be the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Lupin straightened his clothes, stood up and nodded to the people in the audience.

Except for Slytherin, students from the other three houses all gave warm applause. Lupin's performance on the train just now made these students respect him and ignore his poor outfit.

Next, Dumbledore once again introduced the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid.

Now, except for the students of Gryffindor, the applause from students of other colleges seemed a bit perfunctory. There was no way. Hagrid offended many people by choosing "The Monster Book of Monsters", a book that bites people, as a textbook.

There were few students present who had not been bitten by this book.

I don't know if it was because he was stupid, but Hagrid didn't feel embarrassed at all in the face of this situation. He was even moved to tears. He was wiping his tears with the tablecloth and blowing his nose from time to time.

His disgusting behavior made Professor Flitwick, who was sitting next to him, look very unhappy. Professor Flitwick glanced at Hagrid helplessly and silently moved his seat further away.

Next came the once-a-year feast. After Dumbledore gave the order, the hall instantly turned into a battlefield, with young wizards from various colleges clearing out the food in front of them.

After the dinner, Mike did not follow the group back to the dormitory, but secretly left the crowd and came to the only way from the auditorium to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office.

He planned to speak to Lupin tonight and the sooner he learned the Patronus Charm, the greater the advantage he would have.

However, when he was hiding in the corner waiting for Professor Lupin to appear, he heard the sound of Professor Lupin and Snape arguing.

(End of this chapter)