Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 260 Preparing for the Award
Mike could swear that this was the most special letter he had ever received in his life.

There was nothing fancy about the envelope used to put the letter. It was not even as gorgeous as the letter Fudge sent him.

But the stationery inside is different.

As soon as Mike unfolded the letter, he smelled a refreshing fragrance. Then a soft light began to bloom on the letter. Several elves with shining wings suddenly appeared and flew up from the paper, singing and dancing, and throwing shining light dust towards Mike.

The real words on the letter slowly appeared in front of Mike under the soft white light.

Mike was a little stunned when he received this kind of magic letter for the first time.

He kept closing and opening the letter paper, closing and opening it again.

As he moved, the white light, the elf and the words on the letter paper kept disappearing and reappearing.

It was not until this moment that Mike confirmed that everything he saw was virtualized by magic. Those elves and the light powder they sprinkled on his face were all just light and shadow effects.

It was not until half an hour later that Mike got tired of playing and began to read the words on the letter carefully.

As Mike expected, this was indeed an invitation letter informing him to go to the Ministry of Magic to receive an honor.

Unlike ordinary invitations, the staff of the Ministry of Magic not only marked the time on it, but also very rudely wrote down the clothes that participants in the award ceremony should wear.

Formal wear.

The Ministry of Magic's requirements for the attire of awardees are just these two simple words.

It was just these two simple words, but they made Mike a little confused.

He knew about formal attire in Muggle society. Apart from the unique clothing of each ethnic group and country, the most widely used one should be the suit.

But what is the formal attire of wizarding society? A robe?

In desperation, Mike had to go to Professor Flitwick's office.

Inside the office, Professor Flitwick was grading students' papers. When he saw Mike knocking on the door, his originally slightly serious face immediately blossomed like a chrysanthemum.

"Hahaha, Mike, you did really well on the test this time. I'm going to give you a big A!"

"Thank you, Professor." Mike thanked him and quickly asked his question, "Professor, do you know what the wizards' formal attire is?"

Flitwick obviously didn't expect Mike to ask him such a question. A look of surprise appeared on his face, and the pen in his hand that was marking the test paper stopped.

"There are many kinds of formal attire for wizards, from wizard robes handed down from the Middle Ages to modern dresses and so on. If I were to list them one by one, I'm afraid it would take until dark." Professor Flitwick said, "Why are you suddenly asking this? Penelope's parents want to see you? That's not right. Her parents are both Muggles. You should just wear Muggle formal attire."

Ignoring the latter part of Professor Flitwick's joke, Mike handed the invitation to Professor Flitwick and said:
"That's right Professor. I was awarded the Order of Merlin, Second Class, for what happened with Blake."

Professor Flitwick was obviously shocked by the news. He took the envelope handed to him by Mike, opened it and looked at it for a long time before saying excitedly:

"That's wonderful! This is one of the highest honors a wizard can receive!"

Mike couldn't help but smile. He could feel Professor Flitwick's pure joy, and he was truly happy for him.

"The day after tomorrow? That's too short a time to make custom-made dresses and wizard robes! Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Professor Flitwick paced back and forth in the office excitedly, and then began to rummage through his wardrobe. He casually took out one gorgeous robe after another and threw them on the floor of the office. "No! My dress robes are all specially made in size, you can't wear them at all, what should I do!"

Mike stared in amazement at Professor Flitwick, who was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He couldn't understand why Flitwick was so excited. It was just a Second Class Order of Merlin.

At this moment, Professor Flitwick seemed to have suddenly remembered something and looked back and forth at Mike. After a while, he slapped his forehead and said in surprise:

"How could I be so stupid! Aren't you wearing formal clothes now?"

"But... this is just a school uniform."

"You must remember your identity! You are not only a wizard, but also a student! And what else can a student wear besides school uniform? This is the advantage of being a student!" Professor Flitwick said proudly, "You should be the youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin, second class. No young wizard like you has ever received such an honor before!"

Mike scratched his hair shyly and didn't say anything like the medal was worthless. He knew that Professor Flitwick didn't even have a third-level medal. If he said something asking for a beating in front of him, he would really beat him up.

After getting the answer he wanted, Mike prepared to leave. He could see that Professor Flitwick still had a lot of work to deal with.

But Professor Flitwick was obviously not going to let him go just like that. He started dressing up Mike like an old father whose son was about to go for his first interview.

One moment, she pinned a golden eagle brooch on Mike's chest, and the next moment, she turned up Mike's blue tie, which symbolized Ravenclaw, at his collar. But after thinking for a while, she felt that this was too ugly, so she turned it down again...

……

In the auditorium two days later.

In the past two days, the news that Mike and Snape had won the Order of Merlin, Second Class, had spread throughout Hogwarts. Today, except for Professor Binns of History of Magic, almost all professors and students came to the hall to see Mike and Snape off.

The two of them will go to the Ministry of Magic with Dumbledore.

When Mike came to the auditorium, he instantly attracted many people's attention.

The reason is simple: the school uniform he is wearing is just too sexy.

It seemed that Professor Flitwick wanted to use the opportunity of Mike's awarding to promote Ravenclaw House to the wizards participating in the awarding, so he used Mike as an advertising billboard and put as many Ravenclaw logos as possible on Mike while ensuring his appearance.

At this moment, in addition to the eagle brooch on Mike's chest and the blue tie on his collar, even his cuffs were faintly blue.

Of course, to be honest, this outfit is quite handsome, and Mike is quite satisfied with it, but Professor McGonagall obviously doesn't think so.

She frowned the first time Mike appeared, because Mike's attire was obviously in violation of school rules. Hogwarts did not allow students to make such modifications to their school uniforms.

But considering that today was Mike's big day, she didn't say anything.

Compared to Mike, Dumbledore and Snape's robes were much more low-key. Dumbledore was still wearing the same gray and white robes he always wore, and Mike understood this very well. After all, for someone of Dumbledore's level, it didn't matter what he wore, and no one would accuse a legendary wizard of being untidy.

They may even think that this is a trend and follow suit.

Snape obviously preferred black. At the moment, he was wearing a pure black robe. Mike felt that this outfit was more suitable for attending a funeral than for an awarding ceremony.

It is worth mentioning that Professor Snape finally washed his hair today!

Mike was not the only one who noticed this. In fact, many people, including many professors, were staring at Snape's silky hair.

Mike even discovered that even Dumbledore was looking at Snape's head intentionally or unintentionally.

Apparently, everyone was very surprised that Professor Snape washed his hair.

Mike was no exception. He once maliciously speculated whether Snape's dislike for washing his hair was related to the Potter family.

Because the most widely used hair softener in the British wizarding world is the product of the Potter family.

Now it seems that there should be little connection between the two things. Snape may just be simply sloppy.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, let's go."

Following Dumbledore's order, the castle gate opened automatically, and a Thestral carriage was parked outside the gate waiting for them.

Amid the cheers of the crowd, Michael followed Dumbledore and Snape into the carriage.

The carriage started slowly, and the cheers of the students gradually faded away. Dumbledore looked at Mike, who was a little embarrassed, and said:

"Don't be nervous, this is just a very simple little ceremony."

Mike laughed dryly twice. He thought Dumbledore might have misunderstood something. What he was nervous about was not the awarding ceremony, but Dumbledore himself.

Compared to Snape Dumbledore, who had remained silent since he appeared in the hall, he was obviously more willing to talk to Mike. His smile became even brighter and he said:

"I want to thank you, Mac. Black and Lupin are both good students of mine. I am grateful that you can clear their names."

Mike was about to say something polite when Snape beside him suddenly snorted coldly.

Dumbledore glanced at Snape, and seeing that he was not going to speak, he said with a smile: "I heard that you got a lot of magic books from Black, right?"

"That's right, professor. Those books are all valuable knowledge. I have sorted them out and shared them with those who need them."

Mike said before Dumbledore could finish.

He knew what Dumbledore was planning. If he continued to answer according to his words, he might use the too much knowledge of dark magic in them to take back the books, which Mike could not tolerate.

Sure enough, after hearing what Mike said, Dumbledore stopped talking. He must have realized that Mike did not intend to hand over the knowledge.

In fact, he had no ill intentions, nor did he have any intention of robbing his students of their property. He simply felt that it would be better for a young wizard like Mike not to be exposed to the dark arts.

Now that Mike doesn't want him to get involved, he doesn't plan to interfere.

He didn't think that doing so would have any negative impact on Mike. From what he knew about Mike, although Mike looked like a child, he was mentally mature.

Such a mature and intelligent person is difficult to be controlled by black magic.

As for whether Michael would become the new generation of Dark Lord, Dumbledore didn't believe it.

It's not that he looked down on Mike, but he had seen too many geniuses. Many of these people performed better than Mike in their youth, but what was the result? In the end, although these people became big figures in the wizarding world, the only one who could truly compare with him and Grindelwald was Voldemort.

What's more, Mike is a Muggle-born wizard...

Dumbledore fell into deep thought unconsciously, and if he didn't speak, Mike and Snape naturally wouldn't speak either. So in this almost eerie silence, the Yeqi parked in the parking lot of the Ministry of Magic.

Perhaps because Dumbledore was also coming this time, it was the Minister of Magic Fudge who came to greet them.

He was seen moving his two elephant legs with great effort, and enthusiastically leading Mai and others into the Ministry of Magic.

If you just look at the bright smile on his face, it would be hard to imagine that he had just had a violent conflict with Dumbledore over Dementors and Hagrid.

Along the way, Fudge fully utilized his skills as a politician. He did not ignore Mike at all because of his young age. He talked to everyone enthusiastically and occasionally turned the topic to Mike so that Mike would not feel embarrassed.

His behavior was undoubtedly graceful. Anyone who was treated like this by the famous Minister of Magic would surely be grateful, but Mike did not feel the slightest bit of emotion.

Mike has long seen through these politicians.

They are two-faced. They can be chatting and laughing with you one second, and stab you in the back without batting an eyelid the next.

The saying "smiling but hiding a dagger" is the true portrayal of this kind of person!
Thanks to Fudge's leadership, Mike and others didn't need to queue at all. They took the magic elevator smoothly all the way to the floor where the awarding ceremony was held.

As soon as he arrived here, Mike opened his mouth in surprise. He saw that the busy office floor in the past was now decorated like a dinner party. The staff in work clothes and hurried steps were all gone, replaced by many men and women in gorgeous dresses.

The arrival of Mike and his group immediately attracted everyone's attention. An old man came up with a red wine glass and smiled. He shouted from a distance:
"Professor Dumbledore! It's been such a long time!"

Dumbledore obviously knew the visitor, and the two must have a good relationship, because a bright smile broke out on Dumbledore's face the moment he saw the visitor.

And this smile was obviously much more genuine than the one he had just shown when facing Fudge.

"Newt, it's been a long time!"

(End of this chapter)