Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 345 School Dinner

Just as Pansy was lying on the ground and apologizing in tears, the door of the prefect's car was suddenly opened, and a man and a woman, two people with student union president badges on their chests walked in, looking at the scene in the car with surprise.

"How is this going?"

The head girl's eyes fell on Pansy and she asked with a frown.

It was a pity that Pansy was now completely frightened and just lay on the ground crying, with no intention of answering at all.

Seeing this, the head girl once again turned her unfriendly gaze to Mike.

Mike looked at him without any fear.

Mike's attitude made the female chairperson very angry. She instinctively wanted to scold him, but the male chairperson next to her suddenly stopped her and whispered in her ear:

"Don't meddle in other people's business! Who do you think you are? And who is he?"

The male chairperson's words made the female chairperson tremble and stop talking.

Seeing this, the male leader smiled, spread his hands and said to everyone:
"Okay, everyone, please go back to your seats. We will now arrange the work for later."

Unfortunately, his words did not receive any response. The prefects of Slytherin and the other three colleges were looking at Chris and Mike with questioning eyes, as if they were the noblest people here.

Neither Mike nor Chris said anything. They looked at each other coldly for a long time, and finally returned to their original seats without saying a word.

The other class leaders then returned to their seats.

The male chairman's face looked a little unhappy, and he could hardly maintain the fake smile on his face.

But he still walked to the center of the carriage and began to announce the next tasks for the prefects.

At Hogwarts, the Student Union is an organization that exists to help professors manage students. Prefects, as the most basic component of this organization, enjoy certain privileges while also having to shoulder considerable work and responsibilities.

Just like on the Hogwarts Express today, the main responsibility of the prefects is to maintain order and mediate various disputes.

Mike didn't intend to do any of this. In his opinion, it would be better to read more books than to do these boring jobs.

So, after casually entrusting his work to another female prefect in the same grade as him, Mike left the prefect's compartment directly.

It is worth mentioning that the girl who became a class leader like Mike this year was Ron’s dance partner at the Triwizard Tournament ball, the Indian girl, Padma Patil.

The girl was obviously very uneasy about Mike's commission. She caught up with Mike with a frown and asked anxiously:

"Mike, I don't think I can do it alone. You know, those boys... they won't listen to me. Even if I reveal my identity as the class leader, they won't care."

Patil clenched her hands tightly. She was not a very good student in Ravenclaw, and those troublemakers would never listen to her orders.

And if she tried to use her authority as a class leader to suppress them, all that would await her would be humiliation from them.

"You can do it, Patil, I believe you." Mike said without turning his head, "If there are boys who don't want to listen to your orders, you can tell them that I am also one of the class leaders this year. If they don't want me to go to them in person, then they'd better be honest. Do you understand?"

Hearing this, Patil's expression looked much better. She lowered her head as if she wanted to continue saying something to Mike, but when she looked up again, she found that Mike had disappeared around the corner.

Biting his lip, Petil could only walk towards the freshman carriage helplessly.

On the other side, after getting rid of Petil, Mike wanted to go directly to the carriage where Franklin and the others were, but was blocked by the other two.

"Thank you, Mike."

Ron lowered his head and murmured in a voice so soft that it was almost inaudible.

Seeing this, Hermione, who was standing next to him, suddenly nudged him with her elbow, cleared her throat urgently and said:
"Thanks for that, Mike!"

"No big deal." Mike waved his hand and said, "What about Harry? I haven't contacted him since we were separated in the magic department last time. How is he doing now?"

"he's good!"

When Ron heard Harry's name, he raised his head and said to Mike in a deliberately loud voice,

"He has been living in my house since then. Sirius thought that he might be happier with me. In fact, that's what happened. Harry was a little uncomfortable at first, but now he's completely fine!"

Ron raised his head, and his expression looked like a general who had won a battle and was seeking credit from the king.

Seeing this, Hermione elbowed him again.

This time, Hermione used significantly more force than the first time. Ron, who was hit, cried out in pain, covered the part of his body that was hit, and gasped for breath.

Although Hermione used a little more strength this time, it did remind Ron.

Ron gasped and gave Mike a painful smile, saying:
"Mike, do you want to come with us to find Harry?"

"Yes, Harry will be very happy!"

Hermione echoed.

Mike frowned and thought for a while, and felt that there was really nothing to say to Harry, so he finally refused:

"Forget it, I think we'll meet at school. Well, I'm leaving first, and you guys should hurry up and get to work."

After saying that, Mike walked straight past the two people and headed towards his original carriage.

The two people behind him looked at each other in bewilderment. After a long while, Ron gritted his teeth and shouted at Mike's receding back:

"Mike! Thank you!"

Mike didn't answer, he didn't even have the slightest intention of stopping, he just raised his hand and waved, indicating that Ron didn't need to worry about it.

And just this one action brought smiles to Ron and Hermione's faces.

……

In a carriage of the Hogwarts Express, Zhou Hong and Benjamin were playing Gobstones, an ancient magic game similar to marbles. Every time a point was lost, the winner's stone would spray a smelly liquid into the loser's face.

Benjamin was obviously no match for Zhou Hong in this regard. With the crisp sound of stones colliding, several red stone balls belonging to Zhou Hong suddenly sprayed out streams of thick, foul-smelling liquid, which sprayed straight onto Benjamin's face.

"Oh! Shet!"

Benjamin cursed instinctively. But then, as if he remembered something terrible, he quickly covered his mouth and looked at a carriage door not far away with a look of horror.

And behind that door, Mike was alone, concentrating on reading a book as thick as a dictionary.

Of course he heard the noise outside the car, but he didn't say anything. The noise didn't affect his reading.

The book he was reading at the moment was a banned book called "Self-Defense and Counterattack - Details That Must Be Remembered 1990 Revised Edition".

This book is a professional book used by the Ministry of Magic to train Aurors. The Ministry of Magic almost treats it as a family heirloom and protects it very strictly. Unless you become an Auror, you will not be able to find this book even on the black market.

Even Mike got such a copy through the connections of the Fry family, and it’s an old version from several years ago!
But it was this old book that fascinated Mike.

This book records a lot of seemingly trivial things, but they are experiences summarized by countless people with their blood and lives.

For example, do not use the Explosive Spell (Thunderbolt Explosion) in a narrow space such as a room or cave, because the Explosive Spell has a fatal flaw, that is, when it comes into contact with an object, it will bounce back aimlessly. If you use the Explosive Spell in the above-mentioned terrains, there is a high probability that you will hurt yourself.

As if to make readers remember this warning more clearly, a large number of magical pictures are attached below the description of this item.

Most of them were disabled people with missing limbs, while some were horrific corpses or simply a pool of minced meat.

The captions on these pictures are all the same: injured by the rebound of one's own explosive spell!
I don’t know how long it had been, but a whistle suddenly woke up Mike who was immersed in a book.

Urgently, accompanied by a crisp knock on the door, Benjamin's familiar voice also came from outside the door.

"Mike, the train has arrived and we should get off."

"understood."

Surrounded by the crowd, Mike got off the train.

As in previous years, the freshmen had to leave with the old students on the platform and go to the pier to take a boat to school.

This is a Hogwarts tradition that happens every year.

The only difference from previous years is that this year the teacher responsible for guiding the freshmen is no longer Hagrid, but a strong female professor.

Harry was obviously very concerned about Hagrid's disappearance, and kept asking the professor questions, while Mike and others followed the large group to the Nighthawks' camp and took the carriage to Hogwarts.

The weather is very good today. The ceiling of the auditorium is dotted with stars, and from time to time there are thin clouds floating slowly by.

And below the ceiling, countless burning candles were floating, illuminating the entire auditorium.

When Mike and others sat down at the long table covered with tablecloths in their respective house colors, Professor McGonagall, as in previous years, displayed the Sorting Hat, the school's treasure.

As the hour struck, the door of the auditorium suddenly opened.

The freshmen lined up neatly in two rows according to gender. They looked around the magic hall curiously and walked briskly towards the Sorting Hat under the guidance of the professor.

Compared with previous years, the number of freshmen this year is only about 70% of previous years. Mike knows that this is probably affected by the news of Voldemort's return.

After all the freshmen entered the auditorium, all the teachers and students in the school shaved their beards and waited.

Then, on the old-fashioned wooden chair in the middle of the auditorium, a crack suddenly appeared next to the long brim of the Sorting Hat, and then the Sorting Hat's very distinctive voice came from it:
"The students we teach must be brave and fearless, and they must fight for their lives... I have sounded the alarm for you... Now, let us start the division. (For detailed lyrics, please see the next chapter.)"

When the song ended, applause broke out all around, but there was also whispering in between.

The song of the Sorting Hat this year is very strange. Usually, the school song of the Sorting Hat is just to introduce the characteristics of the four major colleges to the freshmen, but this year's school song has a sense of encouragement.

Mike, Benjamin and others looked at each other. They naturally knew what the Sorting Hat meant by the song.

I just want my classmates to unite and face this disaster together.

As the sorting ceremony came to an end, Dumbledore, like in previous years, walked to the podium under everyone's expectant gaze and prepared to deliver this year's speech.

"Welcome our new students." Dumbledore's voice was extremely loud, he opened his arms, and a bright smile appeared on his face. He also welcomed our old students. Welcome back! There is plenty of time for speeches, but not now. Eat happily! "

Dumbledore's simple opening speech once again won warm applause from all the teachers and students. As Dumbledore sat down upright and threw his long beard over his shoulders, the originally empty table in front of everyone was suddenly piled with large pieces of meat, pies, plates of vegetables, bread and various drinks.

"Great!"

A freshman sitting not far from Mike couldn't help but cheer. They had been sitting on the train for such a long time and they were already starving.

Mike frowned and stared at Dumbledore in the teacher's seat.

Mike guessed that Dumbledore's speech this year should also be as positive and inspiring as the Sorting Hat song, so as to further inspire the morale of the students.

But Dumbledore did not do so. Instead, he chose to do as he did in previous years and just said a few words before leaving.

This really puzzled Mike.

At the same time, the sharp-eyed Mike quickly discovered the abnormality in the Hogwarts teacher lineup this year.

Moody, who was the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts last year, did not appear in the hall. Instead, he was replaced by the Ministry of Magic official who had met Mike once in the court during Harry's trial.

Dolores Umbridge.

That's right, it's the woman who looks like a toad.

The moment he saw the woman, Mike's eyes narrowed.

The appearance of this woman means that the Ministry of Magic has begun to intervene in its internal affairs.

Inside the bright hall, everyone's face was filled with excited smiles, and the freshmen happily enjoyed their first meal at Hogwarts.

The senior students mingled with the freshmen, piling the plates in front of them with various steaks while introducing everything about Hogwarts to the freshmen.

But the name they mentioned most often was Mike Townley.

The flattery from the seniors made the freshmen curious about the legendary senior Townley, which resulted in a lot of curious eyes gathering around Mike.

While under these gazes, Mike was looking at Umbridge in the faculty seat.

“It looks like this year will be very interesting!”

(End of this chapter)