The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 74 The beginning of a new school year

After saying goodbye to Professor McGonagall, Ryan and the other two walked down the stairs towards Gryffindor Tower. A few minutes later, they came to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Oh, you came really early, this is not normal." The Fat Lady said, looking at the three of them.

"Honeybird, honeybird." Ryan, who had been turning around in the fireplace for a long time and shaking in the carriage for a long time, felt a little dizzy and really didn't want to talk. It seemed that Harry and Ron thought so too.

The Fat Lady's portrait swung open and the three of them climbed through the hole and threw themselves onto the nearest sofa.

Ryan sat for a long time before catching his breath. Then he saw someone put a plate on the coffee table in front of him. On it were Yorkshire pudding and roast beef, with roast potatoes and pea sprouts next to them. A layer of brown gravy was poured on the beef and vegetables. Next to the plate was a pot of pumpkin juice and three cups.

It seems that if they were not punished for causing trouble, this simple meal in Hogwarts would be very sumptuous. Ryan and the others poured gravy on the pudding and ate the beef. After all, they were already hungry after a whole morning of hard work.

After lunch, the tableware disappeared, just like when eating in the Great Hall. The house elves at Hogwarts were indeed very good, serving every wizard without being discovered by the wizard.

After sitting for a while, Ryan asked Harry and Ron, "Why can't we get through the wall? Is it because of a malfunction?"

Harry continued, "Maybe. After all, the Hogwarts Express has been running for more than a century. Considering that the gates at the subway entrances break down every few days, it's normal for this kind of entrance to break down occasionally."

"No, things in the wizarding world are not that easy to break. Especially such important partitions are inspected every year." Ron retorted, then he turned to Ryan and said, "Thank you this time. Now I realize that if I really drove my father's car away, my mother would definitely kill me. Not to mention that if we really drove, we would probably still be sitting in the narrow car basking in the sun."

"You're welcome. I just think more about things than others sometimes." Ryan said. "I'm going to take a nap. I'm really tired after tossing and turning all morning."

After saying that, Ryan walked up the escalator to his room for a nap. When he woke up at around three o'clock, he washed up, put on his robe and went downstairs. He saw Harry and Ron playing Crackling Exploding Cards. Harry's hand shook and the cards exploded, as if they had burned his eyebrows.

Seeing Ryan coming down from upstairs, Harry seemed to suddenly think of something and said to Ryan: "By the way, Ryan. Thank you for the letter and postcard you sent me during the holiday."

Later, Ryan also joined their game. Relying on the assassin's heritage, Ryan's hands were very steady, and he could build a very high castle with crackling explosion cards. Unfortunately, he was no match for Ron in wizard chess and was beaten badly.

Finally, when all three of them felt a little tired, it was time for dinner. They quickly packed up and went downstairs to the auditorium to attend the opening ceremony.

When they arrived at the auditorium, no one had arrived yet, so Ryan and the other two waited in the hall outside the auditorium. After a while, there were chattering sounds coming from the corridor, and the students had all arrived.

Ryan followed the crowd to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Just like last year, the ceiling was full of candles, and the hall was a sea of ​​black hats. The only difference was that this year Ryan was no longer waiting at the door like the freshmen. Instead, he sat at his own college table like other students, waiting for the freshmen to be sorted. Ryan had just sat down when he heard hurried footsteps in front of him, and then a figure sat opposite Ryan. It turned out to be Hermione. She had a slightly anxious look on her face.

"What happened to you? I didn't see you and Harry on the train. I thought you were all missing."

"My father had a minor car accident on the road this morning, so he arrived at the station a little late. Then, for some reason, there was a problem with the wall of the platform. Harry and I were trapped outside. We went to the Leaky Cauldron and wrote a letter for help, and Professor McGonagall used the Floo Network to help deliver it to school."

After listening to this, Hermione patted her chest with her hand and said, "I'm glad you guys are okay. You don't know how worried I was when I found out that you guys were not in the car."

Ryan wanted to say something, but Dumbledore stood up and spoke, so he shut up.

The headmaster announced the start of the Sorting Ceremony, the door of the auditorium was pushed open, and the freshmen were trembling with fear like quails. As expected, not telling the freshmen the details of the Sorting Ceremony was a traditional prank of Hogwarts.

However, looking at these new students and thinking about the seventh grade students who have already graduated, Ryan realized that the real power of the British wizarding world has always been in Hogwarts.

If nothing else, at least most of the employees of the British Ministry of Magic graduated from here. Bureaucrats like Fudge will step down one after another, but since 1956, the headmaster of Hogwarts has always been Dumbledore. It can be said that almost all the employees of the Ministry of Magic in office are Dumbledore's students.

Ryan was thinking about the grievances between the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts in the original book, and the song of the Sorting Hat brought him back to reality. It must be said that even after a year of brewing, the song of the Sorting Hat is still so unpleasant.

Next came the Sorting Ceremony, and Ginny Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor as expected. In addition, there was also Colin Creevey, a famous Harry Potter fan. Ryan thought that the two of them should form a Harry Potter fan club together, as they would have a lot in common.

After the usual speech by the principal (short as last year), the sumptuous dinner began, and the hall was filled with laughter and the clinking of knives and forks.

When the last piece of dessert disappeared, Dumbledore told everyone that it was time to go back to bed. Hermione finally found a chance to ask Ryan how he got to school. After listening to Ryan's story, Hermione said to Ryan:
"Fortunately, you didn't listen to Ron's bad advice, otherwise you would definitely lose a lot of points from the school today, and you might even be expelled."

After returning to the common room, the classmates showed interest in the unusual way Ryan and his three companions arrived at school. Ron seemed to enjoy the feeling of being the center of attention, and kept describing the situation to anyone who was willing to listen to him.

Ryan shrugged after seeing this, and went upstairs to his dormitory after saying goodnight to Hermione. While his roommates were still not back in the dormitory, Ryan practiced spells for a while. Then he went to the bathroom to wash up and went to bed. What a thrilling first day of school.

(End of this chapter)