Hogwarts: I'm the only cultivator here!

At midday, Dumbledore, who was standing on the tower with Grindelwald, looked at Hogwarts, which had turned red, and couldn't help but close his eyes.

"This is truly...a terrible tragedy..."

Chapter 104 Dumbledore: This Christmas, I'm definitely going to celebrate it!

Although it may seem a bit heartless, it is true that what is not prohibited by law is permissible. So, although Dumbledore didn't like or want Hogwarts to turn red, there was no explicit prohibition in the school rules against putting up Spring Festival couplets, door gods, hanging red lanterns, or red silk on Hogwarts on Christmas Day.

Therefore, as Hogwarts gradually turned red, Dumbledore could only watch, though he couldn't bear it, while Voldemort, possessed by him, had already retreated back into his diary to curse.

These Spring Festival couplets and door gods were all made by Ye Feng. Ye Feng's brush was originally used to draw talismans. In other words, the brush Ye Feng used to write Spring Festival couplets and draw door gods was actually a talisman brush containing immortal power.

Using a talisman brush imbued with divine power to write Spring Festival couplets and draw door gods to protect the home and ensure peace is a professional skill, thus both the couplets and the door gods contain a trace of exorcising power.

Although Ye Feng wrote and drew them with a playful attitude and did not intend for them to have the ability to suppress demons and exorcise evil spirits, they were still imbued with a trace of power in the end.

Originally, this trace of power was very weak and would naturally dissipate in a few days. However, Ye Feng wrote and drew too much, and as the saying goes, quantitative change leads to qualitative change. So when the Spring Festival couplets and door gods were pasted up, Voldemort suddenly discovered that his spiritual body was as if it had been thrown into a raging fire as soon as it left the diary.

There was nothing he could do; he tried several times and it was always the same. He could only hide, and the more door gods and Spring Festival couplets he pasted, the stronger the feeling became. Eventually, even when he was hiding in the diary, he still felt a burning sensation. Finally, he had to have the person he was controlling throw the diary outside the academy before he felt a little better.

Of course, Voldemort wasn't the only one who felt this way; the ghosts at Hogwarts felt it even more strongly. So they went to Dumbledore to complain, and when Dumbledore heard their complaint, his eyes lit up instantly.

"Looks like I won't have to celebrate the Spring Festival this year."

"Although the Spring Festival is quite nice and lively, I still prefer Christmas." Dumbledore murmured, a slight smile playing on his lips, as he led the ghosts toward the liveliest part of the school.

Although they didn't know where Ye Feng was, they weren't worried at all. Based on Dumbledore's understanding of Ye Feng, you usually didn't need to deliberately look for him when he caused trouble. Just go to the busiest place, and Ye Feng would most likely be there.

Dumbledore had a deep understanding of Ye Feng. When they arrived at the busiest part of the school, the dining hall, they saw Ye Feng directing the students to set up the dining hall. By the time Dumbledore and his group arrived, the original long tables had all disappeared and been replaced with round tables, and red tablecloths had already been placed on them.

Dumbledore: Σ (?Д?;)

"Speed...so fast? It's almost finished setting up."

Dumbledore was taken aback by the fact that the restaurant was almost completely set up, but he couldn't help but raise his hand and press it down, saying loudly, "Everyone, stop what you're doing and be quiet!"

Although Dumbledore's dignified image may have collapsed due to Ye Feng's various outrageous actions over the past two years, his words were still very useful, so everyone stopped what they were doing as soon as he spoke.

Seeing that everyone had stopped and was looking at him, Dumbledore nodded in satisfaction and said, "Alright, gentlemen and ladies, although this news may be cruel, you can stop what you are doing for now."

"Why, Headmaster Dumbledore? We just want to decorate the dining room to our liking to welcome Christmas this year, is that not allowed?"

Before Ye Feng could even speak, the older students jumped out, because they were tired of the same old Christmas every year. Now that there was something new and so interesting, they didn't want to miss it.

Dumbledore, who was already feeling uncomfortable seeing his Hogwarts transformed into something unfamiliar and eager to restore it to its original state, suddenly realized he might have made a mistake this time when he heard this and saw the confused and disappointed looks on the students' faces.

Dumbledore wasn't the kind of person who would never repent; on the contrary, he was quite willing to humbly accept and correct his mistakes. So, after thinking for a moment, he said directly, "Actually, I don't object to what you've arranged."

As he said this, Dumbledore glanced at the round tables and red lanterns in the dining room, and after he finished looking at them and the students below, he spoke again: "However, we cannot hurt others because of our own preferences; that is wrong."

Ye Feng: [?ヘ??]

Hearing Dumbledore's words, Ye Feng was a little unhappy. After all, he had only put up some Spring Festival couplets and door gods, and rearranged the restaurant according to the style of a Chinese restaurant to make it more festive. So Ye Feng said directly, "Headmaster Dumbledore, we just put up some paper and decorated the restaurant. It shouldn't hurt anyone, right?"

Dumbledore: (ˇ_ˇ) Hmm~

"It seems... that's true, but you didn't hurt any people, yet you did hurt the ghosts."

“Mr. Ye Feng, don’t forget your abilities. You can turn a piece of paper into a powerful magic with some strange symbols. Now you have written similar symbols all over red paper and pasted them all over the campus. The ghosts have nowhere to go because these pasted words and pictures have already harmed them.”

Ye Feng: Σ(?д?lll)

"Really...really? But I only used the most ordinary ink and paint, without adding any magical materials, and I didn't use any power when writing or drawing, so it shouldn't be like this. Could it be that the ghost is too weak to even withstand this?"

Everyone:…

The ghosts eavesdropping outside the restaurant: Listen, thank you, because of you…

Dumbledore hadn't expected Ye Feng to give such an answer, but Ye Feng's words also made Dumbledore deeply suspicious, because he believed that what Ye Feng said was true. After all, although Ye Feng liked to cause trouble, he only liked to cause trouble; lying was not his style.

"Could it be that these ghosts are really too weak to withstand the imposing and ferocious aura depicted in the portrait?"

While Dumbledore was also caught in deep doubt, Ye Feng walked out of the restaurant with some skepticism, and then he discovered the truth.

The truth is, these ghosts were indeed too weak. Of course, it can't be entirely blamed on their weakness; it's also because Ye Feng used overly advanced materials to make the talisman brushes in order to be lazy. As a result, even though the ink, pigments, and paper he used were just the most ordinary, they still carried a trace of spiritual energy.

Chapter 105 Ye Feng: Christmas? Dream on!

A mountain is not famous for its height, but for the immortals who dwell there; water is not sacred for its depth, but for the dragons that inhabit it.

Although Ye Feng has not yet become an immortal, he is still a cultivator, which is practically equivalent to an immortal. Therefore, even the door gods he draws with the most ordinary paper and ink still possess a trace of spiritual charm.

However, this kind of spiritual energy is extremely rare, so rare that Ye Feng could easily overlook it if he didn't look closely. It's so rare that a single image wouldn't have any effect on the ghosts at all. Therefore, Ye Feng didn't notice it at all, which led to the current situation.

The moment Ye Feng realized this, he thought of a way to break the deadlock. So he waved his hand, took out his talisman pen, and wrote a decree in the air, directly pardoning the ghosts of Hogwarts. In other words, he was telling these 'gatekeepers' that these ghosts were 'one of their own'.

These Spring Festival couplets and door gods were all written and painted by him personally, and the portraits also possess a spiritual charm because of him, so Ye Feng can still do this.

So, the moment the decree was issued, the ghosts outside discovered that the portraits that had previously looked incredibly majestic and terrifying had become ordinary and no longer emitted a faint golden light that could harm them.

Then, after discovering this, the ghosts quickly sent one of them... The ghost tested the waters and, finding nothing amiss, returned to normal, happily entering the restaurant and touching and looking around, completely ignoring Dumbledore.

Seeing that the ghosts had returned to normal, Ye Feng turned to the students who were still standing there at a loss and said, "Alright, the ghosts are dealt with. Let's continue setting up the restaurant."

"Oh!"

Dumbledore: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ

"You think you can just wait and then solve it by gesturing in the air with a pen? Aren't you going to take those things apart? You could at least take the red lanterns off!!!"

Of course, Dumbledore dared not say these words aloud. After all, he was the headmaster of Hogwarts, and he still had to save face and maintain his dignity. Therefore, when he saw all the students busy again and his hopes of restoring Hogwarts to a proper Christmas were dashed, he sighed and left with a gloomy expression.

Ye Feng had naturally seen Dumbledore's appearance, but was it possible that Dumbledore was heartbroken just because Ye Feng decorated Hogwarts into a sea of ​​red and changed the dining room from Western to Chinese style? If word got out, even the dogs in Ye Feng's village would laugh their heads off.

Therefore, Ye Feng did not feel any remorse or guilt at all, but instead directed everyone to work even harder.

A dejected Dumbledore slowly walked a few steps outside, then secretly glanced back at Ye Feng. When he realized that not only Ye Feng, but everyone else was no longer giving him, the headmaster, a second look, and were working even harder under Ye Feng's command, he was furious.

"Don't you have any respect for the elderly and care for the young? Can't you see how heartbroken this old woman is? Not a single person came to comfort me! You didn't even bother to look at me! (╬◣д◢)"

Enraged by this scene, Dumbledore snorted, stomped his foot, and strode away. Ye Feng, seeing Dumbledore leave indignantly, smiled slightly.

"(ˉ▽￣～) Tch~~ You're all ancient foxes, why are you playing at some ghost story?"

On the other side, Dumbledore walked straight to the corner outside and could no longer see Ye Feng and the others. However, he still did not sense any movement behind him. He put away his angry expression, sighed, and murmured, "He's grown up. He didn't even fool them with this. It seems that bringing Ye Feng back was quite the right decision. It would be better if this guy could stop causing so much trouble."

"Are you sure? You'd only really be worried if that little guy didn't cause any trouble that day, right? After all, even though this kid is always causing trouble, he has indeed helped Harry and the rest of the Hogwarts students grow up faster, and even you and I are no exception."

"So, you really want that little guy to settle down?"

No sooner had Dumbledore finished speaking than a strong voice came from the side. Dumbledore showed no surprise when the voice suddenly appeared, clearly knowing who it was.

"Yeah, do I really want to let him go? But this little guy is really troublesome, much more so than we were when we were young. I wonder if he'll be a blessing or a curse for the wizarding world when he graduates and leaves Hogwarts."

"呲~"

Upon hearing Dumbledore's words, Grindelwald burst out laughing and said, "Albus, don't flatter us. Compared to this little guy, we were complete good kids when we were young, and the kind of good kids who were both stupid and clumsy."

Dumbledore: (￣ー￣)

"That hurts, Lao Ge. It's better to keep this to yourself than to say it out loud."

Ye Feng was unaware that in Dumbledore's eyes, he was a 'catfish,' a catfish that kept the 'sardines' in Hogwarts from stopping and kept them moving forward. At this moment, he was directing the house-elves in the Hogwarts kitchen to cook, and right next to him was Dobby, who had changed into new clothes.

House-elves have only one way to gain freedom: their owner gives them a piece of clothing. Dobby is a little different; he doesn't need specific clothes, as long as his owner's clothes are fine with him.

In the original story, Harry gave his sock to Malfoy's father by slipping it inside a book. Malfoy's father, unaware of this, habitually handed the book with the sock inside to Dobby, thus freeing Dobby.

Now, although Dobby has not gained his freedom, after the previous bombardment and Dumbledore's 'tutelage', Ye Feng is no different from his master in Dobby's eyes. In fact, Ye Feng may even be more important to him than the Malfoys. After all, he dared to resist the Malfoys, but he could not have such thoughts about Ye Feng.

So, after Ye Feng discovered that Dobby was also in the kitchen, he immediately had him pass on his orders, directing the house-elves in the kitchen to cook various dishes according to his ideas, which is the legendary New Year's Eve dinner.

It's called New Year's Eve dinner, but it's really just a bit more lavish. Some of the more famous dishes from before, such as boiled cabbage in clear broth, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Dongpo Pork Knuckle, Steamed Fish Head with Chopped Chili, White Cut Chicken, and Squirrel Fish, are still available.

So, as night fell and everyone was seated, Dumbledore looked at the dishes being laid out on the round table one after another and had no further complaints about Ye Feng turning Christmas into 'Chinese New Year'.

"I originally thought that although Chinese cuisine is delicious, I could basically try it all in a year. I didn't expect I was so naive. I haven't even tried most of these dishes!"

While Dumbledore was still marveling at the dish, Grindelwald had already started eating, and the first thing he did was set his sights on the incredibly tender Dongpo pork knuckle, which had already made Dumbledore's mouth water even before it was served.

(キ｀?Д??)!!

"Stop it, you idiot! That's my pork knuckle!"

Chapter 106 The Most Unremarkable Monster

"Hiccup~"

An hour later, Dumbledore slumped in his chair with a satisfied and unrefined expression. He wasn't worried about his image at all, because not only him, but even Ye Feng had completely lost his composure by this time. After all, the food on the table was so delicious and fragrant that their images had already been lost when they were fighting over the food.

Ye Feng hadn't expected that these house-elves, though ugly and cute, would have such good cooking skills. He only had to describe how to process the ingredients, how to make them, and the general effect after they were made, and they actually managed to make these dishes. Moreover, the taste was quite good, to the point that he ate until he was stuffed.

Fortunately, Hogwarts was indeed well-off, and the variety of ingredients was quite abundant. So, although the dishes were all very delicious and everyone ate too much, there was still enough to eat and even leftovers, which made the table look less messy.

This meal was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone at Hogwarts, even the owls, except for the current Dark Lord, who was being kept out by the gatekeepers and was now shivering in the cold wind outside Hogwarts.

So, when the spiritual energy on the door gods began to dissipate on the third day, Voldemort immediately returned to Hogwarts, and that very night he ordered the basilisk to destroy the greenhouse where the mandrake was planted.

Voldemort knew very well that turning Hogwarts students to stone was already Dumbledore's limit. If a student actually died, Dumbledore would definitely investigate and find him, which was not what Voldemort wanted to see. Therefore, he did not let the basilisk actually kill anyone, but only let it turn people to stone.

His original intention was to petrify a few people, causing panic at Hogwarts without truly angering Dumbledore. Under such panic, the Hogwarts board would believe that Dumbledore could not protect the students and would replace him, which was his true purpose.

Voldemort did not release the Basilisk to kill people; his purpose was to use the Basilisk to drive Dumbledore away and then resurrect him in Hogwarts without Dumbledore.

However, because of someone he no longer wanted to mention, his plan was forced to be postponed again and again, and the ripening time of the mandrake was also greatly reduced, thus creating a very embarrassing situation for Voldemort.

He used the Basilisk to petrify people that night, but the next morning, the people used the antidote and were jumping around eating breakfast, completely unaffected by the fear. Some thrill-seekers even discussed going out for a nighttime stroll to find the Basilisk and experience what it felt like to be petrified, which made Voldemort lose face.

That was a basilisk, a terrifying monster that struck fear into the hearts of the magical world! But now? This terrifying monster has almost been reduced to a tool for the despicable Mudbloods of the academy he hated most to seek thrills.

Therefore, to prevent this from becoming a reality, Voldemort's first action upon returning was to have the Basilisk destroy the mandrake plantation. Without the mandrake as a backup, these guys would definitely not dare to act so recklessly as they do now.

However, the next night...

"Hey Dera, do you think we'll encounter that monster that can turn people to stone tonight?"

"I don't know, but there's still a high chance of encountering it. After all, it came out last night and destroyed the mandrake planting shed, so there's a good chance it will come out tonight."

"That's great! I've been preparing for this day for so long. I've made a huge sacrifice for these ten protective talismans; I almost lost my innocence."

"You should be content. I did odd jobs for the upperclassmen for a whole month just to stockpile these two sets of attack talismans. But as long as we can catch that snake monster, or even just injure it and collect the materials from it, it will all be worth it."

Voldemort: ∑(?△｀)？ !