Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 54 Roaring Letter

The next morning, Loren had just started drinking his porridge when he heard a commotion above him.

Hundreds of owls swarmed in, circling the auditorium and dropping letters and packages into the conversationing crowd.

A grey owl landed in front of Ron; it was the postman who had delivered his mail yesterday.

The owl quickly dropped the red envelope it was carrying in its beak, frantically flapped its wings, and scurried away.

"Oh, no." Ron shook his head as he looked at the red envelope, leaning back as much as he could, not wanting to take it.

"Roaring Letter!"

Neville cried out as soon as he saw the red envelope. He looked very nervous, his face serious. He quickly put down the bread he was holding and moved away to hide.

Loren, Hermione, Harry, and the people around them all looked at Ron with curiosity.

The envelope lay on the table, trembling incessantly, growing increasingly red, like a balloon being constantly inflated.

Neville was so nervous he stopped stammering. "Hurry up and open it. You don't want to know what will happen if you ignore it."

Ron craned his neck back, trying to keep his head as far away from the letter as possible, and shakily reached out to open the red envelope.

"Ron Weasley! How dare you treat me like this?"

Ron's mother's voice boomed across the Gryffindor table, her shouts like a loudspeaker blasting into your ears at maximum volume.

Ron quickly shrank back into his chair, leaving only a bright red forehead on the table.

The students nearby quickly stepped back, clearing a space. Everyone in the auditorium was stunned by the deafening sound and turned to see who had received the shouting message.

"...Troll! You're even more mischievous than your two older brothers. You probably have no idea how your father and I felt when we found out you were fighting trolls..."

The sound made the plates and spoons on the table rattle, and the echoes from the surrounding stone walls were deafening.

"...You have to come home this weekend, and see how I deal with you then."

The roaring stopped, but Loren's ears were still ringing. The red envelope containing the roaring message in the air burst into flames, curling up and turning to ash.

The students in the auditorium all experienced brief periods of tinnitus and hearing loss.

Seamus sat back down and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Is this the Howl Letter? Cool!"

Dean only saw Seamus open his mouth, but no sound came out. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "What did you say? Why aren't you making a sound?"

Why are you just opening your mouth without making a sound?

"I can't hear anything!"

"Ah~~~"

Similar conversations took place among the young wizards, who found it a novel and interesting experience.

George and Fred looked at each other, opened their mouths, and made all sorts of strange sounds, "Ah~" and "Oh~", laughing happily.

The voices gradually resumed, and Loren continued drinking his porridge.

"Perfect timing, you can go buy your own wand this weekend." Harry wasn't too worried about what would happen to Ron. They'd even dealt with trolls, so Ron's mother couldn't possibly be more terrifying than a troll.

"That's really convenient," Ron said listlessly, his face still pale.

Seamus leaned closer, his voice still loud, "Ron! Next time you get a roaring message, make sure to call me!"

……

Friday. There's only one potions class in the morning today, after which the first-year students' weekend begins.

In the Gryffindor common room.

Loren and Hermione sat side by side by a window, each busy with their own tasks. Hermione was reading a book, while Loren was revising a paper about the medicinal properties and effects of aconite.

"The sun must have risen in the west today! That old bat didn't even deduct any points from Gryffindor?" Ron slumped in his chair, a milk candy in his mouth. "He must have been provoked by something."

Ron started talking to himself, and soon his mind began to wander into all sorts of fantastical ideas: "Today's Snape must be someone else in disguise. Through Polyjuice Potion, the real Snape has already been murdered."

Ron became more and more excited as he spoke, his face beaming, "We'll never be tormented by that old bat again!"

Nobody paid any attention to Ron; he had a vivid imagination and was always spouting crazy things.

When Snape was mentioned, Harry recalled the figure he had seen on Halloween night, wearing a green cloak and walking up the stairs.

"Perhaps there's some other reason."

Harry fiddled with the movable joints on the chess piece. "On Halloween night, in the corridor, I think I saw Professor Snape go upstairs."

Hermione lifted her head from her book. "When Dumbledore took the professors to hunt the trolls, didn't he go to the basement with them?"

Ron sat up, feigning seriousness, and then said in a profound tone, "I think there must be some ulterior motive involved."

Harry remembered the room on the left side of the fourth-floor corridor, where Hagrid had taken the mysterious items from Gringotts vault, and Dumbledore had assigned his three-headed dog, Fluffy, to guard it.

A troll, Snape. Harry had a vague guess in his mind.

"What do you think, Loren?"

Harry looked at Loren. Although Harry and Ron didn't know anything about werewolves, they all knew that Loren went to Snape's office every Friday. "Have you noticed anything strange about Snape?"

Loren knew that Snape must have gone upstairs to check on the Philosopher's Stone, keeping an eye on Quirrell. However, Loren didn't intend to tell anyone. After the troll incident, he didn't want to get involved in the plot; no one knew what consequences his butterfly effect would ultimately cause.

He's still a first-year wizard, so it's important for him to focus on developing his skills first.

"Why not ask Snape yourself tonight?"

Without looking up, Loren said, "Have you all forgotten that Dumbledore told us to go to Professor Snape's place for solitary confinement?"

"Merlin, this is going to keep me in a panic all afternoon." Ron felt like the candy in his mouth wasn't sweet anymore. "I really hope Mrs. Pomfrey leaves me in the infirmary to get through the night."

Ron was the most seriously injured, and when he was discharged from the hospital, Mrs. Pomfrey told him to come back for a check-up over the weekend.

Harry's thoughts were also shattered by the news. "I have a feeling I don't have long to live!"

Harry wailed, "If Snape poisons me and you guys make an antidote, you must inform Professor McGonagall immediately."

"I will always miss you, Harry." Ron looked at Harry with deep affection.

Hermione rolled her eyes at the two clowns, "This is a school. Even for Dumbledore's sake, they wouldn't force you to drink poison!"

Loren put down the parchment in his hand, intending to change the subject, "What are your plans for this afternoon?"

Ron answered first, "I need to go see Mrs. Pomfrey for a follow-up examination." This was something they had agreed upon before he was discharged from the hospital.

Harry hesitated for a moment. "I'm going to see Hagrid. He's been very worried about me since he heard I was injured."

"I'm going to check my homework this week." Hermione wasn't too worried about detention; it didn't cost her points or get her expelled, so what kind of punishment was that?

(End of this chapter)