I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 254 Welcoming Halloween Eve

"Hey?" Irving smiled. "You've gotten smarter, huh!"

"They even know to prepare for the worst!"

"Alright!"

Considering that we might need these two guys in the future to continue sharing information about the Weasley family treasure.

Kyrie Irving makes a difficult decision to back down!

After all, the Weasleys are a large and powerful family, and they're not the only ones.

Perhaps the treasure belongs to another member of the Weasley family.

He had no connection with the other members of the Weasley family.

So, Irving decided to bleed money.

Paying for intelligence—it's not shameful!

"I'll offer fifty siscos. Is that enough?" He stood on the grass, arms crossed.

A gentle breeze brushed against his cheek.

Irving said confidently, head held high.

"Hey! Hermione, over here, yes, a tragedy just happened here!" George suddenly stretched his neck and shouted towards the covered bridge behind him.

"Hey—it's about the price! Let's negotiate properly, why flip the table!" Irving said with a forced smile.

"You won't earn a single penny when she arrives."

As he spoke, Owen glanced at the covered bridge behind him and found that there was no one there at all.

敲.

Realizing he'd been tricked, he immediately straightened his face, his expression contorted as if he were about to have his flesh cut off, and said menacingly, "Five Galleons at most, no more!"

"Oh—my dear George, do you think Dumbledore would suddenly choose the Weasley family's treasure?" Upon hearing this, Fred suddenly turned his head and said to George beside him in a gentlemanly manner.

"Oh! Of course, I mean—don't call me out on it! What if Dumbledore wants a clock for his house?" George said with a smile.

"Heh—" Irving chuckled awkwardly.

I really hate smart people.

So he just likes Justin.

That guy never doubted his intentions.

Even though I fed him roast duck for a whole week, he didn't suspect a thing.

It seems like it'll take some money to deal with these two.

But—that's all my money.

I didn't spend a single penny!

After all, he only received the 20,000 Galleons after the start of the school term.

There's really nowhere to spend money.

So giving money is out of the question.

After thinking for a moment, Irving suddenly had an idea.

Three minutes later.

The twins nodded in satisfaction, and even the expression on their silly younger brother's face became strange.

This silly little brother got beaten up once, and they got so many things in return.

If Irving beats me up a few more times...

Ron, who was crouching on the stone steps, immediately sensed a hint of malice.

He hurriedly moved closer to Harry.

Then, turning around, she saw that the malice came from her two older brothers.

Immediately, he burst into a tirade: "Two heartless bastards, they'd even abandon their own brother for money!"

"You still know you're our little brother!" George slowly approached Ron. "As the younger brother, shouldn't you do something for your older brothers' cause?"

Fred adopted the same posture, and the two launched a pincer attack.

Seeing this, Ron dared not linger any longer and immediately turned and ran, cursing the inhuman twins as he ran.

Harry witnessed this entire scene.

His eyes were embarrassed, and he stammered for a while before slipping away.

"Wow! So young!" Irving rubbed his neck. "He's been sold out and he's still counting the money for me!"

Just now, he used a small sum of money to fund the twins' upcoming alchemical inventions. He even promised to buy them a shop in Hogsmeade Village.

The Gemini was so excited she almost rushed over to give him her first kiss.

Don't doubt Irving's promise to buy a house.

In fact, he has already bought it.

Since the Battle of Hogsmeade, property prices there have plummeted. Owen's 20,000 Galleons could sell for several blocks.

For months, the Malfoy Foundation has made a significant investment in Hogsmeade, which has revitalized the historic wizarding village—at the cost of at least 60 percent of the town’s land now belonging to the Malfoy family.

The remaining forty were basically all funded by them, but the ownership was not in Malfoy's hands.

The only place in the entire village of Hogsmeade that could be considered clean was Aberforth's Hog's Head pub.

After all, Lucius wouldn't dare to try and make money off Dumbledore.

Gemini smiled at the deal.

Irving smiled too.

His vacant house can finally be rented out.

Earning some rent is better than leaving the place vacant.

The Geminis felt like they'd gotten a free shop. They were incredibly grateful to Irving.

Everyone felt they had made a profit.

Looking down at the swirling clouds and the boundless wilderness.

I believe we all have a bright future.

Hey.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The enthusiasm in the castle only grew stronger over the next week.

Although we still don't know when the Alchemy Class will resume, Owen has already seen Viktor at the castle.

This is good news.

It feels like Dumbledore invited him not to be a professor, but to be a detective.

While everyone was discussing it, the castle underwent a thorough cleaning.

Many dirty portraits were cleaned, despite the dissatisfaction of the subjects.

They sat huddled inside the photo frame, muttering sullenly.

Every time I touch the newly exposed pink flesh on my face, I wince in pain.

The armor on both sides of the corridor suddenly became shiny and no longer creaked when it moved.

There are a few armors that really love to dance and sing.

Professor McGonagall had intended to use a petrification charm to immobilize them, but Dumbledore was quite accommodating. He cheerfully taught the suits of armor his self-composed Hogwarts school song, allowing them to sing it in the corridors.

Argus Filch, the janitor, would stand guard at the auditorium door every day during mealtimes. If he saw a student forget to polish their shoes, he would fly into a rage, which terrified two first-year girls so much that they became hysterical.

Regarding this leather shoe issue.

He's already got his hands on several people and won't let them go.

Filch already had a terrible reputation among young wizards, and now they find him even more repulsive.

This is Hogwarts, after all; people don't stay in the castle all the time.

Some courses, such as herbalism, magical animal protection, and astronomy, involve field trips.

After walking along the muddy mountain path, your feet will inevitably get a little muddy.

Why worry about leather shoes?

Anyone who didn't know better would think they were studying at the Frunze Military Academy.

The other faculty and staff in the castle also seemed particularly nervous, striving to make everything appear perfect.

On the morning of October 30th, the eve of Halloween.

When everyone went downstairs for breakfast, they discovered that the auditorium had been completely renovated overnight.

Huge silk banners hung on the wall, each representing a house in Hogwarts: Gryffindor with a red background and a golden lion, Ravenclaw with a blue background and a bronze eagle, Hufflepuff with a yellow background and a black badger, and Slytherin with a green background and a silver boa constrictor.

Behind the classroom desks hung the largest banner.

Above is the Hogwarts emblem: a lion, eagle, badger, and snake joined together, encircling a large letter H.

"Wow! It's magnificent! The castle looks brand new!"

Justin said happily.

Ernie, standing beside them, was also beaming with excitement. "We're so lucky! This competition has been suspended for hundreds of years, and we've somehow stumbled upon it!"

"Irving, do you think you can get into the Final Four?"

The group had barely sat down on the bench when a fifth or sixth-grade Hufflepuff wizard came over.

The leader was a rugged wizard named Gawain.

He has a muscular physique like the wizard Durmstrang, blond hair, and blue eyes, looking exactly like a certain chef whose heat is amplified three times when exposed to the sun.

He even resembled Gawain in personality, which made him very prestigious in the castle.

"Although I have a way, I've already signed an agreement with Headmaster Dumbledore to become the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Why don't you guys try talking to George and the others?"

"The two of them?" Gawain's face showed worry; as expected, he didn't quite trust the Weasley twins.

"I wonder what events are included in the competition?" Justin said thoughtfully. "I bet we could do them too; we've done so many dangerous things before."

"really."

Justin is right.

In their first year, they bravely fought Voldemort; in their second year, they faced off against the giant spider and the witch Lani.

The third-year students even directly participated in the Battle of Hogsmeade.

It could be said that everything they did was far more dangerous than the tournament, but even the ordinary competitions could be handled by third or fourth-year wizards.

This is why the young wizards at Hogwarts were so indignant.

Because if you're really bad at the game, that's one thing, but being selected is embarrassing, so let's not even talk about that.

But if my buddies are all this good, why not choose me!

"Yes, that's really impressive, but you didn't do all that in front of the judges, right?" Gawain said. "Professor Sprout said the judges will score the warriors based on the quality of their work."

"Who's the referee?" Susan asked from the side.

"An official from the Ministry of Magic?" Justin guessed.

"Impossible—" Owen interrupted. "This competition was clearly orchestrated by Dumbledore, and North America is involved. The Ministry of Magic can't get involved. I guess he'll invite some famous wizards to form a judging panel and then score the teams collectively."

"A famous wizard?"

Owen's words filled the young wizards with joy and excitement. They all looked forward to taking a photo with those famous wizards, or even to becoming a famous wizard who would one day be remembered in the history of magic.

In short, no one paid attention in class that day; everyone was thinking that Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's men would be arriving that evening.

Even potions class wasn't as unbearable as usual, because get out of class ended half an hour early.

Snape was quite unhappy about this, and with a sullen face, he frantically caused trouble in class, but this did nothing to change anything.

Everyone was still happy.

In the afternoon—around six or seven o'clock.

The Hogwarts bells rang endlessly.

Irving arrived at the auditorium early. As the student council president, he and the prefects were responsible for maintaining order at the scene.

At this moment, the young wizards frantically pushed their way forward, gathering at the east gate of Hogwarts, the main entrance to the castle. (Does the castle even have a main entrance?)

Senior wizards would pass by here in their carriages.

It has a tall, magical metal gate, behind which is a huge garden.

Everyone wanted to get to the front so they could see the wizards from other schools first.

"Weasley, straighten your hat; Crevy, tuck your shirt into your trousers!" Professor McGonagall said sternly to Ron. "And you, Miss Pettier, take that ridiculous thing off your hair."

Parvati frowned unhappily and took a large butterfly headdress off the end of her braid.

"Alright, everyone, please follow me," Professor McGonagall said. "First-year students, please go to the front and don't crowd."

Although the professors and prefects had tried their best to maintain order, the excited young wizards still pushed and shoved forward.

Especially the Gryffindors, the boys all "hugging" each other and pushing forward.

The Weasley twins deliberately pushed hard from behind, and when they couldn't budge it, the two brothers pulled out their wands, ready to give the stubborn idiots in front a lesson!

"Put your wand away, Weasley!" Professor McGonagall was furious.

Her hair fluttered slightly due to her frantic emotions.

"Line up!" she roared angrily.

Unfortunately, the results were limited.

Although the young wizards' excitement was dampened, their enthusiasm did not diminish much.

Although the scene was not as crowded as before, they were still huddled together.

This is the downside of the overall increase in the strength of junior wizards.

They're all itching for a beating again!

"boom!"

The garden was crowded when suddenly the fountain exploded.

The enormous explosion sounded like a thunderclap into the young wizards' ears.

"Damn it, which son of a bitch pushed me!"

Irving, who had been expelled by the surging crowd, stood on the flower bed.

He glared angrily at the group of thousands of young wizards.

His robe was covered in dust, and there were two small footprints on the soles of his shoes.

"You can't learn to queue, huh!"

"what!"

With the wand pressed against his neck, and enhanced by the 'Loud Voice' charm, his angry roar sounded like a deep, rumbling dragon.

"All of you, stand up straight!"

The young wizards all glanced at him sideways and shrank back.

But it wasn't that I was afraid of Owen's threats; it was mainly because the electric light flashing at the tip of his wand was too dazzling.

They were absolutely convinced that the guy would throw lightning at himself to give him a bath.

Rather than Professor McGonagall's warning, that madman is likely to actually do it.

Gradually, the crowd below began to move.

First grade is at the front, and the other grades are at the back in order.

A silent sense of oppression forced them to quickly shut their mouths and quicken their pace.

"Damn it, he's like a spinning top, he deserves a good whack!"

------

It was a cold, crisp evening. Night was falling, and a bright, translucent moon hung in the sky above the Forbidden Forest.

The moonlight was exceptionally bright, complementing the castle and creating a beautiful and fantastical scene.

Several professors stared at Irving with twitching lips.

Although he was full of vulgarities and had none of the elegance of the Rozier family, it was very effective, wasn't it?

So they turned a blind eye and pretended not to see it.

Professor Flitwick silently extended his wand and repaired the fountain that Owen had blown up.

Inside the castle, all the ghosts floated out.

Except for Pikachu, everyone else was above them.

Irving jumped down from the flower bed.

He didn't go into the crowd; Dumbledore called him over.

He was to greet the guests with the professors.

"It's almost six!" Ron glanced back at the driveway leading to the front door, then lowered his voice and said, "How will they get here? By train?"

Although the group of young wizards finally looked more presentable, the whispers among them did not stop.

That faint, buzzing sound, like a mosquito's buzz, was truly annoying.

No wonder those teachers don't like students talking.

"I don't think so," Hermione said. "The Hogwarts Express departs from London; they can't possibly meet there."

"How did it come about, a flying broomstick?" Harry guessed, looking up at the starry sky.

"Impossible, that's too far," Hermione said.

"Maybe it's a door key?!" Ron continued to guess. "Or maybe it's apparition; perhaps where they live, apparition is allowed for people under seventeen!"

"Ron, how many times have I told you? No Apparitions allowed on Hogwarts grounds!" Hermione said impatiently.

"Could we use some Pokémon or magical creatures? Doesn't Owen have a cat that can Apparate?"

"That's a Zouwu!" Hermione glared at Ron, annoyed. Three years have passed, and you still can't even figure out the race of the Sirocco. You're really not paying attention at all.

"That's a very precious and magical creature, found only in Ming China. They prohibit these precious magical animals from leaving the country, so very few poachers manage to bring them out."

"Then how did they get here?"

Ron and Harry asked in confusion at the same time.

But no one could answer their questions.

The young wizards excitedly scanned the gradually darkening area, but there was still no movement.

Everything was quiet and peaceful, just like usual.

A murmur of barely suppressed discussion gradually rose from the crowd; everyone was cold and hungry.

Some Hufflepuff wizards had already started muttering curses.

Just when everyone was about to lose their patience, Dumbledore, who was standing in the back row with the other teachers, suddenly shouted.

"Ah! If I'm not mistaken, Beauxbatons' representative has arrived!"

"Where is it?" many students asked anxiously, looking in different directions.

"There!" a sixth-grade student shouted, pointing to the sky above the Forbidden Forest.

It was a colossal object, much larger than a flying broom, or even a hundred flying brooms.

Under the silvery moonlight, you can see it rapidly skimming across the deep blue sky, flying towards the castle, gradually growing larger and larger.

"Oh my god, what is that?"

"It's a dragon!" a first-year student screamed, too excited to know what to do.

"Don't talk nonsense, it's a house flying!" Dennis said.

His guess might be closer, but to be more precise, it was a chariot drawn by a divine messenger.

Hermione recognized the magical creature at a glance.

She even fed them with Furong when she was in second grade.

(End of this chapter)