A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 375 Encountering Bandits?

The seagull ate some food and then stayed on the windowsill playing with Crookshan. The two shared a common hobby: snatching each other's dried fish.

What's unusual is that Crook Mountain didn't attack the seagulls. But it did attack Spotted, which made everyone think... there must be something wrong with Spotted.

Indeed, in front of Hermione, everyone started to change their tune and vigorously criticize Scabbers for his heinous crimes.

If Banban heard that level of criticism, he would probably say: "I'm sorry I was born a rat."

Harry is adept at speaking to people in a way that suits them perfectly, and he can also speak to ghosts in a way that suits them perfectly.

He had just been denouncing Crookshank in another carriage, and he was almost willing to give up all the Galleons in his pocket to buy supplements for Banban.

Judging from Ron's attitude, he seems to be considering crowdfunding to buy supplements.

Scabbers is his pet, and Ron is practically Scabbers' father, so shouldn't Harry and his uncles chip in and buy the kid some supplements?

Who doesn't eat turkey for Christmas?

He even tried to crowdfund a funeral for Banban last year.

However, Ron clearly picked the wrong people. If he had picked the twins, they would definitely have paid him... and maybe even given Scabbers some magic potions.

William gazed at the seagull and decided to write a letter to Fleur and Gabrielle, which the seagull could then take to France.

Hermione glared at William several times, her gaze fierce and deadly. The intensity of her stare was comparable to that of Scabbers on Crook Hill.

So after William wrote half of the letter to Fleur, Hermione took it and finished writing the rest for him.

In the end, the signature became "Dear William and Hermione".

Hermione tilted her head, raised her pointed chin, and gave a soft, smug hum.

William had no choice but to write to Gabrielle again, continuing to lure the little girl to Hogwarts.

Like Hibiscus a few years ago, Gabrielle is learning a foreign language from William. Anne is also learning French.

Otherwise, what would we do if the two little ones could only guess what they were saying?

Anne also wrote several pages, describing how she packed all the snacks she bought from the Hogwarts cart into a bag enlarged by the Unmarked Stretch Charm.

The tool gull barely rested before carrying a large amount of cargo and flying to France.

"We encountered an adult wizard in the back carriage."

Harry started making conversation again, even when there was nothing to say.

"The box also had 'Professor R.J. Lupin' written on it."

William and Hermione exchanged a glance. Of the memories Dumbledore had shown William, many concerning the previous generation were from Lupin's perspective.

For example, their first encounter with Professor Tywin Lannister... and Voldemort's bizarre act of hiding a snake on a wizard's body to attack Lily and the others.

"It seems we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Qiu said.

There is currently only one vacancy, which Lu Ping will definitely fill.

"Why did he take over this position?" Fred chuckled. "Everyone knows that the Defense Against the Dark Arts professorship usually ends up lasting less than a year before something unexpected happens."

"Could he be a Death Eater...or a werewolf or a vampire or something?" George joked.

There's a saying circulating at Hogwarts now: any wizard who dares to take this position either has a questionable identity or is somewhat... mentally challenged.

"He's probably short on money. Teachers in this position are so hard to find, the salary must be very high," Harry said. "He looked a bit worn out."

"Why would he take the Hogwarts Express?" Ginny asked curiously. "Apart from the shop witches, I've never seen any other adult wizards on the train."

"Maybe that was the carriage he and his friends used to ride in," Luna said, looking up. "To relive those memories."

"If I ever become a Professor Stark at Hogwarts, I'll definitely come and sit in this carriage," Anne said with a grin.

Just then, Cedric returned.

He found that Harry had taken his spot, but instead of being angry, he secretly gave Harry a thumbs up.

I never expected that Harry, whom I only had a nodding acquaintance with, would provide such a helpful assist!

Cedric comfortably positioned himself between Harry and Cho.

The seating space was too small, so Cedric and Cho were squeezed together tightly.

"..." Damn it, Harry was trying to squeeze in.

He was just thinking about whether he might hurt Qiu, but the opportunity slipped away in the blink of an eye.

Sure enough, hesitation leads to failure!

Ginny was happy; her little face was flushed. The three little ones sat together, with Ginny on the outermost side, squeezed together with Harry.

She didn't seem to mind sitting on Harry's lap.

So her face got redder and redder.

"Ginny, are you sick?" Harry asked sullenly.

Ginny wasn't sick; she felt like a sardine stranded on the beach, about to suffocate.

"If you're not feeling well, drink more hot water. If you'd like some, could you pour me a cup too? Thanks."

"..."

Ginny's face stopped blushing, her heart stopped racing, her hands stopped trembling, and she could breathe again. She didn't seem as excited about Harry anymore; everything just felt so... bland.

"Cedric, what did Percy say in the class sergeant's car?" Fred asked curiously.

Cedric pressed his chest, coughed, and his voice resonated in his pelvis:

"For the sake of the Hogwarts students, I don't care how much hardship I suffer, how much exhaustion I endure, I will always face it. This is me, an ordinary student council president..."

Everyone burst into laughter.

"I know," George said happily. "It's from that book, 'How to Become Student Council President,' which Percy has been secretly practicing in Egypt lately."

"It's not all that," Cedric said. "Percy also emphasized that everyone should be wary of fire, theft, and Weasley... which means the two of you."

The door was suddenly opened, and Percy cautiously poked his head in.

"What are you doing?"

"Ahem, Cedric is conveying your prefectural leader's message," William said, trying to cover it up.

"Oh, not bad, keep up the good work." Percy puffed out his chest, feeling his chairman badge shine even brighter.

Just then, the train suddenly slowed down.

"What's wrong? Have we arrived at our stop?"

"Impossible, we've only just gotten this far."

"Is the train broken down?"

"Did you encounter a dark wizard?"

"Encountered bandits? Let the curse linger for a while!"

That last sentence was undoubtedly said by William.

The sky outside the window, which had been relatively normal, suddenly became overcast with heavy rain, lightning, and thunder.

People were peeking out from the carriages along the corridor, trying to see what was happening.

Neville and Ron also ran over; they had just been in the last carriage.

Percy cleared his throat and shouted, "Don't panic, I'm the student council president. Everyone back to your carriages, I'll go ask the driver..."

The train jolted suddenly, and Percy stumbled and bumped into Ron. Scabbers was thrown off balance and slammed his head against the door of the opposite carriage.

"Spotty!" Ron was about to start fighting with Percy again.

William turned around abruptly and looked out the window.

Outside the Hogwarts Express, the weather was already dark and stormy, with endless raindrops pelting down.

A giant bird emerged from the thick clouds, its body crackling with lightning that exploded with a deafening roar.

Its eyes were fixed on William, and it screeched sharply, as if to say, "Surprised? Unexpected?"

At that moment, William felt a chill run down his spine.

……

……

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(Thanks to the generous donations from "Deep Sea Turtle" and "PS Maniac")

(End of this chapter)