Chapter 955: The Feast and Revelry
Chapter 955: The Feast and Revelry
Hogwarts resumed classes, and the first day back was a sprint to the exams.
To be honest, there was a moment when the owls delivered this news to every young wizard's home, and the collective resentment that had gathered even overshadowed the joy of defeating Voldemort.
For the students, Voldemort was terrifying, but those assignments that were several feet long were even more frightening.
Especially for the fifth and seventh-year students.
"We defeated...Voldemort," Ron couldn't help but complain in the Hogwarts Great Hall. "Can't the professors give us an 'O' on our N.E.W.T. results?"
Although his voice was weak, Ron did manage to shout out Voldemort's name completely.
This change made Harry extremely happy, as he always believed that to defeat Voldemort, one must overcome the fear of him.
Before, Ron wouldn't even dare to say his name, let alone hear it.
This situation was a good change.
Of course, while he was happy, it didn't stop him from pouring cold water on Ron.
"I have to say something fair," he patted his friend's shoulder, "We didn't defeat Voldemort, the one who fought him was Kyle and the professors."
"Yes, that's right...but we also participated...we had courage," Ron stiffened his neck, counting how many Death Eaters he defeated in that battle and how many times he narrowly escaped.
His story was thrilling, but Harry and Hermione beside him, both showed a completely disinterested expression.
Even Neville, who was the most polite, turned away.
After all, they had heard this story over a dozen times in the past few days, and it would be the same no matter who told it. Hermione could even recite these words from start to finish.
"Stop, Ron, we really don't want to hear your stories about the Death Eaters anymore," Hermione interrupted him mercilessly.
"And I must tell you, the decision to reopen the school was made jointly by Professor McGonagall, the Board of Directors, and the Ministry of Magic, and most of us also supported this decision."
"Oh, Harry, what did she just say?" Ron opened his mouth wide, letting out a strange cry. "Most people support it?
"Didn't she realize that out of everyone here, only she supports this decision?"
Hermione's face gradually turned gloomy.
Harry wanted to comfort his good friend, but he couldn't bring himself to say something so insincere.
The others also turned their heads away.
This was probably related to Ginny being in the sixth year; the sixth year didn't have any particularly important exams, and her grades were already sufficient for the final exams, so whether school reopened or not didn't matter to her.
But this wasn't important. Whether or not to reopen the school wasn't decided by a student vote. Even if the student vote was overwhelmingly one-sided, the returning Hogwarts Express still departed on time and arrived punctually at Hogsmeade Station in the evening.
Professor Minerva McGonagall, who had been busy these past few days, made a special trip back at this time and stood at the entrance of the Great Hall, observing the returning students.
Among the crowd, a round figure stood out.
Professor Slughorn, panting, climbed the stone steps and reached the entrance of the Great Hall. "Minerva, why did you suddenly decide to let the students return to school..."
He had just gone home yesterday and this time, he came with the students on the train...from the remnants of icing on his collar, it was highly likely that he had booked the entire dining car again.
Instead of using the more convenient Apparition, he insisted on taking the train that would take a whole day to reach Hogwarts, which alone proved that the Professor Slughorn before them was the real person, not someone using Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him.
"The students should continue their classes, Horace," Professor McGonagall glanced at him.
"But that person..."
"Voldemort won't come to Hogwarts...we've received confirmed news, and only then did we make the decision to reopen the school," Professor McGonagall said without waiting for him to finish.
"There's still some time before the feast begins, Horace, I suggest you change your clothes."
"Oh, alright..." Professor Slughorn obviously hadn't fully understood Professor McGonagall's meaning.
How could Voldemort not come to Hogwarts...did the Ministry of Magic receive some new information? Why didn't anyone in the Ministry tell him...
Professor Slughorn wanted to ask in detail, but at this moment, a group of students rushed in from outside, and he could only move forward into the Great Hall.
Although the banquet was hastily prepared, the scene was far from shabby. Almost all the professors were present, along with notable alumni such as Bill Weasley, Oliver Wood, and Cedric Diggory...
These people, who had performed outstandingly in the previous war, were invited back to the feast as exemplary graduates.
There were also Fred and george, who managed to advertise their "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes" for over twenty minutes during the most lively part of the banquet, until Professor McGonagall, who had enough, silenced them with a spell.
Despite this, they still managed to make everyone laugh with their silly antics and the occasional flash of their shop's sign, quickly attracting a large crowd of new customers.
Professor McGonagall turned a blind eye to the antics, pretending not to see.
This banquet was not only to welcome the students back but also to celebrate the first time they had overcome Voldemort with their strength. Therefore, Professor McGonag all gave everyone the maximum tolerance.
In fact, if Fred and George had been a bit quieter and not running around everywhere, they wouldn't even have been silenced.
Under the influence of the Weasley brothers, more and more people joined the revelry, needing a celebration to dispel the gloom Voldemort had cast over everyone.
Everyone was delighted, with cheers and laughter like waves, almost breaking the newly repaired magical ceiling.
Oh, and there was also Slytherin...
In the Great Hall, a rather bizarre scene unfolded, with the long tables of the three houses bustling with activity, while Slytherin, in stark contrast, was quiet, almost as if it were in a history of magic class.
Moreover, Slytherin had the least number of graduates returning, with more than half of its seats empty, and most of the owners of these seats had once, either openly or secretly, supported Voldemort.
Of course, Professor McGonagall didn't exclude anyone because of a few words from the students. As long as they hadn't done anything to harm their peers, she treated everyone equally, sending them off with owls.
Those who didn't come, might not have received the letter, or had other reasons.
The remaining Slytherins, for various reasons, were embarrassed to join the revelry, only watching from the side, making the atmosphere increasingly awkward.
But no one cared about it.
Everyone was well aware that Professor McGonagall not minding didn't mean everyone could act as if nothing had happened. The absence of any slytherin in the last war was noted, and if the outcome of the war had been different, the slytherins would have celebrated even more wildly.
At this moment, no one jumped over to give the slytherins a beating, all thanks to the professors watching closely.
Professor McGonag all stopped five students from throwing "Weasley's Fireworks" at the slytherins, which included three mud bombs.
As the name suggests, these fireworks, after exploding, would indiscriminately spray a trait of mud, which is why Fred and George considered the others' need to eat, and went ahead and removed the smelly grass.
Otherwise, this gadget would be an enhanced version of a large dung bomb.
But even if they had made certain decisions, this did not represent everyone, nor did it represent the slytherin house.
Professor Slughorn participated in the war throughout, along with Xen t Phlegm, this would just be an enhanced version of a large dungbomb.
But even if they had made certain decisions, this did not represent everyone, nor did it represent the Slytherin house.
Professor Slughorn was fully involved in the war, along with Xenophilius Lovegood, and later, the silent person, Dianara, who was also a Slytherin graduate...
In a sense, the Slytherins had also made significant contributions in the war.
This feast lasted longer than ever before, with sweets, cookies, and small cakes served course after course.
And when it was almost time to disperse, the Minister of Magic, Amelia Bones, suddenly appeared, pushing the atmosphere to its peak.
The Minister, it seemed, had heard about this event and come to show up.
Since she didn’t stay long, had a piece of cake, and after a glass of pumpkin juice with Professor McGonag all, she hurriedly left.
It was late at night, when the feast finally dispersed, the Great Hall was already in a mess.
“Not bad... This kind of event could be held more often,” Fred stood outside the area, somewhat unsatisfied.
Beside him were George, Kyle, Kanna, and Cedric, who also considered this a reunion at Hogwarts.
---
“Are you going back, or staying overnight?” Kyle asked, “If you want to stay, house-elves can add a few beds to my cottage.”
"Forget it, we don't want to live in a shabby cottage." Fred gave Kyle a disdainful look, unsure if he was disdainful of Kyle or the cottage.
"We have more important things to do," George said, waving a thick stack of parchment in his hand.
"We just received a new order."
"Customers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their desired products."
"We promised to deliver them tomorrow."
"So tonight, we might have to celebrate Christmas again."
"It'll take at least a hundred owls to deliver all these goods."
They rubbed their foreheads, expressing a mixture of pain and excitement.
"In that case, why don't you use the Extendable Charm?" Kanna suggested, standing next to Kyle. "Gather everything together and send it, then find someone to help deliver it to the customers."
"It shouldn't be difficult for you. The people are already here, and if you hire Ron, it'll only cost two Galleons."
"That's a good idea," Fred said, "but it'll reduce the surprise significantly."
"Surprise?"
"The excitement customers feel when they see owls flying towards them," George explained. "This surprise is also part of our product."
"Oh... okay."
Although Kanna didn't understand the difference between owls and Ron's deliveries, she trusted that they had their reasons.
"And most importantly," Fred continued mysteriously, "we insist on using owls because..."
George immediately understood, "Even if it's just two Galleons, we don't want to give it to Ron."
"Hey!" The two brothers simultaneously flashed a mischievous smile.
"It's his karma to be your brother," Kyle said, pulling at the corners of his mouth. He suspected that this was the main reason.
"No, no, no," Fred shook his finger, "it's his luck."
"It's special treatment from his brother," George said seriously. "You should know that for him, we're willing to pay many times over."
"It's good that Ron isn't here," Cedric couldn't help but say, but he was already accustomed to the unique family dynamics of the Weasley family.
And it seemed like this trait ran in the family.
He remembered when he first enrolled, Charlie had trained them as Beaters using real Quaffles.
Normally, Beaters would use enchanted Bludgers for training, but Charlie had directly brought out real Quaffles for the first-year students who couldn't even join a Quidditch team.
It was said that Fred had set a record for being hit the farthest, about thirty feet."
Yes, Beater Fred was hit thirty feet by a Quaffle, but instead of being angry, he even bragged about it for a long time.
Perhaps this was the unique way the Weasley family interacted.
After Fred and George left, Kyle turned to Cedric on the other side.
"I have to go too," Cedric shrugged. "There's still a lot of work at the department, and I can't leave it all to my dad. Also, I need to pick up Autumn from Saint Mungo's tomorrow morning."
"Wait, what did you just say?" Kanna paused, "Why is Autumn at Saint Mungo's? Didn't she leave Britain with her family?"
"Didn't I tell you?" Cedric blinked.
"No," everyone except Cedric replied.
"Well," Cedric shrugged, "that was their original plan, but her parents changed their minds and decided to stay."
"But I don't remember seeing her at Hogwarts," George whispered. "Did I miss something?"
"No, Autumn didn't come to Hogwarts," Cedric explained. "After the war at Hogwarts began, Minister Bones also started fighting the traitors within the Ministry of Magic. At that time, Autumn and her mother happened to be at the Ministry for some business."
"I see," Kyle nodded in realization.
Indeed, during the initial stages of the war, the Ministry of Magic had taken a while to join the fight.
"How is Autumn doing...?" Kanna asked with concern.
"Autumn is fine," Cedric shook his head. "It's mainly her mother who was injured. Later, Minister Bones arranged for Autumn to stay at the Ministry to take care of her mother."
"Can we go see her?"
"Of course, if you'd like to."
...
(End of Chapter)
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