HP Midnight Light

- September 1978, 10 - Hogwarts Castle

At the end of the Halloween feast, Cornelia found a reason to leave the Slytherin table.Many couples left the banquet one after another, including Regulus and Olivia, and of course the few couples she facilitated.

Cornelia left the foyer and walked down the ornate path.In order to cater to the Halloween atmosphere, mini jack-o-lanterns are hung on the shrubs and flowers. From time to time on the way, you will meet some people sitting on carved benches and chatting.She continued walking along another deeper path, and the flowers on the right trembled a little too much.Cornelia stopped and quickly drew out her wand:

"Fractured!"

The flowers exploded with a bang, and the people inside screamed, and two black figures jumped out, but Cornelia called out the girl's name without fail before they tried to escape: "Vera!"

"Cornelia!" Vera froze in the flowers angrily and helplessly, she hurriedly arranged her clothes.

"I warned you!" Cornelia didn't put down her wand, she couldn't hide her anger, "You really think Greenglass is interested in you? Look, he ran away on his own in a hurry, not even Willing to stay and explain it to you. Come out!"

Vera was very reluctant, but under Cornelia's menacing gaze she had to submit.When Vera came across the bushes to Cornelia, she couldn't help but thank herself for the timely interruption, and Cornelia couldn't help but doubt her original judgment: "Look what you have done—I Thought you were a sensible man, Vera."

"You're too meddling, Cornelia!" Vera said nonchalantly, brushing off the grass clippings stuck to her robes, "I'm not at all interested in Goyle's stupid pig—"

"Silence and silence!" Cornelia swung her wand violently, Vera's mouth opened and closed but could not utter a word, her eyes widened in horror, Cornelia said softly, "Crucio. "

Vera fell to her knees and let out a scream that no one could hear.

"I haven't tried my best yet, Vera. If I want to punish you, there are ten thousand ways in the world that can make your life worse than the Cruciatus Curse." Cornelia sneered, and she made up her mind To Shashavila's majesty, "If you have any brains, you should know that Goyle is far more important than Greenglass. Greenglass is just a pureblood, but Goyle will soon follow the Dark Lord. Do things. It's clear at a glance which is more important-of course, I can't expect you to have a brain to think, after all, you are the kind of woman who is determined to post to Greengrass, and even a fool can see that he just doesn't mind sleeping with you It's just that you're smugly calling yourself 'Mrs. Greengrass'."

With a flick of her wand, she lifted Vera's silent spell.The latter glared at her with tears in his eyes: "How dare you—how dare you—"

"Hush!" Cornelia raised a finger and shouted in a low voice, "You seem to have lost your judgment after hanging out with Betty and Agnes for a long time. Why don't I dare? On the contrary, how dare you! You How dare you disobey the orders of the Dark Lord? How dare you secretly communicate with a non-Death Eater? How dare you..."

"You have no right to order me like that, Cornelia! The only reason you asked me to go on a date with Goyle is that he is a would-be Death Eater, and my name is on the list of the source of life project." Vera from Getting up on the ground, her eyes were full of tears but full of anger and unwillingness, "But, first, Goyle is not a Death Eater; second, I decided to join the Death Eaters - so at least I can choose Who is together..."

Faced with these fierce questions, Cornelia smiled instead: "Vera, use your brain. Anyone can join the Death Eaters? Look at you, you have done it in Slytherin." What - the Dark Arts? You're not very good at it. Scheming? Your humiliating pranks aren't even scheming. You thought the Dark Lord would let someone so mediocre and incompetent try to get into Greenglass' bed all day long? It's just a daydream! Vera, you should wake up too. Maybe you can indeed become a Death Eater, but with your current abilities, it won't be possible in another 100 years. "

Vera let out a sob uncontrollably, her face flushed from Cornelia's sarcasm.Cornelia ignored her, turned and pointed her wand at a cluster of flowers, and whispered a series of spells that Vera could not understand.Immediately afterwards, the cluster of flowers withered suddenly and rapidly, turning into dust without warning under Vera's gaze.

"Can you do this?"

Cornelia gave her a contemptuous sideways glance, then flicked her wand again.Vera watched helplessly as the pile of dust gathered in the air, turning from invisible to tangible bit by bit, and finally the cluster of flowers reappeared in front of their eyes, even the candles of the jack-o-lanterns above were not extinguished.

"You think it's been restored, but in fact it's just a lifeless imitation that I recreated." Cornelia said softly, "No matter how exquisite the fake is, it's still just a fake, and what people are looking for is the genuine one handed down from generation to generation. There are so many purebloods, how many of them are Death Eaters? Smart people know how to go after expensive things, not flashy fakes."

"Do you think that everyone is as cold-blooded as you and only understands benefits, Rozier?" Vera sneered, "Is there anything in this world that you can't put a clear price on?"

"I'm not as cold-blooded as you think, Vera, but I'm smarter than you. That's probably the biggest difference between us."

"How powerful is your brain? Forgive me for failing to see your 'wisdom'." Vera sneered, and she wiped away her tears, "You don't understand what love is—"

"This is an unfounded accusation, Vera. Do you understand what love is?" Cornelia didn't even twitch her eyebrows, "Your Greenglass can only be regarded as wishful thinking and unrequited love at best. If you don't believe me, you can Try it—" Cornelia turned to Vera with an encouraging smile, "see if he will return the same love to you in the end."

Vera was stunned: "What are you talking about?"

"Don't you like him, love him? Then go." Cornelia smiled and looked at Vera, "Prove to me that your love will not be in vain, prove to me that I was wrong— —You are the one who is not cold-blooded and knows how to love."

"You mean..." Vera looked at Cornelia vigilantly, and asked tentatively, "Then Goyle..."

"Forget what I said earlier, you don't have to force yourself to go on a date with Goyle or something." Cornelia even reached out to tidy up Vera's messy bun and gently pushed her, "Go to Green Glass. And I won't."

She bypassed Vera who was staring at her hesitantly, and returned to the auditorium along the same road.It didn't take long before she found Goyle at the long Slytherin table, gulping down a hot apple cider.Seeing that it was her, Gore wiped the water stains from the corners of his lips:

"Rozier, you are indeed partial at times."

After all, both Crabbe and Nott had disappeared into the night with their female companions.

Cornelia doesn't waste time on one thing, and if one doesn't work, find another.

"I've changed my mind, Goyle. You deserve better. I'm going to introduce you to another lady. Maybe something will spark between you."

Cornelia reached out to get herself a cup of hot apple cider, and Gore followed suit, "Who?"

"Antares Selwyn." Cornelia clinked glasses with Goyle, "You must know who her brother is, right? The next time you go to Hogsmeade, you should have a drink together."

At the same time, she became aware of a gaze staring at her from the long table, and Cornelia did not look to see who it was.There was no doubt that it must have been Barty Crouch, who accepted her gift of white roses, but as the days passed, he didn't seem to have changed his mind.

Cornelia slowly turned the wine glass and looked at the Hogwarts decoration on it.The child probably didn't know that her white roses would never wither, and the passionate love certainly made people's hearts beat.However, Cornelia is Cornelia. Unlike Vera, her emotions are not so easily carried away by her mind, and weighing the pros and cons is always her first reaction.

She is cold-blooded?Maybe.

- same moment - Institute of Education, University of London

"... Very wonderful speech, thank you, Miss Smith." The head of the college led her out of the auditorium to the small room on the other side, "Come and take a photo with the other speakers."

The Faculty of Education decided to hold a Halloween celebration in which ten students were selected to speak on their current course.Ann Smith is one of them.

"Keep smiling. Three, two, one—perfect!"

"Very good photo, everyone. Your speech tonight was fantastic. This group photo will be published in major newspapers tomorrow." The person in charge of the college said with a smile, "There are some reporters outside who want to make a brief report on you. Interview, if you don't mind, please delay for a few minutes and come back to the dinner."

Ann took some time to answer a few questions, and after the reporters had dispersed, another speaker tapped her on the shoulder: "We need to hurry back and change into our gowns, Smith, I'm sure there will be a lot of boys waiting tonight Come dance with you."

"No, they will all wait in line for you." An complimented, but when she was about to leave, someone called her from behind:

"Just a moment, Miss Smith!"

When Ann turned her head, she was a lady with her hair curled into golden curls, wearing a pink tight velvet dress, and wearing glasses.Holding a shorthand notebook, she hurried towards her: "It seems that I am late, but you don't mind giving me an extra 5 minutes to talk about tonight's speech?"

"Sorry, let's go first." An apologized to her companion, and then she looked at the strange lady with some doubts, "Which newspaper are you from?"

"Oh—a daily newspaper." The lady in her thirties said perfunctorily, and she pulled Ann into a chair. "I listened to your speech tonight. It was wonderful, Miss Smith. But I have some Curious why you chose the topic of child development?"

"Because I am personally interested in research in this direction," An Shumen replied familiarly, "Actually, in the future, I—"

"Why are you interested in this? Is it related to your childhood?" The female reporter stared at her with her chin propped up, and An was taken aback:

"There is no great connection..."

"So, can you tell me about your childhood and girlhood?" The female reporter looked at her without blinking. "Where did you grow up? What did your growing environment bring to you?"

"These are personal matters, ma'am." Ann frowned, looking away uncomfortably. "The interview shouldn't cover these."

"These are all related to your subject, Miss Smith." The female reporter said aggressively.Ann stared at her bright nails and shook her head in resistance:

"It's against the rules—"

"Was your life in the past happy or sad? What made you decide early on to focus on topics like child development instead of some more interesting research directions?" The female reporter interrupted her with a smile He smiled and licked his lips, "Or, describe the place where you grew up, what was it like?"

"I refuse to answer your question, ma'am, this has violated the interview principle and crossed the boundaries of my privacy." Ann stood up suddenly, she bit her lip and insisted, "I ask you to show your relevant documents, otherwise I'm going to call security."

"What a troublesome little girl." The annoying female reporter grabbed her crocodile leather handbag and stood up, "Miss Smith, you have to answer me at least one question—in your opinion, what is the meaning of a person's childhood life?" Can it affect the future development of this person?——This must be an academic aspect.”

Ann frowned and reluctantly replied: "Academically speaking, there is no doubt, yes."

"Thank you, dear Miss Smith." The female reporter swayed in front of Ann in pointed high-heeled shoes. She stared at Ann condescendingly, "Maybe we will meet again."

She turned away with a domineering gesture.

An was stunned for a few seconds, then came to his senses, found the person in charge of the academy as quickly as possible and told the story of the suspicious reporter from beginning to end.

"You've done a good job, Ms. Smith." The person in charge of the college showed a dismissive expression, "There are always some rambling tabloids who like to dig other people's privacy for profit. But since you haven't told her anything, Then don't worry, she dares not write scribbles. Now go and enjoy your banquet, Miss Smith, and forget about the unpleasant incident just now."

But this is not the first accident tonight.

When Ann left the crowd after the open-air concert and planned to stay alone for a while, a familiar voice suddenly stopped her: "Ann."

Ann stopped in surprise, and when she saw the face of the person coming, her mood became more complicated: "William."

William walked out of the shadows and slowly came to the brightly lit place. Ann was shocked to find that he was in a suit and leather shoes. For a moment, he looked more like a student attending a banquet than a postman riding a bicycle through the streets.

"I want to see you." William said, "Maybe... I also want to see what the 'university' you want to go to is like." He looked at the white tent on the lawn not far away and the lights in the other direction Brightly lit auditorium, "Life here must be good, right? I mean, your dream has finally come true."

"William..." Ann's throat seemed to be choked, "you—have you read my speech?"

"Yeah." William nodded and admitted shyly, "I don't quite understand what you're talking about, but you said it very well...everyone is applauding."

When Ann wanted to laugh, tears blurred her vision first, and William quickly stepped forward to help her wipe away the tears: "You shouldn't cry, Ann, this is the life you dream of - look here, I can't imagine What a blessing to live here."

"I..." Ann shook her head, "How are you doing?"

"Still the same," William said.

Ann remembered that the last time they met was nearly two years ago, and unconsciously, she already had a feeling of a lifetime away.

"Have you ever thought about changing jobs or going to college?" An hope rekindled in Ann's heart, since she could do it, William must be able to, "If you can come, then we can study together ..."

"Not everyone is as lucky as you, Ann. Maybe I will find a way to change jobs, but college is impossible for me." William slowly retracted his hand, "I have to take care of my father, He can't leave me."

Ann's heart cooled down bit by bit, and she found that the reality between her and William still existed: "Maybe you can—"

"Ann!" Her friends called from afar, and the girls ran over from the tent with their male companions, "The dance is about to start, what are you still doing here?"

"I……"

In a blink of an eye they were already in front of them, and one of the girls seemed to have had too much to drink, and she greeted excitedly: "There are a whole dozen boys over there asking where you are going, don't be silly, you can pick one to bring you tonight." Back to the apartment!"

Ann was too embarrassed to look at William.

"Hey, who is this?" Another person looked at William curiously.This question stunned Ann for a moment, and she couldn't help but realize how out of place William's ill-fitting old suit was with the surrounding environment.

"Ah...an acquaintance..." Ann hesitated shamefully, and she said evasively, "Go back first, I'll be back later."

Her friend was already fascinated by the dance music playing from the tent: "Okay, it's not too late. Don't let the boys down."

"William—" After her friends walked away for a while, Ann looked earnestly at William and wanted to explain, but William just shook his head:

"Can you dance with me?"

An was startled, the sound of music floated from afar, it was a classic waltz

"Just a dance." William held out his hand to her.

Ann hesitated for a moment, William's eyes prevented her from continuing to speak, and she held out her hand to William.

It's just a dance.

- October 1978, 11 - Greenwich, London

"Nineteen!" James screamed like a girl, opening a bottle of champagne and spraying it on Sirius, who ducked nimbly from under the table, and poor Remus was doused in the end. champagne, he had to give himself a drying spell:

"Lily, you should take care of James! He thinks he's only eight years old!"

But Lily has already picked up another bottle of champagne: "Today is Padfoot's birthday, everyone should think that they are only eight years old! Yoho—" She jumped on the sofa and lifted the bottle, just in time to spill it from under the dining table. The drilled Sirius had a face.

"Evans, you were spoiled by Potter like Lupine!" Sirius wiped his face, imitating Professor McGonagall's tone perfectly, "[-] points deducted from Gryffindor."

"Shut up, Banzi. Everyone can fuck you whatever you want today." James took the half-empty wine bottle and poured wine into everyone's glasses, "Come on, let's celebrate Banban being one year older. Next year he That's 20 years old."

"Board?" Peter repeated. "Is this Padfoot's new name?"

"Nickname." James finished his glass of champagne beamingly. "I think this kind of nickname can make the board feel that he is still young."

"It's disgusting." Remus groaned strangely, "Hyase, would you call Padfoot like that?"

Sirius replied solemnly before Hyacinth spoke: "Why do you want to find out what Hyacinth called me in private? You can't talk about this kind of thing in public, okay?"

A glass shattered on the wall an inch behind his head, and Peter laughed, "Screw it, board!"

"From what I've seen, board," Remus said in a volume only Sirius could hear, "you haven't even used the 'housewarming gift' I gave you!"

Remus scrambled to hide beside Hyacons before Sirius could get mad.

"I understand you, Remus." Hyacinth picked up another wine glass, "but I hope you don't write your friends' boudoir life into your original erotic novel."

James laughed and fell headlong on the couch.

"I told you that enough is enough!" Remus waved his wand angrily and picked up the shattered glass. "Come on, now all the guests have to wear special decorations for Sirius' birthday party—" he said With another wave of the wand, the black dog-eared tiaras were delivered to everyone.

"What's this, Moonface!" Sirius exclaimed in protest, painfully aware that even Peter had happily put on those dog ears.

"Shut up, Bamboo. Everyone's going to be wearing cool antlers for my birthday."

"Are you going to make a speech, Sirius?"

"I don't like doing that." Sirius took the cake knife carelessly, and cut two simply and roughly, "The first piece is for you, Remus, as compensation for being bullied by us just now."

Remus unhappily accepted.

When Peter took the second piece, he reminded: "You don't have enough cakes, Padfoot."

"You don't understand, Peter." Remus sneered, "This is the taste of people in love."

"It's good that you know, Fluffy." Sirius casually stuffed one of the remaining two servings to James, and then took the cherry on the last piece, "Want to eat cherries, Hyacinth?"

"Can we get away for a moment, Board?"

"You know that 'kissing booth' he had with James, Hyacins?"

"No!"

"Peter!"

James and Sirius yelled at the same time.

"What?" Hyacinth turned her head.

"Uh..." Peter stammered.

"Let me tell you." Lily chimed in cheerfully. "When we were in fourth year, Sirius wanted to save money to buy a motorcycle. He figured out a way to set up a kissing booth in the Hogwarts foyer." , must pull James into the gang. If I remember correctly, the price should be... kissing the hand, ten Sikels; kissing the cheek, fifteen Sikels; kissing the lips, one Galleon; kissing the tongue, two Galleons—— "

"Lily..." James called weakly.

"The two of them were arrested by McGonagall and locked up in confinement within a morning." Remus said happily, "But Sirius earned three Galleons and ten Sikels in total, so let your imagination run wild. Come on, Hyacins."

"I only participated once, Hyacinth. There was a girl who paid me ten senkes to kiss her hand." James hurriedly distanced himself.

"I didn't know you then, dear!"

Sweet talk didn't work, Hyacinth smiled slightly at Sirius: "Did you kiss the lips of three girls, or did you kiss three girls with one tongue and one lip?"

"I really didn't! My biggest measure is to kiss the cheek!" Sirius was about to jump up, "You can use Desperation on me, really, I promise I didn't lie to you! I swear I just used my lips The mucous membrane on the skin lightly touched the surface cells of the opponent's skin, and the contact time did not exceed 0.001 second!"

Hyacinth narrowed her eyes dangerously: "From now until Christmas, we will keep a distance of more than one meter."

"I hate you!" Sirius yelled angrily. "You ruined my 19th birthday!"

"Maybe you could have gotten a better present for the stupid board." Remus got his revenge.

The author has something to say:

Note:

1. Antares Selwyn: Appeared in the first few chapters.Narcissa's bridesmaid, her brother is the Death Eater Selwyn.

2. Institute of Education, University of London: After checking the information, it seems that the Institute of Education was merged into UCL after 1994. Anyway, these details are not important...

3. Sirius' birthday adopts the November 11st version.

4. Padfoot: Pad.Nickname for padfoot.

5. It is assumed that Remus is a boring old driver.

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Attached is Sirius's 19th birthday gift list——

Hyacinth: A mechanical Muggle watch

James: Guide to Anti-Dark Arts + a dog chain

Lily: Electric Shaver

Remus: Something not to open in public (see housewarming gift from him)

Peter: Motorcycle Illustrated Book

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