Study Days at Hogwarts

  Chapter 995 The Toad's Cry

   "I hate the rain!"

  Albert turned his head and looked at the rain-soaked window, reached out and tapped the address book on his hand. He had been using this method to get in touch with Fred, George and Lee Jordan on the train.

   "I thought you liked the rain!" Katrina also turned her head to look out the window, and then looked back at the communication bookmark in Albert's hand, "You have been chatting with your sister since just now?"

   "Yes!" Albert did not deny it, "Anyway, idle is idle, and chatting with someone can pass the boring time."

   "Can I get a copy of this thing?" Katrina suddenly asked, "I can pay Galleon."

"I don't plan to sell it for the time being, but you can make it yourself. The Changing Curse shouldn't be difficult for you!" Albert still doesn't plan to spread this thing on a large scale, so as not to give the mysterious person a hard time in the next war. Add an edge.

   "It's not just the use of the changing spell?" Katrina doesn't believe this kind of nonsense. The principle of the communication bookmark may be the changing spell, but it is definitely not that simple to make. Anyone who believes it directly is definitely a fool.

   "Well, it's a more advanced application of the transformation spell." Albert put away the address book, and he could feel the train slowing down.

   "Are you not going to fulfill your responsibilities?" Katrina asked tentatively when she saw that Albert was going to leave directly. She felt that she had guessed the result.

   "Let's leave the work of maintaining order to the prefects. They always need to be given opportunities to exercise." Albert casually made excuses for his laziness, and followed the crowd to get off the train. After confirming that there were no problems around, he turned his head and said to Katrina behind him, "You'd better not leave my sight."

"Am I so unreliable?" Katrina raised her eyebrows slightly, a little unhappy, not because she felt that Albert was making a fuss, but because she felt that she was underestimated, and the feeling of being treated like an underage girl was very uncomfortable. Comfortable.

"Don't be angry. In the face of danger, any negligence may cost you your life. The life of a wizard is more fragile than you think." Albert raised his wand and said in a voice that only two people could hear , "Although the probability of them targeting you is very low, I can still take precautions."

   "You just don't want to see Isobel sad." Katrina sighed, she was very envious of her sister.

"I don't want to see you have problems because of my problems. Since it is my problem, I have to take care of you." Albert got off the car and came to the platform, raised his wand to make sure the surroundings were all right, and then signaled Katrina followed.

   Right at this moment, a crisp female voice came from not far away, and Hagrid obviously hadn't returned yet.

   Albert was not surprised by this at all, after all Hagrid still had to take care of his giant brother.

  This semester, Albert decided to stay away from Hagrid, lest he leave the big stupid man in his care.

  Even if the mission is triggered, Albert plans to give up directly.

   Giant!

   Leave it to Potter.

  The two deliberately stayed at the back of the line to ensure that no students were left behind, and they walked along the muddy path outside Hogsmeade Station to the convoy of Thestral carriages.

  Most of the carriages were already occupied, except for one, which was a special carriage prepared for the male and female student union chairmen at the back.

   This is one of their privileges.

   "Those over there, take this one!"

  Albert said to the bewildered second year students who had been kicked out of the carriage by Malfoy and his partners.

   After finishing speaking, he stared at Malfoy, who was chatting and laughing with his friends, and warned, "I don't care what you want to do, but don't trouble me."

   "Understood." Malfoy said blankly.

"go in!"

Albert signaled the three little guys to get into the carriage. This carriage was not the same as other carriages. The environment inside was obviously much better. Although it was not as good as the one that sent him to participate in the Potions Championship at the Magic School, but There is no hay in it, and there is no musty smell.

  The carriage team set off staggeringly.

  The second-grade students in the carriage all looked at Albert with admiration. One of the boys with freckles mustered up his courage and carefully asked Albert a few questions about the dueling champion.

"Don't trust the contents of the newspaper too much. Most of the time, it is used by the newspaper office to attract people's attention in order to sell the newspaper. That's all. If you believe too much, you will easily be fooled into a fool by others." Albert Turning his head and looking out the window, he relaxed his vigilance a little after the convoy passed the school gate, and looked towards Hogwarts Castle, which was getting closer and closer.

   "I think you want to say that most of the British wizarding community are idiots." Katrina muttered.

   "Many times, everything you see is what others want you to see." Albert said lightly, "As long as you are not a fool, you will find something is wrong if you use your brain a little."

   "However, there are usually more fools in this world?" Katrina laughed at herself.

"Because they only passively receive information, they never actively think about why, and they can't blame others if they become fools." Albert stopped talking, because the carriage team had stopped in front of the stone steps leading to the oak gate, and hundreds of carriages suddenly After filling up the space around the stone steps, the students got off the carriage one after another and walked towards the oak gate of the castle.

   Albert and Katrina stayed until the end to ensure that all the students entered the castle before slowly entering the castle.

   They were on their way to the auditorium when they heard giggles.

   Albert stopped and looked at Peeves emerging from the shadows.

  Katrina also stopped, looking at Peeves with some doubts. This guy was very weird, with a weird smile that couldn't be concealed on his face, and he rubbed his hands at Albert, as if he was waiting for something.

  Albert reached into his pocket, took out a bag and threw it to Peeves. The smile on the face of Peeves who got the bag became brighter, and the sound he made became more and more strange. He just took the bag and disappeared.

  Katrina looked at Albert suspiciously, always feeling that the guy next to him was going to make trouble.

   However, she didn't ask.

  Anyway, if you ask, you probably won’t get an answer. Just watch quietly. This is the tacit understanding they have developed.

   Entering the auditorium, the decoration here is similar to the previous style, that is, the ceiling above the head is exactly the same as the sky outside, as if the professors forgot to replace the ceiling with a bright starry sky.

  Albert walked along the long table in Gryffindor, looking for Fred, George and Lee Jordan.

   Whenever he walked by, the people who were talking happily would quiet down and stare at him curiously with wide-eyed eyes, as if they were looking at some rare animal.

  Well, there is still a little girl who wants to ask him for an autograph, which makes Albert a little speechless. He had to quicken his pace and walked towards George who was waving at him.

   "You're very welcome," Fred quipped, laughing. "I thought you'd stop to sign them."

"Shut up."

   Albert sat down in the vacant seat vacated by the three of them, and greeted the girls sitting across from him.

   "This year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, I heard that he is also the deputy minister of the Ministry of Magic." George winked at Albert, and his words were intended to be heard by the surrounding students.

   "Are you sure you're not mistaken, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Magic went to teach at Hogwarts?" Shanna looked at the witch with a bit of bad taste in the teachers' bench with some surprise.

  Think about it on your knees and know that it must be no good.

   "Honestly, her taste is really...unique."

   "By the way, Albert, I have become the Quidditch captain." Angelina excitedly told everyone the good news.

   "Congratulations. However, I'm afraid your luck is not very good." The corners of Albert's mouth curled up slightly, and he noticed that Umbridge had just taken a sip from his goblet.

   "Why?" Angelina asked suspiciously.

   "Didn't you read the newspaper? The Daily Prophet has been smearing Harry Potter a lot lately." Albert reminded.

   "But, what does this mean?" Angelina was a little confused, obviously not understanding the meaning of Albert's words.

   "It means that the relationship between the Ministry of Magic and Harry Potter is very bad, and our new professor is still the deputy minister of the Ministry of Magic. If you think about it, you know that the situation is not good." Albert explained.

   "It's okay, if Harry can't play, wouldn't there be you?" Angelina was not worried at all, Albert is also a very good ball seeker.

   "I have something to do this year, I'm afraid I can't help you." Albert shook his head.

  The expression on Angelina's face immediately changed.

   "Do you know why the Deputy Minister of Magic came to teach at Hogwarts?" Shanna changed the subject calmly.

   "It's not going to be a good thing anyway." Lee Jordan said: "By the way, have you listened to the wizard's watch station broadcast?"

   "What's that?" Alia asked suspiciously.

  "A mysterious station broadcast. I remember last night, the broadcast was talking about our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. To be honest, our Defense Against the Dark Arts class this year may be a little bad."

   "Let Albert teach us?" Aliya suggested.

   "I'm not free." Albert shook his head and said.

   "What are you busy with?" Shanna asked curiously.

  At this time, Professor McGonagall led the students into the auditorium, and the sorting ceremony was about to begin.

  Amidst the restlessness of the first-year students, the sorting hat opened like a mouth, and sang loudly:

   I was a new hat a long time ago, before Hogwarts was built, the four founders of Noble House, thought they would never go their separate ways...

  Our Hogwarts is in danger, and enemies from outside the school are watching. We must be united internally, otherwise everything will fall apart from within. I have spoken to you bluntly, I have sounded the alarm for you? Now let's start sorting.

   After the hat sang, it remained motionless again.

   "Do you think this is what Dumbledore meant, or the Sorting Hat itself?" George asked while turning his head amid applause.

  Not only him, but the students in the audience were whispering to those around them, discussing the warning of the Sorting Hat.

   "Nico, has the Sorting Hat issued similar warnings before?" Albert asked the ghost of Gryffindor directly.

"There have been a few times before," recalls Nearly Headless Nick, "when the Sorting Hat felt it had a moral duty to warn the school appropriately if it felt the school was in...great danger. Of course, its The advice is the same every time: unite and maintain internal stability."

   "A hat that can predict?" Fred asked rhetorically.

  After feeling the unfriendly gaze from Professor McGonagall, everyone shut up obediently.

   "How is it possible, the sorting hat is placed in Dumbledore's office, and I probably heard some news there." Albert said in a voice that could be heard by several people around him.

   "After all, you are the prophet." George laughed silently.

   Soon, as Professor McGonagall announced his name and the Sorting Hat, the long line of first-year freshmen was shortening a little bit.

  After the sorting ceremony, their principal stood up to greet everyone and announced the official start of the dinner.

   "How does it feel to be the president of the student council, isn't it great?"

  George was cutting a steak, squinting at Umbridge who was also cutting a steak on the teacher's bench.

   "She looks like a toad, a pink toad!"

   "Affects appetite."

   "I really don't know why the headmaster would give in to the Ministry of Magic."

   "I don't know, Professor Dumbledore should have his own reasons for giving in!"

   Several people lowered their voices, whispering in whispers.

   "I've heard people say that unmarried old aunts like her are the scariest. Many of them are distorted because they haven't been nourished by love." Lee Jordan muttered softly.

   "No one reminded her, is there a problem with her taste?"

   "I dare say her heart must be distorted, otherwise whoever is too old will dress herself up as a little girl."

   "Maybe, you can try to save her taste."

   "Forget it, it won't be worth it if you are locked up." Lee Jordan gnawed on the chicken leg and laughed at himself: "At this time, you should pray to God, maybe God will answer your plea."

   "I thought wizards believed in Merlin."

   "Wizards don't have faith, at least I don't." George shook his head and said, "Merlin's beard and the like are just catchphrases."

   At this moment, Umbridge, who had just eaten a piece of steak and drank another sip of wine, suddenly froze, because she found that there was blood on the steak.

  She reached out and touched the bottom of her nose, looking at her blood-stained fingers, she froze for a moment.

  I am actually having a nosebleed, which seems to be very serious.

   Not only was she stunned, but Dumbledore beside him also noticed the change in Umbridge and cast a puzzled look at her.

"are you OK!"

  Umbridge had already taken out a handkerchief from his pocket and covered his nose. Before he could answer Dumbledore, the professors in the teacher's seat also noticed the change in the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

  Even the students who were talking in low voices below noticed it.

   "Something seems to be wrong?" Fred suppressed a smile and motioned everyone to look at Umbridge on the teacher's bench.

   "Our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor seems to have a nosebleed?" Lee Jordan also tried not to let himself laugh.

   "Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's curse has begun to take effect?" George deliberately diverted the topic, "She is really unlucky, she was plagued by bad luck when she first came to school."

  Umbridge's eyes widened, and he was horrified to find that the nosebleed hadn't stopped, and the handkerchief was stained red by the nosebleed.

   "Maybe, you should go to the school hospital, Bobby should be able to give you some help." Professor McGonagall looked at the embarrassed Umbridge and suggested.

  After the news of Umbridge's nosebleeds spread, it was quickly spread as the curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Some people secretly started a bet on how long Umbridge could last.

   "How long do you think it will take Madam Pomfrey to cure her?" Fred turned his head and asked Albert. George next to him even sent a message to Albert through the communication bookmark, asking Madam Pomfrey if she might have noticed something was wrong.

   "Probably... it won't take long."

   Albert knew Madam Pomfrey was capable of solving this problem.

  In fact, it took about a quarter of an hour, after Albert had wiped out the two servings of food, before Umbridge finally returned to her seat.

only…

   The good times don't last long.

  Umbridge had just eaten something when his nosebleed started again, and then, under the watchful eyes of everyone, he hurried to the school hospital to ask Madam Pomfrey for help.

   This time, Umbridge didn't touch the food on the table. It's not that she didn't suspect that someone tampered with the food and caused her nosebleed, but everyone picked the food on their own, so it was obviously impossible for someone to target her specifically.

  Yes, Umbridge never imagined that Peeves had secretly tampered with her cup and knife and fork.

   After all, nosebleeds are relatively common, and everyone thought Umbridge was just in poor health.

  Who would have thought that someone was deliberately targeting Umbridge?

   No, no one can think of it, at least no one will find something wrong now, and the professors are more likely to gloat.

   "Are you really not going to have some? The syrup fruit pie tastes very good." Dumbledore suggested with a smile, looking at Umbridge who had only eaten a few mouthfuls of food from the beginning to now.

"No, I don't want to eat for now." Umbridge is still smirking, but she is in a very bad mood now. Watching everyone eat while hungry is simply a cruel torture. What the hell!

   Seems to be for an after-dinner post about Ministry of Magic interference in Hogwarts.

  Umbridge finally persevered, during which he rudely interrupted Dumbledore and delivered a series of unwelcome speeches.

   It's just that something went wrong during the speech.

  “…reaching a balance, between the old and the new, between permanence and change…”

   A creaking voice suddenly sounded in the auditorium.

  “…some old habits will be retained, and there is nothing wrong with that, and some habits have become obsolete, and it is necessary to…”

  The hungry grunt sounded again, and everyone was holding back their laughter.

   However, Umbridge's stomach seemed to be protesting its mistreatment, and the grunting became more pronounced and louder.

  Finally, someone below the stage couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  As long as someone takes the lead, more and more people can't help but laugh out loud.

   This purring sound is really wonderful, just like the cry of a toad.

  (end of this chapter)