The days at Hogwarts

Chapter 783 Prophecy and Homecoming

With the voices of Madam Pince and Violet echoing in my ears, I drew three little turtles on the blank space of my Potions homework, and two Ruffals next to my Defense Against the Dark Arts homework...

Seamus held the quill and scribbled unconsciously until he almost smudged his Transfiguration homework. Then he suddenly came to his senses, quickly put away his homework, put the quill and ink in his pocket, and left the library.

The journey from the library back to Gryffindor Tower, which should have only taken a few minutes, took him nearly half an hour. On the way, he was misled by Knight Cadogan and walked up the spiral staircase, which made him walk several more laps.

Back in the common room, he sat on the sofa in a daze and slowly fell asleep.

The firewood in the fireplace burned quietly, occasionally making a slight crackling sound. This sound entered my mind and gradually outlined a dream.

Time passed very quickly in the dream, as if the fast-forward button was pressed. For some reason, except for him, those former friends graduated quickly, got married quickly, and got promoted quickly at work. In the blink of an eye, it was ten years later. Some nosy person organized a class reunion, and the venue was chosen to be the Hogwarts library, and everyone agreed.

Seamus thought it was outrageous and agreed to attend the party.

In the dream, classmates and friends gathered together, chatting about their recent lives. Loren became the legendary wizard on the Chocolate Frog card, and his adventure stories were published in storybooks; Hermione became the director of the Law Enforcement Department, and the newspaper headlines were all news about her campaign for minister; Harry became the captain of the Auror team and a part-time Quidditch player, and just won the World Cup in the summer vacation; no one knew what industry Ron would work in after graduation, but he had a lot of children, all with red hair, and they gathered together to watch him play with firecrackers, squeaking and chattering...

Even Dean found a job in a Muggle company and used magic to reach a management position.

Just as Seamus was playing with filigree fireworks in the corner of the party, the whole place suddenly became quiet, with only the voices of Madam Pince and Violet echoing.

"Look at that gentleman. Others have achieved great careers and at least formed happy families, but he is still the same as when he first entered school."

"Who?"

"Who else? Mr. Finnigan, the fireworks guy, of course."

As soon as the voice fell, all the students looked at him, countless unspeakable gazes stared at him, and the voices of Madam Pince and Violet echoed in the library for a long time.

"I'm not!"

Seamus opened his eyes instantly.

The fireplace was still burning quietly, and the rare winter sunshine shone into the lounge through the window, making it warm and comfortable, but a thin layer of sweat appeared on his back, he felt slightly cold, his mouth was dry, and his throat was a little swollen and sore. Only his breathing echoed in the quiet lounge.

At this moment, footsteps were suddenly heard in the portrait cave.

Dean walked into the common room and was stunned when he saw him: "Aren't you in the library?"

Seamus swallowed, trying to soothe his dry throat. "There weren't many people in the library. Madam Pince was staring at me, so I came back first."

"Why are you staying here?"

"I was sitting here to rest and accidentally fell asleep."

"Then why are you sweating so much?"

"Having a nightmare."

"What nightmare?"

"..."

Simo gradually fell silent, the dream just now emerged in his mind, and he thought it might be some kind of prophecy, because he was just about to do the homework for the prophecy class.

The prophecy cannot be revealed to the person concerned, otherwise it will gradually come true.

Except for the prophets.

He thought for a moment and shook his head: "It's not important. What's important is that I won't go to the library before school starts."

"You finally figured it out. I've said it before. It's better to wait for Loren and the others to return to school so that you can learn from them instead of rushing to finish your homework now."

"No! I still have to do my homework!"

"?"

Dean's face was full of confusion.

Every time they have a holiday, they will resolve to change their bad habits and study hard, sometimes from the heart, sometimes just to follow the crowd, which can last for about half a month, which is understandable. But now the seventh grade is already halfway through, and they are about to graduate, it is too late to wake up now.

Who are they talking to? Who are they pretending for?

"We got the key to the broom room from Hagrid. We can borrow the brooms used for the team training. We plan to form a team to have a flying snowball fight. Do you want to come?"

"I……"

Ximo was about to refuse, but the sunlight outside the window was so bright that it sparkled on the snow. It was such good weather that it was hard to come by in several months.

"Only for half an hour. I have homework for Divination class."

"Let's go then!"

……

The rare good weather lasted for several days, and the sun could be seen until the day we returned to school.

In the courtyards of two houses in Hampstead on the outskirts of the city, the snow melted slightly and then refroze, leaving a thin layer of ice on a few branches and leaves. The hazy and transparent ice layer outlined the contours of the leaf veins and the texture of the branches, and was covered with snow velvet, sparkling in the sunlight, which was very beautiful.

But based on past experience, these trees will not survive this winter and will die when the ice and snow melt.

Artificially cultivated green plants are like this, very fragile.

Fortunately, the business selling green plants has been around for more than ten years. The shop and the forest farm are all his own. He will not run away, and his after-sales service is relatively reliable. After the ice and snow melt, we will dig out these trees and ask the business to return them and exchange them for a few good trees that have survived the winter.

Grandpa Bates, wearing a down jacket, stood under the tree and looked at the roots carefully.

Loren in the house had packed his luggage, put on his scarf and gloves, and walked slowly to the courtyard to say goodbye: "Grandpa Bates, it's almost time, Hermione and I are going back to school."

"Straight back to school or to the station?"

"Go straight back to school."

"Go back to school... Then I won't send you off."

"Take care of yourself at home, keep a regular schedule, and eat well, okay?"

"What are you talking about?" Bates turned around and frowned. "These words should be said by me. Take good care of Hermione at school, help her to have a regular schedule, and make sure she eats well, understand?"

"..."

Whose family is this Grandpa Bates?

Loren looked up and stared at his expression, his eyes slightly narrowed, and with an intriguing smile, he slowly walked towards him.

"You're almost eighteen, and you still want to hug me, like a child who hasn't grown up yet?"

Bates pretended to be disgusted, but still opened his arms and made a gesture for a hug.

"I don't know who sent me to school and cried at the beginning."

Loren quickly uttered this sentence, then raised his leg and kicked the tree trunk, then activated space teleportation and disappeared on the spot.

The snowflakes rustled down, not burying Bates, but covering his shoulders and head, sticking to his hair, eyebrows and beard, turning him into a snowman.

It has noses and eyes, and even its angry expressions are particularly vivid. …

The sun is shining and the snow is crystal clear.

The gate of Hogwarts was half-closed. The boars on the marble statues on both sides spread their wings as if to fly, but were buried under ice and snow. The path behind was covered with snow, leading to the grounds, the greenhouse, and the castle entrance hall.

Loren reached out and pushed the door tentatively. It was not locked at all and it opened easily.

He shook his head and sighed as he walked into the school gate: "In the situation in the past two years, this level of security would have caused big problems. It's only been a few days since peace was achieved, and I think all the professors at Hogwarts have become corrupt..."

Hermione walked beside him, pretending not to hear.

Although he could teleport directly back to the castle, he still chose to land at the school gate. Hermione knew him well and knew that this was not out of respect or reverence, but because no one had walked this road for almost a month and he simply thought it was fresh and fun.

In fact, there were traces of footprints left on the snowy road, which seemed to be left by Hagrid. Other normal footprints were buried by the snow.

Strolling along the school path, I admired the scenery I hadn't seen for a long time, and the plants that were brewing life in the snow and soil.

Hermione was silent for a moment, only Loren muttered to himself.

When passing by the Whomping Willow, Loren saw that snowflakes had accumulated on the Whomping Willow. Thinking that it had not been moved for a long time, he went over and scratched its knots. The branches immediately trembled, shaking and scattering snowballs all over the ground, forming a vivid snowman.

Hermione stopped when he approached the Whomping Willow, looking at the snow on his hair and eyebrows, and fell silent.

"Hiss, it's a little cold."

"..."

Hermione silently brushed the snow off his shoulders, using a little too much force so that his coat flapped, then took his arm and dragged him towards the hallway.

"Why are you in such a hurry? We came back a day early and are already the first students to return to school."

"The rest of the way is still long, and I'm afraid we won't be able to reach the castle before dark."

"You seem to be hinting at something."

"You heard wrong."

"You don't think I'm wasting time by stopping and starting and dragging my feet, do you?"

Loren raised his voice slightly, his expression seemed a little indignant: "I just haven't seen these old friends for a long time, and I miss them a little. Isn't it okay to say hello after not seeing them for such a long time?"

"..."

Hermione didn't say anything. This guy was in a rush to perform and became more and more excited the more he paid attention to her.

After walking with him for a while, the two of them naturally quieted down. They didn't know when they changed from holding hands to holding hands. They walked forward at a steady pace, neither hurried nor hurried. Sometimes they looked at the grass and trees on the roadside, at the forbidden forest not far away, and discussed what it was like inside the greenhouse after being stuffy for so long.

Slowly approaching the Quidditch field, I could hear their voices calling and shouting from afar. It was a scene of intense activity.

……

In winter, the days are short and the nights are long, and in the blink of an eye, the sun sets.

Seamus was riding on the team's practice broom, wearing a pair of windproof sunglasses that he had discarded before. There were some snow stains on the corners of the frame, like a circle of white edges, which were left by snowballs hitting the glasses and not being wiped clean. But this did not affect Seamus's feeling of being cool at all.

Flying snowballs are so much fun...

At this moment, he suddenly found a snowball flying in front of him on the right. It came with great force, as fast as a Bludger, with a whistling sound, and it seemed to be landing on his face.

According to his initial assessment, it was too late to hide now.

Seamus quickly raised his broom and climbed up, using his strong back to meet the snowball. Sure enough, it didn't hurt at all, and he didn't even feel anything.

These are the experiences accumulated from the snowball fights in the past few weeks. Don't panic when a snowball flies in front of you, or you will use your face to catch it. At this time, you should remain calm and use your thick back or arms to protect yourself. Be sure to avoid your face and neck, because the snow will fall into your collar, which is very cold.

Don't ask him how he knows.

Speeding up to get rid of Dean's sneak attack, Seamus was just about to grab some snow to make a snowball when suddenly two figures appeared at the edge of his narrow field of vision through his sunglasses. He was completely stunned.

It was Loren and Hermione.

With his sharp eyes, he recognized his roommate at a glance, and also recognized the top student in the grade next to him. The two of them walked hand in hand and slowly approached the playground. It seemed no different from usual, but he clearly remembered that homecoming day was tomorrow, so how come they were back already?
"!?"

Seamus turned around and looked carefully, and it was indeed Loren and Hermione.

Looking up at the sky above, the sunset glow was floating on the horizon. The sun had set in the west at some point and was about to sink into the hills.

when?
He clearly only played for less than half an hour!
The feeling of time flying in the dream came back again, and an inexplicable panic enveloped Simo. He landed on the edge of the field in a panic, put down his broom and was about to leave.

Dean landed beside him and looked at him with confusion on his face: "What's wrong with you?"

"I have to go back to my homework."

"?"

Dean looked puzzled. He followed his gaze and saw two other students who had returned to school early. "Loren and Hermione have returned early. That means I can refer to their homework tonight. There's no need to worry!"

"I told you I'll only play for half an hour, now I have to go back to my homework."

"But you've already played for half an hour six times. Play for another half an hour."

"No, I need to use this half hour to do my homework."

"But dinner is only half an hour away. How many questions can you answer?"

Dean looked at his resolute expression and thought that this man had caught a cold because he was sleeping in the lounge without a blanket. He might even have a fever and his head was confused.

"..."

Ximo didn't answer, but turned and walked away, leaving the snow and the setting sun behind him.

Dean didn't understand because he didn't have the gift of prophecy. He found out at a class reunion ten years later. While he was studying hard to become a manager in a Muggle company, Dean could only play with fireworks with his classmates' children, and then was talked about by Madam Pince and Violet in front of the whole class.

Thinking of this, Simo reached out and wiped the windproof sunglasses on his face. He felt that Dean should remember his back. He would think of this back again at the class reunion in the library ten years later.

……

The setting sun rays slanted down from the top of the tower, shining on the stove in the divination classroom and on the sparkling crystal ball.

At this moment, there was no strong, pungent spice smoke in the divination classroom, only a faint smell of sherry.

Trelawney took a sip from his glass and stared down at the crystal ball, observing it carefully.

This crystal ball was left by her great-grandmother. It is very old and has magical powers. When used with sherry to activate the magic power of the third eye, she can glimpse the distant future from it.

In the first week of this school year, several predictions were made for the students who had just taken the elective divination course, but none of them came true. They had to make a few more vague and general predictions to fill the gaps, otherwise they would have to drop out of the course this semester.

After reading for a long time, the sherry bottle was empty before she wrote down the prophecy in her mind on the parchment. As she wrote, she couldn't help muttering to herself:

"This is all the guidance of Heaven's Eye..."

(End of this chapter)