Hogwarts Homecoming

It has been a tradition of Hogwarts for many years. After the sorting ceremony, each of the four houses has its own way of welcoming new students. The freshmen of Slytherin will have a duel to compete to see who is the best in their class. Someone with a voice.

Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff also have their own unique ways of welcoming guests, while Gryffindor's simplest and crudest is to hold a banquet.

Perhaps because of the lack of Percy, the more serious student union president, when Harry and Hermione returned to the common room, they found that Fred and George had brought everyone a pile of food from the kitchen, and there were hanging chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The ribbons were not torn off, and the banquet that happened here last night was still going on.

Harry discovered Ron among the noisy crowd. He did not join the banquet, but was lying on a round coffee table with his two brothers, chatting seriously.

"Want to come over, Harry?" Hermione asked softly, obviously seeing Ron too.

"I'm going back to the dormitory to write a letter to Sirius."

Harry hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said, then walked towards the spiral staircase in the boys' dormitory.

After watching Harry's back disappear around the corner of the stairs, Hermione looked back, pursed her lips and sighed softly. She could tell that Harry was not in a high mood. This was not because Sirius joined the Ministry of Magic but I didn't tell him, more because Professor Blaine once again revealed some 'truths about the world' to them tonight.

And this gave Harry a certain impact on his emotions.

In fact, not only Harry, but her own world view was also impacted because of Professor Blaine's remarks that 'stability is more important than truth'.

Hermione did not completely agree with Professor Blaine's remarks, but regardless of right or wrong, Professor Blaine was the only professor among all the professors who, in addition to teaching magic skills, was willing to talk to their students about real life and the magical world. At least this was something Hermione found particularly valuable.

"Oh, you're back?" Ginny saw Hermione walking towards her, and her eyes moved around Hermione, her meaning self-evident.

"Harry wants to write a letter to Sirius and has already returned to his dormitory."

Hermione shook her fluffy curls and answered Ginny's unasked question. Then, she found that Neville, who was staying with Ginny, was also looking at her curiously, with a more serious expression.

"Professor Brain thinks our training is a little slow, Neville."

Just this sentence frightened Neville so much that he said sadly,

"B-Professor Brain said this. What is he going to do? Will we be expelled? Hermione, will he not let us go to class?"

"That's not true -"

Hermione crossed her arms and said in a serious tone, "But he doesn't think we can waste all our time on this training. He told me that new things will be taught in this class."

"What could it be?" Ginny asked with great interest.

"Oh" Neville looked disappointed, "I always thought this training was quite interesting."

In the next two days, nothing happened. Unless you count Neville's burning of the cauldron in Potions class. This was already the sixth cauldron he had burned in the past few years. Snape had no intention of burning it. Neville was politely detained, and it was on a Wednesday night. In order not to miss Professor Blaine's lecture in the evening, Neville did not leave the basement after the Potions class that afternoon, and he did not even eat dinner.

By the time Neville rushed back, all the students participating in this experimental course had already arrived.

"What's going on, Neville?"

Looking at Neville who was lost and seemed to be about to collapse, Harry asked in surprise,

"What did that old bat Snape ask you to do?"

"A bucket of horned toads—"

Neville stretched out his hand tremblingly. His hand had been soaked and turned white, and there were many brown and fishy-smelling things in his fingernails. The wizard brought harm, and the people around him still covered their noses, unconsciously staying away from each other,

"He asked me to sort the toad's entrails, and he didn't allow me to use magic!"

Neville's eyes were filled with tears. When he spoke, he was swaying unconsciously and had the urge to vomit from time to time.

"You didn't tell him that Professor Blaine had a class tonight?" Ginny asked angrily.

"I didn't dare to say--"

Neville cast a grateful look at Hermione, because she was using a descaling charm to help her remove the internal organs that were difficult to clean between her fingernails.

"I'm afraid if I say that, he'll let me disembowel myself and then not allow me to use magic!"

Ever since Neville entered the door, Malfoy had been looking at this side with a joking look. When he heard Neville say this, he burst into laughter. Harry immediately glared at him, and at this moment, the classroom door clicked. It opened with a sound, and Professor Blaine, wearing a wizard's robe, walked in quickly.

"Good evening, sir, ladies--"

Professor Brain walked to the front of the four teams that were rapidly forming, and glanced at everyone's faces. After a summer vacation, the immaturity on many people's faces has dissipated a lot, they have become calmer, and there is a stronger youthful atmosphere lingering around their bodies. Seeing these students who are looking at him with reverence, Amosta also It felt like there was a vitality injected into his late state of mind.

"I'm glad to see that you all still have the courage to show up in the classroom for this course -" Amosta said in a brisk voice, "Before the formal course begins, I would like to announce two things, considering the training time of previous physical education classes. It takes up too much of your after-school homework and rest time. Therefore, from now on, the physical education class time will be reduced to twice a week. The first time will still be on Wednesday night, and the second time will be scheduled on Friday. Fourth period in the morning.”

"Friday morning?"

Harry exclaimed in surprise,

"But the third and fourth periods on Friday morning are Potions classes?!"

"That's right -" Professor Brain said happily, "but after my efforts to persuade, Professor Snape agreed to give me the time for the fourth course. Don't rush to cheer, Mr. Potter, if you can't If you want to keep up with the Potions class when the class hours are reduced, you will have to take a break to receive one-on-one tutoring from Professor Snape!"

"I am doomed."

The look of despair on Neville's face made many people laugh.

"Let me tell you the second thing--"

After quieting down, Professor Blaine continued to look at everyone and said,

"Due to some things last semester, I did not participate in the subsequent training of this course, but I have roughly mastered the level of each of you from Miss Granger. To be honest, I am not particularly satisfied-"

Professor Blaine still looked calm and gentle, but everyone tensed up unconsciously.

"--Before, we have completed some basic training. I think everyone here has initially felt the significance of these trainings, right?"

As soon as Professor Blaine finished speaking, Harry and Hermione nodded desperately. However, there were more echoing voices than expected. Hopkins from Hufflepuff said excitedly,

"During the summer vacation, I played a duel game with my dad. I've played it before. I couldn't last more than a few minutes, but last time my dad was exhausted and no spell hit me!"

"This is exactly what this training is about, training your body and reaction speed -"

Professor Brain glanced at Hopkins appreciatively and said to everyone,

"You have made some progress, but the result of my course is by no means just this. What I hope to teach you is to win the duel, rather than simply hide quickly. Therefore, next we have to enter a new stage. Of course, you must stick to the previous training. In each class, I will leave some time for you to train. This classroom will also be open to you. You can also choose to come over and play when you are bored. My The requirement is that by the end of the school year, everyone must pass basic phase reaction training.”

"What are you going to teach us?"

Terry Butt asked, raising his hand.

For Ravenclaws, learning more is always an interest.

Professor Blaine called everyone to form a semi-circle in front of him. Looking at the pairs of eyes shining with curiosity, Professor Blaine smiled slightly and said,

"The next thing I want to teach is the real stuff - duel magic!"