Hogwarts Outsider Chapter 172: Back to school
There is no doubt that it was not a merry Christmas.
Matthew Wakefield's second-year Christmas Eve was spent in the cold ward of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Injuries... He was accompanied by only the same blond therapist. Several "patients" in the ward.
The Holy Eve dinner here is not rich, at least not comparable to Hogwarts' festive dinner.
Not to mention the festive atmosphere of Christmas.
After dinner, Matthew fell asleep and hoped to get out of this ghost place as soon as possible.
……
Early the next morning, when Matthew woke up, he found a pile of presents at the foot of the bed.
He also suddenly realized that since the beginning of the Christmas holidays, he has been "locked" in St. Mungo's... There is no time or opportunity to prepare Christmas presents for friends.
It seems that when the new semester starts, he will have to go to the door one by one to "make amends" and make up for the gifts he owes.
While thinking this way, Matthew opened those large and small packages——
Soon, he found a gift bag with Neville's handwriting on it, and Neville gave him a small wallet the size of a palm. Although it looks small on the outside, it has a large space inside, and it can fit things dozens of times its size (it should be cast with a very advanced traceless stretching spell)... Visually, it is quite practical.
In another gift bag, there was a large box of horseshoe-shaped chocolates, with Hermione's name written on the side of the gift box.
There is also a large box of skim fudge...
An unsigned recovery card...
and——
Matthew glanced at the last package, which looked a little weird. Like the recovery card, this gift package is also unsigned.
Taking it apart carefully, Matthew was surprised to find that there was actually a set of wizard chess inside.
No, it's not an ordinary wizard chess, the black and white chess pieces are not the usual appearance at all.
Matthew picked up the individual chess pieces and began to examine them carefully.
Among them, the black and white soldiers have become wizards in robes...
And the king on the black side looks a little familiar; after careful observation, Matthew just recognized that this chess piece is quite similar to Gellert Grindelwald...
As for the queen on the black side, she looks like the vice-principal of Hogwarts, Professor Vita Rozier.
The two bishops turned into fangsed vampires, the knights turned into four-legged werewolves, and the castle turned into two giants that were a circle bigger than the other chess pieces.
Matthew couldn't help but blinked, and moved his eyes to the white chess pieces——
The king on the white side is also an old acquaintance. The king is a gray-haired old wizard, much like Albus Dumbledore in memory.
The queen is a witch with square glasses and curly hair **** in a high bun...
The bishop turned into a cunning goblin, the knight turned into a sturdy centaur; as for the castle, it turned into two Muggle tanks.
……
Matthew looked at this unsigned Christmas gift in great surprise.
Because he could vaguely understand the meaning of these chess pieces, he felt that this matter was very strange.
At the same time, he was also curious, who sent this to him? What is his purpose for giving it to himself?
I searched the gift box carefully, but found nothing, except for this box of wizard chess, it was empty.
At this moment, the door of the ward was suddenly pushed open, and the blond therapist in charge of Matthew's recuperation broke in.
"Unpacking presents?" She glanced at Matthew curiously, and at the same time noticed the set of chess pieces in Matthew's hand, "Hey, is it wizard chess... I also like wizard chess..."
"Yes." Matthew said calmly, and at the same time quickly put away those chess pieces. He didn't want his therapist to see the true appearance of this wizard chess piece.
Fortunately, the witch didn't show any more interest.
"By the way, Matthew Wakefield," she called Matthew's name, "After our careful confirmation, your condition is completely stable, and now you can go through the procedures and be discharged from the hospital!"
"Can you leave the hospital?" Matthew looked a little excited, "Great!"
To be honest, he was somewhat fed up with the boring life without freedom in St. Mungo's during this period... In addition, the living environment here is actually not flattering.
After being excited for a while, he seemed to think of something again: "By the way, ma'am... where should I go after I leave the hospital? Should I go to Diagon Alley? Or Hogsmeade? Excuse me, is there Hogger?" Professor Watts mentioned this to you..."
"Of course I'm going back to Hogwarts directly..." the blond therapist said as she deserved.
Matthew was stunned, and asked softly: "But, there should be horsemen in Hogwarts..."
"The centaur?" The witch said with some disdain, "Could it be that you think those stupid creatures can really occupy the castle of Hogwarts?"
"What happened?" Matthew asked quickly.
"I don't think you read the "Daily Prophet" for breakfast this morning...the report was very detailed. Just last night, Headmaster Gellert Grindelwald returned to Hogwarts and smashed those The dark wizards are plotting to occupy Hogwarts and wipe out the rebellious centaurs..." the blond therapist said neatly,
"So... the centaur riots are over! Poor Principal Grindelwald, even at Christmas, can't have peace, can't spend time with his family, and has to be busy with these trivial matters." She seemed to be a little emotional again:
"Okay, Mr. Wakefield, are you going to go through the discharge procedures immediately? Or do you want to stay in St. Mungo and observe for a few days?"
Without hesitation, Matthew replied: "Of course, I hope to be discharged from the hospital immediately."
……
The discharge procedures went smoothly and quickly.
Just half an hour later, Matthew Wakefield showed up at the entrance of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Sickness with a heavy luggage.
In front of you is an old-fashioned red brick department store called "Taotao Co., Ltd.", which looks dilapidated and deserted.
The shop windows consisted of a few cracked dummies, wigs on one side, in various poses, and in costumes from at least a decade ago. Big "Closed for Renovation" signs hung on the dusty doors.
At the same time, Matthew saw several Muggles passing by here, pointing at the window here: "This place has never been opened."
In fact, in the past year and a half, Matthew has hardly had any contact with Muggles...
Just when Matthew was thinking about whether to take this rare opportunity to violate the regulations of the Ministry of Magic and get in touch with the Muggle world—
A deafening whistle!
A second later, a pair of huge wheels and headlights suddenly appeared in front of Matthew at the speed of lightning and thunder. Matthew took a closer look and found that the wheels and headlights belonged to a three-story bus. The golden letters on the windshield of the car formed the following words: Knight Bus.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, the emergency passenger transport for witches or wizards in distress. Just stick out your wand and step on board, and we'll take you wherever you want .My name is Stan Sampak, and I will be your conductor tonight!" an eighteen or nineteen-year-old wizard opened the car door and said lazily.
Matthew took another look at the direction where the Muggles were just now, and they had completely disappeared from Matthew's sight.
Sure enough, in the current magic world, its rules have no loopholes to exploit.
He took out his wand from his waist, and said calmly: "My name is Matthew Wakefield, and I want to go to Hogwarts!"
"Hogwarts is... seven Sickles." Stan Sampark replied.
Matthew took out a dozen or so silver coins from his pocket and handed them to him, then climbed onto the Knight Bus with his luggage.
There were no seats in the car; behind the drawn windows were six beds with brass pillars. Candles are lit on brackets next to each bed, illuminating the cubicle.
You sleep on this one, Stan pointed to a bed to his right.
Matthew hurried over.
"Sit tight, let's go!" Stein commanded loudly.
There was another loud bang and Matthew was thrown onto the bed, the result of the speed of the Knight Bus throwing him backwards.
He glanced out the window. The Knight Bus was speeding along the road, making a very loud sound; there were many Muggles on the side of the road, and they lived like Matthew in a year. Life half a year ago... It's just that no one can realize that there is a three-story bus driving past them unknowingly.
Stan looked at the surprised expression on Matthew's face with some pride: "Aren't you surprised that Muggles can't find us?"
"Yes." Matthew replied casually.
"Because they don't know how to listen well, and they don't know how to look well," Stan said with a look of disdain. "Compared to wizards, they are just inferior races... They should be like house elves, obediently treat us slaves, instead of being free and easy like this..."
Matthew couldn't help but froze.
Stan Sampak said eloquently: "To be honest, if I were the Minister of Magic, I would definitely abolish the "International Wizarding Secrecy Act" immediately, and then drive the Muggles out of our territory , or as slaves for us, instead of letting them occupy the magpie's nest like this now..."
"... If there are Muggles who dare to defy us, throw them into the cremator... Of course, there is no need for some beautiful female Muggles..." Greed suddenly appeared on his face With a serious expression, "They can help us pass on the family line, can't they... just a small drop of love potion is enough to make them fall at our feet..."
Stan Sampak said a lot with great excitement.
Matthew had a look of disgust on his face, but he didn't walk away.
"By the way, Wakefield," Stan Thornpark continued, "Have you heard about Hogwarts..."
"You mean the centaur riot at Hogwarts?" Matthew asked coldly.
"No, no, it's more than that..." Stan Sampak shook his head mysteriously:
"The impact of this riot is said to be so far-reaching that it has affected the decision-making of some high-level Ministry of Magic... They generally believe that our control of those inferior creatures, such as goblins, centaurs, and Muggles It should be too loose... "International Wizarding Secrecy Act" has become an obstacle at this moment..."
"For example, Lord Grindelwald kindly gave the horsemen a space to live in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts; but they were betrayed by those inferior creatures, and even Hogwarts once fell into their hands ...So we should change our strategy for dealing with them and control them more strictly, and those inferior creatures who are naturally rebellious should all be wiped out..."
Matthew frowned slightly.
Although he could not confirm the authenticity of Stan Sampak's words... But if the rumors are true, then a series of recent events are quite intriguing.
"To be honest, I'm really looking forward to that day." While speaking, Stan Sampak glanced greedily at several **** Muggle girls passing by outside the bus.
……
Stan Sampak is still talking.
Suddenly, the driver slammed on the brakes, and the Knight Bus coasted to a stop, and he almost fell to the ground.
"Here, Hogwarts is here!" he said loudly.
Matthew already took his own luggage and hurried off the Knight Bus without looking back.
The location where the Knight Bus stops is the Hogsmeade platform that Matthew is familiar with... At the platform, Mr. Pringle, the administrator of Hogwarts Castle, is waiting for the returning students to return.
There were many horse-less carriages (actually, carriages pulled by invisible Thestrals) parked beside him.
"This way!" He waved at Matthew.
"Mr. Pringle!" Matthew hurried over~IndoMTL.com~Remember to stay obediently in the common room these few days and don't move around... The castle was messed up by those horsemen and needs a thorough cleaning Cleaning... got it? Three meals a day will be sent to the common room of each college! "Mr. Pringle exhorted.
"I see!" Matthew nodded.
Alone, he boarded a carriage pulled by a Thestral... and entered the Hogwarts campus along the route when school started.
There was indeed some confusion in the castle, and many portraits and sculptures were damaged; however, the overall damage was not that great, and the portraits or sculptures that Matthew was familiar with were basically intact.
But what is even more shocking is that in many corners, one can see scorched manes, broken horseshoes, and bright red bloodstains...
It is conceivable that the castle experienced a fierce battle not long ago...or a unilateral massacre, which is more appropriate.
Matthew covered his nose and made his way back to the Slytherin common room.
There is no change in the common room, and the horse people without the password seem to be unable to break in here.
Matthew appeared to be the first returning Slytherin student, as he saw no one else in the common room.
Back in his bedroom, lying on the bed with green silk curtains——
"I always feel that something terrible is about to happen!" Matthew Wakefield said to himself.