Hogwarts Outsider Chapter 174: Valentine’s Day Comes Again
The life of the new semester has just begun, and everything is the same as usual without any fluctuations.
"Severus Snape" returned to Hogwarts Castle just a day later, and Matthew saw him at the guest table at breakfast; he didn't look unusual.
Matthew frowned slightly, staring at the mysterious Transfiguration teacher, and soon fell into deep thought.
The resistance of the house elves seems to have stopped. For at least a month, Hogwarts has not encountered any major problems with the three meals; most people have forgotten this matter, perhaps only Except for Hermione Granger, who still seems to be closely following everything with the house-elves.
There is no news from the horsemen and goblins, at least in the "Daily Prophet", Matthew did not see any records.
Not only Hogwarts, but the entire wizarding world seems to have fallen into a weird calm...
As the behind-the-scenes instigator of this series of events, the actions of the Order of the Phoenix seem to be meaningless.
……
With the end of the cold January, spring comes.
Everything is recovering, and the originally harsh climate in the Scottish Highlands has gradually become milder. The sun shone on the Hogwarts castle again, and the gloomy atmosphere in the winter began to gradually dissipate...
Every time they take herbal medicine class and pass by the garden, they can smell all kinds of charming fragrances coming from there.
One day in mid-February, when Matthew came to the auditorium and saw the surrounding decorations, he realized that today is a special day——
It's Valentine's Day again.
The walls around the auditorium are decorated with all kinds of beautiful pink flowers, full of festive atmosphere; whenever someone passes the gate of the auditorium, heart-shaped confetti will fall from the sky; and On the long tables of the four colleges, there are several piles of brightly colored roses, exuding a delicate fragrance...
Of course, all of this has nothing to do with a second-year student like Matthew Wakefield. Only students in grades 4 and above are eligible to celebrate Valentine's Day...so they get a day off.
As for the students in the third grade and below, in principle, Valentine's Day has nothing to do with them.
However, there are some exceptions this year, because Valentine's Day falls on Sunday this year...Principal Grindelwald will not give students in grade four and above an extra day off for this reason.
In addition to the decoration, the Valentine's Day atmosphere in the auditorium is very strong. Even by Matthew's side, many couples can be seen cuddling together...
This is very tiresome.
Matthew quickly finished his breakfast.
When he came to the corridor, he saw many students walking towards the garden...
However, compared to this time last year, there are many fewer people... Since it is Sunday, Hogsmeade is also open to all teachers and students for an extra day; many couples choose to go to Hogwarts to spend their Valentine's Day...
Mrs. Patil's small tea house is a very popular place for couples.
Naturally, Matthew would not go to Hogsmeade. After experiencing Tom Gaunt's incident, he had some "psychological shadows" there.
But in the garden, he is interested to have a look.
(The description of Hogwarts Valentine's Day in the previous chapter is somewhat different from the previous one, it has been changed, sorry!)
……
The dress in the garden is also very ambiguous.
The heart-shaped sun hanging in the sky is obviously enchanted from the ceiling; rose petals can be seen here and there; Flying around in mid-air...
Surrounded by couples snuggling together, Matthew quickly walked away from them. At the same time, try not to disturb them as much as possible...
I have to say that the scenery in the garden is very beautiful... Under the careful care of the herbal medicine teacher Professor Sprout, you can see many wonderful and very rare flowers here...
The smell in the air is also very intoxicating.
Five minutes later, Matthew arrived at his destination.
The area where the flor flowers and the highland daisies are planted...
As he approached, he sniffed vigorously, and only after realizing that there was no peculiar smell in the air, he walked over with confidence.
Although theoretically the highland daisy can fully neutralize the pollen of the Flor flower, Matthew felt that it was better to be cautious... After all, the pollen of the Flor flower is still very toxic.
The flor flower in full bloom is a light blue flower; I have to say that it is indeed very beautiful.
But Matthew didn't come to admire its beauty... Taking advantage of no one around, Matthew bent down and took out his wand at the same time.
With the fastest speed, he dug out the root of a flor flower from the soil.
A flor plant is close to two feet high, and it is still very difficult to bring such a "monster" out of the garden... At the gate of the garden, Mr. Pringle is staring at the students coming in and out. .
The plants in the Hogwarts garden are not allowed to be picked easily, let alone taken out of the garden!
Fortunately, just over a month ago at Christmas, Neville Longbottom gave Matthew a magical little wallet.
Although the space inside is small, it can accommodate items that are a few points larger than it.
Matthew carefully stuffed the flor into the wallet, trying not to damage its roots and stems.
Just after Matthew finished all this, a strange couple came over suddenly.
They looked at Matthew suspiciously.
Matthew pretended nothing happened, and walked away bravely.
To be honest, Matthew Wakefield felt a little guilty when he hurried out of the garden for such a "stealing" behavior... Especially the owner of these flowers, Professor Pomona Sprout, usually treats They are very good...
He could only try to comfort himself with the clumsy excuse of "I thought I was exhausted and spent more than half a year planting this flower".
……
Matthew left the garden easily, and Mr. Pringle's pass did not cause any hindrance.
After all, Mr. Pringle will not use a plant detector to search them carefully.
This also made Matthew a little relieved.
Just as he was about to return to the Slytherin common room—
"Matthew!" A loud shout almost startled Matthew.
For a moment, he almost thought that it was his actions just now, that "something happened"...
Moreover, it was Professor Horace Slughorn, Head of Slytherin House, who called his name.
"Hello... Slughorn...Professor..." Matthew asked nervously.
Fortunately, Slughorn didn't come because of the incident just now.
At least he didn't mention—
"It's another Sunday, isn't it, Matthew, my child..." the Potions professor blinked at Matthew, "Any plans for the evening?"
"No," Matthew shook his head, "I'm only in the second grade, and I'm not old enough to participate in Valentine's Day... We are not eligible to participate in the Valentine's Day celebration party..."
"That's great!" Slughorn seemed to be smiling, "In that case, Matthew, don't forget our party...the party of the Slug Club..."
Only then did Matthew realize that because he was too nervous, he had fallen into Slughorn's language trap.
"... If I remember correctly, you haven't been here for a long time... Hehe, not positive at all..." Slughorn complained.
"Sorry..." Matthew tried to find an excuse for himself, "..."
In fact, after the new semester, due to the premonition that something terrible is about to happen at Hogwarts, and Draco Malfoy's warning... Matthew has tried his best to draw a clear line with all "dangerous people".
He is in school now, very low-key!
Among them, of course, was Horace Slughorn.
Although Matthew believes that with Slughorn's smoothness, there is a high probability that he won't get too deeply involved with dangerous things... But it's better to be cautious.
"...tonight there will be Professor Grindelwald's Valentine's Day celebration... those senior students will definitely not be here," Slughorn shook his head, "you must be there at that time, don't forget, Matthew! Don't make our party too deserted!"
At this time, Matthew really couldn't find any excuses, so he finally nodded.
After finishing speaking, he turned and left.
……
Since it was Valentine's Day, Sunday's fight club activities were also temporarily cancelled.
Matthew stayed in the library for an afternoon... Now Hogwarts is probably in the library, and he won't eat dog food anytime...
After all, if you dare to show affection in the library, you have to beware of the wrath of the administrator Mrs. Pince.
It wasn't until six o'clock in the afternoon that Matthew reluctantly put down the book on "Dementors" in his hand, and then stood up... He had to go to Slughorn's dinner party .
Ten minutes later, Matthew came to the door of the Potions teacher's office.
Knocked lightly on the door, and soon the door was opened.
"Welcome, Matthew..." Slughorn said eagerly. He was wearing a dark green down jacket and looked extra bloated. "Come in..."
Just as Slughorn guessed, today's Slug Club dinner was a bit shabby.
The number of club members present was small...
There is no doubt that this has something to do with Professor Grindelwald's Valentine's Day celebration... Those senior members of the Slug Club, whether they have lovers or not, obviously don't want to miss Professor Grindelwald's celebration...
And the number of members among the lower grade students is not many.
The original two long tables have been reduced to one; at the only long table, there are a few students sitting here and there...
Slughorn didn't pull Matthew to exchange pleasantries as usual; he seemed to have something else to do.
After opening the door, he turned around and started talking with an adult man——
Matthew knew him, he was one of the several Aurors stationed at Hogwarts by the Ministry of Magic... I vaguely remembered his name, it seemed to be "Dawlish"...
When Dawlish graduated from Hogwarts, all the s exam results were excellent, and he became an Auror of the Ministry of Magic after graduation... Although his performance in another world line was very bad, I have to say that he A top student indeed, it is not surprising that he has a close relationship with Slughorn.
They seemed to chat for quite a while, and Dawlish raised his hand to make some gestures.
It wasn't until Matthew took his seat that he left in a hurry.
……
Hermione Granger did not attend the banquet.
Hermione was sensible when not exchanging the bait with those senior wizards.
She also remembered the warning to Slughorn that Matthew had told her earlier.
Besides Matthew, the second-year students were only Neville, Malfoy, and Blaise Zabini.
There is only one Elaine Shafik in the first grade.
Plus three third-grade students...
All the members of the Slug Club were there... and there was no doubt that Slughorn would not be able to fill the table.
"A little embarrassing, isn't it..." Neville whispered.
Matthew nodded thoughtfully.
However, Professor Slughorn didn't seem to feel embarrassed, on the contrary, he seemed to be very happy.
Maybe it's just faking.
"To our pocket party, cheers!" he shouted, holding his mead aloft.
Matthew took a sip of his own mead, not knowing why...He suddenly felt that today's mead tasted better than before.
"How is your grandfather, Draco!" Since there were not many people, Slughorn could have a friendly conversation with them one-on-one.
"His dragon pox is under control now... There is no recurrence..." Draco Malfoy replied very respectfully, "I have been staying at home for the past few years..."
"That's good..." Slughorn nodded, and said very regretfully ~IndoMTL.com~ Poor Abraxas, it's so pitiful that he got dragon pox at a very young age..."
"By the way, Cormac..." He turned his gaze to Cormac McLaggen again, "I think your uncle is in good health, right?"
"Of course," McLaggen said carelessly, "he can eat three catties of beef in one meal now!"
……
To be honest, the dinner at the Slug Club this time was a bit boring.
Horace Slughorn has been chatting with the younger students about their parents and grandparents... Matthew is undoubtedly unable to wipe his mouth with a word.
But he wasn't idle either.
Because Elaine Shafik was pulling him, asking about that, and Matthew was very tired of asking; but it was hard to refuse.
There wasn't even time for a quiet conversation with Neville.
Now he just wants this party to end soon,
He almost lives like a year——
Finally, the two nightmarish hours finally passed.
Professor Slughorn was starting to feel a little tired too.
In fact, it's time to leave.
Students from various colleges left one after another.
Suddenly, Elaine Shafik covered her head in pain, as if something was wrong.
"Oh, **** it, Elaine..." Slughorn's expression changed.