After that, it was the opening banquet that the wizards were looking forward to the most. Just like last year when Allen came to power, the delicious food did not fall from the sky and pile up on the long table. Instead, there was a delicate menu in front of each of them. Every wizard could order according to this menu according to their preferences.
Compared to the previous banquet where the long table was filled with a dazzling array of food, this banquet was more targeted to satisfy the wizards' appetites, and there would not be a large amount of leftover food that would go to waste. This change was welcomed by Ravenclaw and Slytherin, but to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, it was not as lively as it used to be.
When the wizards had satisfied their appetites, the long table was cleared. On the teacher's seat, Allen stood up and walked to the front of the podium. The chatter gradually stopped, and everyone turned to look at their young principal. Allen faced the auditorium and opened his arms to press on the podium. As the sculpture on the podium spread its wings, many people realized that the owl sculpture that Dumbledore loved to use before had been replaced by a raven.
"Hogwarts welcomes all of you." Allen's voice was steady and powerful. "Although I didn't like this kind of talk when I was a student … After becoming a principal, I realized that there are some things that I have to say …" The audience chuckled. Allen paused for a moment. "… Our school rules this semester will be very different from before … But because of the limited space, I will only pick a few to explain. As for the rest, please read carefully through the booklet."
After that, Allen clapped his hands. Just like the menu and dishes that appeared out of thin air, an exquisitely wrapped booklet appeared on the table in front of each wizard. The Hogwarts emblem was on the cover.
The wizards immediately picked up the booklet and read it together with Allen's explanation.
"Duels are allowed?" Seamus moved closer to Fraig and Neville, his voice was a little excited as he flipped to the new rule Allen had just mentioned. "We still don't allow private fights, but we allow students to duel without assistants under the witness of the professor. We're allowed to resolve disputes in this way … Oh, and we also have to use the Damage Suppression Wand as long as we don't hurt each other …"
Upon hearing that, Harry couldn't help but look at the long table beside Slytherin and said to Ron, "If we had this rule in the first year, we wouldn't have to secretly have midnight duels. That coward Malfoy wouldn't have stood us up … Uh …" He noticed Hermione's disapproving gaze. "Hermione, think about it. We wouldn't have had so many points deducted back then …"
"George and Fred will be very happy. The prank items that they were forbidden from selling before were brought into the Hogwarts, but now they're allowed to …" Ron pointed to a rule in the school. Thinking of the pitiful amount of pocket money he had and how the twins had to earn large amounts of gold coins, Ron's tone was a little sour. "Allen is the investor of the joke shop. Those two fellows have found a good boss. They're going to be rich."
"If they were still in school, I'm afraid they'd be even happier …" As a prefect and a girl, Jenny couldn't understand the school's laissez-faire attitude. "Hermione, how could you allow Allen to open up these things?"
"Allen told me that this can help the little wizards practice their response to unexpected situations …" Hermione recalled the reason she was persuaded, not too happy. "This will train the students' vigilance … And if the pranksters are caught, they'll also be punished, so the pranksters will also have a more detailed plan instead of just casually using it …"
"I'm afraid Filch won't be happy …" Neville thought that he would definitely be the target of others' pranks, so he glanced at Argus Filch who had gotten a seat at the faculty table and noticed that he was also given a brown robe as a staff uniform. No matter how he looked at it, Neville felt that the wrinkled old face was full of disappointment.
"I don't think he'll care …" Flag didn't take it to heart as he casually flipped through the school rules in his hand. "I noticed that Filch gave orders to a few Mr. Dexterous Hands at the school gate, and then he just sat down here … So now he doesn't need to clean the brains of the cyan worms on the ceiling … His life is very comfortable, there's nothing to be dissatisfied with …"
Emily casually flipped through the manual, then put it on the long table in front of her and used her fingers to align the bottom line of the table. When she heard something next to her, she glanced at Crabbe who was making chewing sounds, then turned her head to Pency.
Pency noticed Emily's glance and saw that Crabbe wasn't listening to Allen's words or reading the manual at all. He was holding a piece of cake and eating it with his head buried in it. He hadn't ordered anything else since the start of the meal.
"Crabbe! Wipe your face clean! Gore, you too! " Pency scolded somewhat disdainfully. "I'll give you three days to write down these deductions."
Crabbe was startled by Pency's sudden scolding. He stuffed the cake into his mouth and choked until his face turned red. Gore handed his fat companion a glass of orange juice before he could swallow it down.
"Pency is right. You two idiots have to remember, don't embarrass me … The standards for deductions, the actions that will cause deductions, and the corresponding punishments have been detailed here …" Draco carefully looked at the entries. "There's nothing vague or vague about it. Although I still think that reckless idiots like Gryffindor are more likely to get their marks deducted … this also means that this year … the professors and the dean can't just …" Draco frowned and glanced at his dean, Snape. "Unless the students really do make a mistake … the professors can't do things according to their own preferences."
At the long Hufflepuff table, Gabrielle batted her eyelashes and chatted with her new classmates. Her English had a strong foreign accent, the most noticeable was her …
She didn't pronounce it, but it sounded very playful and cute. "Hmm, is the management of Hogwarts so strict? … Booth Barton also has some standards for deductions, but most of them are for maintaining attire … The division here is so detailed … I'm worried that I can't do it well … "
"Don't worry, I'm sure I can't do it well either!" Hufflepuff's ball chaser, Zacharias Smith, tried to flatter Gabrielle with a smile.
The curly-haired Justin Fenrieri looked at the fawning Smith with some jealousy. He said sarcastically, "Zacharias, it looks like you won't be able to do anything until you're cured of your ball loss."
Zacharias was a little anxious to refute. "That's the crazy girl's nonsense! There's no such disease in the world! "
"But it's true that you didn't hold the Ghost Fly ball for more than a minute after the start of the match …" Ernie McMillan cooperated with his friend to add insult to injury.
On the staff seat, Professor Pomona Sprout, the dean of Hufflepuff Academy, had been paying attention to her students as usual. Therefore, when she saw this scene, she also knew the reason behind it. She reckoned that her academy was not as united as usual this year, so there was probably no chance for them to win this year's School Championship Competition. She sighed and focused her attention on the stew in front of her.
On the podium, Allen was no longer explaining the school rules and regulations. He waved at the ceiling.
"Before introducing the new professor, we must first welcome the return of an old friend … Just like I told you at the end of last semester, Ms. Gray will no longer be Ravenclaw's School Ghost this year. Instead, she will be the Ghost representing the entire Hogwarts, so her successor will be … Hmm? Don't be shy, come down … Mr. Lockhart. " Allen continued to extend his hand and waved at the Hogwarts' ceiling again, making a welcoming gesture.
A milky white Ghost leaped down from the star-shaped ceiling.
Gidro? Lockhart slowly floated to the side of the podium amidst the crowd's exclamations. He showed his signature charming smile to the Hogwarts wizards on both sides. However, this set of actions was slightly rusty compared to a few years ago.
"Oh, hello! I'm Gidro Lockhart, a former Defense Against Black Magic professor. I've won the Most Charming Smile Award in the Wizard Weekly five times … "Lockhart shouted at the students with a beaming face," In the second half of this year, the book 'Breaking Away from the Death Eaters' that I co-authored with Umbrella will be published … "
This caused a commotion in the auditorium.
"He's dead?! But what right does this liar have to be Ravenclaw's School Ghost? It's already the second half of this year, what second half of this year … "
"The last time I saw him at Albert's wedding, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I didn't expect him to really be dead and turned into a Ghost!"
"His books are all about stealing other people's experiences. In essence, he is an incompetent liar. Now that he has played himself to death, how can he still be the ghost of Ravenclaw's academy?"
…
"This incident is indeed adapted from my own experience! I'll tell everyone the truth about the Death Eaters and the mysterious person, I hope everyone will pay more attention … "Lockhart looked at the wizards who were looking at him with distrust. Listening to their mocking words, the smile on his face disappeared." This is really my own story … "He tried to explain halfway, but when he saw that even the Ravenclaw students did not welcome him, he stopped talking and sighed in disappointment.
(End of Chapter)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
