Snow and ice fell from the sky, and the winter of 1940 came as promised.
Christmas Eve. Hoffa stood in front of the mirror in the public bathroom, his head lowered.
Transparent and shiny mucus flowed on the marble floor, coming out from under the cupboard, and then slowly, slowly crawled across the floor.
When he raised his head again, he saw himself in the mirror with high cheekbones, pale skin, and darker circles under his eyes than ever before. He looked like an ascetic monk after excessive self-abuse, and also like an inferior demon struggling in purgatory.
His reflection in the mirror revealed a faint smile. His mouth was filled with sharp teeth. On his forehead, sharp horns grew out bit by bit.
Hoffa was shocked, and shook his head hard. The illusion disappeared.
His reflection in the mirror returned to normal. He was skinny, and naked. He was just an ordinary grey-haired youth who was tired, dejected, and about to take a bath.
"Damn it …"
He rubbed his temples.
In the past four months, he hadn't seen Dumbledore, and didn't receive any help. Almost every night, he would have strange nightmares, and even hallucinations and auditory hallucinations from time to time.
In the past, he could still use meditation to get rid of the strangeness in his mind, but now, he couldn't detect any abnormalities in his body.
He felt that he might have gone crazy.
Bang!!
A crisp sound came from next door.
William, who was also naked, poked his head out, and grinned, "Let's go and take a bath."
It was the last day of the semester, and the students who had just finished their tiring semester came to the public bathroom. Hoffa and his roommates were no exception. Because of the long period of refining magic potions, they more or less had a strange medicinal smell on them.
Antonio turned around from the other side, and timidly handed him a white towel.
Hoffa closed the cupboard, and silently took the towel. He nodded to Antonio.
Antonio asked worriedly, "Are you okay? You talked in your sleep again last night."
"What did I say?"
"I … I couldn't hear you clearly."
Antonio stammered.
"Did I disturb your sleep?"
As he walked, Hoffa tied the towel around his waist.
"No … no."
"Hey, what are you talking about."
William poked his head out from the corridor again, and waved at them. "Hurry up."
Hoffa stopped talking and walked straight to the bathing pool. As he passed through the marble corridor, he felt something looking at him and looked up.
On the head of the statue of Wizard Manicos, a strange black and white cat was looking at him. The cat looked very strange. Its face was half black and half white, like a Tai Chi diagram. It looked at him like it was talking to him.
Whose pet ran into the bathtub?
Hoffa thought.
.....
.....
The male bathroom was a very spacious place. It was filled with smoke and steam.
The water was a little hot. Many boys sat on the marble and could only try to submerge their knees in the pool. When they saw Hoffa coming over, they all greeted him.
"Yo, Bach."
"Sit here."
"Sit with me."
Hoffa smiled and did not sit between them. He directly soaked in, the hot water reaching his neck.
Ever since he fought with Sherlock on Halloween, these students now regarded him as their spiritual idol and followed him wherever he went.
Countless girls wrote to him, expressing their love. Countless boys tried their best to enter Huo Fa's "circle".
But the attention of others did not bring Hoffa the joy of vanity and dignity. On the contrary, he felt the pain of losing his freedom. No matter where he went, no matter what he did, there was a group of people staring at him.
Did he really defeat Sherlock?
Hoffa did not know. The one who defeated Sherlock was Fatir. But no matter what he said, the other students did not think so. They refused to believe other answers.
On the other side, William greeted the group of people who were bathing one by one, and then sat among them.
Contrary to Hoffa, William was very satisfied with all this. He enthusiastically made friends everywhere, and considered himself as Hoffa's closest friend. He set up a huge social network and became the actual head of the network. He regularly met, ate, bathed, and had secret activities. This was to strengthen the cohesion of the group.
William said, "Yesterday, the president of Gryffindor's Transformation Society greeted me and invited us to the Transformation Society to play."
"Who's going?" A boy from Hufflepuff leaned lazily against the bathtub.
"There are no girls in Culver's Transformation Society. Even a mule can't get in."
William said disdainfully, "If they want you to go, they won't invite you."
"I won't go even if they want me to."
The boy rolled his eyes. "Hey, speaking of which, our school recently opened a herbalism society. They want to invite you to play. Do you want to go?"
"Are there a lot of beauties?" William asked, squinting.
"A lot. Half of the beauties in the third grade and above are here."
"Really?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
"Hoffa, are you going?"
William asked loudly and splashed a handful of water at him to attract his attention.
Hoffa soaked motionlessly in the hot water, allowing the water droplets to slide down his head. He said in a muffled voice, "Why not?"
He didn't understand how this society was formed. It was far from his comfort zone. Out of politeness, he habitually gave an affirmative answer, but he didn't want to go.
William laughed and slid into the water. He said to the Hufflepuff students, "You're lucky. It's rare that Hoffa has the mind to join your society."
"What does Hoffa usually do?" two boys asked curiously.
"Same old, library. Ah ~"
William, who was soaking in the bathtub, let out a satisfied moan. He suddenly thought of something.
"Hey, right. I heard that the bathtub used by the prefect is much better than the one we use here. "
Taylor asked, "Even the prefect went to tame the dragon. Is there still anyone using the bathtub?"
Antonio said, "No one uses it."
"Prefect …?"
William sneered in disdain. "He's just a loser."
"No one uses it, so it's not a waste." Antonio sighed.
"I really want to go and take a look. I heard that it's much more luxurious than the ones we ordinary students use."
"Tsk, when the fifth-year Hoffa becomes the prefect, we'll be able to go wherever we want," William said solemnly.
The other students who were soaking in the bathtub nodded in agreement.
"That's for sure."
"He'll definitely be the prefect in the fifth-year."
"After graduation, he'll probably be able to work under the prefect of the Ministry of Magic."
.....
Hoffa felt that if the Hogwarts didn't fall and developed according to normal logic, his life would be no different from what they said.
He would be the prefect in the fifth-year and work in the Ministry of Magic after graduation. He would start as a high-ranking secretary.
After a few years, he would become the director of a department, have a bunch of children, and worry about his livelihood.
But where did this inexplicable fear come from? Where did this invisible pressure come from?
He didn't know. He soaked half of his head in the hot water, trying to use this action to let himself feel the temperature and let his pores expel the sweat and pressure.
But he couldn't feel anything. Not a single drop of sweat flowed down from his head. It was as if he was locked in a cage sealed in cement.
In the past month, his mind had become more and more sensitive, but his body had become more and more sluggish. He had almost lost his sense of taste, touch, and of course, couldn't feel the heat.
After a heated discussion, William touched his chin.
"If you ask me, Hoffa should be the prefect now. He was an assistant last year, and this year, he beat Sherlock. If he becomes the prefect this year, we can go to the prefect's bathroom to take a look. "
He seemed to have a great interest in the prefect's bathroom.
"Come on."
One of the Hufflepuff students said lazily, "Oh!
"It's Huo Fa who's going to be the class leader, not you. What right do you have to go to the prefect's bathroom? "
Everyone covered their mouths and snickered. William immediately retorted.
"Do you know what a roommate is, hmm? Hoffa, right? "
He tried to get a definite answer from Hoffa, but the gray head was nowhere to be seen on the surface of the water where smoke was rising.
William muttered in confusion, "Where did he go …"
"But the rules say that only a fifth-year student can be the prefect."
Another Gryffindor student said, bringing William back to reality.
"You're considered Gryffindor if you think about it that way."
William leaned against the marble and sneered, "Doesn't Gryffindor take pleasure in breaking all kinds of rules?"
The people in the bathtub burst into laughter. The air was filled with laughter, and the atmosphere was joyful.
The Gryffindor student seemed to be humiliated. His face turned red, "You Ravenclaw people think that you're smarter than others. Do you dare to enter the prefect's bathroom now?"
William sneered, "Fine, I'll go. Do you dare to come tonight?"
"Hey, aren't you afraid of being found out?" Antonio asked anxiously.
"Who would find out?" William pursed his lips, "Half of the professors in the school are in the Ministry of Magic every day."
"You said it. What if you don't go tonight?"
"Oh, you want to bet?"
"Sure."
"How much?"
"Twenty Garen."
William rolled his eyes. "Twenty Galleons is too much."
"Then how much do you want."
"I want you to ask all the girls in Gryffindor to come out and play."
Everyone clapped their hands. They were very excited about William's suggestion.
The Gryffindor student shouted unwillingly, "What about you?
There are a lot of girls in Ravenclaw too! "
.....
.....
A few ripples appeared in the corner of the bathtub. No one noticed. Hoffa had already left the bathtub amidst the lively chatter of the gathering.
He had achieved his goal of cleaning his body. It would be a waste of time if he stayed any longer. He did not want to participate in the youthful banquet of thirteen-year-olds.
Regardless of whether they were wizards or muggles, boys of this age would inevitably be affected by hormones. They were terrifyingly energetic.
If it was last year, he might have blended in with the crowd and smiled. But this year, under the great pressure of survival, his energy had long been sucked dry.
He dried his body and changed into his wizard uniform.
He went to the library.
The library was deserted. There was almost no one in sight. This year, the students' interest in self-study was completely gone.
After turning a corner, he heard a moaning sound. He walked over to take a look. It was a senior boy pressing a girl against a bookshelf. He did not know what he was doing.
Sensing someone coming over, the two of them quickly tidied up their clothes. The boy was about to get angry when he saw that it was Hoffa. He immediately smiled awkwardly.
Hoffa's habitual muscles pulled up the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile.
The two of them let out a sigh of relief. They lowered their heads and walked past Hoffa.
Looking at their backs, the smile on his face disappeared without a trace. He rubbed his face, feeling as if he was wearing a thick mask. It was extremely uncomfortable.
This was not the Hogwarts he imagined. His ideal school was a place where he could exchange ideas. Everyone was different, everyone had an interesting soul, and everyone could understand and tolerate each other.
But now, Hogwarts was like a graveyard. A lively graveyard. Everyone had become the same kind of person. No characteristics, no goals, just a drunken stupor.
He shook his head and threw those unrealistic thoughts out of his mind. He took out a spiritual wizard's book from the bookshelf and flipped through it, trying to find a way to solve his spiritual problem.
But these big books discussed how to manipulate other people's minds. There were very few books that delved into the existence of one's own mind.
He roughly flipped through it and changed to another one.
Time flew by quickly as they searched for and looked around.
Late at night, Hoffa looked at his watch. It was already eleven o 'clock. He pressed his head against the bookshelf and closed his eyes in frustration.
Another day with no results. When would he be able to solve his problem, and when would he be able to live happily?
No one could tell him the answer.
He walked out of the empty library and walked through the empty magic stairs. He returned to the dorm.
William's bed was empty. The other people's beds were also empty. He did not think much about it. He took off his clothes and wanted to go to bed.
But just as he was about to lie down, a few people ran into the dorm noisily and slammed the door open.
"Hoffa, Hoffa, Hoffa …!"
Antonio shouted his name as if he was running a train.
Huo Fa got up impatiently. "What's wrong now?"
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
