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Seeing that everyone else was indignant, Cedric realized that there was something wrong with his statement just now, and quickly bowed his head to admit his mistake.
As if to confirm his words.
As the carriage lurched towards the school gate, they saw two hooded, eerie Dementors standing guard at the door, one on each side.
As we passed by them, a chilly feeling suddenly came over the carriage.
This feeling gradually dissipated until the carriage passed through the middle of the gate and accelerated on the ramp leading to the castle.
After a few minutes, the carriage finally stopped.
Kyle was the last one to get off the car. He restored the space inside to its original state and took out a bag of Mothra rat jerky to feed it to the panting Thestral pulling the car.
It's considered as overtime pay.
Pulling eight people at a time is a big job for Ye Qi.
They were the last group, everyone else had already entered the castle. On the path not far away, Hagrid's tall figure could still be vaguely seen.
"The new students are coming," Kyle said, "Let's go in."
Several people stepped onto the stone steps and walked towards the castle at a quick pace.
Professor Sprout stood at the door and closed the castle gate after they entered.
"Remember to hurry up next time." She said casually, "Hurry up to the auditorium, the opening banquet is about to begin."
On the right, the door to the auditorium was open, and above the enchanted ceiling was a dark, cloudy sky that looked a bit depressing.
It seems that except for the first year, the weather has been bad during every start-of-term party.
Several people separated at the entrance of the auditorium and walked towards the long tables of their respective colleges.
Soon, the freshmen also came and walked into the auditorium led by Professor Sprout.
Just like before, after being placed on the tripod stool by Professor Flitwick, the Sorting Hat began to sing the song that had taken a year to create.
He chose the style of country music this time, and coupled with those weird lyrics, it was surprisingly good.
It's just that few people listened.
Dementors became the hottest topic, and almost everyone was discussing what happened on the train.
"Kyle, is this true?"
When the Sorting Hat finished singing and began to sort the houses, Mikkel leaned over and asked curiously, "They all said that you drove away the Dementors in the car and saved Harry Potter in the process."
"Drive away the Dementors? Who told you that?"
"Susan Burns."
Mikkel said, "She said she saw you use your wand to force the Dementor up against the car window, and then went to Potter's box after he passed out, and then he woke up."
Kyle remembered that Susan Burns was also a Hufflepuff, in the same class as Harry and the others. She was a girl who liked to join in the fun and had an excellent ability to collect information.
If you ask her questions related to the exam, she may not know the answer, or even know nothing about them. But if you ask her who quarreled with whom, or who was punished by the professor to be put in solitary confinement for making a mistake, she will know everything and answer the same questions for two hours without repeating herself.
Kyle estimated that when he was trying to drive away the Dementors, she must have been in a nearby box and happened to see it.
"That's not true." He shook his head and explained, "The Dementors left the train after completing their mission, and Harry was rescued by the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. It has nothing to do with me."
"That's it."
Mikel looked a little disappointed. "What a shame. If you had driven away the Dementors and saved Potter, you might have won the Order of Merlin again."
"It would be nice if that were the case." Kyle said with a smile, "Besides, it's not that easy to get the Order of Merlin."
"At least it can add 50 points," said Mikel.
Kyle shrugged. He didn't think so.
The Dementors went to the train to search for Black, which was originally an order from the Ministry of Magic. If he had driven them away, let alone extra points... it would have been good enough if he hadn't been in trouble with the Ministry of Magic.
"Hufflepuff!"
At this moment, the sound of the Sorting Hat was heard all around.
The first new student was sorted into Hufflepuff.
Kyle clapped along with everyone else, and Mikel stood up, warmly welcoming the somewhat shy freshman.
I don’t know if the Sorting Hat knew what happened on the train and wanted the students to have a sumptuous dinner as soon as possible, but this year’s sorting went particularly smoothly and was finished in less than half an hour.
On average, each person only took about twenty seconds, which can be said to be quite efficient.
When the last student was sorted into Ravenclaw, Professor Flitwick left the hall from the side, holding the Sorting Hat and the tricorne stool.
Then Dumbledore stood up.
"welcome!"
He smiled at all the students, the candlelight sparkling on his beard, "Welcome back to Hogwarts! I have a few things to tell you, one of which is very important, so I think it's better to tell you while you are still awake..."
Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "Our school is currently welcoming several Dementors, who are sent by the Ministry of Magic to perform official duties. I'm sure you all know that they searched the Hogwarts Express.
I must make it clear that when they are here, no one can leave the school without permission, and no tricks, gimmicks or disguises can fool the Dementors..."
When Dumbledore was speaking on the stage, the hall was eerily quiet. Many people thought of the two Dementors on guard that they encountered when passing by the school gate.
According to Dumbledore, they would all be there until Black was caught.
Some people suddenly became nervous as they thought about their experience on the train.
"Let's change the subject to something more cheerful."
After finishing the question about Dementors, Dumbledore's expression was not so serious anymore. He smiled again and said, "First of all, Professor Lupin has gladly agreed to fill the vacancy of Defense Against the Dark Arts..."
"And Rubeus Hagrid, he will replace Professor Kettleburn who retired last semester and become your new Care of Magical Creatures teacher..."
Because of the Dementors, everyone was worried and only clapped their hands perfunctorily at the two new professors introduced by Dumbledore.
For most students, these two courses are not very important, especially Defense Against the Dark Arts... The professor is a once-in-a-year course, and the lessons are the same no matter who attends.
Fortunately, the applause from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor was quite enthusiastic, so the scene didn't seem so deserted.
"Hagrid always wanted to be a professor..." Cedric clapped his hands happily, "He succeeded!"
"Yeah." Kyle said with a smile.
He looked towards the head table, where Hagrid was wiping his eyes with the tablecloth.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 361 Hermione's Doubts
Because of what Dumbledore announced at the banquet, people inevitably thought of the dragon emblem that appeared on the train, and Kyle once again welcomed a large wave of guests.
Early the next morning.
“It’s really useful.”
In the corridor, a young wizard from Gryffindor said to his companion with great confidence: "If the headmaster hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known there were Dementors at the school gate..."
"Nothing, just a little cold, completely different from when I was on the train... and Potter was wearing it too, I saw it in the common room just now."
The two drove all the way to the auditorium, and their companions were persuaded after a chat.
Although two Galleons are expensive, if it is really that magical, it is not impossible.
But when they arrived at the hall, they found that the Hufflepuff table was already surrounded by people, and the long line stretched all the way to the door.
These are people who come to buy things.
"If I had known this, I would have bought it when I was on the train."
At the end of the line, a little witch was complaining to her friend, "I was there, but I thought Dementors wouldn't come to school."
"Who would have thought..." Her friend also sighed.
On the other side, Kyle handed a badge to a young Ravenclaw wizard, while Cedric stood beside him and skillfully took two Galleons and put them into the bag next to him.
Kyle yawned, tapped the table, and asked for a glass of lemonade.
Although he was woken up early in the morning, seeing so many gold galleons lining up to jump into his pocket, this little thing didn't seem that important.
"It's amazing..." the little wizard who just got the badge said in surprise, "It's still warm. The fire dragon is really powerful!"
Kyle shook his head and said nothing.
This had nothing to do with dragons. Last night, he spent the entire night casting a little warming spell on each of the badges.
In order to save time, he did not use any complicated alchemical methods, but simply "sticked" the spell on it... just like the layer of pepper shell on the outside of the Pepper Boy.
As for those sold on the train, Kyle did not ignore them, but asked someone to help convey the message that as long as they were brought over, they could be "upgraded for free"... The main focus was on providing good after-sales service.
Although the "stick it on" spell doesn't last long, it's enough.
But even so, he didn't finish until five in the morning... and then at six o'clock, someone started knocking on their dormitory door.
But since they were there to deliver Garlon, Kyle couldn't say anything. It just made Mikel and Ryan suffer, so they had to get up early too.
By eight o'clock, all the 150 badges he had brought back from Romania had been sold out.
……
"There really aren't any more."
After Kyle gave away the last badge, he picked up the empty box and showed it off.
The little witch who had just got to the front of the line looked extremely disappointed.
"Just wait a few more days." Kyle comforted her, "There will be new ones coming."
"How long do we have to wait?"
"Not sure." Kyle thought about it and gave a safe answer: "About a month or so."
Last night, Laton had had a hearty meal of dragon liver and tonics, and set out with his letter.
But it’s not that close from here to Romania, and it also depends on when Charlie is free. One month is the minimum.
After breakfast, Kyle, in a good mood, was about to go to his first Charms class, but as soon as he walked out of the auditorium, he was stopped by someone from behind.
"Hermione, what's going on?" Kyle glanced behind her. "Where are Harry and Ron?"
The three of them were usually together almost all the time, but strangely, today Hermione was alone.