Summer is drawing to a close, and it's time to go back to school.
Melvin walked along the sidewalk, his suitcase in his right hand and his left brushing off the ash from his sleeve.
Sunlight pierced the clouds of the Scottish Highlands. The morning mist had dissipated, leaving the cobblestone streets still damp. The candy shop on the left side of the street wasn't open yet. In the window, a stack of nougat candies formed a leaning tower, a slowly rotating icing star on top, and cockroaches swarmed in the holes at the bottom.
A brightly colored sign stood nearby: Honeydukes.
There was also the Devis-Bans shop, Zonko's Magical Joke Shop, the Owl Post Office...
This was Hogsmeade. It was
about four hundred miles from London, and the easiest way to get there was by Floo. It took only half a minute to get from the Leaky Cauldron to the Three Broomsticks.
The Hogwarts gates were three or four miles away, a normal walk would take an hour.
Melvin chose a slightly faster walk.
"Bang..."
He took a step out of the village. The air hummed softly, and the space around him distorted slightly. When he reappeared, he was already at the intersection several hundred meters away.
This was a modified version of Apparition.
Whether Apparition or Disapparition, they were essentially Vanishing Spells. The caster was also the target. The spell, based on the caster's memory of the landing point, determined the coordinates and teleported across space to the desired location. With mastery, one could simply use sight to determine the landing point.
The road was simple, with signposts along the way and few side roads. After a few shifts, the Hogwarts gates were visible in the distance.
"Bang..."
Melvin stood at the intersection and looked up at the main entrance.
The gates were in keeping with the style of a thousand-year-old school. Two hollow doors, cast from black iron, were set between towering stone walls, about twenty or thirty feet high. Perched on the gateposts were bronze statues of wild boars flapping their wings.
The boar was male...
I couldn't quite tell, but I felt it was impressive.
Grabbing his suitcase and entering the main gate, Melvin was immediately greeted by a figure from around the corner. He saw the words "Administrator: Argus Filch" pinned to his chest.
"Professor Melvin Lewyn?"
The administrator, Mr. Filch, spoke in a hoarse voice. His complexion was sallow, his eyes slightly bulging, and he was wrapped in a worn, mouse-gray robe.
"Yes," Melvin nodded and smiled.
"Professor Lewyn, please follow me. Headmaster Dumbledore told me to wait here."
"Thank you."
Melvin followed the administrator inside, scanning the road.
The scenery was stunning, the flowers and plants lush but not overly overgrown.
Hogwarts was likely once a noble estate, and the surrounding land had been converted from farmland and well-planned. The road after entering the school gates was very flat. To the left was the forest, to the right was the Quidditch pitch, with the green Slytherin flag fluttering in the wind.
Almost every wizard in the world has heard that Hogwarts' houses are divided after the surnames of its four founders:
Gryffindor, symbolizing courage;
Ravenclaw, symbolizing wisdom;
Hufflepuff, symbolizing kindness; and
Slytherin, symbolizing honor.
In the school's early days, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin were the closest. As is typical in adventure novels, they should have written a paean to their friendship on a Chocolate Frog card...
but as expected, they did.
Decades after the school's founding, Slytherin suddenly became paranoid and tried to convince the other founders to admit only pure-bloods. The other founders clearly objected, and the disagreements between the two sides escalated, culminating in Slytherin's departure in anger, a bitter split.
All of this is recorded in the school's history.
Ads by Pubfuture
Pubfuture Ads
There were also some details not recorded in the school history:
one was that Slytherin built the Chamber of Secrets before leaving and hid a basilisk inside. The other was that Gryffindor went out in his later years to search for Slytherin, but ultimately found nothing.
In contrast to Helga Hufflepuff, who had a good beginning and a good end, and Rowena Ravenclaw, who died with lingering eyes, no one had heard of these two legendary wizards in their later years, not even their burial locations.
Passing an exceptionally lush Whomping Willow, one could see the Herbology greenhouse, where a short, plump witch in gardening clothes was busy.
A little further on and up a flight of stairs led to the entrance hall.
"That's it. The headmaster will take you to his office."
"Where's the headmaster..."
Melvin looked up and saw a gray-haired figure standing in the corridor near the courtyard, crouched and playing with a dark gray cat. Hearing the sound, he glanced at them with a gentle smile.
The dark gray cat trotted over and gently nudged Filch's trouser leg.
"Excuse me, Mr. Filch," Melvin nodded. "
..."
Filch glanced up at him, a look of surprise in his eyes, then quickly looked away. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Professor Lewyn."
"Goodbye,"
the headmaster said, slowly approaching.
Dumbledore was wearing a bright red and gold robe, a wide, formal design. His trousers were unremarkable, and his beard and hair were meticulously groomed, flowing freely.
He wore crescent-shaped glasses, his pupils azure blue, and his back straight.
The late summer sun made him look energetic.
"Long time no see, Headmaster Dumbledore."
"I've been looking forward to this day, Melvin."
Dumbledore smiled, his eyes narrowing. "I was supposed to introduce you to my capable professors. Minerva is processing paperwork, Severus is counting potion ingredients for the new school year, Filius is adjusting their college's bronze raven-shaped door knocker. To prevent that door from embarrassing students with questions they can't answer all summer, Pomona is cleaning the greenhouse... Please forgive me, it happens to be the busiest time of the day."
Melvin: "..."
It sounded like you, the Headmaster, were the only ones slacking off.
"Come upstairs, let's see your office, and let me introduce you to my alma mater."
Dumbledore led him upstairs, introducing them as they went. "The hall you just saw is our Great Hall, and it's also where we usually eat. Next to it are the administrator's office and the staff lounge.
"The second floor used to be the Transfiguration classroom and the Vice-Headmaster's office..."
"Your office is on the third floor. The stone statue next to it is the entrance to my office. Feel free to talk to me."
Melvin listened carefully and followed him up the marble stairs.
"You should know that our school is divided into four houses. Ostensibly, it's the Sorting Hat that makes the selections, but in reality, it fully respects students' personal choices... Speaking of which, I'm a little curious about how Ilvermorny is divided into houses?"
"The four houses of Ilvermorny are chosen by the four wooden sculptures in the Great Hall. The Horned Serpent prefers students who love reading, somewhat similar to Ravenclaw. The Thunderbird tends to choose adventurers. The Panther loves strong-willed young men. And Pukchi favors kind-hearted healers."
"I heard that only a very small number of students are chosen by all four houses at the same time..."
I had a bad stomach after eating Cao's food.
I owe 2,000 yuan today, I'll make it up tomorrow~
Support me for my semester fee at
[email protected]/Horizons685
(End of this chapter)