Chapter 778 It’s Halloween

October 31st, evening.

It's Halloween again.

It happened to be Friday, and the weekend holiday coincided with the festival, so today's dinner was particularly lively.

It is said that Halloween originated from the ancient legend of Celtic mythology. Every year on this day, they believe that the souls of the dead will return to their hometowns and find a substitute to be reborn. The living are afraid of ghosts, so they come up with various ways to deal with them. Some people extinguish the fire and candlelight and try their best to avoid them; some people dress themselves up as monsters to conceal their identities or scare away ghosts; some people put delicious food in front of their homes for them to enjoy, to please the ghosts, to prevent them from venting their anger and harming the living, which is also the origin of "trick or treat"...

Various measures have been gradually passed down and gradually turned into customs in the long history.

In the library.

Hermione sat upright on a chair in the corner, with several open books in front of her, and she lowered her head to read carefully with a serious expression.

The girl was reading a book next to her, and Loren was looking at the girl next to her, also concentrating and serious.

Hermione's eyelashes are really long...

She hasn't blinked for so long, I wonder if her eyes are dry.

"Huh..."

Loren blew a breath on the storybook in front of him, then quickly lowered his head to pretend to concentrate on reading, and glanced at Hermione next to him with his peripheral vision.

The obstruction of the parchment allowed the air to flow to the side, raising a few breezes, and the slender eyelashes were blown, fluttering and blinking, like a small brush, which was very beautiful.

"..."

Hermione blinked a few times to suppress the dry and sore feeling, glanced at him, and was quite speechless: "What time is it?"

"It's half past five."

Loren looked out the window: "Dinner will start at seven o'clock, you continue reading, and I'll call you when the time comes."

Hermione followed his line of sight -

In autumn and winter, the daytime is getting shorter and shorter. At this time, the sky outside has become dim, and the clouds are thick. You can't see where the sun is. You only know that it has not completely fallen into darkness at this moment.

"Let's stop reading and go to the hall to see the pumpkin lanterns."

"You still know how to see pumpkin lanterns!" Loren looked incredulous and pretended to be surprised. His acting was artificial and poor. "I thought you only thought about reading and were a nerd!"

"..."

Hermione didn't want to answer. Madam Pince, who was not far away, had noticed them and stared at them from the side. So she put the books on the table in order, put them back on the bookshelf, and turned to leave the library.

Loren followed closely.

Leaving the library, the cold wind in the corridor blew into the seams of clothes.

"Hiss..."

Loren quickly raised his collar, shrank his neck, grabbed Hermione's hand and put it in his pocket, and walked towards the hall close together.

Hermione glanced at him calmly.

In fact, the corridor was not so cold, and doing this would not warm up the body. It was just a trick he used to make holding hands more natural.

The trick was of course useful.

Rubbing his soft palms, Loren led her to the hall slowly, telling her the story he had just read in the book. He just glanced at it, so his retelling was not detailed enough. He talked about whatever he thought of, and his language was not systematic, fragmented, and his words did not express his meaning.

But Hermione listened very carefully and could understand what he was saying.

"Halloween originated from the story in Celtic mythology. In order to avoid ghosts, the living extinguished all the fires and candles..."

Hogwarts Castle did not extinguish the fires and candles, but instead lit up thousands of pumpkin lanterns. At the end of the corridor and the corner of the stairs, pumpkin lanterns floated in the air. The huge pumpkins were carved into skulls and devil faces, and the green phosphorescent fire burned quietly in them.

The pumpkins in the school castle were basically purchased, and it was unknown when the elves moved the pumpkins into the kitchen, selected the high-quality pumpkins and baked them to make an attractive sweet fragrance that filled the entire castle. Others were carved into pumpkin lanterns and let Professor Flitwick cast a spell to float in the corridor.

The sky outside was not completely dark yet, but the magic dome of the auditorium was already covered with dark clouds, thunder and lightning, and a stormy night.

Thousands of bats fluttered their wings under the dome, gathering together like low dark clouds, floating over the dining table, causing the candles and the flames in the pumpkin lanterns to sway.

The pumpkins in the auditorium were provided by Rubeus Hagrid. The professor of Care of Magical Creatures stood in the corner of the room, slapping the thick pumpkin shells with his hands. Some of the pumpkins were even bigger than the shed.

Professor Sprout of Herbology looked at the giant pumpkins and was amazed. He humbly asked Hagrid for the tips and secrets of growing pumpkins.

Before the dinner started, some little wizards went in and out of the giant pumpkin lanterns, pretending to be ghosts and cheering and screaming, making a lot of noise. Nick, who was almost headless, didn't know when he got in, and scared a group of freshmen to run out, and after recovering, they laughed foolishly.

A new witch came up to Professor Hagrid and tugged at the sleeve of his moleskin coat. The fear she had at the beginning of the school year was gone from her eyes: "Professor Hagrid, can you keep the biggest pumpkin next year and carve it into a pumpkin house or a pumpkin carriage?"

Hagrid nodded and agreed with a smile.

"What should we do with these pumpkin lanterns after the festival?"

Hagrid looked at Loren, who had stood next to him at some point. He was looking at the pumpkin lantern with his chin in his hand, and there was a certain ominous light in his eyes.

"..."

After nearly seven years of getting along with each other, Hagrid had more or less understood Loren's character. He looked like he was planning some evil idea. Looking at his thoughtful look, Hagrid suddenly didn't know how to answer. .

"Well……"

Hagrid thought carefully and replied: "Put the well-preserved jack-o-lanterns into the warehouse, and they can be used again next year. If they are damaged, they can be distributed to the animals in the Forbidden Forest. If they cannot be sent out, they will be turned into fertilizer."

"Sounds a bit wasteful."

"what you up to?"

"If there are extra jack-o-lanterns this year, remember to leave a few for me. They don't need to be this big, just medium size, or smaller." Loren gestured to the size of the jack-o'-lanterns.

"Keep it as a souvenir..."

Hagrid breathed a sigh of relief: "After graduation, you should really keep some school things as souvenirs. Don't worry, I will definitely pick some nice ones for you."

"No, I want to be scary."

"no problem!"

Hagrid patted his chest and smiled broadly.

Loren was satisfied with the assurance, and held Hermione's little hand to admire the pumpkin lanterns. Some pumpkin lanterns had phosphorous fire crackling. They were gift boxes hidden inside. It was a Halloween gift box. It was half surprise and half fright. There might be a wizard inside. Good things like chess pieces, chocolate frogs, rats or dung bombs, harvesting depends on luck.

A new student from Gryffindor fired off a firework that exploded when the lid was opened. His dark cheeks and black hair stood on end, making his friends around him laugh from ear to ear.

There is a vague trace of Simo's past.

When many seventh-year Gryffindor students saw this scene, the corners of their mouths curved slightly.

Hermione turned her head to look at Loren's expression, squeezed his hand, and asked softly: "What do you want Hagrid to do with the jack-o'-lantern?"

"Keep it as a souvenir."

"?"

"But the school didn't leave it to me, I left it to the school."

Loren tried hard to purse her lips, but couldn't help but chuckled: "The runes designed by Professor Babling for me have made progress. Of course, such a meaningful thing must be commemorated at Hogwarts! "

"What do you want to keep as a souvenir?"

"I plan to carve a simple moving circle inside the pumpkin lantern to leave a little bit of spatial magic. I will leave the pumpkin in the Room of Requirement. Every time around Halloween, these pumpkin lanterns will appear in the bathroom. After the lights are turned off, Common rooms, late-night corridors, and bedside dormitories..."

Loren looked mysterious: "And it's the kind that disappears in a flash. It appears suddenly, stays for a few seconds and then suddenly disappears. It's guaranteed to be scary enough."

Check out the 16-9 book bar to see the correct version!

Hermione blinked and imagined the scene:

Around Halloween, the lights in the castle are dim, and there is a spooky atmosphere everywhere. There are little wizards who can't sleep late at night. When they go to the toilet or take a night walk, they are dazed and relaxed. Suddenly, a faint green phosphorescent light flashes through, and a sculpture barely appears. A jack-o'-lantern with a ferocious smile...

"..."

Hermione fell silent.

A new chapter in the horror stories circulating at Hogwarts.

…

By December, the first half of the school year is coming to an end.

Two more Quidditch matches were held during this period, Hufflepuff played against Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff was promoted to the winner's group, waiting for the final match with Gryffindor in the spring, Ravenclaw entered the loser's group, After returning to school after Christmas break, I have to fight with Slytherin.

The flying lessons for the freshmen have ended, and they no longer have to brave the freezing cold wind. Mrs. Huo Qi started her vacation early, which is really enviable.

The seventh-grade curriculum enters a delicate stage.

The professors have finished teaching all the content and are guiding the students to review what they have learned in the previous seven years. The homework after class is becoming more and more arduous. It is not the kind of profound and complicated homework, it is all very basic stuff. The questions are large and the repetition rate is high, but All students are not required to complete or even collect homework.

The status of the students also varies. Some are laughing and joking all day long and doing nothing, seemingly not caring about the upcoming ultimate wizard level exam. Some are depressed with dark circles under their eyes and are so nervous that they can't eat when dining in the auditorium.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape repeatedly mentioned the issue of stress in class. They did not praise their optimism or relieve their nervousness. They only emphasized not to affect other students. If they couldn't bear it anymore, they should go to the school doctor's office to see Madam Pomfrey. .

Hermione would also select valuable topics to recite, and spent most of her weekends in the library. Even the frequency of conversations with Professor Bubbaji had decreased.

Loren gave up the homework that consolidated the basics, and had no mental problems for the time being. He stayed in the Room of Requirement in his spare time, sitting in the transformed underground potions classroom, holding the new space moving device array on the manuscript paper. , study carefully.

Next to it are several carefully carved jack-o-lanterns.

I got these jack-o-lanterns from Hagrid last month. He had carved a simple magic circle, poured a few strands of space magic into the core of the magic circle, and completed the short-distance movement test. The whole process took a full month, but Professors Flamel and Babling thought it was very fast.

Loren plans to complete all the design work of the new device before graduation. After graduation, he will lead the group of guys to put it into production, promote the new device to the world, and complete this big business as soon as possible.

The estimated completion time of the entire plan is still uncertain. After all, the future is always full of unknowns and no one can predict it.

For example, if you have worked too hard in the past few months and overdrawn your future quota, you may have to lie down for two years after graduation before implementing your plan. In the middle of the process, you can only be Hermione's househusband. How does that saying go? Behind every successful woman there is...

The clock in the corner began to shake slightly, and a crow came out of it, cawing.

Loren pushed away the pumpkin lanterns floating in the air, letting them scatter around the room, got up and walked out, leaving the Room of Requirement and going downstairs, and went directly to the hallway.

December is already deep winter, and snowflakes are falling heavily.

The torches on the walls of the hallway cast a piece of orange-red firelight, which reflected the snowflakes, which were crystal clear. Occasionally, a few snowflakes floated into the house and melted at the door, leaving a water mark.

There was a beautiful figure standing between the fire and the snow, and it seemed that she had been waiting here for a while. She was wearing a college robe, with fluffy curly hair draped over her shoulders and a cashmere scarf around her neck. There were some snowflakes on her hair and shoulders, but she didn't look cold, but rather added a touch of softness.

The girl heard the footsteps approaching, looked up, and a smile appeared on her face, with gentle eyebrows and eyes.

"Why are you waiting here?"

Loren walked over and stood in front of Hermione. He naturally took her hand and shook it. It was not cold, but not warm: "It's so warm in the hall. It's cold here, and my hands are cold. I'll be quiet if I catch a cold."

"It's not cold." Hermione explained softly. The girl's voice melted in the wind, especially soft and delicate. "You may not find it in the hall, and I want to see the snow here."

"I don't know how many bluebells flames to put."

"It's not cold."

"Where are Harry and the others?"

"They've already taken the cake to Hagrid's hut."

"Took it?"

"Yeah."

"A bunch of idiots. They're frozen harder than rock cakes when they get there. How are they going to eat it later?"

"..."

"You're also an idiot. You're standing at the door blowing the cold wind. Your brain is blown silly."

"It's not cold."

Hermione explained softly.

It's not cold. Her hands were held in his palms, warm and cozy.

The two wrapped their scarves tightly and walked out of the hall, leaving two neat rows of footprints on the snow, all the way to the cottage at the edge of the forbidden forest, where smoke was rising.

The ground was frozen, and the green grass leaves of the past were buried under the thick snow. The bare vines of the Whomping Willow were covered with snow balls, white and crystal, like blooming pear flowers. There were no students on the road. Today was Hogsmeade Activity Week. Students who wanted to go out were now sitting in the three brooms with butter beer in their hands. Students who didn't want to go out in the wind were hiding under the protection of the castle fireplace.

They were walking towards Hagrid's cottage.

December 6, 1997, today is Hagrid's 69th birthday.