Chapter 52

At the moment, the Christmas party downstairs has begun. On the snow outside the castle, many witches light their magic wands and sing in the snow.

Colorful fireworks in the air, forming a variety of animal shapes.

It's gorgeous.

But in the dark corridor at the top of the castle, Hoffa walked slowly.

Through the Gothic window lattice on the top of the castle tower, moonlight sprinkles on the ground, forming one uniform light spot after another. And the fireworks in the air from time to time reflected Hoffa's face red and green.

He and the world under the castle are separated by an invisible breath. He kept alert, and his mind was working all the time.

The spirit is extremely sharp.

In the process of his walking, the dagger gradually turned into a big knife, and the tip of the knife made a slight scratch on the ground.

Around the corner, Hoffa suddenly stood still. He squinted and turned his head. A little bit of conversation came into his ears.

"... who has been sent by the Ministry of magic..."

the voice is familiar.

Someone's coming. It's the school teacher.

Hoffa put away his thoughts and turned his sword into a magic wand. He pasted it in the corner and hid behind a suit of armor.

The voice of the conversation grew louder.

Then, two figures in robes slowly emerged from the darkness.

One is tall and the other is thin.

They both know Hoffa. It's Dumbledore and dipper.

As he walked, dipert asked, "is Albert here?"

Dumbledore: Well, he's going to see Slughorn now. You know, they're classmates at school

Dipert did not speak for a moment.

Dumbledore pondered for a moment: "do you want me to come over?"

"Go on, albus. I feel that your worry is not aimless. Protect him well and don't let him have an accident in Hogwarts. The Ministry of magic has been keeping a close eye on him recently. "

As they spoke, they got closer and closer.

Hoffa knew. No wonder the masked man hid.

Facing the two headmasters of Hogwarts, Hoffa did not hesitate to start the ghost walk directly and entered the world of gray and white shadows.

They passed by the armor.

Dumbledore asked with some worry: "will you go out again in May?"

"There's nothing we can do. This year's situation is already very serious. The Austrian Ministry of magic has collapsed. If we don't sign an agreement, it will be too late."

Dumbledore: then i...

depert: I'll let Adebayor follow me. You won't go with me. We are short of staff. After I leave, you make arrangements for school. "

As they walked farther and farther, their voices became smaller and smaller, and Hoffa slowly withdrew from the shadow state.

Dumbledore: "if the violet people are still there, they won't..."

"it's none of your business, albus. I don't need to talk about the past. You go to Slughorn first

"Good."

With that, dipert in the distance opened a stone gate like a dripping monster and disappeared in it.

Albus Dumbledore, on the other hand, stood still, silent for a long time. He frowned and raised his head, as if feeling something.

Hoffa retreated slowly. He didn't think that the place where the masked man came was the location of the principal's office.

No matter why the two presidents of Hogwarts talked here, it's definitely not something that a freshman can get involved in.

We need to get out of this place of right and wrong.

Hoffa retreated to a steel armor at the bottom of the corridor and was slightly relieved.

Just get out of here.

But at this time, the strange smell suddenly strong.

He looked up.

It's next to the railings on the top floor of the tower.

The masked man is staring at himself coldly.

After a second of silence.

With a sneer on his lips, he threw a stone and hit Hoffa on the head of his armor.

Dang.

The little voice was clear and loud in the corridor at night.

The other party even wants to frame himself at this time.

Hoffa froze for a second, then stiffly suppressed his desire to escape, standing still, staring at the figures upstairs. He didn't do anything wrong. Why did he run away?

In the distance, Dumbledore suddenly twisted his head.

He disappeared in the blink of an eye and then appeared next to Hoffa.

One tall and one short, they stare at the figure on the second floor at the same time.

The strange figure in Dumbledore's eyes, calmly smile at Hoffa, Shi ran left.

Dumbledore frowned, but did not stop.

Looking at the dignified expression of the tall man beside him, an ominous premonition appeared in Hoffa's heart.He finally knew what was wrong.

Except for myself.

No one can see that figure.

For a long time, Dumbledore lowered his head and looked at Hoffa: "Why are you here?"

He has a calm voice, and there are no waves.

"I'm lost, sir."

Hoffa said, head down.

Dumbledore, well, didn't care very much. The rest of his eyes still stayed on the second floor.

"So it is. Have you ever had dinner?"

"No

"Well, come with me. I'll take you to eat."

Dumbledore finally stopped paying attention to the upstairs. He patted Hoffa on the shoulder, but naturally said it irrefutably.

"Where to?"

Hoffa asked.

"Go to your potion teacher and ask him for a cup of home ELF's aged wine."

Dumbledore looked nostalgic.

With that, he strode ahead with Hoffa and left the area.

Hoffa followed Dumbledore step by step. The masked man had disappeared.

They walked silently for a while.

Finally, when they left the tower where the principal's office was located.

Hoffa couldn't help looking up and asked, "have you ever seen anything unusual?"

Dumbledore's steps stopped, and he was slightly surprised.

"Well, you feel it, too?"

"Well."

Hoffa nodded.

But Dumbledore didn't ask. Holding his red beard, he said with emotion: "a wizard with higher spirit can always detect something invisible to ordinary people when he is young, the elusive magical substance, and the ghost wandering between reality and illusion. It's a gift. It's a curse

"You see that?" Hoffa asked. "That..."

"I can't see. Just because I can feel doesn't mean I can see. I'm old."

Dumbledore shook his head and said faintly, "sometimes it's not good to see abnormality. Bach, you're still young. You should focus on your real friends."

Can't you see?

Even though Hoffa was psychologically prepared, his heart was still cold when he heard the news.

He recalled three meetings with the masked man.

For the first time in the violet chamber, it came out of the painting directly, without much doubt.

But now, it's not normal at all. Even a wizard can't come out of the picture directly. Dipper has to open the picture to get in.

Moreover, it is always a person, even if standing in the crowd, others will turn a blind eye to it.

More ghost than ghost.

Walking down the tower, he wanted to ask more questions, but Dumbledore had quickly stepped forward and said hello to some of the witches enthusiastically.

They came to Slughorn's office.

Slughorn is the dean of Slytherin, but he is different from the former dean of Slytherin. His office is not in the basement, but on the third floor of the castle. Next to defense against the dark arts teacher Meredith's office.

Maybe Slughorn thinks it's a better place to party.

After greeting, after two house elves receiving invitation, Hoffa sees Slughorn.

He had a big stomach and was wearing a purple smoking shirt. He stood at the door happily chatting with people.

Seeing Dumbledore appear with Hoffa, he looks a little surprised. But he immediately put away his expression and quickly came to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore, on the other hand, pushed the Tuhuo method.

Hoffa understood and entered the office alone. Leave them a private space to chat.

I don't know whether it was or because of magic, Slughorn's office is much larger than the ordinary teacher's room.

On the ceiling and walls hung green, crimson and gold curtains, which looked like they were in a big tent.

The room was crowded and sultry, red with a golden lamp hanging in the middle of the ceiling. There are real elves flashing in the lamp, and each one is a bright spot.

A few old witches, who are chatting happily, are covered with the green fog of pipe. Some house elves are walking around with heavy silver plates. They are preparing the table.

Many people have gathered here, men and women, old and young. They were all in ceremonial robes.

Hoffa soon saw Miranda and aglia in the crowd, surrounded by a group of senior students.

Dressed in ceremonial robes, they all look good. One is noble and beautiful, the other is small and lovely.

This makes Hoffa a little uncomfortable, because he has no ceremonial robes, only school robes.

Hoffa also saw Tom Riddle by a pine tree with colored balls.

His opponent in the orphanage now seems to be a male socialite. Although he wears ordinary clothes, his good temperament and handsome appearance attract many elders to stop.Coupled with his polite speech, no one can connect him with the future Dark Lord.

Agraia found Hoffa at a glance, and her expression was a little surprised. Then, intentionally or unintentionally, she stuck it in Miranda's ear and said something.

Miranda immediately turned her head.

But she didn't say anything special, just nodded to Hoffa.

Hoffa nodded awkwardly to her.

He didn't come when he was invited.

It turns out Dumbledore brought it on the way.

From Miranda's point of view.

Hoffa felt cheap.

Soon after, the table was ready.

Different from the auditorium below, it is probably similar to a family banquet. Although it is not as lively as the one in the auditorium, it is more exquisite.

More than a dozen domestic elves shuttled back and forth at Hoffa's feet, each with a silver plate on its head.

People like Slughorn probably don't like to snap one finger and the food will appear. Another finger will disappear. He likes ostentation and tradition.

But it also gives Hoffa a chance to really observe traditional western festivals.

Turkey stuffed with truffles, Roasted Quail stacked in order. Stacks of thick meat paste, roasted cream corn porridge, minced meat pie cut into more than a dozen pieces, neatly placed on the plate, decorated with strawberry jam. More than a dozen almond puddings in small porcelain ware, about one for each person.

Hoffa also saw a roast suckling pig with a red apple in its mouth. I have to say it sells like Qijia.

Looking at all kinds of food in front of him, Hoffa suddenly found that he was really hungry. When he chased the Faceless Man, he ran at least forty stories.

But the embarrassment is that he has no experience in such a private banquet and has few friends. No one told him anything to pay attention to, so he didn't know where to sit for the time being.