Chapter 52: Chapter 52

At this moment, the Christmas banquet downstairs had already begun. On the snow outside the castle, many wizards lit their wands and sang in the snow.

Colorful fireworks bloom in the air, forming the shapes of various animals.

Very gorgeous.

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

The moonlight shines on the ground through the Gothic window lattice on the top of the castle tower, forming one after another uniform light spots horizontally. And the fireworks blooming in the sky from time to time reflected Hoffa's face red and green.

He and the world under the castle were separated by an invisible breath. He was vigilant, and his meditative thoughts were running all the time.

Extremely sharp mentally.

As he walked, the dagger slowly turned into a Taidao, and the tip of the knife scratched a tiny scratch on the ground.

Rounding the corner, Hoffa suddenly stood still, squinting his eyes and turning his head away, and a vague conversation came into his ears.

"...Who has the Ministry of Magic sent?"

The voice is somewhat familiar.

Someone came, it was the school teacher.

Hoffa put away his meditation ideas, and the sword in his hand turned back into a wand. He stuck to the corner and hid behind a pair of armor.

The voice of the conversation gradually grew louder.

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

One is tall and one is thin.

Both Hoffa knew each other, it was Dumbledore and Dippet.

Dippet asked as he walked, "...Is Albert here?"

Dumbledore: "Well, he is now looking for Slughorn, you know, they are classmates at school."

Dippet didn't speak for a while.

Dumbledore pondered for a moment: "Do you want me to go over?"

"Go ahead, Albus. I feel that your worries are not groundless. Protect him and don't let him have an accident at Hogwarts. The Ministry of Magic has been watching very closely recently."

While talking, the two got closer and closer.

Hoffa understood, no wonder the masked man hid.

Facing the two headmasters of Hogwarts, Hoffa did not dare to hesitate, and directly started the ghost walk, entering the shadow world with only gray and white.

The two walked past the armor.

Dumbledore asked with some concern: "Are you going out again in May?"

"There is no other way. The situation this year is already very serious. The Austrian Ministry of Magic has already collapsed. If we don't sign the agreement, it will be too late."

Dumbledore: "Then I."

Dippet: "I asked Adebe to follow me. If you don't come with me, we are short-handed. After I leave, you arrange the school affairs."

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

Dumbledore: "If Violet and those people are still there, certainly not"

"This has nothing to do with you, Albus. Let alone the past, you go to Slughorn first."

"good."

After speaking, Dippet in the distance opened a stone door in the shape of a dripping monster and disappeared inside.

And Albus Dumbledore stood there, silent for a long time. He frowned and raised his head, as if he was feeling something.

Hoffa backed away slowly, he didn't expect that the place where the masked man came was the principal's office.

No matter why the two headmasters of Hogwarts talked here, this is definitely not something that a first-year student like me can get involved in.

Get out of this place of right and wrong quickly.

After retreating to a pair of steel armor at the bottom of the corridor, Hoffa breathed a sigh of relief.

Just get out of here.

But at this moment, the strange aura suddenly became strong.

He looked up.

Next to the railing on the upper floor of the tower.

The masked man was staring at himself coldly.

After a second of silence.

There was a hint of sarcasm at the corner of its mouth, and it threw a stone casually, hitting the head of the steel armor beside Hoffa.

clang.

This small voice was crisp and loud in the corridor at night.

The other party actually wanted to frame him at this time.

Hoffa was stunned for a second, then forcibly suppressed his desire to escape, and stood motionless, staring at the figure upstairs. He did nothing wrong, why did he run away?

In the distance, Dumbledore suddenly turned his head.

He disappeared in the blink of an eye, and then appeared beside Hoffa.

One tall and one short stared at the figure on the second floor at the same time.

Under Dumbledore's gaze, that weird figure calmly smiled at Hoffa, and left calmly.

Dumbledore frowned, but didn't stop him at all.

Looking at the dignified expression of the tall man next to him, a hint of ominous premonition appeared in Hoffa's heart.

He finally knew what was wrong.

It seems that except myself.

No one can see that figure.

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

He spoke calmly, without any disturbance.

"I'm lost, sir."

Hoffa said with his head down.

Dumbledore hummed, and didn't really care, the corner of his eyes still stayed on the second floor.

"That's right, have you had dinner yet?"

"No."

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

Dumbledore finally stopped paying attention upstairs, he patted Hoffa on the shoulder, and said naturally but irrefutably.

"where to?"

Hoffa asked.

"Go to your Potions teacher and ask him for a glass of old house-elf brew."

Dumbledore showed a look of nostalgia.

After speaking, he took Hoffa and strode ahead, leaving the area.

Hoffa followed behind Dumbledore step by step, turning his head three times, and the masked man had long since disappeared.

The two walked for a while in silence.

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

Hoffa couldn't help but raised his head and asked, "Have you seen anything unusual?"

Dumbledore paused, slightly surprised.

"Well, you feel it too?"

"Um."

Hoffa nodded.

But Dumbledore didn't ask. He pinched his red beard and said with emotion: "Wizards with higher spirits than ordinary people can always detect some things that ordinary people can't see when they are young. That kind of unpredictable magical substance, free A ghost on the border between reality and fiction. It's a gift and a curse."

"Did 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 lightly: "Sometimes seeing anomalies is not a good thing, Bach, you are still young, you should focus on your real friends."

Can't see?

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

He recalled three times he had met the masked man.

The first time in the Violet Chamber of Secrets, it came out of the painting directly, and I didn't doubt it too much.

But now that I think about it, that's not normal at all. Even wizards can't come out of the portrait directly, and Dippet has to open the portrait to get in.

Moreover, it has always been a person, even if it stands in the crowd, others will turn a blind eye to it.

Worse than a ghost.

Walking down the tower, he wanted to ask some more questions, but Dumbledore had already walked forward quickly, and greeted several wizards enthusiastically.

They came to Slughorn's office.

Slughorn is the head of Slytherin, but he is different from the previous head of Slytherin. His office is not in the basement, but on the third floor of the castle. Next to the office of Meles, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Possibly Slughorn thought it was a better place for a party.

After saying hello, and passing two house-elves taking invitations, Hoffa saw Slughorn.

With a big belly and a purple smoking shirt, he stood beamingly at the door chatting with people.

Seeing Dumbledore appearing with Hoffa, he was a little stunned. But he immediately put away his expression and walked quickly to Dumbledore's side.

And Dumbledore pushed Hoffa.

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

Whether by nature or by magic, Slughorn's office was much larger than the average teacher's room.

The ceiling and walls were hung with emerald, crimson, and gold hangings, making it look like a large tent.

The room was crowded and stuffy, glowing red from a golden lantern hanging in the center of the ceiling. There are real elves flickering in the lamp, each elf is a bright point of light.

A few old wizards were chattering, with pipe smoke hanging over their heads, and house-elves were walking around with heavy silver trays, preparing the table.

Many people have gathered here, men and women, old and young. They all wore robes.

Hoffa soon spotted Miranda and Aglaia in the crowd, surrounded by a group of seniors.

Wearing gowns, they are all well-dressed, one is noble and beautiful, and the other is small and cute.

This made Hoffa a little uncomfortable, because he didn't have a robe, only a school robe.

Hoffa also saw Tom Riddle next to a pine tree covered with colored balls.

His opponent in the orphanage seemed to be a male courtesan at this moment. Although he was dressed in ordinary clothes, his good temperament and handsome appearance attracted many elders to stop.

Coupled with his current polite manner of speaking, no one can connect him with the future Dark Lord.

Aglaia spotted Hoffa at a glance, and her expression was a little stunned. Then, intentionally or unintentionally, she whispered a few words in Miranda's ear.

Miranda turned her head immediately.

But she didn't express anything in particular, just nodded to Hoffa.

Hoffa nodded awkwardly at her.

People invited me to come, but I didn't come.

As a result, Dumbledore brought him halfway.

Think from Miranda's point of view.

Hoffa felt inferior.

Soon after, the table was ready.

Different from the auditorium below, this is probably somewhat similar to a family banquet. Although it is not as grand and lively as in the auditorium, it is more refined and elegant.

A dozen house-elves, each with a silver dinner plate on his head, paced back and forth at Hoffa's feet.

Presumably people like Slughorn don't like snapping their fingers, food appears, and snapping their fingers again, the food disappears. He likes pomp, he likes tradition.

But it also gave Hoffa the chance to really observe traditional Western festivals.

Truffle-stuffed turkey, neatly stacked roast quail. Stacks of thick pate, baked creamy polenta, and mince pies cut into a dozen pieces are neatly arranged on a plate, garnished with strawberry jam. A dozen servings of almond pudding in small china dishes, probably one serving per person.

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

Looking at all kinds of food in front of him, Hoffa suddenly realized that he was really hungry. When he chased the faceless man, he ran for at least forty floors.

But the embarrassing thing is that because he has no experience in this kind of private banquet, he has no friends. No one told him the precautions, so he didn't know where to sit for the time being.