The Hogwarts Great Hall.
Everything in the hall is exactly the same as when Andy first set foot here. The familiar long table, the familiar enchanted ceiling... Andy could describe the layout with his eyes closed.
No matter how picturesque the view is, after four years of seeing it, it would become monotonous.
But Andy still misses it.
Because Hogwarts has the most extensive library in the wizarding world.
***
While the new students were experiencing their first lake crossing, Andy sat at the Ravenclaw table, bored out of his mind, listening to everyone talk about the interesting things that had happened over the summer and the latest hot news.
At this moment, You-Know-Who had become the buzzword in the wizarding world.
Since Voldemort had suffered two consecutive defeats, and the young wizards had only heard about Voldemort's evil deeds from their parents, their fear of him was not as deep-seated as that of the adults.
Plus, Hogwarts had Dumbledore and Andy.
Here, they could talk about Voldemort without fear.
"Hey, Andy! How was your summer holiday?"
George and Fred came over. George beamed, "I wanted to come and see you on the train, but I thought you might not be happy to see us."
Fred added, "We don't want to be tossed out like Harry and Ron."
Andy: "..."
"Do you need something?" Andy asked.
"You forgot?" Fred was a little surprised.
"Oh, Fred, we shouldn't have come," George said sadly, almost ready to throw himself into Fred's arms and cry.
Andy: "..."
"The World Cup..."
Fred reminded him, "Andy, we won!"
"Okay... I did forget."
Andy gave a little slap on his forehead and asked, "How much did we win?"
"You bet a lot, so you made about 5,000 gold galleons," George said with envy.
Fred explained, "We were going to write to you, but as you know, owls can't find you."
Five thousand gold galleons.
Andy was not particularly enthusiastic.
Should I tell them that I've made a small fortune again?
Amycus Carrow kept his word. Not long after he went back, he had collected half a million gold galleons and sent it to Andy.
Andy even got a new vault for the money.
"Let's use this as our start-up capital!"
Andy said. "You're in your sixth year now, right? In two years, we can officially start working on the Wizarding Amusement Park."
"Well... if you need more money, let me know," Andy added.
"No problem!" Fred said immediately with a big smile.
"We won't bother you then." George glanced at Hermione and then winked at Andy before dragging Fred away.
"Looks like you struck it rich," Hermione grumbled.
"Thanks!" Andy said.
Hermione rolled her eyes at this. "I'm not congratulating you."
***
While they were chatting, Professor McGonagall finally led the new students into the Great Hall.
The noise instantly died down.
The Sorting Ceremony is a major event at Hogwarts, so no one dares to make a scene at this time, as it will make their House Head remember them for a semester.
As he watched the Sorting Hat read out the names of the Houses, Andy suddenly thought of a meme from his previous life: "Hermione, I think Hogwarts has five Houses."
"Huh?"
Hermione was taken aback and then asked curiously, "What is the fifth House? Are you thinking of establishing another House?"
"The fifth House is Azkaban!"
Andy joked, "Someone will always be sent there."
Hermione glanced at Andy and said seriously, "It does seem to be a good fit for you."
Poke!
Andy nudged Hermione on the nose. Seeing that Hermione was about to lose her temper, Andy quickly said, "Don't make a scene... well, Professor McGonagall is looking at us right now."
Hermione quickly looked back, just in time to catch Professor McGonagall's gaze.
The young witch quickly sat up straight.
Andy grinned and poked Hermione with his finger. "Scared, huh?"
Hermione gave Andy a fierce glare and puffed her cheek with a pout, "Just you wait!"
***
After the Sorting Ceremony, the banquet officially began.
There was nothing new this year, and the Triwizard Tournament had been cancelled due to Voldemort.
However, this year was destined to be anything but peaceful.
If nothing unexpected happened, Voldemort would probably die this year.
As soon as Dumbledore determines the number of Voldemort's Horcruxes, he will immediately proceed to eliminate Voldemort.
Other than that...
Andy couldn't help but think of Grindelwald at Nurmengard Castle and wondered if his attempt would be successful.
If it was successful, he knew that there would be no peace on the European continent.
Looking at Dumbledore, who was sitting in the centre of the faculty table, Andy wondered if Dumbledore was really unaware of Grindelwald's situation, given his knowledge of the latter.
Or was he already prepared for it?
As if he had noticed Andy's gaze, Dumbledore raised his glass and smiled at Andy.
Andy raised his glass in return.
What a strange old man shrouded in mystery.
After pondering for a while, Andy quickly put all this behind him.
No matter how chaotic Europe might become, it would not affect Andy's life.
In comparison, studying was more important.
This year, Hogwarts had two more professors.
Sirius Black, who would be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts this year.
Horace Slughorn, who would be taking over Snape's position as Potions professor.
This is undoubtedly a victory for Gryffindor.
Professor Slughorn favours students with outstanding talent and a certain degree of fame. In this respect, the entire Slytherin house combined is no match for Harry Potter.
Of course, Andy is no slouch either.
In contrast, Sirius is a carbon copy of Snape. The only difference is that he favours Gryffindor and discriminates against Slytherin.
Andy suddenly felt a little excited.
Would Malfoy get five points deducted for entering the classroom on his left foot?
***
The dinner ended quickly.
As he left the Great Hall, Andy noticed Malfoy standing in the corner of the entrance hall, constantly looking in his direction.
As soon as he saw Andy, Malfoy immediately looked flustered.
Andy: "..."
Sure enough, some people just can't be thought about.
"Hermione, I need to talk to Malfoy for a moment. I'll see you back at the library," Andy said apologetically.
Hermione nodded, "I'll see you at the library."
Andy smiled.
After Hermione left, Andy's face fell, and he turned to Malfoy.
"You better have some important news." Andy was not in a good mood.
"Of course!"
Malfoy looked grave. He looked left and right, and when he saw no one around, he whispered, "Collins... I heard that you plan to finish off Dumbledore. Is that true?"
Andy: "..."
Who on earth is spreading rumours about me?
This is ridiculous!
I want to finish off Dumbledore.
That's still news to me.
How come I didn't know about this?
"Who told you such a thing?" Andy asked in shock.
----
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