Harry and the others were finally able to get out of the car. To be honest, they had had enough! The car was shaking like a roller coaster, and there were no fixed bars or seat belts.
After they had loaded the large pile of luggage out of the car, they said goodbye to Mr. Weasley and others who had sent them off, and struggled to drag their suitcases, large and small, to Hogwarts Castle.
Most of the driveway leading from Hogsmeade to the school has been cleared and is no longer covered in snow. But from time to time they would encounter icy ground on the road, and they had to walk over it carefully to avoid falling over accidentally.
After a while, they wandered to the main entrance of the school.
"Oh, Harry -" Hagrid waved happily as soon as he saw the children, "Good morning! Come on, children, come here!"
"Hagrid!" Harry hurriedly grabbed the big suitcase and trotted to the door. "Hagrid, why are you standing here? Are you waiting for someone?"
"Hey, that's what everyone asks when they pass by," Hagrid shrugged. "Let's not talk about that for now. I have something I need to pass on to you - someone else just asked me for it."
As he spoke, he took out several rolls of parchment from his coat pocket. They were all rolled up neatly, with a bunch of purple ribbons tied in the middle.
Harry took it and looked at it. One of the volumes had his name written on it, and the other volumes also had the names of other people he knew written on them.
He kept the roll of parchment given to him, and handed the remaining rolls back to Hermione, Ron, and Neville behind him.
"Invitation?"
When Hermione and the three of them had just received it, Harry had already opened his own. The content above was just a sentence, saying that I hoped to invite him to have breakfast or something, and it was signed by Slughorn, an old man who seemed unreliable.
"Am I involved too?" Ron looked at the parchment given to him and asked doubtfully, "I don't remember our family having a relationship with him... um... maybe a little bit?"
"Let me see, he didn't invite us because of the friendship between our parents..." Hermione said disapprovingly, "Otherwise, what should I say? Could it be that my parents also filled his teeth or something?"
"Who is this Mr. Slughorn?" Neville asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"Horace Slughorn was the Potions Professor at Hogwarts a long time ago. He was also the Head of Slytherin House at the time. It is said that he has a very high level in Potions." Hermione He explained casually, and then continued, "But why did he come back again? And he also handed us invitations?"
Hagrid saw her looking towards him and shook his head.
"Maka and I were just standing here chatting for a few words, and then he came over." Hagrid said, "He invited Maka first, and Maka quickly agreed, and then he rolled these parchments You have given your son into my hands, so that I can deliver it to you when I see you.”
"Maka is already here?" Hermione said in surprise, "I thought he would be later! He was just discharged from the hospital today..."
"He seems to be in good spirits, he should be fine." Hagrid said, and couldn't help but sigh, "I really didn't expect that the person who must not even be named died like this..."
"You can mention it now!" Ron said happily, "Isn't it just... um, Voldemort... why do you feel so embarrassed to say it?"
"I think you just don't feel comfortable with it," Hermione said, "Let's go first! Didn't that gentleman invite us to have breakfast together? Maka is also there..."
"To be honest, I don't want to go," Harry said awkwardly, "I don't like him very much."
"Mr. Slughorn is actually a pretty good person and is willing to make friends." Hagrid seemed to have a different opinion. "There are very few Slytherins who can make friends like him without knowing their background. Of course, sometimes, He is indeed a little too enthusiastic!"
Hagrid is a typical rough guy. He always relies on intuition when looking at people and things. Although this usually makes him ignore many details and often judge people superficially, in fact he is not much worse than those smart people.
After all, it is difficult to guess everyone's thoughts. Instead of worrying about those ambiguous so-called true faces, it is better to directly rely on appearance to judge a person's character.
You know, the character that people display is usually the part of them that they want others to know. In the vast majority of cases, that is the principle by which they conduct themselves and will not change easily. If you don't plan to have in-depth contact with a person, just knowing the surface is more than enough.
For the old man Slughorn, Maka made friends with him with this mentality. As long as you don't be too gullible, Slughorn is enough to be a good "ordinary friend", especially since he has been obsessed with interpersonal communication all his life, and his useful friends can be said to be all over the world of magic.
Being a friend with him generally has more advantages than disadvantages.
However, Maka would think so, but Harry would not. Most little lions like to act based on their own intuition and preferences, and sometimes even Hermione, who has always been smart, is no exception to this.
After saying goodbye to Hagrid temporarily, everyone dragged their luggage to Gryffindor Tower. Even if they are willing to go to the meeting, they have to put down their luggage first, right
"Are you really not going?"
In the dormitory, while making his bed, Ron asked Harry behind him.
"Hmm... I don't know if I should go..." Harry said hesitantly without stopping, "It's just that Maka seems to have gone... Since Slughorn made the announcement in front of him Invitation, I thought maybe we should go check it out.”
"I think so too," Ron nodded, regardless of the two of them packing things back to back, "Having breakfast together... Hey, that sounds pretty cool!"
Ron, who has lived a somewhat shabby life since he was a child, has always been curious about such activities that sound classy and sentimental. Perhaps in the past, he had always imagined being invited to attend some high-end private banquets. Now that there was a similar opportunity, he really didn't want to miss it.
…
I don't know how Slughorn managed it, but at least he did find a decent location for this "breakfast together" plan. There are so many empty rooms in Hogwarts, and Slughorn chose a side room on the first floor that was rarely used.
The house elves living in the kitchen have always been diligent. Even in places where no one goes, they will diligently clean every corner and keep them ready for use at any time.
At this moment, when Harry pushed open the door to the side hall, some slightly chaotic voices came out from inside and got into their ears.
Slughorn was the loudest among them. At this moment, he seemed to be chatting happily with a Slytherin student. His seemingly straightforward laughter was gently heard in this small side hall. echo.
But when Harry and the others followed the voice and looked towards Slughorn, they saw a figure they didn't want to see at all.
"Malfoy?" Harry frowned, "As soon as I see him, I don't want to join him even more."
However, now that they are here, it is obviously impossible to go back. In fact, Slughorn had already turned his attention here since the door opened.
"Oh! Isn't this our Mr. Potter? And Mr. Weasley..."
He said hello and stood up. Perhaps because his several contacts with Harry did not go well, he also deliberately adjusted his address to Harry, trying to control the distance so as not to be too abrupt.
"Of course, this must be Miss Granger - you are very famous in Hogwarts, everyone knows you, and you are always first in academic performance!"
"Hello, Mr. Slughorn!" Hermione nodded politely, "I'm glad you know me, but academic performance doesn't mean much. I still need more effort."
"You are so humble, charming young lady." Slughorn's polite words seemed a bit boring, at least for a girl who is not yet underage, it is easy to get goosebumps, "This must be Longbottom Are you sir?"
When Neville heard Slughorn greeting him again, he quickly nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice. The introverted man seemed a little frightened by this overly enthusiastic bald old man.
Slughorn glanced at Neville's face for a few times, a hint of disappointment flashed across his eyes, and then he regained his high interest as if to cover it up.
"Come on, come on! All young gentlemen and ladies, please take a seat!" he said loudly, "You can sit anywhere you want, just be careful not to sit on other people's laps - my parties are always very relaxed and free. You don’t have to be too formal.”
Having said that, both Harry and Neville seemed a little hesitant. One of them was not very interested in this sudden dinner from the beginning, while the other didn't know where to put his hands.
Even Hermione, who was relatively normal at the beginning, had some concerns after seeing the girl next to Maka.
As for Ron, he should have enjoyed this occasion, but Malfoy's presence suddenly made him feel awkward. Because he found that Malfoy looked very different today. If anything, he was too "honest" - he didn't do any provocation when he saw them.
Even if Maca was there, he wouldn't be able to even glare at him. In Ron's impression, Draco Malfoy was the kind of guy who had to show disdain even though he had the courage to do so.