Chapter 35: Chapter 35 Thunderous Explosion
Ribbons and golden stars were hung on the Fir trees, which were more than ten meters high, and hundreds of candles floated in mid-air, illuminating the space.
Dumbledore, with a comical Christmas hat on his head, sat at the front of the table with several other professors, looking at the students who had filled the table on both sides with a smile on their faces.
"You have gained a lot this year, and I likewise hope that you can gain even more next year, but of course, it's time to let our bellies gain."
He raised the cup with the cider in his hand.
"Merry Christmas!"
The students all raised their pumpkin juice in their hands as well.
"Merry Christmas!"
The temperature outside under the night was low, but everyone present did not feel the slightest cold. It was unknown whether the passion in their hearts drove the cold out of their bodies, or because the dozen burning fires Hagrid had set up around the long table had worked, the students' faces showed a warm flush.
"George and Fred used to take me to steal Dad's booze at home, but I didn't drink more than half a bottle, in fact, it wasn't good at all, I thought it would be better than pumpkin juice."
Ron gnawed on a chicken leg while blabbering on, Justin listened with envy as Ron bragged about his glorious exploits, but Lavender tore down the whole show with derision.
"It's probably not because the drink isn't good, is it? It's because you easily got drunk, right?"
Ron of course justified himself loudly in response.
"I just don't like the taste of booze, if I really like it, I would still be able to catch the golden snitch on my flying broom after drinking ten bottles!"
His boastful words caught the attention of Dumbledore, who was chatting with Flitwick at the front, and he said with a wink.
"Maybe the next time I meet with your mother and father, I should talk to them about letting you show such a great stunt in front of everyone, Ron."
Ron's whole body instantly shivered with fear, and he smiled wryly and scratched his hair.
"Butterbeer is alcohol too, I'm talking about butterbeer, Professor."
A chorus of laughter erupted from the long table, and Fred grinned mischievously as he brought the extra-large five servings of butterbeer directly in front of Ron's face.
"Oh really, Ron, if you can finish this butterbeer, George and I will give you that Chudley Cannons poster you've been wanting!"
Ron grimaced and pushed away the butterbeer he brought over without even thinking about it.
"I can't eat anything else if I drink it tonight!"
The atmosphere of this Christmas dinner was certainly relaxed and pleasant, and the food on the long table was not wasted a bit and was eventually eaten clean.
As the time approached 11:00 p.m., snowflakes began to fall from the sky once again, and the students, who were already full and tired of playing, returned to the warm confines of the wagon.
Jon and the other four freshmen didn't go back to their dorm rooms to sleep immediately, they are still young when it comes to cooking large portions of dinner, so they didn't participate, but they couldn't just sit back and enjoy the labour of others, so the job of cleaning up the table after dinner was left to them.
As the candles floating in mid-air gradually extinguished, the surrounding landscape greyed out, Justin burped holding an empty plate, still reminiscing about the tasty Christmas pudding that was served at the end of the dinner.
Jon, however, for some reason, had been feeling restless since the dinner was over.
Neville, who had lived in the same dormitory with him for a long time, obviously noticed something different about Jon, and he asked suspiciously.
"What's wrong with you?"
Jon frowned and looked all around, after ten meters away, nothing could be seen in the dense Fir forest, the accumulation of snow on the lush tree branches blocked most of the night sky, everything looked normal, but it also revealed an unusual silence.
"We better move fast, I always feel something is wrong with this place."
His voice didn't sound like he was joking, and Ron and Justin, who were originally still joking, also became serious; Jon was very perspective among them.
The two female professors, Lily and McGonagall, had already boarded the wagon to manage the students who had returned to their dormitories. Flitwick, Slughorn, Dumbledore, and several of the senior boys stayed behind, and they were removing the various decorations left in the clearing and the rubbish on the ground.
Jon and the rest gathered up most of the plates on the long table when Slughorn was working with a student to remove the spell cast by Flitwick on the Fir tree, it seems like the student's handling was not skilled, and the old walrus was showing them how to do it.
The yellow stars glittering on the Fir tree slowly extinguished, and Jon, who was following behind Neville and preparing to enter the wagon, took one last glance at the clearing.
And just before the twinkling stars went out completely, he spotted a man shrouded in the darkness behind the tree on the side of Slughorn and the senior boy, wearing a hideous metal mask that reflected the yellow light faintly, as he, holding up his wand at them!
"Teacher! To the left!"
"Bombarda!"
The sound of Jon's warning and the sound of the incantation being recited were separated by a mere fraction of a second, piercing the silence of the night one after the other!
Slughorn's reaction was incomparably swift, and the moment Jon's shout was uttered, he had already turned his head to see the masked man who had unknowingly sneaked in close to him.
He should have had enough time to dodge or defend, but when he looked at the unprepared senior student in front of him, he made a risky decision in the blink of an eye!
Slughorn didn't have time to recite a spell, he just swung his wand down hard! Then he used his fat body to block the student with his back turned against the assailant!
"Boom!"
The sound of a thunderous explosion completely changed the tranquillity of the place, golden fire directly engulfed Slughorn and the boy, countless dirt was blown all over the sky, and rained down in the open space!
Dumbledore and Flitwick reacted quickly, and when Jon's warning sounded, they already had their wands in their hands and aimed in the direction of the masked man.
Time was running short so they both did not recite the incantation, a golden-red flame erupted from the tip of Dumbledore's wand!
A red-coloured beam of flame instantly crossed the entire ten-meter radius of the space, and the light from the spell covered Jon and others who had yet to enter the wagon.
The rising flames did not make them feel any sense of burning, the masked man who released the exploding charm tried to wave his wand again to avoid the flames, but it was too late to avoid it, so he decided to interrupt the spell and retreat quickly.
And at that moment, a sound like a whip hitting the air sounded, and the bloodied Slughorn stumbled and fell in front of Jon with a student!
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