Chapter 23 Inside the wagon

The sky gleamed bright red for a moment, the light penetrating through the windows of the wagon and reflecting on the faces of every student, followed by a thunderous boom that only an Exploding Charm could produce.

No one raised their voice, but a few timid underclass girls whimpered, and they were gently reassured by some sixth and seventh-year students who had clearly been through something like this before.

Jon huddled together with Neville and the rest of them in the corner of the great hall, the new students were all relatively composed, and Lavender, the only girl among them, was not much of a soft character either.

In addition to them, Ron's two older brothers, George and Fred, and the dark-skinned boy Lee Jordan, from the same grade as them, were also beside them.

The twins, who were usually bold and daring, showed no sign of nervousness or fear at all about the situation and spoke eloquently about their life on the wagon.

"This is the first time we've been in this situation, too."

Not sure whether it was George or Fred who spoke, but there was some hint of excitement mixed in his tone.

"Even Percy has never experienced this before, only Bill and Charlie had experienced the danger of being chased by the Aurors a few times during their last few school years. I heard that ever since Dumbledore cast a powerful spell on the wagon, the Aurors have never been able to locate New Hogwarts."

Hearing his words, something became clear in Jon's mind who had not said a word from the sidelines.

Earlier, after seeing the reactions of the upperclassmen, he had found it a little strange; he had thought that such encounters of being chased after by Aurors were the norm in this school, but now it seemed that this was not the case.

"Actually, there is no need to worry at all." Another one of the twins said, "As long as we have Professor Dumbledore on board, our safety will certainly never be an issue, unless. That man personally comes over here!"

Ron's face, which wasn't quite tense, instantly turned pale when he heard the last thing his brother said, and his body subconsciously shivered.

"Don't say things like that! He, he's highly authoritative now, there's no way he would still focus exclusively on the likes of us."

Justin asked curiously as he watched Ron's unexpected change of complexion, along with Neville, and Lavender, who had visibly fallen silent.

"Who is that man?"

The twins both looked at each other, and they ridiculed in a complimentary, exaggerated tone.

"The 'great sir', of course!"

Lee Jordan looked around with a terrified look on his face as he swallowed and said in an almost pleading tone of voice to the twins.

"Well, George, Fred, I know you're not afraid of him, but at least be mindful."

The twins looked dismissive.

"That's not a problem, we've all heard Professor Dumbledore address him directly by that previous name."

"Professor Dumbledore is Professor Dumbledore, and we are who we are."

They were arguing over this matter when Jon suddenly spoke up.

"Where did Professor Slughorn go?"

Everyone around him went quiet as they began to look around the hall, none of them could find the professor.

It was then Neville spoke up hesitantly.

"I just heard someone report to Professor Slughorn that Filch was missing, and Professor Slughorn told the Head boy and Head girl to stand guard while he went to look for Filch."

"Filch never seemed to have visited the hall from the beginning?" Lavender asked, in doubt.

Both George and Fred shared a look of disgust toward this coach keeper.

"He's probably still in his room planning some sort of punishment for the students, we've heard more than once how he often suggests to Professor Dumbledore to reinstate the corporal punishment system that used to be practised at Hogwarts for better discipline in the current special times."

As they talked, the sky long grew quiet again.

The galloping Thestrals quickly moved away from the battlefield with the wagon, but none of the professors had returned yet, and the students were stuck in the great hall.

Some of the students, who were frightened and physically exhausted, had fallen asleep on the table, and it was only at that point that Slughorn walked in with a crestfallen Filch.

It seemed like they were both still communicating about something when they entered, and the coach keeper didn't seem to be in a very good mood.

Slughorn knew at this point that he would have to arrange for the students to get some rest, even if they couldn't go back to their dorm rooms for a while.

With a wave of his wand, he emptied the hall of all the tables and chairs and then conjured up dozens of sleeping bags so that the students could stay here temporarily for the night.

The dim light swayed gently in the hall as the wagon jolted forward.

Everyone around Jon, such as Neville, Ron and the others was already breathing evenly, with the occasional not-so-loud snore being heard not far away.

He was not sure if it was because he had slept enough yesterday, but even though it was past two in the morning, Jon remained sleepless.

He was lying close to the edge of the window and could see the bright white moon in the night sky when he looked up.

The events of tonight had added fuel to the sense of crisis that was building in his mind.

Now they didn't have to worry about their safety under Dumbledore's protection, but Dumbledore couldn't be with them forever, and he is definitely more than just the Headmaster of this Hogwarts.

Besides, although he didn't know what had happened in the past, the fact that the wizarding community had fallen into Voldemort's hands meant that Dumbledore didn't necessarily have the upper hand against that man.

As he pondered, Jon reached into the pocket of his robes and touched the ring that felt cold in his hand at all times.

But no matter what, tomorrow he would have to settle the matter of this ring first, and then he would have to hurry up and find a way to improve his strength, he did not expect to become as strong as Dumbledore right away, but, at least, he would not be in a position where he could not even lift his wand to use a single spell as he was now.

On this turbulent night, time passed little by little.

As the eastern sky took on a hint of fish-belly white and the stars faded, Dumbledore led Lily, McGonagall and Flitwick back to the wagon, as the students were still asleep.

Dumbledore did not even have a few creases in his robes, other than his face looking a little tired, while both Lily and McGonagall's hair was slightly dishevelled from the wind, and they did not appear to have suffered any injuries; only Flitwick was supported and limped into the wagon, his left leg was stained with bright red blood and faintly smelled burnt.

Slughorn's face was grim as he looked at the injury on Flitwick's leg, and he took the short professor from Lily's hand.

"I have some Dittany essence left with me, which will do wonders on your injury."

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