Chapter 346 Bad Speech

The happy time is always short-lived. After the students finished the last dessert, with a snap of Dumbledore's fingers, the plates and the food in front of everyone disappeared.

The old students reacted immediately, quickly closed their mouths and quietly turned their heads to look in the direction of the podium. Although the freshmen were a little blinded, in this environment they could only imitate the old students and closed their mouths one after another. He looked towards the podium.

"Okay, since we are digesting an extremely rich and delicious meal, I ask everyone to be quiet for a while and listen to me talk about the things to pay attention to in the new semester as usual." Dumbledore slowly walked up to the podium and said, "One day Freshmen in the grade should know that students are not allowed to enter the forbidden forest in the hunting grounds - several of our senior students should already know this."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of mischievous laughter from the long Gryffindor table, among which the laughter of the Weasley brothers was the loudest.

Dumbledore stretched out his hand and pressed down in the void, and then the auditorium became silent. Then he continued:

"The administrator, Mr. Filch, has requested me for the 426th time to remind you all that magic is not allowed in the corridors during class time..."

After saying that, bursts of laughter erupted again in the auditorium.

But this time Dumbledore didn't stop him immediately, because even he laughed out loud.

"Ahem, let's continue." Dumbledore coughed twice and said, "This year, we have two changes in our teaching staff. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grapplan, who will teach you Care of Magical Creatures. (The tall female professor who led the freshmen to the boat stood up, and there was a particularly warm round of applause in the auditorium.) We are also pleased to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Umbridge did not receive as warm applause as Grapeland. There was only a soft, polite but not very enthusiastic applause in the auditorium.

Dumbledore was obviously not willing to waste any more words on Umbridge. He quickly said:

"Selection for the House Quidditch team will take place..."

"Ahem!"

Two loud coughs interrupted Dumbledore's speech. Everyone in the auditorium, including Dumbledore, turned their attention to Umbridge, who had just coughed on the faculty chair.

Dumbledore was extremely focused, as if he wanted to hear every next word of the other party.

Others were not so friendly. The professors on the staff table all frowned, and Professor McGonagall pursed her lips tightly, and her eyes seemed to be able to shoot out flames.

Obviously, Umbridge's behavior made the professors unhappy.

Ever since Dumbledore became the headmaster, no one has dared to interrupt him at the opening ceremony!

But in this tense atmosphere, Umbridge seemed completely unaware.

With a fake smile on her face, she stood up from her seat in an extremely artificial gesture and said:

"Thank you, principal, for such a warm welcome."

Her voice was high and shrill, like that of a little girl. Coupled with her pink woolen coat and a face that looked like a toad, Mike felt a strong sense of nausea.

Others probably felt the same way. Mike saw with his own eyes that Franklin, who was not far away, closed his eyes in pain and turned his head to avoid looking at Umbridge on the stage, as if just one look would make him stuff it in. It was like vomiting out all the food in my stomach.

"Well, I must say, it's great to be back at Hogwarts!" Umbridge grinned, ignoring everyone's protesting looks. "It's really nice to see these happy little faces looking up at me. marvelous!"

Franklin seemed to be unable to bear it anymore. His cheeks suddenly bulged, and then he hurriedly reached out and covered his mouth.

After several obvious swallowing sounds, his cheeks deflated again.

The people around Franklin were squeezing back with disgust, trying to stay away from this disgusting guy as much as possible, while Franklin bowed to everyone with an apologetic expression.

The speech on the stage continued, and the initial greeting session seemed to be over, because at this moment Umbridge actually had a serious expression.

"The Ministry of Magic has always believed that educating young wizards is a very important matter. If some of the precious talents you are born with are not cultivated and exercised under careful and careful guidance..."

Umbridge's speech was complicated and boring. It also contained many rare words that only appeared in the administrative documents of the Ministry of Magic. The audience fell asleep.

After listening for a while, Mike lost the desire to continue listening. He turned around and looked around, and saw Franklin and others not far away already having a fight together.

Franklin was wiping others with a wicked smile on his face with the hand he had just covered his mouth with, while the people around him were trying to dodge with disgusted expressions on their faces, and at the same time their mouths were opening and closing. Mike guessed that it must be... Curse Franklin for his shameless behavior.

Everyone else in the auditorium was similar, but the Gryffindors were even more exaggerated. Their voices were loud enough to make people think they were having a tea party.

But Umbridge on the stage completely ignored these voices and continued talking to herself.

Perhaps the quietest place in the entire auditorium is the position around Mike.

The students sitting next to him all sat upright, not daring to say a word.

Mike knew that this was partly because of himself. Due to his current status, he did not take the lead to speak, and naturally the students around him did not dare to chat.

On the other hand, because Mike and the others are currently sitting at the head of the Ravenclaw table, this position is completely exposed to the sight of the faculty seats. These students are obviously not bold enough to stand in front of the professors. Making fun of people right under their noses.

The seat at the head of each college's long table generally belongs to the person with the highest status in the college. Usually, this position belongs to the seventh-year prefect.

But this year's senior and other students obviously felt that Mike was more qualified to sit in this position, so Mike, the fifth-year prefect, became the leader of Ravenclaw.

It is worth mentioning that the person sitting in the seat below Mike is not the seventh-grade senior who abdicated, but a freshman who has just been assigned to Ravenclaw House.

She was brought to Mike personally by the seventh-grade prefect. Because of the prefect's face, Mike did not refuse.

At this moment, the girl with a brown mushroom head was obviously sleepy, but the serious atmosphere around her forced her to open her eyes as wide as possible to prevent herself from falling asleep.

Looking at the girl who was swaying a little, Mike had a smile on his face.

He poked the girl gently.

But the girl suddenly straightened up like a cat that had been awakened, looking at Mike with a horrified look on her face.

"Sorry! I almost fell asleep!"

The girl's voice was soft and waxy. Mike shook his head and said:

"Don't be nervous, it should be over soon."

Then he looked at the students around him who also had serious faces and said:

"Just relax, it'll be okay."

Hearing this, the students who had been unable to bear it for a long time finally let out a sigh of relief and began to whisper.

Since they are at the top of the list, many students are worried that their poor performance will be reprimanded by professors, so they frequently cast their eyes on the faculty bench to observe the professors' reactions.

However, what surprised them was that Professor Flitwick didn't say anything about their performance. Even Professor McGonagall, who usually valued discipline above all else, turned a blind eye to their behavior.

This undoubtedly fueled their arrogance. Their voices gradually became louder and smiles appeared on their faces.

And in the midst of all this fuss, Umbridge finally finished her speech.

She smiled and bowed to her classmates and professors, but all she received in response was noise and laughter. Even the professors on the teacher's bench did not give her any good looks.

It wasn't until Dumbledore started applauding that the professors clapped their hands lightly several times with great reluctance.

Only then did the students in the audience finally realize that Umbridge's speech was over.

They clapped their hands excitedly and looked extremely happy.

Umbridge on the podium saw this and stood up again to bow to her classmates, but this attracted a burst of boos.

"She's so pretentious!" said a boy next to Mike. "I bet those people are applauding because they can go back to the lounge to rest soon!"

As soon as this statement came out, there were many echoing voices around, and it was obvious that everyone thought so.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, your speech is very enlightening." Dumbledore finally made the boos in the audience disappear, and he bowed to Umbridge who looked unfavorable at the side. The body continued, "Okay, as I just said, the selection of the Quidditch team will be..."

Due to being delayed for too long by Umbridge, Dumbledore's speaking speed became very fast, and he finished everything he wanted to say in a short time.

Amid the cheers of all the students, Dumbledore officially announced that the banquet was a success.

Hearing this, Mike and the prefects around him stood up one after another, pushed their chairs under the long table, and then began to exit in an orderly manner.

"Now, new students of Ravenclaw, please assemble here!"

It was Mike and Patil's responsibility as the new prefects to guide the freshmen to the lounge. Mike didn't mean to shirk it. He simply stood at the table and started talking.

The microphone's voice was not too loud, and was almost instantly drowned out in the noisy auditorium. However, under the influence of magic, these sounds were all transmitted to the ears of the people around him very clearly.

Soon, a bunch of little carrot heads gathered in front of Mike.

Patil rubbed his hands nervously and hid beside Mike without saying a word, while Mike said expressionlessly:

"Boys come to my left and line up, girls come to my right."

Following Mike's order, these little carrots quickly lined up in two lines without any delay.

Such high efficiency made Mike frown, because the freshmen in front of him seemed to be very afraid of him, especially the mushroom-headed girl sitting next to him before, who was now trembling with fear.

After thinking for a while, Mike suddenly understood the reason for all this.

Presumably, most of these people should have read the Daily Prophet during this period, so they had some misunderstanding about themselves.

You must know that Fudge is not a vegetarian. Perhaps it is to retaliate against Harry and Mike for embarrassing him in court, or simply to damage their reputation so that the public will have a bad impression of them, thereby reducing the news of Voldemort's return. credibility.

In short, the Daily Prophet in late August has been relentlessly blackmailing Mike and Harry.

Among them, Harry is described as a despicable and ridiculous clown who is good at lying.

As for Mike, it was even worse. The Daily Prophet directly dug up his old account of killing the fire dragon in the Triwizard Tournament, and also exposed many shady stories of the Los Santos Group, whether true or false, thus directly describing Mike as... A scheming, cruel and sinister businessman with the potential to become a dark wizard.

Shaking his head helplessly, Mike was too lazy to say anything now, so he simply pretended to be serious and said sternly:

"Now, follow me and don't fall behind!"

After saying that, Mike waved his sleeves and strode out of the auditorium, while the little carrots followed Mike closely like chickens following a hen out foraging.

After arriving at the door of the Ravenclaw lounge in silence, Mike turned his head and looked at the freshmen again.

At this time, Patil, who had been following the large army, hurriedly walked forward and whispered in Mike's ear:

"Not a single one is missing, they're all here."

Nodding silently, a bright smile bloomed on Mike's face and he said:

"First of all, welcome to Ravenclaw!"

Mike's smile made these little carrots a little overwhelmed, but before they could react, Mike continued:

"Ravenclaw is the best house in Hogwarts. Only the smartest students are qualified to be sorted here! Now that you are standing here, it means that you are the brightest among this batch of freshmen. The best!”

The little carrot heads looked around excitedly, and Patil raised his head with pride on his face.

"If you want to enter the Ravenclaw lounge, you must pass a test, which is the same in every house. Unlike other houses that require fixed passwords, our Ravenclaw test is never fixed. The answer!" Mike pointed to the Eagle Head Door Knocker, "Our test is very special. As long as you gently tap this door knocker, a question will be asked for you. Only when you answer correctly will the door open! "

"Maybe you are worried, what if the question asked by the door knocker is too difficult and you are locked out? But what I want to tell you is that this door knocker has magical power and it will never ask Questions that are beyond the scope of your knowledge! If you really don’t answer the questions it raises, then it means that you did not listen well in class! And for such students, I think it is better to sleep in the cold corridor for a night It’s just a punishment!”

Mike's words completely extinguished the fire that had just been ignited in the hearts of the little carrot heads, and they returned to the trembling quails they had before.

But Mike didn't mean to comfort him at all. He put his hands behind his back, took a deep breath and said:

"Finally, I hope you can remember one sentence. This is the motto of Ms. Ravenclaw, the founder of our college, and it is also the motto that all our Ravenclaw students must remember! Come and say to me: Extraordinary Intelligence is the most precious wealth of mankind!"

As Mike's words fell, a childish voice sounded in the crowded corridor.

"Extraordinary intelligence is the most precious wealth of mankind!"

Many old students passing by also heard what the new students said. They shouted softly and looked at the new students with gentle eyes.

‘This is inheritance! ’

At this moment, everyone was thinking the same thing.