Harry Potter: The Golden Viper

025 Opening Dinner

As night fell, young wizards and professors gradually gathered in the auditorium from all directions.

The ceiling of the auditorium projected the incomparably bright starry sky outside. The four long tables under the starry sky were bustling with crowds of people. The young wizards happily shared the wonderful time of the Christmas holiday with each other. Uneasy mood forgot to clean.

Such a situation made Harry secretly heave a sigh of relief. The situation he was most afraid of facing was being watched and pointed at by everyone.

Most of the professors have already taken their seat at the professor's seat, and Dumbledore has already stayed in his usual seat. Professor Lockhart is chattering and sharing with Professor McGonagall how many letters from fans he has received during the Christmas holidays. Professor De McGonagall glared at Headmaster Dumbledore, but Dumbledore pretended not to see it.

This interesting scene made Harry purse his lips, but when he saw the extra vacant seat next to Professor Snape, Harry's expression became a little uneasy. He guessed a possibility, but he didn't want to believe it.

Ron was talking to his twin brother, "You came back early in the morning, why haven't you seen you all day?"

"Oh, dear little Ronnie has learned to ask questions?" Fred, He looked up at Ron and raised his eyebrows and said, "By the way, why didn't Miss Know-it-all come to the dinner?"

Harry quickly kicked Ron under the table, for fear that he might say the wrong thing.

"It's none of your business, Fred!" Ron said unhappily.

"Besides, little Ronnie has learned to keep a secret!" George followed up on his brother's words, and then the two of them stopped paying attention to Ron.

At this time, Harry noticed the uneasy staring eyes. He glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, and found that it was Neville who was looking at him, hesitant to speak, so he immediately knew what Neville was concerned about, but he couldn't tell Neville and Hermione were still in the hospital treating the beautiful black hair on her face, so Harry quickly put his head down and pretended to be interested in the silver spoon on the plate.

"I don't know, Draco, I didn't go to school at that time!"

At the Slytherin table, Malfoy crossed Goyle and Daphne, and was asking Marcus Flint, who looked like a troll, about something, But Marcus was very impatient, "I did hear about that incident later, and it was said to be related to him, but the detailed information was strictly blocked by Dumbledore, and the Gryffindor team didn't say a word." Its not that they don't want to disclose... but, from my point of view, they don't know anything, because they were all brought back by the professors that night!"

During the Christmas break, Flint participated in the Luxembourg Quidditch team selection, But the result was disappointing. In terms of his academic performance, he's also not good so this meant that he had to accept the arrangement of his family after graduation, and go to work as a small employee in an unpopular department of the Ministry of Magic.

The young wizards who arrived at the auditorium quickly merged into the four long tables. The auditorium was noisy as if hundreds of Cornish pixies had been stuffed in. Many young wizards stretched their necks and looked eagerly at the professor's chair, as if they were Asking why the meal is not served yet.

"Ah, here we come."

Snape heard Dumbledore mutter something in a low voice, looked up, and saw Bryan strode in from the hall, and quickly approached the staff table.

"Sorry, everyone, I was so busy that I forgot the dinner." Bryan apologized softly.

The professors smiled back at him. Previously, Professor McGonagall had notified the professors of various subjects that there was an extra security guard in the castle in the second half of the semester. Moreover, Bryan had also visited them one after another in the past two days. Lockhart, because he was the last professor to return to school.

"Sit down, Bryan," Professor Flitwick yelled in a sharp voice, "The young wizards are famished!"

"Need a word, Bryan?"

Dumbledore moved. Fluttering his silver beard, he smiled at Bryan.

"Forget it, Headmaster, I'm not a professor." Bryan politely declined the suggestion.

Almost in an instant, several long tables were filled with sumptuous food, and the noisy auditorium was filled with cheerful atmosphere, and the clanging sound of tableware colliding with each other was like a piece of light music.

Of course, this kind of harmony is only on the surface, Bryan can at least feel that more than a hundred pairs of eyes have fallen on him.

Five minutes after the meal, basically all the young wizards knew the name of the handsome young wizard next to Professor Snape. The source of the information was the seniors who were in the fifth grade and above. They used to be in school with Bryan.

But opinions vary about Bryan's famous school days.

Some people say that Bryan ran into the Forbidden Forest one night before Christmas in the fifth grade and set off a big fire. As a result, the fire trapped himself, if it wasn't for training in the Forbidden Forest Gryffindor, where he would probably die.

Some people also said that the fire was actually set by the Gryffindor team, and Bryan was the rescuer.

Both arguments have their own supporters, and no one can convince the other.

Malfoy just kept his head down on the lamb chops on the plate, and didn't take part in the discussion at all, because his father had sternly warned him in the letter today, never to offend Bryan Watson.

Lucius Malfoy knows who exactly got Bryan into Hogwarts. Malfoy must have heard of kakus Foley. As long as he has a little imagination, he should guess Where did Kakus find Bryan, and there are not many wizards who came out of that place without blood on their hands.

Even without his father's warning, Draco Malfoy would not have dared to provoke Bryan.

Because of what happened in the dormitory at noon that day, Malfoy has been having nightmares for half a month. Whenever he closes his eyes, he will clearly see the Eight-eyed spider that was neatly divided into two halves, with its intestines and internal organs scattered all over the place.

"Come on, Harry, can I tell those things!?"

"Of course, Ron, if you want me to be hated or even revenged for revealing his privacy, and if I am imprisoned in Azkaban, you and Hermione must remember to visit me often!". During the holidays, Harry, Ron and Hermione had agreed not to tell anyone about what Hagrid had heard about Bryan Watson's past.

Because no matter whether Bryan Watson is sent by the Ministry of Magic or the school board, his purpose of entering Hogwarts is to find the heir of Slytherin, and Harry, who is the most suspicious object in the eyes of everyone, wants to try his best Avoid doing anything that might make Mr. Watson unhappy.

But for Ron, it was indeed a tormenting thing. After all, there were not many opportunities for him to show off.

After another ten minutes, the focus of private discussions among the young wizards gradually changed from 'who is he' to 'what is he here for'.

"Maybe, the Defense Against the Dark Arts class will finally consume two professors a year?" The intimidating girl who once had a 'duel' with Hermione in Lockhart's dueling class——Millicent Bulstrode laughed viciously, shaking her square jaw.

Millicent's good joke did cause a burst of laughter at the long table in Slytherin. Of course, the focus of their ridicule was still Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. Most of the Slytherin students saw clearly that Lockhart is just a showman who can make up stories.

Malfoy shrugged his shoulders, and he quickly glanced at Bryan who was talking with Dumbledore at the staff table, then quickly lowered his head, pretending not to recognize the laughing people around him.

"Something's wrong with you tonight, Draco?" Pansy, who was sitting on the other side of him, rolled his head over to watch Malfoy, who was a little too quiet, and asked with concern.

"Shut up, Pansy!" Malfoy urgently interrupted her, without even looking at her, "unless you want to be neatly cut in half by someone!"

"It seems that you are very popular with children, Bryan."

Dumbledore shook his silver beard, stained with thick mushroom soup, and turned his head to look at Bryan, who was dealing with a grilled sausage, with a smile on his face.

"They are simply curious about a stranger who suddenly appeared, Headmaster Dumbledore," Bryan politely responded. In front of Dumbledore, he tried to avoid saying too much, and the trouble that came out of his mouth was not without reason.

Dumbledore didn't mind his intentional restraint and continued to talk to him cordially, "Severus told me that you haven't rested for several nights, and I want to thank you, Bryan, for your efforts in ensuring the safety of the children."

Bryan modestly smiled, but Dumbledore planned to continue. "--Although I am very old, Bryan, I am fortunate not to be a pedantic old guy. Your opinion is right; ensuring the safety of the children is the most important thing--"

Professor McGonagall, sitting on Dumbledore's left with her ears pricked up, pursed her lips, not looking very happy.

"I think it's a brilliant idea, Bryan. I mean, the set of alchemy items you arranged in the office, although some people say it invades the privacy of the young wizards," Dumbledore finally spoke tactfully, clearly indicating his support for Bryan's monitoring of the students.

"Thank you for your understanding, Headmaster Dumbledore. If you wish, I can move the monitoring system to your office after the Chamber of Secrets attack is over," Bryan gratefully nodded.

It was guaranteed to be much better than using portraits to monitor the school, but Bryan didn't mention that.

They exchanged a few more pleasantries, and Dumbledore expressed his hope that Bryan would come out and interact with the young wizards when he was free.

"The children would like to get to know you, Bryan."

Dumbledore ended the conversation with some additional trivial requests.

"Traitor," Bryan muttered under his breath as he withdrew his gaze.

Snape, sandwiched between Bryan and Dumbledore, remained expressionless, his face darkened. It was evident that Snape knew who Bryan was referring to.

On the other side of the staff dining table, Lockhart, who couldn't clearly hear the conversation but was eager to join, glanced secretly at Bryan, who picked up the silver fork again, and suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of unease...