Of course, this was just a small interlude. After all, the surroundings were so noisy that it was normal not to hear, although this was not the case for Malfoy.
"It's a pity that you missed the sorting ceremony." Malfoy shrugged.
"Anyway, I don't care about this. It's just these few schools anyway." Pan Xi was not that concerned about the sorting.
"Oh right, how did you come back?" Malfoy asked curiously.
Pan Xi pointed upstairs and blinked. "You're not the only one with special privileges."
Hogwarts' flight network was rarely connected to the outside world, just like how some supercomputers in the Muggle world were not connected to the internet. This could completely prevent external enemies from invading, but there were always exceptions. This time, Pan Xi must have gotten the permission of the headmaster to remove the restrictions and use the flight network.
"Although it's fast, it's really disgusting. I'd rather take the train." As if recalling the feeling of the world spinning, Pan Xi's expression became conflicted again.
"Stop frowning, you'll age quickly!" Malfoy patted her head lightly. Then he continued, "I'll give you the present tomorrow. For it, I even worked half a holiday at Gringotts."
"What is it?" Pan Xi's eyes sparkled, obviously looking forward to it.
"It's a secret."
"Tsk." Pan Xi turned her head away, dissatisfied with the answer. "I won't keep you in suspense. Here." As she spoke, she took out an exquisite little box from her pocket and reluctantly handed it to Malfoy.
"Thank you." Malfoy said. "If you're feeling dizzy, go to sleep. It's not a good feeling."
"Okay." Pan Xi nodded, obviously exhausted. Then she walked towards the female dormitory in Slythrin.
Not long after, the unbearable school song ended. This meant that all the students should return to their own dormitories or directly to their dormitories.
Malfoy walked straight to Gryffindor's long table.
"What is he doing here?" Hermione felt her heart skip a beat.
However, Malfoy was not looking for her. He was standing in front of the two Weasley brothers.
"Oh, isn't this the young master of the Malfoy family?"
"Are you looking for us to play a prank?"
George and Fred asked in a teasing tone.
"Just making a deal," Malfoy said calmly.
"What deal?" The two brothers said in unison. Although the relationship between the two families was not good, no one would go against money. Ron might, but it was not necessarily the case for the twins, who were temperamental. Perhaps they also wanted to take this opportunity to take advantage of someone?
"The more you make, the better. This is the deposit." Malfoy gave them a list and left some gold coins behind. He did not care whether they agreed or not and quickly left.
"A rooster's roar letter?" Fred glanced at the list and asked, "George, what's the use of this?"
"I don't know." George shook his head. "Maybe this young master needs this to wake him up?" George thought he was joking, but no one responded. He didn't feel embarrassed and continued happily, "But I know that our research funds are sufficient again."
"Yes." Fred also squeezed his eyebrows, and the two brothers revealed knowing smiles. It was clear that the Weasley brothers, now that they had sufficient funds, would once again cause Hogwarts to be in a state of chaos.
It's better than nothing. After all, it's not real, and it's just an external object. Malfoy, who had left, could only think so. He was not in the mood to go to the common lounge, so he went straight back to the dormitory.
As for Gryffindor's common lounge, it was very lively now. Most of the students were still awake. Ron and Harry had brought the atmosphere to a climax after they entered. Obviously, their story had been spread to the students through various channels. Perhaps they were ghosts, or perhaps they were mischievous ghosts.
"My brother, how did you do it? You should have called us back then, "George asked.
"I really think you can join us in the prank business. We lack creativity like you," Fred said.
The others were cheering for Harry as if he had done something incredible.
"Did you really fly here?" Hermione interrupted. She was in disbelief and a little stern, just like Professor Mag.
"Stop giving us lessons," Ron said impatiently. "Anyway, we didn't deduct any points from the academy. School hadn't started yet."
"It's not about deducting points. Do you know how dangerous that was?" Hermione raised her voice.
"Alright, aren't we fine now?" Ron stretched out his arm and stomped his foot to show that he was fine. Then, he asked Harry, "Am I right?"
"Ron, stop it," Harry said softly. He poked Ron with his hand and tilted his head to the side. Ron understood immediately. That boring brother of his was coming over. It seemed like he was going to give them a good scolding. Hence, they quickly found an excuse and went back to their dormitory through the spiral staircase.
When they returned to their dormitory, they were warmly welcomed by their roommates. Neville looked at them with admiration. The two of them felt that the punishment just now was nothing, and even felt a little proud. Of course, they did not know that there would be a terrifying howling letter waiting for them the next morning.
The next morning, the students of the four academies were eating breakfast at their respective long tables. There were bowls of porridge, plates of pickled herring, mountains of bread, and plates of eggs and bacon on the table.
"I didn't expect that I wasn't the only one who was late," Pan Xi and Malfoy chatted. Malfoy told her about the "glorious deeds" of two people yesterday. "Seems like Gryffindor lost a lot of points when school started this semester. How many points did they lose?" Pan Xi asked expectantly.
"Uh, not a single point. Our dean probably wanted to deduct some points, but I heard that school hadn't started yet. They were only grounded as a punishment." Malfoy could not understand why Pan Xi was so obsessed with the School Championship. "Disappointing." Pan Xi pouted. She seemed to be very unhappy with the ruling.
"Wait for a good show." Malfoy could only comfort her like this.
"What show?" She did not think that anything interesting would happen in the hall.
"There, it's starting soon." Malfoy pointed at the owls that were flying into the hall. Hundreds of owls were circling above. Finally, they divided into four groups and threw the letters and packages into the chatting crowd.
"Errol!" Ron shouted.
Perhaps it was because it had suffered too much of its master's anger at home that it was in a trance. The owl did not find the right place to land and plunged into Hermione's pot. Milk and feathers splashed all over them. Ron had no choice but to pull the wet owl out with his claws. Errol was lying unconscious on the table with his legs in the air. There was a wet red envelope in his mouth.
Even though he did not want to open it, Ron still tore it open when he thought that it could be worse.
Almost everyone in the hall used their fingers to plug their ears the moment the letter was opened. The loud noise filled the hall and shook the dust off the ceiling.
Harry had never imagined that Mrs. Weasley, who was usually so gentle and amiable, could be so frightening when she was angry. Her voice, a hundred times louder than usual, rattled the plates and spoons on the table, and echoed deafeningly from the stone walls. Everyone in the hall turned around to see who had received the howling letter, except for Malfoy and Pan Xi. They had already turned their heads. Ron was curled up in his chair. Only his red forehead could be seen. Harry sat in a daze and stared at the opposite side.
"Oh, dear Ginny, congratulations on entering Gryffindor. Your father and I are proud of you." In the end, the howling letter's tone softened. Then, smoke rose from it and it burned.
Ginny lowered her head, as if she was the one who was embarrassed.
Only a few students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw covered their mouths and laughed secretly. As for Slythrin's laughter, it was almost as loud as Mrs. Weasley's. Pan Xi laughed until tears were coming out of his eyes. He did not forget to ask, "How did you know there would be a good show?"
"With their family's standard of living, what do you think will happen if a car is scrapped?" Malfoy asked Pan Xi.
"Well, it seems that I can't understand the lives of the poor." Pan Xi gradually stopped laughing, as if she had realized that it was not ladylike at all. Then, she spread her hands and asked, "Where's my gift?"
"I knew you were thinking about it." Malfoy smiled and took out a beautifully packaged small box and handed it to her.
"Can I open it?" Pan Xi was eager to try. In fact, this question was unnecessary.
"Of course." Malfoy gestured for her to open it.
Pan Xi tore open the packaging. There was a quaint golden Snitch lying quietly in the box. Instead of saying it was golden, it was more appropriate to say it was gray. Time had left too many traces on it. The original metallic luster had disappeared.
Pan Xi used both hands to cover her mouth that was wide open in surprise because this gift was really too surprising. Then, she asked, "Can it fly?"
"Of course, but we might have to go to a narrower place. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if it flew away." In order to fix this thing, Malfoy took the time to go to Bokinbock's shop. To be honest, sometimes fixing something was much more expensive than it was. Although the fairies were very generous to Malfoy who had helped them a lot, Malfoy, who had bought the broom and this gift, was basically broke.
"Thank you." Pan Xi thanked him with a red face.
"This is not your style," Malfoy said mischievously.