Snow and ice fell from the sky, and the winter of 1940 arrived as promised.

Christmas Eve. Hoffa stood in front of the mirror in the public bathing room, head bowed.

Clear, shiny slime flowed from the marble floor, poking out from under the cabinets, and then crawling slowly, slowly and slowly across the floor.

When I looked up again, I saw myself in the mirror with towering cheekbones, pale skin, and darker circles under my eyes than ever before. He lived like an ascetic after excessive self-abuse, and like a bad demon struggling in purgatory.

In the mirror, there is a smile on his face, and his mouth is densely covered with sharp teeth. On his forehead, sharp horns grew little by little.

Hofa was startled and shook his head vigorously, and the hallucinations disappeared.

The self in the mirror returned to normal, he was thin and undressed. Just an ordinary gray-haired teenager who is tired, depressed, and planning to take a shower.

"Abominable ....."

He rubbed his temples.

He hadn't seen Dumbledore for nearly four months, and had received no help. Almost every night, he would have some bizarre nightmares, and even hallucinations and auditory hallucinations from time to time.

In the past, he could meditate to eliminate the strangeness in the sea of consciousness, but now, he could not detect any abnormalities in his body.

He felt like he might be crazy.

Bang!!

There was a crisp sound next door.

William, who was also undressed, poked his head out and grinned, "Let's go, take a bath." ”

It was the last day of the semester, and the students who had finished the exhausting day of the semester were heading to the public bathhouse, and Hoffa and his roommates were no exception. Because of the long-term refining of potions, they all have a strange smell of medicine on their bodies.

Antonio turned around from the other side and timidly handed him a white towel.

Hoffa closed the cabinet and silently took the towel. Nodding to Antonio.

Antonio asked with some concern, "Are you alright, you talked in your sleep again last night." ”

"What did I say?"

"Listen...... Inaudible. ”

Antonio said hesitantly.

"Disturbing your sleep?"

Tie a towel around your waist as you walk Hoffa.

"Pour ...... Not really. ”

"Hey, what are you talking about. ”

William poked his head out of the hallway again and waved at them. "Hurry up. ”

Hoffa stopped talking and walked straight to the bath. As he walked through the marble hallway, he felt something looking at him and looked up.

On the head of the statue of the wizard Manikos, a strange black and white cat is looking at him. The cat was very peculiar, with a face half black and half white, like a Taiji diagram, and it looked at itself like this, as if it was talking to itself.

Who raised a pet to run in the bath?

Hoffa thought to himself.

......

......

The boys' bathroom is a very large place, and it is smoky and steaming.

The water was a bit hot, and many of the boys sat on the marble, tentatively submerging themselves below their knees. When they saw Hoffa coming, they greeted him.

"Yo, Bach. ”

"Sit here. ”

"Sit with me. ”

Hoffa smiled and didn't sit between them. He soaked straight in, hot water up to his neck.

Ever since he had a fight with Sherlock on Halloween, the students now think of him as a spiritual idol and are embracing him everywhere he goes.

Countless girls wrote to him to express their admiration. Countless boys squeezed their heads to enter Hoffa's "circle".

But instead of bringing vanity and dignity to Hofa, the attention of others gave him the pain of losing his freedom, and no matter where he went or what he did, there was a crowd of people watching.

Did he really defeat Sherlock?

Hoffa knew no. It was Fatil who defeated Sherlock. But no matter what he said, the other students didn't think so, and they refused to believe the other answers.

On the other side, William greeted the group of bathing guys one by one, and then sat down among them.

Contrary to Hoffa, William was extremely pleased with all this, and he enthusiastically made friends everywhere, claiming to be Hoffa's closest friend, building a huge social network, and becoming the de facto head of the network, meeting regularly, eating, bathing, and secretly operating. In this way, the cohesion of the group is stabilized.

William: "Yesterday, the president of the Gryffindor Transfiguration Club greeted me and asked them to play in the Transfiguration Club. ”

"Who's going to go? A Hufflepuff boy leaned lazily on the bath.

"There wasn't a single girl in Culver's Transfiguration Club, and the mules couldn't pull it in. ”

William disdainful: "I want you to go, but people don't invite you." ”

"Let me go, I won't go. ”

The boy rolled his eyes: "Eh, speaking of which, our hospital recently opened an herbal medicine club, I want to invite you to play, do you want to go?"

"What a beauty?" asked William, squinting his eyes.

"That's more, half of the beauties from the third grade and above are here. ”

"Really?"

"What are you lying to. ”

"Hoffa, are you going?"

William asked aloud and threw a handful of water at him to get his attention.

Hofa soaked motionless in the hot water, letting the droplets slip off his head, and he sighed, "Why don't you go?"

He had absolutely no understanding of how the group was formed, which was far from his comfort zone. Out of politeness, he habitually gave the other party an affirmative answer, but he didn't want to go.

William snorted, slipped into the water, and said to the Hufflepuff students, "You kid is lucky, it's rare that Hoffa has the heart and participation in your club activities." ”

"What does Hoffa usually do?" two boys asked curiously.

"The same old thing, library, ah~"

William, whose whole body was immersed in the bath, let out a satisfied moan, and he suddenly thought of something:

"Oh, that's right. I've heard that the prefect's bath is much better than the one we use here. ”

Taylor asked, "The prefects have all gone to train the dragon, and there are still people in the bath?"

Antonio said, "No one uses it." ”

"Prefect ......?"

William scoffed. "It's just a defeat. ”

"No one is using it, it's not a waste. Antonio sighed.

"I'd like to see it, I've heard it's much more luxurious than the ones we ordinary students use. ”

"Cut, when the fifth-grade Hoffa becomes the prefect, we can go as we want. William swore solemnly.

Several of the students who were taking a bath nodded in agreement.

"That's it, it's a certainty. ”

"Fifth grade is definitely a prefect. ”

"After graduation, I guess I can go directly to the Minister of Magic to do things. ”

......

Hoffa felt that if Hogwarts did not fall and developed according to normal logic, his life path seemed to be no different from what they had said.

In the fifth grade, he became a superior, and after graduation, he went to work in the Ministry of Magic, starting as a secretary in a high-ranking position.

After a few years, I became the director of a certain affairs department, gave birth to a bunch of boys, and worried about my livelihood all day long.

But where does this inexplicable fear come from, and where does this invisible pressure come from?

Unbeknownst to him, he soaked half of his head in hot water, trying to use this movement to make himself feel the temperature and let his pores expel sweat and pressure.

But he didn't feel anything, not a drop of sweat ran down his head, and he felt like he was in a cage sealed with cement.

In the last month, he has become more and more mentally sensitive, but his body has become more and more sluggish, and he has almost lost his sense of taste, touch, and of course he cannot feel the heat.

After a moment of heated discussion, William touched his chin:

"If you want me to say, Hoffa should be a prefect now, he was an assistant teacher last year, and he beat Sherlock this year. If we become a prefect this year, we can go to the prefect's bathroom now. ”

He seems to have a great interest in the prefect's bathroom.

"Come on. ”

A Hufflepuff student lazily said, "

"The prefect is also Huo Fadang, and you are not the one. Why can you go to the prefect's bathroom? ”

Everyone covered their mouths and snickered, and William immediately sneered:

"Do you know what a roommate is, huh? Hoffa, right?"

He tried to find an affirmative answer from Hoffa, but the gray head was nowhere to be seen on the smoke-rising water.

William muttered in confusion, "Where's the .....?"

"But it seems that only the fifth grade can be done. ”

Another Gryffindor student said, bringing William back to his senses.

"Think so, you're a Gryffindor, too. ”

William leaned back on the marble and sneered, "Aren't Gryffindors for their pleasure in breaking rules?"

The people in the bath burst into laughter, and the air echoed with bursts of joy.

The Gryffindor student seemed humiliated, and his face flushed, "You Ravenclaws still claim to be very smart, do you dare to go into the prefect's bathroom now?"

William disdainfully: "Go and go, do you dare to come tonight?"

"Hey, aren't you afraid of being discovered?" asked Antonio.

"Who will find out. William pouted, "Half of the professors in the school spend their days in the Ministry of Magic. ”

"What if you don't go tonight, you said?"

"Yo, you want to bet?"

"Bet on it. ”

"How much to bet. ”

"Twenty Galleons. ”

William's eyes rolled: "Twenty Galleons is not enough." ”

"Then how much do you want. ”

"I want you to ask all the Gryffindor girls out to play. ”

Everyone clapped their hands, enthusiastic and excited about William's suggestion.

The Gryffindor students reluctantly shouted:

"What about you, there are a lot of Ravenclaw girls!"

......

......

A few ripples rippled in the corner of the pool, and no one noticed. Amid the boisterous party, Hoffa had already left the bathroom.

The purpose of cleansing the body has been achieved, and it is a complete waste of time to stay any longer. He didn't want to get too involved in the youth feast of a group of thirteen-year-olds.

Whether it's wizards or Muggles, boys of this age will inevitably be affected by hormones, and their energy is terrifying.

If it had been last year, maybe he would have mixed in with the crowd and smiled indiscriminately. But this year, under the huge pressure of survival, his energy has long been stolen.

Dry yourself and change into wizard robes.

He came to the library.

The library was deserted, with barely a single person in sight, and this year, the students' interest in self-directed learning was gone.

Turning a corner, he heard a groan. When I walked over, it turned out to be a senior boy who pressed a girl to the bookshelf, not knowing what he was doing.

Sensing that someone was coming, the two quickly tidied up their clothes, and the boy just wanted to get angry, but found that it was Huo Fa, and he immediately showed a smile.

Hoffa's habitual muscles tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a slight smile.

The two breathed a sigh of relief and passed by Hoffa with their heads bowed.

Looking at their backs, the smile on his face disappeared without a trace. He rubbed his facial muscles, feeling as if he was wearing a thick mask on his face, and he was extremely uncomfortable.

This wasn't the Hogwarts he imagined. His ideal school is one where ideas can be exchanged, everyone is different, everyone has an interesting soul, and everyone can understand and tolerate each other.

But now, Hogwarts is like a cemetery. A lively cemetery. All became the same kind of people. No features, no goals, drunk and dreaming of death.

He shook his head, throwing the unrealistic ideas out of his mind. Pulling out a spiritual wizard book from the bookshelf and flipping through it, trying to find a solution to his mental problems.

But most of these works deal with how to manipulate the spirit of others, and rarely penetrate into the spirit of the self.

After a cursory flip through it, he replaced it with another one.

Time flies by in search of seeing.

Late at night, Hoffa looked at his watch, it was already eleven o'clock, he put his head on the bookshelf, and closed his eyes a little bored.

It's another day of nothing, when will I be able to solve the problem, and when will I be able to live happily.

No one can tell him the answer.

He walked out of the empty library, through the empty magical staircase, and he returned to his dormitory.

William's bed was empty, and the beds of several other people were empty, and he didn't think much about it, he took off his clothes and wanted to go to bed.

But just as he was about to lie down and sleep, several people ran into the dormitory in a noisy manner, and slammed the door open.

"Hofa Hofa Hofa ......!"

Antonio was running through his mouth and yelling his name.

Hoffa rolled over impatiently and got up: "What's the matter?"

In the dark, Antonio's pale pockmarked face was covered with sweat drops, and he said nervously, "William is missing." ”