Percy's Crisis

Time flies, and the Christmas holidays are almost over.

The adult wizards returned to their posts and began a new round of work.

The young wizards also left home and embarked on their journey to Hogwarts to continue their studies.

Whether on the train or bus back to school, or at home, the young wizards were all listless, looking as wilted as frostbitten eggplants.

Even wizards are not immune to Holiday Syndrome syndrome.

The so-called "Holiday Syndrome" refers to the various physiological or psychological symptoms that people experience after a long holiday.

If you feel tired, lack energy, or have low learning/work efficiency in the two or three days following the holiday, or even experience unexplained nausea, dizziness, intestinal problems, anorexia nervosa, anxiety, or neurasthenia.

Normally it would be fine, but now there's Umbridge in the school, like a toad lurking in the shadows, popping out every now and then to lick people's lips, which is really disgusting.

On the last day of the holiday, Harry said goodbye to Cassandra and Pabbie, and together with Ron, Ron, and the Hermione, they prepared to board the bus back to school.

They planned to take the Knight Bus back to Hogwarts. Although the situation had been tense recently, it was not enough to threaten the young wizards, so Sirius did not intend to take them to school and instead let them go back on their own.

"You're all adult wizards now," Sirius said. "I believe you can protect yourselves."

"But Godfather," Harry rolled his eyes, "I'm not an adult yet—"

"Oh, come on, Harry." Sirius rested one hand on the wall. "I don't think you should be treated like an underage wizard. I still have to fight Fudge at the Ministry of Magic."

After they had breakfast, they put on their coats and scarves and prepared to set off.

The January morning was grey and chilly.

"Be careful." Sirius waved goodbye as he stood at the entrance of Grimmauld Place, Number 12.

"Goodbye, Sirius." Everyone waved to Sirius together.

The door closed, Grimmauld Place, Number 12 shrank rapidly, with the houses on both sides extending over to crowd it, and in the blink of an eye it disappeared.

"Magic is truly amazing," Hermione exclaimed sincerely. "Even after living in the magical world for so many years, I am still awestruck by what I see."

Harry took out his wand and pointed it at the sky. Almost simultaneously, with a loud bang, a bright purple three-story bus came crashing down from the sky, nearly hitting a lamppost, but the lamppost jumped back to avoid it.

A skinny young man in a purple uniform, with protruding ears and a face full of acne, jumped off and said, "Welcome aboard the One -Knight Bus!"

"Get in the car, get in the car!" Harry called out to everyone, turning around. "Hurry up and get in the car—"

The ticket seller stared at Harry, pointed at him, and said, "Isn't this Harry Potter?"

"Hello, Shunpike," Harry greeted the ticket seller. It wasn't his first time riding the Knight Bus.

Stan Shunpike stretched out his hands, grasped Harry's hands, and shook them vigorously. "It's an honor that Harry Potter still remembers my name—seven people, right? I'll issue you the tickets right away."

Harry smiled politely at him, then took the lead and got into the car, followed by Ron.

"I've always wanted to ride this," Ron said happily. After getting on the bus, he didn't sit down but just looked around.

"There's nothing to see." Hermione gave Ron a shove in the back. "If I were you, I'd sit down right away so we don't block the way, understand?"

Ron gave an awkward smile and sat down next to Harry.

It was early morning, and the car was filled with all sorts of chairs, haphazardly arranged around the windows. Some of them seemed to have overturned when the car suddenly stopped in Grimmauld Place. Several wizards were muttering as they got up.

Someone's shopping bag slid to the other end of the carriage, scattering frog eggs, cockroaches, and a mess of custard all over the floor.

At that moment, Stan Shunpike walked in from the doorway and said to Harry, "From Grimmauld Place to Hogwarts —I think that's eleven Sickle per person."

"I'll pay." Harry took out a few Galleon and handed them to Shunpike. "Keep the change. I don't really like doing math problems."

"Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Potter." Shunpike bowed to him playfully, overjoyed. "It just so happens that I don't like doing math either."

As he spoke, he looked at Ron, who was still kneeling on the chair, talking enthusiastically with the Twins.

"If I were you, I would sit still and buckle up," he reminded Ron.

Following the principle of "listen to advice and you'll eat your fill," Ron obediently climbed back into his seat and fastened his seatbelt.

The car started again and wobbled across Grimmauld Place.

The car body twisted and turned, swaying violently from side to side.

Harry sat motionless, but Ron next to him was a different story. He swayed from side to side like a roly-poly toy. If he hadn't been wearing a seatbelt, he probably would have been thrown into the driver's seat by now.

Suddenly, two buses appeared in front of them, driving side by side—heading straight towards the Knight Bus.

"I think we're going in the wrong direction," Hermione said, slapping her forehead.

"We won't get hit, will we?" Ron asked nervously, gripping the chair tightly, his voice trembling.

As if in response, the driver Ernie Pran, stared intently at the gap with his bulging eyes, a near-fanatical smile spreading across his face without the slightest hesitation.

Instead of slowing down, he reached for some kind of lever on the side, slammed his foot on the accelerator, and at the same time, with an almost spasmodic motion, jerked the huge steering wheel sharply to the left!

Just millimeters before it plunged into the gap, the Knight Bus emitted a tooth-grinding metallic groan and creak. Then, the entire bus seemed to be squeezed and flattened rapidly, and the people inside seemed to be stretched out.

"Oh, guys," said the head hanging next to the driver, "You should really look at your faces, they're hilarious."

After the compression was completed, the Knight Bus sped out of the predicament, and then with a "pop," the bus instantly returned to its original shape.

"I've changed my mind," Ron said, his face pale and one hand clutching his chest, still shaken. "I'll never sit there again."

The Knight Bus hopped off the Birmingham Road onto a quiet country road, winding its way through treacherous bends.

As the car veered left and right onto the roadside, rows of hedges jumped aside.

They drove onto a main road in a bustling city, then onto an elevated highway through the Mountains, and then onto a cold, windy street between high-rise buildings, each time accompanied by a loud bang.

"Listen, the next stop is Hogwarts," Shunpike said cheerfully, swaying as he walked over. "We need to get Madam Marsh down first; she's not feeling well, and then it's your turn."

After stopping outside a small bar, the bus sped off to Hogwarts, then executed a beautiful drift, stopping right next to the bridge at Hogwarts Castle.

"We've arrived," Shunpike said slowly. "Have a pleasant journey, everyone. Please be careful when getting off the bus."

They walked along the still-icy road toward the castle, the biting wind stinging their faces like knives.

"Thank goodness there are no Quidditch Match in January," Ron said with some relief. "Walking on the ground with the wind blowing in your face is so painful, I can't imagine how painful it would be to ride a broomstick through the air."

Inside the Great Hall, most of the students had arrived. Some were gathered in small groups, while others lay motionless on the long tables, occasionally letting out a sigh.

This is a classic symptom of Holiday Syndrome.

"We'll go and maintain order," Ron said to Harry. "Hermione and I will go together; you know, we both have to do this job."

"Go ahead," Harry said with a smile, and he and Anne sat down at the Gryffindor's long table.

Gryffindors are the group that exhibits the most pronounced Holiday Syndrome; the more wildly they play during the holidays, the more miserable they are when School Opening starts.

"I feel completely drained," Abercrombie sighed to the people around him, slumped over the long table in the Great Hall.

"Hey, first-grader," Ron said as he walked past him. "If you're feeling down, go ask Hagrid for a Rock Cakes. I guarantee you won't feel down all day after taking a bite."

"Wow, really?" Abercrombie up.

"I don't recommend you try it, young man." Hermione pulled Ron aside and shook her head at the young first-year student in denial. "We've all tried Rock Cakes. The feeling of them being so hard they could knock your teeth out can certainly invigorate you, but the price is your poor teeth."

Abercrombie, then shook his head and decided against it.

If I can't muster any energy, so be it. I feel uncomfortable all over because I left home to go to Hogwarts, not because of any other physical reason.

Another reason was that he didn't want to take Defense Against the Dark Arts —he believed that Defense Against the Dark Arts shouldn't be a rote learning session, but rather should involve some practical exercises.

Senior student: Hey, then you haven't taken Professor Quirrell's class.

"Any news from the holidays?" the Twins asked with smiles as they sat at the long table, looking at their classmates around them, especially Lee Jordan.

Jordan didn't say anything. He pulled a huge bottle out of his pocket. No one knew how he got the bottle in his pocket, but it just came out looking perfectly clean.

People around gathered around and gasped in surprise.

"I dare say," Fred said, gazing raptly at the bottle, "That's the biggest spider I've ever seen—of course."

Excluding the Acromantula, I mean the kind of spider that isn't Magical Creatures.

"We should show this to our ' Head Boy,'" George said with a grin, glancing mischievously at Ron's retreating figure. "Just imagine, when our ' Head Boy ' sees this spider, won't he jump up in fright and bump into the chandelier hanging from the ceiling?"

"Probably not," Fred analyzed seriously. "He'll just be so scared he'll stay rooted to the spot. I bet Sickle."

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

Ron's fear of spiders is no secret at Hogwarts; he has arachnophobia.

The so-called "Head Boy" is a nickname given to the Prefect by the Weasley twins —of course, they weren't referring to the Prefect, but rather adapting it for Percy.

Especially after Percy stepped down and Ron became Prefect, the title fascinated them even more.

"Everyone in our family is Prefect!"

Mrs. Weasley was delighted to hear that Ron had become Prefect.

"Then who are we? Our neighbors?" the Twins asked, their mouths agape.

This phrase also became Ron's weapon to retaliate against his two older brothers. Whenever the Twins called him "Head Boy," Ron would always retort that they were "the next-door neighbor."

Only brothers could do something like this.

"Hey, Head Boy," Fred called out to Ron with a grin as Ron passed by.

Ron turned his head and saw the Giant Spider Fred was handing to him.

"Flying Spaghetti Monster of Merlin!" he Battle Cry in terror, leaping backward and drawing his wand to strike the spider.

"Relax, Head Boy." Fred put the spider back behind him, took a silver coin from his pocket and handed it to George. "You win, George. He didn't stand still."

"Hey!" Ron roared, "You two! You actually gambled with your own brother?!"

"Oh, buddy," George said, spreading his hands, "It's because you're our little brother."

Ron glanced at George, then at Fred.

"Gryffindor loses a point!" he practically spat out through gritted teeth, "For intimidating the Prefect!"

The Twins laughed even harder. They didn't care about the House Points at all; Gryffindor always added several hundred points at the end of each semester anyway, so they could deduct as many as they wanted! Harry would pay for all the points!

The new Prefect is losing points, while the former Gryffindor Prefect is facing the biggest challenge of his career.

To be fair, the pink toad, or rather, High Inquisitor Madam Umbridge, didn't like Percy —no,

It should be said that she didn't like any of the Weasley at all.

She disliked none of the troublemakers at school, the freckled boy, or the red-haired girl.

She didn't particularly like Arthur, who worked at the Ministry of Magic, or Percy, who wore glasses.

Percy is now Minister for Magic 'Fudge secretary, which greatly displeases Umbridge.

"I think, Your Minister," Umbridge said to Fudge in her characteristically sweet voice, though she wasn't at Hogwarts; she was in the Minister for Magic's office. "You should be wary of your secretary, Weasley. I don't really trust him."

Fudge quite liked Percy; the young man was shrewd and capable, and most importantly, he knew how to get things done, which pleased Fudge.