Ron wished he could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it on the spot.
Valerius did not spare him another glance. He turned gracefully to face all the students.
"Remember."
His voice was like a piece of ice, tapping lightly against everyone's hearts.
"You represent Hogwarts."
"Any discourteous behavior tarnishes this castle's thousand years of glory."
"And your professors and I detest blemishes above all."
After that day, Valerius appeared in the Great Hall punctually whenever the Hogwarts students had their meals.
He watched everyone, making it impossible for them to enjoy their food.
October thirtieth finally arrived.
At half past five in the evening, the sky had already begun to darken.
The cold late-autumn wind lashed everyone's cheeks like a whip studded with tiny shards of ice, cold and painful.
All the students had been organized by house and brought onto the lawn outside the castle, where they stood in lines to wait.
They wore their neatest school robes and shivered in the cold, but no one dared voice a complaint.
The castle stood behind them, every stone scrubbed clean.
In the last light of the setting sun, its ancient towers and spires radiated a solemn, silent splendor.
Hagrid wore his best-and only-moleskin overcoat, its shaggy collar almost swallowing half his face.
Like a gentle giant bear, he worked hard to keep the excited, nervous students in order.
"Line up! All of you! Stop blundering around like a swarm of headless flies!"
The professors stood at the very front of the lines, forming a solid defensive barrier.
Dumbledore's long silver beard fluttered slightly in the wind, and a merry light shone in his blue eyes, as though he were awaiting the start of an entertaining play.
Douglas was a stark contrast.
His hands were tucked into