days at Hogwarts

"The sky is full of stars." This is the password for today.

"I hope so." said the fat woman sadly.

Before entering the portrait hole, Loren looked back at the sky outside the corridor. It was already night, and with the dark clouds as thick as ink, there was not even a single light, let alone stars. It was eerie and strange, which was very much in line with the atmosphere of Halloween.

The common room was bright, with pumpkin lanterns and magic candles overhead, the fire in the fireplace underfoot, and the soft armchairs dyed orange.

The banquet has not started yet, and some young wizards are still staying in the lounge, reading, playing chess, doing homework, and... dating.

The scene that came into view was somewhat disgusting. On the armchair in the middle of the room, Lavender and Ron were entangled with each other, engaging in passionate intercourse.

Most of the young wizards in the common room were used to this. Since the two announced their relationship on the night of the Quidditch match, such scenes had happened from time to time. A girl named Lavender Brown was madly in love with Ron Weasley and regarded every second that she couldn't kiss him as a waste of time.

It's a pity that their friends cannot face the gazes of the crowd calmly. Just like at this moment, Harry, Ginny and Parvati are hiding in the corner. They have wooden expressions, but their eyes are somewhat similar - they all feel embarrassed and ashamed for their friends' behavior.

"Hey, Parvati!"

Hermione put her arm around the prefect and pulled Ginny over with the other, and the three girls huddled together, whispering to each other.

"..."

Loren sat down next to Harry and grabbed a few multi-flavored beans and threw them into his mouth: "Look, no, should I ask how long you've been kissing?"

"what?"

"How long have they been kissing?"

"It's been like this since I got back from Charms class."

"That's almost two hours, isn't it?"

"do not know."

"Tsk... the honeymoon period is full of passion."

Loren glanced at Ron who was breathing heavily between kisses not far away, his eyes were empty and his expression was slightly dazed. He retracted his gaze to the last few multi-flavored beans on the table and grabbed them all. "Do you want to stay here and continue watching the romance drama, or go downstairs to the auditorium to watch a horror movie?"

"Huh?" Harry was a little confused.

"Sir Nicholas says there's a new ghost play at All Hallows' Eve this year."

"The death of the wizard Lord Porpington has been performed many times."

"This time it's the death of Witch Myrtle."

"..."

Harry's eyebrows were tightly furrowed. For a moment, he couldn't tell which of the two plays was better, and he fell into deep thought.

After some struggle, Harry finally realized that no matter whose death it was, it was better than staying in the lounge and watching people kissing.

While waiting for Hermione to uncover the bathroom love potion conspiracy, Prefect Parvati immediately set out to enforce the school rules and regulations. The other four went downstairs together, and while Ron was being drugged again...

……

Ben Nevis Mountains.

For the giant tribe living in high altitude areas, winter has arrived and survival has become difficult.

The giants' memory is not very good, but the feeling of hunger is unforgettable, and the memories of wintering in previous years are also deeply rooted.

The lakes were frozen, the ice was so cold and hard that it took a long time to get water flowing, and the fish caught could not make up for the time spent breaking the ice. The wild boars and bears in the mountains also hid in their hard-to-find dens, and it was often necessary to run a long way to catch two or three prey.

Most of the prey were like them. They came out to look for food only when they could no longer stay in their nests. They were so hungry that they were skinny and bony, with hardly any fat on their bodies.

It is normal for giants to die every winter.

"Seventeen thousand pounds of frozen meat and fish..."

"Thirty thousand pounds of potatoes..."

"wheat……"

The giant Gale held a thin branch and wrote and drew on the snow. After a long time, he looked up and nodded to the expectant eyes of the female giant Mir. "Collect all the existing food in the tribe, centrally manage it, and distribute it according to needs. Although it cannot fill everyone's stomach, it will definitely help them survive this winter."

Mir's huge eyes turned red and moist, and he smiled and murmured softly: "It's good that we can all survive this winter... No giants will starve to death..."

Hearing his sister's murmur, Orr, who was leaning against the boulder, couldn't help but smile: "I have been hunting day and night throughout the fall, and it's finally not in vain."

"We must pay attention to management!" Mir wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. "We must distribute them at regular times and fixed quantities every day. We can't give them all the winter food like we did last year!"

Last winter they also made food reserves, the share was not very sufficient, but with Orr organizing people to hunt and search everywhere, the tribe could survive the winter. But they made a mistake, a very serious mistake.

They distributed the giants their food quota for the entire winter, but some of them finished four months' worth of food in just one month and had to endure hardship for the rest of their lives.

One night a month and a half later, while Orr was not in the camp, the hungry giants began to attack other tribe members...

Mir didn't want to recall what happened that night. She only remembered that the moon was very round and the blood dyed the snow red.

"I'll leave the brainwork to you!" Orr turned his head away embarrassedly, "Count it again, and calculate it carefully..."

"Um……"

Gale, the smartest of the three siblings, had a cold gleam in his eyes.

The food stored in the caves and the frozen meat buried in the snow were not enough for the entire tribe. Mir simply wanted all the giants to live to see the sun next spring, and Orr had no objection, but Gale did not quite agree with this plan.

Rather than letting all the giants starve through the winter, it would be better to save some food so that everyone can have enough to eat...

Those old and frail giants were not worth wasting food on; their spines were bent, their leg muscles were shriveled, and their internal organs were unable to drive their bodies to work.

Even if they survive until next spring, they will no longer be of much use and should be discarded in time.

Gail opened his mouth, wanting to try to convince them both, but when he saw Mil's red eyes, he said nothing.

"..."

A few minutes later, Orr's loud roar echoed throughout the depression, causing an avalanche, shaking the snow on the mountain peaks like waves. The giants who heard the sound came out of the warm cave and walked towards the fire in the center of the depression with steps that shook the earth.

Except for a small number of young giants who had attended school, most of the adult giants could not understand that it was the leader's call to assemble. They simply knew that food would be distributed there, including salted bacon, baked potatoes, and hot snow water.

They couldn't even pronounce the names of the three leaders. Orr, Gale and Mir were too difficult to pronounce, so they were used to reading them together and calling them -

Ymir!