Chapter 552: Peeves' Welcome Ceremony (Edited)

Tom pulled his wand from his suitcase.

"Are you really going to do it?" Hermione said casually, not expecting Tom to actually want to do it.

"I hate rainy days too," Tom smiled.

Tom took a good look at the wand he held.

[Magical Silver Cane (four stars): A prototype from the youth of wandmaker Garrick Ollivander, made from precious metals and then modified by skilled craftsmen to allow for specific spellcasting after the wand is embedded. Due to the characteristics of magical silver and the nature of the wand, it can effectively amplify spell power or cause significant physical harm to enemies.

Engraved Spells: Atmospheric Charm (wind, rain, thunder, ice), Protego Diabolica

Wand: Empty]

Skilled craftsmen... Seeing this phrase, Tom's face turned sour: it was my own cane, but I can't leave my name on it.

As for causing significant physical harm, Tom preferred not to comment on that. But he was sure that getting hit by this cane up close would definitely send him to the hospital.

Tom embedded his wand in place and then looked at the sky outside the compartment. The rain was falling heavily, as if a breach had opened in the sky.

As the saying goes, it's better to clear than to block, and in this situation, it would be impossible to force the sun to come out even if Tom could summon the sun, enough to self-proclaim as a "spell god."

So, what should he do? As everyone knows, it rains because there is too much moisture in the clouds. What does Tom need? Not to be soaked by the rain.

So, what is the simplest solution? Put on two layers of raincoats.

But as raincoats were not an option here, there were only two answers: either reduce the moisture in the clouds or make the clouds go away.

Tom's choice is: I want it all!

He waved his cane and said, "Atmospheric-pluvia."

After this rain-summoning spell was cast, Tom had no intention of stopping and waved his wand again, "Atmospheric-ventus."

This time, the wind picked up.

Both spells sank into the dark clouds in the night sky. In the next moment, the rain outside the train became even more violent. If before it felt like they were being doused with buckets of water, now it was as if the Milky Way was pouring down, and the students in the compartment felt like they were diving. The rain hit the roof of the compartment and then slid down the windows, forming small waterfalls directly.

Not only was it raining, but there was also wind blowing on the platform. In this situation, young wizards couldn't stand this weather and ran back to the compartment to shelter from the storm.

"Let's wait a while in the compartment; this weather isn't suitable for crossing the Black Lake," came Hagrid's deep voice from outside. The previous rain might still have crossed the lake with difficulty, but if they set off again now, the boat would sink halfway due to the water accumulation.

With that said, Hagrid also entered the compartment and filled the space at the compartment door.

By chance, Hagrid ran into Harry, who was about to get off the train. Seeing the familiar face, Hagrid greeted him enthusiastically but hit his head against the compartment ceiling.

"Hi, Hagrid!" Harry showed a genuine smile. Hagrid was one of the closest people to him in this world, and every time he saw him, Harry felt a warm feeling in his heart.

"Hello, Harry, this weather is really horrible!" Hagrid stood in the doorway and started chatting with Harry.

Tom's plan was very successful; the rain's intensity suddenly increased but also exhausted the cloud's potential. After a few minutes, the rain gradually subsided and headed north. Hogsmeade station returned to calm.

The students who had taken refuge in the compartment cautiously emerged and found that it was only drizzling outside, so they quickly ran out of the compartment and headed for the carriages parked outside the station.

"The rain has stopped; let's get down." Tom was quite satisfied with the results of his spell. He lifted Crookshanks and, along with Hermione, followed the flow of people across the platform until they found an empty thestral-drawn carriage.

At that moment, Tom noticed signs that rain clouds were returning from a distance, so he quickly jumped into the carriage and then helped Hermione in. Behind them, Cedric and Cho Chang joined.

"See you again!" Tom actively waved to Cedric and engaged in friendly conversation with him. "How was your holiday?"

"I had a pretty good time, especially because I didn't have to study for exams. However, my dad has been really busy at the Ministry after the tournament ended. And you? Didn't you stay at the Burrow?"

"No, if both Hermione and I moved in there, it would be too crowded."

...

While the four of them conversed, the carriage started swaying and headed down the path toward Hogwarts Castle.

The carriage soon brought everyone to Hogwarts Castle. At that moment, the rain began to fall again, and there were occasional lightning flashes in the night sky.

"So, what does your spell actually do?" Hermione felt quite frustrated and didn't know where to start asking.

"At the very least, I managed to reduce the rain's intensity. Otherwise, with the previous weather conditions, it would have been almost inevitable to have an accident crossing the lake," Tom explained.

"Wait a moment, what exactly did you do?" Cedric overheard Tom and Hermione's conversation and felt there was something wrong with his comprehension.

"I tried to make the rain stop," Tom replied.

Cedric: ?!

By that time, they had already entered Hogwarts Castle. The thick stone walls kept the wind and rain outside, providing everyone with a dry space.

"Can you tell us more about how to change the weather?" Cedric showed a great interest in the magic mentioned by Tom, but the front cries interrupted their conversation.

"What's going on?" Cedric looked to the commotion and soon understood what was happening: Peeves was floating above everyone's heads at six meters high, holding several water balloons.

Beneath him, Ron and Harry had already become victims, completely soaked from head to toe.

Tom looked sympathetically at both of them. It wasn't pleasant to eat with wet clothes.

"Gifts for the new school year! Welcome back, dear troublemakers! I suppose you won't mind, as you're already wet," Peeves laughed uproariously as he threw water balloons over the heads of some fifth-year girls, who screamed and ran into the Great Hall, creating total chaos.

"Peeves, stop!" As a prefect, Cedric couldn't stand idly by, so he stepped forward and scolded Peeves loudly.

Peeves's response was to throw a water balloon at him.

Cedric had already anticipated Peeves's reaction. He pulled out his wand and cast a freezing spell on the water balloon, turning it into a block of ice.

However, the block of ice seemed more destructive than the water balloon...

Just at that moment...

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Waddiwasi!"

Both Tom and Hermione pulled out their wands and counterattacked. Tom used the levitating spell to keep the water balloons suspended in the air, while Hermione used a spell invented by Lupin to bounce the water balloons back.