Chapter 1046: A Snowy Christmas
Chapter 1046: A Snowy Christmas
"Goodbye!"
"You really won't be taking the train with us?"
"I have a more convenient way to travel."
"Alright, that's just like you. Keep in touch," said Lee Jordan, dragging his suitcase towards the carriage, ready to join some acquaintances on their journey to the train station via Night Goblin carriages.
"We're not taking the train to leave school?" Katrina asked as she walked back into the castle with Albert after bidding farewell to her friends.
At this moment, most of the students had departed via carriages to the train station, leaving the once bustling castle eerily quiet.
"No, Dobby will be sending us off," Albert replied as he led Katrina to the agreed-upon empty classroom where the house-elf, Dobby, awaited their arrival.
Upon seeing the familiar suitcase, Katrina guessed what was happening and turned to Albert with a puzzled look. "You seem to prefer traveling via house-elf apparition, don't you?"
"It's safer," Albert explained as he stepped into the suitcase. "House-elves can apparate to places where wizards are unable to apparate, such as areas under anti-apparition charms. This means that other wizards won't be able to track our movements." He continued, "Also, even the Ministry of Magic doesn't pay attention to a house-elf's movements. They, along with Muggles, tend to overlook these hardworking little guys."
"You're just scared of dying!" Katrina understood, but she wasn't used to Albert's excessive caution.
"Yes, I really don't want to die," Albert said matter-of-factly, leaving Katrina speechless.
The two waited at the entrance for a while, as this trip was shorter than expected. The house-elf had moved through several areas warded against apparition.
Then, they arrived at their temporary new home: Nicolas Flamel's safe house in Devonshire.
The elderly couple's lives were coming to an end, so they had decided to give the safe house in Britain to Albert.
"This..."
Katrina looked at the empty space in front of her, realizing what was happening. She turned to Albert and asked tentatively, "The Fidelius Charm?"
"Yes. This place is located somewhere in Devonshire, and it used to be where Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel lived," Albert said as he took out a piece of paper and handed it to Katrina.
She took the paper, read its contents, and silently recited them in her mind. Suddenly, she saw an old house with a strong French flair appear in front of her.
"Don't just stand there, come in!"
Albert burned the piece of paper and took the suitcase from Katrina as they walked towards the house's entrance.
The Fidelius Charm had been cast on this place, and the Secret-Keeper was naturally Dumbledore.
In fact, Dumbledore was the Secret-Keeper for the Flamel couple's safe house, and this was one of the reasons he had given the safe house to Albert.
Even if he hadn't given it away, only a handful of acquaintances would have been able to enter anyway. This was the downside of the Fidelius Charm—it couldn't be lifted; it could only be passed on or forgotten by people.
"I heard you didn't want to come here for Christmas?" Isabelle asked as she walked out of the hall, hands on her hips, glaring at Katrina. Her face clearly showed her displeasure.
"You know, if I want to get good grades at the end of the term, it's better to stay at school and review," Katrina argued stubbornly.
"You can still review here, and there will be people to teach you. Plus, don't you want to spend the Christmas holidays with your mom?" Isabelle stared at Katrina. "Or do you not want to celebrate with us?"
"No, no, I..."
"Good, then come and help me decorate the hall!" Isabelle pulled Katrina towards the hall and turned back to say to Albert, "You too. I can't do this alone."
"Coming."
"Dobby, take the suitcase back to the room."
"Yes, sir."
Both wizards and Muggles liked to use a lot of holly, mistletoe, and tinsel as Christmas decorations. There was a Christmas tree by the fireplace, which Isabelle was decorating with ribbons and ornaments to create a festive atmosphere.
"Are these presents real?"
Katrina was arranging the Christmas gifts under the tree.
"They are. Albert receives a pile of Christmas gifts every year, and this is actually a smaller stack than usual," Isabelle said as she waved her wand, creating many shiny snowflakes and hanging them on the tree.
"That's crazy."
"If you send out an extravagant number of gifts every year, you'll naturally receive a ton of returns," Albert said. Every year, Isabelle helped him prepare his Christmas gifts.
"Are we spending the Christmas holidays here this year?"
Katrina peered into the fireplace and asked curiously, "I've been wondering about that smell since I came in. What is it?"
"It's probably the wood we're burning. The wood here was left by Mr. Flamel, and some of it has a unique scent when burned," Albert said as he turned on the record player, filling the hall with cheerful music. He began to help decorate the hall as well.
"I think that's everything."
The three of them sat down in the hall to rest, enjoying the French pastries and tea served by the house-elves while listening to the Muggle Christmas carols playing in the background.
"Why didn't you have the house-elves help with the decorations?" Katrina had been wondering about this since she arrived.
"I wanted to give you something to do so you wouldn't be bored, and decorating ourselves makes it feel more like a holiday," Isabelle said with a smile, though her words were biting.
"I've already helped decorate the castle at school," Katrina mumbled as she savored the delicious food. Compared to the food at Hogwarts, Albert always paid extra attention to their cuisine.
She secretly glanced at Isabelle's figure, not noticing any signs of weight gain. Instead, Isabelle seemed even more charming than before, which was truly incredible.
"What is it?" Isabelle asked, looking up.
"Do you eat like this every day at home?"
Katrina took another freshly baked meat pie and sipped her tea, lounging lazily on the leather sofa.
"Yes, because I exercise every day," Isabelle said proudly.
"That's so enviable. How's the research on beauty potions going?" Katrina asked.
"Are you thinking of opening a beauty shop?" Albert asked with a smile.
"No, just asking."
Katrina was indeed a bit lost. After graduation, she estimated that she wouldn't be able to work, as according to Albert, the two years after graduation would coincide with the most dangerous period in the magical world.
"By the way, I recently learned their healing magic from the Flamels. Maybe you'll find it useful," Albert said as he took out a notebook from his Chameleo Charm leather bag and handed it to Isabelle.
"Is this my Christmas present?" Isabelle asked as she took the notebook, kissing Albert's cheek and smiling.
"Yes."
"What is it?" Isabelle noticed Katrina's expression and asked in confusion.
"Firenze is a centaur from the Forbidden Forest, and he's now the new Divination teacher at Hogwarts," Katrina said, tearing her gaze away from Albert and reminding him, "The magic of centaurs is definitely different from ours."
"Their healing magic involves a combination of herbs and spells," Albert explained.
"Can wizards use it too?"
"I've tried it, and it worked."
"That's incredible."
As it turned out, wizards couldn't use the healing magic as effectively as centaurs, even with simple ingredients like white fresh branches. Using a wand didn't improve the success rate much, and only an extremely specialized healing wand that Albert had crafted could do the trick. Among the three of them, only Mrs. McDougal had managed to pull it off.
So, under Isabelle's resentful gaze, Mrs. McDougal walked away with the notebook.
That night, Albert spent quite some time soothing his girlfriend.
Christmas arrived in the blink of an eye.
Albert and Isabelle woke up late and enjoyed a sumptuous Christmas lunch before inviting the McDougal sisters to build a snowman and a snow house in the yard. They even sat inside the snow house to experience what it was like to have tea in a snowy storm.
Thankfully, they didn't have to worry about Christmas dinner, as the house-elves would prepare everything.
In the afternoon, Albert took out Dumbledore's copy of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" and read it with Isabelle while discussing Dumbledore's annotations. Katrina, on the other hand, returned to her room, probably not wanting to be a third wheel.
Mrs. McDougal was very busy and had to work overtime until eight in the evening.
Fortunately, they didn't bother with roasting a turkey, as that would likely turn rock-hard once it got cold.
After indulging in freshly baked international delicacies and sipping eggnog with a festive Christmas vibe, they sat on the sofas in the hall and chatted casually. Initially, they discussed Albert and Isabelle's wedding plans, as Albert's family wasn't in Britain. But once it was confirmed that someone was already helping with the preparations, Mrs. McDougal looked slightly disappointed yet relieved, as handling the guest list alone would have been a daunting task for her.
Later, the topic shifted back to the centaurs' healing magic. While it was effective for treating external injuries, it wasn't as crucial for wizards since most of them couldn't use it, and the essence of white fresh branches could achieve similar effects.
Of course, further research might lead to new discoveries, but the difficulty of using this magic also limited its potential. Thus, Isabelle successfully reclaimed the notebook.
"By the way, your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher seems to be in some trouble." Mrs. McDougal changed the subject, bringing up what she had encountered on her way to Hogwarts that day: "It looks like she drank a compound potion with a toad in it."
"A compound potion?" Katrina blinked curiously, as she had also seen toads and initially thought it was some kind of polyjuice curse, not expecting it to be caused by a potion.
"Did you tell her about this?" Albert wasn't surprised that Mrs. McDougal had identified the toad.
"No, Madam Pomfrey said it was a skin condition, and I think there might be a reason for it." Mrs. McDougal shook her head. "And the fact that Umbridge refuses to go to St. Mungo's for proper treatment is rather odd."
"Well, Umbridge has been so obnoxious at school that everyone hates her, so it's no surprise that someone took revenge," Albert explained with a smile.
"Did you put her up to it?" Katrina asked suspiciously.
"It was Harry Potter's doing."
Albert quickly passed the buck, as this incident was indeed the handiwork of Harry Potter and his friends.
"It seems Umbridge has done quite a few despicable things," Isabelle said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, the school's educational decree is about to hit a century," Katrina chimed in, listing some of the awful things Umbridge had done recently.
"She even used Veritaserum on students?" Mrs. McDougal was shocked at Umbridge's audacity, as overuse of Veritaserum could cause irreversible harm to the drinker. She suddenly understood why Umbridge looked the way she did, and no wonder Madam Pomfrey despised her so much—the things she had done at school were truly detestable.
"It's not that bad, actually." Albert passed around a plate of fried shrimp dumplings, smiling as he said, "While Umbridge has made Hogwarts a bit miserable, she's also brought quite a bit of joy and laughter."
"You're turning her into a laughing stock at school." Katrina suspected that these incidents were somehow linked to Albert, "When do you plan to get rid of her?"
"I haven't done anything to her; it's all others taking revenge," Albert shrugged, changing the subject, "I heard Arthur Weasley was hospitalized after being bitten by a snake."
"Oh, you mean Arthur Weasley. He was bitten, but he's not in mortal danger. We just haven't found the antidote to heal his wounds completely," Mrs. McDougal recalled, "Why do you ask? Is he your friend too?"
"A few days ago, two of my friends were called away in the middle of the night, and I think it must be related to this." Albert continued, "Phoenix tears are actually the best antidote."
"That stuff is incredibly precious, and St. Mungo's doesn't have any phoenixes to provide tears."
Albert took out a small vial from his Chameleo leather bag and placed it in front of Mrs. McDougal, "If you can't find the antidote, give this to him."
"What is it?"
Mrs. McDougal picked up the vial and examined the pitifully small amount of transparent liquid inside, seemingly guessing what it was.
"Phoenix tears."
"Where did you get this?" Mrs. McDougal asked in surprise.
"Professor Dumbledore asked me to give it to you." Albert explained, "His situation is a bit tricky right now, and if he intervenes directly, it might lead to Arthur Weasley being fired by Fudge. If you still can't find the antidote after some time, use this. Well, this can also be considered an antidote."
"It seems this matter is more complicated than I thought." Mrs. McDougal put away the crystal vial, with no intention of probing further.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
