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Chapter 190: Snape's Good Intentions
Chapter 190: Snape's Good Intentions
Just as Sniffles could always stealthily take away shiny objects without a sound, owls seemed to possess a similar ability.
On Christmas Day, Kyle woke up to a mountain of gifts piled up next to his bed. Absurdly, he hadn't noticed the delivery of so many presents.
Kyle rubbed his eyes and said curiously, "Ratton, do owls have some sort of hidden ability...?"
Ratton, who had been meditating on his perch, lifted his wings and gave a half-hearted hoot.
Although Kyle had entrusted most of his Christmas gifts to the owl post office, he had asked Ratton to deliver the presents intended for his family, friends, and professors.
Kyle had quite a lot of friends.
To make the deliveries in time, Ratton had flown tirelessly throughout the night and had just returned, exhausted, only a short while ago. His wings felt too heavy to lift, and he had no energy to spare for responding to Kyle's idle questions.
"Sorry, I've put you through a lot."
Kyle apologized as he walked over to Ratton and poured some owl tonic into a bowl, adding a small piece of braised dragon liver as a treat.
Dragon liver, a more suitable pet snack than Moke rat jerky, was ridiculously expensive. A piece the size of a small vial of Felix Felicis cost sixteen Sickles.
It was daylight robbery.
The piece of dragon liver that Kyle had prepared was a Christmas gift for Ratton, costing him ten Galleons.
To be honest, he had never even treated himself to something so luxurious.
After eating a few bites of the liver and drinking some tonic, Ratton finally looked more spirited.
Kyle then returned to his bed and resumed unwrapping his presents, most of which were candies and chocolates in greater quantities than last year.
"Kyle, something's wrong!"
After about ten minutes, a scream suddenly came from the common room.
It was Connor.
Kyle immediately put down the chocolate he had been unwrapping and rushed out of the dormitory.
In the common room, Connor stood anxiously, holding an open box in her arms.
"What... what happened?" Kyle asked hastily.
Biting her lip, Connor said uncertainly, "I... I lost a Galleon again. I wonder if it was Peeves..."
Due to last year's incident, upon realizing her Galleon was missing, Connor immediately suspected the witch who had turned into a rat.
"Don't be silly," Kyle waved his hand dismissively. "She's probably busy making breakfast for the Dementors right now and doesn't have time to come to Hogwarts. You might have just forgotten where you put your Galleon."
"Oh..."
Hearing Kyle's words, Connor breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest. "Then I'll look for it again. It's not about the Galleon, but I really liked that crystal hairpin."
"Wait... crystal hairpin?"
Kyle frowned. "Did you lose anything else?"
"Not that I can think of..."
Connor tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Some Galleons, a crystal hairpin... Oh, and a silver brooch. I had just unwrapped the gift, and then it disappeared in the blink of an eye."
Galleons... crystal... silver brooch...
Kyle's eyes twitched as he seemed to realize what was going on.
"Wait here."
Kyle took a deep breath and took out the "Philosopher's Stone."
The next second, a black ball of fur pounced straight out of the corner of the common room.
Galleons, the hairpin, the brooch, the stone, and even a flowerpot... A whole bunch of items rained out of Sniffles' pockets, causing it to yelp anxiously.
"It's Sniffles!" Connor exclaimed in surprise.
She had seen this magical creature a few times before—covered in black fur, with a duck-like flat bill, and of course, the distinctive pockets.
It could be none other than Sniffles.
"That's odd," Connor frowned. "Shouldn't Sniffles be living in the Forbidden Forest? What's it doing in our common room?"
"Er..." Kyle scratched his head. "His name is Jerry, and he's my pet."
Kyle gathered the scattered items from the floor and explained sheepishly, "I must not have kept an eye on him last night. He must have sneaked out of the dormitory."
Merlin's beard, Kyle distinctly remembered putting this little rascal back in his box before going to bed. How on earth did he get out?
Could it be that the box wasn't closed tightly enough? But nevertheless, it was a relief to have discovered this early on. If they had found out any later, who knows how many more things would have gone missing.
This was the first time Connor had encountered a Sniffler up close. She approached cautiously and asked, "Can I pet it?"
"Of course." Kyle handed Sniffles to Connor and reminded her, "But be careful of any reflective items you might have on you. Make sure Sniffles doesn't steal them."
"Okay, okay." Connor nodded absentmindedly as she gently rubbed Sniffles' head.
The soft, fluffy feeling made her close her eyes in delight.
Seeing this, Kyle returned to the dormitory to continue unwrapping his gifts.
It's worth mentioning that this year, aside from candies, he received more books than anything else.
From professional magical theory books to Quidditch technique guides and biographies, the variety was impressive.
There was even a book titled 'Postnatal Care for Sniffles' that Kyle soon realized was from Newt.
Dumbledore had sent him a pair of hand-knitted woolen socks with beautiful golden-red patterns and his initials.
Kyle squinted at the socks for a long while before realizing that the golden-red threads were made from a phoenix's tail feathers... specifically, Fawkes' tail feathers.
Using such precious feathers to knit socks... he wondered what Dumbledore had been thinking.
They would have made a much better pair of gloves, at least then others could admire them.
As for the gift he gave Dumbledore, it was much more practical: '300 Ways to Knit Woolen Socks'.
It was an upgraded version of last year's gift, with an additional 200 new patterns to keep Dumbledore occupied for a while.
However, the most surprising gift Kyle received this year was from Snape.
A moldy piece of parchment.
Kyle understood the message loud and clear—Snape was reminding him to pay attention in class and take diligent notes.
If one's mind remained empty of knowledge, time would render it as useless as this moldy parchment.
Kyle couldn't help but admire Professor Snape's thoughtful lesson...
Only a professor as dedicated as him deserved two gifts.
Aside from the usual shampoo, there was also a book that Snape had carefully selected—a book that had once been wildly popular among wizards, topping the bestseller lists several times...
'Walking with Giants'.
(End of Chapter)
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