Chapter 421: Malicious Intent
Chapter 421: Malicious Intent
"Percy, with your level of skill in Wizard's Chess, your misguided advice is only going to lead Harry to an even worse defeat." As Fred and George entered the Gryffindor common room, they made their way over to the trio who were playing Wizard's Chess. Seeing Percy giving advice to Harry, they couldn't help but tease him.
"My skills are far better than yours," Percy retorted. "And I'm just offering some suggestions to Harry."
"We never offer random suggestions to others," the twins replied.
Ron, standing beside them, agreed with the twins. He, too, believed that he wouldn't have lost so badly if Percy hadn't kept interfering with his ill-advised strategies.
"What's that, a Christmas gift?" Ron asked curiously, eyeing the package in Fred's hands.
"According to the letter, this is a Christmas present Albert received," George explained, a mischievous smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He pointed to the package and added, "Apparently, it's a Christmas gift from Snape."
"You're joking," Harry exclaimed, stunned.
Ron, who was in the middle of setting up the chess pieces, froze as well. Both boys stared at the package in Fred's hands, their eyes wide with disbelief.
"Do we look like we're joking?" Fred asked. He placed the package on the table and addressed the group. "Who wants to open it?"
"That doesn't seem right," Percy frowned.
"Albert agreed to it, otherwise he wouldn't have sent it over. The letter mentioned that aside from this, he also received an unsigned Christmas gift that he'll be sending over later," George explained, pulling out a piece of parchment from his pocket and waving it in front of the others to prove he wasn't lying.
In truth, Fred and George were curious about the package themselves, but they didn't want to be the ones to open it in case Snape had placed some nasty jinx on it.
"Why would Snape send Anderson a Christmas gift?" Harry wondered aloud. The idea of Snape giving gifts seemed so out of character that Harry half-expected candy to start falling from the sky.
"Are you sure there won't be some sort of jinx on it?" Ron added, voicing his suspicions about Snape's intentions. The man's reputation was less than stellar.
"Probably not," Percy shook his head. "Snape is a professor, after all. He wouldn't do something like that, and even if he did, he wouldn't sign his name on the package."
However, Percy's confidence in his statement was waning with each word, making it hard to convince anyone.
"Why don't you open it then?" Fred suggested with a grin, pushing the package toward Percy.
"Alright," Percy agreed, raising an eyebrow. He stepped back and waved his wand, causing the packaging to shatter into pieces. Nothing happened—no jinxes, no traps. Inside were several glass bottles containing strange substances.
"These are... potion ingredients?" Percy said in surprise as he lowered his wand. "It seems we misunderstood Professor Snape."
"Why would Snape send these to Albert?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow.
At that moment, Harry and Ron also stepped closer to examine the contents of the package. Percy even picked up a piece of parchment that had been inside and studied it carefully. It seemed to be a potion recipe.
"Ew! Ew!"
The group, who had initially thought that Snape didn't have any malicious intentions, now understood his true motive as they peered into the glass jars.
One jar was filled with cockroaches, wriggling and very much alive. Another contained what looked like a brain, and there were other disgusting substances that resembled feces. In one of the bottles, there was a large eyeball, staring blankly and unblinkingly.
"Gross," George exclaimed, taking a couple of steps back in disgust. He now understood Snape's malicious intent—this was purely to repulse them.
Harry's stomach churned as he felt the turkey and Christmas pudding he had eaten for lunch roil within him. He felt like vomiting.
"It's your fault for destroying the package," Fred said to Percy, who looked a bit embarrassed. No one had expected Snape to send something so repulsive.
"You guys pack it up, and I'll write a letter to Albert to let him know what was in the package," Fred suggested, clearly looking for an excuse to leave.
Eventually, Percy managed to find a small box and repacked everything.
For a while, the group continued to discuss and criticize Snape's actions. Suddenly, Harry had an idea. "Ask Albert to give this to me. I want to forward this Christmas gift to Malfoy."
As soon as Harry voiced his idea, it received unanimous support from the group.
After reading Fred's letter, Albert agreed to let Harry handle the gift.
And so, that evening, Draco Malfoy received a belated Christmas present.
Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape were old friends, so it wouldn't be unusual for Lucius' son to receive a Christmas gift from Snape.
At the Malfoy Manor, Draco Malfoy frowned at the suspicious, belated Christmas gift in front of him. He had already used a Probity Probe to check the package and found nothing amiss. However, receiving such a gift at this point in time seemed highly suspect.
"Dobby, open the box," Narcissa instructed the house-elf, not wanting her son to open such an obviously suspicious package himself.
As the house-elf opened the package, cockroaches scurried out, causing a series of shrieks to echo through the manor. It was complete chaos for a while.
After a long time, when things had calmed down, Malfoy examined the contents of the package, his anger rising. He began to wonder who would dare play such a prank on him.
Indeed, while the gift contained nothing dangerous, it was filled with malicious intent.
Malfoy soon realized his suspicions might be misplaced, as he found a piece of parchment inside with a familiar handwriting. It was Professor Snape's.
Could this truly be a Christmas gift from the Headmaster?
Impossible! Malfoy was shocked.
Narcissa also furrowed her brow as she glanced at the parchment her son handed her. "Perhaps you should write a letter to Severus," she suggested.
Soon after, Snape received Malfoy's letter and frowned as he read it. According to the description, there was no doubt that the package was the one he had sent to disgust Albert.
Had Albert resent this Christmas gift? But why would he send it to the Malfoys?
No matter how he looked at it, the situation was strange.
In his reply, Snape wrote, "That was indeed a Christmas gift I sent out, but it was not intended for you. I have no idea why it ended up in your possession."
Snape never imagined that Albert wouldn't be disgusted by his gift. Instead, after Harry's intervention, it was the Malfoy family who was left repulsed, especially by the image of cockroaches crawling out of the package, which truly frightened them.
(End of Chapter)
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