Chapter 615: The Source of Happiness
Chapter 615: The Source of Happiness
At this moment, Snape's face was as dark as thunder, as if someone had just punched him in the face, turning it black and blue.
His eyes were fixed on the package in front of him as if it contained not Valentine's Day chocolates but a ticking time bomb.
An eerie atmosphere permeated the Great Hall, and the silence that followed was deafening. Even Lockhart, who had been all smiles just moments ago, froze, sensing the dangerous aura emanating from his colleague.
The silence was short-lived as whispers began to fill the air, growing denser like raindrops falling from the sky.
Everyone was curious to know who had sent Snape the Valentine's Day chocolates.
This mystery would likely become one of Hogwarts' unsolved puzzles.
"I remember Snape receiving Valentine's Day chocolates every year!" Albert suddenly spoke up, noticing the quiet discussion among his peers. "Maybe Snape has a girlfriend."
"No one knows who sends Snape those chocolates every year," Fred and George said, struggling to hold back their laughter.
Indeed! No one knew who sent the Valentine's gift, and reportedly, there was no signature on the package.
The question remained—had Snape ever eaten any of the chocolates?
Well! At least Albert didn't care.
As the oppressive atmosphere dissipated, Lockhart quickly regained his composure. Just as he was about to say something, another owl flew towards the staff table and dropped a package in front of him.
Attached to the package was a greeting card filled with unfamiliar characters.
"A gift from a foreign friend?"
Lockhart couldn't read Italian, but his extensive experience had prepared him for such situations.
"Ahem, well, I took the liberty of preparing a little surprise for all of you!" Lockhart clapped his hands.
The students and teachers in the Great Hall soon became aware of what Lockhart was referring to.
Through the doors leading to the entrance hall, twelve dour-faced dwarves strode into the room. These creatures had golden wings protruding from their backs, and they each carried a harp.
"These are, without a doubt, the ugliest Cupids I have ever seen," Albert remarked, his appetite suddenly disappearing at the sight of the crude dwarves.
"They should be carrying bows and arrows instead of harps," added Sana, clearly agreeing with Albert's assessment. "What are those, dwarves?"
"Yes, they are dwarves, similar to fairies and house-elves," Jordan explained to Sana, unable to hide his displeasure. "Dwarves usually possess immense strength and can also use magic. I think someone should muzzle Albert's big mouth. His prediction from last time might come true; I have a feeling Lockhart is going to make a mess of Valentine's Day."
However, Lockhart seemed impervious to the students' complaints and jeers. Cheerfully, he continued, "Our friendly little Cupids, bearing greeting cards, will be wandering around the school today, delivering your Valentine's Day cards. So don't be shy; actively participate in this activity!"
As Lockhart spoke, several of Albert's dorm mates shot him sympathetic glances, anticipating that Albert would likely receive a pile of Valentine's Day cards.
After all, this was a rare opportunity.
"Of course, if you're interested, you can also seek advice from the professors on their secrets to success. I dare say there's no one more adept at enchanting charms than Professor Flitwick." Lockhart winked at the students, flashing his signature smile. "Or you could ask Professor Snape to teach you how to brew Love Potions. I'm sure my colleagues would be more than happy to... enthusiastically... "
Lockhart suddenly fell silent, and the students turned their heads to see a flock of owls swooping into the Great Hall.
This sight did not bode well with the professors, who feared it was another one of Lockhart's stunts—sending a horde of owls to deliver Valentine's Day gifts to them.
It was no wonder the professors had such suspicions, given Lockhart's history of similar antics.
"Well, Lockhart thought this flock of owls was here to deliver Valentine's chocolates to him as well. He had a smile plastered on his face and was even about to embrace them, but his smile soon froze."
An owl dropped a parcel in front of Albert, followed by a second, third, fourth, and fifth owl, all jostling for space on the table. They not only crushed the butter on the plate but also knocked over the salt shaker and dropped a feather into the porridge. All of them were trying to deliver a parcel to him.
A wave of owls delivered most of their parcels to Albert, while Lockhart only received a handful. He couldn't help but twitch his cheeks in jealousy.
"Well, you're quite popular!" Fred exclaimed, looking at the pile of parcels.
"I'm out of here. Help me sort through these parcels, and feel free to open any you want to eat." Noticing Lockhart approaching, Albert whispered to Fred and then quickly made his escape.
"He's so popular!" Ron said sourly. "Even Harry doesn't get this kind of treatment."
"Forget it, I don't want to be that popular!" Harry, who had noticed Lockhart's actions, felt like laughing and was in a very pleasant mood.
"By the way, Hermione, you didn't send him a gift, did you?" Ron shot a probing glance at Hermione, knowing that she had sent Albert a Valentine's card.
Hermione didn't answer; she suddenly found her timetable extremely interesting.
Lockhart was disappointed that he hadn't caught Albert and seized the opportunity to boost his own presence. He returned to his seat at the staff table and began to go through the Valentine's chocolates he had received.
"Does anyone recognize this writing?" Lockhart asked his colleagues.
"It looks a bit like Italian." Professor McGonagall, who had traveled to many countries, recognized quite a few scripts.
"It must be from an admirer."
Lockhart smiled as he opened the parcels in front of his colleagues, only to find that they didn't contain Valentine's chocolates but rather a whole block of cheese.
At that moment, Lockhart was perplexed. He couldn't understand why someone would send him cheese on Valentine's Day.
Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but if it was, it was an incredibly huge coincidence.
"This cheese looks good. I think it's produced in Italy. Would anyone like some?"
To hide his embarrassment, Lockhart picked up a knife and fork and prepared to cut a slice of cheese to taste.
However, he soon found that the dining knife couldn't cut the cheese very well, so he had to draw his wand and use a cutting charm to slice a piece from the block of cheese.
Just as Lockhart was about to taste the cheese, his attention was immediately drawn to the milky-white, semi-transparent worms wriggling on the Casu Marzu! Especially when one of the active maggots jumped out of the cheese and almost landed on Lockhart's face, causing him to throw down the cheese and scream in horror.
Ah! The Great Hall fell into an eerie silence as all eyes turned to Lockhart, wanting to know what had caused his scream.
Why had Professor Lockhart suddenly cried out?
A muscle in Professor McGonagall's cheek twitched as if she were trying to suppress a smile. Even more surprisingly, Snape's gloomy expression had mostly vanished, and he curiously examined Lockhart's cheese with a bizarre look on his face.
As for Professor Flitwick, he poked at the maggots on the cheese with his knife and said to Lockhart, "Perhaps this is a specialty from Italy."
Finally regaining his composure, Lockhart's face turned sour as he realized he had lost his composure. Hearing Professor Flitwick's words, he exclaimed, "I never expected that people in Italy would like to eat cheese with worms in it. I don't know how they can stomach it."
(End of Chapter)
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