Chapter 74: Christmas Eve
Chapter 74: Christmas Eve
"Kyle, come and build a snowman with us!"
Fred and George greeted him enthusiastically, inviting him to join them.
But Kyle refused without hesitation.
Their artistic style was too avant-garde, with abstract shapes and free-flowing lines that exuded an intriguing air of mystery.
Kyle was just an ordinary boy, with mediocre abilities and limited skills. He knew better than to presume he could contribute to such a grand endeavor.
He was not worthy.
...
Not far ahead, a group of Hufflepuffs huddled by the edge of the Black Lake.
The heavy snowfall had frozen the surface, and they were discussing whether to cut a hole in the ice and try their luck at fishing for a tasty Stargazing Pie.
Nearby, a snowball fight was underway, and Kyle witnessed a senior Gryffindor student sneaking a stone into a snowball and taking aim at a Slytherin.
Fortunately, his aim was off, and the loaded snowball arced through the air, just missing Professor Aurene.
"Young man, be more careful during snowball fights. No more stones," Professor Aurene admonished, flicking the snowball away with her wand. "I'll let it go this time as it might have been accidental, but don't let it happen again."
The Gryffindor student nodded vigorously.
Everyone was having a wonderful time, except for Filch, who was seething with annoyance.
The young witches and wizards lacked the habit of wiping their shoes, and their snow-covered footsteps left a trail of dirty footprints as they returned to the castle.
This undoubtedly added to Filch's workload.
Eventually, he gave up and dragged a chair to the castle entrance, refusing entry until the students cleaned their shoes.
During the History of Magic class, Kyle dozed off within thirty seconds and enjoyed a better sleep than he usually had in the dormitory.
If it weren't for Connor nudging him at the end of class, Kyle might have slept right through till noon.
"Students from both houses are falling asleep..."
Connor rubbed her slightly red eyes, looking like she had just woken up herself. "Why can't the school get a different History of Magic professor?"
"Maybe Professor Binns doesn't need a salary," Kyle shrugged.
Ignoring everything else, just this one point made Professor Binns irreplaceable.
Not to mention, he worked tirelessly year-round and, unlike other professors, had no personal affairs to attend to. His attendance rate remained consistently at a hundred percent, a very stable presence.
Additionally, the exam questions for History of Magic were straightforward. As long as you studied the textbook diligently before the exam, getting an 'E' was achievable.
So, it was no surprise that not only the school governors but even Headmaster Dumbledore would never agree to replace this divinely chosen part-timer.
"That stingy old bee," Kyle muttered, disapproving of Dumbledore's ruthless exploitation of the elderly professor.
...
As December arrived, the weather grew colder, but the young witches and wizards shed their lethargy from the previous month and buzzed with excitement daily.
Christmas holidays were approaching...
This meant a glorious two-week break from school.
In this festive atmosphere, it was challenging for students to focus in class, and they often found themselves daydreaming.
The professors initially tried to keep them on their toes by deducting points, but to no avail.
It might work for a few minutes, but soon enough, the students would revert to their distracted, hapless selves.
Of course, there were two exceptions.
Professor Binns, for one, couldn't care less about Christmas. In his History of Magic class, he continued droning on in his lullaby-like tone about the invention of self-stirring cauldrons.
"The self-stirring cauldron is a magically enhanced cauldron that stirs potions automatically. It was invented in the late 20th century by Gaspard Shingleton, who consequently... "
The other exception was Professor Snape.
He didn't care why students were distracted, and he wouldn't go easy on them like the other professors. Anyone caught not paying attention, except for Slytherins, would lose three points.
Thanks to his relentless efforts, on the eve of Christmas, Slytherin was leading the other houses by a wide margin, nearly a hundred points ahead of Ravenclaw in second place.
Professor Snape was quite pleased with this outcome.
Slytherin's sixth consecutive win was all but assured!
The night before departing for the holidays, Kyle bumped into a flustered Hagrid in the Great Hall.
It had been a while since he last saw Hagrid after their midnight excursion into the Forbidden Forest.
They had been avoiding Hagrid out of guilt, but now that they had crossed paths, it would be rude to pretend they didn't see him.
Kyle waved and greeted him, "Hagrid, how have you been?"
"Oh, it's you, Kyle," Hagrid said, looking down. "Sorry, but I don't have time to chat. I still have a lot to prepare. Merlin's beard! I forgot that Hogwarts is letting out for the holidays tomorrow. I thought it was only a few days past Halloween."
As he spoke, Hagrid kept walking towards the castle entrance.
Kyle had to jog to keep up with his long strides.
"Do you need any help?" Kyle asked.
"If you're not busy..." Hagrid thought for a moment. "...Could you help me gather some mistletoe for decorations? The feast is about to start, and I'm running late."
"Sure, no problem," Kyle replied.
Kyle and Hagrid made their way to Hagrid's hut near the Forbidden Forest.
There were two spruce trees with diameters of about sixty to seventy centimeters, along with a small pile of holly and mistletoe, not far from the hut.
"Just take those decorative plants, and I'll handle the rest," Hagrid said.
With that, Hagrid bent down and struggled to lift the two spruce trees.
When he stood up, his face was flushed red, indicating that lifting both trees at once was quite a challenge for him.
Just then, Hagrid heard a voice from behind him.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
In the next second, he felt the weight of the trees lift as if they had vanished into thin air.
Hagrid turned in surprise to see Kyle.
"A Levitation Charm... Impressive!"
"You're exaggerating, Hagrid," Kyle shook his head. "Anyone can do that."
"R-really?"
Hagrid blinked, bewildered. He recalled his own school days, and things didn't seem so advanced back then.
Had things changed so much in just a few years? Were the new students at Hogwarts already this talented?
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
