Hogwarts: A Chinese-Style Professor

Chapter 59 The Christmas Party Before the Storm

Christmas is here.

When Li Wei woke up in the morning, there were already three piles of gifts in the corner of the office, the gift boxes stacked high together like a haystack.

"Merry Christmas, Professor."

"Merry Christmas, Master."

I wish you happiness too.

The two assistants and Barton had gotten up even earlier than him, but they weren't in a hurry to open the gifts—they seemed to want to wait for Levi to join them.

In previous years, the students from the academy would join them and exchange gifts.

This year was unusual, so Li Wei decided to stay at the school and spend the time with his colleagues instead of going back. However, they still exchanged gifts via owl e-mail.

Let's open the presents together!

Looking at the familiar scene, Li Wei felt a surge of joy, a feeling he had never experienced before—could his mindset change so much simply by changing his perspective?
He pondered, while he, his assistant, and Barton each unwrapped their gifts.

As for the gifts he gave to others, he had already entrusted them entirely to Barton—who had always been his all-around housekeeper.

In addition, Barton, who usually helped out in the kitchen, knew a lot about the professors' preferences, and was much more thoughtful and skillful at giving gifts than Levi.

But while opening the gifts, Li Wei suddenly felt that next year, perhaps he should choose the Christmas presents himself—just like the gifts he prepared for his two assistants.

Dumbledore gave Levi a seven-page manuscript in Godric Gryffindor's own handwriting, titled "The Wisdom of Courage".

Professor McGonagall's gift was also a handwritten manuscript. Levi quickly glanced through it; it was a prose poem written by Rowena Ravenclaw.

Next, Professor Flitwick also received a manuscript, but it was an alchemical notebook of a medieval alchemist.

As if it were pre-arranged, all three of them gave the same gift.

"It seems that's the impression I've left on them."

Li Wei chuckled softly, quite pleased with the gifts.

Only Snape gave Levi a bottle of potent truth serum, along with a note: This will help you, an idiot, figure out your place.

"Barton, make a note for me: next year's Christmas present for Snape is a case of super-strength shampoo, made in a workshop owned by the Potter family."

"Yes."

Afterwards, several professors he had met also gave him gifts, but they were all just polite gestures, which Li Wei quickly dismissed.

Incidentally, Hagrid, the gamekeeper, also gave him some unicorn fur, which, although he didn't need it, was quite a generous gift.

There was also the school administrator, Filch, who sent him some strange little items. In his letter, he said that he had collected them from former students, and now that they had all graduated, he had taken it upon himself to give them to him.

Besides the professors, many students also gave him gifts.

Ginny gave him a red scarf.

Cedric gave him a hardcover copy of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard".

Hermione gave him a complete set of chemistry lab equipment.

Harry and Ron together gave a gift, which included some small toys and some homemade lactose candy made by Ron's mother.

Neville gave him a plant he had grown himself.

Percy gave him a copy of "How to Gain Power from Scratch." The student's passion for power was simply incomprehensible to Levi—why would anyone pursue other powers in a world where force determines everything?
A student named Luna Lovegood gave him a wind chime made from a butterbeer bottle cork and a tassel of bubble stems, in a letter thanking him for helping her find her lost item—she seemed to be bullied by some of her fellow wizards for being too unconventional, a matter Levi had handled with unusual seriousness. Draco Malfoy gave him an inkwell carved from snakewood.

Not only him, but most of the Slytherin students gave him gifts, as did other members of the study group.
Li Wei accepted the gifts one by one, categorizing them into those he could use and those he couldn't. He then wrote letters and returned gifts on the spot to the students he hadn't given gifts to—the exquisite candies from Bee Duke's shop might be a bit outdated for his age, but they were very effective for these young people.

The miscellaneous tasks took almost an hour and a half, and he chatted with his two assistants for a while about the gifts they had received. By the time he left, it was already two hours later.

However, this kind of procrastination seems just right in the lazy winter days.

When he arrived at the auditorium, a few professors and students were still sitting there having lunch. They were discussing things quietly, occasionally letting out a soft laugh. Everything seemed peaceful and beautiful.

Li Wei and his two assistants quietly absorbed the atmosphere before leaving the auditorium and returning to their office half an hour later.

They sat on the sofa with Barton, the house-elf, and the four of them chatted about their recent experiences and insights while looking out at the snow through the French windows.

At this point, Barton started talking, recounting many events that happened in the kitchen of House Pokémon.

For the past decade or so, the four of them had almost never spent time like this—holidays held no meaning for someone like Li Wei.

He even thought that having to go through the trouble of exchanging gifts every year was an extremely troublesome thing, and this suggestion was only implemented after Joe Willy and Patton insisted on it.

But now, Li Wei has begun to genuinely feel that this kind of 'waste of time' has its meaning—not because the festival itself is meaningful, but because the people who spend the festival together are meaningful.

In the evening, the Christmas party was held as scheduled.

One hundred plump roast turkeys, piles of roast meat and boiled potatoes, platters of delicious sausages, bowls of peas mixed with butter, and dishes of thick, rich meat sauce and cranberry sauce. All sorts of food filled the table.

The students set off huge piles of wizard-themed firecrackers.

With a deafening roar like cannon fire, people were engulfed in a cloud of blue smoke, from which emerged a rear admiral's hat and several lively white mice.

At the head table, Dumbledore swapped his pointed wizard hat for a women's hat adorned with flowers. Professor Flitwick had just told him a joke, and he chuckled happily.

He then joined Professor McGonagall, and the two of them pestered Levi to share his teaching experience—Snape sat coldly to the side, drinking with his head down, but his ears were secretly perked up.

"Oh—you're all here! Today is a happy day, let's not talk about work anymore!"

Hagrid's face turned as red as a monkey's bottom. He stopped the three of them and kept urging them to drink.

"Ah--"

Snape, who was standing nearby, let out a cold laugh, but the next moment he was pulled into the arms of the drunk Hagrid.

The five of them drank together, and then he smoothly joined the conversation about teaching methods.

But clearly, Snape didn't approve of Levi's teaching methods—or rather, he never actually thought he could do it that way.

When Levi said, "Snape, you are very skilled in potions, but I think your teaching methods are not very suitable for students."

Snape immediately objected and started arguing with him.

But Li Wei dismissed this with disdain—what's the difference between your behavior of writing out an experimental procedure without demonstrating it yourself and letting students directly concoct potions and murder?
But his behavior undoubtedly angered Snape even more, and he immediately asked several questions, all about Potions.

But Li Wei just smiled slightly and ignored him.

Professors Flitwick and McGonagall laughed and spoke up to comfort Snape.

Seeing that Levi wasn't responding and was laughing happily, Snape gradually began to realize that it was really unnecessary to get angry on this festive day—so he stopped talking and just sat there silently, occasionally taking a sip of his drink and listening quietly to the conversations of others.

(End of this chapter)