A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

Harry and Hermione laughed so hard they almost fell over. After they finished laughing, Hermione scolded him with a stern face, "You're not allowed to talk about her like that. Mrs. Pince is very serious about her work."

“Yeah,” Ron muttered, “He’d blow on us from behind when we were picking out books, and he’d chase us out with a flying feather duster when we were talking too loudly…”

“Oh, right, Harry!” he said excitedly, “I know Ginny won a Goblet of Fire model from Professor Hyp, the kind with flames! I wanted to borrow it to see her, but she wouldn’t let me. I guess she’s planning to give it to you as a Christmas present. How biased…”

Harry didn't say anything, but Hermione said, "Impossible, she won't give it away. I heard her say she was going to keep it safe."

Chapter 409, let's continue.

December is characterized by strong winds and blizzards. Compared to the vast expanse of heaven and earth, Hogwarts Castle looks like a small animal wearing a white felt hat in the snow.

For example, a Niffler.

A pair of Hogwarts students were chatting in the courtyard. “Come a little closer,” Eleanor said, pulling a locket from her thin pocket and examining it closely. “I remember there was a button on the edge to adjust the range…”

The boy next to her hesitated for a moment, then moved a little closer. Caldwell watched her intently fiddling with the knob on the locket.

"What is this?" he asked curiously.

"A thermostatic locket, Mom sent it to me," Eleanor explained, head down, examining it. "All done!"

“What…wow.” Caldwell exclaimed as he felt a warm breath seep into his cool clothes. At first, he felt a little uncomfortable because the heat made him realize how cold his outer clothes were, but soon he comfortably squinted his eyes.

It feels like summer has suddenly returned.

"So that's why you weren't wearing a thick wool cloak! Turns out you had this...this thermostat!" Caldwell said, his face flushed from the heat, and he quickly loosened the thick scarf around his neck.

“It’s a thermostatic locket,” Eleanor repeated, then showed him the locket. “There are two knobs on it, one to control the range and one to control the temperature. It’s a new product from the ‘Future World’ company. Mom mailed it to me immediately via owl.”

"The future world?" Caldwell heard another unfamiliar word.

“Oh my! This is quite a famous company lately, their news is everywhere. The Magic Light Show, the collaboration with the Quirky Sisters, their branches in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade... They've also released a list of upcoming products, a dozen or so, and I especially want the Emerald Crown.”

Caldwell looked at her with envy. "You know so much, unlike me who knows nothing."

“Because my mother is a wizard, she graduated from Hufflepuff—just like me, and she’s the one who told me the little secret of the kitchen…” Eleanor said, squinting her eyes. She had moon-white hair and a round face.

"So don't worry, feel free to ask me anything you don't understand," she said, patting her chest.

They sat on a bench in the courtyard, watching men and women stroll by leisurely over the weekend, pointing and commenting on everyone who passed by.

“Look, that person is Slytherin. You can tell from the color of his scarf.”

"Those two girls are holding magical puppets, props from ancient spell classes. I guess they're looking for a quiet place to play."

“Ha, look at that guy, doesn’t his clothes look like Mick the little wizard? Especially the way he scratches his head, it’s so silly…” Eleanor giggled.

Caldwell listened intently, then pointed to someone in the distance, "It's Professor Moody!"

The two fell silent, watching Moody drag his one leg as he approached and then left. They held their breath until he rounded a bend, and the crunching sound of his footsteps on the snow finally ceased.

“He’s really scary, isn’t he?” Eleanor said softly.

“Yes, you’re absolutely right,” Caldwell agreed. “You wouldn’t believe how horrible it was when he yelled at me on the day of the warrior selection, with that battered nose less than three inches away. I was saved by a young professor…”

“Stop talking.” Eleanor immediately recalled the scene of Professor Moody scolding her when she dyed fluffy in class.

Thanks to the thermostatic locket, the biting cold wind turned into a refreshing spring breeze, cool and pleasant, which made Caldwell feel comfortable. He thought Eleanor had set the locket's temperature too high, and the two of them felt as if they were sitting by a fireplace, with snow unconsciously spreading around them.

“What’s that?” Caldwell suddenly said, pointing to the snow in the yard. “There’s something down there.”

“I don’t know,” Eleanor said, pulling her wand from her pocket and looking warily at the snow. Caldwell followed suit, but they were both first-year students and hadn’t learned many useful spells.

“It must be a living thing!” Caldwell said. They lifted their legs and placed them on the edge of the chairs, watching carefully as the thing in the snow left a long trail before stopping not far from them.

Just as Caldwell began to wonder if a huge mouth full of fangs would suddenly appear, a small bulge appeared in the snow. "It's coming out!" Eleanor said nervously, gripping Caldwell's arm tightly with one hand.

"No, don't worry, it doesn't look big... I should be able to handle it... Huh?"

Just as he was about to cheer Eleanor on, a pink beak popped out, followed by a furry head.

"Ha!"

Niffler Valen raised his head, peering around through the snow, paused on Eleanor and Caldwell, glanced in the direction of the courtyard exit, and then disappeared back into the snow.

“What’s that…it doesn’t look that scary,” Caldwell said, blushing slightly, perhaps because Eleanor was too close and the locket was too hot.

“A Niffler,” Eleanor said. “I heard from the prefect that a professor at the school owns one… Oh no.”

"what happened?"

“We missed an opportunity! The prefect said that this Niffler has a lot of treasures, and nobody knows what good things it has hidden in its pockets, but if it takes a liking to something, it will take out its treasures and trade them with you!”

“What can a Niffler have? Pretty rocks?” Caldwell asked, that was all he could think of.

"Not only that, I heard that a pair of twins gave this Niffler a box of fireworks and in return they got a quill pen that can draw in the air and the figures they draw can move... Another student gave it a glowing grass and in return they got a bottle of blue bubble solution."

"Bubble water?"

"A bubble big enough to put a person inside!"

Caldwell imagined Eleanor being inside a blue bubble, and he found himself really looking forward to it. But the Niffler was gone, and he could only watch longingly as it left its tracks in the snow.

……

Niffler Valen was enjoying a rare vacation. It had made a deal with the big bad wolf: for every hundred words it learned, it could go out for a stroll, without anyone watching it.

Emerging from the courtyard and walking a short distance, it peeked out again. It caught over a dozen familiar scents, chose one, and sprang into action. Occasionally, it would look up and hear some conversations that it barely understood—

"I'm only telling you this, because you're my sister... Professor Trelawney predicted something bad would happen!"

"Is that so?" a lukewarm voice said. "Who will die this time?"

“Padma Petit!” the first person to speak sounded displeased. “You should learn to respect professors.”

"I'm sorry, Ravenclaw only respects truly learned people."

The sniffler Valen poked its head out of the snow and saw a pair of very similar twin sisters on the verge of a fight. It hesitated and walked back.

"Look, it's a Niffler! Don't go, I want to trade with you!" One of the witches excitedly ran towards it. Valen was startled and quickly burrowed into the snow, running away in a flash.

This time it was much more cautious. When it heard voices, it deliberately slowed its pace. Soon, it caught the scent of a familiar voice—no, three voices.

"Do the people of Vargadu live in snow houses?"

“Fred, you’re insulting my African friends. They have their own bases… The environment isn’t great, but it’s definitely better than Durmstrang. Poor ghost ship, swaying in the wind…” a voice said quickly, sounding not very angry.

"You really made friends with them?" Fred asked, somewhat surprised.

"Look at my braid, brother, tonight we're all bronze eagles!" Li Qiaodan shouted the slogan that was free.

“Oh, Lee, the Ravenclaw students won’t be happy to hear that…” George said with a smile.

The Niffler darted past like a black shadow, finding its target before entering the main castle building.

“That’s an absolutely terrible idea,” Ron said.

“I don’t think so,” Hermione said calmly.

"Don't you think it's outrageous? We waited outside the Iphamoni camp for two hours just to say a few words to those goblins... I was terrified when they pointed arrows at me."

Harry remained silent. He had planned to sleep in on the weekend, but Hermione insisted on taking them to interview goblins to ask about their lives in Ilvermorny, saying she wanted to compare them with the house-elves at Hogwarts.

As a result, the goblins rudely chased them away. As for his feelings... he was completely numb from head to toe, and all he wanted to do was go back and take a hot bath. He didn't want to say a word.

Just then, a black shadow darted out in front of him. He instinctively drew his wand, but stopped the moment he saw the shadow clearly. "Valen?" he exclaimed in surprise.

The sniffle climbed up his shoulder to his head, looking down at Ron and Hermione arguing.

"Chirp! (Keep going!)"

Chapter 410 Dance Partner

In the common lounge, Niffler Valen received special treatment.

After seeing off wave after wave of onlookers, Harry and his friends settled into their usual corner seats. Ron and Hermione were too embarrassed to speak after being seen in such a state by Varen, and Harry figured it would be easier to talk to Varen.

"Would you like some candy?" he asked.

Valen shook his head, pulled a box of splatter cards from his pocket, and looked at them with his bright black eyes. Was that a question? "Anyone want to play cards?"

Hermione, who had been silent all along, laughed. "Varren, you've learned this too?"

Ron blinked and whispered in a secretive tone, "I'll teach you a new way to play, my own invention... It's not the traditional way, and it's not the Bavarian way either. You'll see!"

He opened the box and quickly built the foundation of a castle using the explosive cards. "Next is the second layer. Keep stacking them up. You have to keep your hands steady... Oh..." Ron's face fell because the second layer of the castle had already started to sparkle.

Valentine nimbly leaped from the table and jumped into Hermione's arms, turning back to stare at the two-story, simple castle.

"boom!"

Ron's card castle exploded, sending a burst of fire and black smoke up from the table. Valen watched with great interest.

Harry and Hermione wanted to laugh but dared not. Ron wiped his dirty face haphazardly with his sleeve and said with a wry smile, "It's actually pretty exciting, isn't it? I recommend you play with the professor, each of you get a card, and someone's bound to get caught in the end. Trust me, I'm on your side!" He said to Valentine with conviction.

“Oh, right,” Hermione suddenly said, holding up the Niffler and pointing its eyes at her. “Varren, do you know that hourglass? The one you swapped with Harry?” She gave Harry a look.

Harry understood immediately, pulled a dusty hourglass from his pocket, and held it out. "This is it. I heard Hermione say—well, she only heard it from Professor Hyp once—that you stole the goblins' gems from Gringotts in the middle of the night, and then the professor ordered you to return them..."

The sniffle stared at the hourglass for a long time, but it didn't remember much. This kind of thing didn't attract it much. What was the situation back then?

Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched as the Niffler gestured and guessed, and eventually figured out what had happened.

"So, you returned all the gems, but somehow you left the hourglass behind... and didn't think much of it when you were taking inventory of the treasures later," Hermione concluded.

Sniff nodded and continued gesturing.

“You have so many treasures… I didn’t notice this hourglass,” Hermione said somewhat haltingly. Valen nodded vigorously; yes, that was exactly it. Ron, standing nearby, stared wide-eyed at the Niffler’s pocket. “Just how much have you hidden? I want to see—”

Valen immediately turned his head away.

“—Okay, I get it,” Ron said.

Just then, Ginny walked over and sat down next to Hermione. "Oh, little Varun, it's you..." Hermione was grooming its fur when Ginny teased the Niffler and asked in a casual tone, "Have you thought it through? Are you going to ask for a dance partner, or wait for someone to ask you? You can't be left out in the end, can you?"

Harry and Ron stared wide-eyed; they had been worrying about this very thing. Yesterday, during their Transfiguration class, they had finished their assignment ahead of time—transforming guinea fowl into guinea pigs—and decided to play a dueling game. Harry and Ron each held a fake wand; Ron held a tin-plated parrot, and Harry held a rubber-colored black cod. The two were sparring back and forth in the back of the classroom.

Hermione looked at them with annoyance as she tidied her Transfiguration notebook. "Gentlemen, can't you do something appropriate for your age?"

“You see, we’re practicing swordsmanship, emulating the first Headmaster Godric Gryffindor,” Ron defended his childish behavior, while launching a fierce attack while Harry was distracted.

"Really? Do you know Gryffindor's favorite spell?" Hermione asked casually.

Harry and Ron stopped and looked at each other.