HP: Azkaban's Outstanding Graduate

"how?"

"Next July, I will be going to Beauxbatons to take up a professorship..."

"What does Maxim intend for you to teach?"

Potions.

“That is indeed what you excel at…” Sagres nodded seriously, “but I have a suggestion!”

What suggestion?

“Wear a veil, otherwise your students might not learn anything…”

“I will seriously consider it.” Nightingale laughed, and the fireflies on the top of the ruins suddenly flickered on and off as if they were blinking.

“Cast frost magic at least three times a week; this will greatly help you suppress the Leviathan bloodline within you…” Sagres tapped the dragonskin pouch at her waist with her wand. “Also… remember to remind them of the unfinished steps when you hand over the wands…”

Then he plucked a glowing rose, its petals solidifying the moment they touched his wand, turning into a brooch that would remain forever fresh.

"This is the door key..."

“How can you just give roses to any lady?” Nightingale joked, a rare occurrence for her, a sly smile playing on her lips. “You’ve become so gentle lately, Mr. Greengrass.”

"Yes...maybe I've been bewitched by you?"

“I now suspect that I accidentally added love potion to the Felix Felicis I gave you…” Nightingale winked at him.

“That’s really unnecessary…” Sagres replied humorously, “Truth serum will suffice.”

Nightingale laughed even harder, then she put away the medicine bottle and decisively waved goodbye to Sagrais: "Farewell, Sagrais..."

Before she finished speaking, she transformed into a streak of silver light and vanished from the spot.

Sagrass smiled, then Apparated back to Hogsmeade.

He remembered that Dumbledore once said that Apparating directly into someone's house was very impolite, no different from kicking down someone's door.

He figured that Hogwarts must be like home to the old headmaster, so he could just Apparate away from the castle. But if he Apparated back directly, Dumbledore might really get angry…

With Christmas approaching, Hogsmeade Village was covered in a thick layer of snow, and the edges of the lake were frozen solid.

Sagress encountered two unexpected people here—the Weasley twins.

As he walked down the street, the two brothers squeezed out of Honey Duke's shop.

The Weasley twins were quite embarrassed to find themselves bumping into the professor, which was clearly unexpected.

"If I remember correctly, today is not Hogsmeade weekend."

Sagles calmly asked the two brothers, "So gentlemen, who can tell me why you're here?"

Fred: "Professor, this is a misunderstanding..."

George: "Yeah, after all, who would risk breaking school rules to come to Hogsmeade?"

Fred: "Even if there were, they would never be from the Weasley family."

George: "Even if it's someone from the Weasley family, it won't be the two of us!"

Fred: "You're right, after all, George and I are probably just temporarily lost."

Sagrass raised his hand to interrupt the two brothers' nonsense: "What a coincidence, I happen to know the way back to Hogwarts."

The two brothers immediately deflated, but they had no choice but to follow Sagles toward Hogwarts.

“Don’t be so down,” Sagrais said to the two young wizards behind him without turning his head. “Come back with me now and I won’t deduct any points from you, or you can choose to go back to Hogsmeade and I’ll deduct five points from each of you.”

Fred: "Thank you, Professor, but I think it would be better if we went back to Hogwarts."

George: "Fred is right, but Professor, why are you at Hogsmeade?"

Sagrass turned to look at them, a half-smile on his face, and said, "If I were you two, I would shut up right now."

The twins immediately and wisely kept silent, no longer trying to find out any information.

Sagres shook his head and led his two brothers on their way to Hogwarts through the snowstorm.

-------------------

It was very cold, but the owls were especially busy during this time, because it was already mid-December and many young wizards would be sending letters home to inquire about whether they would be staying at school for the holidays.

In Potions class, Malfoy and his henchmen, as always, were causing trouble.

“I feel very sorry…” Malfoy said slowly, with a hint of deliberate sarcasm in his tone, while glancing sideways at Harry, “because those who have to stay at school for Christmas are all homeless.”

Crabbe and Goyle chuckled, trying to amplify Malfoy's taunts with their laughter. Harry, however, remained focused on weighing the lionfish bone powder, ignoring their provocations.

Ever since the last Quidditch match, Malfoy had been resentful of Harry's dominance on the field. Anger and jealousy swirled within him, so he once again used Harry's lack of a home to mock him.

The news that the young wizard could stay at Hogwarts for Christmas thrilled Harry. He wouldn't have to go back to face his Uncle Vernon's nagging, nor would he have to see Dudley's face, which he hated. This would be the happiest Christmas he'd had in years.

Whenever he thought of this, a warmth and anticipation would well up in his heart, making Malfoy's sarcasm less unbearable.

Chapter 19 Turmoil

Harry focused intently on his task, trying to distract himself from Malfoy's presence. He knew that no matter how much Malfoy provoked him, he couldn't let this Christmas lose its joy.

He was genuinely happy that he was staying on campus for Christmas.

Meanwhile, Ron's parents planned to visit Charlie in Romania, leaving the Weasley brothers, who were still in school, with nowhere to go, so they had to stay at Hogwarts to spend the Christmas with him.

After Potions class, they left the underground classroom, only to be blocked by a huge fir tree at the entrance to the Great Hall. Hermione, with her sharp eyes, spotted the enormous feet peeking out from under the fir and immediately greeted them warmly, "Hello, Hagrid!"

“Hello, Miss Granger, Christmas is coming soon, are you staying at school too?” Hagrid replied.

Hermione shook her head: "I'm taking the Hogwarts Express home tomorrow to spend Christmas with my parents."

Ron also stuck his head into the fir branches. "Hello, Hagrid, do you need any help?"

“Oh, no need, Professor Greengrass has already done most of the work for me, but thank you anyway, Ron,” Hagrid said gratefully.

Just then, Malfoy said in his characteristic arrogant tone, "Could you please stop blocking the way? Weasley, looking to earn some pocket money? Well, the gamekeeper's cabin is practically a palace compared to your house."

Upon hearing this, Ron, who already disliked Malfoy, flew into a rage and lunged at him.

“Weasley!” Snape’s icy voice came from behind them.

Ron released Malfoy's collar, but was still breathing heavily with anger.

“Professor Snape, he’s been provoked.” Hagrid put down the fir tree he was carrying on his shoulder, revealing his snow-covered head from the leaves. “Malfoy insulted Ron’s family, that’s why he did it.”

“Regardless, Hagrid, fighting is a violation of Hogwarts’ rules.” Snape coldly swept his empty eyes over the group. “Gryffindor will lose another 5 points for this. You should be glad I didn’t lose any more, because this isn’t the first time.”

He stared at Harry and the other two with a warning look, then coldly ordered, "Now, all of you, get out of here."

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, with smug smiles on their faces, rudely pushed their way through the fir branches, shoving and shoving, shaking fir leaves all over the ground, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing there, resentful.

"Just you wait, I'll get my hands on those guys sooner or later!" Ron said through gritted teeth, watching Malfoy and his two companions' retreating figures.

"Wait a minute..." A calm voice came from inside the Great Hall, stopping Malfoy and his two companions who were about to leave. "If the three of you can't restore this fir tree to its original state, then you'll have to go to the Forbidden Forest and cut it down for me yourself."

"It's Professor Greengrass!" Hermione recognized the voice immediately. She pushed past Harry and Ron to the front and saw Professor Greengrass stopping Malfoy and the other two and talking to them.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, a smug smile spreading across their faces.

“Professor, I don’t understand…” Malfoy said, somewhat puzzled.

“I’m decorating the auditorium and Christmas tree this year, so strictly speaking, the fir tree you damaged belongs to me!” Sagles said calmly.

“But it’s blocking the way…” Malfoy tried to explain, but Sagles simply raised his hand to interrupt him.

“This is no reason for you to destroy it.” He stood right in the middle of the Great Hall entrance, blocking even Snape from the steps.

“Now, you either go to the forbidden forest and cut down another tree for me, or you will each have 5 points deducted from your license.”

Upon hearing this, Snape immediately revealed a hint of sarcasm. He disdainfully pulled out his wand, and the broken branches and leaves on the ground instantly returned to their branches. "Sagres, they're just a few leaves. Slytherin won't lose points for this."

"It seems that protecting your own students has become your instinct, Professor Snape," Sagres said calmly, then continued without waiting for a response, "Then, Mr. Malfoy, you will lose 5 points for insulting a classmate."

After saying that, he ignored Snape's gloomy face, waved to the pine tree blocking his way, and controlled it to float into the Great Hall.

"Haha, that was so satisfying..." Ron said happily to Harry and Hermione, "It's a pity we couldn't deduct more points from him!"

“Look at their faces, they look really awful,” Harry whispered.

"By the way, Hagrid, you still can't tell us who Nicolas Flamel is?" Hermione asked Hagrid expectantly as she watched the Slytherin group walk away.

"Forget about it," Hagrid said, sounding somewhat agitated. "What that dog is guarding is none of your business."

“We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, unless you can tell us,” Ron interjected eagerly.

“That would save us the trouble, although we really have nothing to do anyway,” Harry cleverly added, trying to get Hagrid to agree.

“Listen, I won’t tell, don’t even think about it!” Hagrid resolutely refused them, leaving no room for negotiation.

"Alright then, it seems we'll have to find the answer ourselves." Hermione and the others exchanged a smile, then ran briskly toward the library, leaving Hagrid standing there, watching them leave with a displeased expression.

"What's wrong, Hagrid?" Sagres asked Hagrid, who looked distressed, while waving his wand at the Christmas tree.

"Oh, it's nothing, Professor," Hagrid quickly replied. He was quite envious of Sagres calmly waving his wand to decorate the Christmas tree, and immediately forgot about the unpleasantness from just now.

The hall was decorated with more than a dozen tall Christmas trees, each adorned with a different style of decoration. Some were icicles, some were candles, some were firecrackers, and some were small gift boxes.

Hagrid took down a small gift box, opened it, and found a pair of brand-new dragon-skin gloves. He was delighted, but he soon realized that with his large hands, it would be difficult to put on the gloves.

“This is… such a shame.” Hagrid held the gloves in his hands, muttering to himself, “Perhaps these gifts belong to the young wizards.”

Sagres had just finished decorating the Great Hall when he noticed Hagrid's predicament. As he passed by, he casually tapped the gloves on Hagrid's hand with his wand, and the gloves, which were meant for a young wizard, instantly became a size larger.

Hagrid tried it on and found it fit perfectly.

“Thank you so much, Professor Greengrass…” Hagrid said excitedly, “This is the best Christmas gift I’ve ever received!”

“It was no trouble at all.” Sagres smiled and nodded.

After decorating the auditorium, he returned to his office, which was unusual for him. With Christmas approaching, he had many letters to send out, even though he felt it was unnecessary.

Chapter 20 Letters

In fact, it seems that Hogwarts professors never leave the castle for Christmas, because the students who stay at school still need to be managed, and all faculty and staff continue to exercise their management authority during the holidays.