Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle

Harry turned around and found Fred sitting next to him, pouring him another drink with a smile. He looked considerate and reliable, like a friend and older brother. He felt that he might have misunderstood the twins before.

"It's delicious. This is my first time drinking alcohol."

"It's a shame we only had the chance to try it at the Christmas banquet. We had actually planned to get a bottle of whiskey or sherry, but unfortunately these were placed in front of Professor McGonagall. It would have been much better if it was Headmaster Dumbledore."

"I prefer fruit wine."

"If you like, drink more. The banquet not only has delicious drinks, but also fun things to do. Come and take this."

"What……"

Harry dazedly followed Fred's instructions, put down the cutlery, held a colorful firecracker in his left hand, pulled its fuse with his right hand, and pulled it with both hands with Fred's help.

"boom!"

The roar of the exploding shells instantly made my head buzz.

A blue smoke spread out and enveloped him, and the red firecracker in his hand turned into a blue navy hat. Several lively little white mice nestled in the hat, squeaking and running around on the ground, attracting Mrs. Norris to chase them.

Then believe that they themselves are troll heads!

Harry's head was buzzing, but fortunately the firecrackers were just toys, and apart from being a little dazed by the explosion, he suffered no additional damage.

After recovering, Harry thought firecrackers were fun again. He had never had many toys since he was a child, and had never seen such a novel toy that could explode and be held as a toy. How interesting it was.

He opened several colorful firecrackers in succession, and soon there was a pile of things in front of him, a bag of glitter balloons, a disgusting tumor, and a brand new set of wizard chess.

All of them were blown out from firecrackers.

"Is it fun?"

"Fun."

"Still demolishing it?"

"Let's not tear it down. What are we going to do this afternoon?"

"Let's go to the playground to have a snowball fight in the afternoon, and then go back to have a tea party in the evening."

"We can play chess tonight." Harry took the initiative to invite a game, holding his new toy, very confident in his brand new wizard chess pieces. "You and Percy can watch, but don't give any random advice. It's all because of you that I lost so badly this morning."

"..."

The Weasley brothers fell silent one after another.

Dumbledore, sitting at the guest of honor table, took a sip of wine with a smile on his face.

This year's Christmas party was more lively than in previous years. Minerva and Pomona were listening to Filius telling about the embarrassing things in his youth. Hagrid insisted on taking Melvin out for a drink, but not now, not in the Great Hall, but to the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade.

Melvin could only promise to talk about it later, which sounded like an excuse.

The administrator Argus shaved the bones off the fried cod and fed the fish meat to Mrs. Norris. The man and the cat discussed night patrols, hoping to catch any students who were out at night during the holidays.

It is true that some students go out at night, but the administrator probably won't catch them.

Dumbledore planned as he savored his wine.

The party was coming to an end. The Weasley children and Harry stood up and left, holding a bunch of toys made from firecrackers. Several professors were still chatting. Melvin suggested going back to his room to read a book. It was not a Muggle book, but some cult fairy tale about wizards.

There are actually two versions of "Toadstool Tales". The one given to Melvin is the second version. The main purpose of the other version is to fill the pure brains of our little angels with healthy and happy thoughts, so that their sweet sleep will not be disturbed by nightmares and protect the purity of flowers.

In fact, the latter's sweet writing style is more disgusting.

I'll find a chance to give away another copy next year.

Dumbledore drank a few more glasses of fruit wine, walked back to the office, stood in front of the window for a while, and gradually sobered up from his drunken state.

The doors and windows were tightly closed, a warm flame was burning in the fireplace, and the cold north wind outside the window was isolated outside the glass. The temperature inside the room was high, while the temperature outside was low. Water vapor condensed on the glass, forming water droplets that flowed down one by one, like wriggling insects.

I opened the window and looked outside. The sky was still clear.

The students who stayed in school were playing snowball fights on the playground. Harry, like the other children, was running in the snow and having a great time. Until his clothes were soaked with snow and sweat, and he shivered with cold when the breeze blew, he finally walked back indoors dejectedly.

Old wizards don’t like to celebrate festivals, especially grand festivals. The deserted atmosphere after the excitement is hard to accept. On the other hand, such festivals have been celebrated dozens or hundreds of times, and every time a festival comes, people can’t help but think of the past, past events, and past people.

There is a mountain called Godric's Hill in the southwest of England. In the valley there is a small village with probably a few hundred households, half wizards and half Muggles living together. It was once the birthplace of Godric Gryffindor and the place where Bowman Wright created the first Golden Snitch.

There is a small square in the center of the village with a monument in the middle. There are several shops, a post office, a bar, and a small church on the street next to it. After many years, I still remember the crystal light radiating from the stained glass of the church.

There is a cemetery behind the church, where the wizards who settled here are buried. Occasionally, wizards come to worship or ghosts pass by, so there are rumors of hauntings.

Muggles always go to church to pray, but avoid the cemetery because of the rumor that it is haunted. However, there are always some brave Muggle children in the village who like to explore the cemetery on purpose. They did not encounter any ghosts or spirits, but only met a sickly girl.

Ariana quite enjoyed playing with them.

Ariana didn't like winter at first. It was very windy and snowy during this period. Due to her health, Aberforth insisted that Ariana stay at home. That winter, she got frostbite on her ears. It was not serious and she didn't feel itchy or painful, but Aberforth felt very guilty.

The following winter was even more unbearable. She couldn't even take a walk to get some fresh air, let alone go to church, until he came home for Christmas break and cast a spell to protect her from the cold and frost.

So she went to church every day during that holiday, and with the guidance of her Muggle friends in the village, she went to slide on the icy roads, shook the branches quickly when others were standing under the trees, and made snowmen and had snowball fights with her friends every day. Everything in this valley in winter made her feel fresh and happy.

Because of this, Ariana was not very happy when he proposed to take her away from the valley after graduating from school.

At that time, he thought that he was searching for the Deathly Hallows for a greater ideal, in order to obtain more powerful magic to cure his sister's illness, so he persuaded and chattered repeatedly, and Ariana gradually agreed in order to take care of her brother.

This was within his expectations. Compared to his friends in the valley, his brother was of course more important.

He remembered that the day before returning to school after the Christmas holiday, Ariana was reluctant to go out to play. Even though he took her out and deliberately stood under a tree covered with snowflakes, she just held his hand, stood quietly by his side, and watched her friends play.

He remembered the night he left. Ariana was so tired that she refused to fall asleep. She kept talking to him about all sorts of things: the flames in the fireplace, the snow falling in the early morning, the mice hiding in the woodpile, and many Muggle friends and nearby Muggle residents, but he didn't remember any of them.

Only when talking about Aberforth did he feel a little disgusted. If Aberforth had not been unable to learn the spell to protect himself from cold and dampness, Ariana would not have gotten frostbite and would not have been forced to stay in the house.

"..."

Dumbledore stood in front of the window, and suddenly felt sad when he thought of the girl who held his hand with a bright smile on the snowy day.

He actually knew what Ariana wanted a long time ago. She liked playing in the snow and she had never hated Muggles... But he thought that what his sister wanted was not the best, and what he wanted to give her was right and suitable.

Then he thought of another person.

He personally imprisoned that man in Nurmengard and wrote him letters every Christmas, but he neither read nor replied.

Together they killed Ariana.

Chapter 53: Sleepless Night

The moon rises and the sun sets.

The night sky was heavy and oppressive, with occasional glimpses of scattered twinkling lights among the stars through the clouds, like candlelight reflected in the sky. In the second half of the night, a cold wind howled, and silvery white snowflakes fell on the bare branches of the Whomping Willow.

There was silence in the principal's office.

Dumbledore stood quietly at the window.

There was a slight commotion among the portraits on the wall. Headmaster Everard cleared his throat and gently reminded, "Albus, there's news from the Fat Lady. Someone left the portrait hole late at night, but they didn't see who it was."

"I see."

The portraits of past principals looked at him and nodded, then turned and left the office, the footsteps gradually fading away.

……

The castle was especially quiet late at night.

Harry looked around cautiously and tightened the silk clothes around him. He still felt a little uneasy. Even though he walked carefully and lightly, his shoes still made a slight noise when they stepped on the floor.

Today was the happiest Christmas of his life, but there was always one thing lingering in his mind. When he was lying in bed and about to fall asleep, the thought that he had temporarily put aside during the day surfaced again.

At half past eleven, Harry stared at the curtains above his bed, wondering what was hidden under the trapdoor in the corridor on the fourth floor.

At half past twelve, Harry opened his eyes again and wondered who Nicolas Flamel was and who had given him the Invisibility Cloak.

At one in the morning, all sorts of chaotic thoughts were swirling in his mind. Not only did he not feel sleepy, but he was becoming more and more awake. Harry, with his eyes wide open, finally got out of bed and decided to find something to do.

Try the invisibility cloak.

The fabric was light and airy, smoother than silk, so thin that it seemed to have no substance, and there was no feeling when it was draped over the body. Harry wrapped himself in the Invisibility Cloak, holding the corners of the cloak with both hands to fix it, and took small steps forward, turning his head from time to time to observe his surroundings.

The portraits on the wall were fast asleep and showed no reaction when people walked past their frames. A few of them that were light sleepers were awakened by the slight footsteps. When they opened their eyes, they saw only an empty corridor, mumbled a few words in a daze, and closed their eyes again.

What a magical invisibility cloak.

Harry became even more curious.

Who gave me this magical invisibility cloak? Was it a friend of my parents, a professor at Hogwarts, or even Headmaster Dumbledore? Why didn't they reveal their identities?

Could it be a wizard from outside the school?

The faces of all the adult wizards he had known before flashed through his mind, but he still couldn't come up with an answer. So Harry stopped dwelling on it and started thinking about what he could do with the invisibility cloak.

The room in the corridor on the fourth floor...

This thought suddenly popped into Harry's mind, but he quickly rejected it.

Invisibility cloaks are indeed magical, but they can't stop the three-headed dog's sharp teeth. Fluffy is a large canine with a keen sense of smell and a huge body. Even if he can't see, he can smell his location. A few random bites are more than he can withstand.

After careful consideration, Harry decided to go to the restricted section of the library.

During this time, in order to find information about Nicolas Flamel, they had read many books introducing famous wizards of the past century, such as "Great Wizards of the 20th Century", "A Directory of Famous Contemporary Magicians", "Major Discoveries in Modern Magic", and "A Study of the Development of Modern Witchcraft"...

Unfortunately, nothing was found. Hermione suspected that Nicolas Flamel's information might be in the restricted area.

Harry wrapped the Invisibility Cloak tightly around himself and headed towards the library.

Madam Pince was away on vacation, and the library was closed for a long time during the holidays. Fortunately, the door was not locked. She reached out and pushed it, revealing a dark bookshelf inside.

Harry's heart beat faster. He found an oil lamp at the front desk, lit it, and walked inside with the lamp. He crossed the rope separating the restricted area, came to the front of the bookshelf, and checked the title of the book in the dim light.

However, each of these faded, gilded titles was more obscure than the last, making it impossible to discern the content by its title. Some books even had no titles. As if sensing the stealthy gaze from behind the invisibility cloak, faint whispers began to emanate from some of the books, and some of the covers seemed to bleed.

Harry wasn't sure if it was his imagination, and felt a little nervous.

If it were an ordinary student, he would have turned around and ran away by now, but he is not an ordinary student, he is a student of Gryffindor College, he is a student who has defeated the mysterious man, he is a student with courage!

After careful consideration, Harry finally chose a thick book with a silver and black cover, pulled it out of the bookshelf and placed it on his lap. However, before he could turn the page, the book opened by itself.

"what!"

A shrill and piercing scream suddenly rang out.

The screams were high-pitched and deafening.

The sound echoed endlessly in the silent library and could not be stopped even when the book was closed.

Harry was startled. He dropped the book in his hand, put on the invisibility cloak and ran out. He stumbled and knocked over the kerosene lamp.