A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts-Chapter 645: Christmas Full Moon Night - (1)

The evening banquet concluded amidst a relaxed atmosphere.

As the invited guests began to depart one by one, Felix scanned the crowd, but couldn't spot Carlotta Pinkstone. He had intended to seize the opportunity to make contact with her, but judging from Mrs. Bones' expression upon her return, it seemed their conversation hadn't been too pleasant, prompting Pinkstone to leave early.

Professor Slughorn was quite pleased with the party. He stood by the magnificent fireplace, bidding farewell to each departing guest. He was engrossed in it, bustling around, offering appropriate words and gestures based on each person's status and relationship.

"Elde, my dear student, you haven't published much in recent years. I'm eagerly awaiting your next masterpiece—"

"MacLagan, give my regards to Tiberius! And Skelton, he must have some free time lately."

"Madame Shafiq, thank you for the gift—"

"Oh, Frank and Alice, can I call you that? Wonderful... It's a shame I couldn't offer my congratulations on your opening day. I was still contemplating whether to accept this teaching position then... Nave? Yes, he's been performing admirably..." Slughorn warmly clasped Frank Longbottom's hand, speaking with an intimate tone, "Honestly, I believe your performance during this turmoil more than merits two Order of Merlin, First Class medals. But since you've already got two of those..."

He gave Frank's shoulder a hearty pat, "Say hello to Augusta for me."

Alice kissed Neville's forehead, then disappeared into the emerald flames with her husband.

"How are you going back?" Hermione asked her parents. Felix's gaze drifted past the Grangers' shoulders, catching sight of Sirius and Mrs. Bones bidding farewell to Harry.

"By Floo Network, of course," Mr. Granger said, somewhat excitedly. "That's how we arrived. It's incredible! Professor Slughorn mentioned he temporarily connected our fireplace to the magic network. I suppose it's similar to accessing internet signals."

Hermione was taken aback. "Goodness! How can you—" she exclaimed anxiously, "What if you shout the wrong address? Harry once got lost in Knockturn Alley for that reason... Professor?" She looked to Felix for help.

"I could use Apparition—," Felix began to suggest.

"Oh, don't worry!" Slughorn waddled over, jovial after seeing off the Weasleys. His walrus-like mustache twitched with delight as he spoke, "Thanks to Amelia! I mentioned it in passing when she accepted the invitation, and she generously agreed to help."

Madame Bones, called by name, nodded in their direction.

"That's right." Slughorn grinned, leading them to the fireplace. After Sirius and Harry hugged goodbye, they left through the flames. Slughorn tapped the fireplace with his wand.

"There, from now on, no matter what you shout, you'll be directed to one place—just for today."

"Thank you for the hospitality; we had a lovely evening," Mr. Granger said, holding Mrs. Granger's hand, addressing everyone. "Mr. Potter, you're welcome to visit us anytime." Mrs. Granger added politely, "Indeed," Mr. Granger looked at Felix, as if remembering something, "I've collected various styles of teeth specimens, if you're interested..."

Mrs. Granger squeezed his hand tightly.

"Um, well—goodbye."

The next morning, most students boarded the Hogwarts Express to go home for the holidays. However, there were still quite a few who chose to stay behind at school, including some who were punished for misuse of transfiguration spells.

During breakfast in the Great Hall, Harry relayed what Sirius had told him last night to Ron and Hermione.

They each expressed their thoughts. Hermione looked somewhat worried. "Hmm, I had a hunch from Madame Bones' letters." Ron's response was more subdued. "According to Sirius, that's decades away, isn't it? Let's focus on the present."

He frowned, noticing that everyone around them eating seemed to be doing so slowly and thoughtfully, making it quite unappetizing. According to Professor McGonagall, she would provide a special recipe for students preparing to practice starting from the full moon.

"After breakfast, Hermione went to the library as usual, 'We have twelve essays to write!'" "It's eleven essays, Hermione," Ron pointed out her mistake, "Harry and I don't count Arithmancy."

In the end, only Hermione went to the library.

Harry and Ron chose to take a joyride on their broomsticks. With few people around the school, they could freely zoom around the Black Lake, but unexpectedly bumped into Valen, accompanied by a troop of snowmen ice-skating. The trio grinned and engaged in a snowball fight.

Caught up in the game, both Harry and Ron lost their ordinary grass blades from their mouths several times during the play. Upon returning to the castle and calming down, they expressed pessimistic views about their futures.

"I don't think I can do it, keeping quiet all the time," Ron said gloomily. "Even if we manage it, we still have to wake up and chant spells every morning and evening, and wait for thunderstorms. Even Bill and Percy, who had top grades, never considered Animagus transformation when they were at school..."

"Don't lose heart, Ron. We've even passed the test set up by Voldemort," Harry encouraged. But when Ron pointed out that he had to lead Quidditch practice after the break, which involved speaking loudly, Harry felt equally disheartened.

When they met Hermione that evening, she didn't greet them warmly. Instead, she sarcastically criticized their frivolous behavior and went to bed early. It wasn't until the next day when Harry unwrapped his presents under the small Christmas tree that his mood lifted.

Harry's gifts, as usual, included a sweater knitted by Mrs. Weasley herself, some sweets, and products from the twins, including a pair of boxing binoculars. When he showed them to Ron, Ron angrily tossed them aside. The twins had given them to him for a test, and he had handed them over to Professor McGonagall to get rid of them, only to remember later that they were from his two unreliable brothers, which frightened him enough.

Harry also unwrapped the gift from Ron—a tiger-headed hat.

"Collins picked it out. If you don't like it, talk to her." Ron said, as he put on a parrot hat and looked at himself in the mirror. "Where did she get it?" Harry asked interestedly. It seemed to be part of a series, and he wanted to ask if there was one with deer antlers, as he planned to give it to Ginny next year.

"It's from Elegant Wizard Wear." Ron said. "It had to be there."

"Is Collins alright?" Hermione asked as they went downstairs. "Isn't she and Tonks supposed to be keeping an eye on Carlotta Pinkstone? Yet she showed up at the party last night."

"It should be fine," Ron said slowly after some thought. "Their mission ended at noon yesterday. Who would have thought that woman would have a connection with Professor Slughorn, let alone receive an invitation."

Meanwhile, Felix had just finished unwrapping his gifts, which was quite a task.

Felix was most pleased with Luna's gift—perhaps because he had "suggested" it. It was a portrait of himself, and in it, he was smiling brightly. Felix didn't know when he had left such an impression on Luna, but he quickly found out.

A small note accompanied the portrait, bearing Luna's blessings:

"Merry Christmas, Felix. I love the gift you gave me. I'm going to take it home to show Dad. Also—I got inspiration from your magical portrait in Saint Mungo's when Dad was being treated on the fourth floor."

Valen also received a painting, but it—perhaps more in line with Luna's taste—was a stone painting. In a one-foot square frame, hundreds of carefully selected small stones were painted in colors, pieced together to form the shape of a Niffler. The green cloak behind it was made from palm-sized leaves, swaying majestically.

Valen looked at it inquisitively for a long time, seeming both disdainful and pleased.

Until Felix said with a sour tone, "We can swap." Valen immediately hugged the painting, looking at Felix warily. By the time it turned around, the stone painting had been placed next to Felix's blank magical portrait. If one day the portrait from Saint Mungo's were to come over, it would surely be surprised to find itself with a strange-looking neighbor.

Felix was about to ask what he and Luna had talked about to make her so happy and send him the portrait when, in the afternoon, a strong cooking smell wafted into the room on the cold air.

Snuggled on the couch watching cartoons, Valen sniffed the air and quickly listed a series of dishes. They exchanged glances for a moment, then unanimously agreed to turn off the projector and head downstairs to the Great Hall.

The hall seemed quite spacious, with only one of the four house tables left. Every few seats, there were colorful wizard crackers, which could explode into various styles of hats and curious trinkets. They were early, not yet mealtime, but some students had already arrived.

"Bang! Bang!"

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