Chapter 72

Felix hadn’t expected an unexpected gain.

Combined with Malfoy’s words, he realized that the diary had not been brought to the school by Malfoy – he was just an unlucky man who had picked it up after the second attack had taken place.

Now, he can finally confirm the truth.

Felix nodded and turned to leave when he suddenly heard Luna’s ethereal voice from behind him –

“Christmas present.”

He turned to look at her, “What?”

Luna said with a straight face, “I suddenly realized that I haven’t prepared a Christmas present for you, so rushed in my introduction.” She unhurriedly rummaged through her coat pocket and, to Felix’s slightly odd gaze, pulled out an odd-looking bracelet.

She said rather sadly, “I made them myself, I was going to make a pair.” She held out her hand and handed it to Felix.

Felix didn’t know why he reached out and took it, but he did.

Luna bounced away.

When Felix returned to his office, with the bracelet still in his hand, he slumped back in his chair and thought very carefully about how he should return the gift.

It seems that the usual gift is not very appropriate according to her temperament …

Finally, he fished out a book from his own collection, “A Selection of World Jokes”, which he somehow felt went well with the little witch named Luna. Watching the owl’s distant figure, he refocused his attention upon the new information.

Gryffindor, flaming hair, first-year freshman, these few traits combined, he almost concluded it had to be a Weasley kid, their family quite famous for their redhead

Moreover, he even heard his assistant mention a mouthful that the youngest member of the Weasley family – Ron’s sister – enrolled this year.

So how did this go round and round and linked back to the trio?

He recalled that he had indeed encountered this little red-haired witch a few times in his early days, in rather sensitive locations – either near Hagrid’s Hut or in the abandoned girls’ lavatory.

Felix thought about this, which is another direction of an investigation. He was curious to know who had brought the diary, and whether he had any more similar, extra one in stock – the young version of the Dark Lord is cautious, and he was silent about his relationship with Slytherin, which put some of his questions in jeopardy.

It became dark and Felix made his way to the Great Hall. A short distance away, he saw a colourful, beautifully decorated venue, in addition to those seen in the morning, near the ceiling there were a dozen constantly wandering lanterns, continuously throwing coloured fireworks from what looked like the mouth of the fissure.

He saw the trio, where Ron waved excitedly at him – Felix guessed it may be due to the gift he gave, but he couldn’t think much about it, Dumbledore waving at him, and he walked over.

The Headmaster wore something formal and interesting tonight. His long beard was tied up with purple and red ribbons, like the shape of a gourd, “Felix, happy holidays.”

“You too, Headmaster Dumbledore.”

Dumbledore winked and whispered, “I got your gift, it’s lovely, I didn’t get a chance to read that book yet, but I know it’s worth reading just from the name.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

With a “popping” Ferris Bueller fireworks that went through the Great Hall, the party officially began.

Dumbledore, as the Headmaster, led the crowd in singing a few cheerful Christmas carols, then smilingly announced, “Eat to your heart’s content, fill your bellies.”

Various types of food appeared out of nowhere, including Perfect Roast Turkey, Mini sausages, Meatloaf, Pork Chops, Stuffed Pork Loin Pie, Mushy Peas, Baked Pastries, and more, which were exceptionally plentiful.

The young wizards huddled together, forks slashing across the table with a trail of shadows.

Felix also put aside all his worries and ate a lot.

Hagrid recommended a Special Hogwarts Drinking Custard to him, Felix tasted it, it is sweet and sour, and the alcohol taste in it’s not very strong, he drank a few more glasses.

On one side, Lockhart shook his head, his wavy curls shaking.

Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore whispered, from time to time, with ” giggling ” bursts out.

Finally, everyone had time to chat until they were seven times full, and a “buzzing” sound echoed over the Great Hall. Felix stuck his fork into a piece of Grape jelly and stuffed it into his mouth, and then he saw his assistant tiptoeing out of the Great Hall with two young wizards in tow.

Interesting, were they going to do something again?

At the other end, Hermione holding two pieces of chocolate cake up, announced her plan, “I’ve put a normal Sleeping Draught in this, you just make sure Crabbe and Goyle can find them – they’ll eat it for sure, and when they fall asleep, you pull a few hairs out of both of them and hide them in the broom closet.”

Ron and Harry looked at each other, and they felt that there were all sorts of holes in the plan. Ron asked her, “What about you, Hermione?”

“I already got mine! Remember the Dueling Club? Millicent wrestled with me and I fought … back … Anyway, I got her hair.”

Hermione went away to see the status of the polyjuice potion, leaving Harry and Ron alone to finish the job.

“Honestly, I don’t think it’s that easy,” Ron said with a sad face.

Harry also did not hold much hope.

But they could only shrink into the shadows and stare unblinkingly at the door of the Great Hall.

Halfway through the day, a somewhat bored Harry whispered to Ron, “When are you going to take leave permission from Professor McGonagall?”

“The sooner, the better,” Ron said without thinking, “I can’t wait to have a new wand, Professor Hap is just too sweet!”

Felix simply and brutally sent him seven golden galleons and a note, which briefly stated, “Noticed your wand is damaged, suggest you buy a new one, otherwise you will not be able to participate in next semester’s dueling class. Also: count it as a reward for your courage.”

Harry received a copy of “Dueling Codex”, one of Felix’s reference books for writing dueling class materials.

Therefore, the two were also aware that Professor Hap had taken over the dueling club from Lockhart, and they had discussed it privately and were looking forward to his classes.

“I just hope the new dueling class doesn’t have Snape in it,” Harry said hopefully.

The dinner had been going on for over an hour and one by one the young wizards were leaving, Felix still talking to Professor Flitwick about the grimoire he got, “That ancient magic is interesting, sort of some combination of a Reducio and an Engorgio.”

Professor Flitwick said, “It is said these two magic spells evolved from it, I do see some similarities, but it could be a coincidence.”

The two of them fixed a time and prepared to discuss it in detail academically after Felix had studied it for a while.

In the lively and noisy atmosphere, Felix’s first Christmas dinner as a professor at Hogwarts ended.