Old Blood at Hogwarts

Hagrid's trip to the hut, while far from fun, had the effect Aaron, Ron and Hermione had hoped for.Although Harry had definitely not forgotten Black, he couldn't keep thinking about revenge if he wanted to help Hagrid win his case against the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures.He, Aaron, Ron and Hermione went to the library the next day, returning to the empty common room with arms full of books that might help prepare Buckbeak's defense. word.The four people sat in front of the roaring fire, slowly flipping through the dusty files, which were all famous cases about predatory animals. They occasionally exchanged words when they saw relevant situations.

"There's something here... this is a case from [-]... but this Hippogriff was convicted - well, look what people did to it, disgusting... "

"This might help, look - in [-] a monster with a man's head, a dragon's body and a lion's tail bit someone, and they let the monster go - oh, no, it was just because everyone was afraid and didn't dare to come close. it……"

By this time, in other parts of the castle, the customary splendor of Christmas decorations was being prepared, although there were very few students remaining.Thick ribbons of holly and mistletoe were hung along the corridor. Mysterious lights shone through each suit of armor. Twelve Christmas trees were placed in the auditorium as usual, with golden stars shining on them. .The corridors were filled with a strong, alluring aroma of cooking, so strong by Christmas Eve that even Scabbers stuck his nose out of the shelter of Ron's pocket and sniffed the scent hopefully.

On Christmas morning, after Aaron got up and walked out of the dormitory, he saw Hermione wearing a dressing gown and leading Crookshanks up the stairs.Crookshanks looks grumpy and has a ring of wire around his neck.

"Why are you here in the boys' dormitory, Hermione?" Aaron asked Hermione.

"I'm going to find Harry and Ron, do you want to come with me?" Hermione said.

"of course."

The two of them came to the door of Harry and Ron's dormitory together, opened the door and walked in.Harry and Ron were opening Christmas presents. They both had happy smiles on their faces and seemed very happy.

"What are you two laughing at?" Hermione asked.

"Don't bring it here!" Seeing Hermione coming in with Crookshanks, Ron hurriedly grabbed Scabbers from his bed and hid it in his dressing gown pocket.

But before Hermione could reply, Crookshanks jumped out of her arms and headed straight for Ron's chest.

"Get it out of here!" Ron shouted.

By this time Crookshanks' claws had ripped open Ron's dressing gown, and Scabbers managed to escape from Ron's shoulders.Ron grabbed Scabbers' tail.Kicked Crookshanks, but missed.He kicked the box at the foot of Harry's bed, knocking it over.Ron himself was hopping on one leg, screaming in pain.

Suddenly, Crookshanks' fur stood on end and a high-pitched, faint cry filled the room.The pocket speculum had fallen out of Harry's old sock and was spinning and glowing on the floor.

"I forgot this thing!" Harry said, bending down to pick it up. "I will never wear these socks unless I have no choice..."

The looking glass whirled in his palm.Crookshanks hissed and snorted at it.

"Take this cat away soon, Hermione," Ron said angrily, sitting on Harry's bed and stroking his toes.

"Can't you lock this thing up?" he added to Harry.

At this moment Hermione walked out of the room slowly, Crookshanks' yellow eyes still staring viciously at Ron.

Harry stuffed the speculum still into his sock and tossed it back into the box.Now there was only Ron's muffled whines of pain and anger.Scabbers curled up in Ron's hand.Aaron saw that Banban was now so thin that he was just skin and bones, and his fur seemed to be falling off piece by piece.

"It doesn't look good, Ron," Aaron said.

"It's just over-nervous!" said Ron. "If that stupid big furball doesn't mess with it, it'll be fine!"

But Aaron couldn't help but think of what the woman at the Magic Zoo had said about a mouse that could only live three years, and he felt that unless Scabbers had powers it had never shown before, it was approaching the end of its life.Looking at Ron's current state, Aaron can be sure that Ron will be very sad if Scabbers dies.

At this time, Aaron noticed a gleaming broomstick floating next to Harry's bed, and couldn't help asking: "Why is there a broom here?"

"Oh, someone gave Harry a Firebolt," Ron said.

"Firebolt?" Aaron was immediately surprised and quickly walked over to take a closer look.I saw that it was indeed a Firebolt, exactly the same as the one seen in Diagon Alley.It was hanging in mid-air without any support, and the height above the ground was just right for people to ride on it.

Aaron's eyes went from the golden serial number on the top of the broom to the completely smooth and streamlined end of the broom, and then asked: "Who gave it to me?"

"I don't know," Harry said. "The person who sent it didn't leave any card or instructions."

There was certainly a lack of Christmas spirit in the Gryffindor common room that morning.Hermione locked Crookshanks in the dormitory, but was extremely angry when Ron tried to kick him.Ron was furious that Crookshanks wanted to eat Scabbers again.Harry was looking intently at his Firebolt, which he had brought to the common room.For some reason this also upset Hermione and she said nothing, but she kept looking at the Firebolt sullenly.As if it had offended her cat too.

At lunch time, they all went to the hall and found that the tables there had been moved to the wall, and there was only one table for 12 people in the center of the room.Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout and Flitwick were all there, as was the caretaker Filch.Filch had taken off his usual brown coat and was wearing an old and rather outdated tuxedo.Apart from them, there were only three students: two extremely nervous first-year students and a sullen fifth-year Slytherin house student.

"Merry Christmas!" Dumbledore said as Aaron, Harry, Ron and Hermione approached the table, "There aren't many of us, so it would be silly to sit at separate tables... Sit down, sit down! "

Aaron, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat side by side at the end of the table.

"Firecracker!" Dumbledore said enthusiastically, handing the end of a large silver firecracker to Snape.

Snape reluctantly took it and pulled it, and the firecrackers exploded with a bang and spread out like a gun, revealing a large pointed witch hat with specimens of mountain eagles on the top of the hat.

Snape pushed the hat to Dumbledore, who immediately replaced his wizard's hat with it.

"Eat!" he said with a smile to the whole table.

Aaron was getting himself baked potatoes when the door to the hall opened and a very thin witch wearing a pair of large glasses walked in.

"Who is that?" Aaron asked quietly to Harry next to him.

"Oh, that's Professor Trelawney, who teaches Divination," Harry replied.

Professor Trelawney glided towards the group as if on wheels.To celebrate Christmas, she wore a green dress decorated with metallic discs that made her look like a shiny, oversized dragonfly.

"Sybil, I'm so glad you're here!" Dumbledore said and stood up.

"Headmaster, I have been looking into the crystal ball." Professor Trelawney said in a vague, distant voice, "To my surprise, I saw myself abandoning lunch alone to join your dinner party. Who am I to refuse the urging of fate? I immediately walked out of my building and I sincerely beg you to forgive me for being late..."

"Of course, of course," said Dumbledore, "let me get you a chair -"

He used his wand to pull a chair in mid-air. The chair spun in mid-air for a few seconds before making a dull sound and landing between Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall.However, Professor Trelawney did not sit down. Her big eyes kept looking at the table, and suddenly she let out a low scream.

"Oh my God! Look what I see, Principal! If I hadn't come, there would have been thirteen people at your table! Nothing is more unlucky than thirteen! Never forget that if there were thirteen Eat together, and the first person to stand up after the meal will be the first to die!"

"We're willing to take the risk, Sybil," said Professor McGonagall impatiently. "Sit down, the turkey is going to be as cold as a stone."

Professor Trelawney sat on the empty chair, her eyes closed and her mouth pursed tightly, as if thunder was about to hit the table.

Professor McGonagall put a large spoon into the nearest large tureen: "Would you like tripe, Sybil?"

Professor Trelawney ignored her. She opened her eyes, looked around, and asked, "Where is my dear Professor Lupin?"

"I'm afraid the poor man is sick again." Dumbledore motioned for everyone to start eating. "He was very unlucky to be sick on Christmas Day."

"But you must have known that, didn't you, Sybil?" said Professor McGonagall, raising her eyebrows.

Professor Trelawney gave Professor McGonagall a cold look and said calmly: "Of course I know, Minerva. But people shouldn't show off that they know everything. I don't often think that I have the Eyes of Heaven. Show it so others don't get on edge."

"That explains a lot," Professor McGonagall said acidly.

Professor Trelawney's voice suddenly became less muffled: "If you must know, Minerva, I can already see that poor Professor Lupin will not be with us for long. He seems to understand it himself He doesn't have much time. When I show him the crystal ball, he always avoids..."

"Think about it," said Professor McGonagall dryly.

"I don't think Professor Lupin will be in any immediate danger." Dumbledore said, slightly raising his voice, "Severus, have you prepared a potion for him again?"

"Yes, Headmaster," said Snape.

"Okay." Dumbledore said, "Then he will be able to get out of bed and walk around soon...Derek, have you ever eaten this kind of sausage? It tastes great."

The first-year student's face flushed with nervousness because the principal spoke to him, and he took the large platter of sausages with trembling hands.