Chapter 28 Christmas Holidays on the Streets of London

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In the following content, Harry discovered different things. He found that Merlin had always been searching for methods to minimize harm to wizards and magical creatures. If bloodline transformation was successful, it could greatly reduce the training time for Animagi.

However, this experiment had never been successful.

Harry didn't know what Animagi were—they hadn't covered that in Transfiguration class yet. But he understood that it was just one of Merlin's more dangerous research projects, and he always adhered to his original principles.

At the end of the book, Harry read about Hogwarts, and he discovered that Merlin had attended the school and was a student of Slytherin House! This part of the content made Harry decide to visit again at least tomorrow night.

The next morning, the snow hadn't melted.

"Do you want to play chess?" Ron asked. "The chess set Maca gave me is fantastic. It's much more exciting than regular wizard's chess, and it has a powerful fire-breathing dragon!"

"Not interested."

"Why don't we go and see Hagrid?"

"Not going... you go."

"Harry," Ron suddenly looked at him and said, "Are you still planning to go tonight? Listen to me, don't go again."

"Why?" Harry raised his head.

"The books in the Restricted Section gave me a bad feeling," Ron said seriously, "And last time, you bumped into Filch, and last night when we returned, we saw him snooping around the library. What if he sees you? What if he runs into you?"

"You sound just like Hermione!" Harry forced a smile.

"I'm not joking, Harry. Seriously, don't go." Ron seemed genuinely uneasy.

"Fine!" Harry hesitated but reluctantly nodded, seeing Ron's seriousness.

However, that night, as he lay in bed, he couldn't help but think of the contents of that book. Those stories attracted his attention like mythical legends—after all, he was still a child. And he never liked his Aunt Petunia, who wouldn't waste money buying him fairy tales.

"Just one more time! Just the last time!" Harry secretly made up his mind.

Soon, he put on the Invisibility Cloak again, left the dormitory quickly while Ron was sleeping, and hurried to the library.

"Oh! He went again?"

Harry ran too fast and bumped into the coat rack at the entrance. After he left, a coat hanging on it slipped down, startling Ron awake.

Ron turned his head and indeed saw that Harry wasn't in bed.

Leaving Ron's situation aside for now, Harry had almost reached the library.

Just as he took out the large book again and prepared to continue reading, he unintentionally noticed someone leaning against the bookshelf next to him!

"Ah!" Harry was startled and almost threw the book. "Oh... Professor Dumbledore? I'm sorry, I didn't see you."

"It's quite strange that you became nearsighted after turning invisible," Dumbledore said, and Harry saw him smiling, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

"So," Dumbledore said, walking slowly towards him and sitting on the floor with Harry, "Have you read the autobiography written by Merlin himself in 'The Book of Jaz'?"

"Um, I think so." Harry felt a bit nervous since wandering around Hogwarts at night was against the rules.

"What do you think? Do you find it fascinating?" Dumbledore slowly said, "I've also read that part. King Arthur pulled out the 'Sword in the Stone' but it was cut during a duel with King Berinor. Then Merlin took him to a lakeside, and the Lady of the Lake presented him with a sword. That's the famous Sword of Gryffindor, also known as the 'Sword in the Lake.'"

"...Merlin liked Muggles, didn't he? Even the 'Order of Merlin' he established was initially meant to advocate for Muggle rights and protect them with the law. But later on, it became an organization to recognize great magical achievements," Dumbledore sighed and then spoke seriously, "Alright, you've heard the story. Don't come here again. You, and Ron, should not casually enter the Restricted Section. The books here are dangerous."

"How did you know—"

"I don't need an Invisibility Cloak to become invisible," Dumbledore said gently, "And please remember, you're not at a stage where you can freely read Dark Magic books."

Harry pursed his lips and finally nodded dejectedly. But just as he was about to stand up, he remembered something—he turned his head and looked at the silver-gray magical book.

Harry didn't ask Dumbledore why Maca came here too and left annotations in the book. But with Dumbledore's keen observation, he had already noticed Harry's gaze.

Dumbledore shook his head slightly, not knowing whether he made the right decision this time. Would that extraordinarily clever and likable child turn into someone like Tom?

His intuition told him it wouldn't happen, but this wasn't something he could judge based on intuition alone.

He had missed a chance to save his own student once, and the child had embarked on an irreversible path. He didn't want Maca to get lost in the crossroads of his life because of his inaction.

So this time, Dumbledore kept a close eye on Maca, intending to guide him promptly if he encountered any problems.

Harry had returned to the dormitory under Dumbledore's watchful gaze, but Dumbledore himself was lost in thought.

However, when Harry entered the dormitory, he saw Ron sitting on the edge of the bed, looking restless. Surprised, Harry was about to ask what was wrong when Ron pulled him over abruptly.

"Harry, I have to tell you—"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone alone without telling you," Harry immediately apologized.

Ron shook his head immediately.

"No, let's not talk about that now," he said. "I was planning to secretly go out and find you. Even without the Invisibility Cloak, we've gone out before, you know? But guess what I saw on my way to the library?"

"What?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"I saw Severus Snape!" Ron exclaimed. "He had Colin pressed against the wall and was menacingly asking if he knew how to control the monster that Hagrid has. It was really scary!"

"You weren't caught, were you?" Harry asked quickly.

"No, I wasn't. I didn't dare stay too long. I came back quickly," Ron replied.

Afterward, Harry lay in bed for a long time but couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard he tried.

The next day, Harry decided to heed Dumbledore's advice. He neatly folded the Invisibility Cloak and placed it at the bottom of his trunk. For the rest of the Christmas holiday, he didn't touch it once.

The tumultuous events of Christmas had come to an end for Harry, but for Maca, it was just the beginning!

"...What's that?"

Luna had asked this question several times in the past few days, and Maca patiently explained various things from the Muggle world to her. Luna still had a dreamy look on her face, but it was clear that she was curious about everything around her.

Maca didn't take Luna too far away because they still had to go home every night. Although Xenophilius Lovegood trusted them, he wasn't comfortable with Luna spending the night outside yet.

Even so, Luna was already overwhelmed by the sights in London.

Christmas had just passed, but the festive atmosphere grew even stronger. Outside Covent Garden, a massive reindeer stood in the middle of the street, wearing a Christmas hat on its head and a red and white striped scarf around its neck. Its body was adorned with twinkling lights, creating a festive spectacle.

Inside the garden, rows of stalls were filled with affordable hot drinks and small desserts. Maca was glad that he had saved some extra pounds when he exchanged his Galleons. They came in handy now.

He bought lots of delicious treats and interesting little gifts, all exuding the Christmas spirit. With so many people inside, Luna voluntarily held Maca's hand.

Maca smiled at her. He knew that Luna simply didn't want to get separated. For this innocent and spirited girl, everything was pure and simple.

With his arms full of things, Maca led Luna to the outdoor resting area where visitors could take a break.

"Try this," Maca said, handing Luna a cream dessert. "It's a special Christmas treat, and it looks really good!"

Luna took the dessert curiously and examined it closely. There were various Christmas decorations scattered around her, and she particularly liked these little trinkets.

"Maca," Luna spoke up, carefully placing the half-eaten dessert on the table. She stuck out her tongue and licked her lips, her gaze fixed on the nearby Christmas tree.

"What is it?" Maca asked.

"Aren't you going home?" Luna blinked her big eyes, observing the decorations on the Christmas tree.

Maca felt like she was asking about the Christmas tree—why couldn't she look at him properly when talking?

"Um, no, I'm not going home," Maca replied. In front of Luna, he always instinctively avoided topics about his family, although he didn't know why.

Luna glanced at him and said dreamily, as if in a trance, "Family is the only place in the world where people's flaws and failures are hidden and revealed."

After saying that, she shifted her attention back to the trinkets in front of her, seemingly forgetting what she had just said.

Maca stared at her for a while, then shifted his gaze to the street in the distance.

Christmas in England was always so leisurely. Everyone took to the streets, looking left and right, enjoying the wonderful holiday season. In the crowd, it was easy to tell who were couples and who were parents with children. But regardless of the combination, their faces were filled with happy smiles.

After a while, Maca snapped out of his reverie. He inwardly smiled bitterly, surprised that he could feel envious of others.

Just as he was about to look back at the table and choose a dessert for himself, he noticed a sudden commotion among the crowd.

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