A Hogwarts Holiday Homecoming

The Hogwarts Magical Research Society has had a very promising start. Jon sat in his seat, watching Professor Sprout standing at the lectern. Suddenly, he felt like this scene was a presentation for some magical achievement. Jon had attended many academic presentations before, all similar to this one, where he sat and watched someone give a report at the lectern.

Professor Sprout had the air of a great magician. Normally teaching in the greenhouse, she didn't hide her favoritism for Hufflepuff students when standing at the lectern. She even made it clear to the Hufflepuff students present that she wouldn't hesitate to give points to her own house as long as they performed exceptionally well.

This excited the students who joined the Magical Research Society. Professor Sprout gave them the illusion that they were scholars, so they all tried to maintain a serious expression, as if they were attending a United Nations conference.

Among them, Jon's friends Stephen and Scali were the funniest. At least Flynn had watched the news on television, so imitating the postures of politicians didn't seem out of place.

This large classroom was now a public study room for Hufflepuff. Professor Sprout cast a large temperature control spell, making the room as warm as a greenhouse. Exiting from here led to the Hufflepuff common room, so the students didn't have to worry much.

Almost all Hufflepuff students had joined this society, especially the older students from sixth and seventh years, who were the most active. They wanted to win the House Cup before graduating.

The younger students weren't far behind, as the advanced magic demonstrated by the older students in the study room had sparked their interest in magic.

However, there weren't many students in the study room on a regular basis. After all, the society wasn't a class or a club with fixed meeting times; it was relatively flexible.

Apart from the large meetings held every Saturday evening to showcase new discoveries or innovative ideas, everyone had their own free time. Jon and his friends often did their homework in the study room, where they could ask questions to students from other years at any time. Everyone maintained the habit of not being too noisy or disruptive.

With Jon's support, Stephen also presented his improved Lumos spell at the Saturday meeting before Christmas. The low-level spell wasn't significantly enhanced, but it was now more suitable for younger students to use.

Professor Sprout was pleased with Stephen, the first student to come up with an innovation. After indicating that Stephen should teach the improved spell to everyone, she awarded Hufflepuff fifteen points - five for the spell and ten for Stephen's innovative spirit. This excited the students.

...

As Christmas approached, everyone couldn't wait for the holiday. Although there was a roaring fire in the Hufflepuff common room, the corridors were icy cold, and the classroom windows rattled in the chilling wind.

Christmas fell on a Tuesday, so they still had classes on Monday. The last class on Monday was Professor Snape's Potions class, which was held in the underground classroom. The low temperature made their breath turn into white mist, and they had to huddle around the hot cauldron as much as possible.

Fortunately, Professor Snape's expressionless face finally softened a bit on the eve of Christmas, and Jon even saw the professor smile briefly. He realized that Professor Snape actually looked quite good when he smiled, but his smiles were so rare that Jon thought he might be seeing things.

As the last Potions class ended, the Christmas holiday began.

Early the next morning, Jon and his three roommates took a carriage to the station. Bella, who hadn't seen her good little brother in a long time, insisted on sitting with the four boys in a compartment and even brought along a first-year Ravenclaw girl, Marietta Edgecombe, who was known as the telltale in Jon's memory.

At this point, Marietta hadn't become the witch who would later break her oath. She seemed a bit shy and was quite a pretty girl. Among the four, Stephen had the most outgoing personality. He quickly struck up a conversation with Bella within a couple of sentences. Flynn and Scali chimed in occasionally, and Jon was content to sit quietly.

In his small trunk, he had packed materials for his paintings and magical circles, so he had to be careful not to let anyone notice the unusual magical fluctuations in his trunk. Stealing things from Hogwarts seemed to be a serious crime, from what he remembered.

In the afternoon, the train finally stopped at King's Cross Station, and the students changed into their Muggle clothes, preparing to leave Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Fortunately, quite a few students chose to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays, or else the station would have been even more crowded.

Small groups of people quietly passed through the wall from the platform to the station. Jon and his friends blended into the crowd and didn't attract anyone's attention. When they reached the station's exit, the six of them split up and went to find their respective parents.

"Did Uncle not come?" Bella asked, standing at the station's entrance with Jon and looking for Mr. Smith.

"I told him we could wait until 1 o'clock. He has a class today, but as compensation for us, he decided to treat us to McDonald's," Jon said, raising the envelope in his hand, which contained several pounds.

"Oh? It's quite unexpected that he couldn't come back immediately," Bella said, but there was no surprise in her voice. Jon even detected a hint of amusement. "Shall we go to McDonald's and wait? It's too cold outside."

Mr. Smith had given Jon plenty of money. While waiting for their food, Jon went to a nearby bookstore and bought two books of medieval literature.

"Why are you buying these?" Bella asked, sipping her cola and flipping through the books before putting them back in front of Jon. "Are you planning to become a reporter for the Daily Prophet?"

When he heard "reporter," Jon thought of Rita Skeeter from his memories and decisively shook his head. He had no interest in Western reporters; he was a wizard, not a muggle journalist. Especially in the case of that old lady in Britain.

He was about to speak when he heard his father's voice at the entrance. "Hi, my dear son, Merry Christmas."