Chapter 66

[December 24, 1976. Hogwarts.]

Thoughtfully examining the ceiling, from which dry fluffy snow was falling, Severus pondered whether to stay at Hogwarts for these two weeks and finish with the room of requirement or return to Diagon Alley and continue to work on potions and the artefact there. 

And Slughorn was also going to stay in the castle and look after the students, along with a few more teachers and the headmaster, and it was he who suggested that Snape stay in the castle in order to continue his studies.

Of course, this is a pretty good idea, but the young man will definitely not be able to do his business in the room of requirement, and he doubted that he would be able to act covertly when there were at most two dozen students left. 

After all, he will be in full view of the five teachers and Dumbledore. 

Shifting his gaze to the large Christmas tree which was decorated with golden balls, stars and candles, standing at the teacher's table, Severus sighed tiredly and, taking a knife in his hand, he cut off a piece of steak and put it in the mouth of Nagini, who sharply protruded from under the mantle, and then she quickly climbed back inside the robe.

"Tasty!" Nagini said, hissing with her tongue.

"I'm glad to hear that, but listen, how do you chew, because if I remember correctly, snakes immediately swallow their food?" Severus asked with slight interest in order to get a little distraction, since he still had a whole day to think about it.

"It's not difficult, I help myself with my tongue, supporting food and biting, although it's rather inconvenient, but I'm used to it," she mentally calmly answered before leaning out again and eating another piece. "You eat too."

"I'd love to..." and Snape squinted at a deer, a dog, and a rat standing in the corner, glaring at him angrily. "What do you think about venison stew?"

"Severus… don't get your hands dirty on them, they're just idiots, don't pay attention."

Unable to restrain himself, Severus smiled and stroked Nagini's head with his finger. "I'm not talking about him, I wouldn't even feed this rotten meat to pigs, but about normal venison. 

The day before yesterday I asked Tobby to buy good meat. After all, in the new year, the kids need to be pampered with something very tasty and unusual, and the Headmaster did not refuse my gift, yet lately the funding has been very tight due to this war …" After his words, she looked at him with a strange look.

"He also calls me a "sly snake", you should be ashamed, mister!" and at this moment they both squinted at one deer standing in the corner.

At the same time, Regulus, who was sitting next to him, watched with interest how Severus fed the snake. Judging by the emotions on his face, it was as if he was communicating with it and the reptile itself behaved rather strangely, as if it understood their speech. 

There were moments when Black said stupid things, and it seemed to him that she looked at him with contempt or hissed as if she was laughing at him. 

It was too strange, but he was a little embarrassed to ask about it.

"What's wrong?" Noticing the thoughtful look on Black's face, Severus asked. 

"I'm just thinking, don't pay attention," Regulus quickly answered him with a wry smile, to which Severus indifferently shrugged his shoulders and continued to feed Nagini, of course, not forgetting about himself, still he has to admit that nobody can compare with the house-builders in cooking.

After breakfast, under long persuasion of one snake, Severus nevertheless agreed to rest today, and the classes were cancelled in honour of the holiday, and he promised to pay a little attention to Regulus in order to see how far he had progressed in mastering that spell, and also how much the quality of the "core" had improved , because the strength and speed of creating a spell depends on it. 

And Regulus did not disappoint Severus: Black really gave his one hundred and twenty percent. 

In a short few months, he moved from the rank of apprentice to the master of the initial rank, he even managed to create two spears and almost formed a third, while not having any affinity for fire, which spoke of the young man's talent. 

In Snape's opinion, he should be able to achieve the strength of a mid-level master by the end of his fifth year, and perhaps a higher one by his seventh, but even in this case, Regulus is unlikely to be able to compete with the teachers, because even though the cores will be of the same level, the difference in experience is too big. 

Of course, there are exceptions to the rules, like Severus himself, when he was at the rank of Archmage, he killed a dozen Great Archmages with his own hands, and at the rank of Master, he destroyed one Archmage with a material core with a dark flame, which was a real shock for many. 

Then they began to hunt for him, and his name spread throughout the kingdom.

~~~~~~~~~~ 

In addition, after dinner, leaving Regulus alone to study a new spell, recently created by Snape using runes from this world, Severus left the room and began to walk around the castle, the corridors of which were decorated with garlands, wreaths of holly and mistletoe, as well as various toys such as whisks, hats and stars. 

This time, the young man was not looking for anything, but simply spending time with Nagini, and from the Astronomy Tower there was a beautiful view of the ground and roof covered with snow flakes, as well as the "shining" village not far from Hogwarts, in the centre of which stood a huge, decorated a Christmas tree with a variety of toys and garlands, around which joyful children ran, and adult wizards watched over them. 

A festive mood reigned throughout the castle, despite the fact that the civil war had not stopped, but no one wanted to think about it that day.

Closer to seven o'clock, Severus left the tower and began to descend, heading towards the large hall. 

Along the way, he was joined by several Slytherins, including Regulus, who looked especially excited as he was taught another powerful spell, he just couldn't wait to get home tomorrow and start practising. 

They reached the hall ten minutes before the start of dinner. Most of the teachers and the Headmaster were already there sitting at the table, and the students also began to slowly sit down. 

And so, after a few minutes, light music began to sound and food began to appear on the tables. The main dish, of course, was the turkey, a traditional meal every Christmas, and next to it were steaks, ribs, brisket, tenderloin, and other reindeer meat. 

Of course, in addition to this, there were a variety of salads, fruits and juices on the tables. 

The students, as well as some of the teachers, were also surprised by this. However, they started to eat rather quickly. 

At the same time, one deer with helpers in the face of a dog and a rat were sitting in the corner at a small table and also had dinner. 

But James didn't understand why, at the sight of "beef", he felt a bit of disgust, although he had not seen such a thing before. 

But still, overpowering himself, he bit off a piece and was surprised to notice that it was very tasty. The meat was tender and had a strange specific smell, which only increased his appetite. "Strange meat, I have eaten beef many times, but why is this one a little tougher than usual, and even tastier ..." 

His friends also did not lag behind and enthusiastically attacked the food, ignoring the turkey, because they already ate it every year, and quite often on holidays, and "beef" looked much tastier than it, and smelled just great. 

Dinner went quite calmly, the students happily communicated with each other. 

Finally Potter finished with the ribs, and if he could, he certainly would have smiled with satisfaction, but the next moment the bones disappeared from the plate, surprising him a little, but he was even delighted, thinking that desserts would finally be served.

"As soon as I get home, I will immediately ask my father to find the bastard who did this to us," but for some reason, thinking about it, he constantly turned his eyes to Severus, who was talking to Regulus with a smile. 

[A/N: They are currently in their animal form.]

"He's definitely somehow connected with this, and, according to Lily, this bastard was fond of Dark Magic, I'll have to remember to tell father about it so that he can deal with him ..." And in a moment of reflection, finally, "dessert" appeared on the table , at the sight of which, James' heart almost stopped. 

Right on the plate lay a deer's head with an apple in its mouth, from which steam emanated, as if it had only recently been cooked. Its eyes were missing, as was its fur, and instead of them there were two olives. 

When he was about to throw it away in a panic, the apple and olives fell out, and the deer smiled like a real demon.

Horror danced in Potter's eyes, same with Sirius and Pettigrew, who couldn't help but watch shock.

"I hope , you liked my meat…" a quiet voice sounded, from which their blood ran cold, because it came from the deer. 

"Now I want to eat too… EESSSSSS!" Opening its toothless mouth, it flew towards James, who froze as if rooted to the spot, and the next moment his eyes rolled back and with a dull sound he fell to the floor, losing consciousness, and foam came out of his mouth.

At the same moment, Sirius howled and furiously attacked the head to protect his best friend, and Pettigrew, in turn, like a real rat, jumped off the table and ran in horror towards the teachers. 

The students, attracted by the barking, looked in bewilderment at the strange picture: a deer lying on the floor, foaming at the mouth; a dog tearing a turkey apart and a rat in a salad squeaking something at a tomato. 

It looked too surreal, especially when they realized that they were not animals, but people. Noticing the strange behavior of the students, Dumbledore got up from the table and, seeing this picture, rather quickly approached the "animals". He immediately noticed the deer head on the plate, and then looked down at Potter. "Madame Pomfrey, examine him, please," the wizard said with a weary sigh, and looking at the rat and dog, he immediately understood the reason for such behavior, and with a wave of his wand, they froze. 

Sirius, blinking his eyes, stared at Turkey in surprise.

"Calm down, Mr. Black, everything is in order…"

At the same time, Nagini, narrowing her eyes, turned her gaze to the smiling Archmage, who was calmly drinking juice and not paying attention to the general mood in the hall at all.

"You want some?" he asked, holding out a piece of venison to her. 

She looked at him for some moments before biting the piece and swallowed it whole.

"More?" Cutting off another piece, she ate it just as quickly and finally looked away. 

"Here's a cunning snake …"

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