20: Christmas

 John watched the Weasley twins cast a spell on a snowball and let it chase Quirrell and hit his head, which made him feel secretly happy.

Although Quirrell had dropped his pretense in front of John, he had to maintain his facade in front of the other students, forcing him to continue his act of appearing weak and bullied, despite secretly plotting revenge against the twins.

The bitter cold wind battered the windows of the Hogwarts classrooms, while a roaring fire blazed in the Great Hall, signaling the onset of winter.

John rubbed his hands together, exhaling a puff of white breath that fogged up the glass.

Seeing Malfoy's love-and-hate relationship with Harry for a while before the holiday, John complained: "It is said that elementary school students will bully the people they like. Malfoy is definitely in love with him."

Hagrid was dragging a fir tree through the corridor, preparing it for Christmas. Ron, infuriated by Malfoy's comments about his family, was the first to react. However, Snape seemed to be waiting for this exact moment, appearing just in time to dock five points from Gryffindor, despite Hagrid's pleas for leniency. Malfoy strutted away triumphantly, deliberately knocking needles off the fir tree and scattering them everywhere.

"I'm going to teach him a lesson, just like John did!" Ron fumed, longing to give Malfoy a taste of his own medicine with a punch to the face, much like John had done before.

Harry nodded in agreement, sharing Ron's disdain for both Malfoy and Snape, who were the two people he despised most at Hogwarts.

Hagrid, trying to temper their anger, said, "That might be difficult. John is the best fighter in your age group I've ever seen. Why don't you come to the Great Hall and take a look? John, you should come too."

Ron's mood soured instantly, but the invitation to see the nearly decorated Great Hall intrigued him. John was also eager to see how the magical world celebrated Christmas.

Under the expert direction of Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, the Great Hall had been transformed into a breathtaking spectacle.

The walls were adorned with garlands of holly and mistletoe, and twelve towering Christmas trees stood tall throughout the hall. Some of the trees were decorated with glittering icicles, while others shimmered with hundreds of candles. Hagrid had just brought in the final tree, and once it was decorated, the preparations would be complete.

Excited for the holidays, Hagrid asked, "How many days until the break?"

"Just one day. That reminds me, we have half an hour left before we can go to the library," Hermione said, still focused on uncovering the mystery of Nicolas Flamel. She invited John to join them, "John, would you like to come with us?"

"Sure, why not?" John agreed, feeling intrigued as well.

Hagrid, curious, asked, "Reading books just before the break? Aren't you all working a bit too hard?"

He was in a good mood because of the approaching Christmas, but Harry's response quickly dampened his spirits. "We're not revising our homework; we're trying to find out who Nicolas Flamel is," Harry said cheerfully.

"I've told you to stop that. Whatever that dog is guarding, it's none of your business," Hagrid exclaimed, his surprise turning into alarm as he tried to dissuade the trio from their dangerous endeavor.

However, he underestimated the Gryffindor spirit of recklessness. The more they were warned, the more determined the trio became. The name Nicolas Flamel proved elusive, despite their efforts to search through numerous books in the library.

To aid their search, Hermione had even compiled a list of potential sources and references.

As dinner time approached, the four of them left the library. Hermione, not one to give up easily, insisted that they continue their search during the break and send any findings to her via owl.

...

The holidays had begun.

John was eating turkey, noticing that while it was impressively large, it lacked substance. Using a knife and fork, he sliced off a piece of meat and had the urge to wrap it in a flatbread like a sandwich. Meanwhile, his owl, Basil, had already flown off, presumably to retrieve gifts from his parents.

"The postal system here is really advanced. Starting an owl delivery service would definitely be profitable," John thought. He hoped that whatever his parents sent, Mr. Wick wouldn't include something like a mouse or a black widow spider.

During the break, John tried his hand at wizard chess. The rules were similar to regular chess, but the pieces were much more entertaining.

Watching his queen get shattered by Ron's knight, John could only chuckle. Initially doubting his own chess skills, he felt better after seeing Harry lose eighteen games in a row.

Snow began to fall outside, but John didn't neglect his training. With the recent upgrade in his magical power, the potency of his spells had also increased.

It made sense—magic was like a faucet, and the water inside determined the strength of the flow.

Previously, his limited magical power meant his spells were weak.

Now, with his magic at level 3, the strength of his spells had significantly improved, and John could learn more powerful attack spells.

However, the first spell he decided to learn was a defensive one.

"Protego."

This was a shielding charm used to block attacks, capable of deflecting most offensive spells. It was a very practical incantation. After practicing in the Room of Requirement, John returned to his dormitory.

The next morning, he awoke to find that Basil had returned with some gifts. He unwrapped the first present, which was from Mrs. Wick. It was a pair of warm gloves, lovingly knitted by her own hands. 

The second gift was from his father, John Wick Sr. The package was a perfect cube. He shook it and concluded it couldn't contain a mouse. Upon opening it, he found some small bottles of different sauce. Initially puzzled, he then noticed his father's note.

"3 Packs of spicy sauces from Indian and Chinese cuisine?!"

John read that his father knew of his son's fondness for the mysterious foods from the East and had gone through considerable effort to procure these bottles.

John eagerly opened the Chinese sauce, scooping a bit with a fork and putting it in his mouth.

"Oh good! Spices! Finally!"

Suddenly, even the gifts from Hagrid and Hermione seemed less significant.

In the Great Hall, Harry curiously asked, "What's that? It smells... interesting."

"It's chili sauce. You should try it," John said, dipping a spoonful of the small bottle.

Ron, wearing a dark maroon hand-knitted sweater, curiously tried it. The strange flavor, a blend of spice and unique taste from the ancient Eastern country surprised him.

"It's weird, kind of spicy and odd," he said, but he still dipped a chicken leg into the sauce like John did. 

The moment he tasted it, it was like a door to a new world had opened. Seeing Ron's reaction, Harry was curious enough to try it as well. He soon found himself experiencing the same peculiar yet addictive taste.

Ron had also given John some buttery fudge, which was delightfully sweet. John then opened Hermione's gift, a chocolate frog, which nearly jumped away as soon as he unwrapped it.

The twins were wearing hand-knitted sweaters like Ron's, but theirs were blue with different letters on them.

At the Christmas feast, John's sauces attracted more attention. Even Dumbledore, wearing a flowery bonnet, tried a spoonful. Judging by his expression, he was disappointed it wasn't sweet.

After the feast, everyone, both professors and students, seemed to be in high spirits.

...

In the Room of Requirement, John decided to take a rare break. He opened the Chocolate Frog Hermione had given him, grabbed the frog, and took a bite. A wizard card fell out of the box.

It featured Dumbledore.

John wasn't initially interested, but a casual glance made him stop and focus on the card.

**Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of Hogwarts.**

**Widely regarded as the greatest wizard of our time,**

**Dumbledore's known contributions include:**

**Defeating the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945,**

**Discovering the twelve uses of dragon's blood,**

**Making significant achievements in alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel,**

**Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten-pin bowling.**

Staring at the card, John's eyes fixed on the name Nicolas Flamel.

"Alchemy?"

Scratching his chin, John remembered reading about an extraordinary item in the records of alchemy.

The item was called... the Philosopher's Stone?

______