Chapter 74: Christmas Eve

"Kyle, come join us in building snowmen!"

Fred and George greeted Kyle warmly and invited him to join them.

However, Kyle declined without hesitation.

Their art was too advanced, with an abstract modeling style, combined with free and flexible lines. All that revealed an intriguing and mysterious charm.

Kyle was just an ordinary person with average ability and limited skills; how could he dare to participate in such a magnificent project?

He wasn't worthy.

...

Not far ahead, a group of Hufflepuff wizards gathered by the Black Lake.

Due to the heavy snow, the lake had frozen, and they were discussing whether to drill a hole in the ice to catch some fish for a delicious Starry Sky Pie.

Meanwhile, a few students were engaged in a snowball fight. Kyle witnessed a Gryffindor senior sneakily stuffing a stone into a snowball and aiming it at a passing Slytherin.

Although his aim was a bit off, the specially-made snowball drew an arc in the air and almost hit Professor Oren, who happened to be passing by.

"Mr, you must be more careful when having a snowball fight and don't mix any rocks into them," Professor Oren flicked the snowball aside with his wand, "Considering it might have been unintentional, I won't deduct points this time, but let it not happen again."

The Gryffindor nodded repeatedly.

Everyone was having a great time, except Filch, who looked very annoyed.

Since the young wizards didn't bother cleaning their shoes, they left a series of dirty footprints on the ground when they returned to the castle after the snowball fight.

This significantly increased Filch's workload.

Later, he simply moved a chair and sat at the castle's main entrance, allowing students to enter only after cleaning their shoes thoroughly.

During the History of Magic class, Kyle fell asleep in just thirty seconds, and his sleep quality was even better than in the dormitory.

If Kanna hadn't nudged him when the class ended, Kyle might have slept until noon.

"Students from both houses are sleeping..."

Kanna rubbed her slightly reddened eyes and looked like she had just woken up. "Why can't the school get a new History of Magic professor?"

"Probably because Professor Binns doesn't need a salary," Kyle shrugged.

Regardless of anything else, Professor Binns' position was irreplaceable due to this one factor alone.

Furthermore, he worked year-round and didn't have various personal matters like other professors. His attendance rate remained at one hundred percent, making him exceptionally reliable.

Additionally, the History of Magic exams were straightforward. As long as students earnestly reviewed the textbook before the exam, getting an "E" was not an issue.

So, let alone the Board of Directors, even Headmaster Dumbledore would not agree to replace him.

"This stingy old bee."

Kyle sneered, expressing disdain for Dumbledore's merciless exploitation of the older professor.

...

Entering December, the weather grew colder, but the young wizards were no longer as listless as the previous month. They were excited every day.

This was because the Christmas holiday was approaching...

This meant they were about to enjoy a full two-week break.

In this atmosphere, it was challenging for students to concentrate on lessons. They often daydreamed during class.

At first, professors deducted a few points to make them a little more alert, but the effect was not significant.

Perhaps it worked for a few minutes, but after that, they returned to their previous absent-minded and distracted appearances.

After noticing this, the professors didn't bother much.

Every year was the same, and they had long since become accustomed to it. Since there wouldn't be any new content before the holiday, as long as the students didn't go too far, the professors would turn a blind eye.

Of course, except for two professors.

Professor Binns didn't care about Christmas at all. In the History of Magic class, he continued to speak with his monotonous tone, recounting the invention process of the self-stirring cauldron.

"The self-stirring cauldron is a magically enhanced cauldron capable of automatically stirring potions. It was invented by Gaspard Shingleton at the end of the 20th century, and he..."

As for the other one, it was Professor Snape.

He didn't care why students were daydreaming and wasn't as lenient as other professors. Unless they were Slytherins, being caught once meant a deduction of three points.

Under his relentless efforts, by the day before Christmas, Slytherin House was leading by a wide margin, nearly a hundred points ahead of second-place Ravenclaw.

Professor Snape was very satisfied with this result.

Slytherin's six consecutive championship victories this year were secure!

On the night before leaving school, Kyle encountered a somewhat flustered Hagrid in the Great Hall.

This was the first time he saw Hagrid since his night adventure to the Forbidden Forest that day.

Mainly because of guilt, for the past month, all five of them had been avoiding Hagrid.

Now that he ran into Hagrid, he couldn't pretend not to see him.

Kyle walked up and waved, "Hagrid, how have you been lately?"

"It's Kyle." Hagrid lowered his head, "Sorry, I don't have time to chat with you now. There's still a lot I need to prepare.

Merlin's beard, I actually forgot that Hogwarts is going on break tomorrow. I thought Halloween had just passed a few days ago."

As he spoke, Hagrid strode towards the castle's exit without stopping.

Kyle had to jog to barely keep up with him.

"Do you need help?" Kyle asked.

"If you're not busy..." Hagrid pondered for a moment, "Could you help me gather some mistletoe for decoration? The feast is about to start, and I'm worried about running out of time."

"Certainly, no problem."

Kyle and Hagrid made their way to the cabin near the Forbidden Forest.

Not far away were two fir trees with diameters of about sixty to seventy centimeters, as well as a small pile of holly and mistletoe.

"Just take those decorative plants, I'll handle the rest."

Hagrid then bent down and struggled to pick up the two fir trees.

When Hagrid stood up, his face turned red, and it was evident that lifting two trees at once was a considerable effort for him.

At that moment, Hagrid suddenly heard a sound behind him.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The next second, he felt a sudden lightness on his body, as if the two fir trees no longer existed.

Hagrid turned around in surprise and looked at Kyle.

"Levitation Charm... amazing!"

"You're exaggerating, Hagrid." Kyle shook his head. "Anyone can do this kind of thing."

"Is... is that so?"

Hagrid blinked in confusion. He remembered that this was not the case when he was a student.

It had only been a few years, had all the freshmen at Hogwarts become so outstanding?

(End of chapter)