HP: Wizards at Hogwarts

Chapter 102 Christmas Arrives

As December drew to a close, Hogwarts took on a completely different look.

In England, the Christmas holiday lasts for two weeks, from December 22nd to January 5th of the following year.

With such a long holiday, the young wizards will definitely want to go home to rest and reunite with their parents and relatives.

Hermione, Neville, Malfoy, Ernie, Susan, and others all chose to go home.

Every young wizard who goes home for vacation has to sign a "trace contract" to ensure that they do not use magic while away from school.

Once a situation is discovered, the information will be immediately reported to the Ministry of Magic.

This contract will last until the young wizards graduate from Hogwarts.

However, the "thread" is not on the wand, but on the young wizard, and it does not detect whether the young wizard himself has used a spell, but rather whether someone near the young wizard has used a spell.

In other words, if there are already adult wizards in the area where the young wizard is, then it can be argued that someone else used magic.

In the original story, Harry was arrested and tried by the Ministry of Magic because he was in a Muggle community and there were no other adult wizards around.

However, these things are not related to Elaine for the time being.

Elaine was an orphan and had nowhere else to go outside of Hogwarts.

So when Professor Sprout came to the Hufflepuff common room with the "Application for Staying on Campus Registration Form," Elaine signed his name on it without hesitation.

Starting from the 21st, Hogwarts entered "Christmas mode".

The ancient castle beneath their feet seemed to have transformed into a delicate young girl, allowing the professors and students to dress her up as they pleased.

Planting fir trees, hanging colorful ribbons, and tying bells —

From the common lounge to the corridors and the auditorium, the festive atmosphere permeated the entire space.

The Great Hall is the most beautiful and magnificent place in all of Hogwarts.

The walls were covered with cascading ribbons of holly and mistletoe, and twelve towering Christmas trees stood throughout the room, some adorned with glittering icicles and others sparkling with hundreds of candles.

Professor Flitwick himself took charge, meticulously decorating every corner of the Great Hall with his wand.

Professor McGonagall was also there to help, but she was acting as the commander.

She stood there straight, her eyes scanning the entire auditorium, and if she found any ornament hanging crookedly, she would immediately ask Professor Flitwick to straighten it.

The dinner party began.

This was the last dinner before the holiday, so it was very lavish.

At Elaine's suggestion, Dumbledore arranged for the house-elves of Hogwarts to make a hot pot.

To cater to the locals' tastes, and also because Elaine himself couldn't eat it, he didn't choose the spicy hot pot, but opted for the more palatable beef hot pot.

The little elves set up iron pots on the dining table and heated them with fire underneath.

The pot contains large chunks of beef bones and brisket, along with various ingredients such as red dates, white radish, corn chunks, and beef balls as the soup base.

More than ten ingredients are mixed together and then simmered in hot soup. Instead of mixing flavors, the soup brings out 200% of their flavor and nutrition. The soup is fresh and rich, and the aroma is fragrant and sweet. Anyone who smells it will drool and have a great appetite.

The house-elves then sliced ​​the meat from various parts of the cow and sheep into very thin slices, and placed them, along with a variety of vegetables and seasonings, on different plates or small dishes according to their portion sizes, arranging them around the hot pot.

This way, no matter where the little wizards sit, they can easily pick up meat and vegetables without worrying about not being able to get the sauce.

In front of each little wizard's table are chopsticks, tongs, a large soup spoon, and a strainer. Whatever they want to eat, they have to make it themselves.

The British rarely eat hot pot, and some young wizards were trying this communal hot pot for the first time, so they were quite flustered while eating, and many even knocked over several plates due to improper handling.

Elaine doesn't have that problem.

For him, eating hot pot is as simple as eating a meal—

Use chopsticks or tongs to pick up half a plate of meat, put it in a strainer and cook it in the boiling hot pot for seven or eight seconds. Then, take it into your bowl and make a small dish of the soul sauce with chili sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame seeds, cilantro and other seasonings. Pour the sauce into the bowl with a "whoosh", stir it slightly and it's ready to eat.

Take a big bite, the meat is fresh and tender, the sauce stimulates all the taste buds on your tongue to bloom, like a million troops assaulting your soul, making your heart pound and your blood boil.

Less than three minutes into the banquet, all the young wizards in the room were captivated.

Regardless of college, grade, or gender, everyone ate like wolves, without any regard for appearances, leaving only muffled "mmm" sounds.

Everyone around could tell that it was a sound of praise for how delicious the food was.

Because everyone's expression is pretty much the same.

Of all the people in the cafeteria, only the professors remained relatively calm.

This is not surprising, because each of them has their own pot and doesn't need to compete with others like students do.

After the banquet, the young wizards embarked on their journey home.

Instead of going through the Black Lake, they went to the main gate of Hogwarts to take a Thestral, which circled half of the school to the train station on the south side.

After the students left, Hogwarts immediately became much emptier and quieter.

Starting that night, Elaine began preparing Christmas gifts for everyone.

First, there's Professor Sprout, the dean of our own department.

Elaine prepared a box (24 cans * 250ml) of plant growth promoters for her.

Just a small spoonful can accelerate a plant's growth by a month, essentially a magic potion version of "plant magic".

Next is Professor Flitwick.

Elaine gave him a box (12 vials) of vitality potions that are essential for middle-aged men.

One bottle will refresh your mind, two bottles will eliminate fatigue, and three bottles will restore your masculine vigor and free you from the curse of middle-aged hair loss.

Next up was Professor McGonagall.

Elaine gave her a Gryffindor sword shaped like the "Ice of Destruction".

As long as I live, this sword will not melt.

Professor Snape also received a gift.

Elaine gave him a bottle of her homemade shampoo.

Anticipating that Snape might be too lazy to wash his hair, Elaine specially prepared a spray-type product. With just a spray and a swipe, his hair would be as clean as if it had just been washed.

The gift prepared for Dumbledore was a Muggle book called "Some Thoughts Concerning Education".

This book, written by the British philosopher and educator John Locke, was the first to divide education into three main parts: physical education, moral education, and intellectual education, and systematically discussed each part. It is a classic work in the field of Western education.

The gift given to Hagrid was a "wound healing potion" that could instantly heal even the most severe injuries, and it was also effective on magical creatures.

Elaine vaguely remembered that right after Christmas, Quirrell was going to make his move on the kind unicorn.

This medicine might come in handy at a crucial moment.