The days at Hogwarts

Loren retreated in advance to avoid a spell that Hermione was charging. At the moment the spell was cast, he seized the gap in Hermione's attack and cast a binding spell to remove her combat effectiveness.

If any professor saw the duel just now, they would express sincere admiration. The level of performance shown by the two just now is already better than that of many senior students.

Loren took a short breath. Hermione's attack rhythm was too fast. If he just defended, it would be a bit strenuous for him to parry.

Loren had Flamel's guidance and made rapid progress in dueling. Hermione didn't show much talent in fighting, but she always made use of her knowledge and rarely made the same mistakes, so she also made rapid progress.

Loren walked to Hermione and removed the curse from the girl, "You were too aggressive just now, focusing only on attacking and ignoring defense. Now that I have grasped the rhythm of the attack, the outcome is no longer in suspense." He reached out and helped Hermione up.

Hermione stood up and shook her hair. "Since you didn't fight back, I gradually let my guard down and focused on attacking."

Hermione felt helpless, as if she was further away from her goal of defeating Loren. She could sense that Loren became more relaxed and natural in the fight.

No, if this goes on, 22 will always be 22. Hermione came up with a plan to teach him a lesson in other ways.

"next time……"

The two talked as they walked out of the Room of Requirement and headed to the restaurant.

The Christmas holiday is about to begin in a week, and the castle has already begun to be decorated in preparation for the Christmas dinner.

When Loren and Hermione passed by the corridor, Percy was standing on a stool hanging a ribbon. The prefects always had a harder job.

In fact, wizards have an easier way to hang ribbons, but it is not possible in the corridor. The school rules clearly prohibit casting spells in the corridor, so Percy had to stand on a stool to hang the ribbons.

At this moment, Peeves suddenly emerged from the wall at the other end of the ribbon.

Percy pulled one end, and Peeves quickly grabbed the other end of the ribbon and circled it around Percy a few times, until the ribbon was tightly wrapped around Percy's neck.

His eyes bulged out, the trachea in his neck was protruding, and he made coughing sounds in his throat. His body was staggering and he was about to fall off the stool at any time. He looked like he was about to be strangled to death.

"Tremble at the feet of the great Peeves!" Peeves laughed with satisfaction when he saw Percy's miserable state. He put down the ribbon and flew away gradually.

After Peeves left, Percy's face returned to normal. After standing firm, he untied the ribbon from his neck with an expressionless face and continued to fiddle with the Christmas decorations, as if the previous episode had not affected him at all.

Loren clicked his tongue. "He looks very skilled. He must have been fooled by Peeves many times."

Hermione nodded.

The two suddenly felt a little sorry for Percy and the other prefects.

……

December 12th, Friday, after Potions class.

"Snape didn't deduct points today, and he hasn't deducted points from us in two weeks." Harry couldn't believe it. Snape might have not deducted points today because it was a holiday.

Ron laughed, "Snape must have been eaten by Fluffy. The Snape now is a creation of Dumbledore's magic."

"Then you two won't have to do your Christmas Potions homework." Loren was also laughing. He was looking forward to the result of the two of them not doing Snape's homework.

Ron thought of the last time he extracted snake venom and shook his head in fear. "I never take risks with my life."

"Remember to keep an eye on Fluffy during your holidays. If someone really wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone, the Christmas holidays would be a good opportunity to do it." Hermione reminded everyone.

Ron nodded. Harry and Hermione were going home for Christmas. Lauren was deceived by Snape, so the responsibility of guarding the Philosopher's Stone would be left to me.

Before dinner, Loren returned to his dormitory and dug his frozen pears out of the snow because Hermione and the others were going to take the train home the next day.

When they were dug out, the skin of the pears had oxidized and turned black, with a layer of white frost on it, frozen hard, and the two pears made a crisp sound when they touched each other.

Christmas is not until the 25th, but the little wizard must always leave some time on the road to go home, and he will have a holiday after the classes on Friday.

Loren initially thought that the Christmas holiday would only last a few days, a week at most, but later he learned that Hogwarts' Christmas holiday had been extended from Christmas to February. What kind of holiday is this? This is the winter vacation.

Moreover, Hogwarts only counts one semester a year, and there is only one final exam, which will be next year, so you can have fun during Christmas. Loren was silent and in tears, what kind of advanced system is this?

Loren found a basin to put the pears in and placed it in the lounge. He sat by the fireplace with a copy of "Witch Weekly" in his hand, waiting for the delicious food in his memory to emerge from the ice.

Loren didn't deliberately put it close to the fireplace to speed up thawing because he was worried that the taste would be affected when it was baked.

Before long, a layer of ice formed on the surface of the pear, which slowly melted away. When I gently touched it with my fingers, I could feel the black skin becoming flexible.

At dinner time, Loren brought a bowl of black pears to the table.

"What is this?" Seamus came over. He was always curious about things.

"A delicacy from a distant country." Loren said mysteriously.

"It looks like a pear."

“Why is the skin black?”

Harry and Ron came over to watch.

Malfoy turned his head and looked over here when he heard that. He had never seen a black pear before.

There were only about ten in total, which I distributed to a few friends I knew well, and also gave one to the twins.

"There's actually a share for us!" the twins said in unison, with exaggerated emotion in their tone.

"Sorry Hermione, you're a Gryffindor scorer even though."

"But next time we have to help Loren!"

Hermione was at a loss whether to laugh or cry when she heard this. When have you ever helped me? Last time when you were having a snowball fight, you stopped Loren because you wanted to have fun.

Loren demonstrated how to eat frozen pears. He removed the pear stem and tore off the soft black skin to reveal the snow-white flesh filled with pear juice. The flesh exuded a sweet pear fragrance and cool vapor, which was very tempting.

Loren sucked hard at the torn part, sucking all the pear juice and the melt-in-the-mouth pear pulp into his mouth, and closed his eyes in enjoyment.

Although the taste was different from what he remembered, it was very close.

The others seemed to be able to feel the deliciousness of the frozen pears just by looking at Loren. They followed his example and ate the frozen pears for the first time. The sizzling sound was heard on the long table of Gryffindor.

The flesh is soft and smooth, the juice is rich and sweet, and it is icy cool. This is an experience they have never had before.

!!! Ron took a bite, his eyes widened, and he quickly increased the speed of slurping.

He planned to finish this one as soon as possible. Loren still had three left, so he could have another one.

Malfoy looked at him and sneered, "Tsk, country bumpkin Weasley."

Ron glared at each other and the two were about to have a conflict.

Loren stepped between the two of them, put a pear on a plate and placed it in front of Malfoy, "Merry Christmas."

Loren feels that Christmas here is just like Chinese New Year. After all, it’s for good luck.

Malfoy was stunned for a moment. He had always been at odds with the Gryffindors and had never spoken to Loren.

He thought he would quarrel with them again this time, and Loren's kindness made him feel a little overwhelmed.

Chapter 69 It’s a holiday

"Don't think you can please me with just a pear."

Malfoy reached out to take the frozen pear, feeling flustered and caught off guard, and his words sounded a little harsh but inwardly weak.

If Loren were to fight him to the end like Ron did, he would have plenty of vicious words to use against Loren.

Mudblood, country bumpkin, any of these words could make these people angry, and Malfoy would look at others getting angry with pride, which gave him a sense of accomplishment.

On the contrary, now, Malfoy felt as if his swear words were blocked by something.

Malfoy lowered his head, not daring to look at the people from Gryffindor. He felt a little embarrassed, but he couldn't be angry with Loren.

These pears taste pretty good. I'll ask Dobby to make a few hundred of them when I get back. Bring the leftovers to school so Loren can see the wealth of the Malfoy family.

Let them go this time, Malfoy thought as he ate his pear.

"It's such a waste to give it to Malfoy." Ron was still a little indignant.

"Eat your pear."

Loren didn't care too much, he was just a kid looking for a sense of existence. Malfoy was not a good person, but he was not completely bad either. He held the ideas instilled by his parents, but he could not accept them completely. He would suffer in the future.

Hermione ate the pear in small bites; it tasted sweet.

She didn't like Malfoy, and she thought quarreling was boring. Loren resolved the conflict in this way, and she felt that there was something different about Loren.

At the guest of honor table, Dumbledore looked at the scene at the table with a gentle smile. Loren brought him more surprises than he expected.

I just don’t know what black pears taste like, and as an old man I also want to try it.

After the dinner, the Gryffindor common room became lively.

Tomorrow is a holiday, and this place is crowded with excited little wizards. They don't plan to go to bed so early, and some of them don't even plan to sleep tonight.

The students who stayed on campus were excited because they didn’t have to attend classes, and the students who went home were happy because they were about to see their long-lost relatives.

Harry and Ron were sitting in front of a table, surrounded by many little wizards.

The Weasley twins are demonstrating how to play Exploding Cards, a card game that can be played by up to five people. The cards are special magical items that may explode at any time during the process of being played.

Seamus was intrigued by this card game; in fact, he had heard of it before.

But his mother warned him that if he dared to play with it at home, she would stuff exploding cards up his nostrils until they exploded.

Everyone felt that Simo's mother did the right thing as it was for the safety of their entire family.

Loren and Neville stood in front of the window, discussing how the black pears were frozen.

Loren felt that the frozen pears this time were a little lacking. Although they tasted good, they were far from what he remembered. Perhaps because there was not enough time, Loren planned to freeze another batch during the holiday.

Neville loved the taste and texture of frozen pears, and he was always very patient with herbs and food.

Neville is going home for the Christmas holidays, and he plans to try making some at home for his grandmother to taste. His grandmother is already very old, and this kind of soft food is just right for her.

"Maybe I should freeze it, then thaw it, and repeat this process several times." Loren reached out, opened the window, and took out the only frozen pear left in the snow pile. This pear was specially reserved by Loren and it had not yet thawed.

“Can this be done with other fruits?”

"I don't know. You can try frozen peaches, apples, or something. Maybe they'll taste better."

Loren put the pears into a paper bag and climbed out of the lounge carrying the bag.

Walk down the stairs to the basement and walk along the gloomy corridor. Even though other places are decorated with festive Christmas decorations, it is still gloomy here.

Loren didn't know whether the old bat would eat frozen pears. He was not sure. Thinking of Snape sucking the juice from the pear, Loren laughed.

It was Snape who opened the door for Loren himself. Loren noticed that there was a letter on the seat. Snape might be reading a letter or replying to one.

"Frozen pears, a food from the East." Loren walked in and put the paper bag on the table with a natural and familiar manner.

The pears had thawed a little, and some water seeped out of the paper bag, leaving marks on the table.

Snape looked at the watermark and frowned, "No need to flatter me, Loren, just focus on making potions and paying off your debts."

Loren ignored Snape's words. He didn't know when Snape changed his tone and he hadn't called him Mr. Morgan for a long time. This old bat was very arrogant.

"Do you still have class today?" Loren didn't respond to him. He was in a hurry to go back to the lounge to learn how to play Crackling Explosion Cards.

"No, you don't have to come over during the holidays."

"Then Merry Christmas, Professor. Goodbye!" Loren said goodbye to Snape. He was anxious to see if Seamus had blown up the lounge.

Snapped!

Loren politely closed the door behind him on his way out.

Snape stared at the door in a daze for a long time. He felt that Loren was becoming more and more presumptuous in front of him. He should teach him a lesson about the rules after the holiday.

He returned to his seat and continued writing his letter, his eyes unconsciously drifting towards the frozen pears in the paper bag.

Snape stared at the water stains on the paper bag for a while, put the letter away, and couldn't continue writing. This thing was really an eyesore.

He waved at the cabinet next to him, and the cabinet door opened automatically. A set of tableware flew out, and landed on the table with a clatter, and was arranged neatly.

Five minutes later, Snape took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth. "Oh, this frozen pear tastes just like this."

……

When Loren returned to the lounge, Simo already had the explosive card in his hand.

Harry, Ron and Dean sat around him. Five people could play Exploding Cards at most. There was also a circle of little wizards watching outside.

Lee Jordan was passionately explaining the battle: "At present, Seamus is leading by a large margin. I dare say that Seamus is unique in his explosive talent."

Harry quickly threw out a card, fearing it would explode in his hand.

"Harry played a card, can he score? No! Harry's luck is not very good." Lee Jordan said regretfully.

Harry felt that he was very lucky. Compared with the score, he hoped that he would not be blown up.

The other three people were always nervous when they played their cards, worried that their cards would explode.