In a few more days, the Christmas Holiday would officially arrive.
Unlike Halloween Eve, when trouble always seemed to happen by coincidence, in the students' memories, nothing unexpected ever seemed to happen during the Christmas Holiday;
Whether it was the Christmas Ball on Christmas night, or the long holiday afterward, both were very much worth looking forward to.
After most students finished filling out their stay-at-school forms and chose to remain at school for the Christmas Holiday, their thoughts gradually began to drift away;
Take the fourth-year Gryffindor students, for example. They were thinking about the Christmas Ball right in front of them, thinking about a holiday when they could have a proper good time, and had somehow forgotten that what they were currently attending was a Potions Class;
Snape was like a fisherman preparing to haul in his net. Just as the bell rang and Harry and the others were clearing their desks, ready to leave the classroom, he announced something to everyone in a brisk tone rarely heard from him.
"Do not forget about the antidote. At any time, I may give one lucky person a... rather special Christmas Gift, and let that lucky person have an unforgettable Christmas Holiday."
Hearing Snape's words, especially the phrase "Christmas Gift," many Gryffindor students had the same thought spring up in their minds at once: Could they fill out the stay-at-school form again now?
The contrast between Herbology Class and Potions Class was especially stark. Professor Sprout did not teach a proper lesson. She led the students in making sachets, mainly using Sweet Marjoram together with some supporting dried flowers;
After many students learned how to make sachets, they planned to go to Hogsmeade after the Christmas Holiday arrived, buy more materials, and properly enrich the fragrance inside their sachets.