Winter Holiday

Hagrid's Father was a short wizard with dark, shiny eyes like Hagrid's. In the photo, he sits on Hagrid's shoulders, laughing heartily with his eyes narrowed into slits.

Judging from the apple tree next to him, Hagrid was already seven or eight feet tall at that time, but his face was not like it is now. He was young, full, smooth, and beardless, and looked only eleven years old.

"This photo was taken shortly after I entered Hogwarts. My father was overjoyed..." Hagrid said in a hoarse voice. "My father was overjoyed. He thought I wouldn't become a wizard, you know, because of my mother..."

Harry and Ron buried their heads in the photos, looking at Hagrid's appearance when he was young. They found it very interesting, as Hagrid had always looked like this with a stubble beard since they enrolled in school.

Honestly, if he ever shaved his beard, they might not be able to recognize him.

"Sigh, let's not talk about that. Of course, I've never been very good at magic..." Hagrid forced a complicated smile, "But at least he didn't see me get expelled. He died when I was in my second year."

Loren and Hermione sat beside Hagrid, listening quietly to the big man's story, feeling a lump in their throats.

"After my father died, it was Dumbledore who protected me. He found me a job as Gamekeeper. He was always willing to give people a second chance and trusted others a lot, which was what set him apart from other headmasters... He knew that even someone from a humble background could succeed, but some people couldn't understand this and always discriminated against you because of your background..."

"Some people even pretend to have a large frame, but dare not speak the truth boldly... I was so stupid, I really shouldn't have bothered with that woman, I assure you."

"Big skeleton... Heh, I really want her to taste my big skeleton!" Hagrid said through gritted teeth.

"It's not entirely her fault, Hagrid," Hermione said softly. "With her size, do you think others can't tell? Think about it, she's facing the same discrimination as you."

Hagrid was stunned.

"But she faced that kind of discrimination and became the principal of Beauxbatons. Although I don't like her either, I have to admit that it's a remarkable achievement!"

Hermione said seriously, "The Board of Governors, the parents, and the big names in the French Wizarding World are all watching her. Just imagine if the headmaster of Beauxbatons was Half-Giant on the front page of the newspapers..."

"Therefore, she must be more concerned about her reputation and not allow any incriminating evidence against her."

Hagrid's eyes grew brighter and brighter, like flames burning in a furnace. "You're right! Hermione, I was too rash! Good heavens, I didn't consider her feelings at all, that was really wrong of me, maybe I should go and apologize to her..."

Loren advised, "Uh, I think you should calm down and think about it carefully—"

"Think carefully about how to tell her! You're right, Loren, I really should think about it..." Hagrid's unshaven face was full of excitement.

"..."

Loren, Hermione, Harry, and Ron fell silent. Hermione opened her mouth as if to say something, but Loren stopped her. This Hagrid was better than the Hagrid was locked up in his room and became withdrawn.

Loren casually poured himself a cup of tea. "Hagrid, tell us about the giants."

"Oh, no problem... Giants haven't appeared in England for many years, it all started with the Wizarding Wars..."

"Many people believe that the giants who helped the Dark Lord were all tried and executed, but in reality, thanks to Dumbledore's efforts, they survived and returned to the giants' tribe. They're in a mountain, but I don't know exactly where..."

"The leader of the giants is called the Gurg, who is usually the tallest and greatest member of the tribe. Only by killing the previous Gurg can one become the new Gurg."

Evening, Gryffindor Common Room.

"The origin of Runes is unverifiable, and each letter has its own unique magical meaning..."

Hermione squatted beside the coffee table, her quill pen swishing across the paper, leaving neat handwriting.

Babbling didn't assign much homework during the Christmas holidays, even less than Loren and the others' Divination homework, so Hermione couldn't understand why this person still had time to play with her hair from behind!

"Loren."

"..."

"Loren!"

"Um?"

"Have you finished your Divination Class?"

"It's done." Loren patiently divided the girl's hair into three sections and braided them. "It's just another one where we have to predict our fortunes. There's nothing new about it."

Hermione frowned her pretty eyebrows and looked towards the small round table by the window, where Ron, Lavender, and Parvati were engrossed in flipping through "Unfogging the Future," racking their brains to fabricate unfortunate events that would occur in the new school term.

Harry took the Golden Egg to take a bath and didn't have time to do his homework, which was strange.

"Why did you finish so quickly?"

"Tsk, I borrowed a book about healing magic from the Library. I just need to copy down the examples." Loren loosened the rubber band and wrapped it around the end of the braid twice, and a fairly nice hairstyle was done.

Oh my, it looks better and better the more I look at it.

Hermione left a dot of ink on the paper with her pen. She didn't know why, even though she knew that she had to make things up for the Divination Class assignment, she thought about how easily Loren had completed it while she was still struggling with her homework, so she wanted to cause Loren some trouble!

Hermione stuck the quill into the ink bottle, turned to look at him, and hummed twice, saying, "I don't know how to translate this passage. You explain it to me."

Loren shrank back down and slipped off the sofa, snuggling up to Hermione to look at the question, "Find the main idea of this passage first..."

He smelled of oranges.

Hermione took a deep breath, tilted her head and leaned it against his shoulder, snuggling comfortably.

Loren shrugged. "Be serious, Professor Morgan is giving a lecture."

"Oh," Hermione replied crisply, a slight smile playing on her lips.

They started by talking about Runes's homework, but someone said something extra and the topic quickly veered off course. In the end, they couldn't remember what they had talked about, only that the fireplace in the lounge was warm and the lights were soft.

Hogwarts Castle contains many portraits and statues of wizards. Unlike the famous figures in Muggle schools, these wizards may not have made any outstanding contributions, but their stories may be widely known.

For example, there's the Silly Barnaby who tries to teach trolls to dance, and the Nearly Headless Nick, a Hufflepuff graduate who's always forgetful. The Potions Master and Herbology safety codes are full of stories about him: transplanting Mandrake without earmuffs, touching the slime of Bebop Tuber without gloves...

Even so, he lived to the ripe old age of 93, and eventually passed away due to Dragon Pox.

To commemorate this unlucky yet fortunate bumbling fool, a statue of him was erected on the sixth floor of Hogwarts.

"Is this the entrance Cedric was talking about?"

Harry, with the heavy Golden Egg tucked under one arm, looked at the statue in front of him. It was a bewildered wizard with his gloves on backwards.

As Cedric had told him, Harry found the door next to the statue, leaned in, and whispered, "Fresh Pineapple."

The door creaked open, and a luxurious chandelier on the ceiling cast a warm, soft light into the room. Everything was made of snow-white marble, and a hundred golden faucets surrounded a rectangular bathtub that was so big you could practically swim in it. There was even a diving board next to it.

Snow-white linen curtains hung in the window, a large pile of soft white towels lay in the corner, and a painting with a gilded frame hung on the wall.

The painting depicts a Mermaid sleeping soundly on a rock, her long, flowing hair plastered to her face and trembling slightly with each breath.

Harry stepped forward, looking around in surprise, his footsteps echoing in the room.

The bathroom was indeed luxurious and beautiful, and he was certainly eager to try out some of the faucets...

When Harry came to his senses, he was already lying naked in the bathtub, comfortably swinging his arms and legs.

These faucets are indeed magical, spraying out various bubble bath liquids mixed with hot water. One faucet even sprays out bubbles the size of a football, and they're pink! Another sprays out crystal clear, dense, and thick foam; and there's another that sprays purple mist that spreads across the water's surface.

Swimming in the hot, foamy water was an indescribable pleasure. He swam back and forth twice before returning to the edge of the pool, where he lazily held the Golden Egg in front of him to examine it.

"If I were you, I would put it in the water and try it." A shrill voice suddenly appeared.

"Moaning Myrtle! When did you arrive?!"

Moaning Myrtle blinked. "A little earlier than you."

"!!"

The next morning, in the Great Hall.

The Christmas decorations hadn't been completely removed yet; the twelve Christmas still wore star and moon ornaments, though they only Winky at night. The frost on the walls had melted, leaving only the flags of the four schools, their colors seemingly less vibrant than two months ago.

Breakfast time was almost over, but the Great Hall was still empty, with only a few people at the four Head of House tables.

Loren fed the little Witch a piece of fried sausage, then turned and asked, "So you've solved the riddle of the Golden Egg?"

Harry gave him and Hermione a resentful look. "You two knew all along, didn't you?"

"Know what?" Ron interjected curiously.

"You know about Moaning Myrtle, she would hide in the bathhouse and peep at the Prefect taking a bath."

Loren chuckled, "She saw you naked?"

Harry choked for a moment, unsure how to answer, "There were bubbles on the surface of the water. She said she closed her eyes when I went into the water, but I don't believe her!"

Loren immediately stood up for him. "Then go and argue with Moaning Myrtle! She has to take responsibility for seeing your body!"

Seeing the three of them trying not to laugh, Harry waved his hand dismissively. "Let's talk about the Golden Egg instead. Inside the Golden Egg is the song of Mermaid, and the lyrics can only be heard clearly underwater."

"Find us, where our voices resound."

We cannot sing on the ground.

When you search, please think carefully:

We stole your most beloved treasure.

You only have one hour.

To find and reclaim the items we took,

After an hour, all hope was lost.

It has vanished completely and will never reappear.

After Harry finished singing, he shivered from the cold wind.

Loren stood on the ice of Black Lake, stamping his foot. The ice was as cold and hard as frozen iron, extremely solid. He turned to look at the three people behind him, his face serious. "Not good for fishing."

Ron nodded in deep agreement.

Hermione remained expressionless.

Harry rolled his eyes so hard they were practically pointing to the sky. "Is this the time to talk about fishing? Help me think of something! Moaning Myrtle the Second Task is for me to go down into the water to find Mermaid, and I have to stay underwater for an hour."

As they spoke, the group followed Loren forward, leaving a trail of crooked footprints on the ice. They walked until they were about ten meters from the shore before taking out four small stools and sitting down.

Harry breathed out to warm his hands, took the fishing rod from Loren, and watched him divide the bait into four portions. "How is this possible? How can I breathe underwater for an hour?"

No one paid him any attention; the faint echoes of his voice could be heard on the frozen surface of the empty lake.

"[Piercing Bolt] "

"Bang!"

The sound of rushing water echoed from below the ice cave, but when you peered down, you couldn't see anything clearly. Unidentified fish swayed their fins as they passed by below, then nimbly flicked their tails and disappeared into the deep water.

Loren skillfully baited the hook and cast it. After finishing, he clapped his hands, looked up at the sky, and saw a rare azure blue, bright and clear, typical of winter.

"The weather is great, it looks like we're going to catch a big fish."

"Really?" Ron excitedly cast his line.

Hermione wasn't interested in fishing. She sat down next to Loren and released a few shimmering blue flames into the air to dispel the surrounding chill.

Harry stared blankly as the group went about their tasks, creating a leisurely scene of a winter outing and ice fishing.

Harry felt somewhat lost.

No, I'm talking about the Second Task in the Goblet of Fire Triwizard Tournament, a matter of life and death!

"Say something! Give me some advice! I'm going to be drowned in the lake in three weeks!"

Loren stared intently at the fishing float. "Neville has a book called 'The Marvelous Aquatic Plants of the Mediterranean and Their Characteristics,' which mentions a plant called Gillyweed, do you remember it? And the Bubble-Head Charm..."

Harry's eyes lit up as he listened.

Hermione nodded. "So now we need to consider what treasure you're looking for underwater, and how to orient yourself underwater."

"And this one-hour deadline, could it mean something?"

"..."

The clear winter sun made people feel lazy, and Professor Granger's voice slowly blended into the flowing water under the ice, becoming indistinct and distant. Some long-forgotten memories surfaced in Loren's mind.

If nothing unexpected happens, the judges will tie the Champion ' most cherished person underwater and hand them over to the Mermaid; if they can't be rescued within an hour, they'll drown...

It's full of flaws.

Loren glanced at Ron out of the corner of his eye.

This time, Harry asked Ginny to be his dance partner, and it seems like there's something going on between them. I wonder who's being held hostage in the water this time.