A Fisherman's Christmas Holidays Begin

Just as Loren was placing pears out the window, Ron returned with his head down, carrying a chessboard and two sets of chess pieces.

"Well."

Ron sighed loudly, trying to get Loren's attention. He turned his head forward and glanced to the side, secretly observing Loren's reaction.

Loren ignored him; he was thinking about how to improve the Frozen Pear.

There were 18 pears in the basket this time. Loren divided them into 3 groups of 6 each. One group was left frozen as is, while the other two groups were frozen for a day and then thawed. After thawing, they were put back into the freezer and eaten one each time they were thawed.

"Sigh~" Ron continued tentatively, this time with a longer and louder sigh.

"Has Harry left?"

Loren was worried that if he kept sighing, he might not be able to handle the strain and faint. So, while talking, he used snow to draw a grid pattern on the balcony outside the window, marking out different areas.

Seeing that Loren had finally noticed him, Ron quickly said, "Yes, he ran very fast, eager to spend Christmas with his godfather. If you ask me, there's nothing wrong with spending Christmas at school."

Is it possible, I mean possible, that he really doesn't want to play chess with you anymore?

Loren closed the window, walked to the soft chair in front of the fireplace, sat down, wiped his snow-wet hands with a handkerchief, and stretched out his hands to warm them by the fire; his hands were now icy cold.

"What's wrong with Wizard's Chess? It increases intelligence. Many great wizards loved playing Wizard's Chess when they were young," Ron muttered.

"A childhood without Wizard's Chess is incomplete."

"I can guarantee that I will not checkmate you in the first 50 steps."

"Let's play one game, just one."

Ron was incredibly bored; the Twins had disappeared somewhere.

Loren's hands warmed up, and he rubbed them together. He looked at Ron helplessly and said, "Let's play a different game."

"I'm fine with anything, you tell me." Ron, who had seemed listless before, perked up.

Loren took out his wand and pointed it at the table beside him. A neat grid of squares appeared on the wooden table, consisting of 15 horizontal lines and 15 vertical lines.

The two books on the table opened on their own, the pages inside flipping constantly, as if being blown by a strong wind and about to detach from the book cover, but there was no wind at all in the lounge.

The pages quickly broke free from the hard cover, curled up together, and turned into round, flat-bottomed, cool jade chess pieces in black and white, just as Loren had envisioned.

The remaining hard cover was transformed into a box for holding the game pieces, and thus a high-end Gomoku was created.

Ron stared in disbelief at the scene and exclaimed, "Wow, if you ask me, your Transfiguration is much Hermione Hermione's!"

Loren spent some time explaining the rules of Gomoku) to Ron, the kind where there are no forbidden moves.

With its simple and fun rules and round pieces, Ron was happy to try this unfamiliar game of chess.

The two officially began their "game". Loren wanted to give Ron some sweetness so as not to dampen his enthusiasm, so he kept pestering him to play Wizard's Chess.

But soon, he was dealt a blow.

"So that's how you can do it!"

After experiencing classic defeats like double threes and three-fours, Ron became excited and enthusiastic, seemingly addicted to this simple Gomoku.

Loren thought he could easily dominate Ron for a long time, at least during the beginner period.

Things didn't go as he expected. Ron was truly skilled at chess; he wouldn't repeat the same mistakes he had made, and he quickly absorbed Loren's earlier tactics and used them against Loren.

Wow, so you've put all your talent into this.

Loren failed to dominate the weaker opponents and was even worried about losing if he continued playing. After managing to get through a few rounds, he excused himself, saying it was time for dinner, and quickly ended the game.

Ron, however, remained enamored with the game, and despite repeated defeats, he remained enthusiastic about this novel way of playing.

Playing Wizard's Chess with others is almost a foregone conclusion, and you have to be mindful of your opponent's feelings so you can't make a decisive move. In comparison, this kind of Gomoku, where you can lose on your own, is more fascinating to him.

"Let's go to the dining table and continue."

"You can go with the roast turkey."

At the dinner table, Loren ate his chicken leg while checking the other college tables. He noticed that quite a few people from all four colleges had stayed behind to celebrate the holiday.

The fewest Slytherin members remained. Loren glanced around and saw that most were Half-blood wizards; the Pure-blood wizards had mostly gone home.

Loren tore off a large piece of meat with his teeth and chewed, enjoying the wonderful feeling of the meat juices and salty aroma swirling in his mouth.

Ron leaned over from the side. "Want to play chess after dinner?"

Loren turned his head away, ignoring the possessed man, and continued to devour his food.

Ron went around to the other side. "Since we have nothing to do anyway, let's play a few more rounds."

Loren crunched the cartilage in his mouth, ignoring Ron.

Playing chess is out of the question. You can only play one or two games occasionally to maintain your prestige and give you experience. It would be very embarrassing if you were to be defeated by someone else.

Receiving no response, Ron turned and walked towards the Twins. "George, I just learned a new game..."

Evening, Gryffindor Common Room.

Thanks to most students having gone home, the Common Room was much less crowded than usual, allowing them to secure good spots around the fire and enjoy more comfortable armchairs.

The Twins brothers brought out a lot of food from the Kitchen, all of which could be picked up with a fork and put directly into their mouths: bread, mushrooms, fruit chunks, and sliced meat chops. If they got cold, they would put them on the fireplace to warm them up.

Loren stared intently at the churning fire in the stove. This fire looked perfect for grilling; he'd definitely have to find a chance to try it sometime.

Right now, they're sitting there, enjoying their food and chatting.

Fred recounted some amusing anecdotes about the professors, mentioning how George was often defeated by Ron in Gomoku.

George was already quite content; when they could only play Wizard's Chess, Ron had mocked them even more cruelly.

The Twins fiercely criticized their parents for their favoritism, saying they would rather go to their older brother's house for Christmas, leaving the twins homeless.

They talked about Dumbledore's lady's hat, Professor McGonagall turning into a tabby cat, Twins saying they were going to do something different and that they would make the whole Wizarding World know their names.

When it came to Professor Quirrell, the Twins said they had a perfect opportunity to see the back of his head.

They shared their experiences of nighttime tours, mentioning which floors Filch always patrolled and which books in the Restricted Section were particularly interesting.

"If Professor McGonagall were here, she'd turn us all into fat pigs!" George said.

"Perhaps turkeys, then there will be a few more roasted turkeys at the Christmas party." Fred rarely disagreed with George.

Everyone burst into laughter, their laughter echoing the roar of the fire.

The party didn't end until late at night, and Ron received rejections from everyone; no one wanted to play chess with Ron anymore.

The next day, Loren got up early; he had important things to do that day.

When Loren opened his eyes and sat up, he saw that Ron was already dressed and sitting cross-legged on his bed, playing chess with himself.

The chess pieces landed silently on the cotton sheets. The 15-line chessboard was almost full, indicating that they had been playing for a long time.

He transformed the pattern on the bed sheet into a checkerboard. The checkerboard pieces, made of some unknown material, were of all sizes and shapes, and their colors could only be roughly categorized as dark or light.

Loren stared at the chess pieces carefully for a while. Ron had an idea: the chess pieces were made from Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and they could be eaten and played at the same time.

Perhaps we could consider teaching him Go. Capturing a stone means taking another stone, and whoever has enough stones first wins.

Ron was delighted to see Loren get up and, holding up a chess piece, invited Loren, "Want to play a game?"

"No, no." Loren shook his head quickly; the child had already become possessed.

Loren changed out of his pajamas and pulled out another item he'd kept at the bottom of his trunk: the blanket Nicol had sold him along with the book. It was windproof and warm, perfect for spending the night in the snow-capped mountains, and ideal for what he was going to do today.

Ignoring Ron's persistent pestering, the two went to a restaurant for breakfast.

The decorations here are even more magnificent than yesterday, and some of the ornaments haven't been hung up yet, so it doesn't look like it's still under construction.

As Loren ate, he glanced at the High Table, where only Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick were seated. It seemed the professors' holiday routines were also irregular.

Snape was not in the High Table.

He's probably sleeping in, Loren thought.

Dumbledore noticed Loren's gaze and winked at him mischievously.

That's so childish. Loren pretended not to see it, turned his head away, glanced around, and returned to the plate in front of him.

Ron kept nagging in his ear, "Come play chess, come play chess."

Loren squeezed his wand repeatedly, determined that if Ron's first words upon waking tomorrow morning were still about chess, he would cast a Stunning Spell on him, letting him play chess to his heart's content in his dreams.

I picked out some carrots, bread, and chicken legs from the table.

He put them into a food box that appeared from a plate, carried the food box in one hand, draped a white fur blanket over himself, Loren set off towards the Black Lake.

It's been almost two months since winter began, and the fish at the bottom of Black Lake have been hungry for a long time, making it the perfect time to catch big fish.

There are warm blankets, and Transfiguration that allows you to conjure up all sorts of fishing rods at will.

With favorable timing, location, and people, I'm sure I'll reap a bountiful harvest today.