Everyone Has Their Own Holiday Story
"Sitting on the Ferris wheel, you can see the whole amusement park," Harry boasted, emphasizing each word as he spoke, his eyes fixed on the empty space, his mind replaying the Ferris wheel.
"But don't you fly even higher on your flying broomstick?" Ron asked, puzzled. He couldn't understand what was so strange about a wizard being able to see further from a higher vantage point.
"I—" Harry stammered.
Yes, the Ferris wheel doesn't even fly as high as he does on his flying broomstick, so why is he so happy?
For the past ten years, I've spent Christmas locked in the storage room under the stairs, counting the 196 floor tiles and the 625 horizontal lines on the ceiling, spending Christmas with them.
He imagined sneaking a bite of their unfinished Christmas dinner after the Dursley fell asleep that night. There was no clock in the storage room; this fantasy would continue for who knows how long.
When Dudley, who was as Dudley, dragged his parents home and loudly boasted about the Ferris wheel at the dinner table, that was Harry's first impression of the Ferris wheel.
"It's not that the Ferris wheel is fun, it's that Harry has his own family now," Neville said, making the people around him feel a little unfamiliar.
Harry agreed with this statement, raised the glass of juice and gently swirled it, silently saying to himself: Cheers to this unprecedented Christmas.
He drank it all in one gulp.
In the Gryffindor Common Room, on a bench, the five students from Loren's dormitory huddled together, talking about their Christmas holidays.
Hermione sat in the soft chair, her small back ramrod straight, intently grading the holiday homework of several students.
My previous trick of randomly filling in an answer when I encountered a question I didn't know in order to trick people into giving me the correct answer was exposed because of a careless mistake. This made this assignment much more difficult.
Here's the situation: a Potions Master problem asks: Where can we get Bezoar?
Ron's answer was "toilet," then he crossed out "toilet" and wrote "washroom" next to it.
This answer is too outrageous. The little Witch can't understand why she would fill in such an answer. Did she only see the word "feces" when she read the question?
After some questioning, Hermione learned their trick. From then on, whenever she saw their mistakes, she would simply mark them with charcoal instead of writing down the correct answers.
Loren was wondering how to talk to Harry about Nagini; he had previously thought the two could communicate about it. But now that Harry had actually returned, he was at a loss as to what to talk about.
His mind was filled with a multitude of thoughts, which ultimately converged on the Sorcerer's Stone. He resolved to ask Flamel about it tonight.
After Hermione finished grading the homework, she pulled Harry and Ron into a small circle to start plotting. To be honest, the three of them were quite loud. Every now and then, words like "Fluffy," "Nicolas Flamel," and "The Sorcerer's Stone" would pop up from within the circle.
When Neville talked about making Frozen Pear during the holidays, his grandmother was both happy and a little unhappy when she ate the pears.
"She likes the Frozen Pear I make, but she also thinks I shouldn't do these things." Neville sighed, unsure how to face his grandmother and parents.
Grandma hoped he would grow up to be a strong and brave man and continue Lomberton's glory, but Neville felt he couldn't live up to that expectation.
He wasn't the Boy Who Lived; his wand couldn't cast a spell that could blow a troll's head off; he wasn't smart enough, wasn't cheerful enough, and had a bad memory.
All he remembered was that the medicine at St Mungo's Hospital was very bitter, even more bitter than the medicine prescribed by Madam Pomfrey, and even more bitter than the medicine Madam Pomfrey got from Professor Snape.
He'd known it since he was eight. That time, he went with his grandmother to visit his parents in St Mungo's's, and saw them, expressionless and silent. He saw them, in a frenzy, babbling incoherently.
The child in the next bed said they were on a mission and would be discharged once they finished their medicine.
Eight-year-old Neville had an even worse memory, but he remembered the words. He sneaked to the pharmacy, drank half a bellyful of bitter water, and ended up in the hospital. Scales grew on his face, and feathers sprouted from his arms.
Neville stayed in bed for a week and finished his medicine.
But my parents' bitterness is endless; there's always new bitterness to be had. How much they must be suffering!
Neville wanted to give them something sweet, so Frozen Pear were one of those. That day, Mom and Dad ate them with their faces covered in pears, and Neville was laughing, as was Grandma.
But at night he saw his grandmother secretly wiping away tears. His parents were drinking bitter water, and his grandmother's eyes were also filled with bitter water.
My parents' bitterness is endless, and my grandmother's tears never dry.
Neville kept these thoughts in mind, looked Loren in the eye and said seriously, "Frozen Pear are the sweetest, sweeter than Frozen Apple and Frozen Yellow Peach."
Before going to bed, Harry and Ron were acting suspiciously, glancing at the other three in the dormitory every now and then to see if they were asleep. Whenever Loren looked at them, the two would turn their heads away, clumsily pretending nothing was wrong.
When Neville's call came, Harry and Ron exchanged secret signals with "pfft, pfft." They tiptoed out of bed, left their dormitory, went down the stairs, and walked to the deserted common room late at night.
In the dimly lit lounge, the two buried their heads together, using the light coming through the window to examine a Winky silver fabric, so thin it seemed to flow like liquid.
"The Invisibility Cloak!" Ron's surprised voice echoed in the lounge.
Then came another rustling sound.
Harry draped the silver fabric over the two of them and disappeared, leaving the common room empty. There was no one in sight, but sounds continued to drift out.
"This Invisibility Cloak can hide three or four people."
"Merlin's beard, now we don't have to worry about getting caught while out at night." Ron's voice was filled with excitement.
There are many Invisibility Cloak in the magical world, and there are two main ways to make them.
One type is made from the fur of Demiguise, a method that has been banned by the Magical Creature Protection Act pushed by Newt. On the other hand, Demiguise have eyes that can see the future, and few can catch them.
Most of the existing invisibility Invisibility Cloak made of Demiguise hides are from the past.
The second method involves using Alchemy Array to fix the effect of the Disillusionment Charm. This is the mainstream method currently used in the Wizarding World, but it is expensive, has mediocre results, and the resulting Invisibility Cloak gradually loses its effectiveness over time.
The Invisibility Cloak, one of the Deathly Hallows in Harry's possession, is the most mysterious item; no one knows what it's made of. It's said to be Death's own garment.
In terms of effectiveness, this Deathly Hallows seemed no different from a regular Invisibility Cloak. Some wizards possess keen senses and, though they cannot see, can detect those beneath the Invisibility Cloak; Snape was one of them.
Loren nestled behind the stairs, his blue eyes reflecting dark gray shadows that outlined two figures leaning side by side, their bodies glowing with fiery red Magic Power.
In the Abandoned Classroom the Mirror of Erised was discovered, Loren realized that his eyes could see through invisibility, even Dumbledore's Disillusionment Charm, and this time the Invisibility Cloak was no exception.
Loren chuckled, his eyes darting around.
While the two people below were examining his invisible body, he suppressed his smile, pretended to be sleepwalking, and walked down the stairs with a blank and dazed expression, muttering in a pretentious manner, "Sorcerer's Stone, Sorcerer's Stone."
Harry and Ron were initially surprised, then fell silent simultaneously, their eyes fixed on Loren, their ears perked up to listen intently to what Loren to say.
"The secret of the Sorcerer's Stone is—"
Harry and Ron's eyes widened.
"The secret of the Sorcerer's Stone is—"
The two held their breath.
"Let Harry become light."
Harry's pupils contracted, before he could even grasp what it meant to become light.
Taking advantage of the fact that the two were caught off guard, Loren reached forward and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak.
"I knew you two were acting suspiciously."
"Want to go for a night stroll?"
Loren ran his fingers over the Invisibility Cloak; it was thinner than parchment, offering no resistance whatsoever. It was smooth and cool, unlike any known fabric.
I only made 2k today, I'll see if I can make up for it with another 2k tomorrow. This week has been really unlucky. First, I got bitten by a bug, and my leg hurt like crazy. Then I kept working overtime and getting yelled at, I feel like I might be laid off.
Me, the little mouse, might be going to have to write books full-time.