Christmas Eve (3)

"Sounds good. I bought a book on Herbology from that shop last winter too. It was published in the seventeenth century, and some of the plants in it can't be found anywhere in Britain anymore," Neville said cheerfully.

Around three in the afternoon, the library was very quiet. Most people were in class.

Harry sat down at a table farther inside and turned the old book he had bought to the beginning.

The book's contents were more detailed than Harry had expected. The handwritten note on that page in the appendix concerned the variant use of a specific symbol. The annotator seemed to have objected to something in the book, believing its description was not accurate enough, and had even drawn a diagram—the drawing was very rough, with two crossed guide lines at the edges, but its intended direction could more or less be made out.

Hermione sat in another corner of the library, occasionally looking up at the time before lowering her head to continue reading. The whole afternoon remained very quiet.

After dinner, Harry walked along the corridor toward Gryffindor Tower.

When he passed the Entrance hall, he saw Hagrid standing beside the castle doors, wearing his thick moleskin coat with a storm lantern tucked under his arm, as though he were waiting for someone.

Seeing Harry come over, he said, "I was just about to look for you. Newt sent a letter from North Africa, saying the research on the Nocturnal Lizards there has results now. He asked me to tell you that if you're free, you can go with him next spring to see where those lizards breed."

"All right. We'll talk about it next spring," Harry said with a nod.

"Then I'll head back to the hut first. There are still a few Thestral foals