The day before the end of term, Horatio went to Dumbledore and said he wanted to stay at school for the holidays.
Dumbledore said, "Impossible. You're basically a husky. We've finally endured long enough to let you out—how could we possibly let you stay behind and tear the place apart?"
Horatio said it was fine if he could not stay, as long as he could take Nut with him. Otherwise, no one would look after her.
Dumbledore said, "Impossible. A hippogriff cannot appear in the Muggle world. The Ministry of Magic will come after you. Hagrid will take good care of her at Hogwarts."
Horatio said, "Fine, then can I learn diving over the holidays?"
"Diving? You can, but why do you want to learn diving?"
"To find out where England's continental shelf is and see whether I can blow it up. I'll try to make Hogwarts: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea next year."
"..."
"Did you just ask whether you could take Nut out of Hogwarts? I agree, but remember to conceal her properly with a Disillusionment Charm." To avoid becoming a mermaid headmaster soaking underwater next year, Dumbledore compromised.
Horatio said, "Are you looking down on my Alchemy? I already loaded an invisibility function into Nut's saddle."
Horatio then left the headmaster's office, snorting coldly to himself. His greatest gain from this year at Hogwarts was learning that people would always keep compromising. As long as he placed both a bomb and a nuclear bomb before Dumbledore, Dumbledore would obediently choose the bomb.
Horatio hummed a cheerful tune as he headed toward his greenhouse.
The moment he reached the entrance, Nut charged toward him like the wind and affectionately rubbed her eagle head against his cheek.
Horatio stroked her smooth feathers and said, "All right, all right. Dumbledore agreed that we can stay together over the holidays."
Looking at House-Elf Unit 3—the Quirrell Alchemy Golem repurposed as waste utilization—harvesting Houttuynia cordata in the greenhouse, he could not help missing the usefulness of House-Elf Units 1 and 2.
Neville, who had come to visit Harry in the hospital wing, and Harry, lying in the bed, both shivered at the same time, as though something filthy had set its sights on them.
Harry showed Neville the photographs of his parents that Hagrid had collected for him. Neville was delighted to discover one of his own parents with Harry's parents.
The two kept discussing their parents' relationship until Madam Pomfrey drove Neville out of the hospital wing.
The next day, after Madam Pomfrey examined him repeatedly, Harry was discharged and entered the Great Hall. Students from every house sat around three wooden long tables and one Golden Table.
The Slytherin students gritted their teeth as they watched the Gryffindor students showing off before them. Malfoy had originally wanted his father to get Slytherin a Golden Table too, but after considering the number of Galleons it would cost, he knew his father would never agree.
Professor McGonagall watched the smug Gryffindor students below with a headache. The newly commissioned long tables had not arrived yet, so they could only make do with these.
At that moment, Horatio sneaked in through the Great Hall's doors and sat in the empty seat beside Hermione.
Hermione asked in confusion, "Where did you go?"
Horatio answered solemnly, "To the bathroom."
"Then why were you acting so sneaky?"
"I have social anxiety. I'm scared of everyone staring at me."
"You? Social anxiety?" Hermione said speechlessly, "Forget it. I'm not asking."
Dumbledore arrived in the Great Hall, and all the students gradually quieted down. Even the Gryffindor students fell silent.
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"Another year has passed!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "Before we enjoy these delicious dishes, we must first hold the House Cup award ceremony. The current scores are as follows: Gryffindor, 372 points; Hufflepuff, 352 points; Ravenclaw, 426 points; Slytherin, 472 points."
Thunderous cheers erupted from the Slytherin table.
Dumbledore continued, "But recent events must also be taken into account."
"First, Mr. Horatio Quibble attacked Professor Snape. Gryffindor will lose fifty points. Although Professor Snape has said he will not pursue the matter, such behavior should not be encouraged. After considering everything, fifty points will be deducted from Gryffindor as punishment."
Harry looked at Dumbledore in confusion. Naive as he was, he thought Horatio had attacked Professor Snape under Voldemort's control.
Hermione turned around and glared fiercely at Horatio. She knew what had really happened.
The little wizards in the Great Hall looked at Horatio with admiration, wondering how he had attacked Professor Snape, remained perfectly unharmed, and even avoided having Snape hold him accountable.
Horatio remained calm. Deduct your points; I'll do my thing. Compared to docking Gryffindor points, he was more looking forward to the big surprise he had prepared for Dumbledore.
"Second, Mr. Ron Weasley won the most brilliant game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years. For this, I award Gryffindor fifty points."
"Third, Miss Hermione Granger faced blazing fire and calmly used logical reasoning. I award Gryffindor fifty points."
"Fourth, Mr. Harry Potter..." Dumbledore paused. "He displayed exceptional courage and extraordinary bravery. For this, I award Gryffindor another sixty points."
Gryffindor's cheers nearly blew off the enchanted ceiling. They rose to their feet and cheered loudly. Harry pulled Ron along as they looked at Malfoy as though he were a clown. Malfoy felt his nose turning a little red, while his body stiffened as if he had been hit by a Petrification Curse.
As the green banners in the Great Hall turned scarlet, the silver turned gold, and the serpent became a lion, Gryffindor's cheers took a long time to subside.
Once the little wizards returned to their seats, an incredibly lavish feast appeared on the long tables. Already somewhat hungry, they immediately began tasting the delicacies.
"Horatio, aren't you eating?" Hermione asked. Horatio had not touched his food. Instead, he kept staring at the watch on his wrist as if timing something.
"Mm, I'm not hungry. It should be almost time."
"Time for what?"
As time passed, the little wizards present began to feel that something was wrong. They seemed to be missing something. Looking up, they discovered that their former little buddies had all turned into little girlfriends.
Every little wizard in the school except Horatio had turned into a little witch without exception. Harry, Ron, and Neville exchanged glances, then looked at each other's delicate faces and could not help lowering their heads as they blushed.
Miss Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, who had become girls, and could not stop herself from vomiting. The sight of them becoming women was simply too eye-searing.
Crabbe and Goyle also looked at Miss Malfoy. Seeing her pretty face, they could not help wanting to get handsy with her. Miss Malfoy shouted at them, "What are you trying to do?"
Her voice was melodious and sweet, making even the little witches on the Slytherin side turn to look at her.
Snape looked at Miss Harry, who was exactly like Lily when she had been young. Forcing down the stirring in his heart, he quickly went to the students' table, packed up some food, and said to Dumbledore, "I'll analyze the ingredients." He then hurried out of the Great Hall.
"Hahahaha, this is killing me!" The only little wizard in the entire hall clutched his stomach and rolled around on the floor, laughing.
Everyone turned to look at him. Horatio wiped the joyful tears from the corners of his eyes, jumped onto a stool, pulled out a loudspeaker, and shouted, "I hereby declare the official founding of Hogwarts Girls' School!"
"Get him!!!" some little witch shouted.
Countless spells flew toward him. He dodged them like a loach, making faces at them as he did. "Come catch me! If you catch me, I'll let you all hehehe."
He then ran out of the Great Hall, mounted Nut, who had been waiting at the entrance for a long time, and flew into the sky while being hunted by a crowd of little witches.
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