Holiday

The weather grew colder, and the various juices on the dining table began to get hotter and hotter. Harry was always scalded by the first sip, then enjoyed the chill he had brought in from outside or from the Great Hall and kitchens slowly dissipating. Ron would snicker when Harry got burned, then frown as he tried a sip himself, only to stick out his tongue and wait for it to cool after getting burned too seven times out of ten.

Their awkwardness ended on the fourth day after that. When Harry wrote to Sirius, he mentioned that Pettigrew had once been Ron's pet. So, to apologize for Ron's unfortunate experience, Sirius sent him a cute little owl. Ron happily named her Pigwidgeon, and he and Harry made up that very day.

But Harry still asked the Weasley twins to buy a pile of Honeydukes sweets in Hogsmeade, apologizing for overlooking Ron's feelings. Ron excitedly hugged Harry all night without letting go. After they fell asleep, the two of them rolled off the bed and crashed onto the floor. Dazed from their late-night fall, they burst out laughing at each other, then sneaked to the kitchen under the Invisibility Cloak and drank a large mug of hot corn juice together under Diko's amused gaze.

The week before the Christmas holidays, Draco suddenly began targeting Harry and the others more often. He especially increased his verbal attacks on Ron, and his contemptuous remarks about the Weasley family grew increasingly excessive. Ron got angry and drew his wand many times, only for Harry to stop him in time. After all, Ron's wand could only hurt himself.

Later, Hermione found a report buried in some obscure corner of the newspaper saying that Arthur Weasley had been ordered to search for objects that might contain dark magic. She concluded that Arthur had gone to search Malfoy Manor, which was why Draco was targeting Ron so fiercely.

Harry nodded, thinking it made sense. Ron excitedly raised his fist and shouted that his dad was awesome. When Draco mocked him again, Ron merely smiled, looking as though he was enjoying himself immensely. Draco took one look at him, cursed twice, then could not continue. With a strange expression, he moved away from Ron. Watching Draco's back as he practically fled, Harry nodded thoughtfully, his eyes faintly gleaming.

Amid a heavy snowfall, the Christmas holidays arrived as promised. The boisterous students left the school, and silence descended upon Hogwarts.

Harry wrapped himself in a thick scarf and trudged through the deep snow, listening to its creaking crunch and letting out a muffled laugh.

"Good afternoon, Harry."

Cyberlina, whom he had hardly seen lately, suddenly appeared in front of him, startling Harry.

"Ah, good afternoon, Senior Cyberlina."

Harry looked up and noticed that Cyberlina was not wearing her school robes—or even wizard's robes. Instead, she wore a finely tailored dark-green coat that looked very expensive. A fluffy black hat covered her head, and a matching furry scarf wrapped around her neck. Beneath the coat, which reached her calves, peeked out black leather boots dusted with snow.

Very Muggle.

That was Harry's first thought.

"Did Hermione and Ron both go home?"

Cyberlina walked toward the castle alongside Harry.

"Hermione went home, but Ron went to Egypt with his brothers and Ginny to visit his brother Bill. Oh, Percy didn't go, I think. He said being a prefect was very busy." Whenever Ron and his family came up, Harry's voice was full of envy. "Mr. Weasley seems to have a lot of good friends in the Ministry of Magic. They helped him deal with... the trouble Ron and I caused... so he wasn't punished." Harry looked somewhat embarrassed as he spoke. "It seems that when those friends heard Mr. Weasley wanted to go to Egypt to see his son, they gave him several plane tickets—Muggle ones. So Ron, Fred, and George, who had originally planned to stay at school, went along too."

Seeing Cyberlina raise her eyebrows at him, Harry hurriedly added, "That's what Ron told me. But I think Mr. Weasley must really be impressive in the Ministry of Magic... He even got to search Malfoy Manor..."

"The Weasleys have always been impressive," Cyberlina agreed with a smile.

Harry nodded, then stamped down the snow beneath his feet, compacting the footprint. He muttered, "I wish Sirius would leave the hospital soon. Then I could leave too, instead of staying in the common room with Percy all the time."

Harry did not dislike Percy. He simply felt that staying with Percy was even more stressful than staying with Hermione. The two were very alike, with their minds filled entirely with studying and exams.

"Don't worry. You'll be able to see Little Black soon." Cyberlina stroked Harry's messy hair, then bent down and said quietly, "I heard he's already started sorting through the Black family's assets in the hospital ward. Maybe you won't have to stay at the Dursleys' all summer."

Harry's eyes lit up at once, and he looked at Cyberlina hopefully. "Really? I won't have to stay with the Dursleys?"

"Just not 'all the time.'" Cyberlina lightly tapped the scar on Harry's forehead with her knuckle. "I think Albus should have told you that Lily left you protection here."

"...Yeah."

"It's powerful magic. It can keep you from being harmed. Albus later added another safeguard to it—as long as you spend a certain amount of time beside your blood relative, Voldemort won't be able to hurt you." Cyberlina withdrew her hand, bent down to meet Harry's eyes, and smiled. "So you need to stay with your aunt."

Harry gazed into those pale golden-brown eyes. His lips moved, but for a long while he could not say a word. At last, he let out a small sigh and lowered his eyes. "All right... How long do I need to stay there?"

"About a week, I guess."

Cyberlina straightened and continued walking beside Harry toward the castle. When they eventually had to part in different directions, Harry looked up and asked hesitantly, "Then, Senior Cyberlina, is there any way you can help me maintain this magic without needing to stay with the Dursleys?"

Cyberlina looked down at Harry without answering, merely letting out a soft sigh.

"All right... I understand." Harry lowered his head, then raised it again and smiled as he bid Cyberlina farewell before heading toward Gryffindor Tower.

Cyberlina waited until his back had vanished up the stairs before turning toward the dungeon.

"Ashwinder eggs, Newt blood, Billywig sting slime, Fairy wings..." Snape held a list and checked off each fresh ingredient Cyberlina took from the pocket on which she had cast an Undetectable Extension Charm. "Erumpent horn powder... Erumpent horn, Streeler blood and skin—" Snape paused and looked complicatedly at Cyberlina, who was leisurely grading student assignments. "I won't ask in detail about the Erumpent horn. But this African Teebo Warthog skin is so intact, and it still has chunks of blood on it. You didn't personally go to Africa, did you?"

"Mm-hmm." Cyberlina nodded and raised her head from the potion essays that made even her eyes ache. "If not, then what?"

"..." Snape had to admit that when he made the list, he had absolutely never imagined Cyberlina would personally hunt or gather every single thing on it, one by one. What were ingredient shops even for?

Still, the result made no difference to him. The ingredients were fresh and high-quality. He was the one profiting.

So Snape fell silent and continued checking the list.

And, to be honest, compared with asking Cyberlina how she had gathered ingredients from all over the world, Snape wanted to know whether she had made Dumbledore pay for his actions. It truly was not gossip.

Mainly because, during the previous few occasions when that curious little Gryffindor had gone to the study to read with the Chosen One-shaped key, or gone to the Chamber of Secrets to pluck Basilisk parts, he had obliquely probed Cyberlina several times about her recent relationship with Dumbledore while thinking he was being discreet. Snape had therefore guessed that Dumbledore had probably angered Cyberlina somewhere else too, and he really wanted to know how things had turned out. It truly was not gossip!

Nor had he been influenced by that little Gryffindor. He simply wanted to watch the old Gryffindor suffer misfortune!

"To be honest, Severus, I'm a little curious how many people you supply." Cyberlina closed the assignment in her hands. "Forget all that miscellaneous stuff. If I remember correctly, isn't this African Teebo Warthog skin supposed to be an alchemical material?"

"Then it seems Lady Sekerei is still far too ignorant—or perhaps you have been separated from wizarding society for too long and need to relearn some basic common knowledge." Snape gathered his scattered thoughts and checked the list once more. "That leaves only the sap of a Bavarian Dragon Blood Tree and Vienna Magic Vine."

"Mm." Cyberlina nodded. "The places where those two materials grow are close together. I'll go after attending the Malfoy family's banquet."

Snape paused. In the end, he did not say that it was not urgent, nor did he ask why she had gone all the way to Africa without stopping by a closer location while she was at it. He merely nodded, then put away the bag and its contents together. Cyberlina had not asked for the bag back anyway.

"Anything else?" Snape began ushering her out.

"Hm?" Cyberlina sounded puzzled. "Aren't you coming too?"

"...Coming where?"

"To the Malfoy family's banquet." Cyberlina looked at Snape. "I remember Little Malfoy saying that the head of the Malfoy family invited you. Did I remember wrong?"

"No, you didn't." Snape sat in his office chair and opened the assignments Cyberlina had just been looking through. "Lucius politely invites me every year, but I don't attend every time."

Seeing Snape pick up his quill and begin grading, Cyberlina sighed softly. "All right. In that case, I'll have to go alone."

Snape did not even raise his head as he sneered, "Pardon my poor eyesight. I did not realize that Miss Sekerei was an incapable little witch who needed a guardian to accompany her whenever she went out."

"After all, I'm only fifteen," Cyberlina replied righteously.

"Indeed. Fifteen years old, strong enough to wrench apart an Erumpent's horn and strip an African Teebo Warthog barehanded." Snape had already begun grading assignments. "I am not Old Bee, who cannot bear your gaze. If Miss Sekerei does not wish to attend the Malfoy family's banquet, you are welcome to stand here all night."

"All right." Cyberlina smiled lightly and made her request. "Then may I borrow Professor Snape's hardworking fireplace?"

"Be my guest."

The time on Cyberlina's invitation from the Malfoy family was earlier than the banquet, so Lucius had waited at the manor entrance from early on. Instead, a house-elf told him that Cyberlina had emerged from her own fireplace. He returned in confusion, only to see halfway there that his son was being lifted out of the snow in his garden by the collar by a tall young woman.

Lucius hurried forward with a stiff expression. When he saw that his son merely had some snow on him, he quietly relaxed.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy." Cyberlina removed the fluffy hat and held it in front of herself, then bowed slightly to Lucius with an apologetic expression. "My sudden voice startled Little Mr. Malfoy."

"I-I wasn't standing steadily either." Draco patted the snow off himself, his small face bright red with embarrassment. Who would be startled in their own home and fall into the garden? How humiliating for a Malfoy! I hope Father won't be angry.

Thinking that, Draco carefully looked up at Lucius, only to discover that his father was not looking at him at all.

Lucius smiled, holding his cane behind his back and placing his other hand before his chest as he bowed slightly in return. "There is no need for that, Lady Sekerei. Little Dragon was simply being careless."

Draco: eyes wide.

"Please come this way, Madam. My father has been looking forward to your arrival for a very long time." As Lucius spoke, he took the lead and gestured for Cyberlina to follow.

Cyberlina smiled, put her hat back on, and followed Lucius.

Abraxas had suffered from dragon pox for several years. This illness, common among the elderly, had left him horribly disfigured. He rarely wished to see outsiders, so he had moved out of Malfoy Manor. It was not until this September, because of Cyberlina, that he moved back into Malfoy Manor. Even then, he lived in a room high in the main house where outsiders seldom went, spending most of his time lying on a large bed whose curtains were almost never opened and chatting with his father's portrait to pass the time.

"I'm sorry, Professor Sekerei. My condition prevents me from standing to greet you." Abraxas's voice was hoarse and weak. Cyberlina knew as soon as she heard it that he did not have long to live.

"Not at all." Cyberlina sat in the chair Lucius floated over and looked gently at the bed curtains embroidered with elegant patterns. "I understand." She then looked at the portrait on the wall opposite the bed. "Long time no see, Oberth."

"Long time no see, Professor Sekerei." The elderly-looking Oberth Malfoy, his pale-golden hair tied back completely, smiled faintly. His refined bearing was no different from when he had been young. "Back then, I wondered when you might leave behind a portrait. I never expected that I would have been a portrait for decades while you still looked young."

"I imagine you were going to say—even younger." Cyberlina smiled faintly at Oberth. "But how else could I keep the promise I made to you back then?"

Lucius, who was listening nearby, raised his eyebrows slightly. His grandfather, however, sighed from inside the portrait. "Professor Sekerei, I no longer know whether that promise is fair to you."

"How is it unfair?"

"My descendants... do not seem worthy of your protection." Pain crossed Oberth's face. "Ab and Luke each have their strengths, but unfortunately they also have many shortcomings. And Ab's current condition... Perhaps in a few months, my son and I will only be able to speak to each other through frames."

Lucius's eyebrows twitched violently at his grandfather's words, but he said nothing. After all, it truly was not his place to speak.

Cyberlina glanced at Lucius, then smiled. "Not at all. Oberth, you are underestimating your descendants."

Lying on the bed, Abraxas silently listened to his father's conversation with Cyberlina. He could not help remembering what his father had said when he was young and preparing to follow Tom—

"Ab, the Malfoy family is yours to command now, so I won't interfere. I only want to remind you of one thing: he is too young."

At the time, he had answered, "It is precisely because he is young that supporting him now will bring us greater benefits."

Besides, he thought he had the affection of a fellow student and a senior-junior bond with Tom, so his future position would not be too poor.

Only later, when Tom gradually became irritable and heartless, did he belatedly realize what his father had meant: He is too young. You have no idea what he will become.