Christmas Eve

"Kyle, let's build a snowman together!"

Fred and George greeted him warmly and invited him over as well.

Kyle, however, refused without hesitation.

Their art was so ahead of its time; the abstract style, combined with the free and flexible lines, exuded an intriguing and mysterious aura.

Kyle was just an ordinary person with average abilities and limited skills. How could he presume to participate in such a great project?

He doesn't deserve it.

Not far ahead, several Hufflepuff wizards were gathered around the Black Lake.

The heavy snow caused a thick layer of ice to form on Black Lake. They were discussing whether to make a hole in the ice, catch some fish, and make a delicious Stargazing Pie.

Nearby, several students were having a snowball fight. Kyle saw a senior Gryffindor student secretly stuff a stone into a snowball and throw it at a Slytherin.

His aim was a bit off; the specially made snowball arced through the air and almost hit Professor Oren, who was passing by.

"Sir, please be careful when you have a snowball fight, and don't mix any more stones in."

Professor Oren flicked the snowball aside with his wand. "Given that you probably did it accidentally, I won't deduct points from your score this time, but don't let it happen again."

The Gryffindor nodded repeatedly.

Everyone was having a great time, except for Filch, who seemed very annoyed.

Because the young wizards didn't have the habit of polishing their shoes, when they returned to the castle after a snowball fight, they would leave a trail of dirty footprints on the ground.

This undoubtedly greatly increased Filch's workload.

Later, he simply moved a chair to the castle gate and only allowed the young wizards to enter the castle after they had cleaned their shoes.

In the History of Magic class, Kyle fell asleep in just thirty seconds, and the quality of his sleep was even better than when he was in the dormitory.

If Kanna hadn't pushed him when class ended, Kyle probably would have slept until noon.

"Everyone from both colleges is sleeping..."

Kanna rubbed her slightly red eyes, looking as if she had just woken up. "Why can't the school get a different professor of History of Magic?"

"Professor Binns probably doesn't need a salary," Kyle shrugged.

Everything else is irreplaceable; for this alone, Professor Binns ' position is unparalleled.

Not to mention that he works year-round without a break and doesn't have the various personal matters that other professors have. His attendance rate is consistently 100% year-round.

In addition, the History of Magic exam is very simple. As long as you carefully review the textbook before the exam, getting an "E" should not be a problem.

So let alone the School Governor, even Headmaster Dumbledore would never agree to replace this chosen worker.

"That stingy old bee."

Kyle curled his lip, expressing his disgust at Dumbledore's ruthless exploitation of older professors.

As December arrived, the weather grew colder and colder, but the young wizards, who had been listless the previous month, were now very excited every day.

Because the Christmas holidays are coming soon...

This means they are about to have a full two-week vacation.

In this atmosphere, students find it difficult to concentrate in class and often start daydreaming during lessons.

The professors would initially deduct a few points, hoping to make them a little nervous, but it didn't have much effect.

It probably only works for a few minutes. After a few minutes, they'll go back to their previous listless and unlucky state.

After discovering this, the professors simply stopped paying attention to it.

It's the same every year; they're used to it. Anyway, they won't say anything new before the holiday, so as long as it's not too outrageous, they'll turn a blind eye and pretend they didn't see it.

Of course, there are two exceptions.

Professor Binns didn't care about Christmas at all. In his History of Magic class, he continued to recount the invention of the Self-Stirring Cauldron in his requiem-like tone.

"The Self-Stirring Cauldron is a magically enchanted cauldron that can automatically stir Potions. It was invented by Guspard Singleton at the end of the 20th century, and he was thus..."

As for the other one, it's Professor Snape.

He doesn't care why students are daydreaming, and he won't show any leniency like other professors. If a student isn't from Slytherin, they'll lose three points the moment they're caught.

Thanks to his tireless efforts, by the day before Christmas, Slytherin's House Points were far ahead, even nearly a hundred points higher than Ravenclaw's.

Professor Snape was very satisfied with the result.

Slytherin's sixth consecutive championship this year is practically guaranteed!

On the night before leaving school, Kyle ran into a somewhat flustered Hagrid in the Great Hall.

This was the first time he had seen Hagrid since that nighttime stroll through the Forbidden Forest.

Mainly because they felt guilty, the five of them had been avoiding Hagrid for the past month.

But now that we've run into each other, it's not easy to pretend we didn't see them.

Kyle stepped forward, waved, and said, "Hagrid, how have you been lately?"

"It's Kyle." Hagrid lowered his head. "Sorry, I don't have time to chat with you right now. There are still many things I haven't prepared."

Merlin's beard! I completely forgot that Hogwarts is closed for the holidays tomorrow. I thought Halloween had only just ended a few days ago.

As he spoke, Hagrid didn't stop walking, striding towards the castle gate.

Kyle had to jog to barely keep up with him.

"Do you need any help?" Kyle asked.

"If you're not too busy..." Hagrid thought for a moment and said, "Could you get me some mistletoe for decoration? The dinner party is coming up soon, and I'm worried I might not have enough time."

"Of course, no problem."

Kyle and Hagrid made their way to the cabin near the Forbidden Forest.

Not far away stood two fir trees, each about 60 or 70 centimeters in diameter, along with a small clump of holly and mistletoe.

"You just take those decorative plants, and I'll take care of the rest."

After saying that, Hagrid bent down and laboriously lifted the two fir trees into his arms.

When Hagrid stood up, his face was flushed red; clearly, lifting two trees at once was a difficult task for him.

Just then, Hagrid suddenly heard a voice behind him.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The next second, he felt a sudden lightness on his body, as if the two fir trees had disappeared.

Hagrid turned to look at Kyle in surprise.

"Levitation Charm... Impressive!"

"You're exaggerating, Hagrid." Kyle shook his head. "Anyone could do that."

"Is... is that so?"

Hagrid blinked in confusion; he remembered it wasn't like this when he was in school.

It's only been a few years, and the new students at Hogwarts have become so outstanding?