Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, after enjoying a rather mediocre turkey dinner in the Great Hall, Breeze returned to the Owlery.

Breeze's current strength allowed him to use magic to temporarily open a passage for owls within the Owlery, which was protected by a powerful Desillusionment Charm. Consequently, his gifts had all been delivered here; compared to the ones he had sent out, he had received no fewer, and each one had been chosen with great care.

There were even a few unexpected gains.

"Why would Hermione send me a new pair of dragon-hide gloves? These certainly aren't cheap."

Could it be that Hermione had discovered his well-intentioned efforts to get her onto the Quidditch house team and was now starting to repay him? Breeze couldn't help but smile at the thought.

The girl clearly enjoyed it; burying herself in dry, boring books was definitely not the way to go.

Breeze, attempting to guess Hermione's intentions, decided it was better not to waste his energy. Who could ever truly understand a girl's mind? Even if she was Hermione, it was the same. Cedric's gift, on the other hand, was much more normal—and quite magical: a plant that bore transparent fruit, which he heard tasted exactly like green apple pie.

"Ah, Breeze! You really sent me a brand-new cleaning kit and a bronze tray!" Faner excitedly tore open its gift box, scurrying back and forth inside. It kept pulling cleaning tools out of the gift box, which had been enchanted with a temporary Undetectable Extension Charm, while the bronze tray had already been placed beneath the bronze lamp.

"I originally wanted to buy you a dress, but that's only if you were a female snake." Breeze shrugged, tossing the gift sent by Malfoy aside. It was a 200-Galleon voucher for Quidditch supplies, redeemable for any model of broomstick.

To think the Wizarding World had actually started using promotional coupons!

Having unwrapped all the gifts, Breeze found he quite enjoyed the ritual.

But why had the majority of Slytherin sent him gifts?

"I'm going out for a bit. Help me put these gifts away, Faner."

"Go on, go on. I'll handle it."

Breeze cast a Desillusionment Charm and a Disillusionment Charm on himself and began to head toward the fourth floor. He walked past the corridor of armor, quickly bypassed the Trophy Room, and arrived at the forbidden area.

The torches nearby flickered dimly; clearly, Filch didn't place much importance on cleaning this area, as the walls were covered in dust. The wooden door stood out prominently, and Breeze couldn't forget the panic he felt when facing Snape back then.

"Sometimes, necessary risks can provide answers. Is the Sorcerer's Stone really here?"

Breeze wondered uncertainly; the Sorcerer's Stone was, after all, a very important treasure.

"Alohomora!" The door was locked; it seemed some protections had been added, but to Breeze, who knew his charms, it was as flimsy as paper. A single unlocking spell solved it.

"If he really wanted to protect the Sorcerer's Stone, why doesn't Dumbledore just carry it with him? Is he afraid it'll poke him in the backside while he sleeps? Heh."

Breeze pushed the door open cautiously, only to see a three-headed dog fast asleep.

Seeming to catch a scent that was both strange and familiar, the three heads opened their eyes one by one, then looked at Breeze with pleasant surprise, panting and wagging their tongues.

They were very close to Breeze!

The last time, because they hadn't shown friendliness immediately, they had been petrified by Breeze. This time, they had learned their lesson; upon seeing him, they immediately displayed a docile demeanor.

Breeze was pleased, understanding that this was due to the power of Nature Affinity. Since he was a child, he had been loved by animals and plants; the gentle breezes and light rains of nature were always exceptionally kind to him. He hadn't expected magical creatures to be so close to him as well, just like magical plants.

"Stop!"

Seeing the three-headed dog's massive heads about to lick him with their panting tongues, Breeze's expression turned cold. Fortunately, this three-headed dog wasn't impossible to communicate with, otherwise, Breeze would have had to cast a spell to petrify it again.

Feeling the somewhat turbulent magic around Breeze, the three-headed dog seemed to feel threatened. It backed away slowly, clearing a path for Breeze, and then lay down on the ground, looking aggrieved.

Looking at the three foolish faces of the dog, Breeze couldn't help but sigh that the dog's three brains weren't particularly brilliant; it was no wonder it was used to guard the door.

Using a Levitation Charm to pull open the trapdoor, Breeze looked down into the straight, pitch-black hole. He cast Lumos, and under the light, he could vaguely see some vines. As they touched the light, the vines began to sway uneasily.

"It's Devil's Snare, and it's already formed a net. Is this to catch whoever falls down?"

Breeze thought it strange, then carefully jumped down. He used a Growth Charm to control a vine to grow rapidly, catching him. Because of his affinity, these Devil's Snares didn't harm Breeze at all, saving him a lot of trouble.

"Isn't this the giant Devil's Snare that Sprout transplanted?" Breeze remembered that Sprout had given him a small garden box that very day, and this Devil's Snare had been shrunk and taken away in an alchemical pot given by Dumbledore.

"Brought by Dumbledore?"

Breeze continued on with a strange expression. Was Dumbledore worried that Quirrell would fall and break his neck?

Immediately after, Breeze's expression became even more bizarre, because when he cautiously pushed open the door in front of him, the room behind it was filled with a large group of winged keys, spinning, jumping, and dancing in the air?

Forgive Breeze's choice of words, but he couldn't find any more foolish ones.

These silver-glinting keys dazzled Breeze. Beside the door leading out of here were a few old broomsticks, exactly the same as the ones used in Flying Class!

"I hope Dumbledore intended to use these falling-apart broomsticks to make Quirrell lower his guard, rather than expecting him to fly up and find the key."

Breeze was truly grateful for that. He then cast an unlocking spell with all his might. The lock on this door had been enchanted with an Anti-Unlocking Charm; an ordinary young wizard certainly wouldn't be able to open it with a spell. This clearly wasn't prepared for Quirrell.

Passing through the key room, the next room was a giant Wizard's Chess set. The pieces were solemn and dignified, exquisite and elegant, with detailed patterns... Breeze could find many refined words to describe them, because this was clearly the handiwork of McGonagall. She loved depicting details and textures the most. He had heard that the exams for the upper years relied on this for grading—of course, that referred to passing grades; for some idiots, just making things change was good enough.

"I really didn't know McGonagall had such a wicked sense of humor, but I have to say, this is a powerful piece of magic. So orderly."

This gave Breeze a deeper understanding of McGonagall's strength; it was something the current Breeze could not achieve.

Breeze walked along as he spoke, his spells cast without hesitation. He used Levicorpus at full power to hang the giant chess pieces up, passing directly through the chessboard.

Although Breeze wanted to follow the rules, this wasn't a competition, and no one had stipulated that he couldn't use other powers.

"It's practically a game."

Breeze felt insulted. He had been prepared to face dangerous mechanisms and evil monsters, to brave a secret realm to obtain treasure, and now they were showing him this!

"Ugh!" The smell of a Troll...

Breeze looked at the Troll staring blankly at him and felt it looked very familiar...

Silently casting a few Freshness Charms, Breeze immediately used a Petrification Spell to freeze the bewildered Troll, used a Summoning Charm to snatch the club from its hand, and then used a Levitation Charm to control the club, striking it hard against the Troll's head.

"Bang!"

The magic Breeze channeled into his Petrification Spell wasn't strong, and with the impact of the club, the spell shattered; the Troll collapsed to the ground with a massive lump on its head, its life or death unknown. The Troll should thank Merlin for his mercy, as Breeze had no intention of killing it for the time being.

Bypassing the Troll, Breeze arrived at a room that looked like a potion display, with seven strangely shaped bottles arranged on a table. As he stepped into the room, a wall of purple fire erupted behind him, and black flames flared up in the passage ahead.

"Does Snape play mind-numbing games too?" Breeze picked up the parchment on the table, which contained the method to pass through; it required only a bit of logical thinking and a brain not sourced from a Troll.

"I hope the final treasure isn't Dumbledore's floral skirt!"

This was practically entrapment; all that talk about not wanting to die a miserable death if one approached—the Three-headed Dog guarding the entrance was likely the real boss.

Breeze shouted angrily, "Piertotum Locomotor!"

A blue light surged around Breeze; this was a Protego, which unfolded a protective barrier when cast, providing effective defense within a certain range to resist danger.

The powerful magical support allowed Breeze to leap directly through the black flames and arrive at the final room.

However, there was nothing here.

Breeze's head throbbed.

"Damn Dumbledore, I should have poked holes in those wool socks I gave you!"

Breeze refused to believe it and peered carefully again and again, but still found nothing.

"Am I stupid? Who would actually leave the Sorcerer's Stone out in the open? Or perhaps the time isn't right yet?"

"What is Dumbledore waiting for!"

Breeze walked out of the room, fuming at the table full of potions. He unceremoniously tore the parchment to shreds and, following that logic, arranged a complex high school math function problem for those who would follow, then rearranged the potions according to the answer. This was something Breeze had seen in the memories of An Qing from his mind—it seemed to be a college entrance exam question from back then.

Because of An Qing's resentment toward that exam question, the problem remained fresh in Breeze's memory.

Heading indignantly to the room below, Breeze viciously cast a powerful Stupefy on the Troll and moved it to the entrance of the next level. He also designed a trap: as soon as someone stepped near the Troll, it would wake up. The club was shoved into the Troll's hand, and Breeze used Transfiguration to alter the material properties and external shape of the weapon; he believed whoever saw the Troll wake up would be pleasantly surprised by the combination of steel and spikes.

With his powerful magical supply, he was confident this Transfiguration would not wear off for the rest of the semester.

Breeze then carefully reset the chess pieces and, without hesitation, smashed a few of his own side's pieces to make it more challenging. He also installed a few Permanent Sticking Charms under the feet of several pieces, confident they wouldn't be able to move. Still, weren't the opponent's pieces a bit too antiquated? It wasn't fair at all...

Walking into the room filled with flying keys, Breeze plucked out quite a few of the broom's twigs!

Only then would there be the thrill of flight, and among those flying keys...