To have more free time, quite a few students chose to stay at school during the Christmas holidays.
Students who chose to leave Hogwarts could see scenes like this aboard the Hogwarts Express.
Even students like Wizet and Luna, who boarded relatively late, only had to casually slide open a compartment door to find it either completely empty or occupied by just one or two students.
Some students had already slipped into holiday mode, even lying directly across the seats and taking up half a compartment as they snored away.
Wizet and Luna were not surprised by this. Every year, they returned to Ottery St Catchpole for the Christmas holidays.
Recently, the young Thunderbird had taken a great interest in Thor. It had already flown to Ottery St Catchpole with Thor ahead of Wizet and Luna.
Following their usual routine, Wizet and Luna skillfully held hands as they headed toward the rear compartments.
Wizet had just settled their luggage when the Hogwarts Express began to move.
Holding a vine-woven basket, he sat down. "When I went to the Forbidden Forest a couple of days ago, I ran into Mr. Bane..."
Bane was a member of the Centaur tribe. Both his hair and coat were black, and he was far stronger and rougher-looking than the average Centaur.
Compared with Firenze, Bane was much less friendly toward humans. Hagrid, Wizet, and Luna were exceptions.
Looking at the red berries in the vine-woven basket, Luna blinked. "Mr. Bane? Was it because of that Acromantula territory?"
"That was exactly it." Wizet nodded. "That place has been recovering better and better. Even Bowtruckles have been drawn there and chosen to make a home in a birch tree."
"That's wonderful!" Luna's eyes shone with anticipation. "We should go and take another look when the time comes!"