Turmoil

Harry tried hard to focus on the task at hand, using busyness to ignore Malfoy's presence. He knew that no matter how Malfoy provoked him, he could not let this Christmas lose the joy it deserved.

He was genuinely glad that he would be staying at school for Christmas.

Meanwhile, Ron's parents planned to visit Charlie in Romania. The Weasley brothers who were still in school therefore had nowhere else to go and could only stay at Hogwarts for Christmas as well.

After Potions, they left the dungeon classroom, only to find their way blocked by a huge fir tree at the entrance to the Great Hall. Hermione spotted the enormous feet sticking out beneath the tree and immediately greeted them warmly. "Hello, Hagrid~"

"Hello, Miss Granger. Christmas is almost here. Are you staying at school too?" Hagrid replied.

Hermione shook her head. "I'll be taking the Hogwarts Express home tomorrow to spend Christmas with my parents."

Ron also stuck his head into the fir branches. "Hello, Hagrid. Need a hand?"

"Oh, no need. Professor Greengrass has already helped me finish most of the work, but thank you anyway, Ron," Hagrid said gratefully.

Just then, Malfoy said coldly in his usual haughty tone, "Could you stop blocking the way? Weasley, want to earn some pocket money? Then again, compared to your house, the gamekeeper's hut really is a luxurious palace."

At those words, Ron, who had already disliked Malfoy, immediately flew into a rage and lunged at him.

"Weasley!" Snape's cold voice came from behind them.

Ron released Malfoy's collar, though he was still breathing heavily with anger.

"Professor Snape, he was provoked." Hagrid set down the fir tree he had been carrying over his shoulder, his snow-covered head emerging from the leaves. "Malfoy insulted Ron's family, so that's why he did it."

"Regardless, Hagrid, fighting is a violation of Hogwarts rules." Snape swept his hollow eyes coldly over them. "Gryffindor will lose another five points because of this. You should be grateful I did not take more, since this is not the first time."

He fixed Harry and the other two with a warning look, then ordered coldly, "Now, all of you, leave."

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle wore smug smiles as they shoved roughly through the fir branches. They pushed and jostled one another, shaking leaves all over the floor and leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing there, full of indignation.

"Just wait. Sooner or later, I'll deal with those bastards!" Ron said through gritted teeth as he watched the three of them walk away.

"Wait..." A calm voice came from inside the Great Hall, stopping Malfoy and the other two as they prepared to leave. "If the three of you cannot restore this fir tree to its original state, then you can only go to the Forbidden Forest and cut down another one for me."

"It's Professor Greengrass!" Hermione recognized the speaker's voice at once. She squeezed past Harry and Ron to the front and saw Professor Greengrass stopping Malfoy and the others to say something.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, both wearing gleeful smiles.

"Professor, I don't understand..." Malfoy said, somewhat confused.

"I am decorating the Great Hall and the Christmas trees this year, so strictly speaking, this fir tree you damaged belongs to me," Sagreles said calmly.

"But it was blocking the way..." Malfoy tried to explain, but Sagreles raised a hand and cut him off.

"That is not a reason for you to damage it." He stood in the middle of the Great Hall entrance, even blocking Snape beneath the steps.

"Now, either you go to the Forbidden Forest and cut down another fir tree for me, or each of you loses five points."

At this, Snape immediately revealed a trace of mockery. He disdainfully drew his wand, and the broken branches and fallen leaves on the ground returned to the tree at once. "Sagreles, they are only a few leaves. Slytherin will not lose points over this."

"It seems protecting students from your own House has become instinctive for you, Professor Snape." Sagreles said this without the slightest change in expression, then continued without waiting for a response. "Then, Mr. Malfoy, you will lose five points for insulting a fellow student."

Without paying any attention to Snape's dark expression, he waved at the fir tree blocking the way and guided it floating into the Great Hall.

"Haha, that was so satisfying..." Ron said happily to Harry and Hermione. "It's a shame he didn't lose more points!"

"Did you see their faces? They looked awful," Harry said quietly.

"By the way, Hagrid, you still can't tell us who Nicolas Flamel is?" Hermione watched the Slytherins gradually walk away, then turned to Hagrid expectantly.

"Forget about it." Hagrid looked somewhat restless and irritated. "What that dog is guarding has nothing to do with you."

"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, unless you can tell us," Ron eagerly cut in as well.

"That would save us the trouble, though we really don't have anything else to do," Harry added cleverly, trying to make Hagrid give in.

"Listen, I'm not telling you, so don't even think about it!" Hagrid firmly refused them, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.

"All right, then. Looks like we'll have to find the answer ourselves." Hermione and the other two exchanged smiles, then ran lightly toward the library, leaving Hagrid behind to watch their departing backs with an unhappy expression.

"What is it, Hagrid?" Sagreles asked Hagrid, who was full of worry, while waving his wand at a Christmas tree.

"Ah, nothing, Professor," Hagrid replied hurriedly. Watching Sagreles decorate the Christmas tree with calm, effortless movements of his wand, Hagrid felt deeply envious and immediately forgot the unpleasantness from before.

More than ten tall Christmas trees had been arranged in the hall, each hung with decorations in wildly different styles. Some were icicles, some candles, some magical crackers, and some little gift boxes.

Hagrid took down a small gift box. When he opened it, he found a pair of brand-new dragon-hide gloves. This delighted him, but he soon realized that his large hands would probably have trouble fitting into them.

"This really is... such a pity." Hagrid held the gloves in his hands and muttered, "Perhaps these gifts are for young wizards."

Sagreles noticed Hagrid's predicament as soon as he finished decorating the Great Hall. As he passed by, he casually tapped the gloves in Hagrid's hands with his wand, and the gloves sized for young wizards immediately grew a size larger.

Hagrid put them on and found that they fit perfectly.

"Thank you so much, Professor Greengrass..." Hagrid said excitedly. "This is the best Christmas gift I've ever received!"

"Think nothing of it." Sagreles smiled and nodded.

After decorating the Great Hall, he finally returned to his office. With Christmas approaching, he had many letters to send out, though he felt it was all rather unnecessary.