John watched the Weasley Twins enchant snowballs to chase Quirrell around and pelt his head, secretly savoring the sight.
Quirrell had dropped the act in front of John, but he could not reveal his true colors to the other students. He could only keep up his persona, wearing a bitter smile as though he were weak and easily bullied. In truth, he had already decided where to bury the Weasley Twins.
The biting wind battered the windows of the Hogwarts classrooms, while roaring fires burned in the Great Hall. The weather had turned cold.
John rubbed his palms together and breathed a puff of white mist onto the glass.
Watching Malfoy insist on another round of his love-hate routine with Harry before the holidays, John quipped, "They say little kids bully the people they like. Malfoy's definitely got a secret crush."
Hagrid was dragging a fir tree for Christmas down the corridor.
Ron was the first to lose his temper, because Malfoy had insulted his family.
But Snape appeared as though he had deliberately waited for that very moment. Despite Hagrid's pleas, he deducted five points from Gryffindor without hesitation.
Malfoy left looking smug, deliberately brushing against the fir tree and scattering needles everywhere.
"I'm going to teach him a lesson, just like John did!" Ron gritted his teeth in fury, wishing he could turn into John and punch Malfoy right in his little face.
Harry nodded in wholehearted agreement. Malfoy and Snape were the two people he hated most at Hogwarts.
Hagrid dampened their enthusiasm. "That might be difficult. John's the best fighter I've ever seen among wizards. Come and have a look at the Great Hall with me. You too, John."
Ron's mood immediately soured. Hagrid invited them to see the nearly finished decorations in the Great Hall, and John wanted to see how the wizarding world celebrated Christmas anyway.
Under Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick's efforts, the Great Hall had become a magnificent sight.
Garlands of holly and mistletoe covered the walls, and twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the hall.
Some trees were hung with glittering icicles, while hundreds of candles twinkled on others.
Hagrid had brought the last tree. Once it was decorated, everything would be finished.
Hagrid was already looking forward to Christmas. "How many days until the holidays?"
"Only one. That reminds me, we've still got half an hour. We can go to the library."
Hermione had not forgotten Nicolas Flamel. She invited John along. "John, do you want to come with us?"
"All right. I've got nothing else to do." John thought it over and agreed, since he was rather curious himself.
Hagrid asked curiously, "Reading when the holidays are about to start? Aren't you lot working a bit too hard?"
He was in a good mood because Christmas was coming.
Harry, however, would soon spoil that mood. He said cheerfully, "We're not revising. We're trying to find out who Nicolas Flamel is."
"I told you to leave it alone. Whatever that big dog's guarding has nothing to do with you."
His delight turned to alarm, and Hagrid tried to persuade the trio to stop this dangerous pursuit.
But he had underestimated the Gryffindor appetite for courting death. The more he warned them, the more determined the three became.
The name was simply too hard to find. The trio searched through plenty of books in the library without turning up anything.
Hermione even drew up a list to make the search easier.
When dinnertime came, the four left the library.
Unwilling to admit defeat, Hermione told them to keep searching over the holidays and, preferably, send her any results by owl.
The holidays began.
John ate some turkey. He had to admit, the bird seemed to have put everything into growing big and nothing into anything else.
Slicing a piece of turkey off with his knife and fork, John felt an urge to wrap it in a flatbread.
Meanwhile, his owl Basil had already flown off, presumably to collect the gifts his parents were sending.
"The delivery industry here is really advanced. If I could start an owl courier company, I'd make a fortune."
John had no idea what his parents would send. He only hoped old Mr. Wick would not send him a mouse or a black widow spider.
During the holidays, John tried playing wizard's chess.
The rules were much like ordinary chess, but it was far more entertaining to watch. Seeing his queen smashed by Ron's knight, John could only give a dry laugh.
John had begun to suspect he was terrible at chess, but after watching Harry lose eighteen games in a row, he felt better about it.
Snow began falling outside, but John did not neglect his training.
As his magic leveled up, the power of his spells increased accordingly.
It was easy enough to understand. Magic was like a tap, and the water inside determined how strong the flow would be.
His magic had been insufficient before, so the spells he cast had not been very powerful.
After reaching level three, his spells had grown considerably stronger, and John could learn more offensive spells.
The first one he learned, however, was a defensive spell.
"Protego!"
It was a defensive spell that guarded against incoming attacks and could counter most of them.
It was a very practical spell.
John left the Room of Requirement and returned to his dormitory.
When he woke early the next morning, Basil was beside his bed, back with the gifts.
He unwrapped one present. It was from Mrs. Wick.
Inside was a warm pair of gloves Mrs. Wick had knitted herself.
The second was from his dad, Watson Wick, and came in a cube-shaped package.
He shook it. There probably was not enough room inside for a mouse.
Unwrapping the present, John found a jar of chili sauce inside.
While he was still puzzling over it, he spotted the sauce's name.
"Lao Gan Ma?!"
(Fun fact: Lao Gan Ma was founded in 1984.)
A letter from old Wick had arrived with the gift.
John opened it. His dad knew his son liked food from that mysterious country in the East, so he had called in plenty of favors and finally managed to obtain a jar of Lao Gan Ma.
John eagerly opened the Lao Gan Ma, scooped up a little with his fork, and put it in his mouth.
A familiar flavor he had not tasted in eleven years bloomed on his tongue. John nearly burst into tears on the spot.
Even the gifts from Hagrid, Hermione, and the others suddenly seemed unimportant.
In the Great Hall.
Harry looked curiously at the strange jar in John's hand and asked, "What's that? It smells odd."
"It's chili sauce. You can try some." As far as John was concerned, a spoonful of Lao Gan Ma could go with anything.
Ron had changed into a maroon hand-knitted sweater. Curious, he tried a little Lao Gan Ma, and the strange flavor that unfolded across his taste buds carried the heritage of an ancient Eastern nation.
"It tastes strange. A bit spicy, and a bit odd."
Despite saying that, Ron copied John and dipped his chicken drumstick in it.
The moment he took a bite, it was as though the door to a whole new world had opened.
Seeing Ron's reaction, Harry tried some out of curiosity too.
He promptly found himself just like Ron, unable to get enough of the strange flavor.
Ron had also given John some fudge, which tasted lovely and sweet.
John opened a Chocolate Frog Hermione had given him, and the Chocolate Frog inside nearly hopped away.
The twins wore hand-knitted sweaters like Ron's, only theirs were blue, with different letters on the front.
By the Christmas feast, John's Lao Gan Ma had successfully attracted even more attention.
Wearing a flower-trimmed bonnet, Dumbledore tried a mouthful too. Judging by his expression, though, he seemed disappointed that it was not sweet.
By the end of the Christmas feast, professors and students alike were happy.
In the Room of Requirement, John treated himself to a change of scenery for his break.
Taking out a Chocolate Frog Hermione had given him, John grabbed the frog and took a bite.
A wizard card fell out of the box.
Dumbledore was on it.
John had not intended to pay it any mind, but after a casual glance, his gaze lingered on the card.
Albus Dumbledore, current Hogwarts Headmaster.
Widely considered the greatest wizard of modern times,
Dumbledore's well-known contributions included:
Defeating the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945,
Discovering the twelve uses of dragon blood.
Achieving remarkable results in alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel,
Professor Dumbledore enjoyed chamber music and ten-pin bowling.
Staring blankly at the card, John fixed his gaze on Nicolas Flamel's name.
"Alchemy?"
Rubbing his chin, John remembered seeing something incredibly powerful mentioned in a text on alchemy.
It was called... the Philosopher's Stone?
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