Just as people in China put up paper window decorations and Spring Festival couplets before the New Year.
Wizards, too, were celebrating the approach of Christmas in their own way.
The Great Hall had been completely transformed, looking extraordinarily beautiful and magnificent.
Garlands of holly and mistletoe covered the walls, and no fewer than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room. Some were hung with glittering little icicles, while others sparkled with hundreds of candles.
Professor Flitwick was sending streams of golden bubbles out of his wand and hanging them on the branches of the tree that had just been brought in.
Professor McGonagall was putting on an equally dazzling display. Dressed in emerald-green robes, she waved her wand, and the decorations seemed to come alive, hopping and bouncing onto the walls by themselves.
Sometimes they even sprouted two little fists and pummeled the companions that had stolen their spots.
Professor Sprout had brought in all sorts of interesting magical plants. They had little practical value, but they were certainly entertaining.
One kind, for instance, would sway its body to the music if you sang loudly in front of it. But if your singing was too awful...
Then you were in trouble. It would angrily lash your mouth with its branches and leaves to shut you up.
Ron had discovered this through an experiment that left red marks all around his mouth. Harry and Zhang Xiao had struggled mightily to stop him from settling the score with it.
"Ron, don't! Don't!"
"Ron, it's just a plant! It's not insulting you!"
Once the holidays began, Ron and Harry had so much fun that they even forgot about the Philosopher's Stone.
They had the dormitory entirely to themselves, and with far fewer people than usual in the Common Room, they could