Harry Potter: Shadow Eminence

Chapter 14

Throughout the Christmas holiday, the whole school was enveloped in a festive spirit.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick had adorned the Great Hall splendidly.

Brian felt a bit out of place in the vibrant atmosphere surrounding him; each night he tried to locate the Mirror of Erised.

He couldn't recall the mirror's location; he only remembered that in the original tale, Harry had dashed out of the library and eventually discovered the classroom where the mirror was situated.

He could only search the library for several days, but he was unable to find the mirror.

He speculated that perhaps Dumbledore hadn't yet set up the mirror, as Harry hadn't received the Invisibility Cloak and roamed around with it.

Clearly, this was part of Dumbledore's Guinea pig development plan.

Brian relished sitting by the cozy fireplace in the Slytherin common room, perusing books borrowed from the library, enjoying the peaceful solitude of the moment.

And thus, Christmas came.

On Christmas morning, Brian awoke stretching his arms. He was the only one remaining in the dormitory, making it feel quite lonely. Malfoy and the others had all gone home.

At the base of his bed lay a stack of packages, all of which were his Christmas presents.

Brian glanced at the packages on the floor and smiled faintly; this was the first time he had received holiday gifts, and it felt delightful. He first got dressed and then began to unwrap his gifts one by one.

Malfoy had gifted him a magnificent set of wizard chess, with pieces that moved and shouted, and the wands in the pieces emitted colorful sparks.

Crabbe and Goyle had the same thought; each of them gave him a large bag of assorted candies.

In fact, Brian had also given them candies.

Daphne presented him with a very stylish brooch featuring the Slytherin emblem, which changed colors and shapes.

There was also Hermione's gift; she sent him a large package containing a complete set of textbooks from a Muggle junior high school. The little witch had been trying to alter the negative perception his pure-blood wizard family had of Muggles.

His mother, Mrs. Walker, sent him a very warm green pajamas, simple yet fashionable; her taste was always impeccable.

The most surprising gift came from his father, Mr. Walker, who sent Brian two books: "How to Acquire Wealth and Power" and "Pure-Blood Glory."

"Should a kid of this age be reading these kinds of books?" Brian said, astonished. Perhaps Mr. Walker was merely supporting a friend's publication.

As for Brian, he had also prepared various gifts for his friends.

He gave Malfoy a model of his favorite Quidditch team, with all the player figurines dressed in team uniforms, flying around on broomsticks in the model.

He gave Daphne a lovely bow, hoping his taste wouldn't be too poor.

At the same time, he gifted Hermione a carefully organized book, which contained some methods for enhancing potions and some little-known magical facts that are often misunderstood.

...

The Christmas feast at Hogwarts was particularly festive.

The venue was decorated with stunning Christmas ornaments, and instead of four long tables, there was one long wide table, along with a main guest seating for the teachers.

Everyone gathered around a long table, which was laden with an abundance of food, at least in terms of appearance, it looked extremely lavish.

There were also heaps of colorful firecrackers on the table. Brian pulled one, and a magnificent top hat popped out, from which a snow-white rabbit occasionally emerged.

Brian placed the hat on his head, feeling a bit foolish.

There were few Slytherin students left at Hogwarts; most had gone home. Surrounding him were little wizards from various houses, but in this joyful festive atmosphere, everyone set aside their usual biases and competitiveness, enjoying the Christmas spirit together.

Brian sat upright at the table, not leaning against the back of his chair, feeling out of place among the cheerful little wizards around him. He held a fork in his hand, cautiously sampling various dishes, wary of encountering unusual cuisine.

The Weasley twins set off a firework that knocked Brian's hat off his head; they seemed to disapprove of his meticulous demeanor.

Brian glanced at them; they were wearing tall hats, each adorned with a fake owl and eagle flapping their wings, forcing them to use one hand to hold onto the brim to prevent the hats from flying away.

Harry and Ron were over there, happily pulling colorful firecrackers that exploded into puffs of blue smoke. A few little white mice scurried over from their direction, prompting Brian to lift his plate.

At the main guest table, the professors were also enjoying themselves. Dumbledore wore a floral women's hat, looking somewhat comical. Brian even saw Professor McGonagall giggling, her cheeks flushed. Professor Snape was meticulously eating his food, completely unaware that the decorations on his hat had been transformed into large, colorful flowers.

In the afternoon, Brian sat by the playground, watching a group of little wizards engaged in a snowball fight. The Christmas season here indeed felt joyful and relaxing, lifting Brian's spirits.

A few snowballs that appeared from behind interrupted Brian's thoughts, hitting him in the face one after another, causing him to frown and look over; the Weasley twins were pointing at him and laughing heartily.

Brian felt that these two brothers were always targeting him.

He cast a spell, rolling up two large snowballs, which grew bigger and eventually buried the brothers inside.

They popped their heads out of the snow mound, looking at each other and laughing, then they formed more and larger snowballs and threw them all at Brian.

Brian dodged a few and knocked some snowballs back, but ultimately, he couldn't avoid them all, and snowballs covered his eyes. Harry and Ron also joined in, and soon Brian was buried in the snow pile.

Brian pushed the snow away from his eyes and looked at the group of people laughing in the distance. Somehow, he felt a bit ridiculous and started to laugh along. His smile began small but grew larger.

"Oh!"

Another pile of snowballs fell from above, burying him in the snow once again.

Brian never imagined he would spend an entire afternoon wasting time on a boring snowball fight and actually have fun.

The Weasley twins seemed to always make everything unexpectedly entertaining.

After dinner, the little wizards were tired from playing and returned to the common room in small groups.

The Fat Friar was laughing loudly in the corridor, throwing snowballs at passing little wizards.

When Brian passed by, the Poltergeist seemed to recognize the little imp who had been taught a lesson by the Bloody Baron. He abandoned the other little wizards and focused solely on chasing after Brian, laughing loudly and continuously throwing snowballs at his head.

The surrounding little wizards were delighted to watch the commotion, speculating how he had provoked the Poltergeist.

In the end, Brian had to use a spell, "Wadiwasi," to stuff a piece of chalk up the Poltergeist's nostril, which finally drove him away.

Of course, he remembered the spell, and it wasn't difficult.

Harry and the others laughed at Brian's unprecedented embarrassment.

"By the way, George, why did you have to provoke him?" Harry asked the Weasley brothers with a smile.

"You've got the wrong person; I'm Fred."

"No, that trick won't work; the initials of your names are written on your sweaters," Harry replied.

"How do you know we haven't swapped sweaters?"

"Maybe we were wearing each other's sweaters from the start."

The two brothers exchanged glances and giggled.

"Well, regardless of whether it's Fred or George, why provoke Walker?" Harry shot them a look.

"Don't you think he looks out of place all alone?" George said.

"Poor puppy looked like he was left alone, which is not at all suitable for Christmas," Fred added.

"All lonely like a little pitiful thing."

"Yet he insists on putting on a grown-up act."

"Like Percy, all pretentious."

"No, he's even more pretentious than Percy."

"So provoking him should be really fun."

"No, it should be said that it is indeed very fun."

The two brothers played off each other like they were performing a stand-up routine.

Then they bounced and jumped into an exaggerated, awkward fast-paced dance, making everyone burst into laughter.