Chapter 273 Before Christmas

Dumbledore's proposal not only made Hagrid and Anthony feel relieved, but also Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed very happy. As soon as Professor Kettleburn moved the boxes of Chimeras away, they crawled out from under the Invisibility Cloak.

"My parents always said that Dumbledore could solve all problems." Ron said with a smile, "Great, Hagrid! Now you just need to, uh... pass some exams." His voice dropped, and a not-so-obvious look of doubt appeared on his face.

Harry nudged Ron with his elbow: "Now you can rest assured, right, Hagrid?"

"Chimera breeding qualification certificate..." Hermione murmured in recollection, "I must have seen something related somewhere, maybe an employment consultation leaflet..."

"Employment consultation?" Ron turned to Harry, "Hey, Harry, we are still in the second year, right?"

Hermione said a little offended: "Even if some people act as if they can't read when they pass by the notice board, there are always some people in the world who can really read."

Even if Hermione and Ron seemed to maintain a temporary peace, there were still some tit-for-tat undercurrents surging between them. The most obvious thing is that when possible, they both prefer to talk to Harry or Hagrid. But anyway, they appeared in Hagrid's cabin at the same time.

Hagrid said gratefully: "You are so kind, Hermione."

Anthony also said: "Indeed, Miss Granger, I think I have seen similar brochures. However, if you didn't remind me, I doubt whether I would remember it."

Hermione looked happier. She waved her hand: "It's nothing, Hagrid. I seemed to have seen related books when I was hanging out in the library before..." She paused and frowned maturely, "Do you need me to help you make a review plan, Hagrid? I haven't learned how to raise Chimeras either."

"Well, well, this..." Hagrid said a little at a loss.

"Oh, okay," Hermione said, "I'll make a revision plan. Let me see, we need to get the permit before the end of the semester... The first revision must be completed in May... All the notes should be organized in March... We need to find all the relevant knowledge points before December. Do you think they will have the textbooks and exam scope, Professor Anthony?"

Anthony thought for a moment: "I don't know, but Professor Kettleburn probably knows what's going on."

Hagrid was staring at the timeline Hermione drew in the corner of the Daily Prophet in confusion, and he perked up a little when he heard this: "Yes, I can go to him. Oh, I should have asked him just now."

"But even if he does remember the assessment process and method," Anthony reminded, "after so many years, no one can say whether its standards have changed."

"It doesn't matter, Hagrid." Hermione said, continuing to fill in various subdivided learning stages on the timeline, "I believe you can do it."

Hagrid's expression showed that he even had some doubts.

Anthony saw Harry approach Ron and whispered something. Ron rolled his eyes and smiled a little.

…

After seeing Hermione's slightly crowded review plan ("Professor Dumbledore said it would be difficult!" Hermione defended), Anthony felt that he began to understand why all the professors were impressed by this junior Gryffindor.

In addition to preparing to help Hagrid search for Chimera beasts in various areas of the library (including the restricted area), Anthony couldn't think of anything else he could do. So he safely handed Hagrid to the three friends who also cared about Hagrid, and put most of his energy on studying flesh magic.

Just as Dumbledore said, Voldemort was waiting for an opportunity to make a comeback, the Ministry of Magic had a bad attitude towards Hogwarts, and wizards who supported the pure blood theory tried to interfere in Hogwarts' internal affairs through the Ministry of Magic and the school board. Senior Investigator Umbridge was about to enter Hogwarts... Considering his identity, Anthony didn't know whether he would have the opportunity to study dark magic in the library in the future.

He spent so much time in the library that he even missed the discussion between Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall. Instead, he learned from Professor Flitwick that Ron and Hermione had another quarrel, but they both seemed to think that the reason this time was a bit stupid, so they quickly reconciled. The three of them now began to walk in the campus together again.

"What is the topic of the quarrel this time?" Anthony asked, watching the teapot fly up and pour him a cup of tea.

Professor Flitwick smiled and said, "You know the test that Hagrid is facing, right?"

"I know." Anthony said, "What's the matter?"

"Miss Granger is leaving school at Christmas, so she asked Mr. Potter to remind Hagrid to look at the files when she left." Professor Flitwick said, taking a sip of tea, "He needs to know all the cases involving improper care or breeding of Chimeras, and what kind of punishment he and his Chimeras will receive if such a thing happens."

"What does this have to do with Mr. Weasley?" Anthony asked curiously, getting up and taking a biscuit and soaking it in the tea. Neither he nor Professor Flitwick touched the giant carnivorous plants, so they all huddled quietly in a corner, looking much healthier than before.

Professor Flitwick said: "This week, all the Weasleys signed the list of people staying over Christmas."

"Everyone?" Anthony said in surprise, "Oh, yes, Arthur and Molly are not in England this year."

A long time ago, his pen pal Arthur Weasley had written to tell him excitedly that they would visit Bill at Christmas - he was a curse breaker at Gringotts, working in Egypt - and asked Anthony to say hello to Charlie on their behalf.

"Yes, yes." Professor Flitwick nodded, "Mr. Weasley signed, but Mr. Potter did not. He had promised Sirius Black in advance that he would go to the Black family for Christmas.

"So when Miss Granger asked Mr. Potter to remind Hagrid to read during the detention, Mr. Weasley accused her of only considering her own affairs. If she really wanted to help Hagrid, she should also stay; and Miss Granger said that there was no need for him to get so angry with Mr. Potter because he did not accompany him to the detention. "

"Oh..." Anthony said.

Professor Flitwick also took a cookie, took a bite, and leaned back comfortably: "Mr. Weasley said that this was not about whether he stayed alone in school, but about Miss Granger's habit of being domineering and wanting to arrange life for others; Miss Granger said that this was great, and she would never plan his pre-exam review for Mr. Weasley again; Mr. Weasley said that he wished it was like this, and that without a voice nagging him to study, he would have a good time in school and would never remember to send a Christmas present to Miss Granger. "

"Well..."

"Then Mr. Potter interrupted them and said that he could spend Christmas with Mr. Black at Hogwarts, and Mr. Black would definitely agree. "Professor Flitwick said, "Both Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley immediately rejected the proposal. Mr. Potter said, well, now you are in agreement... and then everyone laughed.

"Miss Granger said she was sorry that Mr. Weasley had to stay at school for Christmas, and that he had just lost his pet and was in a bad mood. Mr. Weasley said that he might really need Miss Granger's arrangements for the end of the term - it would be better if he could have a little more free time - and he would remember to remind Hagrid to read and send Miss Granger a gift."

Anthony couldn't help but say, "It sounds like you were there, Professor Flitwick?"

"Oh, not me." Professor Flitwick said, "Minerva was obviously taking a walk at the time."

...

The days were getting shorter and shorter, and the ice on the Black Lake was getting thicker and thicker. No more snow fell, and the remaining snow was reluctantly dissipating day by day in the cold wind and the few precious sunshine. The woods outside the castle had lost all their leaves, leaving only bare branches pointing to the gray sky.

Compared with the cold and bleak winter outside, Hogwarts was much warmer inside. Decorations made of holly and mistletoe had been hung on the roof. Hagrid had selected several beautiful trees from the Forbidden Forest and nearby forests to drag to the school for Christmas.

Lockhart, as he had promised, had turned his silver Lockhart Heart Club decorations gold and set them floating in midair. Anthony saw several balloons teeter on the suspended candles and pop, startling the students eating below.

A piece of the rubber skin of one of the balloons floated down on Neville Longbottom's head. Neville choked on his oatmeal and coughed loudly, his round face flushed red, and his hands waved and knocked over many things on the table: milk, pumpkin juice, a dish of tarts and a plate of bacon. His toad, Leif, jumped away in the chaos.

As the holiday approached, the students became more and more absent-minded. Almost everyone was talking about their Christmas plans.

Professor Sprout has replaced all recent teaching content with a climbing plant that can climb on fir trees like ribbons, and the whole greenhouse looks like a very busy Christmas ribbon workshop; Professor Flitwick has taught the third graders the Happy Charm, and has asked the fifth and seventh grades to review the Happy Charm, so there are students walking around with grins everywhere.

Anthony spent two classes introducing the Christmas customs and Christmas stories of Muggle Britain to the students, and spent a little time showing them the images of Santa Claus from all over the world collected by Professor Bubbage.

Even Professor McGonagall has turned the course into a practice for lower grade students to turn needles into fir tree leaves, and the middle and upper grades are learning to make bells out of oranges. The first student who makes it clang will get extra points. Once, Anthony saw the fourth-year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws coming out of the Transfiguration classroom, and people kept throwing strange bells to Cedric, and applauded after he easily caught the bell.

On the other hand, Snape was still guiding students to brew potions such as forgetfulness potion, hair erection potion, and soothing potion step by step, and the door of the school hospital was constantly opened due to careless mistakes made by students. If Anthony had not seen Snape's face after seeing Sirius, he would never have imagined that his face could become even gloomier.

Two days before the holiday, it snowed in Hogwarts. Everyone was very happy, including the students who had to carry their luggage through the snow with difficulty a few days later.

Hermione seemed to have finally remembered that Hagrid would not stay at school for Christmas, so she made a list of books for Hagrid to put in his luggage. When Anthony walked through the snow to Hagrid's cabin, he saw Hagrid staring at the bed full of books.

"Henry!" Hagrid said with relief, "Have you packed your luggage?"

Anthony waved his wand to shrink all the books for Hagrid, so that they fell neatly and tightly into Hagrid's donkey skin bag.

"Yes, I don't have a lot of things to pack." Only a cat, a chicken and a mouse are necessary, "but I came for another thing. My application for a portkey was rejected by the Ministry of Magic. Do you know anyone who has opened a multinational floo network in the fireplace?"

Because of Hagrid's rather conspicuous figure and the lack of Muggle identity documents, they could not choose most of the Muggle transportation methods that required identity verification. At the same time, Anthony believed that not many people would choose to take the bus from the UK to Romania (when there are other options).

On the other hand, even if Hagrid chose a magical way to travel, he was still subject to some restrictions. He told Anthony that he couldn't Apparate at all, and even Apparate his followers was very difficult. He couldn't use Polyjuice Potion to change into someone else's appearance and get away with using Muggle transportation.

After the application for the Portkey was rejected, the Floo Network was the best solution Anthony could think of.

"Oh, that. It doesn't matter. I know how to get there." Hagrid said nonchalantly, "No need for Portkeys or Floo Network. We can use Sirius's motorcycle and fly to Romania."

Anthony paused.

"Hagrid," he said, "would you like to look at a few more files - did you know that flying motorcycles are almost as illegal as Chimeras?"

"Oh, really?" Hagrid said loudly, "but Sirius never mentioned it! How strange, where did he get the license to keep flying motorcycles?"