20: Christmas

20: Christmas

John watched the Weasley twins cast a spell on a snowball and let it chase Quirrell and hit his head, which made him feel secretly happy.

Although Quirrell had dropped his pretense in front of John, he had to maintain his facade in front of the other students, forcing him to continue his act of appearing weak and bullied, despite secretly plotting revenge against the twins.

The bitter cold wind battered the windows of the Hogwarts classrooms, while a roaring fire blazed in the Great Hall, signaling the onset of winter.

John rubbed his hands together, exhaling a puff of white breath that fogged up the glass.

Seeing Malfoy's love-and-hate relationship with Harry for a while before the holiday, John complained: "It is said that elementary school students will bully the people they like. Malfoy is definitely in love with him."

Hagrid was dragging a fir tree through the corridor, preparing it for Christmas. Ron, infuriated by Malfoy's comments about his family, was the first to react. However, Snape seemed to be waiting for this exact moment, appearing just in time to dock five points from Gryffindor, despite Hagrid's pleas for leniency. Malfoy strutted away triumphantly, deliberately knocking needles off the fir tree and scattering them everywhere.

"I'm going to teach him a lesson, just like John did!" Ron fumed, longing to give Malfoy a taste of his own medicine with a punch to the face, much like John had done before.

Harry nodded in agreement, sharing Ron's disdain for both Malfoy and Snape, who were the two people he despised most at Hogwarts.

Hagrid, trying to temper their anger, said, "That might be difficult. John is the best fighter in your age group I've ever seen. Why don't you come to the Great Hall and take a look? John, you should come too."

Ron's mood soured instantly, but the invitation to see the nearly decorated Great Hall intrigued him. John was also eager to see how the magical world celebrated Christmas.

Under the expert direction of Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, the Great Hall had been transformed into a breathtaking spectacle.

The walls were adorned with garlands of holly and mistletoe, and twelve towering Christmas trees stood tall throughout the hall. Some of the trees were decorated with glittering icicles, while others shimmered with hundreds of candles. Hagrid had just brought in the final tree, and once it was decorated, the preparations would be complete.

Excited for the holidays, Hagrid asked, "How many days until the break?"

"Just one day. That reminds me, we have half an hour left before we can go to the library," Hermione said, still focused on uncovering the mystery of Nicolas Flamel. She invited John to join them, "John, would you like to come with us?"

"Sure, why not?" John agreed, feeling intrigued as well.

Hagrid, curious, asked, "Reading books just before the break? Aren't you all working a bit too hard?"

He was in a good mood because of the approaching Christmas, but Harry's response quickly dampened his spirits. "We're not revising our homework; we're trying to find out who Nicolas Flamel is," Harry said cheerfully.

"I've told you to stop that. Whatever that dog is guarding, it's none of your business," Hagrid exclaimed, his surprise turning into alarm as he tried to dissuade the trio from their dangerous endeavor.

However, he underestimated the Gryffindor spirit of recklessness. The more they were warned, the more determined the trio became. The name Nicolas Flamel proved elusive, despite their efforts to search through numerous books in the library.

To aid their search, Hermione had even compiled a list of potential sources and references.

As dinner time approached, the four of them left the library. Hermione, not one to give up easily, insisted that they continue their search during the break and send any findings to her via owl.

...

"It's weird, kind of spicy and odd," he said, but he still dipped a chicken leg into the sauce like John did.

The moment he tasted it, it was like a door to a new world had opened. Seeing Ron's reaction, Harry was curious enough to try it as well. He soon found himself experiencing the same peculiar yet addictive taste.

Ron had also given John some buttery fudge, which was delightfully sweet. John then opened Hermione's gift, a chocolate frog, which nearly jumped away as soon as he unwrapped it.

The twins were wearing hand-knitted sweaters like Ron's, but theirs were blue with different letters on them.

At the Christmas feast, John's sauces attracted more attention. Even Dumbledore, wearing a flowery bonnet, tried a spoonful. Judging by his expression, he was disappointed it wasn't sweet.

After the feast, everyone, both professors and students, seemed to be in high spirits.

...

In the Room of Requirement, John decided to take a rare break. He opened the Chocolate Frog Hermione had given him, grabbed the frog, and took a bite. A wizard card fell out of the box.

It featured Dumbledore.

John wasn't initially interested, but a casual glance made him stop and focus on the card.

**Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of Hogwarts.**

**Widely regarded as the greatest wizard of our time,**

**Dumbledore's known contributions include:**

**Defeating the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945,**

**Discovering the twelve uses of dragon's blood,**

**Making significant achievements in alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel,**

**Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten-pin bowling.**

Staring at the card, John's eyes fixed on the name Nicolas Flamel.

"Alchemy?"

Scratching his chin, John remembered reading about an extraordinary item in the records of alchemy.

The item was called... the Philosopher's Stone?

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