Chapter 252. After the Christmas Feast
At the mention of Gulu, Adrian Wesson realised he hadn't paid attention to the little fellow in quite some time.
At once, he asked the Tree of Wisdom to run an analysis.
[Name: Gulu]
[Species: Chinese Chomping Cabbage]
[Level: 3]
[Traits: Gigantification, Energy Accumulation]
[Status: Growing (33%)]
Wesson arched an eyebrow. It seemed Gulu had gone through a growth phase while he wasn't looking and had gained a new trait: Energy Accumulation.
That trait was straightforward enough—it simply meant storing up its own energy.
Gulu's gigantification drained an enormous amount of power; this new trait neatly compensated for that shortcoming.
It also explained why Gulu had been so drowsy lately—most likely accumulating energy.
After everyone accepted their presents, Wesson stayed in the common room to chat with the children.
In truth, he had nowhere else to go; Hogwarts was especially quiet at this time.
During their talk, Harry mentioned the big Honeydukes gift pack he'd received.
Wesson had a guess—that might have been sent by Black.
In the original story, Black seemed to have given Harry a Firebolt, but this time Wesson had beaten him to it.
After a while, Hermione came into the Gryffindor common room.
She was wearing a bright red woollen hat—the very one Wesson had given her.
Wesson had even put a permanent enchantment on it so it would always stay toasty warm.
At noon, Wesson took the trio and the first-year who'd stayed behind to the Great Hall.
By then the Hall was thick with the Christmas spirit—towering Christmas trees, dazzling decorations, icicles and golden bells hanging from the ceiling...
No sooner had they come through the doors than Dumbledore waved from afar. "Merry Christmas! Come along, there aren't many of us."
Wesson looked over and saw only a single very large table set before Dumbledore.
The seats around it were already full; they must have been the last to arrive.
What surprised him was that he didn't recognise some of the people there.
He guessed they were Aurors, because Tonks was among them.
"Ah, Christmas is a little different this year," Dumbledore explained cheerfully. "An Auror contingent from the Ministry of Magic will be spending a pleasant day with us."
The Aurors nodded, a special alertness and crisp efficiency in their expressions.
After Wesson sat down, Tonks leaned over to him. "You're so late, Professor Wesson, we—"
"Tonks!"
A tall, broad-shouldered, middle-aged Auror hissed the rebuke, and Tonks stuck out her tongue and held her peace.
Seeing this, Wesson could only shrug helplessly.
Judging from the look of it, the Aurors weren't exactly friendly; Tonks was probably an exception.
Dumbledore, noticing, chuckled as he smoothed things over. "We can afford to relax a little, seeing as it's Christmas. Oh, where are my crackers?"
Professor McGonagall handed the crackers to Dumbledore, who then passed one to Wesson.
Wesson hesitated, took hold of the other end, and gave it a pull.
"Bang!"
A burst of brilliant golden sparks exploded, and a ladies' witch hat appeared in his hand.
Wesson donned the ridiculous hat with good grace, and a few students burst out laughing.
"Mm, that was actually meant for me," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Never mind. Tuck in, everyone."
What followed was a rather pleasant feast.
Some of the Aurors set aside some of their caution and began exchanging easy banter with the professors.
As for the handful of students, they kept their heads down and ate with gusto.
In a lull, Hermione leaned in to Harry's ear. "Remember the Auror we hit with a snowball on the first day of the holidays?"
"What about him?"
"He's not here."
After hearing that, Harry scanned the Aurors' faces one by one.
Sure enough, the balding middle-aged man wasn't among them.
"Maybe he went home for Christmas," Harry said casually. "Nothing odd about that. What are you planning to do?"
Hermione nodded. "I just wanted to apologise to him again."
"No need, Aurors won't mind," Ron said thickly around a mouthful of sausage. "Besides, we still don't know who actually threw that snowball."
"All right, you've got a point."
After about an hour and a half, the Aurors left the table together—even on Christmas Day, they still had patrol duties to carry out.
Another half hour later, the students and professors drifted out of the Hall as well.
Wesson was about to leave, but Lupin asked him to stay a moment after the feast.
Soon only Dumbledore, Lupin, Professor McGonagall, and Wesson remained at the table.
"Come along, it's time," Dumbledore said, rising and heading for the door.
Puzzled, Wesson followed with Lupin and Professor McGonagall.
"Where are we going?"
"To celebrate somewhere else," Lupin said in a lowered voice.
Dumbledore led them up the stairs and, at last, to the end of a corridor on the second floor.
He rapped on the wall, and a plain wooden door appeared out of thin air.
The doorknob was a little angel statue in the middle of a yawn; at the sight of someone approaching, it perked right up.
"Welcome to—" the little angel announced in a clear voice, but Dumbledore gently pressed a finger to its mouth.
"Security measures, you know," Dumbledore said with a wink, pushed the door open, and Wesson went in after him.
Inside was a sitting room: a small Christmas tree, two sofas, a coffee table with a scattered wizard chess set on it. In the corner, the fire in the grate crackled and popped.
On one sofa, a short, stout man lay snoring, chest rising and falling.
Who else could that man be but Peter?
"We're here to spend Christmas with Peter," Lupin whispered. "You know he's been hiding out here lately, barely going out at all... poor Peter."
Wesson nodded silently.
He'd thought all that secrecy meant they were up to something dubious.
It turned out they'd come simply to keep Peter company for Christmas.
From other people's point of view, Peter really was a pitiable fellow.
That was understandable... probably.
Wesson and the others sat down on the sofa opposite Peter.
Perhaps sensing something, Peter's eyes flew open; seeing four pairs of eyes staring at him, he gave a violent start and tumbled off the sofa in fright.
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