Leaving the Acromantula's lair, Victor explored the Forbidden Forest for a while longer and then found some Mooncalves in a high cave. He obtained thirty kilograms of Mooncalf dung collected before sunrise, which could make magical plants grow quickly and robustly.
Looking at his pocket watch, it was already past ten o'clock, so Victor decided to head back. Throughout the night, he had gained a significant amount of profit during his exploration of the Forbidden Forest.
He obtained sixteen Puffskeins, 112 orange-red Fwooper feathers (can be used to make exquisite quills), one powerful mutated Swooping Evil, two oak barrels of Acromantula venom, estimated to be worth around 40,000 Galleons, thirty kilograms of Mooncalf dung collected before sunrise, and various potion-making ingredients.
He was very well-rewarded!
Victor happily counted his spoils in his dorm and then began to prepare his Christmas presents…
.....
The next day, Christmas.
Because he had been busy making and packaging presents the night before, Victor woke up late. He forced himself to sit up, stretched, and waved out the window.
"Fiona!"
A snowy owl flapped its wings and flew to Victor. Fiona had already returned from delivering presents to the Swintons late last night.
Victor stroked Fiona's soft, white feathers, took out the ten dried fish he owed her, and then pointed to a wrapped gift box on the table next to him. "Fiona, can you please take this to Hermione?"
Hoot! Hoot!
Fiona happily hooted twice, quickly ate the dried fish, then flapped her wings, grabbed the gift, and flew away.
After getting up, Victor washed up and then Apparated to Dumbledore's office. He looked around; no one was there, and Fawkes wasn't on his perch, so he must have gone out for some reason.
Victor then placed a box of chocolates wrapped in a wool sock, which he had prepared in advance, on Dumbledore's desk. The chocolates inside were specially bought from the most high-end dessert shop in London. The 108 chocolates were worth a thousand pounds—it was practically a robbery!
Then, Victor Apparated to the Gryffindor office and gave Professor McGonagall a book titled Quidditch World Cup, 1877.
This Quidditch World Cup was known as the "unremembered tournament" and was a very controversial one in the history of the Quidditch World Cup. At the time, the venue had been chosen, tickets had been sold, and merchandise had been produced, but neither the players nor the fans could remember ever participating in or watching any of the matches.
Next, he gave Professor Flitwick a pair of winged shoes, so he wouldn't have to use a stack of books to climb onto the podium to teach.
Then, he prepared twenty kilograms of Mooncalf dung for Professor Sprout, which would be a great help to her herbology garden. This stuff might look like poop, but it was invaluable in Diagon Alley because Mooncalves live in remote, uninhabited places and are very difficult to find. Their silver droppings must be collected before sunrise, or they will lose their effectiveness in promoting plant growth.
Victor also prepared a crystal hair tie for Penelope so that her messy golden hair wouldn't cover her beautiful face…
Because there were so many gifts, Victor simply went to the kitchens and asked Kururu to deliver all the presents. However, he still hadn't given Professor Snape a Christmas present.
What should he get him? After much thought, and considering Snape's status as a Potions Master, as well as a bit of his own self-interest, Victor ultimately took ten pints of venom from Helena to give to Snape. He then picked up a barrel of Acromantula venom and walked toward the Hogwarts dungeons.
Snape's office was next to the Potions classroom in the dungeon.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Victor knocked on the door and called out, "Professor Snape, are you there?"
After waiting for a while, there was no response. Victor pushed the office door, found it unlocked, and walked in.
Snape's office was very dim and damp. He could faintly smell a moldy scent mixed with the smell of potions in the air. On the shelves along the walls, there were many glass containers of different sizes, holding various unknown animal organ specimens, which looked very disgusting.
However, there was one unusually clean place in the office: the fireplace in the back of the room. There was no wood ash in the fireplace, which suggested it hadn't been used in a long time.
There were also two old pine desks in the office. One desk held a quill and books, while the other held several cauldrons. Strange-colored potions were bubbling inside them, giving off a fascinating "aroma."
The owner of the office wasn't there.
So Victor began to curiously tour Snape's office. He looked at the glass containers on the shelves and was very interested in the contents. He came to a square glass box with many small black insects crawling around inside.
"Lobalugs?! There are plenty of these in the Black Lake; why would Snape keep them here?" Victor said, a little confused. Although Lobalug venom could be used to make potions, its side effects were very high and were strictly regulated, so many potion makers usually didn't keep this stuff.
Victor tapped on the glass box with the Lobalugs, then looked at something else that looked like a goat horn. "Horned Serpent horn. I've never heard of this being used as a potion ingredient, though I have heard of it being used to make wands!"
"Hmm?! There's even a Golden Snidget specimen!" Victor suddenly saw a shiny bird specimen next to the glass jar with the Horned Serpent horn. It was round, with a particularly long, thin beak and sparkling ruby-like eyes. It was a Golden Snidget, which was almost extinct due to overhunting!
As he discovered more and more strange things, Victor's curiosity exploded. He hopped around Snape's office, enjoying his tour.
"Huh?! What's that!" Victor suddenly glimpsed a huge glass jar covered in dust and cobwebs in the darkest corner. He walked over curiously, and with a light sphere he created, he looked inside. It turned out to be a giant crimson tail.
"Is it a dragon's tail?" Victor wiped the dust off the glass jar and looked inside carefully. "But it doesn't look like one. It's all keratin, no scales!"
"That's the tail of a Chimaera, a very bloodthirsty and violent magical creature native to Greece," a familiar, cold voice suddenly said from behind Victor, directly answering his question.
Victor instantly had a look of realization and slapped his fist into his palm. "Oh, it's a Chimaera!" He had already sensed Snape's arrival, even though the professor's footsteps were silent.
"Dreyar, trespassing in a professor's office without permission," Snape said, looking at Victor with a chilly gaze. "Ten points from Ravenclaw!"
"Professor, I didn't trespass. The door wasn't locked!" Victor pointed at the door and argued.
Snape didn't argue with Victor. Instead, he pulled on his black robes like a giant bat, put his hands behind his back, and remained expressionless, with a faint blue glow beginning to emanate from his eyes. "Victor Dreyar, why are you here?"
Victor looked at Snape with a deadpan expression and said helplessly, "Professor, didn't Professor Dumbledore tell you that Legilimency is useless on me?"
The glow in Snape's pupils instantly vanished, and his hands, which were holding his robes, involuntarily clenched.
Victor noticed the shock in Snape's mind. He rolled his eyes internally, then took out a crystal vial containing Helena's venom and said, "Professor, I came to give you a Christmas present."
Snape frowned as he looked at the crystal vial Victor held out. He didn't say anything but stared at Victor with a suspicious look, then slowly reached out and suddenly snatched the crystal vial from Victor's hand.
"Be careful, Professor. Helena's venom is very potent. I tried several containers and found that only a crystal vial wouldn't be corroded," Victor warned. He was afraid that Snape didn't know the situation and might accidentally get the venom on his skin, which would be a lot of trouble!
Snape pulled out the stopper and smelled the crystal vial. "Swooping Evil venom? But it's different!"
With his years of experience in potions, Snape instantly recognized that the venom in the crystal vial came from a Swooping Evil.
"Where did you get this?" Snape asked, staring at Victor.
A Swooping Evil's venom, when properly diluted, could be used to erase bad memories and would emit a silvery-white light, but the bottle in his hand now contained a blue-green liquid he had never seen before. For a Potions Master, this could be a new potion ingredient, and it could even make some potions that only existed in theory a reality.
"This is the venom secreted by my pet," Victor replied. As he spoke, a black shadow flew out from his chest. Helena flapped her blue-green wings and hovered next to Victor.
"Allow me to introduce you, this is Helena!" Victor said with a smile and a serious expression.
But Snape didn't have time to listen to Victor's introduction. When he saw a human-brain-eating Swooping Evil suddenly fly out in front of him, he instinctively took a few steps back and pointed his wand at Helena in a state of high alert.
"Uh… Professor Snape, you don't have to be so nervous," Victor said, letting Helena hang from his arm by its tail. "It won't attack you."
But Snape still didn't lower his wand, and he began to say in a cold voice, word for word, "Victor Dreyar, the last person to keep a dangerous magical creature in the school was expelled midway through."
"I know, Mr. Scamander, the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!"
"I remember he was a Hufflepuff and was very close with Professor Dumbledore."
Victor first put Helena away, then took the oak barrel full of Acromantula venom and put it in front of Snape. "Actually, Professor, as you just saw, Helena is different from a regular Swooping Evil, and her venom might have a unique effect on potion-making."
"So, I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor: to help me research the uses of Helena's venom in potion brewing."
"Of course, I wouldn't ask you to do it for free. This barrel of Acromantula venom is my payment for your help…"
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