Chapter 115 Christmas Holiday
After entering November, the weather turned very cold. The great mountains surrounding the school were gray and hazy, covered in ice and snow, and the lake's surface was as cold and hard as tempered steel.
The whole of Hogwarts became lively, because the Quidditch season had arrived!
But for Anton,
all the turmoil had settled into tranquility.
It seemed like nothing had changed, yet everything had changed.
Quirrell still roamed the depths of the Forbidden Forest every late night, but Anton was no longer by his side.
Professor Voldemort still held his Sunday classes, only without his former elegance, as if he had run out of patience and become irritable.
Snape's Saturday classes also became strange. He would always stare intently at Anton, revealing an inexplicable emotion. It was clear he was somewhat nervous and inexplicably anxious.
But these were all external matters; what is gained is my fortune, what is lost is my fate.
Anton barely maintained his balance, plunging into a frenzy of reading.
White Magic!
Well, although there's no such term in the wizarding world, there should be a counterpart to Dark Magic.
With Dumbledore's library pass, Anton began to frequent the Restricted Section of the library, borrowing high-level White Magic books.
It was very difficult!
In a month, he had barely finished two books, and he was still repeatedly trying to understand the second one.
His main source of knowledge now was Dumbledore.
Actually, Voldemort could teach him too, but who knew when Old Voldy would completely lose his patience. He would listen to as much of the soul-related lessons as he could, and Anton certainly wouldn't be the one to change the subject.
One book was "The Fun of Animagi".
After delving deeper, Anton finally understood why there were only seven officially registered Animagi in the wizarding world.
Because this spell was boring, useless, and a waste of time.
In the admonishing tone of Pedro the goblin—why don't you focus all your energy on the Shield Charm?
Firstly, it is an extremely time-consuming high-level Transfiguration spell, very troublesome and very dangerous. With average luck, a wizard might need several years to complete the steps of this spell.
Secondly, its effect is to turn into an ordinary, non-magical animal, and it's a single choice that cannot be changed after transformation. This transformation retains a thinking ability, self-identity, and memory similar to human form.
But after turning into an animal, feelings and emotions are simplified, replaced by the animal's wild desires. Even eating habits will follow animal instincts.
"Learning this spell is a complete waste of time." Dumbledore said the same thing. "If you want to hide your form, there are many more options in the wizarding world. The easiest way is to buy an Invisibility Cloak."
Anton pursed his lips, "You know about my Bionic Spell. Perhaps I can draw parallels, it could be very insightful."
Although Dumbledore didn't quite agree, he still explained it seriously, including why one had to hold a Mandrake leaf in their mouth for a month, why one had to wait for a naturally occurring thunderstorm, and so on.
Yes, he paid more attention to the wonderful connection between the wizard, nature, and the spell.
As expected of a Transfiguration master, Dumbledore's lessons were equally brilliant.
But Dumbledore didn't know that Anton had to learn this spell.
Animagus was the only way he knew of to escape from Azkaban. He must, absolutely must learn it.
Who knew when he might end up living there.
The second book he was currently studying was "One Hundred and Fifty-Two Variations of the Bubble-Head Charm".
The Bubble-Head Charm creates a large bubble of air around the caster's head, making it look like an inverted fishbowl. This charm can be used for breathing underwater or to block out surrounding foul air.
Anton wasn't very interested in this spell.
But the author's various imaginative manipulations of the spell and the thought process behind its variations were very insightful.
This could guide him to better expand the Levitation Charm into a more powerful and versatile spell.
Just like that, Anton looked up from his book, stunned to find that the lively Hogwarts Quidditch season had inexplicably ended!
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had become even more secretive, Professor Voldemort's temper grew more and more irritable, Snape became increasingly conflicted, and Dumbledore repeatedly asked Anton about his interactions with Professor Quirrell.
"I feel like I've missed something interesting."
Anton shrugged and immersed himself once again in the beauty of magic.
"Who cares."
...
...
And so, the two-week-long Christmas holiday arrived.
Wooo wooo wooo~~~
The train slowly started, pulling away from Hogsmeade Station.
Anton still didn't enter a compartment. He placed his trunk by the aisle, sitting on it and watching the scenery outside the railing.
Life is like a journey with no end; everyone can only be carried forward by fate.
Even if one cleverly returns to the past, one will always find that it is just a part of the journey of fate. What is meant to come cannot be escaped.
Facing it is the solution to all problems.
Fortunately, Anton had this awareness and resilience.
Overall, apart from the one night Voldemort planned to devour him, this half-year of school life had been relaxed and pleasant.
The background music could be a light, gentle Passacaglia piano piece.
Awesome.
Lupin came to pick him up in a dark blue sports car.
"Huh, you got a new car again?" Anton looked at this uncle curiously.
Although Lupin had become wealthy, his past experiences had taught this gentle old man how to live better. Apart from being willing to spend money on Anton, Anna, and Ilsa, Lupin was not the type to spend extravagantly.
"Actually, I've had it for half a year, since the day you went to school." Lupin said this with a look of deep regret, "I should never have let Arthur drive my car. Heavens, he actually thought my car could fly!"
The corner of Anton's mouth twitched, not knowing how to comment.
He carried his luggage and returned home.
Bang!
A party popper made of colored paper exploded. Anna and Ilsa each held a paper firework, wearing funny hats.
Anna smiled shyly, "Welcome home!"
Anton smiled, a particularly happy smile.
The old wizard did not come back with him. In fact, he couldn't ride the Hogwarts Express; he could only pass through it.
To float all the way from Hogwarts to home, he might just be in time to receive Anton's letter reporting his safe arrival back at school.
Pedro wasn't there either. It was said that with Rosier's help, he planned to follow Lupin's example and open a factory to support his fellow goblins.
As for Nagini, wherever Rosier was, she was there.
"It's very difficult." Lupin sighed, "The goblins don't trust Pedro, the wizards don't trust Pedro, and even the hired wizard manager is a heap of problems."
Lupin had an excellent reputation for his character among the werewolf community, but as for Pedro, a wise man who had lived for hundreds of years—heh, where were you all this time?
All in all, although Pedro was overwhelmed, he was happy to endure it, trying everything he could to make up for his past mistakes.
So this Christmas, it was just the four of them.
Everyone went downstairs, where a sumptuous feast had long been prepared.
Lupin had proudly said in his letter that he had signed up for a cooking class, but it turned out that only one dish of egg fried rice on the whole table was made by him.
Anton glanced at it, oh, the improvement really was huge.
Diced carrots, green peas, diced ham, diced shiitake mushrooms, diced pineapple...
Anyway, it looked quite interesting with all its frills.
Miss Ilsa contributed a large portion of chicken rolls and a fruit salad.
So...
The dishes filling the entire table still tasted like they were from those two Chinese restaurants and that French restaurant.
"Well, you two are really passionate about life," Anton said sarcastically.
Lupin shrugged, "The company is too busy."
Ilsa sighed, "Apparently I don't have much talent for cooking, but we did get the largest screen for the home theater."
"Wow~" Anton didn't even know what to say.
Anna covered her mouth and snickered.