In the Quidditch match at the end of November, the Hufflepuff team suffered a crushing defeat in the snowstorm. Currently, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw have become rivals for the House Cup.
In order to win, Captain Charlie has been increasing the intensity of Quidditch training, which makes the regular players miserable. Fred and others who are substitutes for the team can always find a good excuse to skip the hard training in the wind and snow.
"Charlie must be crazy!" Fred muttered as he looked out the window at the snow and wind.
"He just wants to win the Quidditch trophy too much." Albert could understand Charlie's efforts. After all, it was his responsibility as the Quidditch captain. If even the captain himself relaxed, the Gryffindor team would probably never have the chance to lift the trophy.
"Are you going home for Christmas vacation?" Li Jordan asked, looking up after reading the letter sent from home.
"Let's go back for the holidays." Fred and George looked at each other and said without thinking.
"I will go home for the holidays, too." Albert looked at the potted plants by the window and asked, "Now that we are all back, what do we do with the things in the pots?"
"It shouldn't be a problem if we just leave it here and don't water it for a month, right?" George looked at the pot of lush garlic by the window, but his tone didn't contain much confidence.
"Actually, you can make it when you get back. I mean... during the Christmas holidays." Albert talked about this tentatively.
In fact, Albert knew very well that several people no longer had much enthusiasm for making the garlic cross.
There was no way. Children's patience was always very limited. Albert even doubted whether they had already forgotten about this matter.
"Oh, about this!" Fred and George looked at each other. It seemed that... it seemed that they no longer had the same enthusiasm as before for making the so-called amulet.
A few of them were even a little confused, wondering why they had such a great passion for making this kind of thing in the first place.
"Well, we can try. However, we're not quite sure how to make... a garlic cross. Do we really have to soak the cross in crushed garlic?" Fred asked tentatively. He was not sure whether his mother would spank him with a broom for wasting garlic like this.
"You can mash some garlic, soak it in alcohol, and then soak the cross in it." Albert had never practiced this before, so the advice he could give the two was very limited.
"That's a good idea. But..." Fred paused, as if he had forgotten what he was going to say.
"However, we are not sure whether we can get alcohol." George continued. It was difficult for them to come across ordinary beer, let alone alcohol. It was very difficult to get it.
"What are you going to do with that pot of white mulberry?" Li Qiaodan quickly changed the subject. His actual situation was not much better than the twins'.
"If it dies if it stays here, there's nothing we can do!" The other potted plant by the window is a branch of Dictamni that Albert got from Hagrid. It is a herbaceous plant that is not difficult to grow new Dictamni as long as its branches are buried in soil and taken good care of.
However, Dictamni is easily affected by the weather. If it is not transplanted in a greenhouse or found a warmer place in winter, it will easily wither.
In fact, Albert didn't have much confidence that he could keep this pot of white mulberry alive in the winter.
…
As December approaches, the weather becomes colder.
Although there was a roaring fire in the Gryffindor common room, the cold and windy corridor became even colder because of the snow. The window glass was rattling in the fierce wind and snow, and everyone had to wrap themselves up more tightly with clothes.
Christmas is approaching and everyone is looking forward to the holiday.
However, professors subconsciously leave students with a lot of homework.
"How can we enjoy the Christmas holidays?" Looking at the rapidly increasing amount of homework on the parchment, Li Jordan threw the quill in his hand on the table again.
"Just accept your fate. You have to do it anyway, or you will come back after the holiday and let the professors take turns to put you in detention." Albert put away the parchment and had to admit that the amount of homework for the Christmas holiday was indeed quite a lot, and even he could not finish it all in a short time.
"Don't mention it, you're the devil." Lee Jordan leaned back in his armchair.
Today, all students above the third grade went to Hogsmeade Village, otherwise they would not have the opportunity to use the common room comfortably.
"Albert!" George's voice trembled as he pointed to the front page of the Daily Prophet and urged, "Look at this, look at this!"
"What's wrong?" Fred asked weakly, "What's the big news in the Daily Prophet?"
"Millison Bagnall has decided to retire in February, and his successor has been confirmed to be Cornelius Fudge." George's breathing became rapid.
"Cornelly Fudge?" Fred repeated, pausing for a moment before raising his voice by eight points. "You mean... Cornelius Fudge?"
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with Cornelius Fudge?" Li Jordan looked at the twin brothers in confusion, and suddenly came to his senses, "Wait, Cornelius Fudge seems to be..."
The three of them turned their heads in unison and looked at Albert with strange eyes. When they saw this report, they suddenly remembered something. They met Albert on the Hogwarts Express...
"I remember..." George said incoherently
"... You seem to have spent 25 Galleons on..." Fred continued what he had not finished saying.
"Cornelly Fudge will become the next Minister of Magic!" Lee Jordan's eyes gradually widened.
At this moment, the three of them opened their mouths wide and looked at Albert in shock.
"I remember that this happened." Albert nodded and said, "At the beginning, I asked you if you wanted to participate in the guessing game together."
"My heart... hurts so much." Fred put his hand on his chest, and his breathing became rapid. If I had watched Garlon slip away from my hands, that would have been a terrible feeling, and it would have been heartbreaking...
"What are the odds for Cornelius Fudge?" Lee Jordan suddenly asked.
“I think it was four times.”
"25 Galleons is... 100 Galleons!" Li Jordan's breathing became heavier, like an old cow panting.
"100 Galleons," the twins muttered with dull eyes.
100 Galleons, this huge sum of money was something that few people had ever thought of.
"I've said before, my luck is usually not too bad." Albert winked at the three people and said, "But, did the Daily Prophet mention when the money will be paid?"
"Well... it shouldn't be too late. I think the guessing game will end when Cornelius Fudge is announced as the next Minister of Magic. They should count the results soon and give prizes to the winners."
Albert nodded and said that he didn't need to worry about having no money recently.
To be honest, he didn't like asking his family for money to buy things. It felt unpleasant to ask people for money.