"... Come, sit down... speak slowly."
Dumbledore waved his wand again, pulled out another chair and placed it next to the table.
But the young witch shook her head and said: "Sorry... I guess you are Principal Dumbledore? I... I came to see Mr. MacLean, but I didn't expect..."
"Maka went out today, saying she was going to a banquet..." Hermione said casually, lowering her head and poking at the food on the plate.
"Oh—" the young witch sighed in disappointment, and then hesitated, "Although I know this is very abrupt—I originally planned to ask Mr. MacLean to introduce me to it, but—"
She whispered: "I wonder if you can let me see Mr. Severus Snape? My mother is not in a good condition. The therapist at St. Mungo's said that it is a very bad disease. Treatment The potion used is very difficult to prepare... so... "
"Severus?" Dumbledore turned his head and looked at Snape.
Snape flipped his hair impatiently, looked at her coldly and said, "Didn't MacLean tell you?"
The young witch was stunned for a moment - she didn't know what Snape was referring to.
"Potions," Snape said with a frown, "McLean is also a pharmacist -"
"He hasn't registered yet!" Professor McGonagall said seriously immediately.
Snape's impatient look was obviously even worse.
He frowned and stared at the young witch again and again, and then asked: "You and McClain know each other?"
"Yes, Mr. Snape..." She nodded quickly, "Mr. Maclean and Miss Lovegood, they are distinguished guests in our restaurant..."
It is already clear at this point that this young and beautiful witch is none other than Celine, the new owner of the "Snow Witch" restaurant in Hogsmeade Village.
"The relationship between store and customer?" Snape couldn't help but sneered.
"I'm sorry, I know this... but..." Celine looked like she was about to cry, "I really have no choice. My mother's illness suddenly became serious, but St. Mungo's can't do anything - it's just that there is no special medicine."
Snape frowned more and more, obviously he didn't want to cause more trouble for himself.
"Severus," Dumbledore said suddenly.
Snape glanced at him, then glanced at Celine again.
"Okay, okay..." Snape said irritably, "I don't care how much relationship you have with MacLean, anyway, this trip will be on him!"
"Let's go! Now!" He waved his hand impatiently, and then walked quickly out the door.
"He's still so annoying." Ron leaned next to Harry and said in the smallest voice.
Just then, Ron felt something jump up on his knee, startling him.
"Ouch!" he yelled, knocking his elbow on the edge of the table and knocking the cup over.
"What's wrong?" Harry turned his head.
But before he could continue, he found a big ginger-yellow fur ball falling on the dining table with a "bang", and then there was a loud ringing sound, and many plates and glasses were touched. on the ground.
Professor McGonagall quickly reached out to pick it up and put it on the ground to prevent it from ruining the food.
"Oh, Crookshanks, what's wrong with you?" Hermione exclaimed.
Yes, that big ball of fur is none other than Hermione's pet cat, Crookshanks.
Ron was still holding his elbow and screaming in pain, but he felt a light touch on his thigh.
He quickly turned his head, and happened to see his rat Banban jumping onto the empty chair next to him, then jumping to the ground again, spreading its legs and running wildly to the other side.
Crookshanks naturally wouldn't let him go. He flexibly bypassed the round table and chased Banban in the direction of his escape.
"It's like that again! It's like that again!" Ron stood up angrily, "Scabbers is sleeping peacefully on my bed! Why do you, stupid cat, keep staring at him!"
He complained angrily and chased them in the direction they were running.
Hermione looked at Ron's back and was about to follow him. But she thought about it again, then simply turned her head and sat still on the chair.
"Oh my God! He stood up first! It was him!" Professor Trelawney suddenly pointed at the door where Ron left and screamed loudly.
"There are only twelve people including him!" Professor McGonagall said angrily, "You must not have learned arithmetic well."
Professor Trelawney came back to her senses. She looked around and then said vaguely: "There should be thirteen here, but the fog of fate obscured my third eye..."
Two hours later, the Christmas dinner was over.
But until now, Ron has not come back - Professor Trelawney has been nagging about this. Harry said he would bring some back to Ron.
"Coming?" Harry asked Hermione as he was about to go back.
"No," Hermione muttered, "I want to have a word with Professor McGonagall."
Harry walked to the doorway in the portrait and found Sir Cadogan celebrating Christmas with two monks, several former Hogwarts headmasters, and his fat pony.
He pushed his helmet up and toasted him with a jug of mead.
"Merry Christmas - hiccup! Password?"
"Dirty mongrel," said Harry.
"So do you, sir!" shouted Cadogan, as the painting tilted forward to admit him.
But Harry immediately discovered that Ron was not in the common room, so he walked straight to the dormitory.
"Oh, you're back..." Harry said, "I brought you some food... How is it?"
Harry immediately caught sight of Scabbers, who was lying on Ron's bed. He looked even less energetic, but a little fatter. This was probably due to the small bottle of "special rat food" given by Maka.
"Thank you," Ron said weakly, glancing at the food Harry placed on the bedside table, "As long as that damn stupid cat doesn't come to catch it, I think it can live for at least a few more days..."
"Didn't you feed it some more of the rat food Maka sent it?" Harry asked, "It seems to be working well."
"I've fed it," Ron said, "The effect is pretty good. Scabbers loves to eat it, but he always falls asleep after eating it."
"You need to rest more to get better slowly!" Harry said casually and walked towards his bed.
Ron thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
At this moment, Harry had already hugged his Firebolt and the "Broomstick Care Manual" Hermione gave him as a birthday gift.
"I'm going to take care of it, Ron, can you come with me?" Harry turned around and asked.
Ron looked at Scabbers who was lying on the bed - he seemed to have fallen asleep.
"Um... okay!" Ron said.
The two walked downstairs to the common room, and Harry looked through the manual, wondering what to do with the Firebolt.
However, there were no crooked broom tips to trim, and the broom was so smooth and flawless that it obviously didn't need polishing.
He and Ron sat there, admiring it from every angle, until the hole in the portrait opened and Hermione walked in... and with her came Professor McGonagall.
Although Professor McGonagall was the Head of Gryffindor House, Harry had only seen her come to the common room once, and that time it was to announce something very important.
He and Ron looked at her with wide eyes, both holding the Firebolt. Hermione walked around them, sat down, picked up a book, and hid her face behind the book.
"Oh! This is... Firebolt!" Professor McGonagall said, although her expression was still serious, her eyes seemed to light up, "It's so beautiful."
She walked to the fireplace, looked at the Firebolt, and said in a slightly amazed tone: "Who gave this to you for Christmas, Potter?"
Harry and Ron turned to look at Hermione.
They saw that her forehead, which peeked out from the top of the book, was slightly red, and that the book had been held upside down.
"Uh... yes, yes," Harry felt his throat was a little dry, "this is..."
He was not sure whether he should say it was from Maka, but Professor McGonagall took the initiative to change the subject, which surprised both him and Ron.
"Oh - let's not talk about it for now," Professor McGonagall suddenly turned to look at Ron and said, "Miss Granger just told me that your pet rat is not in good condition, and she asked me to come and take a look."
"What?" Ron felt that he must have heard wrong.
"Take me to take a look at your mouse," Professor McGonagall said. "Although I'm not a professional, I can at least take a look at it for you first."
"Oh... okay!" Ron glanced at Hermione, only to find that she had always hidden her face behind the book.
Ron brought Professor McGonagall to the dormitory, but he was surprised to find that Scabbers was no longer there!
Ron looked everywhere but couldn't find it. Professor McGonagall could only say, "Bring it to my office if you find it" and left first.
"...Where's Hermione?" Ron asked Harry awkwardly.
Harry pointed to the stairs leading to the girls' dormitory.
"What is she doing?" Ron muttered, sitting down in the armchair next to Harry.
Harry was still holding his Firebolt and admiring it, and said without raising his head: "She told me before she went up, 'If it were Maka, she would do this.'"
Ron scratched his hair and said dullly: "If it were Maka, he would always solve the problem by himself - just like he gave me rat food."
…
"Ah sneeze!"
On the other side, Maka, who was casually chatting with Ernie and the others, suddenly sneezed.
"Hey, Maka, are you catching a cold?" Ernie asked strangely.
Maka rubbed her nose, subconsciously looked in the direction of Hogwarts, and then shook her head.
"Maybe someone is talking bad about me..." he said, "Where did they just say something?"
"You just said that the man named Columbus cracked the egg on the table!" Layla said excitedly, "What next? Is he going to eat it?"