Chapter 274 Departure

Finally, the holidays are here. Overnight, the castle became empty. The few students who want to stay at school for Christmas show up late every day in the empty hall, enjoying a hearty breakfast slowly.

Even professors are becoming more laid-back. Anthony never managed to be the first to appear in the Second Greenhouse. Every time he opened the door, there was always someone already sitting safely in his seat - most of the time it was Professor Sprout or Professor Flitwick, or even Dumbledore one night when he suddenly felt like it. and Snape.

Hagrid had Christmas trees placed all over the castle, and Anthony and Professor Flitwick spent the entire afternoon decorating them. They conjured silver frost on each fir tree and made gold dust dance around the trees on the landing like flowing ribbons. Then they hung non-melting ice on the branches of the Christmas tree at the door, which would sway and jingle every time someone came in or out.

Peeves spent a lot of time trying to pick off the colored balls from the Christmas tree and throw them at people, but he bent the tree trunk without pulling off even one of the colored balls. In the end, he had to turn the Christmas tree into a huge slingshot. It bounced the trash can everywhere and was finally stopped by Professor McGonagall who arrived.

And the reason why he couldn't pick off the colored balls was because before the holiday, Madam Pomfrey angrily discovered that Sirius had glued a paper box under the bed with a sticking spell, which was filled with snacks such as candies and biscuits. Most came from condolences and fans who read the newspaper. Sirius quickly removed it with the help of Professor Flitwick, while quietly justifying himself by not even using the Permanent Sticking Charm, thus providing the professors with a very useful spell.

Anthony heard that Sirius had not planned to leave the hospital on time. It seemed that he was going to spend Christmas at Hogwarts with Harry and Ron.

But when Harry and Ron were chatting, Sirius accidentally learned that Draco Malfoy had teased Harry last year that he stayed in school "because his family didn't want him." Although Harry didn't care at all, Sirius immediately decided to invite Harry to the Black house. He left before the students left school, reportedly to tidy up the house and prepare to meet Harry at King's Cross station.

In addition, on the day the students left school, Anthony met Harry in the hall with his suitcase. Harry, Ron and Hermione were helping Neville find his toad, and his snow-white owl was taking a nap in its cage with its eyes half-closed.

"Don't worry, Lyford has never really disappeared." Harry comforted Neville, "It always pops up at the last minute."

Neville was still full of annoyance: "But if grandma knew that I lost my pet again..."

"Just say you lent it to me." Ron said somewhat gloomily, opening a decorative Christmas gift box in the corner, "Tell your grandma that my mouse has turned into a human, so I want one without Furry, cold, slippery pets.”

Neville said with a pale face: "Stop talking, Ron. I also used my socks to cushion Scabbers's nest..."

Ron seemed even more depressed.

"Okay..." He moved a few suitcases away and took a look, "If you can't find it today, I'll keep an eye on it for you during the holidays. Anyway, I'm alone in the dormitory and don't have anything else to do. can do."

Harry sounded a little guilty: "You can come to the Black house with me, Ron. You know Sirius will welcome you."

"Well, yes," said Ron, "but the rest of my family is at Hogwarts."

"Christmas is a holiday that belongs to the family." Hermione said, squatting on the ground and looking down the stairs, "It's not here. It would be nice if I could fly spells." She raised her head and saw her friend's expression, which was a little uncomfortable. He explained patiently, "It's the spell that Professor Anthony used to pull you off the broom. It was the same spell that Harry, Mrs. Hooch and Professor Flitwick used when they summoned Davis. I thought they were better than I care more about Quidditch!"

"We do care more about Quidditch," Ron muttered, "that's why we don't care what damn spells they use."

“The mantra is ‘come fly,’” Anthony said, smiling and nodding with several students who were carrying suitcases and shouting “Merry Christmas” to him. Ron started, and Hermione jumped too.

"Professor Anthony!" Neville shouted.

"Come on Leif!" Anthony raised his wand and said, carefully recalling Neville's freedom-loving toad in his mind.

The next moment, something flew out of the window, and its limbs were still kicking in vain in the air.

Anthony caught the toad with bulging eyes and handed it to Neville, who was watching eagerly: "Merry Christmas, Mr. Longbottom."

Neville held Leif tightly and cherishedly: "Merry Christmas, Professor Anthony, thank you."

"Go quickly, don't miss the Hogwarts Express." Anthony said, "You too, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger. I heard you are going to the Black family, Mr. Potter?"

An uncontrollable smile appeared on Harry's face: "Yes, Professor Anthony."

"Have fun." Anthony smiled. "Well, I wish you all a Merry Christmas. Especially you, Mr. Weasley."

Ron blushed slightly. "I try my best," he said.

…

Ron did seem to be enjoying his time off after most people left.

While Wood was gone, the Weasley twins got the key to the broom shed from somewhere and moved all the brooms out.

One morning, Madam Hooch found them flying over the Quidditch field covered with white snow with Ron and Ginny. The twins imitated Wood and followed Ron and Ginny, shouting "Faster", "Come on, move, boys and girls" or "I told you that you need to dive at this time".

"Of course you know how the twins fly, but I must tell you that their sister is also very talented." Professor McGonagall said to her as she watched the four red-haired children clean their flying brooms and put them back in the broom shed, "plus Charlie Weasley... the Weasleys may all have some Quidditch talent."

Anthony heard this story in the greenhouse. He asked curiously, "What about Ron Weasley? Is he a good flyer?" When he was staying at the Burrow, the Weasley children had tried to teach him how to ride a broomstick, but by the end of the holiday, his level was not good enough to distinguish the talents of each person.

Professor McGonagall hesitated and said, "He does know how to use a broomstick."

"Well," said Anthony, "just as I thought - better than me."

...

On the third day before Christmas, Anthony and Hagrid finally set off.

Anthony brought very little luggage, including gifts for Norbert, gifts for Charlie Weasley, ginger cats, ghost chickens and ghost mice.

In addition to the books Hermione requested, Hagrid also brought Norbert a variety of things: a plush blanket, a bag of rock biscuits, several boxes of brandy, and a shiny stone that was said to be used by dragons to sharpen their teeth. He gave up the pile of dead mice under Anthony's persuasion, but insisted on taking stoat sandwiches.

Because of Anthony's poor flying skills, they could not use the broomstick to go to the dragon sanctuary. However, Anthony secretly felt that this was not just his problem. He suspected that even if he reluctantly tied himself to a flying broom, Hagrid would not be able to find a suitable broom.

They finally decided to take the Knight Bus to the port and then take a boat to France. For some reason, the French wizarding world seemed to have a series of transportation methods suitable for larger people, so Hagrid could spend a relatively comfortable journey in France. After leaving France, they would pass through Switzerland, which was not supervised by the Ministry of Magic, through Austria, and finally enter the Dragon Sanctuary in Romania from the Dragon Sanctuary in Hungary - mainly the Hungarian Horntail.

On the other hand, Charlie Weasley and his friends would also go to the Dragon Sanctuary in Hungary to greet them, because although the British Ministry of Magic rejected Anthony and Hagrid's application for the Portkey, they did not find a suitable reason to refute the "Exchange Scholar" status applied for by Professor McGonagall for them. Naturally, the Dragon Sanctuary should also send someone to greet their exchange scholars.

…

Despite the help of a lot of magic in the middle, it still took them a whole day to reach the Dragon Sanctuary in Hungary.

The Knight Bus was bumpy as always, but neither Anthony nor Hagrid vomited. The time on the boat was also wonderful. The cold morning air blew on their faces, refreshing them. When the fog cleared, they could see the sun shining on the sea beside them, and they could also see the French land slowly approaching them.

Hagrid's huge size did cause some trouble. He couldn't squeeze himself into the small bed in the cabin, and even his suitcases could hardly squeeze into the room.

Therefore, although they planned to spend this time in a small room to avoid trouble, they still sat on the deck and blew the wind under the hidden surprise of the crew and fellow passengers. Anthony asked for two cups of coffee, but the coffee cup looked very small in Hagrid's hand.

Hagrid had no interest in this bitter and light drink, and didn't care about the eyes of the people around him. Under the gaze of everyone, he took out brandy from his pocket, mixed it with coffee, and had a breakfast with a stoat sandwich. Anthony smiled at a passenger who was staring at the tail hanging down from two slices of bread, and bumped Hagrid with his elbow very hard.

As he disembarked, he heard two people whispering about whether the "huge pica" on the ship was a member of a circus, and thought that Anthony might survive a box full of knives.

Overall, they had a very good time in France. French wizards can ride in a very large carriage that looks like the pumpkin carriage that Cinderella's godmother conjured up, all decorated with glittering jewels, and even the bridles of the horses are twisted with gold thread.

Anthony converted the exchange rate between galleons and French magical currency and found that it was almost as expensive as the Knight Bus, and the two were almost as bumpy. Through the crystal glass windows, they could see the scenery outside the window changing so quickly that all the colors eventually blurred together, as if they were running in a flowing oil paint-except that there were countless small stones mixed in the paint, making the carriages bounce up and down constantly.

After an unknown amount of time, their carriage finally stopped. Anthony pushed open the door and found that he had arrived at the mountain. There was ice and snow all around. Looking around, there was nothing but a vast expanse of white except for the gray-brown mountains vaguely visible in the distance and the gray rocks faintly emerging from the snow.

He got out of the carriage and turned around to see the four Pegasus still standing quietly in the snow, their heads tilted, their eyes covered with eye patches looking at him quietly.

Hagrid got off the carriage with difficulty, reached out and patted the Pegasus' neck, took out brandy from his pocket and handed it to the horse's mouth. Before Anthony could react, he saw that all the horses were excited. They stepped on the spot, swung their tails, shook their heads and snorted, put their thick mouths to the mouth of the small bottle, and licked the bottle with their wide tongues.

"I heard that French horses like to drink." Hagrid said.

The horses had already started to gnaw the bottle mouth with their teeth. They flapped their wings, as if trying to snatch the bottle from Hagrid's hand.

...

If it weren't for the boxes of brandy that Hagrid brought, they would have planned to take the train.

But that's the thing. If there were a few Pegasus kicking and clattering behind them, it would be difficult for them to get on the train without violating the Statute of Secrecy. In addition, Anthony didn't know whether people should buy tickets for Pegasus. Maybe he'll need to buy four bicycle tickets.

In any case, they ended up trudging through the snowy mountains for a long time.

Thankfully, neither Anthony nor Hagrid were too cold. Sadly, the Pegasus didn't seem to be too cold either, so much so that they kept following Hagrid, and even made Anthony start to worry whether they had smuggled four Pegasus and a fancy carriage from France.

Fortunately, they finally reached an agreement with Hagrid - no matter how Hagrid did it - to transport them to the border between Austria and Hungary at the cost of four bottles of brandy.

...

"Norbert would agree." Hagrid muttered as he checked his inventory after getting off the carriage. "Norbert is a generous, sharing baby."

Anthony watched the Pegasus drag the clanking carriage and flash across the sky.

"Hagrid?" he said.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Norbert would mind sharing some rock pie with me?" Anthony said. It was already lunchtime, but the Swiss francs he had exchanged were of no use, and he did not have enough Austrian schillings or forints.