Hogwarts Outsider Chapter 68: Christmas gifts
The situation seems to have become more complicated.
That night, after they finished their dinner, an unexpected visitor suddenly appeared in the Slytherin common room!
It's Mr. Pringle and his dog, Mr. Tang.
As the administrator of the castle, he rarely broke into the common rooms of various colleges under normal circumstances.
"Matthew Wakefield, and Agnes Lestrange, here?" he roared.
Matthew and Lestrange raised their hands successively.
Mr. Pringle just walked over, glanced at them one after another, recorded something on the parchment in his hand, and left in a hurry with the golden retriever.
"What's going on?" Matthew glanced at Lestrange in confusion.
Lestrange shrugged, indicating that she didn't know either.
Matthew didn't care too much. He lowered his head and continued to look at the "Legend of Merlin" in his hand.
This history book, or historical novel, he borrowed from the library before Christmas.
……
Early the next morning, thick snowflakes were flying in the sky, covering almost every window of the castle; this also made the castle even darker than ever.
When Matthew passed the door of the auditorium, he encountered a strange thing——
Hufflepuff first year Justin Finchrey, over there being scolded by his Head, Professor Pomona Sprout.
Professor Sprout's expression was very excited, while Mr. Finlayly was bowing his head in shame.
This was rather odd indeed, as Professor Sprout had always been a good-natured professor, and she rarely blamed anyone, let alone a Hufflepuff student.
Matthew walked into the auditorium and saw Hermione Granger eating breakfast at the only long table, so he walked over and sat beside her.
"Huh?" Hermione snorted softly after squinting at Matthew.
Ever since Hermione took Professor Flitwick and broke through the door of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom; Matthew hadn't had much to do with her.
And Hermione seems to have some opinions on this, because in her opinion, she did Matthew a big favor at that time... Whatever Matthew said, he should thank her very much.
But she is a little girl after all, so she doesn't hold grudges.
"What's your business?" She asked flatly.
"Professor Sprout at the door, and Justin Fenriely... What's going on?" Matthew asked curiously: "It's the first time I've seen Professor Sprout so big. Gas!"
"That Justin Finch..." Hermione showed a slightly contemptuous expression on her face, "When he went to Hogsmeade yesterday, he ate too much candy at the Honeydukes candy store. Then fell asleep in the Two Broomsticks bar in the afternoon, and slept until the night when the two broomsticks closed, the bar owner woke him up..."
"Asleep?" Matthew was taken aback.
"Yes." Hermione nodded: "Yesterday until dark, he didn't show up. When his classmates went to report to Mr. Pringle, Mr. Pringle was frightened! Mr. De Pringle went looking for it from one college to another, for fear that some people still haven't returned from Hogsmeade..."
Matthew suddenly remembered that last night, Mr. Pringle rarely appeared in the Slytherin common room, and then looked for him and Lestrange.
"So, what then?"
"At that time, the whole school was alarmed, just when Principal Rozier was about to go to Hogsmeade to look for him, he suddenly came back..." Hermione replied: "So this morning, together with Professor Sprout , was severely scolded by Principal Rozier!"
"I see!" Matthew nodded thoughtfully.
"Anything else?" Hermione said dryly, "If you don't mind, I've already finished my breakfast!"
"It's okay, thank you very much, Miss Granger!" Matthew smiled flatteringly.
With Hermione gone, Matthew began to think again while eating breakfast.
……
For the next few days, Matthew Wakefield remained very quiet.
The blizzard outside the castle has been very heavy since the beginning, and the road is almost blocked by heavy snow.
Most of the Hogwarts students have no interest in going to Hogsmeade; as for Matthew, he has no idea of going to Hogsmeade for a long time.
Matthew spends most of his time reading in the common room, with occasional trips to the library.
When he was really free and bored, he played gobstones and wizard chess with Lestrange.
Gobstones are played in a similar way to Muggle pinball. A standard set of gobstones consists of thirty small, round stones. Each player starts the game with fifteen. If one player collects all the opponent's stones, he is the winner of the game.
The main difference is that when one side loses points ~IndoMTL.com~ the stones spray a foul-smelling liquid in the face of the loser.
It was a very simple little game. Although Matthew lost more than he won, most of the time he was not Lestrange's opponent.
As for wizard chess, the rules are basically the same as Muggle chess; the pieces will move to the target square by themselves according to the player's command. It's just that when a piece is captured, it will be overturned by the opponent's piece, and then dragged out of the board.
This Matthew is stronger, with more wins and fewer losses. He also easily gained the trust of the set of chess pieces left by Draco Malfoy.
……
On Christmas morning, Matthew was at the foot of his bed and saw a small pile of parcels, his Christmas presents.
Among them was a bottle of beautifully packaged mead, which appeared to be from Professor Slughorn... and Matthew gave the dean a box of pineapple preserves yesterday.
He entrusted the seventh-year Slytherin girl in the common room to buy it from Honeydukes two days ago.
A brand new box of wizard chess;
A Compendium of Modern History of Magic;
……
And——
Matthew shifted his gaze to the last package, a beautiful Christmas gift box, but there was no signature on it.
Matthew couldn't help blinking, who would anonymously give him a Christmas present?
He gently untied the gift rope and opened this Christmas gift box...
"Huh?" Matthew snorted coldly, looking at the things inside.
The expression on his face gradually became serious.
But then, he suddenly smiled.
Because this last Christmas gift is a quaint, familiar, and mysterious book.