Chapter 207
Lavender finally reached the common room after a long wait, to tell everyone what had happened to her, whether she had received an invitation or not, and as happened to Hermione among her friends, she also described to them who she wanted to dance with on the night of the dance celebration!
Hermione put her hands over her mouth in astonishment, saying, "Are you saying, Lavender, that you admire Ron?!"
Hermione glanced at Ginny, and Ginny returned the same look!!
Afterward, Lavender stood up, saying nervously, "Well... don't tell them about this, alright, girls?! I bet he might not share the same feeling!!"
Despite all this amount of homework assigned to the fourth-year students during the holiday, Harry did not want to complete this work, so he spent the week before the Christmas celebrations enjoying his time with others, especially since the Gryffindor Tower was very crowded for this period of the semester, to the extent that it seemed as if its size and capacity had decreased. Of course, it was a great opportunity for both Fred and George to test their new products, especially the Canary Creams they offered to their classmates, the result of which was the appearance of feathers on their heads, which caused the Gryffindor students to be cautious of any food offered to them by anyone, and Harry was at the forefront of them, as he did not know how Fred and George managed to get this amount of money to make these products in this quantity.
The hail was falling heavily over the castle and its courtyards, covering Hagrid's house, the Beauxbatons carriage, and also all the openings of the Durmstrang ship. As for the kitchen, the working house-elves below did their best to serve warm drinks, and Fleur Delacour was the only one complaining, as they heard her say, "Hogwarts food is too greasy, and this way my clothes will not fit me."
Hermione said sarcastically, seeing her heading towards the entrance hall, "What a tragedy... she cares about herself so much... doesn't she?"
Ron asked her, trying to hide so Fleur wouldn't see him, "Hermione, who are you bringing to the ball with you?"
He tried to find out the answer to his question from her in every way until she shouted at him, "I haven't found anyone yet... even if I go with someone, I won't tell you!!"
From behind them, Malfoy said, "Are you kidding, Weasley?! Don't tell me someone invited her to accompany him to the ball, for who can accompany this Mudblood?"
Harry and Ron stepped forward to confront Malfoy, but Hermione shouted, pointing behind Malfoy's shoulder, "Hello, Professor Moody!"
Malfoy's face paled, and he quickly turned around looking for Moody to find him at his table eating his soup. The three headed to the stairs, laughing, while Hermione said, "What a scared creature you are, Malfoy hahaha, I did not imagine that the way Albert used against him would work, hehe!"
Upstairs, Harry asked her, "Hermione... what's wrong with your teeth?"
"What's wrong with them?"
"They're different... I just noticed that..."
"Certainly... did you think I would keep these fangs that Malfoy caused?"
"No... I meant they are different from what they were before that incident... they have become straight and normal size."
Hermione smiled, and Ron also noticed that her smile this time was different from the smile he was used to. Then she said, "Well... when I went to Madam Pomfrey to treat me, she asked me to hold a mirror and tell her to stop when their size returned to normal... and all I did was make her shrink them a little," then she smiled again, but wider this time, before continuing, "My father and mother will not be happy with that. I tried to convince them to shrink the size of my teeth a lot, but they did not agree. They are dentists, as you know, and they are not convinced that magic and dentistry can... look, Albert is back!"
Albert entered towards them, carrying Ron's small owl and a letter in his hand.
Albert spoke, saying, "Thank you, Ron, for lending me your owl!"
Ron held his owl, Pig, and said, "Did you get any reply from your father!?"
Albert nodded, saying, "Yes!"
Albert gave the letter to Harry, who began to read it.
> "Dear Albert
> Congratulations on passing the first task and surviving the dragon. I would have suggested you use a spell that affects the dragon's eyes, as they are the weakest points of the dragon's body, but after I thought that you had learned everything from me, I felt embarrassed... hahaha --"
>
Hermione interrupted him, saying, "That was what Krum did... but what does your father mean here, Albert?! Didn't you only meet your father late last year?! How did you learn everything in this short time?!"
Albert felt excessive nervousness after hearing this unexpected question from her, and he said, "Well... haha, forget about that, Harry, complete reading the letter!!"
> "But your method was better. You surprised me after hearing the news from Mr. Weasley. I did not expect you to master that spell easily, but do not let this matter inflate your arrogance. All you have gone through is one task, and there are still many dangers surrounding you, so be careful and cautious, especially since the person we talked about is close to you, and be keen to stay away from problems
> Keep sending me letters, as I still want to know anything unusual.
> Sincerely,
> Sirius"
>
Harry said, returning the letter to Albert, "He talks exactly like Moody."
Hermione said, "But he is right, Harry. Albert still has two tasks ahead of him, and he must know what is inside this egg, and you must work on what it means, Albert..."
Harry woke up on Christmas Day, wondering what woke him up. He opened his eyes and saw something with two wide green eyes staring at him in the dark from very close, so Harry shouted, moving away, "Dobby!... What is it?"
Dobby said in his sharp voice, "Dobby is sorry, sir, and all he wants is to congratulate Harry Potter on his birthday and present a gift, sir, as Harry Potter said that Dobby can visit him sometimes, sir!"
Harry said, his breaths still catching up, "It's alright, but... try to warn me about it after that and don't lean over me like this..."
Harry pulled the curtains surrounding his bed and took his glasses from the bedside table and put them on. These sounds woke up Ron, Seamus, and Neville, while Albert was fast asleep, and they all got out of bed, their eyes heavy. Seamus said in a sleepy voice, "Is someone attacking you, Harry?"
Harry mumbled, "No.... it's Dobby... go back to sleep."
Seamus said, looking at the scroll placed next to the bed, "Ah... it's the gifts."
Those who woke up thought of going down to open their gifts since they had already woken up, so Harry turned towards Dobby, who was standing nervously next to Harry's bed and still seemed worried before asking, "Can Dobby present the gift to Harry Potter?"
Harry said, "Of course... and I also have something for you!"
Harry was lying, as he had not bought anything for Dobby, but he opened his trunk immediately and pulled out a pair of socks that belonged to Uncle Vernon before that and that Harry had used to wrap the Sneakoscope about a year ago, so he removed it from it before saying, "Excuse me, I forgot to wrap them!"
But Dobby was very happy and said, "Socks are the best clothes for Dobby, sir. I have seven socks so far, and... and but, sir... they made a mistake in the seller's shop... the pair has the same length..."
Ron said sarcastically, smiling, "Oh... Harry, how did you not notice that? .. Listen, Dobby, take them and reverse them as you wish, and here are your shoes that Albert promised you. Albert told Harry and me that if we met you, we should give you these shoes that Albert told you about!"
Dobby said calmly, "My master is very kind!! Dobby knows that my master is a great wizard because he is Harry Potter's best friend, but Dobby did not know he was so generous!"
Harry said, "They are just socks and shoes, Dobby!"
Dobby presented the gift to Harry, and it was a pair of socks that he gave him, saying, "Dobby made them himself, sir, and bought the wool from the wage he receives!"
One of the socks was red and had a picture of a broomstick on it, while the other was green with a picture of a golden snitch. Harry said happily, "They... they are really... well, thank you, Dobby."
Dobby said, hurrying out of the dormitory, "Dobby has to go now, sir, as we are preparing for Christmas dinner in the kitchen."
Harry's other gifts were more satisfying than Dobby's strange gift, with the exception of the Dursleys' gift, which included one tissue, which did not surprise Harry, as he knew they still remembered Dudley's tongue and what happened to him. As for Hermione, she gave him a book entitled "Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland," and Ron gave him a set of Dungbombs produced by Fred and George. As for Albert, he gave him a set of easy summaries that would help Albert revise all the subjects and get satisfactory results.
As for Sirius, he gave him a small knife that could open any lock, and Hagrid gave him a large box of assorted sweets.
And of course, Mrs. Weasley sent him a pair of green shoes with a picture of a dragon printed on them.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione met in the common room and went down together for breakfast.
They left Albert still inside his dormitory, also examining the gifts he received.
Albert opened all his gifts, which made him look happy and laugh like a fool, so a gift wrapped in red plastic covering appeared in front of him, with a Christmas tree decorated with colors and lights indicating Christmas.
Albert opened the box with a little difficulty, so he was surprised to find a picture containing a picture of his father and mother when they were still his age.
Albert took that picture from inside the gift box and carefully examined the details of the picture, so he saw that his father was perhaps still in his sixth year at Hogwarts through these school robe clothes, and his mother still looked young through this picture, perhaps at least Albert, he expected that she might still be studying in the fourth year through the picture.
When he took the picture, he found a white paper inside the box with a familiar drawing on it.
When he opened the paper, he found that it was a message from his father, Sirius.
> "Dear Albert
> I did not want to write what I wanted now in the first letter, as I know your friends will read it, so what I am saying now are private matters... Do you remember when I invited everyone to a party inside our house to celebrate my innocence from all the crimes that had been issued against me?! And do you remember what you told me?!
> You told me that you admire that girl whose family you visited, but you could not express your feelings towards her!!
> But after I heard that Hogwarts school would organize a dance ball, an idea occurred to me that this is an important occasion and opportunity for you, so take advantage of the opportunity, my son, go to her, maybe she is only waiting for you. Don't be like me... when I was still your age, James and Lupin used to mock me at that time when your mother was the one who revealed her feelings towards me, so the man must first present his feelings to
the one he loves!!
> Sincerely,
> Sirius" >
To be continued....