The Quidditch month that had excited Hogwarts students quickly came to an end.
In the end, thanks to the combined efforts of the other three houses blocking them at every turn, Slytherin proudly secured last place in points, naturally removing themselves from the championship race.
Gryffindor and Hufflepuff ranked first and second, and the final champion would be decided between them.
But that was an issue for the end of term. For now, the young wizards had already shifted their focus to the upcoming Christmas holidays.
The weather grew colder by the day, but fireplaces burned brightly in all the castle's common areas, filling them with a warmth that felt almost like spring.
In one such cozy dormitory, Ernie and Justin were packing their luggage.
"Leonard, aren't you going home for Christmas?" Justin asked.
"No, my home's too far. Even after taking the Hogwarts Express to King's Cross Station, I'd still have to switch trains. Too much trouble." Leonard was half-reclined on his bed, squinting at the book in his hands.
"What about Patil? Is she staying to keep you company?" Justin asked.
"She's going home with her sister," Leonard replied without looking up.
"Then won't you be lonely?" Ernie asked.
"Not really. There's enough homework to keep me busy," Leonard said with a grin, glancing at Ernie and Justin. "Just make sure you don't forget yours when you head home."
To keep students from forgetting what they'd learned—since magic was forbidden outside school—every professor had assigned a hefty amount of homework.
The Christmas break lasted only a week, and Leonard figured it would take at least three or four days just to finish it all.
He wasn't worried. To him, the assignments were simple enough—just busywork that didn't require much effort. But for most students, it was a nightmare.
It meant they'd be spending most of their holidays buried in homework.
"Don't remind me of such a cruel thing!" Ernie groaned, clutching his head. "Just thinking about all that homework waiting for me makes me feel like I'm dying."
"If I don't remind you, you'll have an even worse time when term starts," Leonard said. He closed his book as a knock came at the door, then went over to open it.
A gray owl swooped in, clutching a letter in its talons.
It was Leonard's owl, Gray. Since the Hufflepuff common room and dormitory were underground, owls delivering letters had to enter through the common room's main door.
Leonard took the letter from Gray and stroked the owl from head to tail until it ruffled its feathers contentedly. Then he placed it in its nearby cage.
As Ernie and Justin chatted in the background, Leonard opened the envelope and began to read the letter.
"So it's just detention? That's not such a big deal," Ernie said, looking completely fearless.
"The worst part isn't detention itself—it's having to make up all the homework too. Just think about it. When term starts again, we'll have to finish the holiday assignments, serve detention, and still do our daily homework. That's a total nightmare," Justin said with a look of dread.
"Stop it, you're scaring me already," Ernie groaned, covering his face. "I'll finish all my holiday homework, I swear."
"Then you'll be fine. But why can't we use magic outside school anyway? I feel like I'll forget everything if I don't practice," Justin said, frowning. "You get a warning if you use magic, and if you do it again, they might even confiscate your wand. That's way too harsh."
"If you really want to practice, go to Diagon Alley. You can use magic there without getting warned," Ernie said. "The reason we can't use magic off school grounds is to keep Muggles from finding out. It's part of the Muggle Protection Act."
"Oh, that makes sense. If a regular person saw me using magic, they'd probably think they were going crazy," Justin said, suddenly understanding. He glanced at Leonard, who was still reading his letter, and asked, puzzled, "Leonard, what's up? Why are you smiling so weirdly?"
"Smiling?" Leonard quickly composed himself and looked up. "Oh, it's just a letter from my family. They wrote about some funny things that happened while I was away."
Justin nodded, not pressing further.
Ernie and Justin soon finished packing. Since it wasn't a long break, they hadn't brought much luggage anyway. They wouldn't be carrying it themselves—it would be sent directly to the train by a House-elf later.
"We're off, then," Justin said as he and Ernie waved goodbye.
"See you after Christmas. Merry Christmas in advance," Leonard said.
"Merry Christmas to you too," they replied in unison before leaving the dormitory.
The room fell quiet again. Leonard lay back on his bed and looked at the letter once more.
It wasn't from his grandfather, Londo—it was from Midgard. And it wasn't filled with lighthearted family stories, but with a list of recently smuggled goods from Knockturn Alley.
Among the various magical plants that had been specially marked, one item stood out above all the rest.
A still-living dragon egg.
The egg came from a smuggler who had been operating in Romania for years. He'd received a special order—someone was looking to acquire a live dragon egg.
What made it even more remarkable was that it was an egg from a Norwegian Ridgeback.
Dragon egg sellers were already rare enough, but a pre-ordered Norwegian Ridgeback egg was something else entirely.
Leonard was sure this was the same egg Quirrell was planning to buy and deliver to Hagrid—the order had to have been his.
Midgard had written to ask whether Leonard wanted the egg. If he did, she would intercept the deal and purchase it herself.
Even though the smuggler had arranged to deliver the egg around Christmas, he was currently in Knockturn Alley. If the werewolf wizard wanted it, the man wouldn't dare object, even if it meant handing it over for free—let alone if Midgard actually paid for it.
Leonard was certain that if Midgard made the request, the smuggler would immediately hand the egg over without a word.
Smugglers didn't care about integrity. Even with prior orders, they always sold to whoever offered more.
That was why Leonard had smiled so strangely. He genuinely hadn't expected that the dragon egg Quirrell planned to use to coax information out of Hagrid had almost been snatched up by the werewolf wizard.
If Midgard hadn't asked him first, Quirrell's plan would've completely fallen apart...