When Hagrid dragged the last fir tree into the Great Hall, there was only one day left before the Christmas holidays.
As colorful ribbons and twinkling lights were hung up, the Great Hall was filled with a thick festive atmosphere, and everyone was full of anticipation for the upcoming Christmas break.
Edward sent Adelaide a formal invitation, inviting her to stay at Borgin Manor this Christmas; he had already built a newly decorated luxurious three-story building within the manor. The first floor was a reception hall, the second floor was divided into a large study and a laboratory, and the third floor was a luxurious suite for Adelaide to rest in—for the next six months, this would serve as the temporary headquarters of the New Alliance.
As for Adelaide's Grindelwald Manor, planning for its construction would also begin this Christmas—led by the Borgin family and the Malfoy Family, several British Pure-blood families who had decided to pledge their loyalty to Adelaide intended to pool their funds to build a Grindelwald Manor for her, serving as the headquarters and command base for their New Alliance.
Adelaide was very concerned about the site selection for this manor; she had been gesturing over the map of Britain for more than half a month, finally setting her sights on an uninhabited small island near St George's Channel between Wales and Ireland.
The island's area was about 85 square kilometers and was not far from the shipping lanes. The terrain of the island was higher in the east and lower in the west; on the eastern highland, there was a flat open space of 20 square kilometers, surrounded by cliffs dozens of meters high except for a naturally formed winding mountain path, making it very suitable for building a fortress.
In addition, there was a freshwater lake occupying about a quarter of the island's total area and a small patch of shrubbery; on the southwest side of the island, there was a flat beach. It could be said that the entire island's natural environment was perfect.
After the site was determined, Adelaide told her Great-Granduncle about the plan. Gellert Grindelwald expressed his support and instructed the Acolytes to allocate funds from the treasury to purchase the small island Adelaide had chosen.
At the same time, Dumbledore also learned of the news. After a night of contemplation, he decided to use some of his connections to handle the property rights of that small island for Adelaide.
With many hands making light work, the preliminary preparations for Grindelwald Manor were soon ready, and the development of the island and the construction of the manor would officially begin after this Christmas break.
With the help of the New Alliance, the Acolytes, and the Order of the Phoenix, and with ample project funding, it was expected that the basic facilities of Grindelwald Manor would be completed before the start of Adelaide's second-year summer vacation. This way, she would no longer need to return to Dumbledores Old House in Godrics Hollow.
On the day of the Christmas holidays, Adelaide, Cho Chang, Hermione, Alice, and Pansy stepped onto the Hogwarts Express. Adelaide led everyone into the same luxurious compartment they had come in to take their seats.
Before the train even started, Hermione and Alice engaged in a fierce struggle over the seat next to Adelaide. Adelaide reflexively looked to Cho Chang for help, but Cho Chang ignored her and sat quietly on the sofa opposite Adelaide by the window.
Adelaide sighed; she had almost forgotten that the recent Cho Chang was no longer the same as before.
It all started from the end of the last Quidditch match, when Cho Chang kissed Adelaide's forehead in front of everyone, an act that made the relationship between them somewhat subtle.
From then on, Adelaide found that Cho Chang's attitude toward her had undergone a series of changes.
Every morning when Adelaide started to sleep in, Cho Chang no longer pulled back her covers and dragged her out of the warm bed as she used to; the post-Quidditch Cho Chang would patiently whisper in her ear, providing a gentle wake-up service over and over again.
This gave Adelaide goosebumps every time she tried to sleep in, and within a few days, Cho Chang actually managed to cure Adelaide's bad habit of sleeping in with this change.
And during meals, if Adelaide started to wolf down her food regardless of her image to save time, Cho Chang would no longer frown and lecture her on maintaining ladylike manners; the post-Quidditch Cho Chang would gently take out a handkerchief and lightly wipe the food residue from the corners of Adelaide's mouth, her eyes full of doting.
This successfully cured Adelaide's bad habit of poor table manners; now, no matter how much she was in a hurry, she would try her best to maintain her dining etiquette.
In class, Adelaide would often daze off or get distracted, and Cho Chang no longer gave her an elbow nudge of love to remind her to focus as she used to; the post-Quidditch Cho Chang would silently take Adelaide's book and seriously take double notes.
This successfully cured Adelaide's bad habit of getting distracted in class, because Adelaide really felt bad about always making Cho Chang take double notes.
The most terrifying thing was when Adelaide was too lazy to do laundry and directly used "Scourgify" to deal with dirty clothes, Cho Chang no longer tried to persuade her as before that magic could only remove surface stains and could not eliminate bacteria on the clothes; the post-Quidditch Cho Chang would silently put Adelaide's clothes together with her own and then wash them carefully, making them all emit a fresh fragrance.
This was something Adelaide really couldn't bear—it was too embarrassing to have her intimate clothing washed by her friend!
Seeing that Christmas was approaching, Adelaide decided she couldn't just sit and wait like this; she had to find a time to have a good talk with Cho Chang.
She asked Cho Chang to a quiet place, prepared to have a deep conversation with her—but when Adelaide began to ask about Cho Chang's recent situation, Cho Chang's behavior was very strange.
She was no longer as frank with Adelaide as before, but instead avoided the main points of Adelaide's questions, even being somewhat hesitant.
Not only that, but Cho Chang would also stare at Adelaide with a complex gaze from time to time and then suddenly fall silent, which made Adelaide feel extremely confused and frustrated.
Even though Adelaide tried her best to stay calm, Cho Chang's attitude still made her increasingly annoyed.
Just as she was about to lose her patience, she suddenly realized she might have said something wrong—because Cho Chang's face instantly turned somber, and then she left angrily, leaving Adelaide alone to daze on the spot.
From then on, Cho Chang never took the initiative to say a word to Adelaide again.
Strangely, however, Cho Chang would still silently follow behind Adelaide during normal classes, meals, and Quidditch training, which made Adelaide even more bewildered.
Adelaide really couldn't understand what was wrong with Cho Chang; now she could only pray silently, hoping that Cho Chang was just being temperamental and would be able to figure everything out and return to her former self after the Christmas break.
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