That afternoon, three days before Christmas, when snow was falling sporadically, was the most pleasant weekend for children. Bill Weasley had made a point of visiting Aurora in the Hufflepuff common room and inviting her and Walkers to his house for Christmas.
He had written to his parents the previous day to tell them he would be taking his two friends with him, and had asked for their permission, while Mr Weasley had taken a keen interest in Walkers' mechanical gadgets.
Bill had invited Beverly, too, but she had to return because of some family business -- Aurora guessed Regulus -- and declined the invitation.
It was two days before Christmas, and after the last herbology exam in the afternoon, Aurora returned to her dorm room and packed her simple things -- a college plain-issued cloth cloak, a yellow and black scarf, Salazar's diary, Bright the black cat, and a tea roll disguised as a headstring.
Bright maintained a dignified and elegant discretion all the way, refusing to come within an inch of Aurora's handmade cloth bag. Even on the way, when Aurora's cloth bag fell from a hook on the wall of the carriage as the train shook violently, revealing a silvery metal corner of the diary, Bright, without thinking, gave a loud scream and leapt, all fried, into Vox's arms, knocking over a box of Bibby Every Flavor beans in Vox's hand.
Bill stretched out his hand to scratch the glazed black cat in Volx's arms, looked at Aurora and quipped, "What have you got in there that could scare Brett like that?"
Slowly peeling the licorice wand, Aurora calmly tucked Salazar's diary back into her scarf and replied, "Maybe it was a little bit of a trauma the last time I put it in this bag and hung it over my bed overnight."
Life always needs a little white lie as a palliative, or Aurora could have imagined that if she had told it like it was, Brett would not have been the only cat with fried hair and a glazed face.
The train rumbled through the ridge of temperate forest, and a cool, damp blue crept out of the contours of the distant mountains, melting and floating everywhere in the mist. In such an environment for a long time, there is a feeling of being soaked in a gentle and long dream. The red of the train body becomes like a fragile and bright ghost in this oppressive and substantial cold hue, and rushes forward through the excessively gloomy and indifferent colors.
By the time we reached the Weasleys' house, it was late afternoon, and the sky was almost collapsing in obscurity.
Mr Weasley had been called on to attend to some last-minute business by the Ministry of Magic and had not been able to meet them at the station. With Mrs. Molly Weasley struggling to cope with the young but energetic twins and other children, Bill, the eldest of the Weasley children, volunteered to guide the tour.
In the wizarding world, you might easily find a family of wizards who believe in pure blood or are pure blood themselves. But the Weasleys were definitely the only family that could be so Muggle-friendly when they were pure blood themselves.
As strange as their notion of how out of place they are compared to other pure-blood wizards, the place they live seems. Aurora felt that the fact that this building existed at all was a great testimony to the magic of magic. Otherwise, this house, which seems to have gone against the common sense of architecture, would not have existed so precariously and securely.
Although Mrs. Weasley was the first person to reply to Bill, the first person to come rushing out was Bill's brother, Charlie Weasley. He had the iconic red bouffant of the Weasleys, wore a dragon nightgown Molly had made for him, and mimicked the climbing movements of the dragon by wagging his large tail at the back, in an exaggerated display of his bionic performance art.
Bill,...
"Welcome home, Bill." Charlie, unaware of the presence of any other person, continued to wallow in his dragon world, his big tail wagging more happily and the toy blocks and photographs on the squat table swaying. "I'll be going to Hogwarts in six months, too, and I'll be one step closer to my dream!"
"Someday I'll have a dragon!" The little boy jumped up on the wicker chair and howled in imitation of a fire-breathing dragon. Percy, who was leaning over the railing upstairs, threw a throw pillow back at him rather unceremoniously, right in the heart.
"We have a visitor." Percy warned Charlie before he blew up.
Charlie looked back and saw his brother with a face of helplessness, and a strange boy with golden brown eyes who was trying to suppress a smile, and a girl whose hair color was clear and beautiful like the morning sun.
Her small face was largely hidden by a yellow and black scarf, and her warm brown eyes were bent into lovely crescents, as if she were smiling silently. A strange-looking magical creature appeared out of nowhere and sat on the girl's shoulder. Her long, pale blond hair fell apart and hung down in a messy way. The black cat in her arms was sticking out its pink tongue curiously to lick the ends.
Sensing the look, Aurora pulled down the scarf that covered her face, scooped up Bright and greeted him. "Hello, Mr. Dragon Weasley, Merry Christmas."
Charlie stared at her, took a few slow steps back, and then stomped up to the second floor as if running for his life, tripping over his big tail at the corner and nearly falling. As he scrambled to steady himself, he continued running upward and soon heard a loud door slam.
Aurora held Brett and looked at Charlie's back as he ran away. "Did I do something?"
"It's all right." With a sly wink, Bill walked over to the table, picked up a date and tossed it to Walkers. He handed Aurora a bowl of fresh cherries, still dripping with water. "He just forgot he was having company."
"Bill, dear." Molly, now at last free from the wailing Ginny and RON, who was fumbling and unsure how to comfort his little sister, hugged her child and kissed him on the forehead. "How's school? Oh, are they the friends you mean?"
"Hello, Mrs. Weasley."
"Two little ones! What are you waiting for? Just put it down. Bill, you show them to their rooms. Dinner will be ready soon."
Aurora's room was on the third floor, next to Vox's, and the balcony was connected, giving a great view. When I stood on the balcony, I could see the fields covered with the vast snow, the scattered houses, and beyond, the forest which had melted into the night.
The dinner, which Molly had prepared herself, was rich, not as elaborate as house-elf cooking, but with a warm, appetite-inducing flavor.
Over the table, Arthur and Vox, who joined in later, continued their discussion of the Muggle world and mechanical facilities. Despite their age, the two men seemed to be father and son, but they talked more like friends.
The Chevalier family's mechanical genius made Vox a master of many things that Arthur did not understand, but were interested in. Bill brought out all the things Vox had given him at the beginning of the school year, and Arthur was delighted to invite Vox to show them all.
This isn't Hogwarts, where the life force created by Muggle ingenuity and ingenuity once again infuses every piece of electronic equipment after losing the influence of school magic.
George and Fred, interested in the remote-controlled mechanical dog, tugged after the puppy, then argued over the order of play rights next time, and both fell in the thick snow.
"Oh dear! Get up, both of you!" Molly, holding Ginny in one arm and the younger RON in the other, shouted at the two children rolling around in the snow, her eyebrows almost raised in anger.
The two children climbed neatly to their feet, patted each other on the snow, grimaced at their mother, and continued to chase the moving, barking dog.
Charlie's interest, more than the others, was clearly in the tea roll.
"I've only read about it in books." Charlie looked warily at the little creature sitting on the girl's shoulders, with its pale blond hair wrapped around it like a quilt. "Did you bring it up?"
"No." Aurora reached out and the tea roll jumped into her palm, the two leaves on top of her head quivering merrily. "I met him in the Forbidden Forest at school, and he's been following me ever since."
"Doesn't he bite you?"
"Oh, no. I think it's because I have a knack for dealing with fantastic animals."
"You read a lot? I mean, like Newt's book."
"Not really, to be honest, at least not as much as you might think." Aurora shook her head, then shook her long, lanky fingers gently around the roll. "I guess I was lucky."
"It's not luck." Bill looked back at Aurora with a smile and said, "Isn't it cool that you have the same talent as Newt? They say if you go with Professor Snape to the Forest, he'll save two-thirds of his time."
"Thank you for helping me find a comforting reason why I keep getting detentions." Aurora smiled back.
Charlie looked stunned, and then, very quickly, the expression on his face changed to one of adoration and expectation. His bright blue eyes twinkled like fireflies. "Can you handle goblins? I mean, they're not mean, they're even a little silly, but they're really unpopular. There are too many in the garden."
Aurora scratched her head and asked honestly, "What is a gnome?"
"..." There was a pause, then he reached out and tugged at La Aurora's sleeve. "Come with me, I'll show you."
While Arthur was still discussing with Walkers how the Muggles were using electricity and computers to make their machines fully automatic, Molly was carrying Ginny along to catch up with George and Fred, who were getting further and further away; Bill and Percy were watching RON; Charlie and Aurora were speeding off into the Weasleys' garden.
Then, Aurora meets the gnome for the first time.
And like Charlie said, they're tiny and very silly. The tea Roll took an interest in the little things, and within moments of jumping into the grass, the goblins were screaming and running in all directions, driven by the energetic bowtwister. Aurora reached out and grabbed three or four gnomes in her hands and watched them curiously.
"They're kind of cute," she concluded. It would have been cuter if it had been a little more fleshy.
Charlie gave her a look of surprise, apparently thinking the opposite. "They can bite." But he soon realized that the gnomes were only struggling and barking in Aurora's hands, and had no intention of biting her.
"That's amazing." He moved closer to the little creatures and then looked at Aurora in wonder. "They usually bite at this time, though it doesn't hurt very much. Looks like Bill was right. You have the same talent as Newt." Then the little boy became excited again, "Have you ever seen a dragon? ! That is the most wonderful creature in the world! It's just that they're not easy to tame. You might be able to."
Aurora shrugged and smiled a little reluctantly. "I haven't seen that. In fact, I've never seen a lot of magical creatures. I grew up in the Muggle world. But if you ask me, don't get your hopes up. I'm not up to Newt's level. If a dragon comes after us, I'll run faster than anyone."
"You must meet the dragon once! You'll fall for them, they're so beautiful!" "Said Charlie, jumping up and patting the snow off his coat and gesturing happily toward Aurora." Don't you want to go all over the world like Newt and see all the amazing creatures? What a legendary life he had! Since you're so much like him, it won't be too difficult for you."
"Why do you like dragons so much?" Aurora asked, intrigued by the glowing enthusiasm, as she stretched out her hand and let the tea roll climb up her arm to her shoulder, crouching in the crevice of her scarf as she watched the little boy dance.
Charlie scratched at his red hair, as if troubled by what to say, and explained awkwardly: "I can't quite say, but I think I like their freedom. You know, they're not easy to get close to and tame, and each breed has its own unique personality and can fly to great distances on its own. As long as you watch them fly, you feel full of hope."
Aurora looked at him carefully for a moment, then gave him a gentle smile. "You will get your wish."
A few flakes of snow began to fall gently, one on the shoulders and the ends of the hair. The temperature drops even lower on winter nights.
"Christmas is only a day away. Mum and Bill are going to Diagon Alley tomorrow to buy presents. Are you and Volquez going? '
A gift.
Aurora suddenly remembered the two-word letter she had received last Christmas, and for no apparent reason Snape's image came to her mind.
He wore nothing but black all the year round, was always sickly pale, and always carried with him a faint, bitter potions smell, like that of some refreshment potion. Aurora had been to Snape's office so many times that he always had a cup of tea and a cup of eerily colored potions at his hand.
But the potion only made the physical fatigue go away, it didn't make it go away, it just covered it up.
This man's lifestyle is absolutely messed up.
"Well, go ahead. I'm just going to check it out and buy some presents." 'she replied.
I mean, the first year's a gift, but the second year's not a good idea, right?
Aurora thought so, and found a very official reason for her behavior.
Back in her room, she rescued Salazar's diary from her pile of clothes and opened it.
After seeing the snake swimming gracefully across the page as usual, Aurora wrote, "It's almost Christmas, Mr. Slytherin. I'd like to ask you a question."
"I don't tell the Santa story, anything else." Salazar replied lazily.
"I'd like to ask if there are any particularly effective ways of calming the mind."
Salazar raised his head and looked at her suspiciously, the tip of his long, thin tail wagging, his large letters breaking out. "Given your potions talent, more than half of them would have been executed. You go to the magic Herbarium, you say chamomile, they know how to make you. In the form of water or potions. But these are used to ease just, children don't think about the east and west all day long, it is easy to get old."
"Thank you for your concern, but is there one that just sits on the table?"
Salazar paused his tail, then looked at Aurora with half-closed snake eyes for a moment and spat out the letter. "I guess I made a mistake. You're giving it away?"
"... I just think it's more convenient." Isn't he a snake? ! When did you become a roundworm? !
"Forget it." Salazar has a friendly look that sends shivers down his spine. "You can do that, but it's a little tricky. You have to bring them back yourself and magically purify them and store them in something."
"Is anything OK?"
"You can send flowers if you want, it's just a question of preservation charms."
"... Forget it." Since the first half of the term, she had developed a dread of sending flowers. Besides, flowers are really not appropriate for a polite Christmas present. I'm going to Diagon Alley tomorrow anyway, so we'll see.
With that in mind, she and Salazar chatted some more, then said the usual goodnight and kissed the tea roll and Brett. The little things climbed into bed together, huddled together for warmth.
Snow is still in Yangsashan underground, long white like a flawless dream.