On the day before Christmas, the light, almost unreal, fell on the snow that had formed the sea the night before, and the delicate and brilliant gold glowed on the distant horizon.
Aurora got up, said the usual good morning to Salazar, and went downstairs to help Molly make breakfast for everyone and learn how to make a homemade candy. She looked at the creme fraiche bonbons that had been slowly forming under Molly's guidance and instantly decided on a Christmas present for Professor Dumbledore.
When they had finished, Molly took a small bucket of grey-green powder from the bottom of the cupboard and called to the children. "Come on, children, grab a handful of Floo powder, we'll be in Diagon Alley in no time. You go first, Bill, and wait for Aurora and Volquez by the fireplace."
Then, patting Aurora on the head, she said consolingly, "Don't worry, honey, you won't get lost. Floo powder is very fast."
Fast indeed, it turns out, and full of uncontrollable randomness.
Aurora had no idea how Floo powder worked, at least not when she was being held up and spun and dropped by a tremendous force.
Next thing you know, she fell out of one of the fireplaces, like on her face. A familiar herbal aroma crept into his nose, smelling like rosemary and lavender.
Fortunately, he wasn't really so humiliated that he threw up, he was just so dizzy, or everything around him was under a jumping charm and wouldn't sit still for a moment, jumping around in front of his eyes.
Aurora, convinced that she must have missed the fireplace where Bill and Vox were, was relieved to find that she had no soot on her body as she had expected. The owner of the fireplace, she guessed, was rather clean.
Then a laughing voice, grainy and smoky, said, "Oh, little one, get up. First time using Floo powder? Feeling all right, huh? Is that all right?"
Aurora looked up and saw an old woman in a felt-wool hat and a gray scarf coming toward her. She rubbed her hand full of herb juice onto her apron and reached out to help Aurora to her feet.
Aurora shook her head, letting the distortions and blurriness in her vision stabilize. The double shadows parted, and clarity returned to her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I seem to be in the wrong place. Could you tell me where I am?"
"This is one of the shops in Diagon Alley connected to the Floo Network, the Herbarium." The old woman replied, pointing behind her to the pile of magic plants she had not yet disposed of. Spell-bound scissors and cutters worked merrily, picking off the dead parts of the plants one by one and cutting them off.
Aurora blinked. The name Diagon Alley relieved her. At least she didn't have to travel the world looking for the Walkers. She pressed her lips at the thought. "Not really. I was going to come here anyway." "And what do you need?" "Asked the shopkeeper, smiling.
"Chamomile." Aurora said unconsciously. The other side clearly nodded, "to calm the mind."
"Yes."
"Potion or tea?"
"I'll take it straight back."
"Wait for me, then."
With that, the shopkeeper turned to fetch his rough-prepared chamomile and other magical herbs, while Aurora was drawn to the lush, dewy freesias stacked in lead buckets near the wooden cabinet. When the petals stretch to the edge, the tender color becomes more and more dim and clear, and the fragrance of the flower is rich.
Just then the Dean of Slytherin, who had been out on holiday shopping for potions, entered the shop and caught sight of the little girl crouching in front of the bucket of tender, brilliant freesias.
She was really petite, and as she squatted on the ground, the long scarf around her neck reached almost to her feet. Her long, unadorned hair, which fell in a slight disarray over her shoulders, bore a striking resemblance in color to the heap of blooming flowers before her.
Snape twitched the corners of his mouth. "Miss Field. What a surprise."
A voice, too sweet and too impersonal, slid into my ears as smooth as a cold river flowing through a forest on a winter night, covered with frost. Lola shuddered slightly with an inexplicable chill, then turned to look at her with a gentle smile. "Hello, Professor Snape."
"I heard you were at the Weasleys' for Christmas."
"Yes, they... Uh." Aurora's eyes fluttered, she touched the tip of her nose a little awkwardly, and then she continued calmly, "Somewhere else, busy with Christmas presents."
Snape raised his eyebrows, pulled a cold smile out of his mouth, and said, "So you've come to the Herbshop alone to remedy your poor sense of direction?"
Aurora, hardened by the venom of the snake Zusalazar, still smiled sweetly and nodded her head as Snape said, "Yes, better to struggle than not to struggle at all. But I also wanted to kill two birds with one stone by coming here to do some shopping."
Snape listened and squeezed the smile on his lips that had nothing to do with the word friendly and warm. The soft attitude of the other person gave him a subtle feeling, because no matter what the other person said she was saying yes, it doesn't matter.
Kids her age and her age are almost as noisy and obnoxious as a bunch of trolls that have just been let out of their cages. She looked, to tell you the truth, like a child of twelve.
"Is that Professor Snape?" The shopkeeper neatly packed up the herbs in his hands, closed the drawer, and approached the two men. "I received your letter two days ago, and the things you asked for are ready. Just a moment, please."
With that, she quickly took another package of herbs out of the cupboard, handed them over to their owners, and collected the money. Aurora cradled the herbs in her arms to identify them, and as she looked up, her eyes inadvertently brushed Snape's hand as he handed out the money -- the cuff cuff of the white shirt under the black coat had fallen off, leaving only a thread on it.
"Your..." She just said one word, and then quickly swallowed the rest in full view. The blob of chamomile and other green leaves unfurled from a corner of the parchment, and the girl's gentle smile spread behind the bright yellow flowers: "Merry Christmas in advance, Professor. I'll go and find my friends first."
With that she opened the door of the shop briskly and disappeared into the crowd and the fluttering snow.
Snape looked away.
Walking past a wizard's gift shop in the middle of Diagon Alley, Aurora spotted Bill and Volquez looking anxiously in the doorway.
She waved at them happily. "Hey! Volquez, Bill, I'm here!"
Vox, looking relieved at last, pushed his way through the crowd to Aurora and surveyed her with a slightly confused look. "Where have you been? Arthur said you could be taken to any part of England. It scared me to death. I didn't know where to look."
"It's all right. I'm good at losing people. I can always find them." Aurora patted her partner on the shoulder with a reassuring hand of cold snow. "Where are Molly and them, by the way?"
"They're all looking for you, and they've only just arrived." "Said Bill, looking up at what Aurora was holding." You went to the herbarium?"
Aurora scratched the snow from her bangs, shrugged, and said with some resignation, "Or rather Floo powder took me to the herbshop. Luckily the fireplace in the shop was clean. I'm all right now. Go and find Molly and them. '
Bill reached over and explained, "No, they don't know where to find you now. We made an appointment for you to meet in front of this gift shop in half an hour, find it or not, and it's almost time."
"Er, I'm so sorry."
"You're all right. The first time Charlie used Floo powder, he went straight to a place in Edinburgh and the whole family looked for him all day before we found it."
"That sounds pretty sad..." Volquez looked at his friend in amazement.
"Pretty miserable." Bill laughed mockingly. "He was so scared he cried, he couldn't even speak when he came back."
The three children waited outside the gift shop, chatting for a while, until they found the anxious Mr. And Mrs. Weasley. As soon as Molly saw Aurora, the heavy expression on her face lightened and she hugged her tightly. "Dear, Bill says everyone was scared to death when you weren't there. Are you all right? Where have you been taken?"
"Herbarium in Diagon Alley." Aurora replied, "I'm fine, Molly. Sorry to worry you."
"Just be fine. We're just going to the store to pick out presents. Come and have a look."
Then George and Fred sandwiched Charlie, left and right, with the same teasing expressions on their identical faces, and said, "Oh, poor Aurora's back, and our little Charlie doesn't have to worry anymore. Happy ending!"
Charlie almost jumped up in anger and tried to grab their ears with one hand, but the twins deftly dodged and giggled their way into the shop.
'What's the matter? Aurora looked at Vox in bewilderment. Before he could answer, Bill cocked his head at Aurora with one eye closed and his smile remained the same. "Charlie had a bigger reaction than Volquez when you disappeared."
"Huh? Aurora froze for a moment, unable to bend to his words. Volquez rolled his eyes and ignored his roommate. Bill laughed and rubbed Aurora's head. "Go inside."
It's the biggest gift shop in Diagon Alley. Gift styles range from traditional and formal to spooky. The store's layout is also unique, with an extensive palette of pitch-black wood frames and clear glass adorned with the latest Weird Sisters posters and decorative vinyl records.
The store was divided into three floors. Aurora and Volquez went to the first floor, while Molly and her friends went to the second.
Aurora shopped around for a while and finally bought a pair of black cufflinks and a few other gifts. The style of cufflink is very simple. The whole body is dark, and the edge is wrapped by a thin golden metal. It is so pure that it cannot make a ripple and impurities.
Almost as soon as she saw the cufflinks, she thought of those eyes that had appeared in her dreams so many times when she first came to this strange world. It was also dark, like Snape's eyes.
Aurora's cold sweat broke out at the thought. Then she comforted herself not to think too much, for it had been so long since she had had that dream that it was possible to be wrong. With that in mind, she paid and put the cufflinks in the chamomile bouquet.
Back at the Weasleys', Molly put all the ingredients into the kitchen, George and Fred pestered Walkers to show them how to control the cyborg dog, and Aurora put all the herbs and presents she had bought on the table before going downstairs to help Molly prepare dinner.
When she was done, she returned to her room and began to follow Salazar's step-by-step instructions, purifying and transferring the medicinal properties of the herbs by magic to the cufflinks. She tried so many times, but with so little success, she gave up, dried the herbs, chopped them up and packaged them into teabags that could be made into tea, along with a pair of cufflinks.
"It's not too bad, it's a complicated spell to begin with." "Said the snake master.
Aurora was shocked to see the beautiful writing in the diary.
Is Salazar still a man? !
Her eyes suddenly got hot and she had an impulse to cry for joy.
Then the snake ancestor continued, "Better than I thought."
"..." Aurora's affection began to fade.
"I thought it would take you half a day just to make it work."
The font continues to spread, further diminishing Aurora's impact.
"And I was going to ask you how many you bought for backup, but you didn't use this charm to blow them up."
"..." Aurora's touch is so completely goodbye.
The venomous snake on the parchment is so leisurely that it hurts your stomach. Salazar looked at the little girl sitting on the floor, her wand arm beginning to shake a little, with his eyes half-closed as bright as gold, and spit out the letter. "Don't be discouraged. You can be saved."
"... I think I understand why you've been so boring for over a thousand years."
Salazar waited, squinting, for her to go on.
"How long has it been since the last person you talked to died of rage?" Aurora swears the question is purely academic.
"..." Mr. Salazar paused for a moment and replied, "You are better than them."
"Thank you for acknowledging my resilience."
"Fools are blessed, as they should be."
"..."
Aurora once again regrets why she chose the road that leads to Knockturn Alley in the forest, and her life is dark from now on.
You're not gonna get a girlfriend like that, Salazar!
And certainly no boyfriend!