Hogwarts becomes host

Dean's attack made the students even more panicked. Fortunately, the Christmas vacation started in a few weeks, and everyone rushed to board the Hogwarts Express as if they were fleeing, as if there was a basilisk chasing them again.

There are only Harry, Hermione, Elaine, Ron and Daphne left in the school. Everyone else has gone home. Even if there are students in special circumstances, such as orphans or the absence of their elders, Elaine also uses Shafi The Ke family's gold helped them rent a hotel, anyway, just to let all the students leave.

Hogwarts has more than 20 professors, but only half of them can be used as combatants. Therefore, Dumbledore also gave those professors who were not good at fighting or did not want to fight the basilisk a long vacation, and voluntarily stayed behind to fight. Including the Aurors who provided emergency support, there were only fifteen people.

Harry was not worried though, as Dumbledore was still at the school.

Since the true identity of the monster has been determined to be a basilisk, Dumbledore contacted the famous master of magical animals, Newt Scamander, to get a detailed information on the basilisk and send it to everyone, so that the Aurors and professors were confident It's so full that even Ron said that after reading this information, even he felt that the basilisk was scary only with its eyes.

After the holidays started, Daphne moved to Gryffindor Tower. According to the Portrait of the Fat Lady, she may be the first Slytherin student to enter Gryffindor Tower in the past two hundred years, although she was a special case. It was too dangerous to stay alone in the Slytherin dormitory underground.

Also staying in the girls' dormitory was another new Auror, Nymphadora Tonks.

Contrary to Kingsley's reticence, she is simply a smiling fruit who can walk. Not long after she graduated, she quickly became close to Harry and the others; she is also a Metamorphmagus and is born with the ability to change. , almost every day, Harry and Ron would be amused by this ability several times.

Thanks to Tonks, although Harry and others could not leave Gryffindor Tower, they still regained some of the happy atmosphere of the holiday, and the rooster crows that were played on loop were no longer so harsh. Harry almost forgot about the inside of the castle. There is also a basilisk hiding in the shadows.

However, Elaine and Kingsley never let down their guard. Kingsley always sat silently in the darkest corner, his wand never leaving his hand, always ready to fight; Elaine always looked absent-minded, not knowing After Tonks explained what he was thinking, Harry realized that Elaine was listening to the noise around them. If the basilisk approached, she would immediately sound the alarm.

Even though the attitudes of Elaine and Kingsley, as well as the continuous rooster crow, reminded them that the basilisk was still alive, Harry and Ron still wanted to go out for a walk - why should they stay in the dormitory all the time when they have a good vacation?

Almost moldy

Of course, they also knew the seriousness of this matter and did not sneak out without permission. Instead, they looked forward to the good news from the house elves who delivered three meals a day.

Finally, on the day before Christmas, Professor McGonagall came to tell them that they could leave Gryffindor Tower.

"Did you find the basilisk" Harry asked happily, "killed it"

"Unfortunately, no." Professor McGonagall shook her head and said, "But we found its snake skin in the Forbidden Forest. Dumbledore guessed that the Basilisk might have been moved into the forest by the descendants of Slytherin. We I can't find any trace of it, but it can't escape far."

"Tomorrow, the Aurors will seal off the Forbidden Forest, and Dumbledore will hunt down the basilisk in the Forbidden Forest with Scamander, Hagrid, and the troops. Dumbledore asked me to come over and tell you that you can A day of free play in the castle." She sighed, "I think this is a bit bold, but Dumbledore said, after all, it is Christmas, and the basilisk is in the Forbidden Forest, and there is Auror protection, so you can relax. It’s not a bad thing at all.”

"Okay" Ron clenched his fists excitedly.

"Of course, in order to protect you, there are still restrictions on movement." Professor McGonagall said sternly, "You must act as a group, bring your wand, and return to Gryffindor Tower after dark. You are not allowed to leave the castle or Out of sight of Kingsley and Tonks"

"Of course, Professor, we know."

"That's best." Professor McGonagall snorted.

After she left, Harry and Ron began to discuss with great interest where to go, and Hermione and Daphne did not resist going for a walk outside. In the end, everyone decided to listen to Elaine and go to the library.

Don't get me wrong, it's not to read a book, but to relax by riding a broomstick near the library. It is the largest open area in the castle and is more suitable for flying than the central courtyard surrounded by buildings, because they cannot leave the castle to go to Quidditch. Stadium, then you can only fly over the library.

Of course, it would also be convenient for Hermione to borrow books nearby, and Elaine herself wanted to check some information in the library.

In the end, they reached a consensus - they were divided into a sky group and a ground group. Tonks took the girls who didn't want to ride a broom for a walk on the ground, and Kingsley rode a broom to blow the wind in the air with Harry and Ron. When they got tired of riding, They can also come down and have a snowball fight, make a snowman, or set off some magic fireworks.

The children were very happy to be able to go out and breathe the fresh air after a long time, and since it was Christmas again, they were so excited that they didn't fall asleep until very late.

The next morning, as soon as Harry opened his eyes, he immediately picked up Ron, who was still sleeping in, and started opening gifts. He couldn't wait to ride his Nimbus 2001, even if it was given to him by Sirius and Lupine. The gifts, the all-purpose knife that was said to be able to open all locks, only diverted his attention, and he only briefly glanced at most of the gifts.

It wasn't until Ron asked with confusion that Harry discovered that Elaine's gift had disappeared.

"Yes, I didn't send it to you. Hermione and Daphne also asked, please don't step on my toes again." Elaine told them while eating breakfast. "I'm prepared, but it's just not the right time to send that thing--ouch."

"Why can't you give it now?" Daphne asked with a smile on her face. The fork she held happened to poke Elaine's arm. "I doubt you will make up for it with gold like last year."

"I want gold more than gifts," Ron muttered.

"Except for Ron's gift, which is also Galleons, everyone else is not. Really, I swear on the name of the Shafiq family." Elaine replied angrily, "It's not the same if you send it earlier or later. I will definitely not miss your share──"

"It's like we're forcing you to return the favor." Hermione moved her body so that she could step on Elaine's foot harder. "What matters is your mind. If you just get something casually──"

"No, believe me, I have been preparing this gift for a long time." Elaine sighed, "I have been planning it since last year. Today is the summer vacation, plus the past three months, I have put a lot of thought into it."

Yes, after all the hard work and racking of brains, the day has finally come.