Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 55 Christmas is approaching
Christmas was just around the corner. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts School awoke to find itself covered in several feet of snow and the lake frozen solid.

George Weasley and Fred Weasley were punished for casting a spell on several snowballs, causing them to chase Quirrell around and hit him behind his turban.

This scene was captured by Tiera's magic camera.

From the end of October to now, almost two months before Christmas, through embezzling Harry and the Quidditch team's medicine-making funds, Tyella finally managed to save up enough money to buy a magic camera in addition to the medicine she needed.

In the past two months, in addition to her gradually filling wallet, Tiera's knowledge of potions, alchemy and transmutation has also made great progress.

Once Christmas arrives and the final exams for this semester are over, Tiera can try brewing Hydra potions.

With winter officially upon us, Tierra spends most of her time indoors... or more precisely, mostly in her warm bedroom.

Only when both heavy snowfall and the Weasley twins are present outdoors will Tyella, bundled up like a thick bun, step outside.

Then this memorable moment was captured on camera.

With final exams over and Christmas approaching, only Tierra is still able to concentrate on her studies.

Even though Hermione has been a little absent-minded these past few days, she, like everyone else, is looking forward to the holiday.

Although the Gryffindor common room and Great Hall were filled with roaring fires, kept warm by a constant spell, the drafty corridors were bitterly cold, and the classroom windows rattled in the biting wind.

“I really feel sorry for those people,” Draco Malfoy said during his last exam, Potions. “They have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because their families don’t want them.”

He was looking at Harry as he spoke.

Crabbe and Gore chuckled to themselves.

Harry was weighing out the powdered lionfish spine and ignored them.

Tierra had already finished her exam and left early.

Otherwise, Malfoy wouldn't have such a foul mouth.

As the gamekeeper, Hagrid was naturally in charge of decorating the Great Hall for Christmas. Harry and Ron happened to run into Hagrid dragging a fir tree to the Great Hall after their exams.

So the three of them went to the auditorium, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy decorating for Christmas.

Hermione and Tyrell, who had finished their exams early, were also there. The two of them, unusually, were not reading books, but playing wizard chess.

“You guys played terribly,” Ron said after walking over and taking a look. “Tiera, you should…”

"Hey, shut up, kid!" said the knight piece standing on the chessboard, looking up.

Ron shrugged, pulled Harry to sit next to Tyella and Hermione, and quietly watched them play chess.

Ever since Harry, Ron, and Hermione learned the name Nicolas Flamel from Hagrid, they have been searching for Flamel's name in the books.

The problem is that they have little idea where to begin, and they don't know what outstanding achievements Lemaître has that could be written into the book.

He is not listed in "The Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century" or "Directory of Famous Contemporary Magicians." Furthermore, his name cannot be found in "Major Discoveries in Modern Magic" or "Studies on the Development of Modern Wizardry."

And of course, the sheer size of the library’s collection is daunting, with thousands of books, thousands of bookshelves, and hundreds of narrow aisles.

Tierra also followed behind the trio, pretending to search as well.

Unlike Hermione, Tyra read fewer but more selective books. In her first semester, besides textbooks, Tyra only read "The Principles of Potions," "An Introduction to Alchemy," "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," "The Principles of Modern Magic," "A Brief Introduction to Transfiguration," and "The Detailed Explanation of Potions," which Snape recommended to her.

While this amount of reading is considered substantial by other young wizards, it pales in comparison to the more than fifty books Hermione reads in a semester.

Therefore, Tierra, while not necessarily able to recite every book he had read by heart, had an absolutely vivid memory of every single point of knowledge within them.

Tyella remembered that Hermione had borrowed a book called "A Short History of Alchemy" to spite him. Although Tyella hadn't read it, he was certain that it mentioned Nicolas Flamel. In any book even remotely related to alchemy, two figures were always indispensable: Merlin and Nicolas Flamel.

The only two alchemists in the world to have successfully crafted the Philosopher's Stone.

This illustrates the disadvantages of reading broadly but superficially.

However, Tyrell did not offer Hermione any advice, neither on Nicolas Flamel nor on her studies.

It's good for children of this age to read more books, because children of this age are limited by their age and knowledge, and simply cannot delve deeply into a particular knowledge point.

Therefore, it's better to read more books while you're young, so that when you go to university...

Hmm... Wizards don't seem to have universities...

That way, you'll know which path to take when you graduate.

As for Nicolas Flamel...

Tierra thought it best to keep it a secret for a while, as these three little wizards were too much of a troublemaker.

Furthermore, Tierra is waiting for Harry's Invisibility Cloak. After Christmas, Tierra can openly borrow Harry's Invisibility Cloak to go out and stroll around the campus at night.

Tiera needs a quiet place to brew the Hydra potion.

With the holidays approaching, Hermione, the little witch who was eager to go home, was not in the mood to continue looking for Nicolas Flamel, so she dragged Tyella to play wizard chess.

Tiera was quite happy to have some free time.

After Tyrell and Hermione finished their game, Ron ousted Tyrell and played a few games with Hermione himself.

Unlike Tierra's half-baked chess skills, Ron's wizard chess was unstoppable, winning three consecutive games without any mercy.

Tyella noticed that Hermione's expression had changed. From the second round onwards, Hermione had been biting her lip so hard that by the end of the third round, her lip was raw and chapped.

"I'm not playing anymore, it's pointless," Hermione said, pushing the chessboard away.

At this time, the Christmas Eve dinner was also just beginning.

The entire auditorium was brightly lit and decorated by Professors McGonagall and Frivi.

The walls were covered with cascading ribbons of holly and mistletoe, and twelve towering Christmas trees stood throughout the room, some adorned with glittering icicles and others sparkling with hundreds of candles.

The Christmas dinner was even more lavish than the one at the start of the school year and Halloween combined.

Pan-fried foie gras, smoked salmon, crab cakes, ham and melon rolls, herring salad, tripe soup...

Ron ate to his heart's content, and even Tierra ate a little more.

Even after it was over, Ron returned to the Gryffindor common room still clutching a large chicken leg.

The day after the banquet, Tyrell, Harry, and Ron saw Hermione off on the train.

“While I’m gone, you’ll continue the search, okay?” Hermione said, pulling a list of books from her pocket and handing it directly to Tierra, bypassing Harry and Ron. “If you find anything, send an owl to let me know.”

“You can also ask your parents if they know Lemaître,” Ron said. “It’s safe to ask them.”

“It’s perfectly safe, since they’re both dentists,” Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

Thank you so much, Qinghezi, for the 500 points!
November 11.18th, belated second update.
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(End of this chapter)