Chapter 158. I'd Rather Fight a Fire-Dragon!
Time flew past, and the Christmas holidays quietly crept to their tail end.
Severus Snape, in scraps of spare time, drew up a convalescence regimen tailored specifically for Kiana.
The treatment worked well, and little by little flesh returned to Kiana's body, a sheen gradually blooming across her skin.
Although her skin still looked like rough bark, it had at least gone from a millennia-old withered tree to a centuries-old towering one.
Duncan attended several of Severus Snape's Potions master classes and learned a fair bit, his brewing advancing by leaps and bounds.
At his current level in Potions, conservatively speaking, he could trounce thirty Harrys, or ten Hermiones.
And under his meticulous care, most of the creatures had recovered to normal.
Only a few whose symptoms were severe, such as the Hungarian Horntail, would still occasionally fall into frenzy.
Newt and Professor Dumbledore and the others rushed back in the last two days of the holidays, and after discussion made a decision.
With the professors working together, they expanded Duncan's case severalfold and left all the not-yet-recovered creatures inside it.
He would take them to the school and continue to tend to them, and when they were fully recovered, they would discuss where to place them.
Duncan raised both hands in support of this decision he had longed for.
But Professor McGonagall was not nearly so pleased.
She kept her lips pressed tight and her face dark as iron all day long.
She seemed to foresee a certain night when the stars would be smothered by heavy cloud, rain would pour, and thunder and lightning would rage.
A Fire-Dragon and a crowd of magical creatures would lose control, burst out of the case together, rampage through the castle, and students would flee in panic crying for help.
However, Dumbledore said he would do his utmost to prevent such a thing from happening and that Professor McGonagall need not worry about it.
Professor McGonagall, though reluctant in her heart, begrudgingly nodded her agreement for Dumbledore's sake.
The dark cloud on Professor McGonagall's face lasted right up to the last day of the Christmas holidays.
Because they had been busy outside throughout the holidays, they had had no time to celebrate.
So Tina proposed that, before they left, everyone set aside all worries and have a truly jolly time.
Dumbledore and the others did not refuse, and they spontaneously bustled about.
Professor McGonagall bustled to and fro all over the house, constantly directing everyone so that the Christmas atmosphere would descend more quickly.
At last, with the professors working in harmony, they turned their residence into something quite different in half a day.
A Christmas tree almost as tall as the ceiling stood in the centre of the sitting room, and whenever anyone passed by it would give a jingle-jingle.
Streamers threaded through with colourful fairy-lights ran all about the room and were finally fixed to the walls, forming pretty patterns.
Moving portraits of reindeer and Father Christmas, dressed in splendid Christmas robes and riding a sleigh, roamed along the walls.
If you called out "Merry Christmas!" to him loudly, Father Christmas would pull a great party-popper from behind his back and aim it at you.
Then—bang!—glittering multi-coloured little stars would fill the air around you for a dozen seconds or so.
Only, their careful decorations were of use just for the hour after they were finished and were not much used at the banquet.
Because once the word that they were holding a Christmas banquet got out, the townsfolk came pouring in, jostling to join.
Dressed in festive finery, they blocked the doorway of the residence and insisted on joining the celebratory supper.
Thus the Christmas banquet's scale instantly swelled dozens of times, and the venue shifted from indoors to the spacious open square.
Night fell slowly. Goose-feather snow drifted down, and the bone-piercing wind whooshed.
But the residents did not mind in the least. They came out of their homes smiling, each carrying delicious dishes.
Along the way they chatted with those who joined up with them, swapping funny little things from the past two days.
A great bonfire was kindled in the centre of the square, the flames shooting to the heavens, visible even from the town's edge.
Crackle-pop sounded now and then, and the exploding sparks fell like dazzling meteors.
"Gran, are we ready? We ought to set off!" Duncan said helplessly, standing before a mirror.
"Almost. Don't fuss!" Tina frowned as she looked Duncan up and down and waved her wand.
The dress robes on Duncan wriggled lightly for a moment, and in the blink of an eye became a black set with cloud-shaped patterns.
"Mm, this set is not bad. It brings out our little Duncan's handsomeness," Tina nodded slightly, sounding somewhat satisfied.
"Right, this one then! Gran, I'm off!"
With that, Duncan scooped up Pro from the table beside him and dashed out of the room in a flurry.
From dusk until now Tina had forced him through a dozen changes of dress robes, and only at this moment had he finally heard a satisfied judgement.
"Slow down! The banquet time hasn't arrived yet!" Tina called, beckoning to the anxious Duncan.
"Got it, Gran!" Duncan replied, but his pace not only failed to slow, it quickened all the more.
Standing in the little courtyard, up on tiptoe against the cold wind, Olivia at last saw Duncan appear and complained,
"Duncan, you're far too slow! You've taken longer than us girls to get ready!"
"Exactly—vain Duncan!" Kiana echoed. After a few days of spending time together, she and Duncan had become friends.
"Heh-heh, a little mishap….." Duncan scratched his head, a touch embarrassed. "Come on, let's get over there!"
"I heard there's a dance tonight!" Olivia said as they walked.
"Seems so. I heard Professor McGonagall mention it," Kiana, in specially tailored dress robes, said delightedly. "They seem to have invited The Weird Sisters. I don't know if it's true!"
"Oh, The Weird Sisters? That does sound brilliant. If they really can come, all the better. I've only ever heard their music on the wireless," Olivia said, eyebrows lifting in pleasure as she hummed a tuneful ditty.
"Duncan, can you dance? I've never danced with anyone before. I'm bound to make a fool of myself!" Kiana said plaintively.
"It's fine. I can't either," Duncan shrugged back. "Compared with dancing, I'd rather fight a Fire-Dragon."
"That's an interesting take. I suspect only you would think like that!" Kiana arched her eyebrows.
"No!" Duncan shook his head mysteriously and said with a grin. "There's also my granddad. He's even worse than I am."
Kiana tilted her head, thought for a moment, then giggled. "Mr Scamander really doesn't seem very good at that sort of thing….."
They chatted happily, crossed two streets, and soon came to the town square.
That spectacular heap of bonfire met their eyes, and Duncan could not help letting out an exclamation.
"Wow!"
Perched on Duncan's shoulder, Pro craned his neck and gazed upwards with all his might. "It really does look huge!"
"Duncan." "Olivia, Kiana!"
A man and a woman called from two directions—Chef Leiden and Olivia's friends greeting them respectively.
"Shall we see each other later?" Duncan suggested.
"All right, no problem!" Olivia took Kiana by the hand and ran towards her friends.
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