Chapter 226: A Special Christmas Gift from the Weasley Twins
Even if Professor Sprout had decided to live alone now, it didn't mean she had never been in a relationship before. She had simply realized during the course of a relationship that being in love wasn't as meaningful as she thought—at least not as fun as tending to her plants. That's why she decided to be alone, to devote herself to her plants and her students.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Cedric asked, recoiling from Dylan's strange expression. A hint of wariness appeared on his face. "You don't like..."
Dylan gave him a look that could pierce the depths of a soul.
Feeling Dylan's sharp gaze, Cedric very rationally bit back the rest of his words. "Ahem! Anyway, when I go to Hogsmeade Village next time, I plan to take Cho to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. Could you help me decide which seat would be best for us?" Cedric changed the subject. "That's not some kind of unknowable future, is it?"
Dylan raised an eyebrow. The next time Hogwarts students could go to Hogsmeade Village was the weekend before the Christmas holiday, which was less than two weeks away. This was something he could advise Cedric on.
After all, a seat that could foster a relationship wasn't a vague, unanswerable question like the ones Cedric had been asking; this was something practical. Even though Dylan wasn't sure how a seat could affect a relationship.
"Alright, then I'll show you what prophecy is all about." Dylan slowly closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. In truth, his divination skills were already advanced enough that he could get an answer instantly. But he wasn't going to let Cedric know that.
He needed to be a little theatrical to subtly influence Cedric's thoughts and feelings toward him. Dylan didn't want to crudely use Dark Magic to control Cedric; he wanted him to feel genuinely impressed and in awe of him one day.
Dylan extended his hands, his palms gently moving in the air. From Cedric's perspective, it looked as if Dylan was trying to capture the subtle energy in the air. Dylan's fingers trembled slightly, as if he was establishing a connection with some invisible force. Cedric watched him with curiosity.
Then, he saw Dylan pull a small cloth bag from his pocket. It contained what looked like divination tools—a few crystals of different shapes, some smooth bones, and a few coins with symbols etched on them. It certainly looked mysterious. Cedric pursed his lips in silence. He watched as Dylan carefully poured these objects onto the desk in front of him, staring at them intently.
Dylan's lips moved slightly. He was probably muttering some ancient, mysterious spell. Cedric couldn't see what he was muttering, and he couldn't hear him, either. Of course he couldn't hear him; it would have been a ghost if he could. Dylan was just making things up. But as the "spell" was cast, Cedric could clearly see the crystals, bones, and coins on the desk begin to tremble slightly, as if they had a life of their own.
Cedric stared at Dylan, noticing the fine beads of sweat on Dylan's forehead. His eyes became even more profound, giving off the impression that he was using these small objects to transcend reality and see another dimension.
As Dylan's presence became more ethereal, Cedric inexplicably grew tense. He held his breath, his hands clenched slightly at his sides. His gaze shifted from Dylan to the divination tools on the desk, staring intently at them, hoping to see some clue.
Dylan's hands moved quickly in the air, sometimes picking up a crystal to examine the light reflected from it, other times flipping a coin and rubbing it. Dylan's expression was sometimes serious, sometimes relaxed. After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes.
"So?" Cedric asked, holding his breath.
Dylan glanced at him. He was just divining a seat, not something profound. In fact, he had a premonition the moment Cedric asked the question. Everything he had just done was a deliberate performance for Cedric. But why was this guy so nervous? Did he think a seat could decide his happiness for the rest of his life? Dylan pursed his lips, then slowly spoke. "According to my divination, I think you and she should choose the corner seat by the window."
Dylan's voice was soft. "That seat is where the fire elements of the tea shop converge. Fire symbolizes passion and vitality, and I think it will ignite the sparks between you two." He continued, "And the corner represents privacy and intimacy, which will allow you to talk without being disturbed by the outside world. Remember to sit on the left, and let her sit on the right."
Cedric listened to Dylan's nonsense and somehow thought it made perfect sense. Of course, there was some sense to it. However, the seat Dylan had chosen for Cedric was based on things like light and angle. It would allow Cedric to be illuminated by the light from the window, giving him a natural filter in Cho Chang's eyes.
When a person looks more handsome, their feelings for him are bound to grow warmer. What girl doesn't like a handsome guy, especially one who is also gentle, charming, smart, from a good family, and handsome?
Cedric nodded. "I'll remember that."
Dylan waved his hand, sending him on his way.
Time passed quickly. Dylan had been preparing Christmas gifts for the professors and his friends these past few days. Coming up with gift ideas was a real headache. What was even more frustrating was that this happened two, three, or even four or five times a year! In the past two years, Dylan had racked his brains preparing gifts for the professors, Harry, and the others.
This year was almost over. It was already the end of the year, so he didn't want to go to so much trouble again. So, Dylan decided to prepare just a few simple gifts. He didn't want to go to all the trouble of preparing overly elaborate gifts again. He would save those kinds of gifts for everyone's birthdays.
Two days before the students could go to Hogsmeade Village again, the Hogwarts dining hall was already filled with Christmas decorations. The festive atmosphere grew stronger. The pine branches, dusted with silver glitter, snaked around the candle holders. Each candle was wrapped in a red and green ribbon.
In front of Dylan, on his plate, was half a roasted turkey and a Christmas pudding drizzled with warm mulled wine sauce. The whipped cream on top was sprinkled with star-shaped sugar. The sweet scent mixed with the smell of fir trees drifting from a distance, creating a warm, festive atmosphere.
Dylan was scraping the sugar from the edge of the pudding with his spoon when he heard footsteps beside him. He looked up and saw the Weasley twins. He raised an eyebrow.
"Dylan!" George excitedly walked over. Fred followed beside him. Both of their cloaks were speckled with snowflakes, and their collars were pinned with Christmas baubles that sparked and crackled. This was one of their new creations, and it seemed to be a bestseller recently. Many students were quite interested in these little Christmas gadgets. And the Weasley twins' price for these was not high; even some students from less wealthy families could afford them.
As a result, their business at school was doing pretty well. Of course, their actions were naturally looked down upon by some of the rich Slytherins. But what those Slytherin students thought in their hearts, and whether they secretly bought these little gadgets, was anyone's guess after they saw everyone else playing with them.
"What's up?" Dylan asked, looking at the two of them.
Fred deliberately lowered his voice and tapped the table on the edge of Dylan's plate with his finger. "Come to the broom shed behind the kitchens after you're done eating. George and I have a gift for you—a gift that can only be given in person!"
"And it can only be given in person!" George added with a mischievous look.
"Trust me, this is a gift that can only be opened when no one's around," Fred chuckled. "Don't worry, it's a lot more reliable than the smelly sock we gave Percy last year that sang Christmas carols."
"And remember not to use divination to peek ahead! If the surprise is ruined, it won't be any fun at all," George warned.
Without giving Dylan a chance to respond, the two of them skipped away. Then, as they passed every student still sitting at the tables, they would ask in unison, "Want to buy some little Christmas gifts?"
The hems of their cloaks had a lot of pine branches and gold foil bells that jingled as they walked. This was an outfit they had specially created to attract customers' attention. As long as someone was interested in the little gadgets on them, they could easily get an order with their gift of gab.
Dylan watched them go from one person to another. In just a short time, they had already made several transactions. He twitched his lips. "These two, they're not waiting until Christmas to give me a gift, but they're doing it so early, and they want to do it in person..." He looked at their backs as they counted money, a suspicious look on his face.
He thought about using divination. But then he remembered their warning, so Dylan shook his head, deciding not to foresee what the twins would give him. But Dylan guessed that, given their nature, it was most likely some new prank item.
He slowly finished his meal, then clicked his tongue, placed the napkin covered in cream on the table, and stood up. He wrapped his cloak tightly around him and walked toward the place the Weasley twins had mentioned.
"Squeak." The wooden door of the broom shed was pushed open. A blast of cold air mixed with the fresh scent of pine hit him. Dylan looked inside and saw Fred squatting in the corner, tinkering with something. George was leaning on the door frame, keeping a lookout. When he saw Dylan enter, he whistled to Fred. "The main character is here! Bring out the thing!"
Hearing this, Fred quickly turned his head and stood up. Dylan immediately saw that he was holding a roll of parchment wrapped in an old piece of burlap. But on the outside of the burlap, there was also a faded red ribbon tied around it, with a miniature copper bell at the end. As Fred moved, it made a crisp jingling sound.
"Take it. This isn't a prank," Fred said.
"This is..." Dylan's eyes narrowed.
Fred pushed the burlap into Dylan's hand. "It's a very useful thing!"
George nodded. "Fred and I stole this from Filch's office in our first year, from the drawer labeled 'Confiscated, Highly Dangerous'!"
Fred also nodded vigorously. "I remember Filch was looking for who stole it for a few days, so George and I didn't dare to cause any trouble for almost half a month."
"We were afraid of being watched by Filch!" George added.
Dylan was speechless. Based on the two of them's descriptions, Dylan seemed to know what he was holding. The Marauder's Map? You're kidding me. So they weren't planning to give this to Harry; they were giving it to him as a Christmas gift instead? Dylan clicked his tongue, not sure whether he should accept it—even though he was already holding it.
"This thing is amazing. George and I spent a long time figuring out what it was for," George said, flicking the copper bell on the edge of the map with his finger. "This is a little Christmas charm we specially added. The bell will ring softly whenever you get close to a corridor with mistletoe."
Fred shrugged. "It only works on this cloth. You can throw it away if you don't like it. It was George's idea anyway."
George scoffed but didn't say anything. He turned back to Dylan. "If you want to activate this map, you have to say, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.' Then you can see everyone at Hogwarts on this map. It has a detailed layout of the school." He continued, "Fred and I used this map to find a lot of secret passages."
"This guy, George, thought he had already explored all the secret passages in the school and that this map was useless, so he wanted to give it to someone else."
"Don't talk nonsense! I didn't think that at all! I just wanted this map to be in the hands of someone more capable! Who knows, maybe Dylan can find something different about this map?"
"Anyway, to make all the information on the map disappear, remember to say, 'Mischief managed.'" Fred shrugged.
Dylan held the Marauder's Map, wrapped in burlap, in his hands and pursed his lips.
....
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