This week, alongside exams, each Head of House was also compiling the list of students who would be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas.
George, Fred, and Ron all chose to remain at school for the holidays.
Ron, for his part, assumed they were all just worried about facing a furious Mrs. Weasley at home. After all, the twins had ambushed a professor at the start of term, and Ron's infamous flying car stunt had landed Mr. Weasley in hot water with the Ministry of Magic.
What Ron didn't realize was that the twins had another motive: they'd spent a whole term dreaming up research projects, only to have them endlessly postponed by detentions. Now, with three weeks of freedom, they were determined to finally put their plans into action at school.
So, this year, only Ginny and Percy from the Weasley family would be heading home for Christmas.
Especially after Percy received a Christmas invitation for Douglas from Mrs. Weasley on Friday, the trio felt even more grateful for their decision to stay put. After all, no student likes a home visit—except perhaps the model ones.
When Douglas received Mrs. Weasley's invitation, he also got a notice from Mr. Slane—along with a poster.
Yes, another blasted notification.
The poster featured a photograph snapped by the Daily Prophet, with bold text below:
From Home to Hogwarts Professor
Professor Holmes Themed Lecture
Silent Publishing Company · Daily Prophet · Flourish and Blotts
Time: Christmas Eve (December 24th), 11:00 AM
Location: Flourish and Blotts, North Diagon Alley, London
A Decade of Classics, Collector's Reprint...
Let us follow Professor Holmes's footsteps and experience another magical world...
Douglas, 10 AM, December 24th—see you at Flourish and Blotts!
Douglas curled his lip and tossed the poster aside.
Sure enough, the very next day, the Daily Prophet ran the same poster on its front page.
The student body erupted with excitement, swarming Douglas to ask if he could hold a book signing at school as well.
Douglas just chuckled. Was he mad? A book signing at Hogwarts? Just signing all those confiscated books had taken him ages—and he'd even taken the time to write personal messages. Doing it all over again would be the end of him.
Monday morning arrived, and the holiday officially began.
Douglas finally enjoyed a rare, peaceful morning run. Then he locked himself in his office, tinkering with his quill—enchanting it for automatic signing, and loading it with over a hundred personalized messages.
Time flew by, and soon it was December 24th.
Douglas sent Percy a letter in advance, instructing him to meet Mr. Slane at the Silent Publishing Company in Diagon Alley at eight o'clock sharp. He wanted Percy to help set up the event and get some practice interacting with adult wizards in a real-world setting.
At 9:40, Douglas left Hogwarts and made his way to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. He'd already arranged with the owner, Ambrosius Flume, to use their fireplace for Floo travel to Diagon Alley.
When Douglas stepped out into the Leaky Cauldron, Tom greeted him warmly.
"Aha, Professor Holmes! Long time no see. How are you liking life as a Hogwarts professor? Care for a mug of mead to wet your whistle? I hear you've got a lecture coming up! On the house, of course!"
This time, Douglas didn't refuse. Truth be told, he was feeling a bit nervous. He gratefully accepted the oversized mug of mead from Tom and downed it in one go.
"Delicious! Thanks, Tom! And by the way, being a Hogwarts professor is quite the adventure. See you around!"
Arriving at Diagon Alley, the first thing Douglas saw was a three-meter-tall poster floating above the sign for Flourish and Blotts. No matter where you stood in Diagon Alley, you could see it.
He hadn't even made it to the shop before he was surrounded by a crowd.
"Professor Holmes, it's been ages! You signed my book at the Three Broomsticks last time!"
"Professor, hello! I'm Traus's father—how's he doing in school?"
Douglas kept his smile firmly in place, greeting everyone as he squeezed his way toward the bookshop.
Somewhere behind the crowd, Mr. Slane's voice called out:
"Please, everyone, make way! If you don't, Professor Holmes won't make it to the lecture! If you have questions, there'll be a Q&A session later..."
"Madam, now's the perfect time to get your shopping done..."
"I'm Professor Holmes's exclusive editor, Slane—please, let him through..."
Ten minutes later, Douglas was inside Flourish and Blotts, straightening the wrinkles in his robes behind a poster. He glanced over the event schedule in his hand—only to discover that, in addition to the lecture, there'd be a reporter Q&A, a fan Q&A, and finally the book signing.
"Percy, how are you holding up?"
Percy rubbed his shoulder and muttered, "The fans are a bit much! But honestly, Mr. Slane is even more intense—he keeps saying this has to outshine Gilderoy Lockhart's event!"
Both of them glanced over at Mr. Slane, resplendent in emerald-green dress robes as he orchestrated a gaggle of reporters. They couldn't help but curl their lips in unison.
There were certainly plenty of reporters—since the Lockhart debacle, the publishing world hadn't seen an event this grand.
Douglas quickly spotted a familiar face in the crowd: Rita Skeeter. He'd crossed paths with her once before—she hadn't recognized him, but those hideous glasses of hers were unforgettable.
He watched as Rita Skeeter chatted with E. Lemos, the reporter who'd interviewed him last time. Judging by Lemos's expression, the conversation was anything but pleasant.
Without hesitation, Douglas cast Muffliato and summoned Mr. Slane over.
"Slane, I thought you only invited Mr. E. Lemos."
Slane grimaced. "We're working with the Daily Prophet. Originally, only Mr. Lemos was supposed to attend. But their editor said he could send any available reporters—so they added an impromptu press conference. We figured, the more reporters, the livelier the event. Honestly, we can't afford to offend those people."
Douglas took a deep breath. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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