On the Hogwarts Express, each carriage was relatively empty; compared to the crowded journey at the start of the term, not as many people were going home for the Christmas holiday.
In one carriage, Hermione's face was very conflicted.
She clutched a crumpled piece of parchment, densely covered with notes copied from "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," "magical creatures Compendium," and "Ancient magical creatures Studies."
Cerberus.
Music.
Sleep.
These three words were heavily circled multiple times in red ink on the parchment.
Hermione bit her lower lip, her brows furrowed into a knot.
She had consulted a large number of books on magical creatures during the summer, finding Fluffy's weakness.
But now she didn't know whether to tell Charlie and the others.
She didn't want Charlie and them to break rules and go exploring.
The last night excursion was dangerous enough; if they were caught, they might actually be expelled.
Just then, Charlie boarded the train with his luggage, looking into each carriage to see who was inside.
He wanted to find a carriage with someone he knew or an empty one.
Seeing Hermione, he pushed open the carriage door and walked in.
He scanned the carriage, noticed the conflicted look on Hermione's face, and raised an eyebrow.
"Are you constipated?"
Hermione's face instantly flushed red, and the parchment almost fell from her hand.
"No!"
She hastily stuffed the parchment into her pocket, her voice sharp.
"And now I know why Professor Snape always picks on you."
Charlie casually sat opposite Hermione.
"That's because he's a pervert; it has nothing to do with me. I'm a decent person."
"By the way, did you like my Christmas gift?"
Hermione's anger subsided; she was almost used to Charlie's unreliable demeanor.
The notes were very helpful to her, especially the Transfiguration section, which Charlie had written in more detail than the textbook.
The key points for casting each spell, the angle of wand movement, and even common reasons for errors were clearly marked.
"You must have put a lot of thought into it, right?"
Charlie nodded seriously.
"That's right, a gift I prepared especially for you. I'm glad you like it."
[Detected that His Majesty is speaking nonsense with a straight face, deceiving a young girl, tyrant points +2]
Charlie ignored the system.
Hermione was deeply moved, and at the same time, felt a little guilty.
Charlie's gift involved so much effort, while she had only given him an alarm clock.
Although she thought Charlie indeed needed an alarm clock, otherwise he would always arrive just in time or be late for class.
But in terms of value, an alarm clock was clearly not equivalent to Charlie's notes.
This made her feel too stingy.
Hermione made a decision in her heart, took a deep breath, and began:
"Aren't you always wanting to see what's beneath Fluffy?"
Charlie's attention was instantly captured, and he leaned forward.
"You know how to deal with Fluffy?"
"I flipped through a few books on magical creatures during the holiday."
As she spoke, she pulled out one large tome after another from her luggage.
"This is 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.'"
"This is…"
Watching Hermione list them off like family treasures, Charlie felt his scalp tingle; reading so many books in one summer.
She was practically a superhero.
"I found that Cerberus falls asleep when it hears music."
"Music…"
"Any kind of music?"
"The book says soothing music, like a lullaby."
"Although Cerberus looks fierce, it's actually very easy to hypnotize."
Charlie nodded; this was a great surprise.
Although he already knew the Philosopher's Stone was down there, and he wasn't interested in the Philosopher's Stone, breaking Professor Dumbledore's rules would surely earn him a lot of tyrant points.
He slapped the table, making the teacup jump.
"Hermione, you're amazing!"
Hermione suppressed the upward curve of her lips, lifting her head slightly.
"I knew you guys couldn't handle it. Consider this my Christmas gift."
She paused.
"But Charlie, I don't want you to take risks."
"Professor Dumbledore himself set the rules, not allowing us to go there."
Charlie didn't listen at all; his mind was already planning the night excursion route.
He looked at Hermione, his eyes sparkling.
"Are you coming?"
"No."
Hermione refused without thinking.
Charlie narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Hermione up and down, his gaze full of doubt.
"Really not going?"
He pointed to the parchment in Hermione's hand.
"You've researched it, and you're still not going?"
Hermione felt an inexplicable surge of anger at Charlie's suspicious gaze.
"No! If I go, I'll jump from the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower!"
Charlie's gaze grew even stranger, as if he were watching an old general on a stage, stuck with chess pieces.
The train slowly pulled into the Hogwarts station. Charlie and Hermione got off the train and returned to their respective dorms to change into their uniforms.
As soon as Charlie had changed, he heard the bell from the Great Hall.
"Just in time for dinner."
He quickly walked towards the Great Hall.
Today was the last day of the Christmas holiday, so the dinner was quite lavish.
The long tables were laden with all sorts of delicacies: roasted turkey, honey-glazed ham, cream of mushroom soup, pudding, and various pastries, everything imaginable.
Charlie walked over and sat next to Ernie.
"Charlie, long time no see." Ernie excitedly pulled Charlie.
"How was your holiday?"
"Not bad, spent it with my family." Charlie took a roasted sausage.
"How about you?"
"I went to Germany to visit my aunt, but I found her house quite boring." Ernie said, pulling a stack of parchment from his pocket.
"Thank you for your Christmas gift, Charlie, your notes were very useful to me. Here, your holiday homework."
Charlie took the homework and placed it aside.
Ernie and Hermione had covered all of Charlie's holiday homework; Hermione had already given him her portion on the train.
At the teachers' long table, every Professor was in their seat. Classes would begin tomorrow, marking the end of their holidays.
The four Deans chatted while eating.
"Oh, do you know, this Christmas, a first-year Little Wizard sent me a Christmas gift."
Professor Flitwick showed off to the other Professors.
"What a coincidence, I received one too, it wouldn't be Charlie, would it." Professor McGonagall also smiled knowingly.
"He sent me a large amount of catnip; my cat was high on it all holiday."
In reality, she had also been high on it all holiday, though of course, that couldn't be mentioned.
Professor Flitwick wiped his glasses, moved.
"That child is so considerate, knowing it's inconvenient for me to step on books during class."
"I received one too."
Professor Sprout smiled the most happily; her own student being so thoughtful naturally brought her pride.
The three Professors chatted and laughed.
"This is very unusual." Professor McGonagall remarked.
"First-year Young Wizard are usually afraid of us; few would think of giving gifts to teachers."
Professor Dumbledore listened to their conversation, his blue eyes behind his glasses thoughtful.
The last student to be liked by all the Professors was named Tom Riddle.
He turned to look in Charlie's direction; the black-haired young man was laughing and chatting with his classmates, looking sunny and cheerful.
Years ago, Professor Dumbledore had also been at the teachers' long table, listening to colleagues praise Tom, watching Tom being admired by his classmates.
Oh, this damned sense of déjà vu.
However, Professor Dumbledore wouldn't form any opinions about Charlie because of this; people are different.
He had been able to see the evil in Tom's heart back then, and now he could see the innocence in Charlie's heart—well, although it was a bit strangely pure, he wasn't bad.
This was not some magic to peer into hearts, but merely the wisdom of a centenarian in judging people.
Professor Flitwick then turned to Snape.
"Severus, did you receive a gift from Charlie?"
The air instantly fell silent.
Professor Snape expressionlessly cut the steak on his plate, his black eyes coldly sweeping around.
"No."
His voice was terrifyingly calm.
Professor Flitwick realized he had said the wrong thing, awkwardly closed his mouth, and pretended to concentrate on the food on his plate.
Professor Snape coldly glanced in Charlie's direction.
Charlie happened to look up to drink his soup, keenly sensing someone watching him.
He turned his head and met Professor Snape's black eyes.
Charlie immediately flashed a brilliant smile and even waved at Professor Snape.
Professor Snape's face grew even darker.
"Strange." Charlie whispered.
"Professor Snape's hair is still greasy, why doesn't he use my thirteen-in-one shampoo?"
"Doesn't he like it?"
Professor Dumbledore observed all of this, chuckling to himself. It seemed not all Professors liked Charlie.
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