Chapter 42: Christmas Gifts

They didn't mention Harry anymore in the library, but everything that happened spread like wildfire.

Now, almost everyone avoided them.

It was as if they had grown fangs and were dripping with venom to attack people at any moment.

On Monday morning, as Ivan, Harry and Hermione sat together, people whispered and pointed fingers at the three of them.

"That's funny, but I'm sorry Ron didn't see it," Fred said as he walked over.

"Yes, Harry, you terrify everyone and this is what Snape has always wanted," continued George

Ivan, hearing the twins' words, growled, "This isn't funny!"

Ivan was now in a horrible mood, besides having to be suspicious of the others, the low sales of the Hogwarts Magic newspaper were the main reason.

Fred patted Ivan on the shoulder as he said, "Cheer up Ivan, our joke articles are selling poorly too, but there's nothing we can do."

"In these hard times, we need a few laughs," said George.

When they finished breakfast, Fred and George walked up to Harry and shouted, "Make way for the heir to Slytherin, the most evil wizard!"

"This isn't funny," Percy said with an angry look on his face.

"Go away Percy, Harry's on a tight schedule," said Fred.

"Yeah, he has to go to the Chamber of Secrets and have tea with his toothless servants," laughed George.

This was what Fred and George considered a joke and Ginny tried to stop them.

Harry didn't mind, at least, the twins thought it was ridiculous to think he was the heir to Slytherin.

But their antics seemed to have infuriated Draco, every time he saw them doing this, his face got uglier and uglier.

When they went to see Ron in the hospital room, they told him everything that had happened.

Ron, who seemed to be recovering well, said insightfully, "You know how Malfoy hates it when people outdo him on something, he spread the news and now Harry gets all the credit."

"It won't be long before the Multijuice potion is ready, at that point, we'll be able to get the words out of his mouth," Hermione said in a pleasant tone.

Ron, hearing Hermione's words, said, "I wish I could go too, but Madam Pomfrey has insisted that I stay here until the end of Christmas."

Harry said to Ron, "Don't worry, we'll stay with you Ron."

Three days later, the semester was over.

Given what had happened, most of the wizards had decided to go home. The snow outside the castle was mostly untouched.

This, on the other hand, was a relief to Harry, and the thought of being able to wander around Gryffindor castle as he pleased, without being singled out by the others, made him happy. Ivan had also stopped his research, he still couldn't find a spell to reproduce the crowing of a rooster, what was even worse was that Hagrid's roosters were almost dead.

Hagrid said a fox or vampire was attacking his Roosters.

Hermione insisted that it was weird, she didn't know if she had noticed anything yet.

In the morning, when they went to visit Ron, they discussed things related to the Chamber of Secrets. After lunch, Ivan and Harry practiced a duel while Hermione went to the library to read a book.

Except for a few others, Colin, Ginny, Fred and George stayed at school, they were making a snowman outside the castle.

Percy didn't mind the behavior of the students, he often went to the school hospital.

Ron was surprised that he was so concerned about him since he came to the hospital to see him more than anyone else, although Ron had little to tell him.

Percy was a frequent visitor to the school hospital and proudly told others that he was staying for Christmas only because he was an excellent student, and would help the teachers during this turbulent period in addition to seeing Ron to keep him from getting into trouble.

At dinner, Ivan saw Malfoy with his two flunkies, Crabbe and Goyle, but was surprised to see that Justin was staying for the vacations.

Justin looked horrible, he looked even worse after seeing them, he looked like he was still worried that Harry was going to attack him.

Harry wanted to apologize but never succeeded.

When Justin saw Harry approaching, he grabbed a slice of bread from the table and ran off as fast as he could, which spoiled Harry's newly improved mood.

The next morning, Colin woke up Ivan.

"Ivan, thank you for giving me a magic camera, it must have been very expensive," Colin shouted in a surprised tone.

Ivan saw Colin sitting on his bed as he opened his presents, it seems he also had some in front of his bed. His parents sent him a 2001 Nimbus and it looked like they wanted him to participate in some sports.

Colin gave him a picture of everyone together who had helped with the "Hogwarts Magic" newspaper.

Lockhart's gift was also a photograph, a signed photo of Lockhart, which Ivan was going to give to Hermione later. Hagrid gave him a large amount of candy, but it was almost as hard as a rock.

Ron gave him a book called "How to Best Manage a Magical Newspaper," and Harry and Hermione sent him a book titled "Basic Quidditch Rules and The Secret of Dueling: A Detailed List of Spells." It seems that his fondness for books had left a deep impression on their minds.

Fred and George sent him some of their latest joke products, and as the two agreed in Diagon Alley, Ginny gave him a black diary of excellent quality.

Ivan would have preferred a Horcrux sooner.

As expected, Mrs. Weasley gave him a hand-knitted sweater with a card, thanking him for helping Ron. They had found out what had happened from Dumbledore, and if Ivan had been killed by Ron, the consequences would have been disastrous.

When Ivan finally finished opening the pile of presents, Harry and Hermione had already arrived in the common room before the Multijuice Potion was ready.

The three of them went to the school hospital to find Ron and go over their plan.

After making sure there were no flaws, they decided to act that night, and get a clear answer from Malfoy.