Throughout various regions of Europe, witch hunts had once raged on with great fervor. Though the Church's stance during the mid-period remained somewhat ambiguous—covertly using it as a means to deflect blame for the Black Death—in both earlier and later periods, many high-ranking church officials openly questioned the legitimacy of the movement.
Under such circumstances, the idea of witches celebrating Christmas wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
But the idea of Victor celebrating Christmas? That was completely beyond reason.
From any perspective, he was undoubtedly the foremost heretic on the Church's most-wanted list. Just the mere thought of him partaking in Christmas festivities was enough to make certain members of the clergy feel as though they were sitting on pins and needles, their hearts wrenched with anguish.
Yet Victor couldn't care less.
Why not celebrate, if there was a holiday?
If it meant a break from work and a feast to enjoy, then it was certainly a holiday worth celebrating.
With this mindset, he cheerfully set about preparing a Christmas banquet. He even submitted a request to Dumbledore, inviting him to Granny Baba Yaga's cottage for the evening feast. However, Dumbledore declined, stating only that he would send Hagrid in his stead.
All things considered, Victor still received a degree of trust from Dumbledore.
Unfortunately, such trust wasn't necessarily placed in the right person.
Since it was a banquet hosted in a household of traditional witches and wizards, the menu for Victor's Christmas dinner was naturally anything but ordinary.
With this in mind, he retrieved a parchment he had prepared alongside Granny Baba Yaga, listing the planned dishes for the evening. The four-inch-long parchment was densely filled with ten dishes, the first of which was—
[Poisoned Apple Christmas Chocolate Mousse]
A mousse featuring a filling made from magically concocted toxic green apples, combined with a detoxifying potion shaped into chocolate, and molded into the shape of a Christmas tree. When bitten into, the poison and antidote activate simultaneously, allowing the diner to experience the sensation of being reborn.
Note: The detoxifying potion must be of a potent grade; otherwise, the diner may suffer side effects such as suspended animation, poisoning, or, in extreme cases, death.
Yes, this was a brand-new creation, blending his past knowledge with newly acquired potion-making theories. Victor was convinced it would taste exquisite.
...
A few minutes later.
Knock, knock.
The door to the Divination classroom was rapped upon.
"Come in."
At the sound of Victor's voice, the trapdoor leading into the classroom was pushed open from below, revealing Harry's head peeking inside.
He exerted some effort to fully push open the door and climbed up into the room.
"Good morning, Professor," he greeted Victor, looking quite pleased. "I asked Ron to come along too, but he had to stop by the Owlery first to send off some gifts, so he'll be here a bit later."
"That's fine," Victor nodded.
Today, he was dressed in deep green wizarding robes, and on his head sat a pointed ceremonial hat adorned with a rainbow-striped candy cane, exuding an undeniable festive spirit. In this attire, even his usually eerie countenance appeared somewhat more amiable.
As Harry approached, Victor handed him a candy cane—one he had acquired earlier from the house-elves.
"Thanks."
Harry accepted the treat with curiosity, experiencing for the first time what felt like a real holiday atmosphere.
Yes, staying at Hogwarts for Christmas wasn't solely because he had no other choice; it was also because he had no desire to return to Privet Drive. He could already picture the shallow festivities there: Aunt Marge and the other Dursley relatives would visit, lavish insincere praise upon Dudley—claiming he had "slimmed down"—and then gorge themselves on three entire roasted chickens.
Meanwhile, he would be relegated to the background, as always.
Staying at Hogwarts guaranteed a far better Christmas than that.
At this moment, Harry was more convinced than ever of his decision.
And the thought of spending Christmas at Granny Baba Yaga's cottage filled his mind with warm memories—delicious beef stew with potatoes, a cozy little bed, and all manner of peculiar yet fascinating furniture. Even the memory of being forced to wander in the mist outside the cottage for an entire day suddenly seemed endearing.
As he tossed the candy into his mouth, he asked through a mouthful, "So, Pro—fessor—where are we doing the prep work for the feast?"
"I've already gathered the necessary ingredients from Professor Sprout, and Hagrid will be bringing up the medicinal herbs shortly. You'll be helping me prepare a few things here before we head to my place," Victor explained matter-of-factly.
"The main preparation involves handling some rather unique herbs—ones you haven't seen before—but it's a simple task. As long as you're a wizard, you'll be able to manage it."
"We'll be using Floo Powder to travel."
"Floo Powder?" Harry, unfamiliar with magical households, asked curiously.
"It's a transportation network connected through fireplaces. My house wasn't originally linked to the Floo Network, but after some tinkering with Professor Dumbledore, we finally got it connected. So this time, we won't have to go through the hassle of using mirrors—just a sprinkle of Floo Powder will do."
Victor's explanation left Harry nodding in partial understanding. Then, with eager anticipation, he asked, "So, Professor, which dishes are we preparing?"
Victor retrieved his parchment once more, scanning the list for the marked dishes.
"Let's see… Ah, just the Poisoned Apple Christmas Chocolate Mousse and Misty Flobberworm Stew. The Phoenix Flame Caramel Pudding—I'll handle that myself."
Upon hearing the dish names, Harry initially thought he had misheard. He waited for Victor to correct himself, but after several long seconds of silence, he realized no such correction was coming.
A massive question mark appeared in his mind.
"?"
Poisoned apples and Flobberworms??
Are these even edible?! What??
Flobberworms were poisonous! And poisoned apples—well, the name alone spoke for itself!
He had come here filled with warm memories of Granny Baba Yaga's cottage, envisioning a hearty meal of beef stew and potatoes. But now, his beautiful daydream had been shattered—leaving behind only grim recollections of cauldrons bubbling ominously in Potions class.
Meanwhile, Ron—who had just climbed into the room—along with his brother, who had tagged along, had also heard the dish names. They too found themselves mentally echoing Harry's reaction:
"?"
...
"...No need to worry," Victor finally reassured them. "Some of the more experimental dishes won't be on your menu."
His words allowed Harry and the others to breathe a collective sigh of relief, feeling as though they had narrowly escaped disaster. And indeed, Victor had never intended for them to eat those dishes.
After all, he had no desire to accidentally poison one of them to death.
In reality, even the poisoned apple mousse had undergone rigorous modification—the poison had been converted into a mildly spicy sleeping potion. Though, in Victor's opinion, this somewhat dulled the flavor, at least it ensured none of his students would end up in St. Mungo's Hospital.
"...However, the Flobberworm dish is staying on the menu. Speaking of which—Fred and George, why aren't you two starting on the ingredient prep? Harry and Ron are here as my invited guests, but you two are only here because you're serving detention."