Chapter 123. Where Are There Donkeys at Hogwarts?
"Oi, oi, why can't you grasp the point when you listen?
Shouldn't you be worried that Professor Quirrell suddenly fell ill?"
Fred pressed down on Duncan's shoulder.
"Or is it that you already knew?
Duncan, tell us the truth!"
"Did Professor Quirrell's sudden departure have anything to do with you?
How did you manage it?" George's tone held excitement.
"No!
How can you smear an innocent person at random?"
Duncan denied it at once, then narrowed his eyes and looked at the two of them suspiciously.
"Are you two plotting some unspeakably wicked scheme again?"
"Oi, what do you mean, 'wicked scheme'?" Fred said, displeased.
"Don't make it sound so nasty!"
"We only want to borrow your method and see whether we can make Snape take a holiday for a while," George said.
Fred patted Duncan's shoulder with great earnestness.
"Duncan, we're doing this for the benefit of the whole school!"
"You're not going to keep it to yourself and refuse to tell us your clever plan, are you?"
Duncan rolled his eyes at the fanciful pair and hurriedly waved them away.
"Scram, scram, scram.
If you're bent on dying, don't drag me down with you!
I'm not on familiar terms with Death, and I've no wish to meet him that early!"
After shooing away the twins who were itching to fight Snape to the bitter end, Duncan turned back.
Neville and the others looked at him curiously.
Hannah asked, "What were you whispering about just now?
It sounded very mysterious."
"Nothing.
Fred and George were kicked in the head by a donkey and were thinking up something bad again," Duncan answered.
"Donkey?" Neville blinked blankly.
"Where are there donkeys at Hogwarts?
Hannah, do you know?"
Duncan smiled and waved a hand.
"No, I mean Fred and George want to do something stupid.
Their thinking is off."
Neville nodded, still slightly puzzled, but his attention was caught by the fresh steak that had just appeared on his plate.
He gave up thinking and went on enjoying his food.
As time passed and Christmas arrived, the weather grew ever colder, and the whole castle was wrapped in ice and snow like a giant freezer.
Apart from classes and Quidditch practice, Duncan never left the dormitory.
He spent all day in the warmth of his case.
The good thing about this was that his points skyrocketed, and he once again earned two more draws.
And perhaps because the little Unicorn was by his side each time, both rewards were rather good.
One was a beast-magic card.
After using it, he obtained the Erumpent's magic skill: Lava Bomb.
It could condense and jet a blistering mass of lava forward, which would melt whatever it touched and then explode a few seconds later.
Overjoyed after drawing it, Duncan rushed to the Black Lake to try it once.
Unfortunately, there seemed to be a special enchantment on that circular door.
Several shots of lava slammed into the door, but it didn't melt in the slightest, and the explosion had no effect, completely scuppering his plan to take a shortcut.
The other item he won was a very exquisitely shaped little pistol whose effect looked delightfully childlike when used.
[Bubble Pistol: Pull the trigger to spray a string of bubbles forward.
Any living being it touches will rapidly puff up as if inflated.
It causes no harm, but the opponent's balloon-like, comical appearance is sure to lift your spirits.]
The astonishment students felt at Quirrell's sudden disappearance from the school gradually ebbed in the festive atmosphere.
In the castle, apart from two people, almost everyone stopped caring about Quirrell, their hearts filled with expectations for Christmas presents.
One of the two who still cared about Quirrell's whereabouts was Dumbledore.
He had been rather troubled of late, worried that Quirrell might never return.
Without Quirrell, wouldn't those mechanisms on the fourth floor be useless?
How was his saviour training programme supposed to proceed?
The other was Snape.
He wanted Quirrell to come back soon, yet also wanted Quirrell to die outside, his heart torn with conflict.
If Quirrell did not return, they would be unable to keep track of Lord Voldemort's movements, and he feared Voldemort was plotting something dreadful elsewhere.
On the other hand, if Quirrell did not come back, he could apply to act as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor and take the post of his dreams.
In such a conflicted state of mind, Snape was absent-minded all day long and, many times, forgot to make trouble for Harry.
This delighted Harry no end.
Duncan ran into him many times in the corridors, and he was literally skipping as he walked, like a happy little deer.
On the day before the holiday, out on the grassland inside the case, Neville was clumsily loading a big brush with water from an iron bucket as he washed the Erumpent's massive body.
He called over to Duncan, who was not far away, "Duncan, are you going home for Christmas?"
"Of course.
A lot of things are about to run out, so I need to go back and prepare more.
And I'll also see whether my granddad and grandma have returned.
If they haven't, I'll have to find someone to ask for the latest news about them."
Duncan replied while combing the little Unicorn's coat, worry between his brows.
"Has Senier still not come back?" Neville asked.
Duncan shook his head.
"Ever since it set out with the last letter, there's been no word at all.
I don't know whether it failed to find my granddad or whether there was some mishap on the way that delayed it."
Neville thought for a moment and offered comfort.
"Don't worry.
Mr Scamander is so capable—he'll be fine for sure."
"From your lips to Merlin's ears."
A smile came to Duncan's face.
With so many magical creatures watching over him, Newt probably wouldn't be in any danger, right?
Even so, Duncan couldn't help feeling a little anxious.
He decided that once he got home, he would use his family's special means of contact to see whether he could reach Newt and Tina.
On the day the holiday began, Duncan packed up and left the dormitory with Neville, chatting along the way with students travelling with Hufflepuff.
Zacharias, brimming with enthusiasm, told Duncan about a Quidditch attacking tactic he had just thought up not long ago.
He repeated it over and over, full of animation and spraying spittle.
At first, Duncan was quite interested, but as time dragged on, he could not help growing drowsy, though he felt embarrassed to interrupt.
Fortunately, at a turning on the stairs going up, they ran into Hannah and Ellie.
The two girls smiled and greeted Duncan and Neville.
Smacking his lips with lingering relish, Zacharias bid everyone goodbye and strode off to seek his next target to pour his heart out to.
Duncan let out a breath, smiling and waving to Hannah and Ellie.
"Good thing we ran into you today.
Otherwise Zacharias would never have let me go so easily, and I'd have had to memorise everything he said."
"Haha, I heard Zacharias didn't sleep well for days trying to come up with that tactic," Hannah said with a laugh.
"Now that he's designed it, he'll definitely keep showing off to you lot."
Duncan nodded in understanding.
His gaze slid to Hannah's and Ellie's hands, and seeing they didn't seem to be carrying luggage, he couldn't help asking, "Aren't you going home for Christmas?"
"Ellie's parents went on an outdoor expedition and haven't come back yet, so I can only stay at school to keep her company," Hannah said with a shrug.
A helpless smile hung on Ellie's face.
"All right then.
I hope you have fun at school," Duncan said.
"And I hope you'll like the presents I prepared for you."
"And mine!" Neville chimed in.
"I took ages to decide on those Christmas presents!"
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