Then, her expression stiffened slightly, and she immediately turned her head to look at Ron, who was rubbing his belly and eating mint frog candies. The girl made a mouth shape, and the two quickly completed the exchange of information. Harry could see what Hermione wanted to say, 'Are you sure he's okay?'
"...Where did everyone go?"
Harry, who could totally guess what the two were talking about, couldn't help but sigh. He looked around the empty common room and blinked.
"Come on! Today is the first day of holidays, remember?" Ron scrutinized Harry carefully, "It's almost lunchtime, I was about to wake you up."
Harry nodded and sat down on a chair by the fireplace. The white snowflakes were still dancing outside the window. Crookshanks lay in front of the fireplace, looking from behind like a big ginger blanket. Harry reached out to scratch his chin and heard a comfortable purring sound.
"Neville went back too, the only ones left in third year are us."
Ron tossed the Chocolate Frog in his hand into the air, then opened his mouth to bite half a frog leg, stuffing the still-flapping back half into his mouth, and mumbled unclearly.
"You haven't finished yet?"
Looking at Hermione, who had her head down over her quill again, Harry couldn't help but swallow—every time he saw Hermione, George, and Fred floating in their sea of books, Harry was always immensely grateful that he didn't choose Muggle Studies.
"...Almost."
Hermione lifted her head once more and tugged at the chain on her chest in some frustration. Ever since William started restricting her use of the Space-Time Turner, the ample time she once had began to fall short, forcing her to catch up on homework during Divination, but even then she was falling behind.
Demon! That Professor Graves must be a demon!
Where exactly did he come from, with so many entirely different questions?
Regarding this, a certain "Graves" professor had something to say. Obviously, third-year students insisted on learning everything up to graduation in one go. If your assignments aren't many, whose are?
'...Honestly, these O.W.L. exams don't cover this.'
However, Hermione seemed to have forgotten what the professor said at the time.
She originally thought the questions were limited until Professor Graves would haul over a pile of textbooks each time.
What is calculus? What is college physics? And what's this about now not even professors knowing, leaving me to self-study?
Do Muggles really have to learn all these things?
Thankfully, I chose Magic School back then, really lucky... Wait, didn't I still not escape?
Looking at the seemingly endless homework in front of her, Hermione fell into contemplation.
A moment of silence, Crookshanks stretched lazily, flexing his paws, as Ron's pocket trembled.
"I say," Ron said, "it's the holidays! It's almost Christmas! Let's go down and see Hagrid, we haven't visited him in a long time!"
"Alright."
Hermione rarely agreed to the idea of having fun.
"No."
But Harry also uncharacteristically shook his head.
"?"
The sudden refusal left Ron and Hermione, who had already relaxed, looking at each other for a moment. Then, Ron coughed lightly and uncertainly said, "I remember, you said you weren't going to look for Sirius anymore?"
"Yeah, Harry, Sirius is definitely waiting for you outside now, no, we should best stay in the castle..."
Hermione nodded and seemed to suddenly recall something, hurriedly said.
"No, I'm planning to find my senior, I have some questions to ask him."
...
Upon hearing it was to find William, Hermione didn't stop him and even raised both hands and feet in support—as long as he didn't wander off and avoid giving Sirius a chance, she didn't mind what Harry did. So, he walked alone to the tapestry on the eighth floor, and the next moment, the stone door slowly appeared.
There were things he wanted to talk about with William, especially the one that, whenever he thought of mentioning it, would mysteriously slip his mind.
That "dream?"
"Please come in, Master Potter!"
Dobby's trembling voice came from behind the door, and Harry walked to the end of the passage and changed his shoes. He looked up, slightly taken aback.
"Professor Lupin?"
"Good afternoon, Harry, would you like to eat something?"
Professor Lupin, sitting at the dining table, was surprised for a moment, then put down his chopsticks and invited him.
Harry, who hadn't had lunch, obviously did not refuse. He sat in the chair opposite Professor Lupin, accepted the two wooden sticks Dobby handed over, and then stared in a daze at the steaming copper pot on the table... Where's the food?
"The food is at the bottom—"
Lupin skillfully used chopsticks to pick up beef from the bottom of the pot into Harry's bowl. In 1993, although there were already quite a few Chinese restaurants in London, this was a foreign land, not to mention the "isolated" Magic Realm, so of course, Harry hadn't seen this standard... no, the authentic old Beijing style hot pot.
Heavy snow was also swirling outside the Room of Requirement, and even though it was noon, the gloomy gray sky exuded a coldness.
"Why are you here?"
Harry, unfamiliar with handling the chopsticks, blew hot air onto the mutton. Actually, he and Professor Lupin were quite familiar, as the professor had been tasked by William to teach him Occlumency and Expecto Patronum, naturally making the boy very familiar with Lupin.
"That kid asked me to watch the house."
Lupin gently said while putting mutton into the copper pot.
"Watch the house? The senior isn't here now?"
Harry seemed to choke on the mutton, and Dobby quickly put down his chopsticks to help him—William forcibly required Dobby to sit at the table and eat.
"He's gone out, apparently quite far. He might already be there now—" Lupin nodded and then asked, "Do you need him for something?"
"...Nothing, it's almost Christmas."
Harry shook his head, not sure why he didn't want to mention his "dream," except in front of William—how should he bring it up? Say he saw a vast forest? A snake? A... Voldemort?
The laughter he'd nearly forgotten suddenly resurfaced vividly in his mind, his hand holding the chopsticks slightly pausing.
He looked up at Lupin, gazing at the face that, despite its youth, was covered in wrinkles.
"What's the matter?"
"Professor, do you... know my dad?"
Yes, he almost forgot, in the photo where his parents stood with others, it wasn't just Sirius Black.
...
...
Greece, Thessaloniki.
Red, green, and white adorned the romantic city by the Aegean Sea, with the majestic Olympus Mountain Range standing quietly at the city's edge, enveloping everyone walking the streets in a Christmas atmosphere.
"Mom, a bird with six wings!"
On the street paved with stone, the little boy holding a burger suddenly pointed at the gray sky above with a shocked expression.
"What nonsense, hurry up and eat!"
The boy's mother didn't look up, naturally missing the rare sight of the... big bird.
"Chirp chirp!"
On the back of the "big bird," Kabuda pressed its map underneath with its bottom, carefully studying while glaring with eyes like black beans.
"Roar—"
Nobert, curled up sleeping, let out an annoyed howl.
"Caw—"
The big bird's cry instinctively silenced the two animals who were about to quarrel, looking at each other defiantly, snorting softly.
"Chirp chirp."
Suddenly, Kabuda approached the edge of the big bird's wing, raised its paw, and excitedly pointed at a spot below.
Thus, the big bird looked down, gently flapping its six wings, and the next moment, its originally yellow feathers began changing to be the same gray as the sky. The next moment, its figure vanished into the air, seemingly leaving no trace.
Only the faint sound of thunder could still be heard a little.