Chapter 57: Snape: The Presents You Gave the Other Teachers Were Very Kind
The Great Hall on Christmas Day was not as busy as usual.
The few little wizards who had stayed at Hogwarts were all seated together.
Ron dragged Harry, and the Weasley twins pulled Percy.
Dylan was seated with them too.
They had a very rowdy lunch.
It was just that from the teachers' table, a chilly glance would occasionally drift over.
However, when Dylan looked, he did not see anyone staring at him.
Contrastingly, Professor McGonagall was wearing a huge grin on her face, occasionally taking a sip of wine, her face flushed, and her pointy hat at an angle.
She smiled at him when she caught Dylan staring.
Dylan smiled back.
When they streamed out of the Great Hall after lunch.
Harry and Ron were about to ask Dylan to join them for a snowball fight, but at this, the previously high-energy Weasley twins promptly deflated.
Percy glanced at his two younger brothers and immediately knew. These two must have attempted to prank Dylan, and gotten thoroughly lessoned in the process.
Just as he was about to say something, Dylan waved his hand at the group, "I need to go return some books at the library. You guys go and have fun."
"Oh! But it's Christmas, Dylan." Ron had not at all caught his brother's embarrassment and was still trying to pull Dylan in.
Finally, Dylan made his escape.
"The three books I borrowed last time are going to be overdue. I'll return them and borrow two other books of Herbology Explained later."
While Dylan was walking along the path, he turned a corner and ran into Professor Snape in black robes unexpectedly.
"Oh, Professor Snape, what a surprise, Merry Christmas~" Dylan looked up at him and greeted eagerly.
Snape gazed at Dylan with a very gloomy face, "I am not merry at all."
Dylan was shocked.
He saw Professor Snape's frosty gaze on him, "In the Great Hall at lunchtime, Professor McGonagall was praising you, this present that you gave her. You must have invested a lot of thought in it."
"Even Professor Flitwick showed us the present that you gave to him, this musical piece you wrote yourself. Heh, the presents that you gave to the other professors were really very nice, I suppose."
Dylan: ⊙﹏⊙∥
Why did Professor Snape's tone sound…
Like he thought the current Dylan presented to him was a little…unpresentable?
However…
He remembered the homemade potions he had given Professor Snape.
Dylan's face reddened.
How was he to know that the professors would be comparing the gifts he gave them to each other!
If he knew, he wouldn't have given Professor Snape...
"Relaxing tea bags, skin glow potion, mood-calming potion, hair refreshing potion."
Every gift title that Professor Snape was able to pry from his tightly pursed thin lips made Dylan's embarrassment grow.
"What do you mean by presenting me with these?"
Dylan swallowed, "I, I just merely think Professor, you could really be even more handsome!"
"'A smile takes ten years off your age,' someone in the Muggle world has said. I merely wanted you to look so attractive that you'd outshine everyone at Hogwarts~"
Professor Snape's eyes tightened, his sharp, high nose looking even more austere in the shadow his eyelids cast.
The oily black hair that usually hung limply over his forehead swayed gently with the subtle movements of his head.
"So, you're trying to say that you think I'm old?"
Dylan: Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
"I'm not, I didn't, don't say that! Professor Snape, if you're old, wouldn't the headmaster be six feet under?"
Snape: (–)...
Dylan's words directly stumped him. His eyes widened, his lips twitched a few times, and for a while he really did not know what to say.
"Cough cough!" Dylan coughed twice, "As for the soothing tea bags or the potions, they were all made with my own hands. They can only be a token of my appreciation."
"Your birthday is coming up soon, and I will definitely give you a special gift! You will definitely be greatly surprised!"
Professor Snape composed himself, his eyebrows rising slightly upwards, but a cold snort erupted from his throat, "Let's hope it's not a fright."
"Don't worry, it definitely won't be…" Dylan nervously laughed.
With much persuasion, he finally managed to get rid of the stubborn, arrogant professor.
Dylan breathed a sigh of relief.
But he started worrying once again about Professor Snape's birthday gift.
"Sigh, it seems the wand enchantment is only good for my own wand. Otherwise, I could have added a pink bunny attack set of effects to Professor Snape's wand… or maybe a warty toad would be more appropriate."
Dylan would occasionally sit flipping through books in the library, reading and absorbing knowledge, and would occasionally think about what he should receive as a gift.
And so, when he returned to the dormitory at night, Dylan was still racking his brain for the present.
Even when Harry crept over and told him about the Invisibility Cloak, he did not pay much attention.
Noticing Harry's shocked and excited expression, a sudden idea occurred to him.
"Wand effects won't work. What if I send Harry to Professor Snape and then I use my wand to give Harry's rear end a good whacking?"
Harry's mouth, which had been chattering incessantly, suddenly came to a halt, and his whole body shook.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
As Dylan didn't seem very enthusiastic, Harry walked back to join Ron.
Dylan cast a Scourgify on himself and then hugged Coal Ball and slept early.
Instead of thinking about so many things, it was better to sleep and think about it the next day.
The night passed.
Dylan still maintained his good habits, sleeping early and waking up early.
He washed himself up simply and then went to the dining hall.
Taking a glass of milk and a plate of hot English breakfast sausages, Dylan picked up his knife and fork and cut into them cautiously.
The sausage casing was golden brown fried, crackling with oil. One bite, and the aroma of the meat filled his mouth.
Then he took two slices of thick-cut toast. Dylan enjoyed this.
The bread had been baked in a magical oven, the crust crispy and the inside soft and fluffy. With a spread of butter on it, which would melt slightly with the heat of the bread, it would emit a rich milky aroma.
Having also eaten some fried eggs and a small portion of grilled tomatoes.
Dylan was extremely satisfied.
Just as he was about to finish it with some small fruits.
Harry hurried over in a flash.
He sat beside him, dropped his voice, and said excitedly, "Man! Dylan! You won't believe what I did last night!"
Dylan was surprised, "Your parents?"
Harry's excited face froze, "How did you know?"
"Uh, I guessed."
Harry tongue-clicked. The excitement of telling his friend a secret was somewhat lost.
Still, he told Dylan what he had done last night.
"I just wanted to see the effect of putting on the Invisibility Cloak, initially. I didn't expect to end up in the Restricted Section and be chased the entire time by Filch. Of course, the most important part was…"
(End of chapter)
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