Despite the professors assigning a massive pile of homework to the fourth-year students over the holiday, everyone still lacked the energy to tackle any of it once the term ended.
Of course, except for the essays Professor Snape had assigned—his perversity was notorious throughout the school... well, not exactly the whole school, at least the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had now witnessed who was unequivocally the most fear-inducing professor in Hogwarts' history.
Snape took no shame in this; on the contrary, he found it quite gratifying to be feared by students from the other two magical schools.
The Gryffindor Tower was almost as crowded as it had been before the break, and the tower seemed to have shrunk because everyone inside was far noisier than usual.
Everyone in the common room was busy expending their excess holiday energy, with no attention to spare for what others were doing, let alone anything else.
Ron was obsessed with his Exploding Snap cards, but after being scolded by Hermione, he never touched them again.
The Care of Magical Creatures grounds were still blanketed in thick snow, and the greenhouse windows were fogged with fine droplets of condensation.
In the enclosure area, explosions rang out from time to time, interspersed with Hagrid's startled exclamations and Newt's admiring sighs—the latter being praise for the thriving growth of the Blast-Ended Skrewts.
Even in winter, passing by there meant catching the intense and distinctive stench emanating from the Blast-Ended Skrewts.
Thus, Hogwarts students had firmly designated the Care of Magical Creatures base as a place to avoid at all costs, lest approaching it make them want to vomit up last night's dinner—even if that dinner had already made its way into the small intestine.
No one liked Blast-Ended Skrewts; not only were they ill-tempered, but their smell was unpleasant, and they were particularly ugly to look at.
Though Cthulhu mythology wasn't particularly popular at Hogwarts these days, some still used it to describe them, and Hagrid tentatively took the adjective as a compliment.
"We've bred an Old One," he boasted proudly to Madame Maxime after learning what Cthulhu was, even though she had no idea what it meant.
Still, Hagrid knew his limits and didn't take Madame Maxime to see the Blast-Ended Skrewts.
Fred and George's Canary Creams were selling like hotcakes; even though the Malfoy heiress had monopolized the entire supply, the twins' hands-on skills were impressive, and they quickly replenished the depleted stock.
In the first day or two of the holiday, people would suddenly sprout feathers all over their bodies without warning.
But soon, the Gryffindors learned their lesson and became extremely wary of any food offered by others, lest it conceal a Canary Cream.
George confidently told Harry that he and Fred were developing another new product.
Harry warned himself never to accept anything from Fred and George again, not even a potato crisp.
Fortunately, all this was confined to the Gryffindor common room, so the professors remained unaware, and Gryffindor wouldn't yet turn into Gryffuckdor.
The twins handled that boundary quite well.
It wasn't just the Gryffindors playing with Canary Creams; Cassandra had also begun preparing her little evil scheme.
Of course, it wasn't truly evil—after all, it was just feeding one to Veratia.
"I still don't recommend you do this," Poppy murmured in劝 Cassandra. "If Veratia eats it, she'll be furious... and if she chases you all over the castle, I won't stop her."
Actually, Cassandra hadn't been fully decided at first on whether to make Veratia look so foolish.
But Poppy's劝 had the opposite effect.
Hmph!
Grindelwald?
Me, avoiding her edge?!
It was holiday time now, so mealtimes weren't as fixed as usual; students ate whenever they wanted, which was casual and convenient.
But the British had a habit of afternoon tea, so Cassandra planned to strike during that.
She even spent a fortune having the Weasley twins research a way to prevent Canary Creams from turning people into canaries, and the results were decent—at least when George tested it on himself, eating a Canary Cream no longer caused a transformation.
This was truly cause for celebration; Cassandra felt her chances of success were even higher.
The so-called afternoon tea was a meal taken between lunch and dinner.
In the 17th century, tea was typically drunk after the main meal to aid digestion.
Around the 18th century, the day's main meal was pushed back to between 7:30 and 8:00 in the evening, and tea began serving as a pick-me-up for the long afternoon between a light lunch and dinner.
It gradually evolved into the modern afternoon tea. One popular origin story for British afternoon tea places it in the Victorian era, with Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, often credited as its inventor. It started as the Duchess's personal habit and slowly became an important social custom among the upper class.
By the mid-19th century, afternoon tea was no longer limited to the British elite but had become a nationwide custom.
"I've actually never really understood," Veratia said, sitting in the office—this one had originally been prepared for Newt, but he didn't like the feeling of being cooped up in an office, so it had remained unused.
A certain headmaster, eager to please his great-niece-in-law, learned she had no place to rest and temporarily assigned the classroom to Veratia.
As for the Board of Governors?
Sorry, Poppy was one of them.
So the matter was settled smoothly.
"Understood what?" Poppy asked apprehensively.
She knew about Cassandra's naughty plan, of course, but she was worried about getting splashed with blood.
After all, Veratia didn't hold back when she struck...
"Why the British have this pastime," Veratia said, gently tapping the cup with her spoon, producing a tinkling sound. "Is this what they call 'bourgeois decadence'?"
Generally, noble ladies avoided tapping the cup directly with a spoon for elegance and etiquette—it was considered highly rude.
But Veratia... she was a bit like the current Queen; even if she grabbed a champagne flute by hand and drank, no one would call it impolite.
"Can't control your mouth even while eating, Grindelwald?"
Cassandra huffed, her small hands in white lace gloves carrying a plate laden with many cookies.
She set the plate on the table and pinched up one cookie.
"Try it," Cassandra said, taking a light bite. "Not bad—buttery flavor."
"I don't really like cookies." Veratia reached out to refuse. "You should know my habits, Cass..."
At that moment, Harry walked in.
He had completely forgotten about Cassandra buying Canary Creams from the Weasley twins earlier. Seeing cookies on the table, he grinned and walked over, grabbing two.
Cassandra leaned forward slightly, wanting to stop Harry but not knowing how to speak up.
She was anxious inside, praying nothing would go wrong...
But to her surprise, Harry didn't rush to eat the cookie.
"Oh, cookies?" Harry said, naturally offering one to Veratia's mouth.
If the cookie had come from Cassandra, Veratia definitely wouldn't have eaten it.
But since Harry was feeding it to her, she reluctantly opened her mouth and took it, even brushing his fingertip with her little tongue.
Seeing Veratia's little move, Cassandra inwardly cursed her as a vixen.
Harry popped the other cookie into his own mouth...
Immediately, golden feathers sprouted all over both him and Veratia.
"Hahaha!~" Harry laughed heartily. "This is the Weasley twins' Canary Creams, right? Feels pretty magical."
His resistance to magic was a bit high, so he could still speak human words.
"Chirp chirp!"
A sound like a golden oriole rang out. Harry turned to see Veratia with hands on hips, one finger pointing accusingly at Cassandra.
She was clearly furious.
Cassandra laughed until she was shaking, bending over in hysterics, still saying, "This is your little lesson, Grindelwald!"
The magic effect came quickly and faded just as fast; soon, the feathers fell off both of them, and they returned to normal.
Only then did Cassandra realize a problem.
She had forgotten to take a photo!
She hadn't captured Miss Grindelwald's most embarrassing moment!
"Cassandra Malfoy!"
Veratia's chest heaved dramatically; she was truly furious...
Who would have thought her best friend would pull this on her...
"Don't be mad, don't be mad..." Harry reached out to soothe Veratia's anger, chuckling. "It was just a little prank. Besides, I was the one who fed it to you, right? If anyone's to blame, it's me... Actually, I didn't realize this was the Weasley twins' Canary Creams. Lately, a lot of Gryffindors have fallen for it, and earlier I even saw this canary transformation spreading person-to-person—it's happening in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw too."
"You're still protecting her?" Veratia turned coldly to Harry, her gaze clearly one that wanted to stab someone.
"Hey, it's just a prank. What sisters don't play little jokes?" Harry hugged Veratia, rubbing his head against her chest. "Be good, okay? My Veratia is the most magnanimous..."
"Hmm..."
Veratia had indeed been quite angry at first—being pranked like that...
But since the prankster was Cassandra, she felt she actually owed her a great deal...
"Hmph." She turned her head away, refusing to look at Cassandra. "Is that so? You're protecting your little girlfriend like this? Fine then, I guess I'm the outsider."
"How could that be?" Harry said sincerely, touching Veratia's conscience. "You're my most beloved Veratia! How could you be an outsider?"
This industrial saccharine was a bit over-the-top; at least Cassandra looked disgusted, while Poppy beside them was green with envy.
Harry waved to Cassandra, then to Poppy, beckoning them over.
Poppy joyfully ran over, noticing Cassandra hadn't followed, so she dragged her along, and the two stuck close to Harry's sides.
Cassandra felt a bit uncomfortable but endured it.
"You're all my..."
Before Harry could finish his affectionate words, Veratia suddenly lunged, her hands grabbing Cassandra's vital spots.
"Ha, Cass!" she said furiously. "You dare stick so close..."
...Hmph hmph hmph... I never imagined you'd have such nerve.
"You..." Suddenly seized in her vital spots, Cassandra was mortified and furious, her face red as if dripping blood, her small hands desperately pushing against Veratia's shoulders. "Let go! You shameless vixen!"
Being called that by Cassandra, Veratia's smile suddenly turned wicked.
"I'm a vixen?" she asked, curling her lips. "Ha, so in your eyes, I'm a vixen..."
"Isn't it true?" Cassandra stubbornly pushed back. "Let go! A true lady shouldn't make such moves... uhmm!"
She suddenly went limp like noodles, utterly powerless under Veratia's control.
Veratia's beautiful eyes shone with brilliant violet light, breathtakingly gorgeous.
"Good children shouldn't watch this."
Poppy watched the sisters' tussle with great interest, casually covering Harry's eyes.
"But I'm a bad child, right?" Harry removed Poppy's hand. "I'm a standard bad boy—you should know that, Sister Poppy..."
"Aiya, don't call me that!" Poppy covered her face, her flushed little face like a ripe apple. "Who's your sister? Cassandra's right—you're a shameless little rascal."
Before Harry could respond, Poppy leaned close to his ear.
"But I like it."
About an hour later, Veratia finally released Cassandra, satisfied.
Cassandra sat in the chair, staring blankly at the ceiling, hugging her long legs, looking somewhat world-weary.
"Ah, she's broken." Poppy said.
"Heh." Veratia lifted her delicate chin proudly. "This is the consequence of offending me—got it? From now on, this is the rule in our Potter family... Anyone who dares challenge my authority... well, Cassandra is the example. Understand?"
"Understood!" Poppy nodded like a pecking chick, terrified that insufficient loyalty would lead to the same treatment.
"What about me?" Harry scratched his head.
"You're exempt." Veratia rolled her eyes playfully. "As the current head of the Potter family, this is your privilege..."
She suddenly leaned against Harry, her hand drawing circles on his chest, breathing orchid-like warmth into his ear, her little tongue tracing his earlobe.
"Isn't that right, my lord?"
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