After everything was settled, Kreacher returned to the Black family ancestral home under Sirius's orders—with strict instructions not to breathe a word of what had happened.
Seeing how downcast Sirius was, Lupin suggested taking a walk together. Meanwhile, Douglas and Dumbledore made their way back to Hogwarts to join the Christmas feast, which was still in full swing.
As the two stepped through the Great Hall doors, a hush fell instantly over the room.
The ghosts, who had been performing enthusiastically moments before, froze in midair, their smiles vanishing. All eyes turned to Nearly Headless Nick, who looked straight at Harry at the Gryffindor table. Harry glanced behind Douglas, searching for Sirius—and, not seeing him, looked quietly disappointed.
Suddenly, the temperature in the hall dropped. Candle flames flickered. The ghosts let out a collective, frosty huff, then vanished—through tables, ceilings, and walls—leaving the hall eerily empty.
Fortunately, Peeves had already been ushered out by the professors for mixing his prank gifts with the real ones and smearing the cake George and Fred had given him all over the place. Otherwise, there would have been shouts of "The ghost killer's back!" and similar chaos.
Dumbledore looked at Douglas with a twinkle in his eye.
Douglas shrugged helplessly. "Professor, what can I say? Prejudice runs deep."
At the staff table, Professor Snape noticed the person he most despised hadn't returned, and that Douglas had just made a public spectacle of himself. A thin, mocking smile crept across his face.
The Christmas holidays ended in a blink.
As soon as students who'd gone home returned to Hogwarts, the first thing they did was ask about Peter.
Especially the members of the Charon Detective Agency—those who'd been away for the holidays felt like they'd missed out on a fortune in Galleons after hearing the inside scoop.
After Christmas—
Neville from Gryffindor had earned Outstanding marks in both Defence Against the Dark Arts and Herbology. When his formidable grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, heard that Douglas was going to teach him swordsmanship, she didn't object just because it wasn't magic. She went out of her way to procure two goblin-made swords—one for Neville to practice with, and one for Douglas as a gift for taking him on as a student.
She even wrote to Neville: "You should take swordsmanship seriously, Neville. It'll make you stronger and braver. Most importantly, if you ever lose your wand, I want you to have the power to fight back!"
For some, joy; for others, disappointment.
Colin from Gryffindor, having earned Outstanding in only one subject, missed out on the chance to have Douglas magically upgrade his camera. Ever since his grades arrived, he'd been downcast, even a little embarrassed to face Harry.
He'd planned to use the magically modified camera to capture Harry's Quidditch heroics—and had promised as much to Harry himself. But with only one Outstanding, the plan was dashed.
Now, it wasn't Harry dodging Colin in the corridors; it was Colin avoiding Harry—a fact that secretly delighted Harry more than he'd ever admit.
Hufflepuff students had learned the Palm Fire charm. The spell itself came from Lupin, but it was Douglas who taught them how to use Palm Fire for food preparation. The only casualties were the orchard and Hagrid's livestock pens—especially the chicken coops and pigsties.
After seeing the magnificent eagle Ravenclaw had crafted for Christmas, Douglas was so impressed that, instead of giving a single prize to the top student as planned, he awarded magical text-to-audio readers to ten students.
Just slip any book inside, and the device would read it aloud—complete with a spell to change the narrator's voice, so students could pick their favorite.
And then there were Slytherin's Seven Dragon Balls. No one knew who held which orb. Douglas simply told them to investigate each other in secret—a training exercise. To muddy the waters, he'd even handed out a few decoy orbs to other students.
Perhaps so much happened over the holidays that students forgot the most important part of the new term: going over their exam papers.
For most years, things went as usual—reviewing mistakes and correcting them. But for the fifth years, it was different. Their end-of-term exams had been full O.W.L. simulations, with everything run to official standards. These results were a true measure of their four and a half years of study.
Every professor took the results seriously. Those who did well received encouragement; those who didn't found their homework load doubled—no matter the subject. Professors made sure students identified and filled any gaps in their knowledge.
Even practical classes like Charms, Transfiguration, and Defence Against the Dark Arts set up special fifth-year review zones in the study rooms. Professor Lupin was probably the busiest of all.
Although Sirius was no longer a wanted man, he still hadn't returned to his ancestral home. Instead, he continued to stay at Douglas's house, coming to Hogwarts every evening for Harry's Occlumency lessons.
"Oh, of course, I have to think of Harry's safety. You know, practicing Occlumency can be dangerous."
Douglas hefted a stack of books. "You're right. That's why I'm using the safest method—Harry, you and Sirius need to master everything in these materials. I refuse to believe you won't learn Occlumency after this."
Harry eyed the two-foot-tall stack in horror and quickly protested, "Actually, I could try something more advanced. Shouldn't I learn Occlumency as fast as possible? Who knows how long it'll take to get through all those books!"
Douglas shrugged at Sirius. "The kid's made up his mind. What can I do?"
After a week of hard work, the first weekend after Christmas finally arrived. But with Peter still at large, students were still forbidden from visiting Hogsmeade.
Still, Sirius transformed into the big black dog and joined Harry at the Quidditch pitch to watch him train.
Meanwhile, the long-planned Slytherin Chamber challenge began.
The first group of students—twelve seventh-years, led by Head Boy Percy and Head Girl Penelope—entered the secret entrance on the second floor.
As soon as they opened the door, before they could even take in the chamber's scene, Moaning Myrtle floated before them.
She took a deep breath and, in a voice utterly unlike her usual mournful wail, announced,
"Ah, young witches and wizards, welcome to the Hogwarts Mystical Practice Base. I am Myrtle, your guide."
Everyone stared in shock. This was nothing like the tearful, whiny Myrtle they remembered.
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