Chapter 248 Christmas

After finishing the matter of inviting the Weasley brothers, Michael left the Gryffindor Common Room.

Michael was not surprised by the reaction of the Weasley brothers. After getting along with them for several years, he knew the Weasley brothers very well. They could not refuse such a thing with great benefits and small risks.

On the other hand, Michael expected that Soraka would succeed, because Freemasonry had what she needed most.

Gold Galleons.

According to the loan usage report submitted by Penelope later, the 100 gold galleons borrowed by Soraka were turned into various corpses for dissection in just one month, including some rare species, such as Scottish leprechauns.

This shows how obsessed Soraka was with dissecting creatures.

For such a person, it was impossible for her to refuse such an invitation.

Of course, Michael could not provide her with unlimited gold galleons without reason. If she wanted to get it, she had to pay.

And what she had to pay was her superb medical skills and potion preparation technology.

It must be said that after several consecutive personal experiments, Mike found that Soraka's medical skills were really top-notch, and her skills in preparing medical potions were also very good. Such a talent was exactly what they needed now.

After sorting these things out in his mind, Mike called Beta, who had recovered, and asked him to use Apparition to take him back to the Dolphin Factory.

Tomorrow is Christmas, and he is very busy today.

Not only does he need to go to the Dolphin Magic Drink Factory to host the opening of the Christmas dinner, but he also needs to return to Hogwarts before the dinner starts.

Fortunately, Mike does not need to prepare everyone's Christmas gifts himself. The two house elves, Shuke and Beta, have already prepared everything according to Mike's instructions.

Otherwise, according to the number of friends Mike has now, it would take several days just to prepare the gifts.

It is called a Christmas dinner, but in fact, it is essentially a large group of people getting together for a big meal.

This was true for both the dinner at the Dolphin Magic Drink Factory and the dinner at Hogwarts. The only difference between the two was that Mike gave every employee a gift at the Dolphin Magic Drink Factory dinner.

Ten gold Galleons.

This amount was not much for those employees who had worked in the factory for a long time, but it still made them very happy. After all, there was no concept of year-end bonus in the wizarding world, so they regarded these ten Galleons as a real Christmas gift.

Thinking of this, the group of people became much happier, and each of them was much more relaxed even in front of Mike.

Speaking of gifts, when this beautiful night was over, our Harry also received his own gift.

In the early morning, the golden sunlight shone through the icy glass windows and made people feel warm.

Harry yawned, scratched his hair with sleepy eyes, and after scratching it a little more messy, he came to the restaurant with a messy head.

He and George Fred played until very late last night. For some reason, Ron's two brothers did not even go home for Christmas.

As he was thinking, Harry had already come to the restaurant and sat down.

As soon as he sat down, two steaming sausages appeared on the empty plate in front of him, and a basket full of bread appeared in the basket beside him.

Harry grabbed a piece of bread, tore it open, wrapped it around a sausage and began to chew it.

He planned to go to Hagrid's hut after breakfast. Yesterday at the Christmas dinner, Harry found that he had been secretly wiping tears, and he didn't know what happened. Every

day's breakfast time is the time for owl messengers to deliver letters. These hardworking little animals can't even stop on Christmas. It's really pitiful.

Harry mourned for the owls, and by the way, he moved his plate to the side to avoid the excrement bomb thrown by an owl, and at the same time, he ate faster.

According to past experience, more "bombs" will soon fall here, and he must end the battle quickly.

Just as he was wolfing down his food, two owls came to him holding a long package.

Harry was a little surprised. His social circle was not large. It was basically his classmates and teachers at Hogwarts.

If these people wanted to give him Christmas gifts, they would have secretly placed them in his dormitory last night through the house elves.

'So... who could it be? Uncle Vernon and his family? '

Harry thought of this and shook his head quickly, denying this guess.

His uncle's family hated him so much, how could they possibly give him a gift.

Harry, who really couldn't guess the answer, took the package and was stunned after opening the tightly wrapped package.

There was a broom lying quietly in a huge long paper box.

Harry was very familiar with this broom. He and Ron had stared at this broom for a whole afternoon in Diagon Alley!

Firebolt!

Harry still remembered its name.

The broom used by the English Quidditch League, and it was a custom version!

Harry couldn't believe his eyes.

At this time, the classmates next to him also noticed the situation on Harry's side and gathered around him.

The restaurant became very lively at once. The Firebolt was a flying broom that could make all the boys excited. Its performance was far superior to the mass-produced Nimbus 2001, so its price was quite touching. No one in Hogwarts had one. Everyone

gathered around Harry, wanting to take a closer look at this legendary flying broom. Of course, it would be even better if they could touch it.

At this moment, Harry suddenly noticed that the Minister of Magic Fudge, whom he had met before the start of school, actually appeared in the restaurant, and Snape and several Aurors were standing next to him.

The two of them sat down in a seat in the corner, talking and laughing. Snape enthusiastically invited the Minister to taste the Hogwarts breakfast, and the Minister unceremoniously picked up a sausage and evaluated it.

The breakfast at Hogwarts was not delicious at all, but the Minister was very happy to eat it, and repeatedly gave Snape a thumbs up.

The two of them ate and talked and laughed, while the attention of the rest of the people in the restaurant was on Harry's Firebolt.

Harry didn't take it seriously. Maybe the Minister had a sudden impulse to come to Hogwarts to check the students' meals?

Anyway, that was how the elementary school he attended was run, and the meals would be better every time a leader came to check.

But when Harry was about to leave the restaurant with his Firebolt, he discovered something strange. There were actually many more Aurors in uniform in Hogwarts!

...

It was already afternoon when Mike got the news. There was nothing he could do about it. He had been with Professor Flitwick until midnight last night.

As soon as he got the news, he thought of Black and contacted Shuke who was staying with Black. Mike's heart sank after he didn't receive any response.

Beta was sent to the factory by him to deal with the workers' holidays, and he couldn't take Mike to the Shrieking Shack at the moment.

Helplessly, Mike came to Lupin's office.

"Professor Lupin, what's going on with the Minister and those Aurors?"

"Oh, they are here to search for Sirius Black." Lupin looked a little depressed at the moment, but when he saw Mike coming in, he still managed to force a smile and said, "By the way, I received your Christmas present, I like it very much!"

After that, he took out the fizzing bee candy that Mike gave him from the drawer and put one in his mouth.

Mike was not interested in discussing Christmas presents with him at all. His eyebrows were completely wrinkled together, and then he asked:

"Black is not in Hogwarts, why did they come to Hogwarts to find Black?"

"I heard that Fudge thinks that the reason why Black was able to break into Hogwarts without being discovered by the Dementors is because he knows some unknown secret passages. So he plans to send people to thoroughly investigate those secret passages."

After hearing this, Mike roughly understood the origin of the matter.

In the past few days, the topic about Black in the Daily Prophet has not disappeared, but has become even more heated.

The public was very angry that the Ministry of Magic had not caught Black until now, and the previous incident of Dementors being expelled by Dumbledore became a proof of Fudge's incompetence. Now many tabloids make a living by scolding Fudge every day.

In order to solve this matter, Black must be caught. Only by catching Black can this incident be calmed down.

So, taking advantage of the opportunity that most students went home for the holidays, Fudge came with a group of Aurors.

It must be said that Mike still underestimated Fudge's wisdom. He could actually guess that Black came in through the secret passage in Hogwarts.

But it's not surprising when you think about it carefully.

Those secret passages in Hogwarts have existed for an unknown period of time.

Most of them are older than Mike's two lives combined.

Theoretically, the tunnels that have existed for so long should not be known to only a few of them.

At least, the professors who have lived in Hogwarts for so many years may not know the location of all the secret passages in Hogwarts, but they must know some.

If Fudge and the Aurors want to find the tunnel, they must find a professor to cooperate with them. From the current situation, Snape is likely to be the foreign aid they have found.

Thinking of this, Mike frowned even more.

Professor Lupin on the opposite side looked at Mike's sad face and couldn't help asking:

"What's wrong with you?"

Mike was awakened by Lupin's voice. Looking at Lupin's haggard face, Mike thought for a while and asked tentatively:

"Professor Lupin, I remember that you and Black were good friends, right?"

"Of course, but that was a long time ago. Since he betrayed James and Lily and killed Peter, my friendship with him has ended." It

can be seen that the matter of Harry's parents has also hit Lupin very hard. When he talked about this, his face was flushed.

"What if I say that Black is innocent?"

"What did you say?"

Lupin thought he must have heard it wrong, and a puzzled expression appeared on his face, but this expression froze when Mike took out the Marauder's Map.

Half an hour later.

After explaining the whole story, Mike looked at Lupin quietly. Mike knew that this incident was a big blow to Lupin, and he needed to sort out his thoughts.

"You mean, Peter is locked up by you now." Lupin said in a hoarse voice after a while, "and... Black is in the Shrieking Shack?"

"That's right, so we have to act quickly. Where is Professor Dumbledore? I looked around and couldn't find him."

Hearing this, Lupin's expression became more bitter, and he said with a wry smile:

"He was invited to the Ministry of Magic to attend the Christmas party of Sir Merlin's Order. It will probably take two days for him to come back."

"That's it, the Aurors will find him sooner or later. We must act quickly and move Black away!"

"It shouldn't be that serious, right? Only James and I know how to get into that secret passage. Although they have the help of Snotlout, Snotlout doesn't know the specific method to open the secret passage..."

"Professor Lupin!" Mike interrupted Lupin before he finished speaking, "I hope you can understand one thing. Professor Snape is no longer the snotty guy he used to be. He is now a famous potion master. Are you so sure that he hasn't figured out how to open the secret passage after all these years?

Moreover, even if he really doesn't know. But they have many Aurors here, they can just use the Whomping Willow to eliminate him and then enter the secret passage!"

As soon as these words came out, Lupin's expression froze, and his eyes gradually became firm.

While Mike was talking to Lupin, Snape and Fudge were standing in front of the Whomping Willow, listening to an Auror's report.

"...All the known secret passages in Hogwarts that lead to the outside world have been thoroughly checked, and no trace of Black has been found." The Auror paused and said, "But in the secret passage leading to the Honeybee Duke's cellar, we found traces of recent use, but the initial estimate is that the user is not Black, but a student in Hogwarts."

"I see."

Fudge waved his hand, indicating that the Auror could leave.

"Don't hesitate any longer, Minister. Let's get started."

Snape said anxiously.

Fudge stared at the Whomping Willow, whose branches were stretching freely in the breeze. After a while, he sighed and said,

"Professor Snape, are you sure there is a secret passage underneath? You know, the Whomping Willow is a protected species clearly marked in international law. There are only five of them in the whole of Europe..."

"I swear on my life!"

Fudge was not angry when his words were interrupted. He stared at Snape's lifeless eyes for a while, and instructed the row of Aurors standing behind him,

"The second team will go up and test first. Note that this test is mainly to find the switch of the secret passage. Try not to damage the Whomping Willow!"