Chapter 31

Harry and Ron were having fun. They were enjoying the holiday to their heart's content. There were no classes or homework. They had completely forgotten who Flamel was.

The whole dormitory was empty and completely at their disposal. There were not many people in the common room, and the most comfortable armchairs near the fireplace were not that hard to grab. They could sit comfortably next to the warm fireplace, playing Ron's favorite wizard chess, or discussing how to get Malfoy expelled from school. Although it was somewhat unrealistic, talking about it would always make them feel better.

And now, they were sitting in a comfortable position next to the fireplace that belonged to them during the Christmas days, eating all the food that could be picked up with a fork - even though they had already had lunch. As for why they didn't use their hands, it was because their hands were busy playing wizard chess, and the wizard chess was very resistant to Harry's greasy hands touching them.

The rules of wizard chess and Muggle chess are exactly the same, but the chess pieces of wizard chess are alive, and they will even communicate with the chess players and give instructions to the chess players.

Ron's chess pieces were left to him by his grandfather. Almost all of his things belonged to other people in the family. However, he was already very familiar with this set of chess pieces, so it was not difficult for him to command them. Harry used the chess pieces that Seamus left him. Although those chess pieces looked much better than Ron's old ones, they looked very arrogant and had no trust in Harry, a novice.

"Don't put me there, can't you see his knight is there? You can sacrifice the pawn, it's okay if he dies." The one who shouted the loudest on the chessboard was the queen, while the king, who had the highest status, said very little, and just stayed there and watched.

Harry felt that he had given up hope on himself. A novice who had just started to learn often did stupid things, for example, he used the queen to exchange the opponent's bishop (elephant), and used a soldier to block the opponent's knight in front of it to pin it down. These things happened more than once or twice. The king would give a few reminders at the beginning, but he felt it was a waste of time looking at Harry's stupid and stupid look.

"By the way, Ron, didn't Hector invite us to his house?"Harry was so distracted by the noise of the chess pieces on the board. He was not as enthusiastic about playing wizard chess as Ron.

"Yes, Hector, don't forget this, I really want to go to Hogsmeade to have a look." Ron took a big bite of the crispy toasted bread, his eyes still on the chessboard.

"General, it's your turn, hurry up, Harry."

Harry said, and clumsily ordered the queen to plug the gun hole. His king wanted to say something, but when he saw Harry's operation, he slapped his head and sat directly on his throne, his face full of despair. Let

's end it quickly. If it wasn't for the fact that surrender was too embarrassing, it would have wanted to hand the crown on its head to the other side.

Ron was very happy to use the bishop to eat Harry's queen. He had seen the victory within reach.

At this time, Hector rushed in.

"How are you guys? How have you been these past few days?"

He patted the snow off his body, his face red from the cold.

"Hector!"The two stood up together, and Harry accidentally knocked over the chessboard.

"Harry!"Ron complained, and he quickly squatted down and picked up the chess piece that had fallen to the ground.

"Sorry, Ron," Harry and Hector squatted down to help Ron pick up the chess pieces. Hector was surprised to find that the king who fell to the ground actually showed a relieved expression.

"Are you ready?" Hector said to the two of them.

"Put on more clothes, it's still very cold outside."

Harry and Ron ran back to the dormitory quickly, and soon, two big guys wrapped like balls came staggering down the stairs.

There was no need to wear so many clothes, Hector shook his head, but he didn't say anything, and took them out of Hogwarts.

The sky outside was scattering feather-sized snowflakes, and the north wind was blowing, which was in sharp contrast to the warmth of Hogwarts.

Aberforth also came, he was worried that Hector would go out alone in this weather, and took the initiative to ask to go with Hector. Aberforth Aberforth drove the carriage to stop in front of Hogwarts Castle, found a place to hide from the snow, and waited for Hector to come back.

Hector and his men moved very quickly, and in just a moment they were next to Aberforth's carriage.

Harry and Ron politely greeted the old man in front of them, and climbed into the carriage one after another under Hector's command. Harry thought that Hector's grandfather looked unkind, and Ron agreed with Harry's idea that Aberforth looked like a difficult person to get along with. The two of them sat quietly in the carriage, not even daring to breathe.

"Grandpa, please take them back first. I still need to look for Grandpa Albus." Hector did not get into the carriage. He looked at Aberforth, who nodded.

"You really should say hello to him, after all, he is your grandfather." Aberforth muttered, and he looked at Hector with concern.

"I can wait for you here for a while, I think your two friends won't mind."

Aberforth's eyes swept over the two trembling little guys, and Harry and Ron nodded quickly.

Hector shook his head.

"I want to spend more time with him," Hector said,"after all, it's Christmas."

Aberforth stared at Hector and could see that Hector was serious about what he said. He didn't intend to refuse Hector's request.

""All right," said Aberforth.

"When you come back, let Albus tell me and I'll pick you up."

"No, I know a secret passage that takes you directly to Hogsmeade." Hector and Aberforth hugged each other.

"Hurry back, Grandpa, and be careful on the road."

Aberforth nodded, and he drove the carriage towards Hogsmeade. Hector watched their figures until the carriage gradually disappeared in the heavy snow, and then he trotted back to Hogwarts Castle. The principal's office was on the eighth floor, and it didn't take Hector long to find the gargoyle. It lay there quietly, with its head raised and its eyes wide open, as if watching the people coming and going.

Hector approached the gargoyle, and a cold and emotionless word popped out from its mouth.

"Password?"

"I'm here to see my grandfather, Albus Dumbledore"

""Password?"

The stone beast completely ignored Hector's words and just mechanically repeated the two words. Hector moved closer, wanting it to see who he was.

"I, Hector Dumbledore! Are you sure you want to ask me for the password?"

The stone beast was obviously stunned for a moment, as if thinking about something. Hector thought his threat worked and was very proud. He was about to move forward,

""Password."

Hector's eyes widened. The stone beast didn't think for long. It continued to carry out its task fairly, not giving Hector any chance to steal.

"I, I am the real Hector Dumbledore!"Hector was a little excited.

"The one inside is my grandpa, understand?"

""Password."

It looked like it didn't understand. Hector saw that intimidation had no effect on this stone guy, so what about bribery?

Hector quickly gave up the idea of bribery.

Bribing a stone? What does a stone want? Hector couldn't think of it. Now there was only one way in front of him - to try out the password.

Then Hector named all the candies he knew like reading the names of dishes, such as Lemon Sherbet, Strange Beans, Chocolate Frogs and so on. He didn't notice that Dumbledore was standing behind him with his beloved little jar, smiling at Hector's crazy look.

Hector almost named all the candies he could think of, but the stone beast still stared at him with its big cow-like eyes as always. Hector thought he had crashed the stone beast, and just as he was about to walk in, its cold mechanical voice came over.

"Password"

""Okay, okay," Hector took out his wand.

"Just wait, I will find my grandfather and I will tear it down for you no matter what. You are so proud of it. I just don’t believe that it can’t guard the door just by replacing it!"

"For the last time, will you let me go?"

"Password"

"Do you have anything else to say? Or is this the only thing you can say?"Hector really wanted to send a thunderbolt explosion to the stone beast's dumbfounded face. He raised his wand and pressed it against the stone beast's belly.

""That's enough, Hector." Dumbledore finally spoke. He was afraid that the boy would be very angry with the stone beast. If he really used a thunderbolt explosion on the old man who was guarding his door, he would not be afraid of the stone beast with full magic resistance, but the huge recoil force would probably give his beloved nephew a serious shock.

"Don't bother with that old guy."

""Grandpa Albus!" Hector was surprised, but he realized after a while that old Dumbledore had been watching the joke for a long time.

"The password was 'cockroach pile'. I almost got it right." Dumbledore winked at Hector.

"But the lemon Sherbet you just mentioned is also my favorite. As for the White Rabbit, is that candy? Or some new variety? Recently, they have been releasing new products at an increasingly faster speed. Personally, I think the classic ones are better. I really can’t adapt to the new styles—not sweet enough, too friendly to the elderly, but I don’t like them."

After the command was given, the stone beasts obediently made way. Hector followed Dumbledore up the ladder and came to Dumbledore’s office.

This was Hector’s first time in the principal’s office, a spacious and bright room filled with whirring silver gadgets, some of which were comically spewing smoke.

There were many portraits hanging on the walls, depicting all the former headmasters of Hogwarts, both male and female, who were all quietly snoring in their respective frames.

It was not until Hector walked into the room from the spiral staircase that the old people in the portraits slowly came out.

He opened his eyes and looked at the uninvited guest.

In the middle of the room was a table with claw-shaped legs. Next to the table was a shelf with a big red bird standing on it - it was the phoenix Fawkes. Hector had known it for a long time.

On the shelf at the back was the Sorting Hat. The tattered hat was placed on it casually. Dumbledore let the dust fall on it and had no intention of cleaning it.

Fawkes recognized Hector at once. She chirped softly and gently rubbed Hector's hand with her long, sharp beak. Hector also stroked her feathers.

""Long time no see," Hector said to Fox. He always had some nuts in his pocket. Although these nuts were prepared by Hector for the owl, most of them actually fell into his stomach.

There was no way, something in his mouth would bring Hector an incomparable sense of happiness.

But Fox didn't seem to like nuts. She just tried one and said she would never eat it again. However, she showed great interest in chocolate frogs.

It seems that she was led astray by Dumbledore. Sister Phoenix actually has an unusual love for sweets.

"Hector, what do you want to talk to me about?" Dumbledore looked at Hector with a smile.

"If I remember correctly, you should be at the Hog's Head, right? Why are you back at Hogwarts?"

"Merry Christmas, Grandpa." Hector took out a package from his arms, and Dumbledore took it. The package was warm and still had Hector's body temperature.

"I was afraid the owl wouldn't be able to deliver it in time, so I had to give it to you in advance." Hector explained.

"The weather has been really bad lately."

Dumbledore smiled happily. He placed the carefully wrapped gift box on the table very solemnly, then turned around and took out two boxes from the drawer of the table.

"This is your Christmas present," Dumbledore took out the box he had prepared long ago and handed it to Hector.

"Please help me pass this to Aberforth, he has been unwilling to accept my package."

Hector put Dumbledore's gift into the small bag he carried with him, thinking about the wording in his mind. Hector's trip was not just to give Dumbledore a gift, his plan was not yet completed. Dumbledore soon found Hector standing there blankly,

"Hector, anything else?"

"Well, Grandpa Albus, I was wondering if you would like to go to the Hog's Head and have dinner with me," Hector looked at Dumbledore's face.

"Christmas Eve is best spent as a family."

Henri was unsure. The relationship between Dumbledore and Aberforth had never been very good. Hector's appearance had originally helped to ease the tension, and things were moving in a good direction. However, the sudden occurrence of the troll incident had brought the relationship between the two brothers to a freezing point, and they were almost at the point of never seeing each other again.

After that, every time Aberforth mentioned Albus, he would grit his teeth. Would this Christmas dinner make the relationship between the Dumbledore brothers even worse?

Hector didn't know, but he was willing to try.

Dumbledore was obviously stunned. For a moment, this situation was something he had not expected. Dumbledore, who had seen so many big scenes, seemed particularly at a loss at this time. He didn't know how to respond to Hector's request. Dumbledore knew very well that this proposal was definitely Hector's idea, and his younger brother would never have such an idea.

Dumbledore really wanted to go, but he knew that once he went, according to Aberforth and his temper, it would be difficult for the two brothers not to quarrel.

In Dumbledore's heart, whether the relationship between him and his brothers could be eased was more important than whether Hector could have a happy Christmas.

"Forget it, Hector," Dumbledore smiled kindly and shook his head.

"Thank you very much for your kindness, Hector."