94 Diagon Alley

Listen to…”

The sound of three or four people talking at the same time made Gwen's brain explode, and she had to sneak out of Professor Binns' class and hide in the girls' bathroom cubicle.

"George, how is Mr. Weasley?"

The noise on the other end quieted down, and George grabbed the retractable ear.

"Dad's alright, the therapist said it's just a blood tonic every hour. Listen, I have to make a long story short, Gwen. Dumbledore allowed us to go back to school after the Christmas break, you do not worry."

Gwen calmed his breath, "Bless Merlin, luckily he's all right. As for the school, Umbridge went mad that day, and the Hogwarts portrait says she got mad at the headmaster, Because some students left the school without permission."

"That old witch," Gwen could think of George's expression through the telescopic ear, frowning and wrinkling his nose. "Leave her alone. Anyway, we'll spend Christmas like summer."

"I'll send you gifts, dear. But I have to go back to Diagon Alley this holiday." Gwen said apologetically, "I hope Mr. Weasley gets well soon. If you miss me Now, you know how to contact me."

The best gift and the worst punishment

Gwen did not go to the Order of the Phoenix this Christmas holiday. She and old Garrick, who had temporarily ended the special mission, enjoyed a white Christmas and market in Diagon Alley. More importantly, she believes the injured Mr Weasley needs to be with his family and should not be disturbed.

On Christmas Eve, she confessed her concerns when Gwen and George spoke through their telescopic ears.

"Umbridge has been absolutely reckless about the surveillance of the students lately. My letters with Hermione have been rummaged through and they've sealed up a couple of the school fireplaces. So I'll have to wait until I get back Home to contact you, or she might find our 'good stuff'. George, now we have to be careful with what we say." She said uncomfortably into her fake ear.

"I hope this doesn't affect my Christmas present." George sullenly.

"Sure, dear. Bill just came over from Gringotts and said he'd drop by after get off work with your gifts, and I'm so sorry to make him a human owl... so how about Mr. Weasley? already?"

"Dad is recovering well." George said in a louder voice, "The snake is so big, its venom seems to interfere with blood clotting, and the therapist says Dad has almost used up all of England's blood tonic. "

"You reminded me," Gwen shivered. "When I get back to Hogwarts, I will boil a large pot of blood tonic and find some white fresh."

"Wear it? We don't encounter snakes every day!"

"Be prepared," Gwen said firmly, "and you brothers bleed a lot for skipping class."

After saying goodbye to George, Gwen began to stuff the Christmas presents one by one into a large pocket. The fake pillbox for Fred—it looked like an ink bottle, which would allow him to bring quick-acting escaping candies into the classroom under Umbridge's nose. The gold tie clip for George was, of course, enchanted to automatically flatten his tie so that even if George flew up the halls of Hogwarts, his tie would be flat. The crystal ball given to Ginny is said to change color according to the owner's fortune the next day (Gwen thinks it is more reliable than Professor Trelawney). As for Hermione, Gwen conservatively chose the recommendation of the Ravenclaw witch Qiu Zhang, and purchased the popular "Five Years of N.E.W.T, Three Years of O.W.L.s" at the Lichen Bookstore. Considering that there were three banned boys in Grimmauld Place, Gwen gave up the idea of ​​sending Ron any Quidditch products and packed a decent stack of fun charms that were said to have magic spells that would do their homework automatically. She scratched her head for a long time, until Bill pushed open the shabby door of Ollivander's wand shop and wrapped Harry's present. Then stuffed an envelope with the words to FG.

What's in the envelope is Gwen's second reason to go back to Diagon Alley.

"I hope you can thank me." Bill nearly smashed a hole in the floor of Black's old house after enlarging the bag on his back. "Muggle Santa won't be as diligent as I am, how much stuff is in here."

"Great harvest this year!" Ron rushed over, and together with Bill, piled the gifts from Ollivander under the Christmas tree.

Mrs. Weasley held a half-person-height puff tower on the coffee table in the living room on the second floor, and glanced at the hill-like pile of gifts. "Gwen sent everyone gingerbread from the Leaky Cauldron - oh, they added Firewhiskey this year! Don't let the kids taste it." She shooed Harry and the others back to their room, who had not yet slept. , turned to look after Mr. Weasley, who was still somewhat pale.

The next morning, people gathered around the Christmas tree to unwrap gifts. The little gingers have red flames on their heads, and Sirius is amused by the giggling that old Tom of the Leaky Cauldron should pay each Weasley a royalty for using their likeness. After a while, though, he was drawn to Harry's gift.

Harry was looking at the two fleshy ears in the small box at a loss.

Fred leaned over, "Ah, she really gave this to you."

George also hooked Harry's shoulders, "This is our second pair of finished products, basically no faults except for being a little disgusting - if I say, buddy, we don't really care. What a retractable ear looks like. After all, it allows you to be in the Scottish Highlands and talk to wizards as far away as London, remember to yell sometimes because it doesn't always work."

"I don't understand why she gave it to me." Harry was a little strange.

"Because Umbridge is monitoring our communications now," said Hermione, admiring the reference book. "You disappeared right under Umbridge's nose and made her nose crooked. Since then, me, Gwen, and Neville have been turned upside down by her. I think Gwen may have offered you A new channel of communication has been established - you and Sirius, I have long warned you that a communal fireplace in Gryffindor is not a good choice."

Mr. Black immediately checked the ugly retractable ears, and tried to speak with Harry across the wall.

"It's not bad," he said, pinching his ears and returning to the living room, "the little wizards are able to toss this." But he just boasted, turned his head and went to the attic to rummage. . During the period, he also scolded Kreacher, who was secretly hiding old clothes, and kicked it out.

After a while, Sirius handed Harry a badly wrapped packet.

"But you and Lupin have sent me "Practical Defense Magic and Its Restraining Against the Dark Arts"." It was a beautiful set of books, and the spells in it had colorful animation illustrations. The book was useful for his activities in preparing for D.A.

Sirius proudly said, "This little thing might be better than retractable ears - maybe you should show Gwen and the twins, they're not the first wizards to have this idea."

Harry opened the wrapping paper dubiously, it was obvious that Sirius had packed it casually on his way downstairs. Inside is a small square mirror, a little old and of course dirty.

"This is a two-way mirror, there are two sides, and I still have one in my hand. If you want to find me, just call me at it, and you will appear in my mirror, And I can show up in your mirror and talk to you. In the past, when James and I weren't together, we used this to connect," Sirius explained, signaling that the twins could visit as much as they wanted.

"What's the matter." Fred said frustratedly, "We've been busy with a vacation, plus a semester. As a result, someone has already made a little prop for communication between wizards..."

"...even see the face." George also sighed.

"If it can make you feel better." Sirius raised his legs and crossed his fingers, "This is the only pair of double-sided mirrors, I haven't seen anyone selling them."

The twins immediately winked and hooked their shoulders, and decided with bad intentions when to borrow "research" from Harry, maybe they can make double-sided batches in time before the retractable ears are withdrawn from the wizarding market mirror. Fred and George plotted so loudly, slipping back to their room under Mrs. Weasley's glare.

After returning to a relatively quiet environment, George drew the crumpled envelope from his trouser pocket and shook it at his brother.

"What is this?" Fred raised his eyebrows.

"Gwen's letter." George grinned, "It has our names on it, I think I should read it with you."

He opened the envelope and unfolded a long piece of parchment. The Weasley twins' jaws were almost on the ground, and they didn't close for a long time.

"You know what I'm thinking, George?" Fred swallowed and looked at George.

The latter retracted his chin with his help and reluctantly said, "This is the best Christmas present ever."

"You know it's only eight in the morning?" Gwen took out the telescopic ear from under the pillow, answering George and Fred's call.

"We can't help it." Fred exclaimed.

"Even Christmas wishes are too early." Gwen slowly got up, refusing to greet the twins or be polite, "Because I'm not satisfied with the Christmas present I received, Wei Wei. Mr. Sly. No one's going to give a friend or girlfriend a whole nose-biting tea set at Christmas."

"And a small Bludger," added George.

"It screams!" growled Gwen. "At four o'clock in the morning, I didn't even open the present, and it started screaming. Break free of the gift box, in the wand shop