[HP] Similar but different

Winter break is here.

As if in the blink of an eye, the castle was empty.Harry woke up from his sleep and didn't hear Neville's snoring, so he slowly remembered that most of the students had left yesterday by the Hogwarts Express.

He sat up rubbing his eyes, and it took a few seconds for him to fully wake up.Suddenly there was a beaking sound, and he hurriedly put on his glasses, and saw a snow-white owl standing on the edge of the window, and the sound was made by its beak hitting the glass.

Hedwig...Harry regained his energy and immediately got up to open the window.The owl almost jumped onto his hand, lifting a leg reservedly.Harry unwrapped the letter from his lap, grabbed another handful of cornflakes for Hedwig, and sat down to read.

The letter was from Sirius.He said he missed Harry a lot and asked if Harry was starting to look up to Hermione.Then he explained right away, saying that he was just joking, and that if Harry worked hard, he might get more "Os" than he and James combined.

"... Personally, I think it's a bit difficult to surpass Moon-face in terms of test scores. But Moon-face said that he believes in you."

This is the end of the letter.It was signed with a big, shaggy dog's head, baring its teeth.Harry took the parchment and studied it over and over again, and finally decided that it should be a smile, because his and Sirius' drawing skills were probably not too different.

He looked at the bright snowy light outside the window, and read the short letter again.Not a word about Christmas in it... Wonder if Lupine will spend the holidays with Sirius... It will be more lively at the Burrow, if Mrs. Weasley is willing to invite Sirius...

Although these thoughts were circling in Harry's head, he clearly knew that there was one and only one thing that Sirius wanted to do most at Christmas——

Go out, even if it's just to become a big dog and have fun on the snow-covered square.

Harry dropped his eyes to the letter for the third time.Dumbledore's words echoed in his ears a few days ago, coupled with Sirius' seemingly indifferent tone... His eyes sting slightly.

Studying is for exams, exams are for being an Auror; but there are always things in the world that are more important than exam grades, or even being an Auror - especially something that only he can do.

Harry made up his mind.He opened the top drawer of the bedside table, took out the contents one by one, and stuffed them into his pocket that had been cast with the traceless expansion spell.Last night, the three of them had a battle meeting, and in the end Hermione left all the maps and other materials.According to the original schedule, they will further improve the plan today, but...

Sorry, Harry said to his two best friends in his mind, and glanced across at the same time.Ron's bed curtain was closed tightly, and he could vaguely catch his long breath.He calmed down a little, quickly tidied himself up, jumped on the bed again, closed the curtain, and turned over the portrait with the foot of the bed turned backwards.

"...Why..." The villain was startled awake, his eyes bleary.

Harry made a hasty quiet gesture. "Show me the way," he said in the softest voice.

According to the traffic guidelines drawn up by Hermione, they need to take a bus from Hogsmeade to London, and then transfer to Muggle traffic from London to Wiltshire.This is a relatively appropriate solution, but it takes a lot of time.Harry reckoned that Ron and Hermione would find out he had left the castle by noon at the latest, and he didn't want him to miss Malfoy Manor by then.

The quickest way would be for him to apparate directly from Hogsmeade to the vicinity of Privet Drive - yes, Surrey is closer to Wiltshire than London - and then start from the nearest station .

The only problem was that he hadn't attempted to go that far since he had learned to Apparate.

Harry was thinking about this as he walked down the secret passage.The time difference between the two methods was quite different, and his previous wanderings in Little Whinging and his familiarity with the terrain finally made him decide to take the risk.

Purpose, determination, calmness...

Harry said those three words silently, all the while thinking of the most deserted place around Privet Drive.He must go there, he must go there...

He opened his arms and spun in place, feeling his body turn into nothingness.He seemed to be floating up, and the next second he landed heavily, his calf bumped into something soft suddenly.

"--Meow!"

A piercing meow sounded.Harry took a closer look and saw a gray feral cat sprinting away from him.He hurriedly hid in the messy bushes on the side, and at the same time carefully looked around - the abandoned swings, the scattered carousels, the closed doors and windows of houses in the distance...

He made it, and there was no one around him.

It was a good start, Harry told himself.He adjusted the Muggle clothes he had specially put on, and walked towards the station.

**

Narcissa Malfoy was up before the sun rose.Like many adolescent boys, Draco Malfoy has grown up rapidly in the past two years, with a thin and tall figure. A mother always feels that her precious son should be nourished.Now that the school is on holiday, it is giving her a great opportunity to show her talents.

Of course, this does not mean that Narcissa Malfoy will cook herself.Although the Malfoy family had lost their house-elf in the early years, they immediately hired several others to tend the garden lawn and eat and drink.

At the moment, Mrs. Malfoy is supervising the making of fudge by several maids.Although this thing is not difficult to make, it is not the style of the Malfoy family if it is too simple.

"Keep stirring! Be sure to keep stirring for 15 minutes, first five times clockwise, then five times counterclockwise!"

"Pay attention to the moisture when boiling the sugar - not too brittle and not too soft, Xiaolong doesn't like it!"

Draco Malfoy, fully dressed, passed by just in time to see his mother standing a step outside the kitchen door giving orders. "Morning, Mom," he said, his voice still sleepy, "are you making fudge?"

"Yes." Mrs. Malfoy turned her head and looked at him lovingly, "Why don't you sleep a little longer during the holiday, Xiaolong?"

"Dad said he had something to tell me," Draco replied, before asking, "When can we have breakfast?"

Mrs. Malfoy's complexion darkened because of the previous sentence, and turned bright again in an instant. "It will be fine soon," she promised, "I will definitely be able to eat after you finish talking."

Draco yawned a little, missing the slight change in his mother's expression. "That's all very well," he muttered, "but I don't know how long."

"If it's too late, I'll send you in myself." Mrs. Malfoy asked confirmingly, "Are you in your father's study?"

"Yeah." Satisfied, Draco raised his leg and prepared to leave.At that moment, he caught a glimpse of the yew hedge shaking in the distance. "Is that mouse still there, mother?"

Mrs. Malfoy immediately showed an expression of extreme disgust. "Probably, but I hope he's not in our house. It's horrible. He always likes to go to dark and dirty places... If I see him at the dining table, I will definitely be so disgusted that I can't eat a bite."

"Fortunately, Dad never intended to treat him like that." Draco agreed, "Then I'll go first, Mom."

Outside the manor, Harry was quickly lowering his body.

He had just walked around the yew hedge and found that Malfoy's house was really big-lawn driveway in front, garden fountain in the back, and a few white peacocks pacing.

Seriously, white peacocks?

Harry groaned, he finally knew where Malfoy's haughty temper came from.He tried to jump over the wall, but he was always bounced off, let alone climbed up. The effect was very similar to casting the anti-invasion charm recorded in Hermione's book.No effective countermeasures were written in the back, so he could only try to use a long branch to push aside the hedge, trying to see more clearly——

It was a very respectable mansion, with its carved doors shut and only a few panes gleaming.

The glow, Harry soon realized, was due to the lights inside.He couldn't help looking there vigorously, hoping to find some clues.At first, there was nothing; but after a while a tall, indistinct figure with blond hair emerged from an adjacent half-open window.

That's definitely not Wormtail... Harry realized with a sinking heart that it was probably Draco Malfoy, after all Lucius Malfoy's long hair was too prominent to be mistaken.But he still stared at——

What if Draco Malfoy was talking to Wormtail?

However, this conjecture was not verified, as Draco Malfoy walked away quickly.Harry was a little discouraged, could he only rely on the narrow field of vision between the branches and leaves to find a mouse?

Harry started rummaging frantically in his pockets.The first thing I touched was the broomstick: but if he was caught riding a fire gun, he would probably lose himself to Azkaban before Wormtail; then there were a few thick books, which might have solutions to anti-intrusion Unfortunately, he couldn't read it right away; the portrait photo frame, but the passage of the portrait was opened by the magic power of the Room of Requirement; a few strings, let alone useless...

and many more?

Suddenly, Harry realized that the flesh-coloured string he was about to toss aside was not real string, but retractable ears.

It was something Fred and George had worked out for eavesdropping on Order of the Phoenix meetings, but it had long been useless because Mrs. Weasley always remembered to cast anti-disturbance charms on the meeting room doors.Later, the twin brothers made a lot of money from it; however, he doubted whether Malfoy, with his eyes higher than his head, would take the Weasleys' product seriously.

Harry untied several pairs of knotted extension ears and carefully placed one end on the edge of the hedge.He was ready to fail, but the flesh-colored string only paused for a moment before quietly moving in.