Harry, who had put on his invisibility cloak again, crept away. Neil knew that he wasn't completely convinced, but was just confused by his pretended profoundness.

But that should be enough. Memories that come with a huge impact don't fade away so easily, like cockroaches, filch, and psychological trauma, and they may suddenly jump out of a forgotten corner at any point.

Neil didn't know what Dumbledore's intentions were, but even if he didn't talk about business, he didn't want to see someone he knew go the wrong way in front of his eyes. When the ghost gate of Kunlun Mountain was opened, nearly one-third of the brothers and sisters were lost in the formation of old ghosts and mirages.

There is actually a misunderstanding in this traditional concept, seeing that most of the people who have achieved the exercises are alone, they think that only by abandoning their families and seeking the Tao can they achieve something. But if you go to the dormitory of the outer disciple's Datongpu, you will find out, which one of them was not picked up because his parents died and he was helpless? Regardless of whether they are dedicated to seeking the Tao or not, or whether they have achieved great success in the exercises, they are all destined to be alone.

Abandoning their wives and children is not an option on the road to cultivating immortals, on the contrary, cultivating immortals is one of the only remaining ways for them to survive after losing their families.

It was this point that was taken advantage of by the demons, and many disciples suddenly saw their dead parents, teachers, and siblings appear in front of them in the melee, and they lost their minds for a while, and then they lost their lives like this. Suddenly, Neil froze for a moment, laughed miserably and shook his head, erasing the faces of his brothers and sisters from his eyes—he had just reminded others to keep their distance from the dead.

It stands to reason that such a tragedy should not be repeated, let alone in the midst of human infighting—yes, I know that it is debatable whether the brother whose name he can't even mention can be classified as human at all, but...... That's not the point of the question, okay?

He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched his imaginary back fade away (for it was invisible). In the next second, Severus Snape suddenly emerged from behind the corner behind him like a ghost, and there was a faint hint of the cruel pleasure of the hunter when he saw his prey clung to the trap - to be exact, when he saw the prey step on the trap, the flesh was blurred, dying, and he could only do a futile death struggle.

"What are you doing?"

He asked coldly, like a dutiful professor who had caught his students on a night tour.

But Neil just wiped his face impatiently, "Come on, Professor, don't do this. I'm grateful that you helped to get Mr. Filch away when you received the little note I handed out through the crack in the door, but I really don't have the strength to do that today. I wish you a good night, okay?"

He turned to leave, but Snape grabbed him from behind.

"I don't understand what you're saying, Wan, maybe you should go to the hospital to get your brain checked - after the confinement is over, of course." Snape's ice-like face was trembling imperceptibly, as if it was about to crack apart with a twisted ecstasy in his heart in the next second—he seemed to have made up his mind that this time he must teach this unbelievable bastard a good lesson, and he did not hesitate to play stupid to the end, "As for now, I must first deduct fifty points from Ravenclaw......

"—Then I must provide Professor Flitwick with a reasonable explanation for why I was punished so harshly when I am questioned by Professor Flitsch tomorrow, but for obvious reasons I can't tell the truth...... So I had to make it up myself." Neil brushed his hand away unmoved, "What do you think I thought I had stumbled upon by you for breaking Mr. Filch away under the pretext of discovering the students on a night outing, and then plotting against his cat?" I don't think anyone is willing to stand up for you with your usual popularity."

Snape's face darkened, and his talon-like hands were bruised with bruises on the backs of his hands, as if he was trying his best to suppress the urge to pounce on him and strangle him.

"Oh yes, and you fabricated my negative opinion of him in front of Mr. Principal......

"Fabricated?" The word made Snape stunned slightly, and then he was furious, and blood actually appeared on his sallow face, obviously angry to the extreme, "You

This one...... How dare you!"

He subconsciously took a step closer, but eventually managed to control himself. After standing in place for a long time, he slowly opened his eyes and viciously squeezed out a word from between his teeth:

"Get out!"

"Right now, Mr. Professor—oh yes, I wish you a good night."

……

……

The Christmas holidays are over in the blink of an eye.

Harry confessed to Ron about his adventures in the castle alone in the cloak of invisibility, as well as about the Mirror of Eris. The latter first condemned him for his lack of trust in his friends and his rash actions without consideration, and then expressed his understanding of Harry's feelings, and tactfully stated that he too wanted to go to the mirror and take a look at the male student council president, the Quidditch World Cup, the big house, and the chicken legs.

Harry was hesitant at first, but he couldn't keep his rejection in front of Ron. The latter begged him all day, and by noon the next day, he finally couldn't stand the various crooked arguments and coercion and temptations put forward by the other party (including allowing him to regret one step when playing wizard chess in the future), and promised to take him to that room again that night.

Only once should it be out of the way, he thought.

Unfortunately, it backfired, and when the two of them huddled under the invisibility cloak and ran around the library for more than an hour, opening every door on the road, and finally finding the empty classroom where Harry had been hiding that night, the Magic Mirror had been removed.

It seemed that Neil was walking his word, and immediately after the conversation that night ended, he wrote a letter of protest to the school.

Not being able to see the legendary Magic Mirror made Ron unhappy, but his bad mood didn't last long.

At the end of the holidays, Hermione rushed back to school as fast as she could, hoping to hear an update on the Penalty Zone and Nicol Lemay.

In her mind, Harry and Ron, who stayed at the school, would undoubtedly seize the Christmas break to make discoveries based on the findings she had left behind, only to be told that the two had done nothing but eat, sleep, play, and wander around the castle at the risk of being caught by Filch.

That feeling is conceivable.

"You two didn't even remember to send me Christmas presents...... Even if it's a greeting card......

At the end of the long sermon, she leaned back into the floppy armchair in the common room, and summed it up weakly.

Ron's expression was embarrassed, "I didn't mean to...... And I forgot the gift I gave Harry - he forgot about mine, too! If that makes you feel better — you know, it's not just for you......

"Can we send a letter from Hogwarts to Muggle society?" Harry suddenly asked, "I mean, isn't there some kind of secrecy law?"

"Oh, that's fine." Ron explained, quickly realizing that he was putting a noose around his neck, "It's not illegal to send something to a Muggle family with wizarding members, as long as it's not on the list of prohibited magical items, and the Ministry of Magic will review the whereabouts of owls, so there's nothing to worry about...... Well, I mean, sorry, Hermione, I'll remember next year!"

Hermione sighed.

"Well, to be honest, I wasn't expecting it, but I received a gift from Neil from Hogwarts on Christmas Day, but I didn't have your ......"

"Neil? What did he give you?" Harry thought of the beautiful set of crystal pieces and couldn't help but be a little curious. However, it is conceivable that Hermione, who has been let down by the two of them too many times today, is not in the mood to answer his questions at all.

"Secret."

She said with her arms folded and puffing.

"I'll tell you when you remember to write to me next Christmas."

Harry nodded sheepishly, pulled out a box of chocolate frogs from the mountain of chocolate frogs on the table, tore open the package, bit off the frog's head, and flipped the box over to check the picture on the back. Hermione couldn't help but shake her head at this childish behavior, Ron

But he seemed interested.

"Did you get Agripba?"

Harry ignored him, however, and his eyes were fixed on the picture as if they were staring at it.

"Harry?"

Ron called him blankly.

"You're not going to really get Agripba, are you? That's great! I'll take ten...... No, twenty for you! Great, I'm just one last one away from collecting the set, and old Ron will never forget your kindness, okay?"

"Dumbledore." Harry whispered.

Ron waved his hand in disappointment, "Oh, I'm much better at that."

"Don't interrupt, Ron!" Hermione punched him, and she could see that Harry's expression was wrong, "Go on, Harry, what's wrong with Dumbledore?"

Harry looked up and looked at them silently, the expression on his face a little glazed.

"Nicol Lemay."

"What?"

He flipped the picture over and pointed to the words on it, his voice almost uncontrollable, "Albus Dumbledore, the current Headmaster of Hogwarts, is widely regarded as the greatest wizard of our time. Dumbledore's well-known contributions include: defeating the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945; Twelve uses of dragon's blood were discovered; With the partner Nicola May was fruitful in alchemy. Professor Dumbledore was fond of chamber music and the Ten Pillars of Woodball"—you see, Nicol Lemay, here he is!"