The situation seems to have become more complicated.

That night, after they had dinner, an uninvited guest popped up in the Slytherin common room!

It was Mr. Plinger, and his dog, Mr. Don.

As the caretaker of the castle, he rarely trespasses into the common rooms of the various colleges.

"Are Matthew Wakefield, and Agnes Lestrange, here?" he yelled.

Matthew and Lestrange raised their hands one after the other.

Mr. Pringer simply walked over, looked at them one after the other, and after writing something on the parchment in his hand, hurried away with the golden retriever on his hand.

"What's going on?" Matthew glanced at Lestrange with some confusion.

Lestrange shrugged her shoulders, signaling that she didn't know.

Matthew didn't pay much attention to it, lowered his head, and continued to look at the "Legend of Merlin" in his hand.

This history book, or historical novel, was borrowed from the library before Christmas.

......

The next morning, thick snowflakes flew in the sky, covering almost every window of the castle, making the castle darker than ever.

When Matthew passed by the door of the auditorium, he encountered a strange thing -

Justin Finchrie, a first-year Hufflepuff, was being rebuked by his dean, Professor Pomona Sprout.

Professor Sprout's expression was agitated, and Mr. Fenreli was bowing his head in shame.

This was rather odd indeed, given that Professor Sprout had always been a good-natured professor, and she rarely blamed anyone, let alone a Hufflepuff student.

Matthew walked into the auditorium and saw Hermione Granger eating breakfast at the only long table, so he walked over and sat down next to her.

"Huh?" Glancing at Matthew, Hermione snorted softly.

Ever since Hermione took Professor Flitwick and broke down the door of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, Matthew hadn't had much to do with her.

Hermione also seemed to have a problem with that, because in her opinion, she had done Matthew a great favor at the time...... Whatever Matthew says, he should thank her.

But after all, she is a little girl and does not hold grudges.

"What's the matter?" she asked blandly.

"Professor Sprout at the door, and Justin Finchrie...... What's going on?" Matthew asked curiously, "It's the first time I've seen Professor Sprout so angry!"

"That Justin Finchrie......" Hermione's face showed a slight look of disdain, "He ate too much candy at Duke Honey's candy store when he went to Hogsmeade yesterday, and then fell asleep at the two broomsticks in the afternoon, and slept until the night when the two brooms closed, and the barkeeper woke him up......"

"Asleep?" Matthew froze.

"Yes. Hermione nodded: "Yesterday until dark, he didn't show up, and when his classmates went to report to Mr. Pringer, they frightened Mr. Pringle......!

Matthew suddenly remembered that Mr. Pringer had made a rare appearance in the Slytherin common room last night, and had been looking for him and Lestrange.

"So, and then what?"

"It alarmed the whole school, and just as Headmaster Rozier was about to go to Hogsmeade to look for him, he suddenly returned......" Hermione replied, "So this morning, along with Professor Sprout, I was severely reprimanded by Headmaster Rozier!"

"I see!" Matthew nodded thoughtfully.

"Anything else?" Hermione said dryly, "If you don't mind, I've finished breakfast!"

"It's alright, thank you very much, Miss Granger!" Matthew smiled flatteringly.

With Hermione gone, Matthew began to think again as he ate his breakfast.

......

Matthew Wakefield was quiet for the next few days.

The snowstorm outside the castle started to be very heavy all the time, and the road was almost blocked by heavy snow.

Most of the Hogwarts students have no interest in going to Hogsmeade, and Matthew has not thought of going to Hogsmeade for a long time.

Most of the time, Matthew spends his time in the common room reading books and occasionally going to the library.

When he was really bored, he played Gobstone and Wizard Chess with Lestrange.

The gameplay of Gobstone is similar to that of Muggle marble. A standard game of high stones consists of thirty small, round stones, each of which starts with fifteen each, and if one player collects all of his opponent's stones, he is the winner of the game.

The main difference is that when one side loses a point, the stones spray a foul-smelling liquid into the face of the person who lost the score.

It's a very simple little game, although Matthew loses more and wins less, and most of the time he is not Lestrange's opponent.

As for wizarding chess, the rules are basically the same as Muggle chess, with the pieces moving to the target square on their own according to the player's commands. It's just that when a piece is captured, it will be knocked over by the opponent's piece and then dragged out of the board.

This Matthew was a bit more powerful, with more wins and fewer losses, and he easily gained the trust of the chess pieces left by Draco Malfoy.

......

On Christmas morning, Matthew was at the foot of the bed and saw a small pile of packages and his Christmas presents.

Among them was a beautifully packaged bottle of mead, which at first glance was given by Professor Slughorn...... And Matthew gave him a box of pineapple compote yesterday.

He had asked the seventh-year Slytherin girl in the common room to go to Duke Honey two days ago to buy it.

a brand new box of Wizard Chess;

a Compendium of the History of Modern and Modern Magic;

......

And—

Matthew moved his gaze to the last package, a beautiful Christmas gift box, but it was not signed.

Matthew couldn't help but blink, who would give himself a Christmas present anonymously?

He gently untied the gift rope and opened the Christmas gift box......

"Huh?" Matthew snorted coldly, looking at the contents inside.

The expression on his face gradually became solemn.

But then, he suddenly laughed.

Because this last Christmas gift is a quaint, familiar, mysterious book.