"That probably isn't allowed."
Pabi's voice abruptly appeared, and Umbridge turned her head, finding that at some point, the school governess had already appeared behind her.
"When did you arrive?" Umbridge asked, frowning.
"That's not something you should be concerned about, Ms. Senior Investigator." Pabi crossed her arms, her majestic figure slightly distorted, "What you should really be concerned about is whether your undue actions will be allowed—"
"It's authorized by the Ministry of Magic, madam," Umbridge maintained her forced smile.
Pabi chuckled and didn't continue speaking.
As December arrived, the weather became increasingly colder.
Lately, Umbridge hadn't taken any extreme actions, and it seemed like the Twenty-Fifth Education Order was just empty words.
But those who were observant knew that it seemed Umbridge and the Ministry of Magic were brewing something big.
Early Sunday morning, Hermione got up early, planning to sit in Professor Scamander's tent for a while.
Ron actually wanted to go with her, but his "mountain of homework" had grown to a terrifying height, so Ron reluctantly stayed in the common room, trying not to pay attention to the cheers coming from downstairs.
Students were skating on the lake, sledding, and worst of all, they used magic to make snowballs fly up to the Gryffindor Tower, hitting the windows heavily.
"Hey!" Ron finally lost his patience, sticking his head out the window and yelling, "I'm a Class Prefect; if another snowball hits this window—ouch!"
He quickly pulled his head back in, his face covered in snow.
"Hey, big-headed boy!"
It was Fred and George; they both rarely cared about Ron's so-called prefect authority.
Two weeks before Christmas, Dico arrived at Hogwarts, just as he had a hundred years ago, starting to become Harry's little helper in preparing for Christmas.
Dico was very respected among the house-elves at Hogwarts. For some reason, the house-elves at Hogwarts were always willing to listen to him.
The whole of Hogwarts was bustling, preparing for Christmas.
This year, Harry still planned to spend Christmas at Number Twelve Grimmauld Square.
In the last Defense Against the Dark Arts class before Christmas, Harry arrived early in the classroom.
He was glad he came early because when all the torches lit up, he noticed that Dico had decorated the place for Christmas.
It was obvious the elves had done it because no one else would hang a hundred golden balls from the ceiling, each with Harry's face on it and engraved with the phrase: Christmas Halle-larry-ujah!
Just as Harry took down the last golden ball, the door creaked open, and Luna entered dreamily, as usual.
"Hi," she mumbled, examining the remaining decorations, "Very pretty. Did you do this?"
"No," Harry said, "It was Dico, a very diligent house-elf."
"Mistletoe," Luna said dreamily, pointing to a large cluster of white berries almost covering Harry's head. He quickly jumped out from underneath it. "That's right," Luna said solemnly, "It often grows Filspogs inside."
Just then, Angelina, Katie, and Alicia came in, sparing Harry from asking what Filspogs were.
The three girls were panting, looking freezing.
"Time flies, doesn't it?" Angelina said, rubbing her hands and constantly blowing on her frostbitten hands, "Just think about it, our Quidditch match seems like it was just yesterday, doesn't it?"
"Time is like a wild mule," Harry mused, "One moment it's the Christmas holiday, and the next, it's a new term."
"Yes," Angelina rolled her eyes, "By that time, we'll have graduated—"
When everyone was present, Harry raised his hand and said, "Since this is the last class before the holiday, we won't learn anything new... After all, we'll have a month-long vacation, and even if we learn something new, we'll forget it during the break, won't we?"
"Not learning anything new..." Daphne Greengrass from Slytherin was a bit disappointed. Beside her was her sister Astoria Greengrass—ever since Astoria joined Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Pansy had felt a sense of crisis—though she couldn't pinpoint where this feeling came from, she was just uneasy.
"Trust me, during the holiday, you won't be actively practicing new spells." Harry shrugged and said, "So let's consolidate what we've learned before—Iron Armor Spell, Disarming Spell, Obstacle Curse, and Stunning Spell. Now, still in pairs, we'll start practicing with the Obstacle Curse!"
Everyone automatically dispersed, and soon the room was filled with the sound of "Obstacles everywhere." Those hit would be stunned for about a minute, while the opponents watched idly until they were free, then exchanged roles with their partners.
This time Harry wasn't paired with Luna; Annie came up, wanting to practice with him.
As a Sigma man, Harry certainly wouldn't show mercy just because Annie helps him with homework. He quickly immobilized Annie, then turned to watch others practice spells.
As the class was nearing its end, Harry called everyone to stop.
"You've practiced well," he smiled as he looked at everyone, "After the break, we can start with some more challenging stuff—even potentially including the Patronus Charm."