A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Until past noon, Felix didn't leave Hagrid's cabin. Harry glanced at the time and decided to stay and have lunch with Hagrid. Before long, the aroma of mushrooms and wild vegetables filled the air as the pot on the stove simmered.

"Knock, knock!"

A knocking sound came from outside, and Harry and Hagrid exchanged glances. Harry went to open the door, finding Ron and Hermione standing there. Before he could speak, Hermione eagerly said, "We met Professor Harp on the way."

"How fortunate," Harry chuckled.

So the four of them eagerly stared at the mushroom soup. "Not enough for everyone," Hagrid grumbled, "I remember having some biscuits..." Hermione quickly pulled out a bunch of snacks from her beaded bag, and Harry and Ron advised Hagrid to take it easy.

"You're well-prepared," Hagrid said with a gruff voice, stirring the food in the pot with a spoon, "Let me roast some sausages, sizzling and oily, your favorite."

Harry suddenly felt nauseous. Professor Harp's words had unfortunately come true.

He planned to check later what a stag usually liked to eat, but perhaps he didn't need to; he could just go with the flow. Right now, he couldn't get the pumpkin patch out of his mind...

"So, did your transformation go smoothly?" Ron asked with a purposeful tone. Harry mentioned Dumbledore's appearance, saying it was to "bring in some clouds," which Ron and Hermione half believed.

"I've tried it the second time, so it naturally went faster," Harry said.

Hermione suggested Ron practice the Patronus Charm when he's free.

"Time is never enough," Ron sighed, "Professor Flitwick just told us we only have six weeks left until the exams, and then he assigned a two-foot-long essay."

They quickly moved on from this topic, and the pot on the stove boiled over. The four of them happily enjoyed a meal of mushroom and vegetable soup and grilled sausages, with Hagrid eating three-quarters of the food alone.

After eating and drinking, their conversation drifted.

"Professor Bathsheda is also very knowledgeable about the Patronus Charm," Harry said after swallowing a mouthful of chocolate cauldron cake, patting his bulging stomach, feeling stuffed.

Talking about magic, Hermione immediately became sharp.

"It's possible," she analyzed slowly, "Remember? Professor Harp can integrate ancient magical texts into his Patronus, but he almost reconstructed the magic with memory nodes..."

"Speaking of Professor Bathsheda," Hagrid seemed to remember something, "I forgot to give her an Easter egg. Poor thing... I remember she said she's from abroad, probably no one gave her any gifts."

"Dumbledore did," Harry immediately said, "I saw a package and a card in his office. Um... I and Neville also gave something."

"Well, that's good," Hagrid seemed relieved, "Dumbledore is indeed considerate in this regard. He also gave Snape a gift, on Easter morning, I guess..."

"Wait a minute!" Harry interrupted hastily, "Did you say Easter morning?"

"Yes," Hagrid looked at him puzzled.

"But isn't Dumbledore..." Harry was somewhat confused. Dumbledore had told him he would stay with his brother for the entire holiday for some important business.

"Maybe he came back in between," Hermione speculated in a low voice.

"Yeah, Hogwarts is so close to Hogsmeade, he could have come back in the morning after a short walk," Ron said.

Harry was almost convinced, though he still had some doubts in his mind, so he asked Hagrid:

"Did you see them? Where were they? What did they say at the time?"

"I don't know, I had just returned from deep in the Forbidden Forest at the time, and Grawp is now able to build houses on his own. Ahem... I left when I saw them talking," Hagrid said roughly, "Do I look like someone who eavesdrops on conversations? And my size doesn't allow it either..."

Ron chuckled, covering his mouth hastily, "Sorry, Hagrid—accident."

"What about their actions at the time? Didn't you say Snape received a gift?" Harry continued to inquire.

"Quite curious," Hagrid glanced at him sternly, but still showed a reminiscing expression, "Well, I just caught a glimpse—Snape didn't look too good at the time... Dumbledore was in a cheerful mood, and kept persuading him to accept something. I think, besides a gift, it couldn't have been anything else, right?"

Harry pondered silently.

"So, you didn't actually see Snape holding a round Easter egg, you just heard one or two sentences... Could it be that Dumbledore wanted Snape to accept something else?" Harry asked.

"What could it be?" Hagrid asked back, tugging at his large beard.

"I don't know, maybe a Christmas hat?" Harry guessed randomly. He suddenly realized his memory of Snape had faded considerably over the past half year. The most vivid memory still remained from Christmas.

They discussed for a while longer but didn't come up with any useful ideas, so they bid farewell to Hagrid and headed back to the castle.

"Maybe it's just a regular gift," Ron said, seeing Harry still absent-minded, "Think about it, Snape probably doesn't have many people giving him gifts. I guess besides Dumbledore, maybe Malfoy." He speculated carefully.

"Or maybe—it's Voldemort's wand!" Harry suddenly said, as if a current surged through his body.

He had been thinking about what important thing Dumbledore could have to give away, and he remembered the wand that Dumbledore had carefully examined on his desk during their first class.

Ron and Hermione exchanged puzzled looks. But Harry continued excitedly:

"Dumbledore already had that wand before Voldemort's resurrection! Back then, Mr. Crouch was under the Imperius Curse and Confundus Charm, serving Voldemort, and his son, Barty Crouch Jr., was undercover at school. As a result, on Christmas Day, the headmaster and Professor Harp launched a surprise attack on the Crouch manor, and the wand was one of the spoils of war."

He continued excitedly:

"And this wand itself is also significant. It was Voldemort's first wand, and the phoenix feather core came from Fawkes. If it weren't for that accidental loss, he might not have wanted to replace it..."

"But why? Why would Dumbledore give Voldemort's wand to Snape? Snape can't use it," Ron asked.

"Yeah, why?" Harry murmured.

"Harry, you could actually ask Headmaster Dumbledore in person, you have many opportunities," Hermione suggested, referring to their private classes.

"I—I'm not sure. If Headmaster Dumbledore sneaked back, he obviously didn't want a third person to know about his conversation with Snape, right? I might not be able to ask anything—" He suddenly stopped, widened his eyes, and a large silver creature with long horns flashed past them, heading straight for the castle.

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