Under Mrs. Weasley's repeated instructions, Arthur reluctantly promised not to teach these things to Argus.
Argus wanted to explain, but Mrs. Weasley wasn't interested in hearing it.
The Weasleys only thought that Argus was making excuses for Arthur.
Argus could only smile helplessly at this.
After having lunch at the Burrow, Argus headed to Diagon Alley with the help of the fireplace and Floo powder.
"Mr. Grindelwald!"
"You are Mr. Grindelwald!"
As soon as he stepped out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron, the people in the bar surrounded Argus.
This scene was somewhat similar to when Harry Potter first came here.
But it was even crazier than Harry Potter's visit!
The excited crowd idolized Argus, taking turns to hug and shake his hand.
"Mr. Grindelwald, we saw the news about you in the Daily Prophet today. Thank you for your help to us ordinary wizards; there aren't many pure-bloods with a conscience like you these days!"
"Yes, Mr. Grindelwald, we remember your kindness to us!"
"Mr. Grindelwald, we support you!"
"..."
"Thank you, thank you everyone!" For the first time, Argus felt that being welcomed was also a kind of torture.
What should have been a one-minute journey was stretched into more than half an hour.
You can't show any impatience during this time!
Many people weren't satisfied with just one handshake and insisted on a second one.
Argus even saw the same face appear in front of him four times!
If he hadn't spoken up, that person might have come again.
He arrived at the entrance to Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron.
Argus recalled Hagrid's actions in the original story.
"Count three bricks up on the trash can, then two across horizontally."
As he tapped, the wall made of stacked bricks slowly parted.
The most bustling street in the British wizarding world appeared before Argus.
To be honest, this was the first time Argus had ever come to Diagon Alley this way.
In the past, he would just Apparate over directly.
As soon as Argus entered Diagon Alley, he was unsurprisingly surrounded by enthusiastic wizards once again.
Now, he had almost become the perfect pure-blood in the eyes of ordinary British wizards!
Strong, classy, polite, and caring.
Most importantly, he treated all wizards equally and was willing to think from their perspective!
Countless British wizarding parents had repeatedly urged their children to become respectable figures like Mr. Grindelwald.
Poor Argus hadn't even graduated from Hogwarts yet, and he had already become the public enemy of countless young wizards.
Upon arriving at the apothecary's shop, he had them prepare a gift for each of the Hogwarts professors from the warehouse.
After saying goodbye to Aunt Vinda, Argus went to Hogsmeade Village alone.
He quietly returned to the Slytherin common room at Hogwarts via the Marauder's Map passageway he had previously traversed.
Because it was Christmas, most students chose to go home for the holiday.
The few remaining were all on campus or in the library, so Argus's return went unnoticed.
After tidying up his dorm room, Argus waved his wand and used Reducio to shrink the gifts he had brought, slipping them into his pocket, intending to express his gratitude to the professors as Christmas presents.
The professors at Hogwarts were all of high moral character... except for Snape, who was somewhat controversial.
They definitely wouldn't accept gifts simply because you were expressing gratitude; Christmas was the perfect excuse.
He first went to Professor Flitwick's office.
His humorous style and relaxed management had made this Ravenclaw goblin professor very popular among students.
In terms of strength, there was no doubt.
He had won the Duel Tournament in his youth, and although he had been knocked unconscious by Snape in the Battle of the Tower, it was because of a sneak attack.
Professor Flitwick was very happy to see Argus arrive.
His eyes lit up especially when he saw the fine wine in Argus's hand.
As a regular at the Three Broomsticks, his love for alcohol was no less than Hagrid's.
However, his self-control was far superior to Hagrid's.
"Merry Christmas, Professor Flitwick!"
"I hope my gift isn't too late."
"It's really rare that you still remember Christmas presents after something like this! Hahaha..."
Professor Flitwick laughed heartily and pulled a notebook from his drawer.
"These are my notes from when I was young, containing a lot of combat experience that I've summarized."
"This should be helpful to you!"
"Thank you, Professor!" Argus accepted it without hesitation, which was met with another hearty laugh from Flitwick.
After exchanging pleasantries with Professor Flitwick for a short while, he presented a gift to both Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall.
Professor Sprout's fertilizer was a mixture of dragon dung, a rare find in the wizarding world.
Even some dragon farms rarely risked their lives to collect dragon dung.
With that kind of ability, anything they made was more valuable than dragon dung.
Argus hesitated for a long time about Professor McGonagall's gift.
Did older cat animagi prefer Quidditch or cats?
This was a difficult problem.
Finally, after learning about Professor McGonagall's past, Argus decided to give her a large pile of precious flower seeds.
Seeing Professor McGonagall's complicated expression, Argus said nothing and chose to leave politely.
"The most difficult one to deal with..."
"Well!"
Argus couldn't help but sigh as he reached the door of Snape's office.
Knock knock knock!
He mustered his courage and knocked on the door. Snape's deep voice came from inside.
"Come in!"
Upon seeing Argus, a hint of surprise appeared on his face, which quickly turned into deep mockery.
"It seems Mr. Grindelwald does sneak out at night quite often. He can even sneak into Hogwarts on his own before school starts."
Argus's smile froze instantly.
For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
"If you've come here just to stand here like a block of wood, I recommend you go to the Forbidden Forest, where there are plenty of your kind."
Seeing that Argus didn't speak, Snape said impatiently.
"Professor, I've come to give you a Christmas present."
"Merry Christmas!" Argus said, placing the prepared items on Snape's desk.
"No need!" Snape refused without even looking at it.
"If you really have nothing better to do, go and process the potion ingredients. A huge bucket of slugs just arrived over there..."
The moment Snape's gaze fell on the table, he couldn't look away.
With trembling hands, he reached out and picked up the photo on the table.
The photo showed a little girl.
A little girl with deep red hair stood smiling brightly in front of a shop.
The photograph was not one of the moving images found in the magical world; it was just an ordinary photograph from the Muggle world.
Snape's eyes held a tenderness that Argus had never seen before.
He stroked the photo again and again, wanting to press harder, yet afraid of hurting the person in the photo.
After a long while, he finally spoke in a slightly hoarse voice.
"Where did it come from?"
"In the Muggle world, in a photo studio. She had her picture taken once when she was little, and the owner used it as a sample for exhibition."
"Are there any more?"
"This is the last one."
Sensing the change in Snape's mood, Argus said nothing more and silently prepared to leave.
Just as he was about to step out the door, Snape's cold voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Don't do things like what happened in the Ministry of Magic's hall last night again."
"Nobody wants to see another Grindelwald rise to prominence!"
...
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