Chapter 56: Christmas Gift

Christmas is approaching, and Hogwarts has seen another heavy snowfall; the ground is covered with several feet of snow, and the lake surface is frozen with hard ice.

The Weasley twins cast a spell on several snowballs, making them chase Professor Quirrell everywhere before smashing into the back of his purple turban, for which they were punished.

When the incident happened, Allen was also present; he quietly cheered for the Weasley brothers in his heart while analyzing what spell they had cast on the snowballs, finally concluding it was a combination of the Levitation Charm and a Transfiguration spell.

They used the Levitation Charm to make the snowballs fly, and the Transfiguration spell to imbue the snowballs with action logic and a target, or to establish a link with the snowballs to control their flight trajectory in real time.

This made him look at the Weasley twins with new respect; not only were they skilled in casting spells, but they also played with such creativity, so it seemed he would need to interact with them more in the future.

Last week, Professor McGonagall came to register the list of students staying at school for the holiday, and Harry and Allen immediately signed their names on it.

"I really feel sorry for those people," Draco Malfoy said during a Potions class, "having to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because their families don't want them."

While speaking, he looked at Allen and Harry, while Crabbe and Goyle chuckled quietly beside him.

But Allen and Harry did not want to pay him any attention at all, and Malfoy's face grew even gloomier.

They felt no sadness about staying at Hogwarts for Christmas; on the contrary, they were very much looking forward to it. Ron and his two twin brothers also planned to stay, because the Weasleys were going to Romania to visit Charlie.

Hermione was going home for Christmas, but she still remembered the matter of finding "Nicolas Flamel," so she made a reading list for Harry and the other two, asking them to search the library during the Christmas break and have Hedwig send her a letter as soon as there was any progress.

The three agreed very readily, but after the holiday began, all three of them put the matter out of their minds.

Ron and Harry played so happily that they had little thought for Flamel. The dormitory was entirely at their disposal, and there were far fewer people in the common room than usual, allowing them to occupy several more comfortable armchairs by the fireplace.

As for Allen, he found that with fewer people around during the holiday, it was more convenient for him to practice Dark Magic, so he practiced even more diligently, thus forgetting Hermione's earnest instructions.

On the morning of Christmas Day, Allen was still asleep when Harry woke him up.

"Allen, get up quickly to open your gifts! We all received gifts!" Harry shouted excitedly.

Allen originally thought he would remain calm upon hearing the word "gifts," but he found he was wrong; he felt himself getting excited. He jumped lightly out of bed, saw Harry and Ron opening piles of gifts at the foot of their beds, and noticed there was also a pile at the foot of his own bed.

Ron's pile of gifts was the largest, Harry's was one size smaller, and his was the smallest.

But this did not affect his good mood about receiving gifts at all; this was the first time he had received gifts since traveling to this world. Looking at the gifts at the foot of his bed, the corners of his eyes actually became slightly moist; the long-standing pressure suddenly vanished, and he suddenly felt he did not want to practice any spells today, study any ancient runes, or look for any Nicolas Flamel; he just wanted to cast all worries aside and enjoy the day happily and wholeheartedly...

Allen also joined the ranks of opening gifts.

The first thing he picked up was a small package; upon opening it, he found it was a very crudely made flute. Allen did not need to guess that it was a gift from Hagrid.

"I didn't expect Hagrid to give you a flute too..." Harry held up the identical flute in his hand, tried blowing it, but it didn't sound, yet this did not affect his excited mood at all.

Allen helplessly shrugged; he couldn't play the flute either, but he still carefully put the flute away.

At this moment, Ron came over,

pointing to the largest package in Harry and Allen's piles of gifts and saying, "I know who sent this." His face turned red, and he looked a bit embarrassed. "My mother and I often talk about you two, and I didn't expect her to knit you the kind of sweater unique to the Weasley family."

Allen and Harry exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes. They quickly opened the package; Harry's was a green sweater, and Allen's was an orange one.

"I hope you won't hate it," Ron muttered, holding a sweater in his hand as well, which was maroon.

"No!" Harry and Allen said in unison.

Next came Hermione's gifts; she gave each of the three a box of Chocolate Frogs.

Allen stuffed a Chocolate Frog into his mouth, feeling the frog's struggle and sweetness, and once again marveled at the wonder of magic.

Next, Allen began to feel a bit nervous because Harry and Ron started opening the gifts he had given them.

"What is this?" Ron looked at a bulging bag that had been opened, and then Harry also opened an identical bag.

"Ahem..." Allen coughed lightly to attract the two's attention. "That is the gift I sent, some things collected in the Forbidden Forest; they are very delicious." After speaking, he looked at the two with some nervousness.

Harry and Ron quickly opened the bags and found they were filled with pine nuts. The pine nuts were very large and plump. They peeled one open, put it in their mouths, and tasted it.

"Wow! How fragrant! These are the best pine nuts I have ever eaten!" Ron exclaimed.

"Yes! This is the first time I have ever eaten pine nuts; I didn't expect them to be so delicious!" Harry peeled open another one.

Only then did Allen breathe a sigh of relief: "I collected them in the Forbidden Forest for a long time, picking out the best ones to give to you."

Harry seemed to think of something and asked hesitantly, "Did you give Hermione pine nuts too?" Ron was a bit confused as to why Harry would ask that.

Allen instantly understood Harry's meaning and said, feeling both annoyed and amused, "Rest assured, I gave Hermione a bag of dried berries; they are very sweet."

Harry instantly relaxed and then burst out laughing.

At first, Allen had prepared three bags of pine nuts, but when it came time to give them away, he suddenly thought of Hermione's front teeth. Someone as smart as her would surely think Allen was implying something about her teeth, so to save his own life, Allen temporarily swapped the pine nuts for dried berries.

He didn't expect Harry to immediately connect that point.

After Harry explained the situation, Ron finally understood the whole story and was also amused.

Now only the last paper package remained, which Harry gently opened.

A silvery-gray substance, like a liquid, rustled down onto the floor, gathering into a pile and shining brightly.

Allen and Ron both gasped.

They both recognized what that thing was.

Allen had seen this magical artifact in many short videos, but he didn't expect Harry to have obtained it in this way.

"I think I know what it is," Ron involuntarily lowered his voice. "This thing is extremely rare."

"What is it?" Harry picked up the shimmering fabric from the floor.

Ron stated confidently:

"The Invisibility Cloak!"