area51novel Chapter 80 The Christmas Holidays Are Approaching
Chapter 80 The Christmas Holidays Are Approaching
Chapter 80 The Christmas Holidays Are Approaching (6k)
Fortunately, thanks to the magical power of magic, the Hogwarts library remained very warm even in winter. Cullen sat by the window, with "Advanced Alchemy Principles" and several sheets of parchment spread out before him. He was intently studying a new type of rune array, his quill sketching intricate patterns on the paper.
Suddenly, a noise interrupted his thoughts. Looking up, he saw Mrs. Pince directing several automatically flying scissors to hang holly and mistletoe above the bookshelf.
"Has it already come to this?" Karen muttered to himself, only then noticing the similar decorations being done in every corner of the library. He closed the book, his breath forming a small cloud of white mist in the cold air.
As I left the library, the changes in the corridors became even more noticeable. The once-solemn armored figures were now wearing Santa hats, and the figures in the paintings were even tossing ribbons to each other; the entire atmosphere of the castle was transforming.
"Karen! Over here!"
Wesley's voice came from the end of the corridor. He was standing next to a huge Christmas tree, at least fifteen feet tall, its branches laden with magical candles and holly berries. Fabien and Ernesto were helping with the setup, using a levitation charm to bring in the necessary items.
"Professor Flitwick asked us for help, saying it would be a good opportunity to see how well we've mastered the Levitation Charm." Fabian pushed up his glasses, a few glittering foils clinging to his black hair.
Ernesto pursed his lips, but his eyes gleamed with pleasure as he worked quickly: "If my father knew I was doing house-elves' work, he'd be so angry he'd throw Christmas puddings against the wall."
"Come on, you're clearly having a good time." Wesley nudged his shoulder, then turned to Karen. "Hey, guess what?"
Professor Flitwick announced that a spell-spelling contest between the colleges would be held during Christmas, with the winner receiving a prize of ten Galleons!
Karen raised an eyebrow: "You signed up?"
"No! I'm going home for the holidays," Wesley said, sounding a little disappointed. "But even if I went, I definitely wouldn't win. You, on the other hand, might be able to win. By the way, are you going home for Christmas?"
This question startled Karen. Three months of campus life had flown by. Although Karen wrote to his family every week, he hadn't really thought about his holiday plans yet.
"I think so," Karen said after a moment's thought, then nodded. "My family said in the letter that they've already prepared everything we need for Christmas."
"That's awesome!" Wesley clapped his hands. "Then we can send each other gifts!"
Fabian joined the conversation with a smile: "My mother made singing Christmas cookies; I can send you some to try."
Ernesto cleared his throat. "Our Griffith family holds a Christmas ball every year, inviting some pure-blood families. I'm not particularly interested in those, but of course I still want Christmas presents."
“Speaking of gifts,” Fabian suddenly remembered something, “do you know how wizards exchange Christmas presents? I mean, even though my mother is a witch, our family has always lived a life no different from ordinary Muggles.”
Ernesto straightened his back, immediately switching into "pure-blood authority" mode: "The formal exchange of gifts should take place on Christmas morning."
House-elves or wizards themselves open the presents under the Christmas tree.
"So it doesn't seem to make much difference!" Wesley interjected. "We also put the presents under the Christmas tree and then everyone sits together to open them, except we don't have moving pictures or magical Christmas tree decorations."
“It’s not just portraits and Christmas trees; wizards’ gifts are often magical,” Ernesto added, not to be outdone. “When I was eight, I received a harp that could play on its own, and last year I received a dress that could change color depending on my mood. I receive many different things every year.”
Karen listened thoughtfully. In his past life, he was alone, and Christmas meant sales. But after transmigrating, he spent Christmas with his family in a traditional way. Now, however, he needed to think about magical gifts and the possibility of an owl flying in.
"What do you usually give as gifts?" Karen asked, unsure of what to give.
Wesley shrugged. "Video games or football merchandise in stores. But this year—" he lowered his voice, "I'm thinking of getting my brother a moving toy broom. I saw it in Diagon Alley."
“My dad loves taking pictures,” Fabian said, “so I’m planning to give him that developing solution you bought before. Mom’s words might be a magic book that automatically updates her recipes.”
Ernesto's expression softened: "My sister has always wanted a Puffy, so I asked someone to reserve the gentlest one at the Magical Animals Shop."
Karen actually wanted to ask them what they needed, but it didn't matter. After living together for three months, he had already thought about what kind of gifts to prepare, as well as gifts for the professors—especially Professor Castor.
On their way back to the Ravenclaw Tower, they passed the Great Hall, which was already decorated for Christmas. It was a pity they had to go home for the holidays this year, but next Christmas would be a good show, Karen thought to herself as she looked at the Great Hall's decorations.
That evening, in the Ravenclaw common room, four boys occupied the most comfortable armchairs by the fireplace. The reflection of the lake outside cast shimmering blue dappled light onto the dome, creating a wonderful contrast with the warm glow of the fire.
"Tell me about your wizarding Christmas traditions," Wesley said, sitting cross-legged on the carpet, holding a steaming cup of cocoa, and asked Ernesto curiously, "Do pure-blood families eat from golden platters at their Christmas dinner?"
Ernesto rolled his eyes. "Only those without a lineage would do that, just to show off." He took a sip of his drink. "This is how Christmas Eve is at the Griffiths' house: First, the whole family performs a blessing ceremony in front of the ancestral portraits; then the house-elves prepare a twelve-course dinner; at midnight, we light a special piece of wood that has been preserved by magic, which is said to bring good luck for the whole year."
"It sounds like a scene from a history textbook," Fabian commented, the firelight reflecting off his glasses. "Our family was much simpler. Mom decorated the house with magic, and Dad insisted on buying a real Christmas tree, the kind that doesn't move. We'd watch movies that were suitable for the whole family, and sometimes Mom would secretly use magic to make the cookie decorations fly up to the tree."
"Movies!" Wesley interjected excitedly. "Have you guys seen 'Greeks'? Or 'Charlie Brown's Christmas'? 'Die Hard' is also good, although not as funny as the previous two, but it's really cool."
"Karen, and you?" Fabian turned to him. "What's Christmas like at your house?"
Karen considered her words carefully: "Pretty uneventful? Mother bakes lots of gingerbread men and prepares a big Christmas dinner, while Father picks out the gifts. On Christmas Eve, we go to church, then the whole family eats together, and sometimes we go for a walk on the beach or take a boat trip."
"A church?" Ernesto seemed somewhat surprised. "I mean, is your family religious, or are you religious too?"
"I'm a wizard now, I wonder if the church will burn me at the stake if they find out!" Karen joked. "My family is religious, and I go to church often."
Wesley suddenly slapped his forehead: "I almost forgot! Do you guys know when the Hogwarts Express runs? I need to check the time so I can tell my dad to drive me there in advance."
Fabian had already checked the notice on the bulletin board: "Next Friday, 10:00 AM. The holiday will last for two weeks."
"Great, just in time to prepare the gift," Karen said softly. He already had some ideas, but he needed time to put them into practice.
For the next few days, Karen's time was divided into three parts: regular classes, alchemy studies, and secret gift preparation. Every night, after his roommates had fallen asleep, he would sneak into the lounge to prepare his gift.
On Thursday evening, Karen sat before the alchemy table in the Eagle's Nest, a copy of "The Guide to Making Magical Devices" borrowed from the library spread out before him. He was attempting to create a special kind of spyglass—not an ordinary dark magic detector, but an early warning device incorporating the principles of the Eye of Truth.
"Now it's time to implant the core." Karen held his breath, using tweezers to pick up a few strands of silvery unicorn hair. These hairs, collected from the edge of the Forbidden Forest, were automatically weaving into a web within the glass vessel's blood. When the web was complete, he tapped his wand lightly: "Insertion."
(Implantation)!
A tiny entrance silently opened at the top of the glass top, and the unicorn fur net swam into it as if it were alive, unfolding into a three-dimensional sensor matrix inside the top. Karen immediately dripped three drops of dew mixed with moongrass into the center of the matrix; the liquid condensed into a suspended crystal bead the instant it touched the fur.
"Then it's time to cast the detection spells." He opened his notebook, and the tip of his wand lit up with different colors in sequence: "SpecialisRevelio (Reveal the original form)! HomenumRevelio (Reveal the traces of people)! MalumDetego (Detect the malice)!" With each spell he uttered, a corresponding stream of light flowed into the crystal bead, causing rune projections to appear inside it.
The final step was to engrave the runner array on the glass surface. Karen switched to a diamond engraving pen crafted by fairies and precisely engraved on the surface of the spinning top:
"P (protection) is engraved on the tip, while M (warning) and (purity) form a stable triangle." Where the engraving strokes, golden patterns emerge inside the glass.
As the last stroke was completed, the entire viewing mirror suddenly lit up. Next, Karen pointed her wand at the book "Advanced Potion Making" tucked in the corner, which contained a notebook of curses, and controlled it to move closer to her. After getting a certain distance away, the viewing mirror immediately began to spin rapidly, its entire body emitting a warning red light, and the runes on the base lit up one after another, casting dancing light and shadow on the table.
"Effective range," Karen waved his wand, measuring the area covered by the red light, his brow furrowing slightly. "Only a radius of seven meters?" He opened the "Magic Tool Making Guide" and suddenly noticed that the angle of the unicorn hairs was slightly off.
The clock on the wall suddenly chimed with the sound of a cuckoo; it was 2:15 a.m. Karen carefully put the palm-sized magic top into its velvet-lined sandalwood box, deciding to ask Professor Castor about the scope expansion problem the next day.
During Friday's Charms class, at Professor Flitwick's request, Karen demonstrated her silent charm to her classmates. After class, Professor Flitwick called Karen over.
"Excellent demonstration of the silent spell, Mr. Hawthorne!" the short professor exclaimed excitedly. "I noticed you improved the angle of your wrist rotation, which makes the flow of magic much smoother."
"Thank you, Professor," Karen replied politely. "I was inspired by your demonstration last week."
Professor Flitwick's eyes lit up. "Ah, keen observation! That's a precious quality of Ravenclaws." He paused. "By the way, what are your plans for Christmas? I heard you're planning to go home?"
"Yes, Professor. My mother is looking forward to my return."
"Very good, very good." Flitwick nodded. "Family is very important. But before you leave," he winked mysteriously, "remember to come to my office. I have something small for you."
Karen was about to ask for details when she was interrupted by a commotion. Wesley and several Ravenclaw students rushed into the classroom, excitedly heading towards Karen.
"Karen! Guess what happened?" Wesley said breathlessly. "Professor Sprout said we can bring a small Christmas tree back to the common room! As long as we don't feed it the wrong fertilizer."
Fabian followed behind, already carrying a two-foot-tall fir sapling in his arms: "It will adorn itself, look!" As he finished speaking, tiny silver specks began to emerge from the branches of the sapling, shimmering like stars.
Ernesto was the last to enter, his face flushed with excitement: "I found glowing berries behind the greenhouse, and Professor Sprout has allowed us to pick some." He displayed a small bag of bluish-purple berries, which emitted a soft glow in the dim corridor.
Seeing the excitement on their faces, Cullen suddenly realized that this would be their first Christmas at Hogwarts. Although they would be spending the holiday separately, this shared anticipation had already brought them closely together.
The alchemy instruction session on Saturday night had already ended, but Professor Castor had said that we could come to him if we had any questions, so Karen came to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office with a half-finished spyglass and a bunch of questions.
"Come in, Karen," Professor Castor's voice came from the inner room. "I just made some Christmas tea."
Karen was taken aback by the office's layout. The workbench, usually piled high with dangerous items, now held a plate of cookies, each of various shapes slowly spinning in the air, changing color from time to time. There was even a miniature Christmas tree in the corner, adorned with tiny alchemical artifacts and decorations.
"You look surprised." Professor Castor's lips curled slightly. He wasn't wearing his usual robes today, but a dark green casual suit, and the curse mark on his left arm was covered by an exquisite silver armlet.
"I just didn't expect you to celebrate Christmas, Professor," Karen said, somewhat surprised.
"Why not?" Professor Castor handed him a steaming cup of citrus-scented tea. "Even the most serious wizards need a holiday. Try this; it's a recipe I brought from Nico last week."
Karen took the teacup, the warmth of the ceramic traveling through his fingertips. He took the opportunity to pull out his homemade endoscope: "Professor, I tried to make an early warning device, but the detection range is too small."
"The choice of unicorn hair is clever." A hint of approval flashed in his gray eyes. "But you overlooked the principle of resonance." The professor took a small bottle of shimmering powder from the shelf. "Add phoenix tail feather powder; it enhances sensory sensitivity, though that's a bit tricky. Besides that..."
Professor Victor tapped his wand, drawing a complex array of runes in the air: "The detection charm needs to be linked with the warning rune. Look here—" He pointed to the runes in Karenk, "The runes should connect with the H rune to form a closed loop."
Under the professor's guidance, Karen readjusted the rune sequence. As the last connection was completed, the scope suddenly emitted a pleasant ringing sound, and the aperture of the detection range instantly expanded by nearly three times.
"Now it can sense malicious magic within twenty meters," Professor Victor commented, then suddenly waved his wand, releasing a faint wave of dark magic. The telescope immediately began to spin violently, emitting a red light from its center, and could be felt to be heating up.
Karen watched this scene with delight: "That was perfect! Thank you, Professor."
Professor Castor gave a rare approving smile: "You've made rapid progress, Karen."
He turned to the worktable and took out an old roll of parchment: "Since we're talking about gifts—I was originally planning to give it to you for Christmas, but since you mentioned the warning device, it's more appropriate to give it to you now."
The parchment contained a complex sequence of runes, titled "The Ring of Hermes: Foresight and Protection".
"This is the secret knowledge of the Hermes Ring," Professor Castor said seriously. "It is far more powerful than an ordinary viewing mirror, but also more complex to make. Do not attempt it lightly until you have fully mastered the basics."
Karen solemnly accepted the parchment: "Thank you, Professor. This is so precious."
"Knowledge should be passed down, especially since you're already one of us," Professor Castor said softly, then paused, "By the way, what are you planning to give your roommates for Christmas?"
Karen hadn't expected the professor to ask this, but she answered truthfully anyway: "I modified a Quidditch telescope for Wesley that can automatically track the thief's path; I gave Fabian a magic camera that can capture fleeting memories; Ernesto will receive a miniature planetarium that can project any constellation he wants."
"A very thoughtful gift," Professor Castor commented. "And what about the professors?"
Karen's face flushed slightly. "I've prepared a set of singing wand care tools for Professor Flitwick; a box of cookie cutters that can transform into various animals for Professor McGonagall; and a packet of my improved magic seeds for Professor Sprout." He hesitated for a moment. "As for your gift, I'm still finalizing the details."
Professor Castor raised an eyebrow: "Oh? You don't want me to know?"
“No, Professor,” Karen said earnestly, “my gift—I hope it reflects what I have learned from you.”
As Karen left the office, an idea he had previously considered popped into his mind: to create a special alchemical item for Professor Castor—an amulet that could temporarily suppress the pain of the curse.
This idea stemmed from his recent study of ancient runes, which mentioned the concept of magical diversion, and his eyes were able to help him easily solve the most difficult part of this concept—the difficulty of observing and connecting the diversions.
For the next few days, Karen spent almost all his free time working on the gift. He experimented repeatedly with different combinations of materials in the Eagle's Nest, and even commissioned Hagrid to collect rare silverleaf.
On Wednesday afternoon, Karen finally finished all the gifts. The amulet he made for Professor Castor was a silver bracelet with a tiny array of runes engraved on the inside, capable of absorbing and converting the magical fluctuations of the curse. Although it couldn't eradicate the curse, according to his calculations, it should alleviate the pain during its onset.
After their last class, the four boys returned to their dorm and began packing. Wesley's belongings were scattered everywhere, while Fabian meticulously categorized and put each item away. Ernesto, on the other hand, didn't tidy up much, leisurely leaning against the headboard reading the Quidditch column of the Daily Prophet.
"Do you think they serve Christmas treats on the Hogwarts Express?" Wesley asked as he hurriedly stuffed a pair of obviously mismatched stockings into his suitcase.
"Of course," Ernesto replied without looking up, "chocolate frogs, pumpkin pies, screaming candy bars, as long as you're willing to spend the money."
"I'm talking about the limited edition Christmas ones, the ones that are given away for free!" Wesley immediately replied upon hearing Ernesto's words.
Fabian pushed up his glasses: "I just hope no more hopping chocolate frogs will get into my robes. The first time school started, one was in my robe and wasn't discovered until I got off the train."
Karen listened to her friends chatting with a smile, carefully placing the prepared gifts into a bag that had been enchanted with a Seamless Stretch spell.
"Hey Karen," Wesley suddenly leaned in, "Guess what I saw in the Daily Prophet?" He mysteriously unfolded a corner of the newspaper, "Zoko's Joke Shop has some new stuff! I'm planning to check it out after Christmas."
"Wesley," Ernesto sighed, "you just got yourself into a mess last week because you used something George and the others gave you in class."
"But in the end, everyone was quite happy, weren't they? Professor Flitwick almost fell off the podium because I laughed so hard!"
At ten o'clock in the morning, the Hogwarts Express pulled up to the platform, puffing out white steam. Students surged forward, cheers and farewells rising and falling.
The train slowly started moving, and Hogwarts Castle shimmered golden in the winter sun. Cullen watched the towers recede into the distance, her heart already filled with anticipation for their reunion after Christmas.
He touched the pocket on his chest, where the prepared gifts were kept, though they wouldn't be given until Christmas Day.