Christmas is Approaching

Knockturn Alley, Borgin and Burkes, back room.

Borgin's curse had long been like a maggot gnawing at his soul, burrowing deep into the very core of his being. It was like having a few transparent, hard-to-detect strands of hair mixed into thousands of fishing lines.

And they were all tangled together.

The difficulty of cleaning it up was, as one could imagine, immense.

Of course, this difficulty was from Borgin's perspective.

For Mu En… he had plenty of time anyway.

He was too lazy to trace the source of the curse and clear it from its operational logic.

Since he had nothing else to do, he came to Borgin's place periodically to do some "handiwork" and pilfer any Dark Magic items that caught his eye.

Life was truly flavorful.

As Mu En extracted the last cursed node from Borgin's soul, the curse that had clung to him for decades finally lost its power and began to collapse.

"Alright," Mu En said, shaking his hands. The deep blue threads connected to his fingertips dispersed into the air.

Borgin pushed himself up, his aged, cloudy eyes shining with an unusual light, his voice trembling, "Captain, is it over just like that?!"

Mu En put on his hat. "It's over. I've broken the curse's operational chain. Remember, from today onwards, you are no longer one of the Living Dead, fearless of pain or injury."

Borgin stood up and quickly bowed. "Thank you."

Mu En nodded, put on his woolen coat, and walked straight towards the shop's main hall.

"Oh, right!" Borgin suddenly called out to Mu En.

Turning back, Mu En saw Borgin holding two packages wrapped in colorful paper and ribbons.

"Captain, Merry Christmas in advance," Borgin said. "I originally intended to offer my blessings on Christmas Day, but I thought it might be inconvenient to disturb you then."

Mu En paused for a moment, then glanced at the snowflakes outside the window, chuckling. "I always feel like my sense of time has become dull."

As he spoke, he took the two packages.

"The smaller one is for you as a Christmas gift, and the larger box is for your child," Borgin said thoughtfully.

Mu En hadn't expected him to be so considerate. Borgin had only met Harry once during an explosion a few months ago.

"I'll pass on your well wishes to him," Mu En nodded and smiled. "Merry Christmas."

With that, he walked out the door.

Instantly, a blast of cold air hit him. Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, and the starry night of summer was nowhere to be seen.

"I didn't expect it to be almost Christmas," Mu En mused, then used Apparition to leave.

Moonlight Castle, second-floor study.

Compared to a few months ago, the room had clearly changed. There was a desk, an alchemy table, a bookshelf, a coat rack, and a small shelf for potion ingredients.

In front of the desk, Harry slowly took off his glasses and wiped his face.

Hoo...

After a long sigh, he stood up again and walked to the alchemy table to check on the potion brewing.

After a full autumn semester, he had grown considerably taller and looked much sturdier.

Now, he and the Dursleys had reached a delicate balance. Especially after he was required to go for a long run to school every morning, his interactions with the Dursleys had become even more minimal.

However…

The thought of Christmas the day after tomorrow gave him a headache.

Aunt Petunia was coming to visit the Dursleys.

Aunt Petunia was Uncle Vernon's sister. Although Harry had no blood relation to Petunia, people always insisted he call her "Aunt."

Just thinking about her made Harry feel agitated. If it were his past self, he might even feel panicked.

This was because she was truly Harry's nightmare.

At Dudley's fifth birthday party, Aunt Petunia had beaten Harry's shins with her cane simply because she didn't want Harry to win the musical chairs game against Dudley.

Two Christmases ago, she had also come to visit. For Dudley, she brought a robot with a computer, and for Harry, she gave him his first Christmas present—

A box of dog biscuits.

After confirming that the potion brewing was proceeding without issue, Harry went to the desk and picked up a yellow crystal pendant.

He calmed the distracting thoughts in his mind and then lifted the pendant.

"Aunt Petunia's arrival is good news."

After silently repeating this seven times, whether it was Harry's own trembling hand or some other factor like the wind, the pendant began to sway.

Harry watched closely, noticing that the pendant's swing gradually shifted from a simple left-right motion to a clockwise direction.

Which meant "correct."

He put down the crystal pendant, feeling a bit helpless. "I really don't have any talent for divination."

He went downstairs and greeted Mr. Lucifer first.

Meteor hopped over, its broom head rubbing against Harry.

Lucifer was lost in thought, not sleeping, but standing stiffly in the fireplace.

"Meteor, it's too cold lately, let's wait until it's warmer before we go flying," Harry comforted.

"Harry." Lucifer suddenly spoke.

"Mr. Lucifer, I'm here." Harry turned his head.

"Do you want to come spend Christmas?" Lucifer suddenly asked.

"Really?" Harry couldn't quite believe his ears. Well, he had to admit he'd had the thought, but... he shouldn't be the one to say it.

He knew the importance of the matter.

Lucifer nodded, "Of course it's true. Actually, most of the time, it's just Mu En and I in the castle. It'll be livelier with one more person.

Holidays should feel like holidays, right?"

Harry nodded, a smile he couldn't suppress on his face. He said goodbye to Lucifer and returned to Number 4, Privet Drive.

Harry felt he needed to quickly share this good news with the Dursleys.

He figured they'd be quite happy too...

Not long after Harry left, Mu En flashed into Moonlight Castle.

After brushing the snowflakes off his shoulders, he took off his coat and hat, then collapsed onto the sofa with a comfortable sigh.

"It's snowing outside..." Mu En said, "I've always felt that the layout of our house is most suitable for winter.

Outside, there are heavy snowflakes, and inside, there's just a warm fireplace, and a..."

"And a lazy dog, no, a fat cat, who lounges on the sofa all day!" Lucifer immediately interjected.

"What are you saying!" Mu En pushed himself up, placing a hand on his stomach. "Look, my stomach has recovered a lot, hasn't it!!"

Lucifer saw that the extra weight that had appeared a while ago had indeed diminished considerably.

"Then it seems I was correct," Lucifer said triumphantly.

Mu En waved his hand, neither confirming nor denying Lucifer's statement.

"I invited Harry to spend Christmas," Lucifer suddenly said.

Mu En blinked, then finally reacted, "But we don't celebrate Christmas. Holidays... for me, it's just eating and drinking, and then taking a break.

But I'm on vacation every day, eating whatever I want, whenever I want."

"I don't care. Holidays should feel like holidays anyway. You always look so detached and ascetic, no wonder you were cursed," Lucifer said, pointing at Mu En, annoyed.

Mu En picked at his ear, looking helpless. "Alright, alright, I'll listen to you."