Birthday Gifts

"When will this ever end..." In the corridor, students gathered in small groups, while Harry gazed listlessly at the garden outside.

Harry was in a low mood because of the damage to the Invisibility Cloak, at least on the surface.

However, Daisy said her brother was so listless because he couldn't play Quidditch.

The Ministry of Magic's ban remains in effect, and students without outdoor activities are as listless as plants without water, especially Quidditch enthusiasts.

I heard that Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, has started having insomnia and needs to hold Quaffle to fall asleep peacefully.

Although Sean has never been particularly interested in Quidditch, that doesn't stop him from expressing sympathy for his friends.

"Buddy, just hang in there a little longer, this situation won't last much longer."

Hermione was still flipping through the books Sean had brought out of the Ravenclaw Chamber. She casually reassured him, "Actually, things are alright here. I heard it's much stricter outside, whether it's other School of Magic or wizarding communities. Over in Diagon Alley, Old Tom's pub business has plummeted, and there are Auror and Guard Corps patrolling the alley every day— Hagrid went to Diagon Alley with a pass to buy supplies last time, and he was checked three times in half an hour."

Harry hung his head. "The atmosphere is too oppressive, and lately I've been having time-related issues. Sometimes I worry that when I wake up I'll suddenly be a year older."

"That's unrealistic. Disappearing for a year is unimaginable for the world—but Sean is a year older now, happy birthday," Hermione said, closing her book.

Today is Sean's birthday.

Sean smiled casually. "Thanks, Hermione. But birthdays come every year, so I don't really care about them."

"Fred and George said they're going to throw you a birthday party."

"Those two guys probably just want to create some excitement. But I don't object. It's a good thing to have some fun for everyone. I just hope there won't be any time confusion today."

Daisy chimed in from the side, "If it were thirty or forty hours, that would be great too, your birthday would be extended!"

"That sounds good."

As they were talking, Sean suddenly felt a fluctuation in his magic.

That was the variant of the Golden Dawn mark he left in Newmontgard — Lupin had sent word.

After saying goodbye to the others, Sean quickly left and entered the Room of Requirement. After using the Vanishing Cabinet to travel to Newmontgard, he saw a note.

"Something big has happened. Let's meet and discuss it in detail. — Remus Lupin"

Something big has happened... Is it related to the recent time travel incident?

Without hesitation, Sean grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and stepped into the emerald green flames.

Five minutes later.

"Take a look at this." In the private meeting room, Lupin handed over a newspaper.

Sean took the newspaper and immediately noticed the black-and-white photos of the event. In the photos, several wizards dressed in Guard Corps were casting spells at another wizard.

That's Newt Scamander.

Sean frowned and looked on.

"Just yesterday, this newspaper received information that Mr. Scamander. Newt Scamander, the renowned Magizoologist and Hogwarts professor of the Care of Magical Creatures, Wizarding World attacked by the Guard Corps while meeting with friends."

"All the facts have shown that the Wizarding United Guard wanted to kill one of the eyewitnesses of the Paris crowd, and the root of all this action points to Gellert Grindelwald, the former headmaster of Newmontgard, who is wanted by various countries."

"As is widely known, about six months ago, the Guard Corps deployed a large number of personnel in an attempt to arrest Grindelwald, and Newt Scamander served as a witness—a witness to Grindelwald's crimes committed decades ago."

"At the time, everyone thought it was the right thing to do and just. But not long after, a series of scandals involving the Guard Corps came to light, and all the evidence pointed to the Guard Corps trying to frame Grindelwald."

"However, people cannot make a decision unless Mr. Scamander's testimony is changed or retracted."

"However, it was only recently that we learned that Professor Scamander had been secretly threatened."

A plump old man with white hair appeared on the page, wearing a kind smile.

"Scamander's close friend, Jacob Kowalski, an America Muggle, and his wife have long been secretly imprisoned, and the Guard Corps are using this to blackmail Mr. Scamander into providing false testimony."

"We don't know what happened during that time, but it is clear that in order to ensure that the testimony is always valid, the Guard Corps came to a new conclusion—only the dead do not recant their testimony."

"According to our informants, the Guard Corps attacked Mr. Scamander and his friends who were traveling to the America. Their whereabouts and fate are currently unknown, and the Guard Corps have yet to send a spokesperson to explain what happened."

"We are almost certain that Mr. Grindelwald. Gellert Grindelwald has been framed!"

After reading the report, Sean was at a loss for words.

Professor Scamander was clearly not giving false testimony; he was simply following Dumbledore's instructions.

Sean originally thought that with Dumbledore and Grindelwald acting together, it would be easy for Grindelwald to recant his testimony, since all it would take was for Newt's testimony to change.

But this series of actions seems to be the work of Grindelwald alone.

Unable to contact Dumbledore, he chose to use his own methods to get Newt to 'change' his testimony.

This seems to confirm what Dumbledore had told him a few days earlier.

Grindelwald and Dumbledore, those two can never go back...

After Lupin finished reading the Sean, he added, "As far as I know, as soon as this report came out, a great many wizards have clearly expressed their dissatisfaction. They are calling on the Guard Corps to come out and tell the truth about the whole thing. At the same time, a large number of people have joined together to put pressure on the International Confederation of Wizards —they are demanding that the arrest warrant be lifted and that Grindelwald be exonerated."

Sean sighed, "We should be quite familiar with those forces that are now jumping out?"

Lupin nodded. "A large portion of them are students who graduated from Newmontgard over the past few decades, and others can also be connected to Grindelwald, openly or secretly. In fact, someone came to me this morning, hoping that our organization could also cooperate with them to put pressure on the Ministry of Magic and the Confederation, but considering that we are still operating in the shadows, I refused them."

"The refusal was the right thing to do. In fact, there's no need for our fledgling organization at all..." Sean said. "How is Professor Scamander doing now?"

"The newspapers didn't say anything, but I asked around and Professor Scamander seems to be fine. What's strange is that, according to recent news, the Guard Corps have been chasing Professor Scamander to the ancient East."

Lupin considered his words for a moment, and finally said with a puzzled look, "It's not just the Guard Corps; there seems to be another force hindering them. That force mostly obstructs the Guard Corps, but not very strongly. To be honest, although Professor Scamander is very strong, he is, after all, fleeing with an elderly Muggle. It's a bit strange that he's managed to hold out until now."

"Eastern... "Sean said in a deep voice, "Are they intentionally trying to drive Professor Scamander to the East?"

Lupin nodded. "In fact, that's how I see it. I think that the Guard Corps on the surface, as well as the forces in the shadows, are both 'pushing' Professor Scamander to a certain place. It's as if they're waiting for Professor Scamander to find something before they make their move."

East, Newt ... Sean immediately thought of a name.

They are using Qilin 'Newt help to find the Qilin.

"Remus, has there been any change in the election for the new president of the International Confederation of Wizards?" he asked quickly.

Lupin shook his head. "No... In fact, the election is less significant than other events, even though the candidates have already begun their final push. The election will proceed as scheduled in two weeks, and there is currently no news of postponement or anything like that."

"However, I heard that the current chairman Charles Vogel, is under a lot of pressure. He was originally going to step down, but then the Grindelwald incident happened. Many people expect him to do something for the Confederation before he leaves office. You know, the next chairman will want his predecessor to take the blame before he leaves. However, this chairman is not usually very involved in things, and I haven't heard anything about it."

Grindelwald was planning to cause trouble during the election for the president of the International Confederation of Wizards... This thought immediately popped into Sean's head.

He had never forgotten that without the Prophecy he carried, Grindelwald would not be the headmaster of Newmontgard. He had been preparing for wizards to rule the world for decades.

If... if Grindelwald really succeeded in his plan, he would lead the entire Wizarding World to war against the Muggle world.

Will Dumbledore really be able to persuade him then? And will his own student have any say in the matter?

Sean rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

However, there was no use in worrying about it here. All he could do was ask Lupin to pay more attention to the situation and contact him more promptly.

Just as Sean was about to leave, Lupin called him back.

The latter pulled out a large pile of gift boxes of various sizes from behind him and smiled, "Sean, I have to say, sometimes you put too much pressure on yourself. I've always believed that embracing the good things in front of you is something that can help you relax—Happy Birthday."

Sean was somewhat surprised, but then smiled silently.

"Thanks, Remus. It's been so long since I used Owl, I almost forgot..."

"It's alright, lots of people remember. This one is mine, this one is Lily and James's, this one is Sirius's, and this one is..."

Lupin meticulously laid out the various gift boxes in front of Sean, and finally, he took out three boxes.

In the very center was a huge transparent box, through which you could see a birthday cake and the words "Happy Birthday Sean" written in cream. Next to it was an exquisitely wrapped gift box with a letter attached to it. At the very top was a handmade box with slightly loose wrapping paper—on which were drawn several large little faces, all in the same handwriting that Sean knew all too well.

"Your parents asked me to send a gift. Oh, this is for your sister. She must miss you a lot. By the way, the cake is huge and has ice cream inside. I used Freezing Charm on it because I was worried it would melt... It looks like it's in very good condition."

A warm feeling rose in Sean's heart. He smiled, shook his head, and hugged Lupin.

"Thank you, Remus."

You're welcome, happy birthday.

That evening, Sean and his friends shared their birthday cake, Mr. and Mrs. Wallop had obviously taken that into consideration, ordering a cake large enough for many people to share.

Fred exclaimed in surprise, "How did you get such a delicious cake?!" while scrambling with George for it. Ron and Neville argued about whether sprinkling some Fizzing Whizbees on a Muggle cake would ruin the original flavor. Daisy, a sweet tooth, was already engrossed in the cream.

Sean received a huge pile of gifts, and Hermione, standing beside him, laughed and said, "They didn't even let you make a wish!"

Sean smiled and looked up, "I don't have any wishes... This is fine..."

The joyous birthday party lasted a long time, until finally, Sean made an excuse and left.

Pushing open the wooden door to the Room of Requirement, sure enough, Stephanie was sitting quietly in her little bedroom.

Upon seeing Sean arrive, the young woman gracefully stood up and handed him a beautifully bound manuscript.

"Happy birthday." Stephanie's voice wasn't so aloof anymore; it was soft and gentle, like a comforting breeze at night.

"Thank you, but why don't you come with us?" Sean accepted the gift.

Stephanie shook her head. "Thank you for the invitation, but I don't need to... Besides, I didn't prepare a gift. This is just Ravenclaw manuscript that I've tidied up."

Sean opened the notebook, grinned, and said, "Would Ravenclaw manuscript be translated into English like this?"

Stephanie blushed slightly and whispered, "Just some trivial notes."

Insignificant? Just by flipping through a couple of pages, Sean knew that Stephanie must have spent a long time writing this manuscript. The content was detailed and comprehensive, yet it also unfolded from the smallest details, which was of great significance to someone like Sean who was not good at Runes runes.

"Thank you. I bet you'd make a great teacher if you wanted to," Sean praised sincerely.

Stephanie lowered her head, a hint of excitement flashing in her eyes. She shook her head lightly. "I just like reading."

"Then you should like this..."

Stephanie looked up in surprise and saw Sean take out an exquisite gift box.

"You share the same birthday as me, right?" she heard Sean's gentle voice.

The girl raised her hand slightly, both surprised and hesitant, but finally accepted the gift at Sean's urging.

"Thank you..." Stephanie's voice was filled with undisguised joy.

Then, she saw Sean magically produce a miniature, not-so-pretty cake with a candle stuck in it.

"I must admit, this is a birthday cake I cobbled together on the spot. I hope you won't mind," Sean snapped his fingers, and the flames danced happily.

"Make a wish," Sean laughed.

Why is my heart beating so fast... Stephanie thought blankly.