Christmas Gifts

Kayson was then forced to listen to nearly an hour of Neville's embarrassing stories, from his birth up until before he started school.

In a sense, they reinforced each other.

Why did they reinforce each other? Neville was a little slow to show talent, which dissatisfied the Longbottom family. In order to make Neville display magical talent, the Longbottoms used all kinds of high-pressure methods.

Those methods hurt Neville emotionally, and that was no small harm for a wizard casting magic against his own wishes.

Thus, Neville and the Longbottom family reinforced each other in a sense, hurting one another and making both sides miserable.

Yet no one could pinpoint where the mistake lay.

The Longbottom family wanted their heir to demonstrate magical talent. There was nothing wrong with that.

Neville was just a child, and his apparent lack of talent could not be blamed on him. In fact, he could not even be called untalented. He simply lacked confidence, and that lack of confidence...

Kayson carefully reconstructed the entire incident and finally found the main culprit.

Voldemort and his lackeys.

That was right. They were the main people responsible for Neville's current problems.

Once he understood that, Kayson suddenly felt enlightened and escaped the trap of overthinking.

Soon, the House-elves finished preparing dinner and served it on the table. Kayson took one look and was once again amazed by the resources of these old Pure-blood families.

At Hogwarts, this amount of food would normally be shared by the entire staff. Yet today, there was even more food than at a Hogwarts dinner, and it was only for the three of them.

The meal was pleasant enough for both host and guests, but Kayson still noticed that whenever Neville saw his grandmother, an instinctive timidity and withdrawal appeared on his face.

At the dinner table, he once again emphasized to Augusta how Neville, without the suppression of the old lady before him at Hogwarts, had nearly beaten the Malfoy heir to death with a single wand.

Of course, that story had been embellished a little.

But it was enough to let Mrs. Longbottom know that as long as she did not suppress Neville, he could be outstanding too—at least in combat and Herbology.

"I will do as you said, Professor Kayson. Um... encouraging education." Mrs. Longbottom escorted Kayson to the manor gates, with Neville following behind her.

The two of them clearly intended to escort him farther, to somewhere beyond the range of the Apparition restriction.

"This is far enough. Actually, it does not have to be encouraging education. Ordinary education will do, as long as it is not suppressive education. As for ordinary education, honestly, I think you could learn from the Weasley family. The Weasleys at The Burrow, of course," Kayson explained.

"I will find time to visit The Burrow."

"Not this Christmas, though. I think they went to see their eldest or second eldest son."

"Professor, won't you stay here? Even just for one day?" Neville asked from behind Mrs. Longbottom.

"I'm sorry, but honestly, I'm quite busy this Christmas. I still have a great deal of work to do when I return to Hogwarts. The fourth-years' Enchanting Table papers have passed review, and I need to find time to take them to receive the honors they deserve."

"And there are the renovation and expansion plans for my office, as well as Christmas presents for all of you. They are ready, but I still have to wrap them, add cards, and mail them."

"You prepared a lot?"

"Of course. Besides yours, there are presents for the professors and my Muggle friends. After leaving school, I still need to return to my old place to collect their gifts. I'm busy as hell, honestly," Kayson explained.

"Then all right."

Kayson nodded to the two of them. Then, with a roar, he vanished from the spot, leaving only wisps of purple light that slowly faded away.

"...Professor Kayson can bypass the Apparition restriction? And that was not the magic of a Portkey?" Mrs. Longbottom murmured in astonishment.

"I wouldn't be surprised by anything Professor Kayson does. Before this, he sent Quirrell straight to the Hospital Wing with one move."

"Quirinus Quirrell? That expert in Dark Magic?" Mrs. Longbottom rarely called anyone an expert.

"Is he really that good? Quirrell?"

"He is highly capable. Among the younger generation, he is at least stronger than those Aurors." Mrs. Longbottom put an arm around Neville and returned to the manor.

Back at his home at 222 Baker Street in London, Kayson looked at the stack of cards in his mailbox and smiled helplessly.

Soon, he retrieved a large pile of Christmas presents from the post office.

He also returned gifts to each of them.

"Let's see, one from Mrs. Martha. Why did she give me... uh, that is so pink."

"Flower Life sent me a bag of peanuts. Luckily, I gave him peanuts too."

"Sherlock's signed trench coat. That guy is still as narcissistic as ever." Kayson found a sewing kit in the room and used a small piece of cloth to cover Sherlock's initials.

Then he embroidered his own name on the left collar.

Yes, he was still so skillful with his hands.

Wearing the new trench coat, Kayson admiringly looked himself over in the mirror, turning left and right. He even glanced toward his neighbors' house. Yep, no one was there.

Those two were always so busy.

After making up for the gifts from his Muggle World friends, Kayson returned to the Alchemy office at Hogwarts in the blink of an eye.

He put the large pile of gifts he had prepared in advance into the Ender Chest.

Then, carrying only a small Ender Chest ring, he headed toward the Hogwarts owlery.

Unfortunately, in the days leading up to Christmas, the owls already had almost no time to rest.

And Kayson's arrival only made their miserable situation worse.

"Harry's Flying Broomstick Protective Cover Set... this can be delivered directly to his dormitory, hmm..."

"Neville's Memory Bracelet."

"Ron's new robes. Is the Weasley family so poor they cannot even buy new robes?"

"Hermione's Alchemy Primer. If she chooses my class in her third year, I will definitely make her class representative..."

"Angelina's Flying Broomstick Cushion..."

"Professor McGonagall's enchanted quill. She will like this..."

"Snape, are Slytherins afraid of water? He does not want to wash his hair. Good thing he has a friend like me... a Hair Dry Cleaner. I really am a genius!"

"Hagrid's Golden Beer Mug. He is always complaining that his cups are too light and do not feel right in his hand... I hope he will not dislike how unimaginative this gift is... Can't you fly?" After Kayson wrapped Hagrid's gift and handed it to an owl, the poor owl flapped for a long time with the present but could not get off the ground.