Living Happily Is What Matters Most

Kayson had no choice but to take out the Enchanting Table and enchant the owl's box with levitation, allowing the poor owl to wobble away with the gifts clutched in its talons.

Dumbledore's gift came last. Kayson had previously bought two pairs of brand-new wool socks in the Muggle World, then enchanted them with a warming spell on the Enchanting Table before packing them up for the owl to deliver to Dumbledore.

A day later, Kayson climbed out of bed and skillfully began opening his own presents. Professor McGonagall, for instance, had given him a Gryffindor lion brooch, having noticed that Kayson truly liked wearing brooches.

Snape had been more generous, giving him a small vial of Liquid Luck. The instant Kayson held it in his hand, he regretted it. He had never expected Snape to give him something so precious. Compared to it, that hair-drying machine seemed rather embarrassing.

The others had also given him accessories similar to the ones Kayson usually wore, but Neville and Dumbledore's gifts were particularly refreshing.

Dumbledore had sent him a book about alchemy... very, very profound.

Neville, meanwhile, had given him a set of dark red robes. They felt as soft as water, and the patterns upon them flowed like lava, radiating a warmth that was wonderfully comfortable in winter.

Other than those gifts, what pleased Kayson most that Christmas was probably that, after all his pleading, Hagrid had finally agreed to let him renovate Hagrid's hut.

That very day, he rushed out of Hogwarts Castle and, in the blink of an eye, moved Hagrid, his luggage, his important belongings, and all the things of sentimental value out of the hut.

"Hagrid, there isn't anything in this house that you consider important anymore, right?" Kayson asked excitedly as he turned back toward Hagrid.

Hagrid looked at the pile of assorted items surrounding him and scratched his head. "Er, no."

"What about that dragon egg?"

"That's out too."

"Then there's no problem."

The next moment, Kayson launched without a single frame of windup. An Ender Crystal shot toward Hagrid's hut, and with a bang, the hut vanished, leaving behind only a huge pit.

"Wow, I thought you said you were renovating it?" Hagrid asked awkwardly.

"Don't worry about the details. Tell me, what kind of new house do you want?" Kayson waved a hand.

"Er... not too big. Though a little bigger than my old one would be fine. It needs a bedroom, a living room, and most importantly, a kitchen. It absolutely must have a kitchen. I'd also be very happy if it could have a bathroom. Of course, most importantly, it has to be a bit cute."

"No problem." Kayson took out his wand and got to work. With every swing of his wand, the soil beneath his feet vanished under the force of powerful magic.

Next came the foundation. Several oak logs were buried deep in the ground, each retaining grooves for support columns. Once the load-bearing pillars were in place, he used the old lava-and-water trick to create the foundation frame, then began laying the floor with spruce planks.

After finishing all that, Kayson beckoned to Hagrid. "Come over, Hagrid. Tell me what spaces you need so I can design them for you."

"Oh, haha, really? First of all, I want a fireplace. Can it be pink?"

"In theory, yes. But I won't make one for you."

"Oh, all right. Where's the door?"

"Over there." Kayson pointed to a load-bearing pillar on the right side of the north-facing foundation.

"There'll be a door three meters tall here, so you'll never have to bend down when entering again."

"What comes after you enter?" Hagrid asked Kayson.

"Er... an entryway. There'll be a shoe rack, umbrella stand, coat rack, things like that."

"Oh, can I get rid of it?"

"You can, but I wouldn't recommend it. It would look very strange," Kayson explained.

"All right, then what comes after the entryway?"

Hagrid's string of questions made Kayson start doubting himself. He answered in an odd tone, "Maybe... the living room? Don't you know any of this common sense?"

"The castle doesn't have all those rules, Kayson, and I haven't been anywhere else."

"All right, the entryway and living room will both be standard, then. Does the living room need a fireplace?"

"Of course it does, even if it isn't pink." At the back of the foundation, Kayson built a fireplace out of cobblestone. He placed lava blocks beneath it, lit a fire, and then enclosed it with iron bars.

"How am I supposed to put firewood in there?"

"The flames won't go out. And there's this." Kayson took out a stone button and placed it beside the fireplace.

"Watch. Press this once, and the fire goes out. Press it again, and the fire starts burning again."

"That's amazing," Hagrid exclaimed.

Kayson placed a coffee table in front of the fireplace, arranged a row of sofas around it, and added an extra-extra-extra-extra-large sofa beside the fireplace, specially made for Hagrid.

The kitchen and bathroom were both perfectly ordinary, until they reached the stairs leading to Hagrid's second-floor bedroom.

"..."

Although MC Blocks were unaffected by the laws of physics—in theory, he could place a thin wooden plank in midair and put ten Hagrids on top of it without any problem—

For someone like him, a top civil engineering student from the University of Manchester and an old construction hand, it still felt a little... well... illogical.

Though logic in the MC world was practically nonexistent, as if Newton were spinning in his grave, Kayson was a perfectionist with a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder. If it didn't sit right with him, then it simply wouldn't do.

So, regrettably, he did not use floor tiles and a framework. He used blocks directly instead.

That caused one tiny problem: the floor of Hagrid's new second story... was one meter thick.

And to balance out that one meter, the first floor had to be made taller so it would not look so jarring. Likewise, the second floor also needed to be taller, and then the attic...

Kayson did not build an attic for Hagrid's home. The roof was sealed completely shut.

Standing in Hagrid's bedroom, Kayson thought for a moment before directly breaking open the window and making a protruding balcony, which conveniently became an awning above the front door downstairs.

Finally, he added load-bearing columns beneath the awning.

"Perfect. Absolutely perfect."

"Elegant. So elegant." Standing before Hagrid's brand-new hut, Kayson could not help taking several steps back and sighing.

Then he saw Hagrid walk inside while carrying his dusty belongings.

"...It stopped being quite so elegant in an instant, didn't it?" Dumbledore said with a laugh, appearing behind Kayson at some point.

Kayson merely shrugged. "Living happily is what matters most."