Christmas Has Come Again

At dawn, a vast flock of owls arrived at Hogwarts.

The elite Aurors dispatched by the Ministry of Magic had no holidays. They had arrived at the school gates early to inspect each package one by one.

"Wayne again..." Tonks waved the owl in front of her through.

She glanced at the seemingly endless queue, then lowered her eyes to the inspection crystal in her hand.

What contraband could children's presents possibly contain? At most, a few prank items.

And it was Christmas today. Never mind employee benefits—there wasn't even overtime pay.

Either they were lining their own pockets, or they were too stingy to pay.

"Why is it Wayne again..." Tonks had already gone numb. "That kid really is popular..."

After that sigh, six owls stared at her with wide eyes.

"Approved."

The owls worked together to clutch the tightly wrapped large box, flapping their wings as they flew toward Gryffindor Tower.

Having safely reached their destination, they steadily set the box down in the pile of presents before landing on the long table beside it, which was piled high with snacks.

Food, drinks, and a proper place to rest—those idiot Aurors guarding the gate had to be green with envy.

There were more and more owls in the dormitory. When Neville woke up, he thought he had sleepwalked into the owlery last night.

James and Alfred had gone down for breakfast early, while Vincent sat right in the middle of the pile of presents.

Every time he finished opening one, two more appeared. It looked like he would be busy all day.

"Hm?" Neville noticed that Vincent was unusually wearing a red scarf today.

It was so cold. He should have done that ages ago.

Still, the red scarf was rather poorly made. It was probably hand-knitted.

"Vincent,