Gifts

On Christmas morning, Aberforth wished Ariana's portrait a merry Christmas. They smiled at each other for a while, and then he yawned and descended the rickety wooden stairs, preparing to begin another ordinary day.

However, the moment he opened the door of the Hog's Head Bar, he saw a brown owl flying over from the direction of Hogwarts, heading straight toward him.

Aberforth immediately hid behind the door. The owl swooped through the half-open door into the Hog's Head Bar, dropped the package it was carrying onto the counter, and then hurriedly flew back out.

Aberforth frowned, eyeing the package on the counter warily and with confusion. He drew his wand and slowly approached it.

He certainly did not think that his brother, with whom his relationship was hardly close, would send him a Christmas gift this way. Besides, many years ago—after Aberforth had thrown away Dumbledore's Christmas gifts for several consecutive years—Dumbledore had stopped giving him Christmas presents. Instead, whenever they met, he would occasionally give Aberforth some snacks, which Aberforth would disdainfully toss onto the table in the sitting room, where they would eventually end up in the stomach of the Dumbledore who next visited the Hog's Head Bar.

When he approached and saw the wrapping on the package clearly, Aberforth froze for a moment, then put away his wand.

He already knew who had sent the gift.

Dark green wrapping paper, with two little red balls hanging from a gold decorative ribbon—this was a gift from Professor Sekri.

Once, their family had received four packages like this at Christmas. Later, there had been two. After that, there had been none—ever since he learned from Dumbledore that Mr. Ominis had begun frequently falling into slumber.

Aberforth stared at the gift for several seconds, then took it back behind the counter and climbed the stairs again to stand before Ariana's portrait.

Opening presents was something that ought to be done with family. Besides, when she was alive, Ariana had liked this professor whom she had met only a few times. But to Aberforth, Cyberlina and his brother were the same sort of person: elite wizards who cared only about the people and matters important to them, whose entire bodies seemed filled with lies and secrets, and who were thoroughly irritating.

Because Dumbledore had told him, Aberforth had known from the beginning that Cyberlina had returned. But apart from being surprised for a moment, he had felt nothing much about it. After all, he was not close to that professor. Later, he had even angrily rebuked her after discovering that she still cared for Grindelwald. His brother knew nothing about that—and Aberforth had no intention of telling him about the argument in which only he had raged helplessly.

So he had never expected to see the wrapping of this Christmas gift again after decades.

Aberforth sat on the carpet facing Ariana's portrait and placed the package in front of him. While quietly complaining to Ariana about Cyberlina, he opened it. Inside was a red woolen scarf, with a little white lamb pattern at one end.

He picked up the scarf, but felt as though something had fallen out of it. Looking down, he found a palm-sized lamb made of wool, with several little flowers stuck into its head.

Aberforth picked up the little lamb and remained silent for a long while. Then he rose and placed it on the mantel above the fireplace, in front of Ariana's portrait. The little lamb immediately seemed to receive some sort of instruction. It ran two steps forward, the flowers on its head floating up, then settled back onto its horns when the lamb stopped.

Ariana lowered her head to look at the little lamb and laughed happily.

At the same time, a similar gift appeared on Dumbledore's desk—a purple woolen scarf decorated with golden candies, with several little balls the same color as the scarf hanging from its end.

Dumbledore smiled as he picked it up. Then, with a thump, a small black box fell onto the green wrapping paper.

He picked it up in confusion and opened it. Inside lay the Gaunt ring, without even a trace of dark magic. The clear mark of the Peverell Family was engraved on its black stone.

Dumbledore paused. He set down the scarf and picked up the ring, studying it for a long time. At last, he put it back in the box and placed the box in a drawer of his desk. His hand rested on the drawer for several seconds. Then he opened it again, took out the ring, and put it on his finger.

After that, Dumbledore cheerfully wrapped the woolen scarf around his neck and continued opening the Christmas gifts he had received. The little balls at the scarf's end swung back and forth with his movements.

In the Gryffindor dormitory, on the same floor as the headmaster's office but in a different wing, Harry had risen very early. After sending Hedwig off to deliver Christmas presents, he happily began opening his own gifts. He liked every present except the toothpicks from the Dursleys, and his absolute favorite was the Firebolt Sirius had given him. It was a gleaming Firebolt. The moment Harry opened it, his eyes gleamed as well. He lovingly stroked it for a long time and even wanted to fly around the entire school on it immediately, but managed to restrain himself.

At last, he opened the letter Sirius had given him. As he read the blessings and words of longing, along with the news that Sirius had already found a house for their future home, Harry laughed so hard that he rolled around on the bed. The black diary beside his pillow was squeezed onto the floor. Then, while he was lying on his side and reading the letter for the eighth time, the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of an unopened green package beneath the wrapping paper he had piled on the floor. He sat up at once, bent down, and reached for it.

The green wrapping radiated Slytherin, and a silver ribbon was tied around it. A card marked with an "S" was fastened to the ribbon. Harry immediately guessed that this was Cyberlina's gift. It couldn't possibly be Snape's.

It was a very light box. Inside was a silver bracelet engraved with several fine lines. A tiny red leather clasp was attached to it, and the clasp bore several tiny golden runes that Harry could not understand at all. Beneath it lay a card, covered in Cyberlina's sharp handwriting:

[Fasten it to your broomstick—Cyber.]

Harry: "!"

He glanced at the new Firebolt on the bed, then took out the clasp and fastened it around the middle of the broomstick. With a whoosh, the broomstick instantly shrank, coiling around and attaching itself to the bracelet like an ornament. The raised leather clasp clung tightly to the shrunken broomstick, resembling a raised red decoration.

Harry's eyes widened as he lifted the silver bracelet and slowly put it on his wrist. It fit perfectly!

"Wow!" Harry exclaimed. He could carry his Firebolt with him at all times!

Harry decided that Sirius and Cyberlina must have planned this together!

Beneath Hogwarts, Snape, as a renowned Potions Master, naturally received quite a few gifts. Most were books, potions, or potion ingredients, sent by people who had achieved similar accomplishments in the field of potions. The Christmas gifts he sent out each year were generally the same sort of things.

But this year, after floating all those gifts into his office, Snape discovered a wide, flat gift box that was clearly neither a book nor a potion. His first reaction was that Lucius had sent him another ostentatious and impractical large object. Then he saw the card marked with an "S," realized who had sent it, and became aware of something else—he had not prepared a gift for Cyberlina.

After remaining silent for a while, he decided to open the gift first.

It was a black robe made of expensive fabric, with a delicate silver snake embroidered around the collar. The robe was long and broad, with an excellent cut. Its inner lining was covered in mysterious magical writing. It was clearly a piece of magical protective equipment.

Snape had to admit that it was an excellent gift. Nevertheless, his expression darkened another shade, because it was clearly wider than the robes he usually wore, reminding him of Cyberlina's teasing: when he walked, he really did look like an Old Bat.

Apart from the wide, flat box, Snape also saw a small box with a card marked with an "S." When he opened it, he found a black bow tie decorated with a green gemstone. Snape looked toward the white cat curled up on Cyberlina's workbench.

That white cat.

The white cat Cyberlina had picked up at the entrance to the Gaunt old house.

She had brought the cat here the afternoon after that day, claiming that she had nowhere to keep it. Honestly, Snape thought that excuse was worse than simply saying nothing and dumping the cat on him!

But the cat was fairly quiet. Cyberlina had also said she would leave it here only until the end of the Christmas holiday, and she had given him an old spellbook as well.

So Snape had reluctantly accepted it.

Noticing Snape's gaze, the white cat raised its head and immediately saw the black bow tie in his hand.

At the same time, Snape was looking at the bare silver chain around the cat's neck.

Grindel-Cat-Wald: "..."

Grindelwald truly felt that he would have been better off never leaving Nurmengard!

That night, he had thought Cyberlina meant that he would have a place of his own the next day. Instead, after she removed the curse from the ring the following day, she forcibly transformed him into a cat again! Then she sent him to this little black bastard!

His first thought had been to transform back and give the little bastard, who looked at him with undisguised dislike, a fright. But he soon discovered that he could not transform back at all! Cyberlina noticed what he intended to do and smiled as she tugged at the chain around his neck—the same chain she had transformed from his clothes that day.

Grindelwald instantly realized that he had been tricked. But he could not use magic, and Cyberlina threatened him, so all he could do was watch resentfully as she traded an old spellbook for a place for him to stay. Then he was stunned. Honestly, Grindelwald felt that Cyberlina had simply wanted to give this child a spellbook!

Seeing Snape approaching with the bow tie, Grindelwald immediately jumped from Cyberlina's workbench to Snape's. When Snape turned, Grindelwald fixed his eyes on the desk and leaped forward. He failed to make it, because Snape had drawn his wand.

For Snape, stopping a little cat without magic from leaping about was ridiculously easy. He floated the cat into the air, ignored its struggling limbs, and simply placed the bow tie onto the chain.

Click.

After the crisp sound, the bow tie automatically attached itself to the chain. The chain also seemed to have shortened slightly and no longer swung about as it had before.

"As expected..." Snape smiled smugly, waved his wand to return the cat to Cyberlina's workbench, and then turned around to continue opening the gifts he had received from his academic acquaintances. At the same time, he wrestled with what gift to return to Cyberlina. She lacked nothing valuable, but he could not fail to return the favor...

Yet the instant Snape turned around, the white cat's sky-blue right eye suddenly became transparent, then returned to sky blue in the blink of an eye.

Grindelwald disdainfully pawed at the bow tie beneath his neck, then quietly lay down and narrowed his cat eyes at Snape as he opened his gifts.

Not many students were staying at school this year, so the Great Hall had been left with only one long table for the students and staff who remained to hold a small Christmas dinner.

But one table did not diminish the grandeur of the hall. Instead, it made the dozen or so Christmas trees seem even taller. With snow drifting down from the magical sky, Harry even had the illusion that he was about to hold a feast in the woods.

Cyberlina had already been seated at the long table. Percy was sitting beside her, apparently asking about something important, his expression slightly serious. But by the time Harry approached, their conversation seemed to be nearing its end. He only heard Cyberlina say:

"...But no matter which department you ultimately enter, the prerequisite is that you achieve good results in your N.E.W.T.s examinations. Of course, I believe your grades will pose no problem at all, Mr. Weasley."

"Thank you, Mrs. Sekerei," Percy said seriously. Then he looked toward Harry. "You're here, Harry."

Cyberlina turned her head and smiled at Harry. "Good evening, Harry. Thank you for the cookies. I liked them very much."

Harry had accidentally overheard McGonagall and Sprout mention that Cyberlina made fruit candies herself. He had therefore assumed that Cyberlina, like Dumbledore, enjoyed sweets. He had asked Hermione to buy a large number of delicious and famous Muggle snacks and mail them over, giving them to Cyberlina and Dumbledore as Christmas presents.

Harry smiled shyly and showed Cyberlina the bracelet already fastened around his wrist. "Your gift is amazing! Senior Cyberlina, did you plan this with Sirius?"

"What?" Cyberlina tilted her head slightly, puzzled.

"Ah, I mean—" Realizing he had guessed wrong, Harry pointed at the Firebolt attached to the bracelet. "Sirius gave me a Firebolt, and you gave me... this."

"I see." Cyberlina smiled at Harry. "But I haven't spoken with Little Black."

"What a coincidence," Harry exclaimed.

At that moment, Dumbledore and McGonagall entered the Great Hall together. Dumbledore was wearing purple robes and a purple wizard's hat covered in stars, along with the scarf Cyberlina had given him. He walked to the table and said with a broad smile, "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Professor Dumbledore." Harry could tell that Dumbledore was in an excellent mood.

"Merry Christmas, Headmaster." Percy sat up straight.

"Merry Christmas, Albus." Cyberlina noticed that Dumbledore had deliberately placed the side of the scarf decorated with candies at the front and could not help laughing softly. "I'm glad you like the scarf."

"Of course. I haven't received one in many years." Dumbledore touched the little pom-poms at the scarf's end. "Minerva was just saying that you hadn't given her one."

"I did not say that, Albus." McGonagall stepped forward and touched her beautiful new wizard's hat. "I only said that, compared with the scarf Cyberlina gave you, I prefer the hat Cyberlina gave me."

"Minerva is the most beautiful!" Cyberlina praised her as generously as ever.

Dumbledore sat directly beside Cyberlina, then pulled Harry, who was still standing, down beside him on the other side. "Come, Harry. There are very few people here today, so sit wherever you like."

Harry obediently sat down, then discovered that Professor McGonagall had taken the seat on his other side. Realizing that both sides of him were occupied by school heads, Harry felt a surge of pressure. But he was already seated, so he could hardly say that he wanted to change places.

"Hmm..." Cyberlina looked around and smiled. "It seems I'm surrounded by Gryffindors."

"Oh, and the only four Gryffindors here tonight." Dumbledore smoothed his beard so that it would not catch on the little pom-poms. "Rubeus was supposed to come too, but something happened to a friend of his in the Forbidden Forest, so he couldn't make it."

"Oh, I see. What a pity." Cyberlina smiled sweetly.

Dumbledore glanced at her and did not continue the subject. Instead, he said, "Cyber, it's Christmas. Why are you still wearing your school robes?"

"I won't be able to wear them for many more days." Cyberlina straightened her collar with a regretful expression. "I still think the current Slytherin robes are rather nice."

"Why won't you be able to wear them for many more days?" Harry leaned forward, poking his head out from beside Dumbledore to look at Cyberlina.

"That's a secret." Cyberlina leaned forward slightly and, peering at Harry through Dumbledore's beard, winked at him. "You'll know when the holiday ends."

"It doesn't matter, Cyberlina. Your Transfiguration is so good..." Dumbledore drew out his words, smiling at her. "You can always transform your clothes into school robes whenever you want."

"You flatter me, Albus." Cyberlina sat up straight, her eyes curved in a smile. "You were once a professor of Transfiguration yourself. Oh, there are two Transfiguration professors here, and Minerva is an Animagus too. Now that is impressive."

McGonagall accepted the praise with a smile, then said, "I believe you simply have never tried, Cyberlina."

"Spare me, Minerva." Cyberlina shook her head with a wry smile. "The process is far too complicated."

Harry immediately asked how complicated it was, and Percy took over to explain it to him. The two Ravenclaw students who entered afterward heard the topic and joined the conversation from the seats opposite Percy. Harry immediately seized the opportunity to stand and change places, sitting on Percy's other side.

Seeing that the topic had completely shifted and could not be brought back, Dumbledore stared at Cyberlina for several seconds, then stopped mentioning it and instead began discussing the snacks Harry had given her.

Sprout entered the Great Hall with two little badgers.

Seeing the strange seating arrangement, Sprout naturally sat opposite McGonagall and began chatting with her. The two little badgers sat one on either side of Harry—one beside him and the other across from him. At this point, all the students remaining at school were seated one-to-one along the side of the long table nearer the original staff table.

Perhaps afraid that the students would go hungry, Dumbledore tapped the table and had the house-elves bring out some food first.

Flitwick and Filch arrived almost simultaneously. Sprout warmly invited them into her row. Flitwick sat beside the students from his own house, while Filch sat between the two professors, opposite Dumbledore.

"Where is Mrs. Norris?" Cyberlina asked with a smile.

Knowing that Mrs. Norris was close to Cyberlina, and that Cyberlina often slipped her food, Filch smiled at Cyberlina and said, "She's already eaten... And she doesn't really come to the Great Hall..."

Cyberlina understood. "Oh... I see." Then she turned to Dumbledore. "Can't cats come to the Great Hall anymore?"

"There is no such rule at present, Cyber." Dumbledore looked at Cyberlina. "Do you want a cat to attend the dinner?"

"I think that should depend on the cat's own wishes." Cyberlina smiled and answered Dumbledore sincerely.

Delayed because a certain cat had interfered with his departure, Snape arrived with a grim expression. McGonagall pulled him into the empty seat between herself and Dumbledore.

"You really should control your cat!" Snape leaned back to avoid Dumbledore and snarled at Cyberlina.

"Oh! You have a cat too?" Filch's eyes lit up slightly, and his expression softened considerably.

"It isn't my cat, Mr. Filch." Cyberlina explained, "It's a friend's cat. It's only staying here temporarily for a few days."

"A few days?" Dumbledore suddenly interjected.

Cyberlina acted as though she had not heard the brief remark. She leaned back slightly and said to Snape, "Did that cat bully you?"

Snape choked slightly on her choice of words, then said coldly, "It wouldn't let me leave."

Cyberlina raised her brows slightly and exchanged a glance with Dumbledore.

"Ahem, all right, Severus. I imagine you're hungry too. We'll discuss that cat later. For now, the dinner should begin."

With that, Dumbledore turned to everyone at the table and announced the start of this year's Christmas dinner.