Christmas had arrived.
When Li Wei woke up that morning, three piles of presents had already accumulated in the corner of his office, gift boxes stacked high like heaps of grain.
"Merry Christmas, Professor."
"Merry Christmas, Master."
"Merry Christmas to you too."
The two assistants and Barton had risen even earlier than he had, but they had not rushed to open their presents—they seemed to have wanted to wait for Li Wei.
In previous years, the students from the academy would celebrate with them, exchanging gifts together.
This year was different. Li Wei had decided to stay at the school and spend it with his colleagues, so he had not gone back. Still, they had exchanged gifts through owls.
"Let's open them together."
Looking at this familiar scene from the past, Li Wei felt an inexplicable surge of joy. He had never experienced this before—could simply changing one's perspective really alter one's state of mind so much?
As he pondered this, he, his assistants, and Barton opened their presents.
As for the gifts he had given others, he had entrusted them entirely to Barton beforehand—Barton had always managed every aspect of his daily life.
Moreover, Barton often helped out in the kitchen and understood many of the professors' preferences. He was far better than Li Wei at choosing thoughtful gifts.
Yet as he opened the presents, Li Wei suddenly felt that perhaps next year, he ought to choose the Christmas gifts himself—just as he had done for his two assistants.
Dumbledore had given Li Wei a handwritten manuscript by Godric Gryffindor, seven pages in total, titled The Wisdom of Courage.
Professor McGonagall's gift was likewise a handwritten manuscript. Li Wei flipped through it quickly and found that it was prose poetry written by Rowena Ravenclaw.
Next came Professor Flitwick's gift,