Christmas Gifts

McGonagall's threat had an immediate effect. The students moved noticeably faster, and in less than a minute, all the people who had gathered in the corridor to watch the excitement had scattered.

Silvan also spotted the culprits behind the incident.

Ron and Malfoy were each held in one of Hagrid's hands, glaring furiously at each other.

Nearby stood Harry, Crabbe, and Goyle. Their robes were all rumpled, and they had clearly been brawling as well, only barely separating because McGonagall was there.

Was Harry really that brave? Not only had he taken on two opponents alone, but those opponents were Crabbe and Goyle—honestly, they looked like two third-years, at least twice as burly as other students their age.

"I need an explanation!" McGonagall said, her eyes seeming to spit fire.

"Malfoy was the one who insulted Ron first, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid set the two of them down and said, "Malfoy insulted his family just now."

"I-I was only telling the truth." Malfoy protested indignantly. "But Weasley actually hit me in the face. He threw the first punch!"

"Ten points from Gryffindor," McGonagall said expressionlessly.

"No, Professor, he's lying!" Ron shouted, his face flushing red.

Across from him, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle grinned smugly.

But before they could enjoy themselves for long...

"Ten points from Slytherin!"

Their laughter stopped abruptly. The three of them looked as though they had bitten into a cockroach cluster while eating candy.

"Wait, Professor, I think you've made a mistake." Malfoy tried to argue. "Everyone can testify that he hit me first."

"I believe I understand exactly what happened, and I trust that you do as well," McGonagall said coldly. "If you believe my decision is not fair enough, you may speak to Professor Snape."

Under McGonagall's gaze, Malfoy was still unconvinced, but he chose to keep his mouth shut.

"Very good." McGonagall nodded. "Hagrid, we've been waiting for you. The Great Hall is only missing its last tree now."

"Sorry, Professor McGonagall. I'll be right there." Hagrid hoisted a fir tree beside him and followed her away.

Later, this silver fir would be placed in the Great Hall as the most important Christmas decoration.

"Just you wait, Weasley. I won't let you get away with this!" Malfoy snarled after McGonagall and Hagrid had left.

"Let's go!" He did not continue pestering them, instead shoving rudely past Harry with Crabbe and Goyle in tow.

"Look at him, acting like I'd be scared of him." Ron watched Malfoy's retreating back and swung his fist hard. "If Hagrid hadn't stopped me just now, I definitely would've taught him a proper lesson."

Harry said nothing, merely rubbing his arm beside him.

Crabbe and Goyle were seriously strong. If the other Gryffindor students had not moved quickly enough, he might have spent Christmas in the hospital wing.

"Are you all right?" Hermione ran over and asked.

"We're fine. Professor McGonagall arrived just in time," Harry said, his gaze suddenly turning toward the other end of the corridor, in the direction of the underground classrooms.

"Luckily, you called Professor McGonagall. If it had been Snape, he definitely would've only taken points from us and not punished Malfoy."

"All right, isn't the matter already settled?" Hermione said. "You really should go see the Great Hall. It's amazing—I don't even know how to describe it!"

"You two go ahead. I have something to do," Harry said. He winked at Hermione and dashed away in a single stride.

To be honest, both Ron and Hermione were completely baffled at the moment. They had no idea what had happened.

"What's wrong with him?" Ron asked in confusion.

"I don't know." Hermione was equally puzzled.

Harry seemed to have winked at her, but she had no idea what it meant.

"Forget it. Let's go to the Great Hall first."

"Okay."

Meanwhile, Harry had already raced up the stairs and caught up with Silvan in front of the Fat Lady's portrait on the eighth floor, just as he was about to return to the common room.

After McGonagall arrived, Silvan had immediately put away his wand and left with everyone else.

The Weasley brothers had run off even earlier, as though McGonagall would cancel the Quidditch match if they were a second too slow.

"Wait, Silvan."

"Harry?" Silvan stopped before the passageway. "What do you need?"

"I want to buy a wand," Harry said.

"Hm?" Silvan froze for a moment, then his eyes lit up.

"You've got taste. Come with me!" He pulled Harry through the passageway into the common room, pressed him into an armchair, then turned and rushed toward the second-floor dormitories.

"Please wait a moment. I'll be right back."

"No, I..." Harry wanted to say something else, but in the blink of an eye, Silvan was gone.

It was not until five minutes later that Silvan returned to the common room, carrying a tray neatly lined with more than a dozen different... wands?

Harry was not entirely sure whether that round thing that looked like a steering wheel could really be considered a wand.

The other wand designs were equally bizarre. He had never seen products in such shapes at Ollivanders Wand Shop.

"I recommend this one. Triple the magic, triple the happiness..." Silvan pointed to the round wand. "Or you can try them out for yourself. If you don't like any of them, I also have a two-and-a-half-foot-long wand in my dormitory. It isn't finished yet, but I can take preorders."

"How much?" Harry thought he had misheard.

They were talking about wands, right? Not bats for hitting Bludgers... feet?

Was that right?

"Wait, I really like my current wand. I'm not planning to replace it." Harry hurriedly took a deep breath and interrupted Silvan's nonstop chatter.

"I want to buy the wand with a Red Cap nerve core."

Silvan paused, then quickly realized something.

"Ron?"

"Yes," Harry said. "I decided a long time ago that I'd give that wand to him as a Christmas gift."

"If that's the case, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Silvan said. "Then I could've prepared in advance."

"Because I wanted to surprise Ron," Harry said.

"Heh." Silvan tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I don't know whether Ron will be surprised, but you certainly surprised me."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Harry did not understand. "If it's about the money, I've already prepared it."

He pulled a handful of gold coins from his pocket—exactly seven Galleons, neither more nor less. He had clearly prepared them beforehand.

"No, it has nothing to do with Galleons. It's that wand..." Silvan spread his hands. "Well, I sent it back to the shop two months ago."

"What?" Harry's hand froze in midair, still holding the gold coins. "You mean that wand is in Diagon Alley?"

"Or somewhere else." Silvan sighed. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure where that wand is either."