Garian and Lila

Before this, Silvan had never known that Ron's voice could be so piercing; he could hear it clearly from several dormitories away.

It seemed Hedwig had not failed Harry's expectations and had flown back just in time for Christmas.

With that, he could accept the seven Galleons Harry had given him with a clear conscience.

Strictly speaking, this was the second wand Harry had bought, so it wasn't eligible for a discount, but since it was for Ron to use, Silvan didn't fuss over it. He simply mentioned it in a letter to his grandfather, asking him to put this wand on Ron Weasley's tab.

It would make it easier to claim the wand subsidy from the Ministry of Magic later.

They wouldn't be losing out, anyway.

Five minutes passed, and Ron was still shouting over there. Silvan ignored him and continued unwrapping his own gifts.

The second long, small box was from his grandfather. Inside was a section of brownish-tan wood with a layer of brown, grid-like scales on the surface; at first glance, it looked just like snake scales.

Silvan picked up the branch in surprise. Cyathea wood, also known as Snakewood—although it grew like a tree, it was actually a fern.

It was precisely for this reason that it was almost impossible to find a Bowtruckle on Snakewood. Only in very rare cases, through a stroke of luck, could a tree gain their favor and become magical wood suitable for wand-making.

It was worth mentioning that Salazar Slytherin's wand was made of Snakewood.

And anything sent by his grandfather as a Christmas gift certainly couldn't be ordinary Snakewood.

Silvan rubbed his chin. It seemed his grandfather had found something good again during the time he had been at school.

Once the school term ended, he would have to find an excuse to visit the warehouse again.

While thinking this, Silvan opened the third package...

It was a large bag of candy from Hermione. It wasn't the kind from Honeydukes, but Muggle candy, with five or six different flavors.

There were also five Galleons from Harry (a truly simple yet sincere gift).

Besides that, Ron had sent a quill, Neville had sent a Chocolate Frog card, and Seamus had sent dried fish for his pet, with a cat drawn on the packaging (Silvan suspected Tom wouldn't eat such junk food at all).

McGonagall had also sent a gift: twenty full issues of Transfiguration Today.

Silvan was very puzzled as to how the professor managed to return gifts so precisely.

He hadn't given her a heads-up when he sent her a wand as a gift, yet McGonagall had returned the favor, making her the only professor to give him a gift.

A house-elf? Or name magic?

Silvan didn't dwell on it, grabbing a magazine at random before walking out of the dormitory.

Outside, Fred and George were egging their younger brother on to put on a dark maroon sweater. They were wearing the same style themselves, only in blue, with two extra letters on the chest.

George had a yellow "F," and Fred had a yellow "G."

It must have been a design specifically created by Mrs. Weasley to tell them apart.

But clearly, such a design was useless; they had intentionally put their sweaters on backward.

Silvan walked past them and headed to the common room. He planned to check if anyone was at Hagrid's place first, then head to the Great Hall.

However, just as Silvan stepped down the spiral staircase, he suddenly froze, staring in disbelief at the middle-aged man with glasses sitting in an armchair.

In that moment, Silvan thought he hadn't slept well and his eyes were playing tricks on him; otherwise, why would he see his father in the Gryffindor common room?

This had to be fake...

"Hey, Silvan, what are you standing there for?" The man waved with a smile.

"No, it's real!"

"What's real?" Garian Ollivander smiled and pushed up his glasses. "What, is it strange to see me?"

"Very strange," Silvan said. "Wait, if you're here, my mother wouldn't also..."

"She's in the girls' dormitory keeping watch," Garian said with a smile.

"Fine then..."

Silvan took a deep breath. It took him a while to accept that his Christmas gift was the sudden appearance of his parents at school. Afterward, he couldn't help but mentally review everything he had done recently, only breathing a slight sigh of relief once he was certain there was no chance of being called to the headmaster's office.

"How did you get here?"

"Consider it a make-up," Garian said. "After all, we weren't around when you started school. It's rare to be back in the United Kingdom, so we had to come see you. Since you aren't coming home for the holidays, us coming to the school is the same thing. Oh, your mother is here too."

As he spoke, Silvan's mother, Lila Ollivander, walked over from the direction of the girls' dormitory and gave Silvan a hug the moment they met.

"Dear, don't mind the thoughts of that old fossil, your grandfather." Lila kissed Silvan's forehead. "I've asked around; Gryffindor is quite good too."

She still remembered the letter Silvan had sent right after school started.

"Talking about it being a house for reckless brutes—that was how many years ago? Not everyone is Godric Gryffindor. Is Minerva reckless, too?"

"My grandfather doesn't actually mind that much," Silvan defended him slightly.

"But how did you get in?" Silvan couldn't help but voice what he understood the least. "I remember Hogwarts generally doesn't allow parents to just wander in and out."

"It doesn't, but we have other ways," Garian said. "We've been friends with Pomona Sprout for many years. Taking the opportunity of Christmas to visit an old friend—Dumbledore certainly wouldn't refuse that."

"Of course, we can also see you while we're at it," Lila said. She looked at the layout of the common room, then turned to whisper to Garian, "You were right, this place is a bit worse than Beauxbatons."

"I heard that," Silvan twitched his mouth.

In truth, before he decided to attend Hogwarts, his schooling had been the focus of a family debate.

His grandfather was firmly for Hogwarts, his mother Lila believed Beauxbatons was the best school and had roped in Garian and Silvan's grandmother to form the largest faction, and finally, there was his aunt, an Ilvermorny supporter.

The three parties would argue endlessly whenever the topic came up, until Silvan himself chose Hogwarts, putting a period to this war without smoke.

"I've already started school; I can't just transfer to Beauxbatons now," Silvan said with a shrug, not wanting to continue the topic.

Just then, several of the Weasley children and Harry arrived in the common room.

They were equally surprised and confused by the presence of Silvan's parents in the common room.

But the clever Weasleys didn't ask anything. Fred and George even greeted the two warmly and offered to act as tour guides.

However, the suggestion was declined by Garian and Lila, who brought out the Christmas gifts they had prepared in advance for everyone.

A dried Bubotuber pod.

When this thing hit the ground, it would bounce and roll uncontrollably, much like a magical version of a bouncy ball; it was considered a rather trendy toy among wizards.

The Christmas gift Silvan had received was also a bouncy ball. In that regard, they were quite fair to everyone.