Christmas Prophecy

On Christmas morning, Su Yu was woken up by Kurama stepping on his face. Kurama stomped on his face with one of its claws, the pad of its paw covering his nose.

Su Yu sat up abruptly, and Kurama slid off his face, squatted on the blanket, and wagged its tail.

"What are you doing?" Su Yu's voice was muffled, and there was a faint claw mark on his nose.

"Get up and open your presents!" Kurama couldn't wait any longer.

Su Yu rubbed his nose and reached for his wand on the bedside table. He squinted at the window; it wasn't fully light yet, and the Black Lake shimmered with a deep green light in the morning glow. The fireplace in the dormitory had been reignited, the firewood crackling, and the Kakkō reflected on the floor piled with gifts. Fa-jie and Ka-jie had already gone back to their rooms to unpack their presents.

There were many gifts. Su Yu received many gifts every year, so many that he was too lazy to open them. Kurama had already jumped off the bed and was scratching at a box wrapped in silver paper with the Slytherin serpent emblem printed on it.

"Tear this down," said Kurama.

Su Yu got out of bed, his bare feet touching the cold stone floor. He walked over, picked up the box, and opened it. Inside was a dark green robe made of fine silk, with silver embroidery on the collar. The card read, "To the Chief, Merry Christmas. --Malfoy." The handwriting was neat and without any typos, indicating that it was written carefully and not by Crabbe.

Kurama pulled out another box, wrapped in light gold paper and tied with a white ribbon. Su Yu opened it and found a silver tie with a soaring eagle engraved on the tie clip. It was a gift from Ka-jie, and the card only had two words written on it, "Wear it."

Su Yu put the tie back in the box and continued unpacking. The gift from Fa-jie was a small silver box. Inside was a pair of cufflinks, shaped like two intertwined snakes with two small emerald eyes. The handwriting on the card was messy. "Don't you have a suit? Go with these." Su Yu put the cufflinks away, while Kurama had already started unpacking the next one.

Daphne's gift was a thick handwritten notebook with a dark green leather cover bearing the words "Su Yu - 1993-1994 Academic Year" in gold-embossed calligraphy. Inside, Daphne's neat handwriting filled the pages with notes on Potions, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Each page also featured a small Kurama drawing at the bottom, some sleeping, some eating, and some chasing their own tails.

Su Yu flipped through a few pages, then closed the book. Kurama leaned over to take a look; she liked it!

Hermione gave him a large box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and a book, an expanded edition of * Hogwarts: Hogwarts, A History *. The card read, "This book has three more chapters than the previous edition, about the secret passages in the castle. I think you might find it useful. --Hermione." Su Yu placed the book on the bedside table. Kurama had already opened the box of Bertie Bott 'Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and was using its paw to pull out a yellow one, smelling it, and popping it into its mouth. Her expression changed—from anticipation to doubt, then to distortion, and finally, with a "pfft," it spat it out.

"What flavor is it?" Su Yu asked.

"I don't know." Kurama licked his lips. "Why don't you try some?"

"Thank you, but I don't want any..."

"You have to try it! I can't be the only one suffering..."

Harry gave a box of Chocolate Frog, and Ron gave a bag of Fizzing Whizzbees. Both of their cards were very short. Harry's said "Merry Christmas" and Ron's said "Don't eat too much." Su Yu put the Chocolate Frog on the table. Kurama had already set his sights on the bag of honeydew candy, but Su Yu took the bag away.

"Let's eat later," Su Yu said.

Kurama snorted and continued unwrapping the gifts.

Theodore gave him a bottle of Potions — the Draught of Living Death. The bottle was dark blue and sealed with wax. The card read, "For sleep aid, one drop is enough." Su Yu carefully put the bottle away. Theodore was always meticulous, and the gifts he gave were practical.

Blaise gave her a box of chocolates, the box printed in French, with a card that read, "France, definitely better than Honeydukes." Su Yu opened it, and inside were sixteen handmade chocolates, each one a different shape. Kurama leaned over to smell them, and Su Yu gave her one. She took small bites, her tail held high.

Callis sent a funny product—a box of screaming firecrackers. The card read, "Put one on when you're bored, guaranteed to wake you up." Su Yu put the box in the corner. Kurama glanced at it, but she wasn't interested and continued opening it.

Crabbe and Goyle gave Su Yu a gift wrapped in rough brown paper and several layers of tape. Su Yu opened it and found a handmade wooden photo frame inside. The paint was uneven and the frame was crooked, but it was clearly shaped like a snake.

Tucked inside the frame was a photograph of Crabbe and Goyle —the two were standing in the Slytherin common room, Crabbe holding a wand Goyle holding a toad, both smiling broadly. On the back of the photograph were the words "Merry Christmas," written in crooked, childlike handwriting.

Su Yu placed the photo frame on the table. Kurama glanced at it, then turned his head back.

Pansy gave Su Yu a silver-gray wool scarf with a card that read, "It's cold, don't catch a cold." Su Yu draped the scarf over the back of her chair.

Several younger Slytherin students also gave him gifts, which Su Yu unwrapped and carefully put away. Finally, at the very bottom of the pile of gifts, he found a small box wrapped in dark purple paper. The paper was unsigned and tied with a black ribbon.

Su Yu opened it and found a badge inside. It had a silver background and a complex rune engraved on it. The lines of the rune glowed slightly blue in the candlelight, just like the light patterns he had seen in the practice room during the summer vacation.

The card only had one sentence. "How's the training going? --GG"

Grindelwald.

Su Yu pinned the badge inside his robe. Kurama leaned over to smell it, then withdrew.

After the gifts were unwrapped, Su Yu sat on the edge of the bed, with Kurama squatting on his lap, finishing the last piece of chocolate. Outside the window, it was already light; the snow had stopped, and sunlight shone on the ice, reflecting a blinding white light.

"Let's go," Su Yu said, "Let's go eat."

He changed his clothes, carried Kurama out of the dormitory. The corridor was quiet; most people were still asleep. There were only a few people in the Slytherin Common Room. Ka-jie was leaning against the sofa, holding a cup of coffee and flipping through a magazine. Fa-jie was sitting next to her, unpacking a gift box. Halfway through, she looked up and glanced at Su Yu.

"Good morning," Fa-jie.

"Good morning." Su Yu sat down next to her. Kurama jumped onto the coffee table, squatted there, and looked at the coffee in Ka-jie's hand.

Ka-jie looked up at Kurama. "Don't you not drink coffee?"

Kurama snorted and turned his head to the side.

After unwrapping the gifts, Fa-jie took out a deep red scarf from the box, wrapped it around her neck, and looked at herself in the mirror above the fireplace. "Does it look good?"

"It looks good," Su Yu said.

Fa-jie glanced at him. "You didn't even look."

I saw it.

When did you watch it?

"I've been watching."

Fa-jie chuckled, took off the scarf, folded it neatly, and put it back in the box. Ka-jie closed the magazine and stood up.

"Let's go, it's time to go to the Great Hall," Ka-jie.

The three men stepped out of the common room. The torches in the corridor flickered in the draft, and the sunlight filtering through the windows cast patches of white on the floor. Faint laughter and voices drifted from afar; the Great Hall was beginning to stir.

The Great Hall was decorated as it always had been—holly wreaths hung on the walls, and snowflakes drifted from the ceiling, magically disappearing before they reached anyone's head. Behind the High Table hung a huge silver curtain, embroidered with the Hogwarts crest in gold thread. The students' long tables were laden with food, far more plentiful than usual—roast turkey, roast potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, roast sausages, bacon rolls, buttered bread, Pumpkin Juice, and Butterbeer.

Kurama jumped onto the table, squatted in front of Su Yu, and stared at the roasted turkey in the distance.

"Wait a minute," Su Yu said.

Kurama didn't move.

Hermione came running from Gryffindor, panting, carrying a cup of hot cocoa. "Su Yu! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas," Su Yu said.

Hermione took a small box out of her pocket and handed it to Su Yu. "This is for you."

Su Yu opened it and found a pair of silver snake-shaped cufflinks inside. The craftsmanship was exquisite, and the snake's eyes were made of rubies, which shimmered in the candlelight.

"When did you buy it?" Su Yu asked.

"Summer vacation," Hermione said, "In Diagon Alley."

Su Yu put away the cufflinks. Kurama had already jumped off the table and run over to the Gryffindor side. She squatted down next to Hermione's plate and started pawing at it with Hermione paws. Hermione looked down, saw Kurama, smiled, and took a piece of roasted chicken from the plate to feed her.

There weren't many teachers and students staying on campus this year, but it was still a lively affair. At the Gryffindor table, Harry, Ron, Hermione sat together, quietly chatting about their holiday plans; at the Slytherin table, Su Yu and his classmates ate quietly, their demeanor composed; the teachers sat at the High Table, Dumbledore, dressed in a burgundy wizard's robe, a gentle smile on his face, chatting softly with Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick beside him, the atmosphere peaceful and warm, perfectly embodying the relaxation and joy of a holiday.

Just as everyone was enjoying their meal, and the Great Hall was filled with the soft clinking of cutlery and gentle conversation, a slightly abrupt figure slowly drifted in from the Great Hall entrance.

It was Professor Trelawney Sybill Trelawney.

She was still wrapped in layers upon layers of countless gauze shawls and sequined headscarves, the dark green, ink blue, and light gold fabrics clinging to her body. She moved without making a sound, like a light, floating ghost, slowly moving towards the teachers' dining table.

She wore an exaggeratedly thick pair of round-framed glasses, the lenses magnifying her eyes several times over, making them look like two bulging insect eyes. Her gaze was always unfocused and dreamy, completely out of place with the lively festive atmosphere around her.