Christmas Eve

"Has Christmas already almost here without us realizing it?" Hearing Elshiona's words, Xiwen paused for a moment.

"You didn't even remember Christmas, did you?" El asked, looking at Xiwen suspiciously.

"Haha, how could that be?" Xiwen decisively denied it, laughing it off. "How could I tell you about Christmas presents in advance? It's much more meaningful to find out on Christmas Day, when you open the gift yourself!"

"Hmph, only a fool would believe you!" Elshiona wrinkled her nose and snorted.

Xiwen could only respond with a forced laugh.

After Elshiona's questioning, Xiwen realized that the celebration might not only be to commemorate the Slytherin Quidditch victory, but also to celebrate the upcoming Christmas holidays.

The young wizards' performance in class over the next three days further confirmed this.

Christmas Day falls on a Saturday, Hogwarts will begin its long winter holiday on December 23rd, two days before Christmas.

Classes will still be held as usual from Monday to Wednesday, but the little wizards' hearts have already flown out of school and into the Christmas dinner at home.

However, the professors clearly weren't going to tolerate this, so these three days became another peak period for deducting House Points. If it weren't for the enormous amount of points Xiwen received for his Special Award for Services to the School, Slytherin's commanding lead in points might have been overtaken by Ravenclaw during these three days...

By Wednesday, the last day before the holiday, this situation had intensified. So professors stopped forcing students to attend classes; most simply assigned a large amount of holiday homework and then left the time for students to study on their own.

Of course, most young wizards disdain doing homework during these study periods; they won't even open their backpacks until the last day of the holiday!

Xiwen didn't choose to do his homework either, but unlike the other young wizards who were chatting and laughing, he was doing something serious!

Upon learning that Christmas was just around the corner, Xiwen had to start thinking about Christmas gifts—for acquaintances with whom he wasn't particularly close, he could simply buy some books or Honeydukes candy to make do.

However, he couldn't just give any gift to those he was close to, such as his three roommates and Elshiona; or to friends or elders who had helped him, such as Miranda, Professor Kettleburn, Professor Slughorn, and Dumbledore.

It's important to know that Christmas in England is equivalent to the Spring Festival in China, being the most important annual holiday. Exchanging gifts among relatives and friends has long been a significant tradition, and the selection of gifts is quite particular, as different gifts can reveal the relationship between two people.

If someone gives someone a very perfunctory gift, but receives a very thoughtful gift in return, that person will definitely feel very embarrassed.

Therefore, Xiwen decided to do something creative. Since he was self-studying alchemy this semester, why not take this opportunity to practice... oh no, I mean, to dedicate his own efforts!

So he silently took out a piece of exquisite metal and began carving it in front of the ghostly Professor Binns...

After class, Abraxas and the others went back to their dorms to pack their things to take home. Xiwen's belongings were all in his Pocket Watch Space, so he didn't need to go back to pack, but he still followed the others down the spiral staircase leading to the dungeon.

After reaching the bottom of the stairs, Xiwen parted ways with Abu and the other two, heading alone to the dungeon room that belonged exclusively to the Ghost Xiwen.

"So you're going home?" Helena asked with some concern. "Will your Soul Body come along?"

"I guess I can stay in the castle..." Ghost Xiwen said from the side.

"At least we can conduct an experiment," the Young Wizard Xiwen chimed in. "Let's see if we can still sense the situation on the other side in real time when we're hundreds or thousands of miles apart."

Hearing that the Ghost Xiwen would stay at Hogwarts, Helena seemed slightly relieved, but then she asked worriedly, "Won't there be problems with the Soul Body and body being so far apart?"

The Young Wizard Xiwen, shook his head and replied, "No, my condition is a bit special."

To prove his point, he sat down on the sofa and closed his eyes.

Then, a transparent figure emerged from the Young Wizard Xiwen. Its appearance, clothing, and expression were exactly the same as Young Wizard Xiwen's!

Helena was startled and asked blankly, "What's going on...?"

"This is the Sub-Soul within the body," the Young Wizard Xiwen, in his soul form, said with amusement, looking at Helena's blank expression.

Ever since Xiwen's previous Soul Body left his body, a new soul, arriving late, has been constantly being born within this body.

However, this body had been nurtured and influenced by Xiwen's soul for eleven years, and the soul born from it naturally belonged entirely to Xiwen himself, existing only as a Sub-Soul.

"Can your original soul return to your body?" Helena asked with concern.

"Give it a try," Xiwen said softly. He actually had the same concerns in his heart.

With a slight thought, the little wizard in his soul form and the Ghost Xiwen simultaneously crashed into his body. As the two Soul Body entered, Xiwen suddenly opened his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Helena asked.

"I feel great," Xiwen replied, her eyes bright and excited.

The two souls seemed to merge perfectly, with not a single disagreement in their thoughts, and their bodies felt full of power!

He raised his wand, his lips barely moving.

"Protego."

Then, an exquisite and strange golden shield appeared before Xiwen's eyes. As he activated it, the round, transparent shield seemed to melt, turning into liquid energy that flowed into Xiwen's body, enveloping his robes and dyeing his black school uniform with a layer of shimmering gold!

He then waved his hand again, and another Raggatego transformed into fluid, covering Xiwen's face and forming a Winky hood.

"How's this pose?" Xiwen said, stylishly raising the two Rings of Raggadorr to his sides, striking a classic Ancient One pose...

"Hmm, quite unique." Helena almost couldn't help but laugh. Given Xiwen's current height and build, this pose basically only made him look cute, not handsome...

Afraid she might actually laugh, she quickly changed the subject, asking, "How come you suddenly became so adept at Combined Spellcasting?"

Xiwen, unsuspecting, chuckled and said, "Because Kamar-Taj's magic primarily relies on soul power to be cast, and Combined Spellcasting are also achieved through mental control."

"Most of my combat power originally resided in my Soul Body..."