Christmas Eve was merely the night before, a day for family gatherings and a light meal, whereas Christmas Day itself was when the celebrations truly began.
Waking up early as usual the next day, Manus completed his morning routine, yet as he jogged by the shores of the Great Lake, he turned his gaze toward the morning sun just breaking over the horizon and offered a brief prayer.
Simultaneously, Manus summoned the Phoenix Bracelet from his Wardrobe Space, doing so to thank the Sun God for granting him the raw materials for such a precious magical item on His divine birth day.
Though Manus had never yet had cause to use this magical item, magical items with such restorative healing and resurrection effects did not only prove their worth when genuinely needed.
With such a magical item in existence, even if an undertaking inherently carried a certain risk, that risk diminished for Manus.
If the overall risk fell within an acceptable range, Manus would consequently undertake certain actions he otherwise would not have, securing extra gains, whereas the Phoenix Bracelet might not even be utilized during the process.
This was the second time Manus had done such a thing, having done the exact same last Christmas. While perhaps useless, it was still better than doing nothing, and it cost him hardly any effort anyway.
His prayer concluded, Manus continued his morning exercise, greeting Pandora and Grogan along the way—who had also upgraded to jogging around the castle—before lingering for a while to play with Fang in Hagrid's small courtyard.
Returning to Ravenclaw Tower to wash up, Manus finally made his way to the Great Hall he had passed several times already.
Breakfast remained as monotonous as ever, yet aside from the usual morning fare upon the tables, numerous Christmas Crackers