Birthday Gifts

While Harry was filled with anxiety, the first to arrive were the owls.

All sorts of owls, white and black, big and small, flew into the living room from who-knows-where.

One by one, the beautifully wrapped gifts rained down on the table in front of him like a meteor shower.

"I almost forgot, Harry, happy twelfth birthday." Ron said, pulling out a rectangular gift bag from somewhere—it looked quite small, about the size of a palm.

Draco, standing to the side, was stunned, staring at the small package, as was Harry.

"This can't be—" Draco said nervously.

"Gold card?" Harry's voice suddenly became slightly hoarse for some reason.

"Yes, Devil's Passport." Ron made a face.

"You're insane!"

There's only one in the whole world!

"Besides, didn't I already give you the Nimbus 2000?"

"I'm using this in place of all your gifts for the next three years," Harry said, touched.

"No, I remember it was a Christmas present."

"Harry, I still need my birthday present, don't even think about backing out."

"This might be the only gold card I ever get in my life."

"Harry, you'd better prepare a good birthday present for me," Ron said, trying to sound casual.

"Ron— " Harry didn't know what to say.

"Ron, how am I supposed to give my gift now?"

"Harry, how about I prepare it again tonight—" Draco awkwardly tried to hide a package behind his back.

Harry snatched it away, "Don't do that, Draco, your presence is the best gift."

"Let me see—" Harry opened Draco's gift in no time.

Harry understood that in the wizarding world, opening a gift in front of someone—showing that eagerness—was the greatest respect one could show to the wizard who gave the gift.

What caught Harry's eye was a pair of glasses.

These glasses have square frames, and the frames are made of a crystal-like material and are black.

"Harry, these are waterproof glasses."

"You're the Quidditch Seeker, and these glasses also function as sunglasses, so they're not afraid of sunlight, but your vision isn't completely black."

"And it won't fog up, and it stays dry even on rainy days," Draco said awkwardly.

Clearly, he didn't think the gift was very good.

"This is good enough." Harry took off his old glasses and put them in the case of the new ones, then put on the new ones.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief. (The sentence is incomplete and lacks context.)

En couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder, "Great, luckily I gave you a gold card, otherwise whatever I gave you would have been outshone by you."

Draco finally smiled.

"Happy 12th birthday, Harry."

"This is my gift," Lupin said, walking over as well.

His tone sounded calm at first glance, but Harry sensed his embarrassment.

Just like when Harry first arrived in the wizarding world and greeted Ryan.

Harry was very familiar with this feeling.

Lupin was once Prefect at Hogwarts, but Harry, who already knew a lot about the Wizarding World, knew that all of this outstanding resume would be overshadowed by Lupin's other identity— Werewolf.

Before Sirius is released from prison, he will probably have a hard time finding even a decent job.

Lupin's gift is probably not—in other words, it's likely something Draco would consider cheap.

The kind of gift that Draco specifically picked out of the gifts and threw away when he was still a jerk.

"Very good."

"It's really nice," Harry said quickly, while unwrapping Lupin's gift.

He was afraid that his slow movements would embarrass Lupin.

What appeared in front of Harry was a mirror, which was engraved with many Ravenclaw elements.

"I made this myself. In the darkness, whenever you need light, it will serve as a source of illumination," Lupin said awkwardly.

"That's fantastic!" Ron exclaimed dramatically, clearly noticing Lupin's discomfort.

"It's really great; many dark creatures are afraid of the light."

"With this, we can free up our wands and do other things," Draco remarked, his words clearly more heartfelt than his attempt to comfort Lupin.

"Remus, your gift is really wonderful," Harry chimed in.

Lupin finally couldn't help but make a face and laugh easily.

Next, Harry clearly learned one thing: never open gifts in front of Ron and the others again.

Whether the gift is good or bad, it will attract the attention of Ron and his two companions, who have also given gifts.

Harry had no choice but to briefly return to his room and move the pile of gifts inside.

However, everything changed when Harry returned to the living room.

It seems like someone is waiting for Harry to leave temporarily.

A large number of sky-blue flowers floated in mid-air, hovering above their heads.

The flowers twinkled like stars, forming the words: Happy 12th Birthday, Harry Potter!

Lupin unleashed blue and bronze banners from the top of his wand, which were then artistically hung on the extra trees and bushes around him.

"That's wonderful," Ron exclaimed as he watched Lupin's final wave of his wand turn the surrounding decor sky blue. "I almost thought I was back in the Ravenclaw Common Room."

"Thank you, Ron!" Lupin said.

Then it's Sirius!

And Dumbledore!

Sirius's robes turned fiery red, while Dumbledore wore a suit that resembled Muggle pajamas.

Sky blue, embroidered with stars and the moon.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" Dumbledore drew his wand, and white cream poured out of it.

It was poured onto a rectangular table, a place that seemed to consist only of air.

It was a cake, and it was invisible!

When it came into contact with cream, it revealed its true form—the yellow cake formed the shape of Phoenix.

The white cream turned red and then gold when it touched it.

Almost in the blink of an eye, with Dumbledore's final flick of his wrist, a beautiful and melodious song rang out—the voice of Phoenix!

"That's amazing!"

"This cake looks delicious!"

"That sound was amazing!" Lupin, Ron, Draco couldn't help but exclaim.

Sirius clearly knew all this beforehand, while Harry's lips trembled, unsure of what to say.

"Harry, this is your gift." Sirius handed over a book with a black cover and no name on it.

Harry opened it with trembling hands—it was a series of photographs.

One of the babies was a black-haired one who flew in and out on a small broom, giggling, with two legs chasing after him.

"This is you, Harry. This broom is a gift I gave you for your first birthday."

"This little broom can only go two feet off the ground, which led Lily to complain to me that you killed a kitten and almost broke an ugly vase," Sirius said gently.

Harry flipped through the pages, but he couldn't get enough of it.

The photos above are all of his parents and his old home.

Thank you to Long Tianxiu for the monthly pass, and to all the other students for the recommendations and subscriptions!