Christmas presents

A familiar pressure bore down on him, along with... a faint milky scent.

Su Er struggled awake in the darkness.

Angel, with traces of drool around her mouth, filled his vision. He checked the time; the hour hand was only just between seven and eight.

Su Er sighed and, with practiced ease, picked Angel up by the back of her collar and carried her outside the room.

"Hehe, big bwother, Angel loves you so much." Already accustomed to being carried by her collar, Angel looked up at Su Er and made a heart with her hands.

"If you didn't disturb my sleep, I'd love you quite a lot too." Su Er's face darkened. He put Angel down, turned, and went back into his room.

Now that he had been woken up, Su Er no longer felt sleepy at all. By the time he came out of the bathroom, Angel was already standing obediently on the stool beside his desk.

Well, Su Er had originally planned to go downstairs for a special Christmas breakfast before coming back up to open his presents. Seeing her there, he could only move that part of the schedule forward.

He started with the presents on top, which were from Mr. and Mrs. Ellison. Mr. Ellison had given him an outrageously lavish cheque for £5,000.

That was very Ellison. Su Er couldn't help giving it a thumbs-up.

He casually tossed the cheque into a drawer, then continued unwrapping.

Mrs. Ellison had given him a hand-knitted yellow and black sweater, embroidered with a lifelike badger. The care she had put into it showed in every detail.

Su Er guessed Amelia had suggested it. Otherwise, how would a Muggle know that Hufflepuff's emblem was a badger?

"Angel has one too! Mine's a unicorn." Angel lifted her red sweatshirt to show Su Er.

"Yes, it's very pretty." Su Er gave her a thumbs-up and pulled on his sweater.

It was warm, and full of thoughtfulness.

Morn and Justin seemed to have coordinated their gifts. Each had sent Su Er a box of soft sweets, without a single overlapping flavour.

Sweets were a very common gift, after all.

To Su Er's surprise, Hagrid had sent a present too. It was wrapped in thick brown paper, with sprawling handwriting across it: To Su Er Bones, from Hagrid.

Inside was a complete horn, golden and beautiful.

An enclosed note read: "You seem very interested in unicorns. This is a horn I happened to get hold of. It's yours. Merry Christmas."

This was quite a valuable gift. If Su Er remembered correctly, when he had passed the apothecary in Diagon Alley yesterday, he had seen the price of powdered unicorn horn on the window: twenty-one Galleons per bottle.

Su Er had no idea how much powder an entire horn would yield, but there was certainly enough for at least one bottle.

After carefully putting it away, Su Er came to his second valuable present, this one from Professor McGonagall.

It was a thin, rather worn notebook.

"My notes from studying the Switching Spell during my school days. I hope they will be of help to you. -Minerva McGonagall."

Hermione would probably faint with envy if she saw this, wouldn't she?

Knowledge was difficult to measure in money. A notebook containing the work of one of the Wizarding World's few Transfiguration masters was clearly priceless.

What surprised Su Er most was that Headmaster Dumbledore had sent him a present too. Oh, no, it was for Angel: a tiny unicorn figurine that could move.

"Please pass this on to the adorable little angel. -Albus Dumbledore."

I will, Professor! ...How thoughtful of you to remember I have a little sister...

Angel's eyes shone as she took the little unicorn, which could trot around with a clatter, from Su Er. Delighted, she planted several loud kisses on his cheek.

"Angel has two unicorns now!" She was overjoyed.

She didn't know it was a gift from the old man with the white beard, and Su Er shamelessly took all the credit himself.

Ron had sent a present as well. Hmm... judging by the familiar aroma of these biscuits, they were probably the work of the kitchen house-elves, which Ron had borrowed to give as his own gift.

Harry's present was a bag of sweets bearing the Honeydukes logo. Su Er had no idea where he had got them.

The two Weasley brothers had given Su Er a box of biscuits, with a note stuck to the lid.

"This box of Canary Creams is for you. After countless trials, this is our most successful creation. Eating one will turn you into a canary for a short time, and you'll turn back into a human after a minute."

"But please be careful not to fly too high while transformed. George took quite a nasty tumble because of that."

"We have plenty more interesting ideas, but we're short on development funds. We look forward to the next time you help us strike it rich. -George Weasley and Fred Weasley send you their warmest festive greetings."

The remaining presents were ordinary sweets. After checking them, Su Er put them all into an empty box and gave them to Angel.

It was worth noting that Hermione's present wasn't among them.

Su Er was rather looking forward to it. For now, though, the most important thing was to go downstairs for breakfast. His stomach had already lodged a complaint with his brain.

Su Er had just put down his fork when someone knocked on the Ellisons' door.

Angel's fondness for answering the door hadn't changed. She nimbly slid off the "unicorn's" back and scampered over, clutching the unicorn figurine Su Er had passed off as his own gift.

"Amelia!" A moment later, Angel called out cheerfully.

As Amelia entered the sitting room, the first thing she saw was the present Su Er had prepared for Angel. A flash of admiration crossed her eyes.

"This is the Christmas present big bwother gave Angel," Angel announced proudly.

"Oh... sweetheart, your brother is wonderful." Amelia readily played along, then looked at Su Er with gratification. "You've inherited my brother's talent for Transfiguration very well. Very few first-years can perform a complete transformation. Excellent Layered Transfiguration and use of the Switching Spell, though it's missing something."

"It can't move," Su Er said, wiping his mouth.

"Yes, yes." Amelia nodded. "It's missing a little vitality," she said.

Su Er's eyes lit up. "How do I do it? I asked Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore, and they said it was a very elusive feeling..."

"Hermione and I worked on it for ages, but we still couldn't make it move."

"It really is a very elusive feeling. I only learned how to do it when I was nearly ready to graduate." Amelia smiled. "It isn't something you can learn in a short while."

"All right." Su Er pursed his lips. Yet another person speaking in riddles.

"Before we set off, we need to stop by the Ministry of Magic. I have some work to take care of," Amelia said gently.

"Sure." Su Er nodded.

"Big bwother, where are you going?" Listening to their conversation, Angel became so anxious that she abandoned her ride on the "unicorn" and hurried over to clutch the hem of Su Er's clothes.

"Can Angel come too?"

Su Er looked at Amelia, but she gently shook her head.

Well, it seemed their destination wasn't somewhere suitable for Angel. In fact, Su Er had already guessed where they were going. It was probably that valley...

Su Er crouched down to face Angel.

"I'll be back this afternoon. I still have another present for you."

"Besides, this 'unicorn' I gave you will disappear tomorrow, just like the previous two."

Angel tilted her head and thought it over. Deciding that getting in a few more rides on the unicorn mattered more, she nodded obediently.

"All right."