Christmas and Privet Drive?

From the next day onward, Gerald no longer had to keep his hands occupied.

The hundred-odd books stored in his notebook, covering Charms, Potions, Herbology, and alchemy, were enough to keep him studying for years.

As for the Object-Storing Talisman, Gerald only put a few truly valuable things in it that he needed to keep with him.

For example, the Darkgold Essence-Gathering Pill and the hundred or so Galleons he carried.

After all, the Object-Storing Talisman had a limited number of uses. There was no need to use it when he was not going out.

In early December, Gerald was reading the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3.

That was how people were. Everything had its novelty, but once that wore off, it no longer seemed so special.

After playing around with Teacher D for a week, Gerald found that reading thick books like these still felt more satisfying.

So, when he was in the dormitory or common room, he went back to picking up these hefty tomes.

"Cheering Charm: the person subjected to the charm experiences a sudden sense of happiness and smiles involuntarily."

Gerald had just picked up his wand to cast a Cheering Charm on himself when he heard Lee Jordan talking about Christmas.

"Are you really all staying here?" Lee Jordan's voice came from the other end of the dormitory, thick with disbelief. "It's Christmas! All the best food of the year comes out over those few days, and you're actually staying at school?"

Fred and George exchanged a glance and shrugged in unison.

"It doesn't really make much difference whether we go home," Fred said.

"There are plenty of people at home anyway. Two fewer won't make much difference," George chimed in.

"Besides, the Christmas feast at Hogwarts is just as good as the one at home," Fred added.

"We might even get to have a few fights with Peeves," George put in.

"I'm not going home either. I live too far away." Kenneth sat on his bed, polishing his pocket watch with a soft cloth. Its cover was open, revealing a tiny moving photograph inside.

Gerald glanced over, but could not make out who was in the photograph.

Lee Jordan rolled his eyes. "Fine, you lot are hardcore. I'm going home, anyway. My mum's already sent three letters urging me to come back."

Christmas, huh? I promised Grandpa Henry I'd come home for Christmas. There's only a little over a week left. I should write him a letter first.

At that thought, Gerald closed his book and rummaged in his drawer for writing paper and a quill.

He had been at Hogwarts for more than three months and had written home five times during that period.

His first letter had been particularly long, describing all the wonders of Hogwarts Castle in detail.

Over those three months, Grandpa Henry and Uncle Jack had gone from being astonished by owls delivering letters to taking it for granted.

Later, they had even suggested buying Gerald an owl of his own.

After some thought, Gerald had declined. The school owls were more than enough for his needs, so there was no reason to spend the extra money.

By now, he had finished his letter. It was brief.

It mainly told his grandfather that he would leave Hogwarts by train on the morning of Christmas Eve and arrive at King's Cross Station at around one in the afternoon.

The following evening, Gerald received a reply.

Uncle Jack had written it. A little flour clung to the envelope, as though he had hurriedly written it while cooking.

The letter said that Grandpa Henry and Luke were delighted, and that Uncle Jack would pick him up at King's Cross Station.

As Gerald read the letter, the corners of his mouth curled up without him realizing it.

The days passed as Gerald looked forward to going home.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, Gerald changed into casual clothes and put some spare clothes in the Object-Storing Talisman before setting off for Hogsmeade Station with Lee Jordan.

The other three boys in their dormitory had all chosen to stay at Hogwarts and were still asleep.

Gerald glanced at them before leaving, but did not wake them.

As he sat on the train, the scenery outside gradually changed from the vast, snowy expanses of the Scottish Highlands to the rolling hills of southern England.

Lee Jordan bought a pile of snacks and sat across from him, and the two chatted on and off.

"Why do we have to write a Charms essay over the holidays? And three inches of it, too!"

"Is three inches that much?"

"Mate, who can compare with you? Even one inch is enough to kill me."

"If you can't manage it, just leave more space between the lines."

"Genius! I'd expect nothing less from you!" Lee Jordan's eyes instantly lit up.

At around one in the afternoon, the train arrived.

Gerald passed through the brick wall at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and emerged into King's Cross Station.

The brick wall silently closed behind him, shutting away the bustle of the magical world on the other side.

People streamed through the station. Travelers in overcoats and down jackets hurried past, dragging suitcases, while an announcement reported that a train to Edinburgh had been delayed by fifteen minutes.

Everything was so ordinary, so familiar, so... unmagical.

Even the spiritual qi had become extraordinarily thin.

If I hadn't gone to Hogwarts, it probably would have taken me two or three years to break through to refining essence into qi.

The thought flashed through Gerald's mind.

Gerald took a deep breath of London's cold winter air and quickened his pace.

He had walked less than two hundred meters when he spotted Uncle Jack and his eldest son, Luke.

Luke wore a blue sweater, his nose red from the cold. The instant he saw Gerald, he waved excitedly, practically bouncing on the spot.

"Gerald! Over here!" Luke's voice echoed through the station, drawing glances from several passersby.

Uncle Jack stood behind Luke with his hands in his pockets and an unlit cigarette between his lips.

A broad smile spread across Uncle Jack's face when he saw Gerald.

"Did the journey go all right?"

"Yeah, the train was quick."

Only after climbing into Uncle Jack's pickup did Gerald learn that Grandpa Henry and Uncle Jack's whole family were spending Christmas at the home of his wife Aunt Mary's parents this year.

That surprised Gerald a little. As he remembered it, Uncle Jack did not get along particularly well with his in-laws.

This was the first time they had spent Christmas together.

"Your grandpa arrived yesterday. He was so excited he barely slept last night. He sat by the door first thing this morning, waiting. I told him you wouldn't arrive until the afternoon, but he wouldn't listen. Said he couldn't sit still." Uncle Jack started the engine, and the pickup gave a low rumble.

Luke kept chattering in Gerald's ear about the interesting things that had happened to him over the past few months.

"We got a new PE teacher at school. He's really-

"-strict. In our very first lesson, he made us run fifteen hundred meters. My legs were like jelly afterward."

"Oh, and I came third in my class in maths. Mum rewarded me with a new bike, so I can finally get rid of that old relic."

Gerald murmured his responses, but his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

The pickup wound between London's tall buildings. After leaving the station, they first passed through a shopping district, with shop windows on both sides decked out in colorful lights and Christmas decorations.

Gerald leaned back in his seat and turned his head to watch the scenery outside, listening to Luke chatter nonstop in the back seat.

He had never felt as relaxed as he did now.

It feels so good to have family around.

Before long, the pickup turned into a neighborhood.

It was not large, with only a few dozen houses arranged along a winding road.

The houses stood some distance apart, each with a small lawn out front. Some lawns even had inflatable Santas.

Gerald's gaze wandered casually over the houses, street signs, and cars parked along the road.

Then his eyes happened to catch a sign standing at an intersection.

He froze.

His body, which had been resting comfortably against the seat, suddenly went rigid. He leaned forward against the window, his eyes fixed on the sign as it drew closer.

Luke was still saying something in the back seat, Uncle Jack was turning the steering wheel to take a corner, and a Christmas song was playing on the radio.

But Gerald could no longer hear any of it.

All he could see was that street sign.

The words on it read:

"Privet Drive."