Grafton Manor.
The morning sunlight illuminated the Christmas snow.
Lucien woke up in his soft, spacious bed, stretched lazily, and then looked toward the foot of the bed, where a small mountain of gifts and envelopes had already appeared.
Yesterday, he had spent an entire Christmas Eve with Aunt Penelope. Aside from some subtle hints from his aunt about matchmaking, everything else had been quite ordinary.
With a light wave of his hand, the gift boxes lined up and floated in the air, waiting for Lucien to open them.
As soon as he unwrapped the first Christmas gift, Lucien found himself pleasantly surprised.
It was a Floo Network node contract from Daphne. As long as this magical contract was thrown into the household fireplace and burned, it could establish a connection to the Floo Network.
After that, combined with Floo Powder, it could be used for long-distance travel or for projecting part of one's body to communicate with others.
In fact, Wizards born to Muggle families who wish to apply for access to the Floo Network usually have to wait until they come of age.
However, Daphne's mother, the head of the Greengrass family, was the current Head of the Department of Magical Transportation at the Ministry of Magic, and the Floo Network happened to fall under her department's jurisdiction.
Looking at the flickering green flame emblem on the contract, Lucien smiled faintly.
"The house is finally 'connected.'"
Continuing to unwrap the gifts, he found that most of them were books or sweets. Those were always safe choices.
Cho had sent a sky-blue scarf that looked hand-knitted, with the initials L.G. embroidered onto it.
Hermione had also sent a handmade gift: a quill crafted from eagle feathers.
Harry had sent a small Golden Snitch model, Draco had sent a lifelike dragon model, and Ron had sent...
Lucien stared at the owl floating before his eyes. The dusty grey owl had its eyes tightly shut and remained completely motionless.
"Errol!"
Quickly taking out his wand, Lucien examined the Weasley family owl and discovered that it was merely exhausted and had fallen asleep among the pile of gifts.
He let out a sigh of relief, casually transfigured an empty gift box into a soft bird's nest, and levitated Errol into it to rest.
Shouldn't this owl have retired by now?
Lucien finished opening the package and discovered that Ron had sent a magical blind box capable of randomly dispensing snacks.
It appeared to be an Alchemy item Ron had made himself. He had made considerable progress. It seemed he hadn't been slacking off during the holidays.
Oh, right. The twins had taken Ron to buy a new wand. With a wand that truly suited him, Ron's spellcasting would naturally become much smoother and more comfortable.
Lucien subconsciously began analyzing the Alchemical methods used in the item...
Huh!
Lucien's gaze shifted back to the soundly sleeping Errol.
What if he designed an Alchemy item capable of long-distance communication?
Muggles had already invented telephones and mobile phones, yet Wizards were still relying on traditional letters. Fortunately, they had diligent messengers like owls; otherwise, communication efficiency in the Magical World would be far too low.
Lucien temporarily set aside this new idea and decided to finish opening his Christmas presents first.
Opening a large package and seeing the item inside, the corners of Lucien's mouth lifted slightly.
It was an exaggerated hat, shaped like a goshawk with its wings folded. Its eyes, somehow, radiated an unmistakable air of wisdom.
There was no need to check the signature to know this was Luna's handiwork.
As soon as Lucien put the hat on, a clear eagle cry rang out, and the folded wings on either side of his head spread open and flapped gently.
Conjuring a mirror, Lucien examined his reflection and silently removed the hat.
Luna was certainly skilled. She had even added animal sounds to the hat according to the method he had suggested before, but...
How was he supposed to wear this hat outside?
Shaking his head helplessly, Lucien continued opening the presents and discovered that the next one was from Luna's friend, Ginny.
In truth, he was quite curious how those two girls had become friends, considering their personalities could hardly have been more different.
Ginny had sent a large, handmade hamster wheel.
The corners of Lucien's mouth twitched.
There was no need to question it. It was obviously meant for Ginger, even though the little fellow had already made some progress in losing weight.
"Accio Niffler."
The suitcase opened, and the platinum-coloured Niffler flew into Lucien's hand.
Lucien gently placed it onto the exercise wheel.
"Your Christmas present."
Ginger immediately looked at Lucien with its large, watery eyes.
"Squeak... squeak..."
Lucien understood the little creature's attempt at acting cute, but when he thought of the weight standards for Nifflers that Newt had given him, he could only pat Ginger's jiggling body.
"New year, new beginning."
...
After a busy and fulfilling Christmas, Lucien returned to Hogwarts once again.
The Great Hall.
The feast marking the start of the new term.
"...Hogwarts will jointly host an Alchemy Tournament with Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Further details will be announced later..."
Dumbledore, dressed in magnificent purple robes, announced the beginning of the tri-school tournament.
This immediately sparked whispers among the Young Wizards below. Many of them had never even heard of the other two magical schools and were deeply curious.
As the feast drew to a close, Dumbledore stood up once again.
"We will also be welcoming a group of special guests today."
Most of the Young Wizards looked at one another, having no idea who these so-called special guests were.
A very small number of students from well-informed families understood what the Headmaster meant and gradually turned their attention toward the Ravenclaw table, searching for the protagonist of the evening.
A dull thud suddenly echoed through the Great Hall.
The heavy oak doors were pushed open, and more than a dozen Wizards entered the hall.
Before long, one of the Young Wizards called out the name of one of the newcomers:
"Cornelius Fudge!"
The Minister for Magic appeared in the newspapers so often that he was difficult to mistake.
As Dumbledore and Fudge shook hands in greeting, a dedicated photographer snapped photographs from the side.
"Allow me to introduce our Minister for Magic, Mr. Cornelius Fudge!"
Dumbledore's voice rang out clearly, carrying to every corner of the Great Hall.
Applause erupted immediately, and Fudge waved to the students with his trademark politician's smile.
"The President of the Transfiguration Association, Madam Celer Verista!"
"The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Madam Amelia Bones!"
"..."
Some of the students recognized several of the guests and were even familiar with them. For example, Susan Bones was the niece of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She already knew who the awards were intended for and was whispering quietly to Hannah beside her.
Each time Dumbledore introduced someone, another round of applause followed. The students rarely had the chance to see so many important figures gathered together, and the atmosphere in the hall became increasingly excited.
Looking toward the curly-haired old man who was doing his best to remain unnoticed, Dumbledore raised his voice slightly.
"The renowned Magizoologist and author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Mr. Newt Scamander!"
________
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