Chapter 224: Christmas Presents
Grafton Manor.
Morning sunlight fell across the Christmas snow.
Leonardo woke in his soft, wide bed and stretched lazily, then glanced towards the foot of the mattress. A small mountain of gifts and envelopes had appeared there overnight.
He had spent all of Christmas Eve with Aunt Penelope. Apart from her dropping a few not-so-subtle hints about matchmaking, it had been a perfectly ordinary evening.
A light wave of his hand, and the gift boxes floated up in a tidy queue, waiting to be opened.
The very first present held a surprise.
It was from Daphne: a Floo Network node contract. All he had to do was toss the magically binding document into his home fireplace and let it burn. That would establish a connection to the Floo Network.
After that, with some Floo Powder, he could travel long distances or project part of himself into a fireplace to communicate with others.
Normally, a Muggle-born wizard had to wait until coming of age before applying for a Floo connection.
But Daphne's mother, the head of the Greengrass family, was the current director of the Department of Magical Transportation at the Ministry of Magic. The Floo Network fell directly under her jurisdiction.
Leonardo looked at the small green flame icon flickering on the contract and smiled.
"The house is finally connected."
He continued unwrapping. Most of the gifts were books or sweets, the sort of thing you couldn't go wrong with.
Cho had sent a sky-blue scarf. It looked hand-knitted, with the initials L.G. embroidered on it.
Hermione's gift was also handmade: a quill crafted from an eagle feather.
Harry had sent a small golden Snitch model. Malfoy had sent an impressively detailed dragon figurine. Ron had sent…
Leonardo looked at the owl that had drifted to the front of the queue. The dusty grey bird had its eyes shut tight and wasn't moving.
"Errol!"
He grabbed his wand at once and began checking on the Weasley family owl, only to find it had simply been too exhausted and fallen asleep among the presents.
Leonardo let out a breath, transfigured an empty gift box into a soft little nest, and levitated Errol gently into it to rest.
Wasn't it about time this owl retired?
Unwrapping the parcel Errol had carried, Leonardo found Ron's gift inside: a magical blind box that dispensed random snacks.
It seemed to be an alchemical device Ron had made himself. Decent progress. Clearly, he hadn't been slacking off during the holiday. Then again, the twins had taken Ron to buy a new wand. With one that truly suited him, his spellwork would naturally become much smoother.
Leonardo instinctively began analysing the alchemical techniques used in the blind box…
Wait.
His gaze drifted back to the snoring Errol.
What if he designed an alchemical device for long-distance communication?
Muggles had already invented telephones and mobile phones, yet wizards still relied on traditional letters. It was fortunate they had dedicated messengers like owls. Otherwise, communication in the wizarding world would be hopelessly slow.
Leonardo shelved the idea for now. Finish opening the presents first.
He unwrapped a large parcel and looked at what was inside. The corner of his mouth lifted.
It was an extravagant hat, shaped like an eagle with its wings folded. Its eyes had a clear, knowing gleam of intelligence.
He didn't need to check the tag to know this was Luna's handiwork.
The moment Leonardo put it on, a sharp eagle cry rang out, and the wings on either side of his head unfurled, flapping gently.
He conjured a mirror and studied his reflection for a moment, then quietly took the hat off.
Luna was skilled with her hands, and she had followed the method he'd taught her to add the animal cry. But…
How was he supposed to wear this in public?
He shook his head with a helpless smile and moved on. The next gift turned out to be from Luna's friend Ginny Weasley.
He was rather curious how those two had ended up so close. Their personalities were about as different as two people could be.
Ginny had sent a large, handmade hamster wheel. Leonardo's mouth twitched.
No question about it. It was meant for Ginger, even though the little creature's diet had actually been showing some results.
"Ginger, come here."
He opened the trunk, and the platinum-white niffler floated up into Leonardo's hands.
He set Ginger gently onto the wheel.
"Your Christmas present."
Ginger immediately turned those big, watery eyes on Leonardo.
"Squeak squeak…"
Leonardo understood the pleading, but thinking of the weight standards Newt had given him, he could only pat Ginger's wobbly little body.
"New year, new start."