On Christmas Day, Harry got up very early.
The most important day of the year was none other than Christmas.
On this day, everyone could receive gifts from friends and family.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Ron sitting at the bedside opening packages.
"You're awake?" Ron said excitedly while munching on Zizi Honey Candy, "Come and take a look at your gifts, the fattest underpants of Merlin, they're practically filling up our dormitory..."
"So many?" Harry scratched his head in confusion, he wasn't fully awake yet.
Last night went on too late, with Vivi and Cassandra, two adults, drinking like there was no tomorrow in the office.
Pabi didn't drink, and the two girls were too lazy to persuade her, so they just watched each other, neither willing to drink less.
It wasn't until half past one that they ended, in fact, there was no winner declared; Cassandra's little face was slightly flushed, but she was still full of energy; Vivi was also a woman who didn't get drunk easily, the two were evenly matched, and they agreed to battle another day before dispersing.
After all, there was a ball the next day; it wouldn't do for the two to defeat each other only for Pabi to take advantage, right?
Pabi: That's not impossible, you know.
"Of course… Wow, Harry—" Ron opened the gift Harry gave him, a Charlie Fire Cannon Team hat, "It's so cool!" He sloppily shoved the hat on his head, and an intense clash between the hat and his hair ensued.
"Haha." Harry chuckled, yawning as he got out of bed to see his own Christmas gifts.
Hermione had given Harry a book named "The Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland"; Ron had given him a bag full of dungbombs; Little Sirius gifted him a new handy pocketknife equipped with knick-knacks for opening various locks and undoing different knots; Hagrid had sent a large box of sweets, including all of Harry's favorite flavors: Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Blow-Me-Up Super Bubblegum, Zizi Honey Candy. Of course, as always, Mrs. Weasley sent a package containing a new sweater, green with a dragon motif—Harry guessed Charlie had told her everything about the tree bees, and a huge batch of homemade mince pies.
What Harry didn't expect was that the Dursley family sent him a somewhat different gift this year—a key, along with a letter.
It was from Uncle Vernon, expressing his thanks for Harry's support in his work over the past two years by purchasing him the latest Bentley Continental.
Reciprocity is a thing, and Harry was quite pleased about it.
Vivi's gift to him was a robe, while Pabi gave him some materials sourced from magical creatures, which didn't seem all that thoughtful.
As for Cassandra, she simply didn't give him any Christmas gift.
Harry threw the sweater on haphazardly, grabbed Ron, who was still counting gifts, and met Hermione in the common room to go downstairs for breakfast together.
"Want to join a snowball fight?" the Weasley Twins asked.
Harry lifted his head, looking for Cassandra and Vivi, but he searched every corner without finding them.
"No." Ron replied, rubbing his face, "I'd rather fight with a fire dragon than join you two in a snowball fight—I still remember you two chucking snowballs at the back of Quirrell's head in first year... the nastiest socks of Merlin, I can't quite imagine what you were thinking, daring to throw snowballs at You-Know-Who's face..."
"In a way, our pranks did serve a purpose." The twins chuckled.
After politely declining the twins' invitation, Harry went back to Gryffindor Tower with them, continuing to check through the gifts.
In fact, all the students were doing the same, and if not for being hungry and needing breakfast, they wouldn't have come to the Great Hall at all.
During the meal, it was obvious how distracted they all were, thinking only about when they'd finish breakfast and go back to sort their gifts.
By noon, Vivi came to the entrance of Gryffindor's common room.
"Bright lights," she said.
Lady Pang gave a suspicious look at Vivi, who was dressed in a lawyer-queen style, but let her pass anyway.
"Indeed, that's the way it is." she said, continuing to eat chocolate liqueurs with her friends.
Vivi confidently navigated her way to Harry's dormitory, carefully choosing a time when Ron and the others were absent, to catch Harry napping.
He had stayed up too late the night before, and without a nap, he'd be afraid of falling asleep while dancing.
As he dozed, Harry felt as though he were being entangled by a beautiful snake, unable to move.
He awoke with a start, only to find a pretty face close by.
It was Vivi.
"How did you suddenly get in?" he exclaimed, "This is the boys' dormitory, Vivi..."
"Why? Can't I come in?" Vivi asked mischievously, "Or is there some school rule?"
"Oh, no, not really." Harry said, "Boys getting expelled for sneaking into the girls' dorms, girls facing consequences for entering boys'—By the way, where's Ron?"
"I used a harmless bit of magic; they all went out, saying something about finding those Weasley duplicates for a snowball fight." Vivi explained leisurely as if she were talking about something irrelevant to her, "Otherwise, do you think I would come to your dorm? You little rascal?"