Chapter 241: Dad's Bizarre Christmas Gift
The train arrived at the station.
Dylan looked out the window. The weather outside was quite nice. The King's Cross platform was bustling with people. Dylan closed the book he was holding. Neville and the others also began to clean up their leftover fruit peels and cores.
Before they parted ways, they wished each other well.
"Merry Christmas! See you after the holidays!" "Bye bye!"
Dylan waved to them. Neville and Seamus's families were already waiting for them at the station, so after they left, Dylan walked toward the column on the platform.
Just then, Dean came up to him.
Dylan raised an eyebrow. "Looks like I said 'bye' too soon."
The two of them walked through the column and returned to the Muggle side of the station. Dean saw his family waiting for him and smiled at Dylan. "It's never too late to say it again. See you after the holidays!"
Dylan nodded gently. "See you after the holidays."
He looked around but didn't see his parents. Dylan had expected this, so he wasn't surprised. He hailed a taxi and took it toward his house.
The entire villa neighborhood was decked out in all sorts of Christmas decorations. Dylan walked on the white snow, following the stone path toward his home.
The streetlights gave off a warm, hazy yellow glow in the snowy evening. Dylan pulled his neck into his shoulders and then cast a warming charm on himself.
"Is no one home?"
Dylan glanced at the dark villa. The lights were off. It seemed like no one was there.
"Where did they run off to this time? They didn't even tell me."
Dylan gave a small huff, walked up to the door, took out his key, and inserted it into the lock. Just then, he keenly sensed a rustling sound from inside the house. He instantly narrowed his eyes.
Who's there?
He was about to cast a spell. But the next moment, he heard his dad's snarky voice.
"Wife, do you think we can scare Dylan like this?"
Then came his mom Maeve's voice.
"What do you mean, 'scare'? This is a surprise, all right?"
The doting husband's voice came again, quickly agreeing. "Right, right, a surprise. It's a surprise."
The magic that was about to burst from Dylan instantly stalled. He slowly pulled it back into his body. He sighed, then a small smile curved up his lips.
He pushed the door open. A cold wind instantly rushed in, bringing with it a rich aroma of roast turkey.
At that moment, the dark villa instantly lit up with colorful lights.
Hubert was wearing a Christmas sweater with a Golden Snitch on it. Maeve was wearing a red headband adorned with stars. The couple held a gift box wrapped with ribbons. When Dylan opened the door, they suddenly jumped out from behind it and shouted in unison, "Son! Merry Christmas!"
Dylan blinked. Seeing the expectant look on their faces, he instantly widened his eyes, pretending to be shocked.
"Oh! You scared me!"
Hubert saw that he had successfully scared Dylan and burst out laughing.
"Here, son, this is a Christmas gift from your mom!"
Hubert shoved the gift box into Dylan's arms.
"I thought you weren't home and went traveling somewhere again," Dylan said.
"Of course we'd be home to wait for our son on Christmas! Does that even need to be said?" Hubert gestured for him to come inside.
"How was school, son?" Maeve stepped forward and hugged Dylan tightly. "I feel like you've grown taller again. You're only 13, right?"
Dylan's mouth twitched. "Actually, I'm 14, Mom."
Maeve blinked. "Oh!"
Just an "oh"?
Was he really their biological son...?
Dylan's mouth twitched again. He took a small sniff and smelled ivy and beer on his mom.
"Were you two just drinking?"
Maeve said gently, "Your dad wanted to celebrate you coming home for the holidays, so he pulled me in for a drink."
Dylan: "..."
Was that really worth celebrating?
I think it's just an excuse for you two to drink!
The star headband on his mom's hair was poking him. Dylan opened his mouth to say something a few times, but held back.
"Alright, alright, wife, let's go inside. It's so cold at the door! Don't catch a cold yourself—oh, and don't let our son get cold, either."
Maeve patted Dylan's back lightly, then stood up. She took Dylan's hand, closed the door, and walked into the living room.
Dylan looked around. This year's Christmas decorations were different from last year's. He didn't know which genius had advised them.
In the center of the living room was a Christmas tree. That was normal. But what wasn't normal was the top of the tree, where a naked, butt-bare golden angel was pointing a gun in all directions as it spun.
A bunch of gift boxes, both big and small, were piled under the tree. Hubert turned on the record player, and a cheerful melody mixed with the sound of bells filled the room.
"Dad, where did you get that Golden Snitch sweater?"
Maeve led Dylan to the dining table and even pulled out a chair for him. Dylan set the gift box down by his side, sat down, and looked at his busy dad. He was a little confused as he stared at the Golden Snitch on his dad's sweater.
"This? I saw someone selling it at a department store recently and thought it was pretty good. And I remembered it's from that Quidditch game you talked about, so I bought one."
Hubert explained casually.
Dylan raised an eyebrow. They sold this sweater at a department store? Did that mean someone was openly selling an item with a magical element? Did the Ministry of Magic not care about this? Or was it just a design on a sweater, so there was no need to worry about it? It wasn't like Ron's dad, who directly used magic on Muggle creations. This was just a design. It seemed to be fine.
Dylan didn't dwell on it.
A dark green tablecloth was laid out on the dining table. It looked like the family's servants had been sent home. Since it was Christmas, they deserved to be with their families. And since Dylan was a wizard, the Huberts obviously didn't want their son's secret to be known by others.
The food had been prepared, and the house cleaned before the servants left, so it wouldn't be too much trouble for Hubert and Maeve. They just had to reheat the dishes and bring them to the table.
Dylan set the silver cutlery in place, then watched as his mom brought a steaming pumpkin soup to the table. Hubert, as if by magic, pulled out a basket of gingerbread men. Each cookie was shaped like an owl, with edible gold dust on their wings.
"Try these! I don't know if they have that wizarding feel, but I hired a professional to redesign the house decorations and these foods. I just don't know if they're the same as your school's."
Hubert winked at Dylan. Dylan could tell that now that his dad had money and time, he was acting like a kid again. Without the pressure of making a living for the family and having to do boring, repetitive work every day, he just traveled around with his wife. The more they traveled, the more childish he became.
Dylan was happy about this. When a person's mindset became young again, they would naturally look younger, too.
He glanced at the Christmas tree in the center of the living room and gave a small shrug.
"Where did you find this 'professional'? I think you got swindled. No wizard would ever put a naked angel on top of a Christmas tree, let alone one pointing a gun at everyone."
"Hahaha! I thought it was strange, too. It's such a weird design."
Hubert chuckled, but after a few laughs, he suddenly realized something. "Hmm? Son, how do you know that term? 'Pointing a gun at everyone'?"
Maeve was also taken aback, looking at her son who was now about a meter-seventy tall.
Dylan's eyelid twitched, but his expression was calm. "What's so weird about that description? How else would you say it? Besides, we also study human anatomy in our classes."
"Potions class isn't just about brewing potions; it's also about understanding the human body. And a wizard needs to know this stuff for Transfiguration as well."
After listening to Dylan's explanation, Hubert looked disappointed. "Oh! That explanation isn't cute at all." He then looked at Maeve. "Wife, our son seems to be getting more and more serious."
Maeve smiled gently. "So what? Being serious is a good thing. It seems our son is doing very well in school."
Before Dylan could say anything, Hubert proudly raised his head. "Of course he is! He's our son! So smart, it must be from me!"
Maeve and Dylan exchanged glances. The mother and son didn't comment on Hubert's words. They just smiled at each other, letting him laugh like a crazy person.
When Hubert finally got tired of laughing by himself and stopped, Dylan spoke again.
"Besides, angels are basically genderless—at least no one has ever seen what's under an angel's pants—and angels don't wear pants anyway."
Maeve's eyes blinked curiously. "Son, do angels really exist?"
Dylan lightly tapped the table with his index finger. "How do I put this... maybe they do. As for gods and such, wizards generally don't worship them. After all, they have magic. Maybe gods are just wizards with a deeper understanding of magic."
"So that's how it is," Maeve nodded gently. Then, she smiled softly. She raised her chin slightly and pointed to the gift box next to Dylan.
"Go on and open it? Although it's one box, it's not just from me. Your dad also has a gift for you, and it's inside."
Hearing this, Hubert immediately looked at Dylan, eagerly waiting for him to open the box. Maeve also looked at him.
But Dylan suddenly had a bad feeling. The look on his dad's face... didn't seem to promise anything good.
He glanced at the beautifully wrapped gift box, paused for a moment, then hesitantly picked it up and placed it on his lap. He gently hooked his fingertip under the ribbon knot, slowly untying it. The ribbon slipped from his hand.
Dylan took a small breath, placed his palm on the lid, and with a little force, lifted it. He looked down and saw two things inside. One was a telescope.
Maeve smiled and said, "Mom didn't know what you might be missing at school, and I don't know if this will be useful to you, but it's from my heart. I hope you like it."
Dylan took the telescope out. It was heavy in his hand and felt substantial, and the quality was excellent. It must have cost a lot of money.
—Did she want him to use the telescope to spy on people with his x-ray vision?
Dylan clicked his tongue and smiled. "Thanks, Mom. I love it, and it's very useful."
He lowered his head and looked at the box. "What about Dad's gift?"
Hubert immediately leaned in, standing next to Dylan and flipping over the layer of things inside the box to reveal the small items hidden underneath.
A photograph and a small wooden carving.
In the photo, a small child, butt-naked, was sitting on a table, pointing a gun at someone. And the wooden carving seemed to be a replica of the child in the photo.
Dylan's eyelid twitched.
"This is...?"
Suddenly, the child looked a little familiar. Not in a psychological sense, but actually familiar!
Dylan's head snapped up. He turned his body slightly to look at the Christmas tree in the living room.
His eyes landed on the all-white angel statue at the top. He looked at the angel, then at the photo and the wooden carving in his hand. He realized what it was and his mouth twitched violently.
"This..."
Hubert burst into laughter. "Hahahahahahaha! I knew he couldn't guess it. How about that, wife? I won the bet!"
Maeve was also smiling. "Okay, you can have your way tonight."
Dylan: "..."
What's that about???
Hubert seemed to be in a very good mood, and he reached out and ruffled Dylan's hair. "Did you finally figure it out? That little angel is you, my dear son!"
A bunch of black lines appeared on Dylan's face. He raised his hand and looked at the photo. It seemed to have been taken when he was very young. It was a black-and-white photo. Little Dylan was wearing nothing. His expression was placid. The small person looked a little cocky because of his calm expression. He was just staring straight at the camera.
Dylan instantly felt a rush of old memories flood his mind. This was not a placid expression at all. It was him at that time, butt-naked. A photographer had suddenly rushed into the house without saying a word and started taking pictures of him. He was completely stunned! He later found out that his dad had received a bonus and had specifically hired the photographer.
Thinking back now, it felt like his dad's mischievousness had started to show back then.
..........
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