Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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The next morning, Kyle woke up to a mountain of gifts piled up in front of his bed.
Most of them were snacks like chocolates and candies, and there were more than he had expected.
"A good student is indeed popular."
Kyle put those aside and continued unpacking the rest of the gifts.
Hagrid's gift was the largest, looking like a wooden barrel wrapped in thick kraft paper.
"Could it be from the Moonbeast..." Kyle nervously opened the package.
Fortunately, it wasn't what he thought. Hagrid had given him a cloak plant, and the wooden barrel was a makeshift flowerpot filled with soil.
The cloak plant's leaves still had dewdrops on them, probably because he had just dug it up from the Forbidden Forest.
Kyle gave Hagrid a model of a fire dragon, the kind used in the tournament's lottery, which could move, fly low, and breathe fire.
Hagrid would probably like it very much.
Cedric gave him a set of "The Amazing Quidditch," with the signatures of the Cannon players on it.
Kyle looked at the autograph and disdainfully put the book aside… He didn't like that team.
It's worth mentioning that Kyle's gift to Cedric was also related to Quidditch: his treasured Wimbourne Wasps autographed bat.
He had specifically written to Mrs. Weasley to have it mailed to him—a truly heartfelt gift.
For this, he received a good scolding from Mrs. Weasley for not coming home for the holidays, and she said she would give him a good talking-to during the summer break.
But Kyle wasn't worried at all.
Mrs. Weasley was easy to appease; an apron Kyle had made himself, plus a good final report card, and there wouldn't be any problems.
Kanna's gift was a pair of knitted gloves she had made herself, with Kyle's initials on them.
To Kyle's surprise, the little witch's knitting skills were unexpectedly good, and he quite liked them.
They fit perfectly, and he could wear them with the sweater Mrs. Weasley had given him.
He gave Kanna a handbag with an anti-theft feature, which should be very practical for her.
Fred gave him a bottle of disappearing ink, and George gave him a collection of Chocolate Frog cards with blank, transparent card sleeves for storing the collected cards—very convenient.
Kyle gave them a copy of *Elementary Alchemy*, which was also the textbook for alchemy courses at Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
He knew the twins had been inventing some things lately, and this book should be helpful.
And then there were his two lovely roommates.
Mikel gave him an exquisite gold brooch, and Ryan gave him a wizard's chess set.
To Kyle's surprise, he even received a gift from a professor.
Professor Flitwick gave Kyle his school notebooks—two thick notebooks from first to third year, filled with his understanding of spells.
This gift was quite precious.
Kyle felt a little guilty because his gift to Professor Flitwick was just a simple sapwood amulet.
In fact, Kyle gave a gift to every professor.
Professor Flitwick's amulet.
Professor McGonagall's gift was a hat shaped like a golden snitch.
Professor Sprout's was a tool and maintenance kit.
Professor Oren's was a cane.
Professor Binns's was a newspaper clipping titled "The Three Great Magical Academies of Europe: The Treatment of Professors."
Principal Dumbledore was a book, *One Hundred Ways to Knit Wool Socks*,
and of course, there was Professor Snape, who had been very kind to him recently. To express his gratitude, Kyle sent him a whole case of Potter's Sleakeazy's.
However, he didn't sign the gift or use Rodon to deliver it; instead, he randomly picked an owl from the school to deliver it to the Owl Post Office in Diagon Alley, from where it was delivered to Professor Snape.
Although the process was a little troublesome, it was all worthwhile.
He believed Snape would be very touched to receive this gift.
After carefully putting away Professor Flitwick's notes, Kyle opened the last gift, the one from Diana.
It was a silver ring adorned with a crescent moon, and below it was a short note:
"This is a magical item that can cast the Apparition Charm three times. If you encounter danger, infuse it with magic and concentrate on imagining your target location, and it will take you away.
Note: It cannot be used inside Hogwarts Castle, but it can be used outside the castle gates. If you don't want to take the train during the holidays, you can also use it to go home.
(Hope you like this gift, dear. Merry Christmas.)"
Was this an upgraded Portkey?
Kyle had just put the ring on his finger when it automatically settled into his skin. Kyle tried moving his fingers and found no discomfort.
Kyle loved this gift.
He had always wanted to learn Apparition, but because he was too young, neither Chris nor Newt would teach him.
This ring was arguably the most satisfying Christmas gift he had received in eleven years.
It was just a little too few uses, only three.
If only it could have thirty.
Kyle cleaned his dormitory and went to the common room. Kanna was standing on tiptoe, digging at something in a large flowerpot.
"What are you looking for? Need help?" Kyle asked.
"No, I've already found it." Kanna took a dirty cloth bag out of the flowerpot, turned around and said, "Thank you for the Christmas present, I really needed it."
Kyle watched her take two Galleons out of the bag and then put them into the handbag he had given her, and asked suspiciously,
"Are you still losing Galleons lately?"
"No." Kanna shook her head and said, "But I lost two Sickles yesterday afternoon."
Isn't that the same thing?
Kyle frowned and asked, "Where are your roommates? Have they all gone home?"
"Yeah, they've all gone home, I'm all alone in the dorm now." Kanna said excitedly, "But they sent me a present, a Muggle hair clip, it's so pretty."
Kyle rubbed his forehead, and just as he was about to say something, Kanna had already rushed back to the dorm.
When she returned, she had a small wooden box in her hand.
"Look, isn't it pretty?" Kanna handed the box to Kyle.
Inside were seven or eight brightly colored hair clips, their styles and designs indeed much more novel than those in the magical world.
However, Kyle wasn't interested in them; he only glanced at them before preparing to return them to Kanna.
But just then, he suddenly noticed a small bottle beneath the hair clips. Out of curiosity, he reached out and removed the hair clips covering it.
"What is this… Holy crap?"
Kyle's hand suddenly trembled, almost dropping the box. He broke out in a cold sweat and quickly placed the box on the wooden table beside him.
After calming himself down slightly, Kyle carefully reached out and took out the bottle.
[End of the chapter]