Chapter 32

Without us even noticing, mid-December had arrived. Winter descends upon Hogwarts quite early, with the first snowflakes often falling as November ends. Currently, a seamless silver blanket covers the entire Hogwarts campus.

Due to Christmas, most of the young witches and wizards have already gone home for the holidays, which is indeed good news for Filch. Because of the snow, many mischievous young wizards like to have snowball fights, which often results in them being wet.

These spirited youngsters would traipse back into the castle, leaving muddy, wet footprints in their wake, significantly increasing Filch's workload. The old Squib, who could have easily dealt with the mess through magical means, was resigned to using outdated cleaning tools and spending hours on end tidying up.

One day, Mike woke up to find many owls gathered in front of his window. Seeing Mike open his eyes, the owls immediately started pecking at the glass, signaling Mike to open the window.

Mike hurriedly got up and opened the window for the owls, forgetting that last night was Christmas Eve. The Christmas customs in the wizarding world are entirely different from those in the muggle world. In the eyes of wizards, Christmas was originally just an excuse for them to be lazy, which later evolved into a grand festival. Thus, there is no story of Santa Claus coming down the chimney to put gifts in stockings by your bed.

Therefore, on Christmas Eve in the wizarding world, every household leaves a crack in their doors and windows to allow owls to silently deliver gifts so they can see their Christmas presents as soon as they wake up in the morning.

However, our Mike clearly forgot.

Mike received only seven gifts. Franklin had given his gift directly to Mike yesterday, as he is not yet accustomed to using owls to send things. Mike was surprised to find a bag of Fizzing Whizzbees.

First-year little wizards can't go to Hogsmeade, so getting these Duke of Fizzing candies could only be done through smugglers like the Weasley brothers, of course, at a price, as you understand.

Mike also gave gifts, such as his own study notes, in return.

This was the most precious gift he had given while he shared with the others the magical potion he was marketing alongside the Weasleys.

Mike already considered Franklin his confidant, and Franklin's talent in curses did not disappoint him, so Mike decided it was time to give Franklin some cheats.

Continuing with the Christmas gifts, Harry sent a large box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and Ron sent him an old Gryffindor scarf with a large stain on it, which Mike threw into the trash after one look. Hermione sent him a novel by Lockhart, surprising Mike that this little girl had become a fan of Lockhart so early.

The Weasley brothers jointly sent a gift, a big pack of dungbombs.

Mike was shocked when he opened their gift, knowing that these dungbombs were not very stable. If so many dungbombs exploded in his dormitory, it would no longer be habitable.

Professor Flitwick sent a set of dueling wand holsters, which were different from the usual. This set added the word "dueling." Well, that's stating the obvious.

The dueling wand holster is one of the Aurors' equipment positioned on the forearm. Its structure is somewhat like the hidden blade in Assassin's Creed, only it is powered by magic. During a fight, you just need to think, and the wand pops out, and the person is ready to fight.

In addition, the set Professor Flitwick sent also came with a Summoning Charm, so even if a Disarming Charm knocks away Mike's wand, there's no need to worry. The Summoning Charm attached to the wand holster will automatically activate, allowing the wand to return to the user's hand.

Mike tried on the wand holster and moved his arm, finding it did not hinder his movement, and nodded in satisfaction. Professor Flitwick, truly deserving of his championship in dueling, gifted something simple yet powerful, directly boosting Mike's combat ability.

Moving on to the highlight, Penelope gifted Mike a notebook—a compilation of study notes on the Disillusionment Charm from an advanced pure-blood graduate. The front of the notebook bore the inscription, "To my beloved, Penelope."

Aside from that affectionate declaration, the notebook contained no other personal marks or signatures, suggesting it was a romantic Christmas gesture from an admirer to Penelope, who quickly passed it along to Mike.

Mike flipped through the note, trying out the spell and wand movement for the Disillusionment Charm, but as he expected, there was no response at all.

Mike put the note in his drawer without further ado. Today is Christmas, and Hogwarts is hosting grand celebrations all day.

Perhaps because the professors were afraid the students staying at school would feel lonely, the decorations at Hogwarts today were very magnificent.

Mike noticed that not only was the Ravenclaw common room decorated in a festive manner, but the corridors and even the usually cold armor were dressed in Santa hats, looking quite adorable.

Not to mention the Great Hall, where a tall Christmas tree was placed in the center, reaching into the sky, with its top not visible from the ground.

Its trunk was adorned with a multitude of Christmas decorations, shining brightly under the enchanted ceiling. The branches seemed to have some magic added, as they continuously shed crystal-clear snowflakes, unlike the clumpy snow outside, forming perfect hexagons as described in fairy tales. These snowflakes gently fell, disappearing without a trace when they hit the ground.

Within such a magical scene, Harry and the others, who arrived early, were already having a blast. They chased the snowflakes, catching one only to watch it slowly disappear in their hands, then going after another as if they wanted to take one back as a souvenir.

Despite Mike's psychological age far exceeding that of the young wizards present, he couldn't help but be mesmerized. This was much more real than any 3D movie from his past life.

The young wizards were gathered by faculty from every house. Without delivering formal speeches, Dumbledore announced, "Let's eat!" prompting an array of exquisite dishes to materialize on the young wizards' plates.

A wave of excitement swept through the little wizards as they eagerly dove into a culinary conquest while Dumbledore looked on with a beaming smile from his elevated position.

Caught up in the festive spirit, Mike found himself hungrier than usual. The Weasley twins' playful theft of a chicken leg from his plate sparked an impromptu food skirmish.

The faculty members displayed no signs of irritation. Professor Flitwick even participated in the fun, and Professor McGonagall, typically known for her rigor, couldn't help but smile.

On that day, the spirit of Christmas enveloped everyone, allowing them to forget their troubles and revel in holiday cheer.

Translation notes: Both this chapter and the previous one seemed off and a bit clunky to me. Thankfully, we're returning to the main storyline soon, where things become better, IMO.