"So, what exactly did the Head of House prepare for me?"
Theodore opened his mouth, but for a long moment he honestly didn't know how to answer Alice's question.
That question was exactly why he'd looked so strange earlier when he walked in.
"Uh… Alice, your Christmas present from the Head of House is… pretty unusual."
"Mmhmm."
Alice let out a soft sound, blinked at him, and waited for his answer.
Theodore's odd reaction only made Harry and Ron lean in closer. They exchanged a look and stretched their ears forward, determined to hear Theodore's reply the moment he said it.
"The Head of House gave you… a promise. He promised that at some point in the future, you can ask him to do one thing for you. He won't refuse—well, as long as it's not something impossible."
…That's it?
Ron curled his lips in disappointment. He'd really thought it would be something interesting.
But this? Just this?
"Don't tell me Professor Snape didn't actually prepare anything, saw that all the other professors put real effort into their gifts for Alice, and made up something like this last-minute to get by?"
Ron voiced the thought sitting in his head.
Theodore lowered his head slightly. In fact, when Headmaster—no, Head of House—Snape had told him to deliver the message, he had seemed pretty casual about it. It made Theodore feel Ron's guess might be right. And that was exactly why he lowered his head—he really felt Snape's Christmas gift lacked sincerity.
Or rather… he wasn't a child. A promise from a master Potioneer was never something insincere. But in this specific situation, gifting it to Alice felt thoughtless.
Alice patted Ron's shoulder. She honestly didn't expect this Gryffindor boy to say something like that at a time like this. Between Harry, Ron, and Hermione, she interacted far more with Hermione and Harry. She barely talked to Ron.
Thanks to Neville training swordsmanship with her, she even knew Neville better than Ron.
But because of Neville, she had noticed something Ron and Neville had in common—
They both used old, secondhand wands.
Being tapped on the shoulder snapped Ron back to reality. He realized he'd said something he really shouldn't have. Ultimately, this was between Alice and Snape. He had no place saying that.
Ron looked at Alice apologetically. "Sorry. I shouldn't've said that."
Alice waved it off. Not important. Then she turned to Harry and asked:
"So? How's the Christmas present I gave you?"
"???"
Ron's eyes flew wide open. He pointed at Harry.
He knew Alice would give Hermione a Christmas gift—those two were close. But Alice had also given Harry one? And he, Harry's roommate and best friend, hadn't known anything about it?
And the worst part—Alice hadn't given him anything? He had even prepared a present for her today!
Harry smiled at her. "It's great. I didn't expect you to make this for me. Thank you, Alice."
Then he pulled out the gift he'd prepared for her—a handmade wizard card with a cartoon version of Alice he'd drawn himself.
Alice took it. She recognized herself immediately—after all, not many Slytherin first-years walked around dual-wielding a sword and a wand. She was confident enough to admit that. Below the drawing was a line of text:
"Hogwarts First-Year. Skilled in Disarming Charms and the Shield Charm. Righteous. Has a strong sense of honor."
Alice smiled softly. "Thank you, Harry. It's wonderful."
Ron hid his own present behind his back. Alice had gifts for Hermione and Harry but forgot him entirely. Now he didn't feel like giving his gift anymore—
Except Alice suddenly looked straight at him, blinked, and asked:
"So, where's my Christmas present?"
"???"
Today was turning out to be a series of shocks for Ron.
"You didn't even prepare one for me, and you're asking me for your Christmas present?"
Alice burst out laughing. "How do you know I didn't prepare something for you? Give me your present first—then I'll decide whether I want to give you mine!"
Ron glanced around. Harry and Theodore were both smiling—clearly they knew something he didn't. Fine. He refused to believe Harry would set him up. So, resigned, Ron handed over his gift.
"Er… Hermione said you're really curious about the castle, so I got a map of some of Hogwarts' secret passages from Fred and George. I'm not sure if you'll like it."
Alice raised an eyebrow. Getting something out of Fred and George always came with a cost. She genuinely hadn't expected Ron to put in that much effort. Smiling, she nodded and told Theodore:
"Go on. Tell him about the Christmas present we prepared for him together."
"…"
Theodore pressed his lips together. Together? He wasn't exactly friends with Ron Weasley. But this was something they had discussed, so he went along.
"You know we've been working on a flying sword—one you can stand on and fly with?"
Harry and Ron nodded.
"Well, the thing is… we've got a rough plan now, but we need more people for experiments. Hermione and Neville were supposed to help over Christmas, but they both went home. They recommended you and Harry to Alice."
Ron froze.
This was his third shock of the day.
Recommended? Him and Harry? For what?
Alice picked up from there. "I don't like owing people favors. So for Harry's help, I already gave him his compensation. And you, Ron Weasley—you're the same. Since it's Christmas, I thought it'd be the perfect time to give you your reward."
Ron looked at Harry, who clearly knew all of this already.
Ron shook his head. "Compensation? Helping with something like a flying sword experiment sounds fun. You don't need to pay me. I mean… we're friends, right?"
Alice chuckled. Exactly the reaction Hermione had predicted.
"If we're friends, then you should accept my Christmas gift even more. I'm planning to get you a new wand—a completely new one."
"Don't get the wrong idea. It's all for the flying sword experiments."
A… a brand-new wand?
Ron realized—
This was the fourth time he'd been shocked today.