The house was warm, the fireplace crackled, water was running in the upstairs bathroom, and Uncle Howl's singing could be heard.
Harry placed the gift under the Christmas tree. There were many gifts there, some his, some Howl's, taking up a good amount of space.
Suppressing the anticipation in his heart, he first turned on the phonograph, selected a Queen record to play, and then, accompanied by the melodious music, walked into the kitchen.
Not long after, Howl, having groomed his fur, slowly descended, first yawning, then casting his gaze upon the pile of gifts by the Christmas tree.
"Quick, help me see if there's a gift for me?" Lucifer darted out, asking expectantly.
?
Howl looked at him in surprise: "You?"
"What kind of look is that? Why can't I have one?!" Lucifer said, hands on his hips, looking annoyed.
Howl sized him up, then… "Pfft!"
"What was that sound? Did you laugh?! Are you mocking me?"
Howl ignored him, flipping through the gifts. A moment later, amidst Lucifer's constant clamor, he turned his head in surprise, holding a small box.
"There really is…"
"Of course." Lucifer's flame grew a bit, quite pleased, then he added: "Help me open it…"
Howl opened the package and then took out a delicate, golden-red feather from inside.
It seemed he knew who the gift was from.
"Oh, my goodness! I knew it." Lucifer cackled, his hand instantly transforming into a long fire rope, reaching out of the fireplace to take the feather.
Watching Lucifer's intoxicated expression, Howl smiled, throwing the paper box onto him, letting it burn away.
Then, he looked back at the packages…
A moment later, when Harry came out of the kitchen with breakfast, he saw Howl sitting cross-legged by the Christmas tree, making crunching sounds.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that Howl was unhappily munching on dried fish.
"These students nowadays are too naughty! They actually sent me dried fish!!" he grumbled unhappily.
Moreover, this was not a minority; many Little Wizards had sent similar items.
Not expensive, but thoughtful… a very strange kind of thoughtfulness.
For example, one little fellow sent him an iron comb.
In the letter, the Little Wizard said that it was a comb specifically for cats, because cats' fur was denser than human hair, so using a specially made comb would have a better effect.
At the same time, he also opened a box from Borgin and Burkes, which contained a… custom-made, nickel-plated revolver with an artichoke vine pattern.
It looked so exquisite!
In the letter, Borgin explained to Howl that he was in the United States, and while strolling on the street at night, he was almost killed by this thing called a "gun."
He never expected Muggles to have such powerful gadgets.
Howl suddenly felt a bit puzzled… would this guy send him a set of RPG rocket launchers next year?
Howl played with the handgun for a bit, twirling it on his fingertip, then put it away, clapped his hands, and stood up.
Coming to the dining table, he ate breakfast while unfolding the letter Headmaster Dumbledore had sent him along with some candy.
Originally, he thought it would be a letter about the progress of miscellaneous matters like pure-blood families or the Ministry of Magic and past wrongful cases.
However, to his surprise, it did not mention any of these things.
Instead, Dumbledore only mentioned some of Fawkes's condition in the letter.
But regarding Fawkes, Howl had learned more: when Pettigrew self-destructed, Fawkes, who had just hatched, used his own flame to resist Peter's demonic flame.
This was not something a newly hatched Phoenix should be able to do.
And in the letter, Dumbledore also described Fawkes's changes: faster growth, more vibrant flames, stronger healing abilities from his tears, and so on.
It was as if he had completed a leap in life level; although the step was not large, he was indeed somewhat different from an ordinary Phoenix.
At the end of the letter, Dumbledore also subtly inquired about Lucifer's past romantic history.
What was this? Was he asking if Lucifer used to be a scoundrel?!
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