The days leading up to Christmas passed quietly at the Chen household.
Alexander spent most of his time in his room finishing all of his holiday homework early, because he became really interested in ancient runes.
Thanks to the knowledge he gained from Tom Riddle, his understanding of rune combinations had improved dramatically.
Alexander realized runes were incredibly flexible.
They could be layered.
Linked.
Stacked.
Combined.
The more he experimented, the more he realized something exciting.
Runes could imitate technology.
Even though the world around him was still in the 1990s, Alexander had memories of ideas from thirty years in the future.
That was why he was always writing letters to his friend Steve Heart.
Alexander had been secretly guiding him with an idea and a new way of thinking.
Instead of electrical technology, Steve was developing magical versions.
For years, the progress had been slow.
After spending the summer in America and guiding Steve.
He finally made a breakthrough.
The first product was something similar to a smartwatch.
Except this one was powered entirely by magic and runes.
Alexander smiled proudly as he held the finished piece in his hand.
It was a silver bracelet with a small glowing blue crystal embedded in the center.
This would be one of Cho's Christmas gifts.
He placed it inside a small box and added a letter.
Dear my Sweet and Wonderful Girlfriend,
This bracelet lets you store enchanted photos. Just bring a photo and place it on top of the bracelet. Use your magic, and it will absorb the photo.
You can either tap it with your wand or focus magic into your fingertips and touch the bracelet. It will project a small illusion of the photos.
Right now, it can only store up to 20 photos, but as I get better at runes, I will expand the storage so you can keep even more memories.
I had my friend Steven put some enchantments to protect it from getting damaged, but please be careful with it.
Your Boyfriend,
Alex
For his parents, he chose something simpler but meaningful.
He created a large, enchanted picture frame filled with enchanted photos from their summer trip.
The memories played continuously—laughing, traveling, sightseeing.
When his parents opened it on Christmas morning, they were amazed.
His mother covered her mouth in surprise.
His father stared at the frame with a huge smile.
"It's like reliving the trip again."
Alexander was happy they liked it.
For his close friends, Alexander prepared another invention.
A Self-Organizing Magical Notebook.
The notebook was actually a simplified version of something he hoped to create in the future.
He wanted to make the first tablet in both the Muggle world and the Magical world.
As of right now, Steven and him only made a magical artifact of the notebook.
To use it, someone needed to place up to ten pages of notes on top of the notebook and tap it with their wand.
The pages would magically transfer inside.
Right now, the storage limit allows one thousand pages.
Not perfect, but still impressive.
Since the magical notebook could only store up to ten pages at one time.
Steve is still working on improving the storage limit, hoping that in the near future it will be able to store whole books.
The notebook had one extremely useful feature.
Organization magic.
Users could sort their notes by subject, date, or however they wanted to.
If they needed something specific from the magical notebook, they could say it aloud.
The notebook would flip automatically to the correct page.
Alexander smiled as he tested it.
"The progress is going nicely. Once I am better at understanding runes and alchemy. I can help Steve improve the magical notebook."
"But for now, this is the best we can do."
He kept one for himself, and of course, he prepared one for Cho Chang as well.
Since Fred and George had helped him so much throughout the years, Alexander also decided to send them something special.
Several prototype prank products from Steve's workshop.
Along with them, Alexander included a carefully written warning letter.
Dear Fred and George,
These are experimental prototypes from my friend's workshop.
Please test responsibly.
If you somehow manage to harm yourselves or others with them, I am not responsible.
Have fun.
– Alex
Alexander could already imagine the chaos that would follow.
Finally, he prepared gifts for the professors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Each professor received one beautiful, enchanted photo frame along with one enchanted photo.
They also received a few other enchanted photos.
The enchanted photos were taken by none other than Peeves.
Peeves had spent the entire year capturing random scenes throughout the castle.
Alexander had paid him to hand over any photos that included professors.
Some were dignified.
Some were hilarious.
Some were slightly embarrassing.
But all of them captured moments of Hogwarts life.
Alexander chuckled as he sealed the final package.
"These should make them smile."
With all the gifts finished, he leaned back in his chair.
Outside, snow quietly covered the ground.
Everything felt peaceful.
But Alexander knew that once he returned to Hogwarts, things would almost certainly become chaotic again.