Damian was indeed quite surprised, because the Quidditch Cup awards ceremony had ended long before exam week.
At the time, he had only received the championship trophy and the Beater of the Year honor. He had genuinely thought the Overall Best Quidditch Player award wouldn't be given out this year.
It turned out that the presentation of this prestigious award required waiting for the student votes to be fully tallied.
Damian stood up from the Slytherin table and walked towards the podium. Dumbledore handed the gleaming crystal trophy to him, patting his shoulder encouragingly.
"I hope to see you in professional matches one day," the Headmaster said kindly.
"Thank you. I appreciate the kind words, Professor," Damian responded with a polite smile.
In truth, he only played Quidditch at Hogwarts to build a commanding reputation among his peers. Once he graduated and secured his absolute authority, he wouldn't need to accumulate prestige through mere schoolboy sports.
Damian looked at the crystal trophy in his hand. The cup had a magnificent design, featuring the trajectories of two Bludgers spiraling upward around the glass. It was elegantly engraved: Best Quidditch Player, Damian Black, awarded this honor in 1992.
The summer holidays began, and Damian returned to his quiet house in Ottery St. Catchpole.
The lawn in the yard was perfectly trimmed, a look that only came from frequent and meticulous magical care. In a corner of the yard, a majestic sycamore tree stood tall, its thick foliage swaying gently in the summer breeze.
A sturdy wooden birdhouse hung quietly from the upper branches. Although it hadn't been used in some time, it remained in pristine condition.
Damian pushed the front door open lightly. As it creaked, Nox—his familiar, a highly intelligent cat with Kneazle blood —darted nimbly into the house from beside his feet.
Damian first opened the windows to let the fresh air in. Despite being uninhabited for months, the floors were spotless thanks to the timed cleaning enchantments placed on his magic brooms.
Drawing his wand, Damian cast a quick Scourgify to sweep away the thin layer of dust from the tables and chairs. He disliked using enchanted rags, as the clumsy cleaning tools always left his desk in a disorganized mess.
The black cat ran up and down the stairs, weaving through the house and inspecting every corner like a tiny lord patrolling his domain.
The convenience of HP magic made housework effortlessly quick, and Damian soon had everything perfectly organized. Once he finished tidying up, he began to think about preparing dinner.
Just then, an ethereal, crisp voice drifted in from outside.
"Damian~ are you home?"
It was Luna Lovegood. Damian immediately recognized the dreamy owner of that voice.
"I didn't tell anyone I was coming back today. How did you know I was here?" Damian asked, stepping outside with a look of mild surprise.
He had originally planned to visit his aunt first, but a temporary change in her schedule had forced him to alter his itinerary.
In addition to wearing her usual Dirigible Plum earrings and a cork necklace, Luna now sported an extra feather bracelet. It looked to be intricately woven from Thunderbird feathers.
Luna blinked her large, pale eyes. "The Mistletoe tree in front of my house blossomed this morning. I thought something good would happen today, so I came over to take a look."
Damian scratched his head. He knew Luna possessed an extraordinary intuitive instinct, which allowed her to make seemingly illogical but highly accurate choices. Often, the direct manifestation of this intuition was simply bizarre good luck.
"Let's go see Puff Puff!" Luna took Damian's hand and cheerfully led him away from the house.
Puff Puff was the Thunderbird that Luna had raised herself. The rather un-intimidating name came from the soft sounds it made when it was a hatchling.
Before being dragged completely away, Damian shouted back toward the open door. "Nox, make an extra portion for dinner!"
Inside, Nox rolled his eyes in profound feline dissatisfaction. He was just a cat, yet he was somehow responsible for cooking for his owner.
He strongly suspected Damian had only taught him the Other World's Invisible Hand spell—a Runic magic requiring 16 Runic Scripts that creates a telekinetic hand capable of delicate manipulation —just so the cat could do more household chores.
After a school year of studying Aemon's Meditation Method and Ancient Runes, Nox had developed incredible magical abilities.
Instead of relying purely on his natural magical creature bloodline traits , learning the meditation method had triggered a "Magical Outburst," drastically expanding his internal mana.
As they walked, Luna chattered happily. "Puff Puff is growing very fast. After Christmas, he couldn't fit into the birdhouse on the sycamore tree anymore, so I'm raising him in a cave now."
Damian's house was situated near the top of a hill, and several spacious caves dotted the rocky landscape nearby. Before long, he followed Luna to a hidden entrance.
The inside of the cave was surprisingly warm and spacious; Luna had clearly put quite some thought into building a comfortable nest for the growing Thunderbird.
"Puff Puff is out hunting," Luna noted, seeing the empty nest. She walked back to the cave entrance and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Puff Puff~!"
Soon, the powerful sound of flapping wings echoed from the distance.
A pale-gold giant bird, slightly larger than an elephant, descended gracefully from the sky. It possessed three pairs of wings: the largest pair where its neck met its belly, and two smaller pairs near its legs and tail.
When the Thunderbird saw Damian, its sharp eyes filled with confusion. It felt a vague sense of familiarity with the human, but couldn't quite remember who he was.
"Puff Puff, don't you remember Damian?" Luna gently stroked the bird's massive belly. "He was there to witness you hatching."
Having just hatched last year, Puff Puff had been too small to retain early memories. However, he was highly intelligent and understood Luna's tone, so he affectionately rubbed his massive beak against Damian's shoulder.
"I remember you said in your letter that he mainly eats meat now." Damian reached into his magically expanded pouch and retrieved a large slab of smoked meat, offering it to the bird.
Puff Puff eagerly devoured the meat, happily nudging Damian for more. Seeing the bird's enthusiastic reaction, Damian pulled out another large piece.
"After Puff Puff shed his baby feathers, they became too tough to be used for scarves anymore," Luna said. She sat on a nearby rock, cupping her chin in her hands and watching them with a beaming smile.
"The scarf you gave me for Christmas was woven from his shed feathers, right? Is your new bracelet the same?" Damian asked. As the bird ate, he stroked its neck, noting the incredibly tough texture of the adult plumage.
Luna shook the bracelet on her wrist. "My bracelet is woven from the softer feathers on his belly."
"It suits you very well," Damian said gently, looking at those pale eyes hidden beneath her crescent-shaped lids.
After Puff Puff finished eating, the massive bird lowered its head and nudged Damian toward its back.
"Puff Puff is inviting you to ride him," Luna explained happily.
Damian felt a surge of excitement and immediately climbed onto the Thunderbird's broad back. "Come on." He reached down and pulled Luna up behind him.
Puff Puff's back was incredibly spacious, offering more than enough room for the two of them. With a powerful beat of its six wings, the Thunderbird launched into the sky.
After a few exhilarating laps around the countryside, night began to fall, and Damian and Luna returned to the house.
Inside, Nox had already prepared dinner. Although the Kneazle-mix was annoyed about cooking, his telekinetic culinary skills were undeniable, and the meal smelled delicious.
The two humans and one highly magical cat sat around the dining table, enjoying a peaceful evening together.
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